Dear Google…stop it!  You are getting close to making a hypocrite out of me.  Yes, I am the one who said, “All I need a phone for is to make calls, why should I get a smart phone?” You and your stupid Nexus 1.

My phone is more than three years old and it has been a great phone.  Sure, it has the usual quarks that any phone older than two years might have, as in a shorter battery life, and a bad habit of unexpectedly shutting down.  I look at it the same way I look at my car, sure it would be nice to have something shinier, but for now, I’m fine. 

I had little interest in the iphone craze, as I believe AT&T to be an evil, evil company.  I thought it might be nice to have a Blackberry, but still failed to understand why I needed internet on a phone when I already pay for it at my house.  I was even less enthusiastic about the Palm Pre as the lady on the commercials freaked me out a bit. 

So why is it that I can’t stop looking at the Nexus 1?  I can’t watch enough videos on it, and I have less regard for my own phone, though up until now I have been completely content with it. 

I am officially putting you on notice, as I need you to stop being so awesome.  Maybe scale it back a few bars.  Make the Nexus 1 like automakers have made hybrids.  Ugly.  I cannot afford your new phone…yet part of me thinks that I can’t afford to not have it.  Now I know how my wife feels about the Kindle.

Anyway….

I finally got the chance to sit down and watch “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs” a few days ago.  Regarding other animated movies that come from Sony Pictures, I had little expectations.  ‘Open Season’ and ‘Surf’s Up’ were both average in their story telling, though overall, good films.  The fun factor was evident in both films, and the humor was silly enough for children, but sophisticated enough for any adult with a sarcastic sense of humor.  The problem is that I have no desire to watch those films ever again…and to me, this is a test of what makes a movie great.  Part of me thinks that they felt more like a high budget cartoon, than an actual movie…and the polish that Dreamworks and Disney have added to their movies just wasn’t there. 

Though I cannot speak for how well it sticks to the story of the book, as I have yet to read it, I can say that “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs” is quite good.  It is a fun film, over the top in just about every way imaginable, beautiful, creative, and even a bit meaningful.  It is a story that addresses the need people have to be appreciated for who they are, and though this is an idea reused constantly by most films that “try” to be meaningful, this theme was not over the top and handled in a way that most people could appreciate. 

Like the other Sony animated efforts, sarcasm was a driving force behind the movie, and yet it wasn’t reliant upon punch lines and quirky characters to make it funny.  Even the most quirky of characters, Officer Earl as voiced brilliantly by Mr. T, had a great level of depth and sophistication through all the tough talk and bizarre ramblings. 

I have to admit that I am a Mr. T fan, not because I think he is a great actor, but because he is very similar to the character he portrayed in “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs”, as he is an over the top character who is also endearing and sincere. His role in this film, though small, made the entire movie for me as it is his lines like “I know we all blame Flint for this. In fact, the minute he steps out of that car, I'm gonna slap him in the face.” are the ones I remember most. 

Perhaps I was most impressed with how the “over the top” antics of Officer Earl and his “I love my son!!!!”  exclamations were seamlessly woven into the very story of the lead character Flint and his desire to hear his dad say the same thing.