Happy Father’s Day! In honor of this groundbreaking article, which states, “Jude Law’s character in 2006 film The Holiday has been named the hottest film father in a recent poll,” I would like to talk about some Jude Law films that I’ve actually seen and liked (or would like to see, at least). Turns out he hasn’t done that many movies that pertain to my interests personally, but hey, he’s hot so who cares, right?

1. Alfie Just Kidding.

1. eXistenZ This might be the first Jude Law movie I’ve seen, and it’s certainly one I’d recommend. This sci-fi thriller is directed by the great David Cronenberg and has Jude playing a marketing trainee, stuck fleeing with the world’s leading virtual reality game creator, played by Jennifer Jason Leigh, after a group of people try to kill her. I don’t want to give much away about the movie, but if you like weird stuff or are familiar with Cronenberg’s work, I would check it out. If not, proceed with caution.

2. Gattaca And I guess this must be the best Jude Law movie I’ve seen. In another flick from his sci-fi days, Jude plays a genetically superior man to Ethan Hawke’s character (big stretch), who is not genetically engineered like the rest of them and therefore gets crapped on by modern society. Therefore, Hawke sets out to impersonate Law, whose suicide-attempt left him paralyzed from the waist down and super bummed out. Luckily, money solves everything, so Law is all set to sell his identity to Hawke, which isn’t quite as easy as either of them may be hoping for. With a classy blend of drama and sci-fi, this movie stretches far beyond a simple popcorn flick. Highly recommended.

3. The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus Perhaps best known as Heath Ledger’s final and unfinished performance, Jude, along with Johnny Depp and Colin Farrel stepped in to play the remainder of Ledger’s character for the scenes he was not able to complete. These scenes take place inside the imaginarium, which is an imaginary world created by Doctor Parnassus as part of a traveling show to the public. Directed by another great, Terry Gilliam, this movie is certainly a trip.

4. Repo Men I haven’t seen this movie yet, but was glad to hear Jude was revisiting the sci-fi genre, something that could have helped his street cred 5 or so years ago. As far as I know, the movie is set in the future where artificial organs can be bought on credit. Need a new heart? Sure, just sign this form. Six months later… Oh, you can’t pay for it? We’ll have to send Jude Law and Forest Whitaker in to get that heart back. Sorry dude! The movie should be something along those lines.

5. Sherlock Holmes This is another on my to-see list. This is one of those movies I’ll have to force myself to see, however. I mean, I’m sure it will be fun and entertaining, but I’ve never cared about Sherlock Holmes in the first place. Still, it’s nice to see Jude playing a character that isn’t a sex-god (unless we have differing opinions on the character of Doctor Watson… I guess I should see the movie before I talk). Plus, Robert Downey Jr’s been hitting it out of the park lately, with films like Zodiac and Iron Man. I hear the chemistry between Law and Downey is legit, so hopefully the movie will not disappoint!

It’s been an interesting week for me, to say the least.  Last Monday I had a flat tire on I5 on my way to work. The wonderful Washington State DOT came and changed my tire for me so I didn’t have to fear for my life doing so on the side of a very busy freeway. New tires and many hundreds of dollars later, I get a partial day off from work to recharge a bit. The following day was to be “less exciting” according to my wife, so just before I came home from work I did a faceplant into a heavy metal barricade (and a little bit of pavement), cutting a rather large gash into my finger. A trip to the ER at Swedish and two hours, three x-rays and four stitches later I was on my way home. Oh yes, very uneventful.

Thanks to my lovely staff (who apparently took some foreign language courses in my absence), I was able to get five whole days off in a row to recuperate. You may not know this, but after you crash into something with your face, many other body parts hurt like… a LOT! And while you’re sitting there on the couch, there’s not much to do but watch movies.  Here’s a sampling* of how I spent most of the last week:

Traffic:  In this unique drama which follows the lives of a drug dealer, a judge appointed to a prominent role in the war on drugs, his cocaine-addicted daughter and a man who drives the Department Of Transportation truck that connects their stories together, we are taken on a harrowing ride from which we may never return.

M*A*S*H: One of my all-time favorite movies of all time, Robert Altman’s masterwork of an anti-war war movie set in Korea, but obviously a statement about the Vietnam war. When a young soldier (played by an even younger Ron Howard) falls on the front lines, he’s sent to the 4077th MASH to get patched up and finds the irreverent doctors and nurses just the thing to distract him from the splint on his finger and the dull ache in his bones.

Falling Down:  Michael Douglas is having a bad day. He just wants to get home to see his daughter on her birthday. Unfortunately, nothing seems to be going right for him. First there’s the traffic jam, then the unhelpful Korean shopkeeper who “doesn’t give change” and then he takes a nosedive onto the sidewalk in front of a busy restaurant. It’s pretty much downhill from there.

Legends Of The Fall:  A man and his three sons (Anthony Hopkins, Henry Thomas, Brad Pitt and Aidan Quinn) live in the Rocky Mountains of Montana at the beginning of the 20th century. When Henry brings with him his fiancé (Julia Ormand), the fellowship of the three brothers is about to shatter. The eldest son falls in love with the girl, she falls in love with the third son and the father falls and cuts his hand badly. Things get worse when the three brothers decide to join the first World War in Europe in 1914, leaving their father to recover on his own.

There were others, but these really stuck with me for some reason. Here’s hoping you all had a much better week than I did!

*Note: this is a completely fabricated list. I actually did watch a bunch of stuff, like The Rock, Rescue Dawn, Zodiac, Codename: The Cleaner, Dungeons & Dragons, a whole bunch of Daria and a bunch of other stuff that all seems to run together.

It almost rhymes if you say it out loud. Many of you may not know that at the same time I was becoming an internet sensation, I was also exploring the open road on my way to see San Francisco. What a cool city. Much better than some other well-known California cities (I’m looking at you, Redding…). I didn’t really do anything special while I was there, other than walk around, jump on the cable cars, and eat as much food as possible, but the city was certainly a sight to see (unlike you, Redding…).

I’m not the only one to find San Francisco a fun place to look at, as evidenced by the array of movies that have been shot here throughout history. Any movies shot in Redding? I sure hope not! So anyway, here are 5 pretty sweet movies that happened to be shot in Sunny San Francisco!

1. Milk. If you’ve ever seen James Franco kiss Sean Penn, you’ve probably seen this movie. Directed by Gus Van Sant, Milk covers the story of Harvey Milk, the first openly-gay elected official in California. Featuring a great cast of Penn, Franco, Josh Brolin, Diego Luna, and Emile Hirsch, and shot right where the action happened 30 years ago, Milk is both a captivating story and a really interesting look at 1970s Frisco.

2. Zodiac. Directed by the great David Fincher, Zodiac is another true story from the 70s about the Zodiac killings in the Bay Area and the local cartoonist who becomes obsessed over trying to track the mysterious murderer down. Yep, it’s basically Scooby Doo. Beautifully shot around San Francisco, with the equally beautiful Jake Gyllenhaal and Robert Downy Jr, this movie will draw you in and spit you out with its greatness.

3. The Last Waltz. Technically, it was shot at Winterland Arena in San Fran, and it also happens to be the greatest concert film ever… probably. Directed by the up-and-coming Martin Scorsese, this film features the final concert of the amazing band, The Band, along with friends Bob Dylan (look for the crazy hair), Eric Clapton, Neil Diamond, and a bunch of other dudes, this film is a must see, must hear, awesomeness of awesome.

4. Full House. Sure, it’s not a movie, but if you ask me, Full House is San Francisco.

5. Dirty Harry. Clint Eastwood. He don’t play by the rules. He don’t like serial snipers. He like justice. What better way to see San Francisco than by having Clint Eastwood kick ass and take names all over it?

So there you go, 5 ways to see San Francisco (or you could get off your lazy ass and just go there like I did). Better yet, come on down and see if we have any of these flicks in stock, then purchase or rent them! Buy and Sell!