DVDs rented over break

'Hoodwinked'- great kid flick, funny, Jim Bulushi's German accent sucked, though **1/2 (out of 5*)
'Dolphin Tail'- excellent "feel-good" story no matter what age, plus Ashley Judd ***1/2

'The Change-Up'- raunchy and formulaic but funny (if you're a 14-30yr old male), first time I didn't like the character Jason Bateman played, actually I disliked both characters he played in this one. *1/2

'One Day'-  Spoiler alert, this is NOT a "romantic COMEDY," still it's a decent chick-flick and as usual  Anne Hathaway not only looks beautiful, she acts beautiful. ****

'Larry Crowne'- Tom Hanks really is the ultimate "every man." This one is for every "nice" guy who was always frustrated by the fact that Molly Ringwald always ended up with the rich, hot, popular guy in those 80's movies (oops, did I spoil it?). Plus it's got a great message about staying positive and rolling with the punches in hard times. And Cedric the Entertainer is a kill too. Not sure why real critics panned it, maybe because it has a narrow appeal to lower class, middle-aged, guys who believe in working hard and treating people decently. Makes me want to go out and buy a scooter. ****1/2

Is this Heaven?

‘Field of Dreams’ was on AMC last night and I was ballin' again (like every time I see it) when John Kinsella turns to walk back into the corn and Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner) stops him and says, "hey- uh Dad? Ya wanna have a catch?"

So my wife looks at me cross-eyed and says "it must be a guy thing!"
Obviously, Sheez woman- hello!!! God/the universe/a mysterious voice in his cornfield- whoever uses Ray's hero, 60’s protest writer Terence Mann (played by James Earl Jones) and his dad's hero, Shoeless Joe Jackson to help him learn to forgive himself for being a dumb kid and to forgive his dad for not being perfect. Ray’s 36 years old and still beating himself up for hurting his dad by calling Joe Jackson a “cheater” since his Chicago White Sox were accused of throwing the 1919 World Series.

‘Field of Dreams’ was based on the book ‘Shoeless Joe’ by Canadian author WP Kinsella, who got his Masters at the University of Iowa through the famous Iowa Writer’s Workshop.

Kinsella’s book and Kostner’s movie are about male friendships, it's about baseball, it's about redemption, it's about realizing that what you thought were your dreams when you were young aren't necessarily what you really wanted or even what you're called to do. Doctor “Moonlight” Graham, from Chisholm, Minnesota discovered that he made a infinitely more of a difference as a small town doctor than he ever could’ve as a major leaguer. Terence Mann (J.D. Salinger in the book) discovers sort of the opposite- that he can’t escape being a writer or a leader no matter how sick he is of people seeking him out.

And dog gone it, it's about a heavenly place called Iowa. Isn’t any movie that has all that be enough to make a grown man cry. Why can't women get that?

More than anything else, ‘Field of Dreams’ is about how guys relate to each other through talking about sports. I was a late bloomer where this goes. I barely follow baseball even though I love it. Our esteemed publisher Brad Swanson could probably tell you far more about any team, player or ballpark this season than I ever could. I still really only watch maybe two or three pro and college football games a year, yep Thanksgiving and New Year’s. But never the less, if you want to avoid sex, politics, and religion and you’ve exhausted weather and farm implement or car parts, there’s always sports. Guys just can’t bring themselves to talk about shoes or hairstyles.

As long as I’m talking baseball, I may as well mention that my hometown D’Backs are starting in the National League Championship Series against the Colorado Rockies as I write this. I can only hope that they’re headed for the World Series as you read this. If they are, my wife and two of my three girls will be very frustrated with me when I get home from work for a week or so. Our youngest, Annamarie, loves to sit on the couch and watch baseball with me. She’s only 2, maybe she doesn’t know that it’s not a girly thing to do yet.

I’d like to take this opportunity to apologize for my Diamondbacks beating the humility, shame, and healthy Midwestern self-effacing inferiority complex back into the Chicago Cubs that all Americans love and admire them for. No seriously, for Arizona's sake, I'm not guilty, but for history, mythology, baseball and Chicago's sake I am sorry. I was secretly rooting for them. Everybody was, but- just like there has been for the last 99 years, there's always NEXT year. Come on, who told them they could stop filling the proverbial role of Charlie Brown anyway? Am I right?