Aeros’ rookie defenseman Justin Falk is kind enough to provide Aeros’ fans with his movie reviews in this second installment of “Falk’s Flicks”. “Falker” breaks down the movies watched on the team bus during the Aeros’ most recent road trip during the current playoff run. Fellow teammate Matt Kassian usually runs the bus DVD player, popping in movie selections from some of the Aeros’ players and staff. Generally, the selections are via democracy and following an Aeros’ victory the movies get rolling as soon as the bus hits the road…Enjoy! The puck system is used when ranking movies from 1 puck (not so good), to 5 pucks (must see).
Here we are for another edition of Falk’s Flicks. Sorry it took a while, and I mean a while, but with a combination of our grueling schedule, and some tough losses to end road swings, movies were hard to come by on the bus. Some of the movies seen on the road recently were: “Step Brothers”, “21”, “Major League”, “Notorious” (started, but didn’t finish – “coaches’ decision”) “Beerfest” and “Any Given Sunday”. Now on to the reviews… Step Brothers: A Will Ferrell film always seems to bring some smiles and laughs before it even starts. A tale of two sons failing to grow up and move out of their parent’s house, they find their parents tying the knot and thus making them step brothers. Both nearing the age of 40, the two are forced to find a job. Going to their raw talents of music, and forming the group “Prestige Worldwide”, these two sons finally begin to grow into their age. Well, let’s hope this pro hockey lifestyle continues for a while for all of us, because I know I’m not ready to buy my own place yet. 3.5/5 pucks
21: I watched this movie over and over. Not only because it’s that good, but because I enjoy the skill of ‘card counting’ that much. A young student at Harvard is looking to get into Harvard Med. The only thing keeping him from his dream is the money. Sought out for his smarts, this young man joins a group of fellow students that learn to take control of the card game, Blackjack. Making money and memories to last their lifetime, these students find themselves stuck in a bind, before they can get out. This movie was enjoyed by all, and I noticed some of the guys showing interest in this strategy for life. Buuuuut, being banged around in the corners 80 games a season, I’m not sure if I’d trust myself in this whole card counting gig. 4/5 pucks
Major League: The boys were quoting this movie as soon as we got off the plane to begin our bus ride to Peoria. A rebuilding year for the Cleveland Indians, the team goes against their owner’s plans to have the team finish dead last so she can relocate them to Miami, by rebounding and winning the whole thing. By the end of the movie, quotes were being yelled out (“Juuuust a bit outside”) and the nicknames the Indians players have in the movie were given to my fellow teammates. One notable was Jesse Schultz taking on ‘Dornzy’, the nickname of the hot shot third basemen, Roger Dorn. The best movie seen on the bus this year and a sure classic loved by all. 5/5 Baseballs
Notorious: Well, I’ll keep this one short. Seeing as how only about 15 minutes of this movie got watched before the coaches pulled the plug on it. I couldn’t agree more with them on this one. It was a story about some music artist, I think. This flick didn’t get my full attention - probably because I was too busy sharing the good news of the first round victory on the phone. No pucks given to this movie. Beerfest: Riled up after the biggest win of the season, the boys seemed tough to please with a movie selection. But we tried to lighten the boos from the back of the bus by replacing “Notorious” with this film. It’s a comedy about two brothers trying to fulfill their grandfather’s legacy by putting together a team that could out-drink the Germans in a nation-wide tournament called Beerfest. It was more or less a movie to play in the background, as most of the guys were busy just hanging out or playing crib on the trip to Milwaukee. 3/5 pucks
Any Given Sunday: Well, seeing as how the bus speakers went out halfway through “Beerfest” (thanks again, Pat Armstrong on the great bus - haha), we put in this football film to finish up the ride into Milwaukee. An Al Pacino classic, it features Pacino as the coach of a team starring 3rd string QB Jamie Foxx who is filling in due to injuries. Foxx tries to turn the struggling team around to lead them towards a championship. Even though the whole film was partially muted due to the speaker issue, it still contained some top notch football action, which everyone knew was coming having seen the film numerous times before. It’s a good film that the boys liked, and most stayed awake for it. But after a Game 7 like we just had, I think it took a toll on a few of the staff members, maybe more than the players - notably trainer Jerry Meins and the ‘Doc’ who decided to catch a few ‘Z’s’ before pulling into the Hilton. 3.5/5 pucks - “Falker”
