Be weary of any man who keeps a pig farm.

Mission Statement:
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Hello, and welcome to the inaugural edition of For Your Consideration. My name is Aaron Hale. I have two other blogs I maintain as well as For Your Consideration. Piss and Vinegar, which is more or less about politics both social and democratic. It covers pretty much anything that enrages me, or piques my interest.

The other blog is updated daily, and it's called Days Gone By. It's a chronicle of my journey into taking medication for mental health issues, as well as some stories. It's a bit more personal than either of these.

So you may be asking, "Why so many blogs, do you do anything else besides write?" The answer is I'm an aspiring writer. I'm working on a book of short stories that I hope to have published, as well as a full length novel and a comic book. Why so many blogs? Well, practice makes...less shitty. Also, the reason for three different blogs is because I want to differentiate, and be a little more versatile than just one subject, one blog.

So I'll be writing this blog with my good buddy Miles, who lives out in the Bay Area of California. He completes me. In a brotherly way, not a "It's-my-turn-to-wear-the-cowboy-hat" kinda way.

For Your Consideration will focus mostly on movies, but also touch on other interests of ours such as comic books, books, tv and music.

At least from my end it won't be a review site exactly, but rather just talking about what I like, what I hated, etc. I personally don't believe in reviewing anything because honestly...when was the last time you gave a shit about what someone else said about a new movie? Has it ever really helped you decide if you were gonna buy into something? I only trusted one review one time, and it was a positive review some shitty fashion mag posing as an "alternative" music rag gave a high score to a shitty album from the band Recover. It was one of the worst pieces of shit my ears have ever been assaulted by.

FYC will not only focus on new material, but also what we feel are classics (either classic hits, or classic shits) as well a weekly Top 5 for both Miles and I.

This is also not a gossip column. We aren't trying to be TMZ or WWTDD do. But if something completely asinine pops up, or Tom Cruise was right about Scientology...it'll be touched upon.

Also, FYC will also be instituting in the future an advice column. When thats up and running, please be sure to email us your questions!

Basically, the best way to describe what my input for FYC will be is...a fuck you opus and homage to pop culture. Enjoy!
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These past few weeks I've been hitting the theaters pretty hard. This month I've caught Yes Man, Seven Pounds, Four Christmases, Nothing Like the Holidays, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Slumdog Millionaire, Religulous and Bedtime Stories. Not all have been exactly in the theaters. I'm not the biggest fan of Holiday movies, but I wound up catching a few of them because a friend wanted the company. So why not.

Yes Man, Jim Carrey's new flick I felt was a pretty modest attempt. God help me, I'm a huge fan of Carrey's. Not only his physical/slap-stick comedies, but also his more serious attempts. That being said, this movie is pretty modest but ultimately predictable. I still feel it's worth watching because its a return to form for Jim Carrey, or at least an attempt too.

Zooey Deschanel is always fun to watch on screen, if not just for her plain Jane yet ultimately attractive addition to any movie. Somethings really inviting about her, and I really like her work. I hope to see her get some better roles in the future, because she's untapped gold.

I liked the movie alright, it's a good little filler flick to pass the time but I wouldn't ever own it. It's got some genuine laughs. It just felt, though, that Jim Carrey was a bit rusty. I'd still rather see him in a role like this than ever see him do another '23'.

Will Smith's 'Seven Pounds' is a pretty decent attempt. I really think Smith has a lot of talent, and I'm not sure why this movie has been as panned as it has been. Not a typical ending really, but it was still pretty predictable. Where it falls the flattest, I felt, was that the minor characters weren't fleshed out enough, and it felt too rushed.

Nothing Like the Holidays was absolutely fucking abysmal. I like John Leguizamo, perhaps to a fault, but this vehicle has to be the one that ends his career. I just don't see how he can ever do anything that isn't animated, or Ice Age related from here on out. At least he's always got his stand up career to fall back on.

Speaking of stand up, Bill Maher's documentary, "Religulous" is really interesting. I think it's a good answer to Ben Stein's documentary earlier this year, "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed." The thing is, Maher comes off completely too pompous. He's obviously intelligent, I don't think there is any doubting that, but he's always struck me as a Dennis Miller type, where he's the only one who gets half his references. I've never been a fan of Maher's stand up really, but this is definitely worth checking out.

His judgmental tone and condemning way, the whole "you're wrong and stupid" approach (or at least thats how it feels at times) can be a bit polarizing. However as a whole, this is completely intriguing, fascinating and you find yourself stunned at times at how some of these religious people really do think. I hope Maher continues to make documentaries...anything to get Michael Moore to shut the fuck up, or at least to get people to forget about him.

Some of the movies I caught have been absolutely awful. Absolutely fucking awful (Nothing Like the Holidays) to mediocre time killers (Yes Man, Four Christmases, Bedtime Stories) but there was some salvation. A lot of salvation, actually.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button was an amazing movie. I really liked the short story written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, and I feel the movie did it a lot of justice. Brad Pitt really shines in this film, and has allowed me to forgive him for Troy, and the last two "Ocean's".

However to be quite honest, Slumdog Millionaire (Danny Boyle's new movie) is amazing. Hands down it is the best new movie I've seen all year. Not only is Slumdog a feather in the cap of Danny Boyle, its a feather in the cap for not only Western Cinema, but Bollywood as well. It not only bridges the gap, but it effortlessly tells several stories; one of a true love story surviving every obstacle thats been thrown into it's spokes, but also one of a nation trying to move into the 21st Century. It's an intense, often funny, poignant look at not only a personal evolution of several characters--but a Nations as a whole.

I think the only possible contenders this movie truly has for 'Best Picture' have to be Clint Eastwood's new movie, 'Gran Torino' and the aforementioned 'Curious Case of Benjamin Button'. Gran Torino looks awesome. What is it about Eastwood being the wine of iconic actors? He only seems to get better with age.

Thats about all for now. I'm gonna leave you with the Top 5 Theme of the week. Make sure to check Miles' post and theme out too, and leave your comments. We would love to hear feedback. If you'd like, you can email me at: aaron.foryouconsideration@gmail.com with suggestions (even for Top Five themes!) or anything else you'd like to see discussed. Oh, and spread the word!

This weeks Top Five Theme: Movies I Grew Up With.
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5.) Indiana Jones (whole damned original troilogy):



Who can honestly say they didn't even like one of the original Indiana Jones' movies? Probably a communist, or someone who's just generally dissatisfied with their lives. Or wife-beaters. This movie sparked a love of fedora's and bull whips in a young man's eyes. I only wish to one day use said bull whip to teach Steven Speilberg and George Lucas not to hash out shitty remakes. Please Lucas, stop raping my childhood.

4.) Back to The Future (again, whole series):



"Marrtttyyyyyyyy!" An elderly mad genius abusing a DeLorean, flux compacitors, implied incest and Marty McFly. This trilogy had everything you could ever possibly want in a film.

3.) Ghostbusters:


Ghostbusters is a mater piece, no doubt about it. For its time, the special effects weren't too shabby, and its basically Bill Murray and Harold Ramis show. Ramis and Murray are the definition of 'epic duo' and when they came to the silver screen, they never did anything half-assed. With a great supporting cast, they made me realize that I too wasn't afraid of ghosts. Especially not Zuul or the Stay Puft Man. In fact, I'm fairly certain they're a bunch of punk asses.

2.) Dawn of the Dead (the Original):



This is a gory classic. I don't think theres any denying that, but what I appreciate mostly about this movie (especially now that I'm older) is it's subtle social commentary on consumerism, and our inhumane nature when survival is the only thing left to do . George A. Romero did so much more with a shoe-string budget than most of the people he's influenced (and they have a bottomless bankroll backing them). It also drove me to spend countless hours planning what I'd do in case the pending Zombie Apocalypse ever came my way.


1.) Star Wars (the original trilogy):


Speaking of George Lucas raping my childhood..Star Wars comes in at numero uno. Epic. Master piece. Untouchable. Firmly one of the solidifying reasons why I'm not so good with women.

But the story is untouchable. There isn't one weak link of an actor, and each performance is classic. The other trilogy really has no right to carry the Star Wars moniker, but the truth is...it had nowhere to go but down. It took Lucas two decades to try and continue on, and he couldn't do it any justice whatsoever.

The story will live on forever, and Star Wars has set a bar not only for sci-fi movies, but action-adventure and romantic movies as well.

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That's all for now, thanks for stopping by. Again, please spread the word.

See ya in the lobby.


-Aaron.