First, the good news.  Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa is enjoyable. 

You won't be wanting to shove straws into your eyes, waiting for the credits to finally roll.  Your kids will love it, and laugh a lot...and between you and me, you will too!

I can't say the first one was a classic.  I thought it was fun and laughed here and there.  But there's something about Dreamworks constantly using HUGE HOLLYWOOD STARS to voice their characters, that ruins the whole experience for me.  That Zebra sounds like Chris Rock!  That Lion acts just like Ben Stiller!  The best thing about the original movie was the damn penguins.  (Their animated short about Christmas was reason alone to own the DVD!)

For whatever reason, Madagascar 2 works much better.  Maybe they're not trying as hard, maybe they kept the pace moving quickly and gave the subplots some much needed purpose.  Or maybe I was just enjoying the 37% increase in penguins?!

They steal the show once again and have all the best lines.  When attempting to repair the plane that crashed and left them stranded in Africa, they soon realize that not having any thumbs makes it hard to hold onto tools.  One of them raises his fin in the air and goes, "Curse you, Darwin!!!"  Jokes like that are sure to go over your kid's head, but leave you in stitches.

The plot is simple enough.  Lion was abducted from Africa at an early age, wound up in the Central Park Zoo, and now that they're all stuck in Africa, reunites with his parents.  The late Bernie Mac voices his Father, and actually does a decent job blending into the role.  Sadly, that's not the case with his arch-enemy lion Makunga, (Alec Baldwin) who doesn't even attempt to disguise his voice.  He needs to take lessons from Sacha Baron Cohen, who returns as Julian, and doesn't stand out like a sore thumb.

Overall, as a parent getting dragged to a movie by your children, you could do a lot worse.  It's a fun film that flies by quickly.  As long as you don't allow the penguins to pilot the damn thing.

I'll admit it, I actually enjoyed this movie.

It's tough to say, because Kevin Smith has consistently let me down since Chasing Amy back in the day.  Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back had some laughs, Dogma had an awesome script, but it just seemed like the bastard was using the same Mad Lib pad, mixing a few different nouns and verbs here and there.

Oh, sure...he's tried to get away from his "roots" and go in a different direction before, but let's ALL try and forget Jersey Girl ever happened.

Luckily, his latest offering, Zack & Miri gets Smith back on the right path.

The plot follows a couple of roommates, (Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks) as they trek back to their 10th year high school reunion.  They've been friends forever, live together, but have never crossed the line of being intimate.  In fact, both have their eyes set on different members of their class, with hopes of scoring before the night is over.

Unfortunately, Miri attempts to hit on the old quarterback of the football team, who is there with his gay partner.  Zack discovers that the boyfriend, (played by a horse-voiced Justin Long) is actually a gay porn actor who lives in LA and makes quite a lot of money.

Thus, this encounter sets up the rest of the film.  Months behind on their rent, Zack and Miri discuss the possibilities of shooting an amateur porno, and selling it to their high school class.  "There were 2,000 people there!  At $20 a piece, we'd be rich!"  Miri wonders who in their right mind would want to see the two of them in a porno, to which Zack responds, "I'd watch a sextape of Rosie O'Donnell" proving the point that people will watch sextapes, regardless of who's in them.

So, they set out to make a porno.  They invest in lighting, camera equipment, other actors, (like a stripper named "Bubbles" and even Jay himself, Jason Mewes, as a guy who can instantly get an erection.) to fill out the rest of the cast.  There are some great puns when coming up with the title of their production, and even more once they actually get around to filming it.

The problem lies, in that Smith wants to grind the film to a screeching halt with the use of a love-triangle.  It seems that Zack and Miri DO have feelings for one another, and might get a bit jealous if the other person starts having sex with someone else on film.

The complete 180, (they start the movie off trying to fuck other people fer crying out loud!) is hard to overlook.  As is the basic plot of the movie itself.  They need to make a porno in order to pay their rent, turn on their power and water...yet those things are saved another way instead.  Suddenly the point of the movie isn't the porno after all...it's just another love story, with an excuse to show boobs.

Don't get me wrong, even though you see the ending coming from a mile away, and it shifts direction, it's still an enjoyable film.

Whatever rock Elizabeth Banks has been hiding under is no longer big enough to shield her any longer.  This is the second role in a row, (the other being W) where she saves the day and shines brighter than anyone else on the cast.

Seth Rogen is suffering from the Michael Cera syndrome, where he can't seem to branch out of the same role he always plays.  He's the lovable loser, but can't pull off a convincing jealous boyfriend to save his life.  The scenes in which he's not being funny or yelling out obscenities are tough to sit through.

Give Kevin Smith credit.  That bastard Judd Apatow stole his formula of casting familiar actors in all of your movies, giving them filthy words to say, and attempt to keep them lovable at the same time.  Kevin's able to regain some of the ground he's lost in recent years with Zack & Miri, and here's hoping he keeps heading in the right direction.

Who knew Oliver Stone could deliver a motion picture about a sitting President and manage to not only keep it pretty fair, but also make George W. Bush sympathetic?  "W" isn't red meat for Liberals looking for a laugh-out-loud comedy, portraying the 43rd President simply as a babbling idiot.  Nor is it going to win over Conservatives who feared Stone would direct a "hatchet job."  It's simply a good movie.  One that stretches the truth, completely fabricates entire scenes, but above all else, is entertaining.

The entire film jumps back and forth between the George W. Bush that's currently our Commander In Chief and the "Junior" that raised Hell, drank excessively, and couldn't hold a job to save his life.

Early on, we see "Junior" getting hazed at Yale.  While being forced to sit in an tub filled with ice water, in between getting massive amounts of alcohol poured down his throat, he's asked to name as many members of the fraternity as he possibly can.  Without giving a second thought, he starts naming off this Brother and that Brother, each not only with their name, but a nickname as well.  He instantly impresses them all.  It's a scene that sets up the notion that when George W. Bush plays to his strengths, he can accomplish much more than people anticipate.

God knows his parents didn't anticipate George to ever have a career in politics.  He wasn't his more successful, and articulate younger brother, Jeb.  A failed run at the Congress in the early 1970's only helped seal the deal.  But it was that loss which forced him to come to the conclusion that he'll never, "Be out-Texased or out-Christianed ever again."

Thus, along with Laura's help, he decides to quit drinking, and eventually become "Born Again."

Watching his Father lose his reelection bid in 1992, he also decides that his Father didn't go negative enough in his campaign, or far enough with taking out Saddam.  It's parts of the movie such as this which make the later scenes with him in the War Room, working on a strategy to invade Iraq, all the more eerie.

Ultimately, "W" is a movie about a man with deep Father issues.  He spends most of his life in his Father's shadow, and once he decides to run for Governor of Texas, (The very same year that Jeb attempts to run for Governor of Florida) against his parent's wishes, you begin to see Bush as finally coming into his own.  He no longer asks for his Father's advice, he feels like he'll be able to correct the past by not falling into the traps George Sr. fell for.

He'll never raise taxes.

He refuses to become a one-term President.

He won't be looked upon as a "wimp," because he'll march into Baghdad and capture Saddam.

In the final parts of the film, much like that of his actual Presidency, George W. Bush starts to realize that some of the advice his Father offered might have been beneficial.  It's then that you get the sense that this isn't some wild, reckless cowboy President.  It's a troubled soul that really just wanted to prove himself to Papa.

Bravo to Stone for not only leaving much of the commentary by the wayside and simply telling a story.  Most of the audience going into this film will be expecting something completely different than what Oliver Stone delivers.  That's the mark of a gifted director and the power of not letting personal feelings get in the way of a good script.

...but McCain has already won?!

That's fucking rich. He goes from "I'm suspending my campaign until we reach a deal on this bailout!" (Even though the campaign offices across the country never closed their doors, you could continue to donate to his campaign on their website, and he, himself kept appearing on news programs every night) to "Oh, I guess I can't be in on any actual meetings dealing with the bailout since I'm not on any of those commitees, so lemme go ahead and debate afterall!" to "By the way, I already won it, bitches!" in the matter of three days.

This election is done being close. McCain has completely destroyed any hope of being taken seriously after this week.

Along with Travis Barker from Blink 182.  4 others were killed.

Read more about it here.

I'm pretty sure this has been brought up before on this board, but it's more important than 99% of the other things we discuss.

If you haven't registered to vote yet, time is almost up.  There's no excuse to not use your voice and actually make yourself be counted.

Register here. 

Poor ol' John McCain.  He could barely keep the RNC awake last night as he struggled through his acceptance speech.  (Not to mention the part where he spoke of Sarah Palin and used the phrase, "worked with her nose."?!)

But the best part was how the beginning of the speech, to those of us watching on our TVs at home, it appeared that McCain was once again speaking in front of a green screen.  Well, as the camera panned back, it showed that the green area directly behind him was actually the lawn leading up to some sort of mansion.

Randy Newman just released a new album today and gives me a reason to repost his incredible op-ed piece (and song on the new album)

A FEW WORDS IN DEFENSE OF OUR COUNTRY

I’d like to say a few words
In defense of our country
Whose people aren’t bad nor are they mean
Now the leaders we have
While they’re the worst that we’ve had
Are hardly the worst this poor world has seen

...excuse the shouting, but dammit, I'm addicted to this show.  Here's hoping that one of the remaining episodes will match the incredible heights of "The Constant" a few weeks ago.

If you want to get a sneak peek of what to expect in the last five episodes, check out this article from Entertainment Weekly from a week ago. 

I know we're turning this into a "CNN is stupid" blogging topic around here, but dammit, they're making it so easy!!!