Movie Review
I took the three older boys to see Captain America. The collective critics give it a C+ (Yahoo average). Of the three major rankings (Yahoo, Rotten Tomatoes, and IMDB), I trust Yahoo the most. Rotten Tomatoes is probably the best site, but I haven't gotten used to its methodology. IMDB, at first glance, seems great, but they get a lot of whacky user reviews (like the "men" who gave Notting Hill ten stars), which give it an air of unreliability, and I've gotten burned by lots of movies that register six stars (advice: if it gets under 6.5 stars at IMDB, the movie could be great or it could suck; there's no way of knowing).
When I saw Yahoo critics give Captain America a C+, I was disappointed. But it dawned on me: All the superhero movies get B- or worse. I don't think I've seen a superhero movie since The Dark Knight score well. I told Marie, "I bet the movie snobs are panning the superhero movies on purpose because they're tired of 'em or find them beneath the 'art' that is Hollywood."
After seeing Captain America, I think I was right. Okay, it ain't a "think" movie and parts of it dragged and they had the obligatory politically correct hokum (female officer during WWII; black soldiers featured on WWII bond ads). But hey, it wasn't bad and it pretty much lived up to my expectations. I went in expecting good old fashioned action, and I got good old fashioned action. I can't honestly say I'd give it much more than B-, but based on my expectations? I'd give it an A-.
And it's very clean. I would've felt comfortable taking Max (who, btw, turns eight today). Violence, yes, but virtually no sexuality (the female officer is sultry, but that's about it).
Toilet Optional
I doubt they'd work for my family, but definitely interesting:
Tumbleweed Tiny House Company, a Calfornia-based tiny house builder, has seen a recent uptick in the number of people interested in purchasing or constructing these miniature homes on trailer platforms.
Tiny houses are typically between 100 and 130 square feet, roughly the size of a covered wagon, the New Yorker said, and there are between several hundred and 1000 of them in the Unites States. In the past year alone, Jay Shafer, the owner of Tumbleweed, has sold plans for 1,000 tiny houses, he said, but cannot be sure how many have been built.
Link.
