The First Annual Treymond Awards

Welcome to the most prestigious awards ceremony named after two 20-somethings that found it fun to name an award after themselves: The Treymond's. Here’s what is about to happen. We have 6 categories: Best Movie Not Nominated for Anything At All, Best Movie You Didn’t See, Best Licensed Soundtrack, Best Scene, Best Comic Book Movie, and Best Trailer from 2014 and for 2015. Each of us will nominate two, then we will pick a winner. If clarification about a category is needed, we will provide it. So, let’s stop with the pish posh tiddley winkly Tom Foolery. Here is the first ever Treymond Awards, presented by The International Society for Bearded Cinematic Geniuses: Lincoln loved the theater and we think you should too!
Raymond: Ok, so first category here is the Best Movie Not Nominated For Anything (otherwise known as the YMCA League Make You Feel Better category). My first nominee is the victim of a crime worse than J-Walking and almost as bad as plagiarism is made out to be when writing a 5th grade book report on "Where the Red Fern Grows": Edge of Tomorrow. The anticipation for this movie in my mind was zero, and maybe that is why I loved it so much. It was clever, the aliens were something I haven't really seen before, and Emily Blunt showed me why she deserved the Wonder Woman casting (wait, she wasn't? Well this is awkward). It was a really solid movie, and one Tommy Cruise needed more than speed. 

My other nominee is Chef. Holy cow, this could have easily made it into the big show as a 9th or 10th Best Picture nominee. The soundtrack? Incredible. Direction? Solid. The film: amazing. I was floored by this film, either because it was so amazing or it made me realize that I shouldn't settle for Mickey D's McRibs.

Trevor: That's right Raymond. Anybody who loves Tom Cruise will love watching him kick some alien nads. If you hated Tom Cruise, this is the best comedy you'll ever see, because you get to watch him die over and over again in several gruesome ways. This is truly the best remake of Groundhog Day ever put on screen.

Now for my 1st of 2 nominations. Raymond, I love action. Whether it's the "Merica **** Yeah" action from Die Hard or that one good scene in Godzilla, there's always a special place in my heart for watching people get compound fractures for our amusement. This nomination is so good, you don't even realize the movie isn't even in English.

Raid 2

This is the best directed action movie to come out in a long long time, and it's so fun. Sure,

the story is all over the place, but it doesn't matter. The opening Prison fight in the restroom is a master class in action directing...and it's the worst fight in the whole movie. Each action scene builds on the other one leading to a climax that is truly unforgettable (That's what she said). It should've been nominated for Best Directing and Best Foreign Film. Everyone

needs to see this.

My next nomination is the best episode of the Twilight Zone to be released this year.
Enemy
The director of Prisoners (one of my favorite movies in 2013) brings back Jake Gyllenhaal in this really trippy movie where he sees a man in a movie who looks exactly like him. Upon meeting him, they realize they have the same voice, birth marks, scars, everything.
Other than that, I can't spoil anything for you. I will say it has one of the most "OMGWTF" endings you'll ever see. Not like, in a David Fincher OMGWTF sense, but an "I don't know what is real anymore and OMGWTF" sense.
Closest thing we've gotten to a Hitchcockian film in recent years, even down to the closing credits.It'll most likely be the most underrated movie of this decade, because I don't think anyone has heard of it other than hardcore Gyllenhaal fans like myself. Everyone should check it out.

Raymond: I just bought and watched it the other night. I was so confused and did not care that I was confused. I love this trippy thing. I need these trips ever since I quit acid.

Trevor: Acid is a hard thing to leave. Listening to Pink Floyd will never be the same again. And the winner for best Movie not nominated for an Oscar is...

Raymond: Chef! Jon Favreau was cooking something good with this flick, and it gets him his first ever Treymond.

Trevor: Category: Scene of the year
There were a lot of really awesome scenes this year Raymond, even in movies that weren't so good. And that's why we're honoring scenes that made us say "woooah dude"
My 1st nominee: I think we can all agree that the Mockingjay should not have been split into 2 movies, but in my opinion, of the part 1s that do exist, this is definitely the best one in recent memory. And it's because of scenes like this one...

I don't know where to begin with this one. This song encompasses the entire series. The way the song builds on itself as a hopeless song turns into a building force of nature and culminates in one of the greatest orchestra swells since "Ecstasy of Gold" in The Good The Bad and The Ugly. When they attack the dam coupled with the explosion, it just leaves you with a sense of **** yeah! Fight the power! And then you'll listen to Rage Against The Machine for hours.

Raymond: Oh my, I forgot how epic that was. This was a tricky scene too, because with the surge of people towards the dam, it could have easily turned into a cheesy "Let's storm the castle garrr gerrrr blahhhh" that happened in X-Men: The Last Stand. Instead, I got goosebumps.

My nominee here is one that combines humor and pure sweetness. I'll just let Jim Croce talk for me...

If I had time in a bottle, I would go back into time and make X3 never exist. This scene was as epic as it gets and more hilarious than Tammy (I mean, that's not tough, though). The special effects here are astounding. I just could gush over this all day, almost as much as water pouring from sprinklers onto a fast moving human being. All I can say is, good luck Avengers. Top this!

Trevor: I'm sure Ultron singing some Pinocchio will more than make up ground.

Raymond: There's no strings that can hold us down...from picking another scene as a nominee! 

Trevor: Yeah, Quicksilver takes it. I have a worthy honorable mention though. 

The 2001 music was such a bold choice and it really added an unexpected layer of tense feelings especially since the movie dragged for so long in the middle. This was probably my favorite scene in the movie, and it helped create one of the best teaser trailers ever.

Raymond: If we had a category for best trailer, this may get my nomination. Alas, this is one for best scene though. So, do we have a winner? (Yes, we crowned the winner for X-Men. Congrats!) 

Trevor: We could do best trailer. Why not? 

Raymond: Genius! 

Trevor: We'll do best trailer for a movie coming out in 2015 as a segue to this coming year PLUS a category for best trailer for a movie in 2014. I already have both picks. 

2014 Movie: Teaser for this masterpiece. 

The music cue at 0:39 and the final shot is absolutely chilling.

2015 pick: It's not Star Wars...

Raymond: That is one mother of a trailer. I have never seen a more epic, angry man named Max in my life.
Like I said (and what brought this category up), my 2014 one was definitely Godzilla. 

For 2015, I'm going with one that I definitely didn't consider beating up family members to watch because they were hogging the family computer on Thanksgiving weekend................

Trevor: :)
That trailer blew my mind. Practical effects. A better R2 design. Airplanes over water. 

Raymond: Genius! 

Trevor: AND THE MILLENNIUM FALCON UPSIDE-DOWN CAMERA SHOT WITH THE TAI FIGHTER GOING *NAAAAAAARROOOOOOO*

Raymond: Pew Pew! 

Trevor: Plus i heard J.J. is doing something completely different from what's already been written, so I'm really excited to be surprised. Plus, it has Andy Serkis narrating, that's awesome. AND THAT AWESOME NEW LIGHTSABER THAT STEPHEN COLBERT BRILLIANTLY EXPLAINED WHY IT WAS AWESOME. 

Raymond: Honestly, Apes was epic. It got me excited for the apes movie (although I never saw it.) Star Wars has to win for the trailers we've had for movies this year (thus far). Moving on now to the next category.....

Trevor:  Nominees for Best Robot!!
The Interstellar Smart-*** robots, Baymax in Big Hero 6, The baby in American Sniper, and Matt Damon in Interstellar.
And the winner is...Mark Whalburg in Transformers!

Raymond: Honestly, I would nominate Clint Eastwood. How does that man keep going? 
Ok, on to Best licensed soundtrack. For me, there is a clear cut winner here that I will not use because it is blatantly obvious.
I'll nominate Chef first. The music is a character itself in this movie. How good is it? I bought this soundtrack on vinyl before watching the movie. Yes, it had a little bit to do with it only being $10 at the local FYE, but that's beside the point. It's latino flair is fun and puts spunk to the movie. It's as colorful and lively as the color and foods he makes! 

A second nominee is The Amazing Spiderman 2. Someone has to like this movie, so I'll give it a nod for the Pharell Williams, Phillip Phillips, and The Neighbourhood.

The Amazing Spiderman 2 is like the ugly puppy that's been abandoned. I have too big of a heart to leave it in the alley, so I'll keep it. 

Trevor: My nominee: Whiplash. It didn't get nominated because of a technicality-many of the jazz pieces are original compositions, but the overture for the movie is also great. Here's the jazz piece titled "Whiplash." 

It's absolutely bangin. 

Well, the winner is.....

No explanation needed. This blew the minds of nerds everywhere. 

Raymond: and common tree folk as well. 

So, lets go to the next category, shall we? Best film you didn't actually see? 

Trevor: Don't laugh....The Fault In Our Stars. 

Raymond: I'm laughing! OK. 

Trevor:  Over an 80% on Rotten Tomatoes. Other than the really odd Holocaust museum scene, it's actually supposed to be a really moving movie with well-rounded characters and a powerhouse performance from Shailene Woodley. 

But I really wish I could've seen Top Five. 

Raymond: Hmm, intersting. My top I didn't see were first off...Whiplash. Yes, I'm a film geek and I never watched it. i'm ashamed. i am in the corner now on self imposed time out. 

Trevor: Oh ***** I forgot about Foxcatcher. 

Raymond: Me too! I think that takes the cake (sorry, Jennifer Aniston) as our top unseen movie, since, well, we both haven't seen it. Congrats on the Treymond, Mr. Magic Mike! 

Ok, on to the final category and probably the most debatable one here: Comic Book Film of the Year. 

Trevor: I feel like this is going to be a straight up debate. 

Raymond: The best comic book movie of this year has to be X-Men Days of Future Past.

Think about it: it is the perfect side step of terrible movies in history. You don't like Last Stand? Forget about it! Origins: Wolverine makes you cringe? Cry no more! From the opening credits that was Bryan Singer practically screaming "Hello Boys, I'm baaaack" to the time-in-a-bottle scene to the incredibly artistic ending shot of ole Wolvie waking up, it kept me glued to the screen with a riveting story, awesome effects, and great performances. Plus, it's the first time Storm does anything useful. That's a nice touch.

Trevor: That's nice. And yes, Quicksilver does get 5 MeowMeowBeenz. The real winner here is Captain America: Winter Soldier.

But you're talking about saving a franchise, which arguably, First Class already did. Winter Soldier did something much greater. It saved the MCU from crashing and burning, AND it single-handedly kept Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D relevant. That show sucked until this movie, and then Winter Soldier came out, and then the quality shot through the roof.

Anyway, Winter Soldier finally grounds the MCU back into reality by telling a very relevant story about the dangers of something like the NSA woven perfectly in between kick-ass fight scene after kick-ass fight scene. The fight on the boat was incredible. Plus, we FINALLY got to see Nick Fury be awesome! That car chase was the best this year not counting the one in Raid 2. The elevator scene was Amaze-balls!! Also, the big twists for people like me who never read the comics were so shocking and incredible.
The movie also had some great dialogue between Captain America and Falcon, even Black Widow finally got her showcase.
You have to remember, Phase 2 included Iron Man 3 which was disappointing, Thor 2 which was only not the worst thing in the world thanks to Loki, and the TV show was starting off really poorly. This did the most for the MCU since the first Iron Man, and I would argue that this also got people excited for X-Men and Guardians because before Winter Soldier, there were A LOT of people saying the superhero market was becoming saturated. Winter Soldier shut them up and X-Men and Guardians became huge successes, and it would not have happened without the greatness that was Winter Soldier.

Raymond: I would agree that Cap helped X-Men, but I still believe that X-Men DoFP could have done just as well without the Captain. What really got me more than anything else was the pure cinematic quality that we got from Singer and the gang. The shots felt more like a legitimate film in this than most comic book movies get. I'll go back to that scene with Quicksilver and the final scene with Wolverine. Those shots were amazing cinematic quality, comic books or not. Captain was good, but I thought it was rather solid, but I didn't get as into it as most did. It was fun, it was thrilling, but I found X-Men able to do it much better.

Trevor: X-Men DoFP is basically a dumbed down Terminator 2.
Winter Soldier raised the bar for American hand-to-hand combat and brought back the gritty action that the genre desperately needed. The Russo brothers gave such a life to all the characters. Plus, no way in a million years would I have thought I'd heard Ron Howard say "Hail Hydra".

Raymond: X-Men may have been a bit like Terminator, but where it could have gone very badly with time travel (like many many movies do), this one did it well. It explained what was happening and kept 2 parallel stories going with a clarity that was difficult to get right. I mean, some directors have trouble telling one story, or any story at all! (I'm looking at you, Michael Bay).
I'll give you that point about the action. I loved the down to earth style of Captain. That movie showed why (to that point) Captain's movies were my favorite.

Trevor: Winter Soldier made everyone go "Oh crap, I can take these seriously again" and X-Men really benefited from that. Both of these flooded into Guardians which became the Star Wars of this generation.
I'm calling it. I'm late for team trivia at Applebees.

Raymond: And I'm late for my candle-lit dinner. Ok, you got me: the light is the microwave and the dinner is a Hungy-Man meatloaf special. This is a split decision, so both muscle bound protein high men in tights get to go home with a coveted Treymond award! 

That was our Treymond Awards post! What are your thoughts? Comment below where you think we were wrong, where you thought we were right, or if you even read the entire thing! 

Tiny Terrific Trophy Time

The Academy. 

This title is one of the most prestigious and more fear inducing in all of the English language. I mean, think about it. A British man walks into the dark room. You can't escape. He simply states in a deep voice "The Academy is ready". Freaks me out. 

Shoot, the barista is seeing me shudder in fear and is now freaking out. Back to the post. Where were we? Oh yeah, right. Movies. 

The Academy awards will be handed out tonight, so what else should a mid-20s film geek do with his time than to tell you why they should be handed out to the people he wants them handed to?? I will go over four of the "Big Five" (best director/actor/actress/picture) and also cover the supporting actor/actress categories. I will give you the reason I believe the certain person should win. 

-Note- I am only choosing from the films I have seen myself. Those selections will be bolded (see what I did there?). Here we go! 

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS 

Patricia Arquette, "Boyhood" 

Laura Dern, "Wild"

Keira Knightley, "The Imitation Game"

Emma Stone, "Birdman"

Meryl Streep, "Into the Woods"

Winner: Patricia Arquette

In my opinion, this is one of the least thrilling categories this year. Meryl Streep is here because she was in something, I am convinced. Anyways, I would give it to Patricia Arquette in a close battle with Emma Stone. Why? Emma did a fantastic job (Birdman could easily sweep all the awards, in my opinion), but Boyhood was fantastic, and Patricia is a big reason for that. Her changes from early in the film to late as a character are amazing (almost as though she had 12 years to do it....wait....)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR 

Robert Duvall, "The Judge"

Edward Norton, "Birdman"

Ethan Hawke, "Boyhood"

Mark Ruffalo, "Foxcatcher"

J.K. Simmons, "Whiplash"

Winner: Edward Norton/JK Simmons

Like I stated above, Birdman could easily win it all for me. Every single person in that film played their hearts out. Edward Norton really surprised me in this film, mainly because he was the chief instigator of laughs throughout the picture! His subtly over the top performance as a boarder-line psycho method actor is so fantastic that it lifts it to new heights! Now, you may notice that I have Simmons on here too. 

"Wait, you said you're only picking from movies you have seen. You're breaking the rules!" 

Well, it's my blog and I'll cheat if I want to. 

From all that I have read, and the clips that I have watched, the only reason I am not picking Simmons as my outright winner here is because I did not get a chance to see his film. I am convinced he would blow me away. 

BEST ACTRESS

Marion Cotillard, "Two Days, One Night"

Felicity Jones, "The Theory of Everything"

Julianne Moore, "Still Alice"

Rosamund Pike, "Gone Girl"

Reese Witherspoon, "Wild"

Winner: Rosamund Pike

Now, granted, under my self imposed sanctions she is the only eligble winner in this category. This does not lessen her performance, however. Rosamund Pike, how can I say this? She...she could make Hannibal Lector call his mother from prison to tell her how scared he was of the new inmate. She makes the Joker look like your sweet old librarian that offers you sugar cookies that she baked for her dear grandson. This performance will go down as one of the truly horrifying in cinema history. The way she is able to turn on the charm and then seemingly instantaneously turn back on the crazy is incredible. She deserves to win this. 

 BEST ACTOR

Steve Carrell, "Foxcatcher"

Bradley Cooper, "American Sniper"

Benedict Cumberbatch, "The Imitation Game"

Michael Keaton, "Birdman"

Eddie Redmayne, "The Theory of Everything"

Winner: Michael "I'm Not Saying I'm Batman But I'm Birdman" Keaton

Look: he's hustling to the front to grab his Oscar now! 

Why? Why not Eddie Redmayne, who's performance as Stephen Hawking is spot on? Why not Benedict Cumberbatch and his chillingly accurate portayal in "Imitation"? Why not Bradley Cooper and his carbon copy of the true life Captain America? I'll let this excerpt from The Hollywood Reporter's article that is an interview of a longtime Academy voter say it for me: "What Keaton had to do was harder than what the others had to do because they had the benefit of playing real people. I mean, Eddie Redmayne did an amazing impression of Stephen Hawking, but Keaton created a character from whole cloth."

And that whole cloth was a beautiful tapestry. He was the perfect balance of tormented actor and reasonable human struggling to find his place. His work as the voice in his own head made it incredible to watch on screen. I cannot gush about this film enough. 

 BEST DIRECTOR

Alejando G. Inarritu, "Birdman"

Richard Linklater, "Boyhood"

Bennett Miller, "Foxcatcher"

Wes Anderson, "The Grand Budapest Hotel"

Morton Tyldum, "The Imitation Game"

Winner: Richard Linklater

Confused? I would be too. All I have done is tell you how Birdman is incredible. We have not even mention the fact that it is shot to look as though it is all one continuous shot; an incredible cinematic feat. What's even greater than that is making a film that is bare bones budget wise over 12 years. Think about that. What were you doing 12 years ago? I was 11 years old, just realized how incredible Top Gun was, and was busy thinking about how amazing it would be to be 13. 

Oh, that's when Ricky Linklater started this movie. The natural progression of his cast is amazing. The story is like a page from the family journal. It is an incredible cinematic feat that can be credited to it's creator and maker. Fantastic job, Richard. You've earned it bud. Alright alright alright. 

BEST PICTURE

"American Sniper"

"Birdman"

"Boyhood"

"The Grand Budapest Hotel"

"The Imitation Game"

"Selma"

"The Theory of Everything"

"Whiplash"

Winner: Birdman

Yes, Boyhood was a great feat. Yes, 'Mericuh freedom hoorah American Sniper. But what Birdman was as a creative force and masterpiece is something that is hard to top. I was speechless after watching this film in Athens a couple of months ago. Whether it was the score (a drum-set score, something I have not heard ever before), the unique one-shot aspect, or maybe it was the incredible performances put in by the amazing cast (Including Michael Keaton, Edward Norton, Emma Stone, Zach Galifianakis who could have easily been nominated), it does not matter. This film was solid and incredible from beginning to end. Fun, thought provoking, and an event that I certainly hope will hold up (only time will tell, but I am betting it will). This is my pick for Best Picture. 

What are your thoughts? What have you seen and who would you pick? 

Stay tuned for a post coming soon introducing the actual greatest awards: The Trevmonds! The most unique awards in cinema, featuring Trevor the Great and Powerful King and yours truly! 

The Far Too Long List of 2015 Films and Opinions On Them You Don't Care About

Personally, I hate most anticipated lists. There are a few reasons for this, I believe. One of those reasons being that since I am an Ohio sports' fan, I am conditioned to anticipate nothing so that I cannot be let down by my teams. (I was convincing my family that even with 5 seconds left in the National Championship against Oregon that tOSU could still manage to blow it). No anticipation means no let downs, right? 

Well, maybe, but for a pessimist I can be pretty optimistic. And being movie geek/film junkie, I cannot help but look forward to a few movies. So if you care to humor me, wonder where you may find me if I'm not in my apartment, here's a few that I'm looking forward to this upcoming year. Instead of providing a full recap of what the movie is supposed to be, I'll link the trailer so you can experience this for yourself. I will then tell you why I'm kind of excited about these.  



The Hipster Category (Ones You Didn't Know Were Coming)

Chappie (March 6) 

Trailer Here

Why am I excited? 
Look, I am not really a big "Sci-Fi" guy, but I loved District 9. It was innovative, crazy, creepy, and exciting. After seeing the first trailer for this movie, I found myself laughing and loving this little robot. He's like the adorable little innocent puppy at your friend's house that's discovering the world for the first time and you cannot help but offer to pet or feed him...in this case you may feed him diesel fuel or WD-40. 

Plus Hugh Jackman has a mullet. That alone is enough to peak my interest. 

True Story (April 10)

Trailer Still Here

Why am I excited? 
Imagine this: Jonah Hill stars as a bumbling reporter just recently fired for potentially fabricating a story. He gets a random call from an inmate played by James Franco, and the unlikely pair of con/reporter work together to see something bigger than themselves! Sounds like the next big comedy?  

Try the independent crime thriller of Sundance. This movie premiered to mostly positive reviews at the hub of indie film this year, and I'm excited about this. Jonah Hill showed in Moneyball that he can play the serious roles, plus James Franco is a stellar actor himself. Add in Felicity Jones fresh off an Academy nominated performance, an actually riveting story, and this could be one of the better films of the year! 

Southpaw (July 31)

There's no trailer yet, but here's a unique look from the set

Why am I excited? 
There is a lot of buzz around this film, and rightly so. The movie stars one of the hottest talents in the industry (Jake Gyllenhaal), some amazing talent in the supporting roles (Rachel McAdams and Forest Whitaker), plus the director of The Equalizer, Shooter, Tears of the Sun (one of the most underrated war movies IMO) AND Training Day is the one directing this movie. I loved Rocky, and I trust this crew to help make another boxing classic.  

The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (August 14)

Motion Picture and Sound here!

Why am I excited?
Quick! Name the other guy considered for the 007 role before Daniel Craig! If you guessed "Henry Cavill", you'd be correct! This is a remake of the 1964-67 spy series that lets us see what would happen if Cavill would have gotten that Bond role instead of Sean Connery, It's classy. It's lighthearted. It has my money. 
Also, fun fact: his co-star Armie Hammer was considered for the role of Batman. This is essentially an old-school Batman v Superman. Yay. 

The Stuff Of Legends (Or, What We've All Known About)

Avengers: Age of Ultron (May 1)
Trailer here

Sorry, I got confused. Here it really is.

Why am I excited? 
Explosions. Action. Slow-motion. Protein. As a guy, how couldn't I be excited? I know Michael Bay would agree!  
(plus, it helps us get ready to see the even greater Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice movie next year.) 
Honestly, I'm excited about this because it seems like I'm supposed to be excited about it. Yay stuff! 

Jurassic World (Jun 12)
Prehistoric Video here

Why am I excited? 
Listen, if heroes and action are tough to resist, then what happens when you throw dinosaurs in the mix? Awesome stuff happens! I'm throwing this into guilty pleasure territory. It'll be fun. Who doesn't want to see Star Lord (Chris Pratt) play with pet velociraptors? Ok, maybe you don't. But you can't resist....

Minions (July 10)
Bapoy Traibapoy 

Why am I excited? 
Bu ta na ma ka tulaliloo ti amo. Bable hana buttom baboi gelatooooooooo. Bee do bee do bee do bi do kampai. Sae bananonina. 

Mockingjay Part 2 (November 25)

Why am I excited? 
Part one was cool and the rest of the series is fun as well. Fun...that's not how the last movie was, but that was one heck of a cliff hanger to leave on. I'm ready to finish this series with a bang! 

Star Wars: the Force Awakens (December 18)

I almost fought my sister because she was wanting to use the computer on Thanksgiving for something other than watching this trailer. The trailer is enough to get you excited. Vroom vroom. cheeekkk cheeeeek. Star Wars. 


Now, what's the most anticipated movie for me going into 2015? This may surprise a lot of you, but...what's that? You hear it? It's like piano from a distant memory. It's....it's.....

The Peanuts Movie (November 6) 
Here's a trailer, you blockhead!

I can hear my grandma calling my mom to see if I want another Peanuts gang figurine. NO GRANDMA! 

Sorry. My therapist said I should be able to work through this.

But why am I so excited for this movie?
In 5th grade, I did a research project on Charles M. Schultz. When I was 8 years old, I cried when I heard there would be no more Peanuts comic strips. I spent hours at Cedar Point in the Charlie Brown store. God, baseball, applesauce, and Peanuts: this was my childhood in a nut shell (badum tiss).

When the first trailer dropped, I was more excited than a bald elementary student kicking a football for the first time. More excited than a beagle shooting down the red baron. More excited than a yellow bird meep meep meeping on a warm summer day. 

What's exciting to me is that this movie feels so much like the old cartoons, yet it is an inovative film by the type of animation used. It feels fresh yet familiar. This...this is what a reboot should feel like.

I'm very excited about this year in cinema, mainly because it will involve countless movies not on this list (Furious 7, Fant4stic to name a couple). What are you excited about? Comment below and let me know! 

-Raymond Morris

Pondering Life Moments: Get Off the Wall

This past week I was walking through our local extravagant mall with a friend of mine....ok, you got me. Let's rephrase that: 

I was killing time after work by going to the mall and looking at some records. FINE, YOU GOT ME. 

I had no life so I was wandering aimlessly through the rinky dink mall like a puppy through a Budweiser Super Bowl commercial. While I was hiding the plethora of Beatles vinyls around the store in the name of the Rolling Stones, I noticed an older couple follow a teen with a lovely Mohawk into the store. I thought nothing of this random scene until I heard the older man look to his wife and say "Wow, that is off the wall". 

This led me to ponder a moment. Why do we call something that is peculiar or unusual as "off the wall?"  Think about it. What all tends to be off of the wall? 

Chairs. 

Shoes. 

Chinchillas. 

Beatles records once they have been ruthlessly thrown across the store. 

How are these things "crazy?" Maybe I'm being too silly. Lets observe what is commonly on the wall then. 

Posters made to draw your attention to a movie. 

Signs that are intended to grab you and let you know about what a wicked deal they're having at Dunkin Donuts. 

A man in red and blue tights climbing like a spider, man. 

Graffiti.

"Sentence enhancing" words on the walls of a bathroom that, when quoted back to your Mother with your 4 year old lips, results in a quick slap to the face, grounding from your favorite Thomas the Tank Engine toys, and an immediate turn to your Father and a shout of "I TOLD YOU WE CAN'T LET HIM BE WITH THE JOHNSONS SO MUCH!"

These things are anything but normal (unless, of course, you're Stan Lee, in which case...more power to you along with more responsibility). For the rest of us though, what's normal is being off of a wall. Gravity has a funny way of keeping us nice and grounded as people and away from any semblance of levitation ON a wall. 

So here's my grand proposal: lets try and live a life that is truly off the wall. Why don't we look at our lives, and instead of seeing it as "boring", "mundane", and "blah", and see it as actually being off the wall? Why not make "off the wall" more of a celebration of what we take for granted instead of something that is bad or crazy? 

Live your life "off the wall", because is there really any other way of living it? 

-Raymond Morris 

Do You Trust Me?

A puffy hatted fellow with equally puffy pants and pointy shoes reaches out his hand to a beautiful young lady, and from the comfort of his levitating carpet asks "Do you trust me?" She smirks, and almost as though it was scripted to go down this way, Jasmine says "Yes", and away the two love birds fly into the Arabian night sky. 

Do you trust me? 

This scene from the greatest 2-D Disney movie ever made (don't agree? Get your own blog) is a magical and heart-melting moment that brings up an interesting question: do you trust me? Trust.

Believe it or not, this very idea of "trust" is something on which the majority of things in our society and our lives are built upon. You TRUST that when you give the dry-cleaner money and your suit that they will clean it to satisfactory levels and not simply spray it with skunk gunk and keep your cash. We TRUST that the better ingredients do in fact make a better pizza from a papa named John. We TRUST  that the bell ringer outside of K-Mart (I like shopping there better. What can I say? I like an underdog) is truly going to give the money to that charity and not just use it to purchase the newest season of Vampire Diaries on DVD. We TRUST that the person we just said those three words that are hard to say will in fact reciprocate the feelings and actually mean it. Trust is something that hits all of us in one way or another. 

We place trust in things/persons that we find to be "worthy" or our trust or things/persons that we feel confident enough in to do the things or be the person they claim to do or be. Being an Ohio sport's fan, you can imagine that I have some pretty ridiculous trust issues. "I won't stop until I bring a title back to Cleveland", so LeBron heads to South Beach to win 2 titles (I don't blame him. I have YET to eat a good Ohio orange). Being a number 1 ranked football team means you can trust them to win a National Championship, but when the opportunity arises we prefer to lose every chance we get. 

And don't even get me started on baseball. Good grief...

What may be worse than blindly misplacing our trust is knowing about a trustworthy thing and then choosing to go another way. Imagine going in to take an exam at school. You get to class with your #2 pencils and equally sharp intellect and get settled in to your nice hard chair. As the teacher hands out the exams, she makes an interesting announcement. "Today, I have the answers to the questions on my desk. If you would like them, you may use them. Good luck." At the same time, the guy behind you taps you on the shoulder. "Bro, my little cousin gave me her answers to this test at her 5th birthday party yesterday. She does smarts good, yeah. You want them?" Here you have the person who made the test offering to give you the way to ace the test and someone who has no clue offering what they think is the best thing. Why would you take the 5 year old's answers? 

That's something we could ask Adam and Eve too. See, in the Garden of Eden, they were able to walk and talk with the very Person who designed them. The One who made the entire existence around them. The One who is life Himself! He made plants and vegetation before there was a sun, yet He was able to sustain them anyways. Crazy, right? He had never failed them. He put them in a place of absolute perfection and basically asked them to trust Him. 

Then there was a serpent who planted a seed of doubt in their minds. Instead of continuing to trust the maker and keeper of their lives, they looked God in the face and said "I understand I have all I need in You, but I need something more." That day sin and death came into being. The ultimate disgrace of this story is the fact that Adam and Eve would knowingly sever the life-giving relationship with the all-loving Creator of the Universe because of a failure to trust. Looking at it with hindsight being 20-20, we may comment on how silly of a decision that was. 

But in reality, many of us make the same exact decision every single day. 

This God is still around, and He has YET to fail those who trust in Him and follow Him. Seeing the sin that severed the relationship, He made a way to mend it and bring about life through the person of Jesus. (Romans 6:23). He has never left or abandoned His children (Deuteronomy 31:6) and desires that everyone come to know and follow Him (1 Timothy 2:4). It even glorifies Him and brings a smile to His face when those that follow Him have pleasures from Him (Psalm 16:11). 

Even in the face of these things, we chase other things because we fail to trust Him. We don't really believe God will comfort us in difficult times, so we run to football, food, fitness, beer, sex, blogging, facebook. We don't really think God has given us what we need, so we see what others have and become envious. We want the gratification of intimacy, but instead of trusting what God says about waiting until marriage (Hebrews 13:4), we try and grasp it before marriage (either with someone or through the internet). 

Brothers, sisters, humanity: we need to trust in God. We must return to the One who gave us breathe, the One who loves you, the One who desires to know you because He knows that in Him you can truly become the person you were designed to be. In Jeremiah 17:7, the prophet writes "Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in Him". Trust in the One who has yet to fail and knows what is best for you is more than just a cognitive decision; it is a conviction that sparks action. We TRUST Jesus, therefore we delight in the path of His commands (Psalm 119:35). We TRUST God and know that He will provide us with what we need, so we help that person who is holding the sign by the highway. We go out of our way to share this word of hope to anyone who will listen and even those who don't want to, because His love is for all. 

Christ is holding out His nail-scarred hand to you and I and is asking "I am life. I love you. Do you trust me?" 

-Raymond Morris 

If you have questions about Christ, salvation, or anything like that, visit this site. 

http://www.klove.com/ministry/why-jesus.aspx