Carbon monoxide detectors and how important they are

The Author of this post is Cheryl Martinez

I am sure that you have probably seen the incredibly sad reports on the news about people who had suddenly died in their homes due to carbon monoxide poisoning. I recently saw a particularly sad story about a family of 5 with three little kids who had no heat in their house. They decided to bring in a natural gas style heater and placed it in the living room where they all slept together on the couches around the heater. They didn’t know it but the heater was putting off dangerous carbon monoxide. Unfortunately they didn’t have an carbon monoxidedetectors and they all perished in their home that night. This is a very sad story about a very preventable thing. I had an alarm system installed by home security Colorado and they actually installed carbon monoxide detectors all over the house. Now when I go to bed I never have to worry or wonder if there will be a problem because I know the alarm system will wake us up if there is a threat of carbon monoxide.

RED TAILS

As George Lucas announces his retirement, we are delivered his latest failure, Red Tails. The film is the perfect example of his absolute disregard for realistic dialogue, likable characters, and fluidity in film making. Although he's not the director, his heavy hand can be felt all over this absolute mess of a movie. It really hurts me to say that. I was praying that Red Tails would be a return to form for the man that brought the World War II dog fight to space in 1977. Unfortunately, this movie is a poor example of how a war movie should be done. It's all effects laden luster that lacks the grit necessary to make a great war movie.

The casting of Cuba Gooding Jr. and Terrence Howard almost guaranteed some worthwhile acting. Sadly, they both fail under the lead of an inexperienced puppet director that is obviously having his strings pulled by Mr. Lucas himself. Once again, the performances are wooden and without any emotion. This is the exact same problem that reared it's ugly head in the Star Wars prequels. I was literally have flashbacks to the dreadful line delivery in The Phantom Menace. Several times I found myself grimacing at the absolute disrespect for the audience and I actually considered walking out. This is how bad this movie is.

Of course the best part of Red Tails are the extremely detailed graphics and sound design. But, it's what we expect from Lucasfilm. There is nothing ground breaking here. The dog fight scenes are entertaining at best but we're never given any edge of your seat action. Instead, it just trudges along with battles we've all seen time and time again.

Red Tails is a film that Lucas has wanted to make for years. This was his pet project that he was hoping would be a high note before his so called "retirement" from blockbuster film making. At this point, I have lost almost all respect for the man and truly hope he keeps his greedy little ewok paws of the next Indy film. As much as I hate to say it, I think that Red Tails is almost a slap in the face to the real Tuskegee pilots.

Television Gives Mom A Break

Post contributed by Josue Durham

I always planned on my child being smart. I wanted him to always read books and play with the educational toys. I wanted to avoid television because it was not challenging. At least that was the plan in the beginning. When reality set in, I have never been more thankful for my direct tv than I am now. I did not realize how difficult it can be to raise a child. There are some days I wish I was still working. I always thought being at home would be relaxing and easy, but that is far from the truth. Sometimes I think my child is plotting against me. I know it might sound crazy, but I really think that. The television has become my “coffee break”. When everything is non-stop, it is nice to be able to have a moment to myself. Currently I am able to get that when Mickey Mouse Clubhouse is on. I guess that means I am also very thankful to Walt Disney. I think I love Mickey more now than I did as a kid.

Shows Being Filmed In Atlanta

Posted by Virgil Burks

I’ve lived in Atlanta my entire life, and I love my city. It seems like a lot of other people love it recently, too. One of the coolest things about living in Atlanta right now is that there are so many movies and TV shows are being filmed here. It’s really neat to be watching The Walking Dead on expert satellite and see something I recognize from Atlanta. And while a lot of Tyler Perry’s shows are shot mostly on a stage, there are a lot of references to Atlanta throughout the show. It’s pretty cool. The city of Atlanta has done a great job of offering tax incentives to film shows here and it seems like a lot of TV and film producers have noticed. It’s become a fairly regular occurrence to drive through town and see a notice of filming posted. I’ve seen Atlanta displayed in a lot of movie previews recently, and I’m looking forward to seeing what other shows start filming here as the word spreads that Atlanta is a great city as a backdrop! I’ve known it for a long time, and I’m glad to see so many other people noticing.

Cronos

I finally had a chance to check out the Criterion BluRay release of Cronos this past week. This twisted horror tale definitely received the royal treatment for this release. The video transfer is absolutely amazing. It maintains a nice amount of grain while featuring excellent depth of color and clarity. The audio transfer is excellent as well.

As a fan of most everything Guillermo Del Toro has done, I can honestly say that this was one of my favorites. It's a simple story that wears it's influences on it's sleeve. That's not necessarily a bad thing either.  While watching it, I felt like I was watching a lengthened classic episode of the Twilight Zone. It thrives and succeeds at taking a simple tale and adding a depth that most current films lack.

As one of his first films, I was dumbfounded at the quality of this film. Del Toro definitely had a vision and held strong while developing this signature film. The film was quite obviously made on a tight budget. However, this only strengthened Cronos with a strong sense of old school storytelling and vintage style graphics work.

If you've never seen Cronos, do yourself a favor and watch it immediately. You'll definitely enjoy it.

Burning Palms

Meant to be a black comedy, Burning Palms serves as an exploration of extreme fetishism amidst the abberant backdrop of Los Angeles. The film features some skillful  casting choices in a film that freely exploits every pathetic character. While I enjoyed a few laugh out loud moments, I had to question the world we live in and how the behavior portrayed in this movie is sickeningly realistic.

Burning Palms features five different stories, each with it's own freakish tale of twisted morality and savagery. My favorite features Nick Stahl and Zoe Saldana in an intense tale of perverted infatuation. While some may find it hard to watch, I found this to be the most convincing and realistic of all these modern tragedies. Dylan McDermott and the ever so annoying Lake Bell are featured in other segments.

Insightful but corrupt is how I would best define Burning Palms. If dark humor is your game, you'll definitely enjoy this movie. It is currently available on Netflix. 

Red

Last night I had the chance to see the 2008 film Red for the first time. This is an off kilter revenge film that stars Brian Cox and a redeemed Tom Sizemore. The film is unlike any other vengeance movie I've ever seen. The case for revenge is quite different than what we've all seen in the past. It doesn't feature a family being murdered and it doesn't feature a muscular lead bearing automatic weapons. This is a character driven study that enters the realm of greatness as Brian Cox stars in one of his best roles to date.

Browsing through Netflix I discovered this little gem and I'm extremely glad I did. The movie is slow paced at times. However, the pacing is genuine and serves the purpose of developing this small town story of violence and redemption. If you're expecting over glorified violence and gore, don't look here. This is a solid piece of independent film making at it's best. Definitely check it out.