The Bourne Ulitmatum came out last night and as per tradition (or at least with the last one that came out) we met up with the Kings to go see it amidst great anticipation.  These movies have to be some of my favorite movies of all time.  I loved the European feel of the first two and the overall combination of a great story line, a good hero in the Bourne character, the style in which it was shot, and of course the music.  It all works really well in terms of good movie experiences for me at least.

Well, I can tell you that the latest release is as good as the others and definitely exceeded even my already high expectations.  It left me wanting more, whether it's in the form of a 4th installment (I know there's only 3 books, but I've heard rumors...just sayin) or just going to watch the Ultimatum again.  If you know me, I don't really like watching a movie more than once unless I really like it (i.e. Bourne Identity, Bourne Supremacy, Napolean Dynamite, Butcher's 15 to name a few.)  Matt Damon is definitely one of my favorite actors out there.  He can take on a diverse set of roles and he seems to be a pretty cool guy away from the glam scene.  I can't say the same for his old pal Ben Affleck, who I've never liked at all, except for his role in Dazed and Confused.  All downhill from there Ben.  Sorry bud.  At least you're married to Jen Garner.  I digress.

The point is this - go see the Bourne Ultimatum, but only after you have seen the first two.  You'll understand and appreciate it much more if you do your homework and watch the first two.  I'll leave you with this line from Moby:  "Oh baby...Oh baby...Then it fell apart...(fell apart)..."  Sing it.

Jan and I got to attend a screening of Chalk, a mockumentary film that was directed by my friend Mike Akel and produced by my friend Mike McAllister.  It was part of this week's Austin Film Festival and was at the IMAX at the State History Museum.  It was kind of a last minute decision for us to go.  I had seen the movie previously but it was not the finished product at the time.  Jan had been wanting to see it so I thought this would be the best chance to go. 

I'm glad we did, because before hand I got to visit with Akel for a few minutes and he showed his new hardware off that they won previously that day!  The movie won for "Best Narrative Feature" which is a great honor!  I'm really proud of their achievement because I know how hard they've worked on this and I know that they are doing it for the right reason...the $$$.  Just kidding!  Congrats guys!

For my Austin friends, you can catch the movie one more time tonight at the Regal Arbor Theater at 7:00!  It's quite hilarious so get in and see it if you can.

Yesterday afternoon, I had the honor of attending the cast/crew screening of the movie "Chalk" at the Alamo Drafthouse on South Lamar.  My friends Mike McAllister, Mike Akel, and Chris Mass have been working on this latest mockumentary for over a year and a half.  I knew going into it that I was in for some good laughs because "Butcher's 15" is one of my all-time favorite movies, which they did about 5 years ago.  "Chalk" was great!  It was really well done and the character development was great.  That's what these types of movies are all about:  great and memorable characters.  The production quality was several steps up from Butcher's needless to say. 

They are tweaking a few things in post right now, but be on the lookout for their movie coming out soon.  They will enter it into some fetivals and are hoping it will move on to do great and big things.  Best of luck guys and don't forget the little people!

Just want to add a movie to your “don't rent” list.  Raising Helen = not good.  I won't even go into it, but just want to share the advice.  To those who have seen it, there's the one good quote that I tell my wife everyday.  “I'm sexy.  I'm a sexy man of God.”  She agrees. 

Just heard that J.J. Abrams (Director of Alias) is going to direct the new Mission Impossible.  Apparently, the fact that Tom Cruise is a big fan of the show helped land Abrams the job.  Here's an article about it.    It should have a better feel than the John Woo installation last go-around.  Don't get me wrong;  I love exploding things...especially exploding sunglasses.  Who doesn't?  But, I think that the 3rd one will be a little heavier on story line.  I hope.  I also hope he doesn't ever leave Alias.  Yikes!

I finally saw ND and since many of my friends have screened it and commented on it, I figured I'd say my piece...I thought it was very funny.  I had not seen any previews for it so I had no idea what to expect, which I am glad was the case.  It's one of those you don't want to have any expectations about the plot or theme going into it.  Just go and see it. 

One thing I did want to note was that the character Deb could have passed as my friend Jeff Webdell's little sister.  Can anyone else see that or is it just me?  Perhaps it was the sideways pony-tail...not sure exactly. 

To keep up with everyone else, I thought I'd throw in my 2 cents about The Bourne Supremacy.  To steal a line from Dickie V, it was awesome with a capital A!  I was looking forward to seeing it and can't wait to see the first one again.  We rented it (lucky that it was in) last night and plan on watching it this week.

I don't pay much attention to technical aspects of movies very often, but one cool thing about The Bourne Supremacy is that the sound engineering was incredible.  There was one fight scene that made me feel like I was flenching mainly because of the sounds.  My eyes blinked with every punch I think.  It was actually hard to tell who was hitting who, and who was winning, but that just added to the suspense. 

I'd consider seeing this movie a second time in the theater, which if you know me, I don't say that about many movies. 

I went and saw Anchorman with Rob and Kim last weekend.  I was dissapointed.  I was expecting some ridiculous humor, which I got in too many doses.  It was the fact that Will Farrell didn't make me laugh nearly as much as he did in Elf.  It just didn't have the zing that I was hoping for.

Greetings!  Yes, I am still in the blog world although just barely. 

So, I went to Promise Keepers in Dallas last weekend with some guys from our small group from church.  It was at the American Airlines Center (where the Mavs and Stars play.)  First up, the conference itself was pretty nice...in other words it was worth going to.  Joe White (Kanakuk) and Steve Ferrar (Point Man, etc.) were my two favorite speakers along with a guy named Erwin McManus.  McManus started a church called Mosaic in the LA area.  (Pete - you heard of it/him?)  I picked up his book, Uprising, which I will be reading through over the coming weeks.  I think it is another Wild at Heart-type books, so don't be surprised if you see me blogging more about climbing mountains and racing speeding trains and such in the near future. 

We are ready for the 3 day weekend this weekend for sure.  We're planning on going to hear some live music at the Nutty Brown Cafe in Dripping Springs, and the next day we are going to Wimberley to see my parents and to go to the Wimberley Rodeo.  I have always wanted to go out during the mutton bustin' so I can show those amateurs how it's really done.  We might try to catch Spiderman 2 sometime as well. 

Speaking of movies, has anyone out there seen Fahrenheit 9/11?  I'd be interested to hear some of your thoughts about it.  I have not seen it yet and I'm not sure if I will or not.  I just don't like seeing movies/documentaries that give such a one-sided view of such a huge issue.  I'd rather see something that balances more of the issues, because I think we all know the movie will not tell the whole story.  It is kind of like taking scripture out of context.  You can pick and choose a passage and make it mean just about anything you want it to.  But to fully understand what the entire picture is, you must understand the context of everything else there and surrounding that passage.  Know what I mean?

Saturday, I went to the Alamo Drafthouse where they show a lot of indie movies and have a full service menu while you eat.  It is very Austin.  Anyway, I went to support my friend Mike Akel who is working on his next project.  They were showing his mockumentary, Butcher's 15, which is one of my favorite movies.  They were showing it to raise money for the new project, which is called Project Teach and will be a documentary about teachers.  Pete's friend Tony Hale (Buster from Arrested Development) is in Butcher's and is absolutely hilarious.  I'm pretty sure he received the most laughs amongst the crowd. 

Be on the lookout, you small market, indie types for the new project.  They are hoping it will be successful enough that it will get “picked up.”  Shooting begins in June.

Haddy, and Merry Belated Christmas!  (I need to play catch up so forgive me for the length...)

Jan and I went to Wimberley for a couple of days to be with my family for Christmas.  It was a great time and hectic as it always is with the Wilson clan.  We are always on the move and usually there's about three to four different sects doing different things.  Luckily, the stablizer this year was my niece Morgan who is 1 and a half.  It's so nice to have her around to take the focus off of me (I was the youngest for 25 years until she hit the map.)  So, now instead of people asking me to say any word they can think of they would ask her instead, which is of course extremely cute.  It was really nice to have everyone there with us:  Mamie and Papaw (whose health has been poor lately), Aunt Pam, Mom, Dad, me, Jan, my sister Jana, bro-in-law Michael, and Morgan (not to mention a total of 4 dogs; some residents, some visiting.)  It made for a full household, but at least I didn't have to sleep under the dining room table like last year.

We also got together with Jan's parents on Christmas night to exchange gifts and to watch "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days."  That's actually not a bad movie.  I've seen it three times.  It is rare that I see a movie more than once, but one day I needed to cheer Jan up so I bought her a copy of this movie.  I made sure that it was one that I could watch multiple times if I had to.  That is why I did not by any J-Lo movies. 

Jan's parents are strongly thinking about moving to Austin and retiring at the end of the school year.  We are very excited about this possibility.  We went looking at some houses with them the other day which was exciting too and it made me wish we were loaded so we could buy a new house and rent out our current place.  Patience, Brandon.  Patience.

In the past week, we watched all three Lord of the Rings episodes.  Saw Return of the King last night/this morning and absolutely loved it!  It is kind of sad that the series is over, but there is talk that Jackson could do The Hobbit sometime in the future. 

We went and saw Elf last night with Chance and Laura.  I admit that the first time I saw the trailer for it I told myself that I'd never see it because it looked a little too dumb.  But...

I have not laughed that hard at a movie since I saw Master of Disguise which was not really a good movie per say, but Dana Carvey always provides the laughs.  Elf was hilarious and there is no one in the world that I could see playing that role better than Will Farrell.  That guy is not only stinking hilarious but he truly makes you believe that he is that character.

If you get a chance to see it then you should, and don't put "Elf" on the "Shelf."