Monthly Archives: May 2012

General

Looking for a new car?

Chances are these are among the cars you’re not looking into buying:

http://247wallst.com/2012/05/03/the-cars-americans-will-not-buy/

Fascinating article, which uses a new car’s average length of time in a showroom to determine which ones are among those that sit the longest and, ergo, are probably the ones consumers least want to purchase.

What is even more interesting is some of the comments following the article, especially with regard to General Motor’s electronic Volt (which, by the way, DID NOT make this list).  Of late, Fox news and right wing pundits have made the car a punching bag of sorts, though the only reason I can see for it to be in their cross hairs is because President Obama a) helped the auto industry and b) actually had the temerity to talk positively about the vehicle.

I’m all in favor of electric cars, and hope that the Volt is only a prelude to what’s to come.

Movies

The Avengers…

Most of the early reviews/word of the film were very positive (it is scoring, as of today, an impressive 93% approval on Rottentomatoes.com among critics).

However…

It appears not everyone is falling for the movie.  Two reviews, in particular, point to something I worry may be occurring with the whole superhero genre in movies:  Superhero fatigue.

First, a review posted on Slate Magazine by Dana Stevens:

http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/movies/2012/05/the_avengers_directed_by_joss_whedon_reviewed_.html

Next, Andrew O’Hehir of Salon.com offers a review that, thematically, runs very similar:

http://www.salon.com/2012/05/02/the_avengers_will_superhero_movies_never_end/

A few days back (you can read it here) I noted which summer movies most intrigued me.  Among the ones I was curious about, but figured would most likely see when they were released on video, was The Avengers.  While I’m a fan of director/writer Joss Whedon, quite honestly, the above two reviews are part of the reason why the movie isn’t on my “must watch” list.  That list remains, at least for now, at two films: Prometheus and The Dark Knight Rises.

The fact is that even though I have the latest Batman film on my “must watch” list, I’m growing very, very tired of superhero films.  It’s a very tough admission to make, given my general love of the genre -and comic books as well!-, but in the last few years there have been so many comic book films that its getting tiresome.

The Dark Knight Rises is on my list only because I enjoyed the first two Batman films and the works of director Christopher Nolan and I’m curious to see where he’s taking this film, which has been characterized as the last of his Batman “trilogy”.  As with the Spider-Man films, I suspect there will be a “new” version of Batman coming soon afterwards, sans Christopher Nolan’s input, and I’m just as weary of that as I am of the new Spider-Man release.

Like many things, I appear to be in a minority.  It looks like The Avengers is set to break box office records and become a huge hit for the studios and the talent involved.

But I have to admit, the more I hear about it, the more weary I become.

General

40 Weird Facts About the United States…

…read ’em all!

http://www.yolohub.com/facts/weird-fact-1

Fascinating stuff…though I admit being most curious about the saddest bits of information, such as:

Fact #2, #4, and #9.  66% of Americans are overweight?!  Supermarkets on average waste 3000 pounds of food each year?!  And we drink on average more than 600 sodas a year?!  All three facts seem to point out that we have an overabundance of food available to us.

Then you get to the equally sad fact numbers #5, #24, and #30.  The notion that 48% of people in the United States are considered living on low income or in poverty is very chilling.  Equally chilling are the later two facts, that 52% of children in Cleveland, Ohio also live in poverty and that of the roughly 313 million people in the United States, 46 million of them are on food stamps (or 15%).

Not all the information presented is depressing, and I could go on, but I’ll conclude on #14:  Jimmy Carter was the first U.S. president born in a hospital!