It is no secret that I love movies. My dream in life is to write one. I am the king at those “Scene It” games. My DVD
collection rivals that of blockbuster (No, not that Blockbuster. My neighbor Billy Blockbuster. That dude loves movies).
But most of all, very few people are as affected by a great movie as I am.

So since football season is over and there is not much to write about (no draft, no free agency, etc.) I figured I’d waste
your time with my own Random Thoughts: The Movie Edition.

The reason for this edition is lately I’ve had a lot of time on my hands and I’ve spent it watching a lot of TV and
movies. This includes a lot of old movies. And some of these old movies got me thinking. For example…

I saw “Rapid Fire” the other night. For those of you that don’t know what that movie is, it’s a 1992 film starring the late
Brandon Lee (son of Bruce). It was one of his early films and first that got a major theatrical release. It’s also the one
he did before “The Crow”, which was his last film. Now “Rapid Fire” is not a great movie or anything groundbreaking
for a karate/action film. But I remembered loving it when I first saw it at the ripe old age of 13. I thought Brandon Lee
was a likable actor and he had the possibility of breaking down some barriers as an Asian actor. I particularly liked
that he was determined not to make movies that only required him to perform karate (as seen by “The Crow”). Lee
wanted to be a serious actor and I wonder what he would have amounted to if he were still alive. But if you don’t care
for all of that, the movie did feature some nudity.

Then I saw “She’s All That”. I know you all remember that movie. It starred Freddie Prinze, Jr. back when he had a
potential career. Now’s he just Mr. Sarah Michelle Gellar. You just know those two will get divorced if Gellar ever
makes it real big (I’m talking Reese Witherspoon big. Notice how she dropped Ryan Phillipe after she won the oscar).
Anyhow, the movie also starred my favorite girl at the time, Rachel Leigh Cook. You know that scene where she walks
down the stairs in the red dress after her complete makeover. Don’t lie to me. You know what I’m talking about. But
look at her now. She is a nobody. Even I couldn’t tell you what her last movie was. But that got me thinking. Who are
the hottest females who never quite hit it big, but if given that one role could have been a huge star? Let’s face it; it
doesn’t talent to be famous. Sometimes good looks are just enough (see Paris Hilton or Marc Epstein). I thought if I
had to make a list, Ms. Cook would definitely be in my top ten. Then I wondered who else would fill out my list. Being
an absolute geek, I put considerable amount of time into this and here is my top ten in no particular order (as
always it’s up for debate, so feel free to send me an email with who’d make your list).

  1. Madeline Stowe – I still remember seeing her in such classics as “Unlawful Entry” (naked alert) and “12
    Monkeys”. But she hasn’t done much since. (Interesting fact, she is married to Brian Benben of “Dream On”
    fame).
  2. Annabella Sciorra – She had a nice little comeback thanks to her role on Sopranos, but before then she was
    just the chick with “Jungle Fever”. I blame Wesley Snipes. I also blame Wesley Snipes for the war in Iraq and for
    me getting the toilet bowl in 2006.
  3. Rachel Leigh Cook – See above. I use to have her picture on as my wallpaper, the one where she is wearing
    just a blue top with a pair of blue panties. You know before I realized it was gay to have half naked pictures on
    your computer screen and still call yourself a grownup man.
  4. Kelly Hu – Quite possibly, my all time favorite. She had a nice little run as a female action star thanks to roles in
    “Scorpion King” and “X2”, but she really got typecasted into that role. Now she’s playing a damn stereotype on
    a lame ass TV show. I hate racist Hollywood.
  5. Christine Taylor – Mrs. Ben Stiller is my favorite Jewish female of all time (That’s not a racist comment at all).
    Loved her in “Wedding Singer” and “Zoolander”. She has a new TV show coming up, so there is still hope for
    her (maybe she could rise to fame like Teri Hatcher, who would be on this list if not for Desperate Housewives).
    But all of those movies also featured Ben Stiller, so maybe she’ll always just be Mrs. Ben Stiller.
  6. Jordana Brewster – Really only known as one of Derek Jeter’s exes, but she looked like she had potential after
    “The Fast and the Furious”. She may have some hope after all, thanks to the fact that she just won the role of
    Angelina Jolie’s character in the TV version of “Mr. and Mrs. Smith”.
  7. Roselyn Sanchez – Much hotter than Eva Longoria in my opinion. Plus she gets extra points for kissing Jackie
    Chan in “Rush Hour 2”. Since then she’s had several TV gigs, but nothing spectacular. It’s ok. I plan on writing
    a movie that will star each and every one of the aforementioned women. It’ll be called “Brian and the Seven
    Woman He’ll Never Have A Chance With”.
  8. Elizabeth Banks – She may not belong on this list, since she looks to be the next “It” girl (she’ll be in the
    summer blockbuster “Spiderman 3”, as well as the next Vince Vaughn comedy “Fred Claus”). She should
    probably be honorable mention, but we’ll use her to fill space. Anyway, I still remember her from her bit part in
    “40 year old Virgin”, and her recent guest star in my favorite TV show, “Scrubs”. (Did I mention that I loved the
    musical episode? Just a great episode.). She may be my favorite female star right now.
  9. Amy Smart – Can you believe she is in her 30’s now? We all remember “Road Trip” (more naked alert). But she’
    s never really amounted to much since. “Crank” or “Smith” anyone? Yea, that’s what I thought.
  10. Megan Good – Is it just me or does she always play the hot girl in all those black movies (Waist Deep, Stomp
    the Yard, White Chicks). Either way, one thing’s for damn sure. She is hot. Smokin hot.

That’s an unusual list. Who else would even think of something like that other than yours truly? You all really are in
the presence of genius….let’s take a moment to bask in my greatness.

(Basking)

(Still Basking)

OK, finally, I saw “Zero Effect”, a little known movie starring Bill Pullman (The President in ID4) and Ben Stiller before
he was super famous. It was written and directed by Jake Kasden (son of Lawrence, who is the writer of “Raiders of
the Lost Ark” among other great movies). That got me thinking about what movies I love that most people have
never heard of.

1. Zero Effect – An enjoyable “whodunit” tale with a quirky private investigator.

2. I Come In Peace – Starring everyone’s favorite Russian (no, not Nick Serrano), Dolph Lundgren of “Rocky IV”
fame. A relatively simple Aliens vs. Cops tale with Lundgren uttering my favorite line of all time.

Alien Bad Guy - “I Come In Peace”

Dolph Lundgren character – “Yea, well you’ll go in pieces.”

(Bang)

Alien dead.

THE END.

3. The First Power – A supernatural thriller starring Lou Diamond Phillips. With all the movies about the otherworld
and the war between above and below, this one is one of my favorites. My favorite scene is when the bad guy takes
over the body of a homeless man and in one second, Phillips character is looking out the window and nothing is
there, the next, the possessed homeless guy is hovering outside the window. Scary stuff.

Now, those were just the ones I could think of off the top of my head. Again, feel free to email me with other movies
that come to your mind. I would really like to hear from somebody.

You know what. While we’re making lists, I figured I’d throw my 2 cents in on Jay Cantor’s top 10 of 2006. Before I
get into my list, let me just say that Jay and I share many similar likes, dislikes, and beliefs with regards to movies. In
addition, together we have 2 ROFFL championship trophies, 1 ROFBL certificate, 1 toilet bowl, and 5 playoff
seasons. So it really pained me to have to disagree with his list so much. And to see a poor review for “Smokin Aces”,
which I was looking forward to seeing. This is why Jay and I will always be the ROFFL version of Arod and Jeter…on
to the list:

1. The Departed – I agree that it was the best movie of the year. But it was so faithful to the Asian film it was a remake
of, which I already saw, so all the plot twists were ruined for me. I mean some of the scenes were exact and the Asian
version managed to tell the same story in 40 minutes less. While that didn’t make me appreciate the movie any less, it
prevented it from being one of the greatest films I’ve seen in the theaters ever. (Currently that lists includes “Ocean’s
Eleven”, “Matrix”, and “Return of the King”).

2. Casino Royale – Best Bond Movie Ever. Best Action Movie in a long time. Best Set Pieces since Matrix. Eva Green
is hot. Daniel Craig proves that you can be sexy if you have an extremely fit body and a weird looking face, thus
giving us all hope and making us want to go to the gym.

3. Cars – Sure it wasn’t Pixar’s best movie, but when you are comparing it to “Toy Story I and II” and “The Incredibles”,
well it’s hard to not be a little disappointed. But it was still the most fun I’ve had at the theaters all year. Great visuals.
Good songs. A happy story. Extra points for being my girlfriend’s favorite.

4. The Devil Wears Prada – The second most fun I had at the theaters was watching this funny, well acted (thanks to
Meryl Strepp, Emily Blunt, and Stanley Tucci), and well-written film (even the book was good). Plus, who doesn’t like
the fashion aspect of it (And no, that does not make me a homo. You Tim Hardaway thinking sons of bitches). Extra
points for featuring Anne Hathaway, who became one of my top ten favorites thanks to this and her awesome
nudeness in “Havoc”.

5. Pan’s Labyrinth – The images were great. Best foreign language film I’ve ever seen that wasn’t made in Asia. Jay
should have written a review on this. It’s still not too late…

6. Little Miss Sunshine – Ending sucked. But the rest of the movie was great. Jay really nailed this review. I couldn’t
have written it any better myself.

7. Borat – Again, Jay nailed the review perfectly. Funny movie, not funniest of all time. One memorable scene
(mentioned in Cohen’s golden globe thank you speech).

8. The Illusionist – I need to see Prestige still (just bought it on DVD), but I believe this will be the better magician
movie out of the two (I know you can’t make that statement without seeing both movies first, but I’m Brian Yeung. I say
crazy things.). Great performance by Edward Norton. Even better performance by Paul Giamatti. Some very good
magic tricks or should I call them “special effects”.

9. An Inconvenient Truth – The scariest movie and the most important movie of the year. It made me want to go out
and buy a Toyota Prius. But I just got done paying off my damn car that I bought almost 3 years ago. The Prius will
have to wait.

10. Tie: (I had a hard time deciding on a number ten, since there was no clear cut.) Inside Man - I like Clive Owen.
Plus it made Spike Lee important again.
Superman Returns – A surprising character study of a superhero. Never thought I’d write those words in the same
sentence, especially considering that the crapfest “Ghost Rider” just came out. The plane sequence was amazing, so
was the bullet in the eye. However, the film also disappointed me (see the next list).

Sidenote: I have not seen Children of Men, Prestige, or Letters From Iwo Jima. So, maybe I’m not the best person to
make such a list.

Ten Biggest Disappointments:

1. Pirates of the Carribbean: Dead Man’s Chest – I loved the first film in this trilogy. Thought it was superbly written.
Depp was outstanding. Then this atrocious sequel came out that pretty much bored me for the entire two and a half
hour running time. I’m still undecided on Keira Knightley. Is she hot or just ok?

2. Superman Returns – The only film to make both my top ten lists. I just came away hoping for so much more. But I
realized that in our world, a guy with super strength and the ability to fly just isn’t as special as he once was.

3. Last Kiss – I’m a huge Zach Braff fan. Love Scrubs. I am J.D in many ways. Loved Garden State. It’s one of my
inspirations in life. So I was really looking forward to this movie to see what he would do next. Now it wasn’t a bad
movie. But it wasn’t great either. It was very depressing though.

4. The Da Vinci Code – Great book. The movie had no chance of living up to it. Tom Hanks looked ridiculous and was
miscast. Basically, if you never read the book, you’d like the movie. If you read the book, you walked away saying the
book was much better.

5. Miami Vice – I’m a big Michael Mann fan. Heat, Manhunter, Last of the Mohicans, Collateral. You name it. So I was
looking forward to this movie and had it pegged as the action movie of the year. Too bad there wasn’t much action.
Although the two action scenes at the end were very well done. It just wasn’t up to par with the rest of Mann’s work.

6. Idlewild – Outkast are one of the most innovative and creative artists in the world, not just in hip hop. So I thought
this would be the movie version to “Hey Ya”. But it was just another cliché-ridden movie that would have worked better
on HBO (which it was originally intended for). Although Paula Patton (Déjà vu) was decent and most definitely hot.

7. Click – You can’t try to be serious and be lowbrow humor at the same time. You just can’t, yet this Sandler movie
tried to with it’s lesson’s on the important things in life, while having at least 8 scenes where the dog humps the giant
stuffed animal duck.

8. The Break-Up – We all love Vince Vaughn. Just not in a wanna be drama, while still trying to satisfy the comedy
fans out there.

9. Glory Road – Who doesn’t love inspirational sport movies? But this one was not inspirational nor did it play the
racist card angle well enough. John Lucas just can’t catch that big break.

10. Snakes On A Plane – So much hype, so looking forward to a fun, cheesy, B movie. Too bad it was just a bad
movie with no good lines, no fun scenes, and definitely not worth the hype. Reminds me of “Eight Legged Freaks”.

Other thoughts on movies I saw in 2006.
• “Step Up” was a surprisingly good movie. I like the two leads (Channing Tatum and Jenna Dewan). Dewan was also
in “Take The Lead”, which had some hot dance sequences.

• “Invincible” was a good uplifting sports movie and Wahlberg was quite likable. It was everything “Gridiron Gang” and
“Glory Road” wasn’t. The Rock doesn’t look like he’s the next big movie star.

•  “Night at the Musuem” was a decent movie that my g/f loved.

•  “X-men 3” was watchable despite coming from the horndog that is Brett Ratner.

•  “Pursuit of Happyness” was an ok movie, but Will Smith was excellent in it.

•  Very disappointed by “Over the Hedge” given that it looked promising.

•  I thought “Talledaga Nights” was good, not great. Maybe it takes more repeat viewings, b/c I thought the same thing
initially about “Anchorman”.

• “MI-3” was pretty good considering Tom Cruise is a douche.

•  I’m not a big fan of horror movies, but “Saw 3” was actually very good. The “Saw” movies are actually pretty well
written and conceived for horror films. “The Hills Have Eyes” and “Hostel” were also surprisingly good for horror
movies.

• I thought “V for Vendetta” was good in the theaters, not as good the 2nd time I watched it on DVD. I was hopeful for
that movie too, since it came from the creators of “The Matrix”.

• “The Guardian” was a very good movie considering it starred Costner and Kutcher in a drama.

• “The Lake House” was utterly beyond belief, but I thoroughly enjoyed it and thought it was the best romantic movie
of the year.

• “Firewall” was further proof that the world only wants to see Harrison Ford play “Indiana Jones”, “Jack Ryan”, or the
President of the United States.

• “She’s The Man” was a fun movie to watch. I’m starting to become a big fan of Amanda Bynes.

• “Lucky Number Slevin” had a cool story and was a good movie for “The Usual Suspects” fans out there.

• “The Marine” was uber cheesy and I loved every minute of it. John Cena could be everything the Rock doesn’t want
to be. Besides who doesn’t like Kelly Carlson of “Nip/Tuck” fame.

• Another good straight up action flick was “Waist Deep”. I love me some Megan Good.

• Finally, “The Protector” was absolutely ridiculous story wise, but damn if Tony Jaa is not the most awe-inspiring
martial artists/stunt man in films today.

The rest of the movies I’ve seen were neither memorable enough nor worthy enough to write anything about.

What’s that? One more list. Ok. I love to please the fans.

Top 10 Anticipated of (the remainder of) 2007:

1. Grindhouse
2. 300
3. Spiderman 3
4. Harry Potter 5
5. Transformers
6. Ocean’s Thirteen
7. Rush Hour 3
8. Live Free or Die Hard
9. American Gangster
10. I Am Legend

Ok, I just realized I wrote seven pages about movies. Watched over 75 movies that came out in 2006. And wrote not
one, but five lists. I really need to go get a life. Right after I watch this movie……