The beloved children’s character, which is licensed and marketed by the good folks at Disney, is an American icon. The use of the cuddly bear on everything from toys to food is prolific. He’s also been the start of many a Disney Channel half-hour series and even first-run motion pictures.

Despite the proliferation of Pooh properties, my kids and I have always been a bigger fan of the books. While the television shows and movies have all been fine fare for the young or young at heart, they miss some of the playfulness of their literary cousins. With the release of the all new Winnie The Pooh movie, that has changed.

The usual cast of characters – Pooh, Owl, Rabbit, Kanga & Roo, Piglet, Tigger and the evervesecnt Eyore – are back and this time they have something very important to do.

The film started off with an absolutely amazing rendition of the classic “Winnie the Pooh” theme song sung by one of my favorite singers and actresses, Zooey Deschanel.The modern twist with her classic voice really gave the opening an energy not usual to a Pooh film. Deschanel also sings and performs on a handful of other songs. I highly recommend the soundtrack.

Once into the story, we really loved the focus on the literary side of the Pooh legacy. Throughout the film, the characters and narrator interact on the pages of a book. That really underscores our families belief in reading to our kids at all ages. My three year old, who accompanied me to the screening, commented several times about this style and it made him want to read more Pooh books at home. The use of the words and letters as tools within the storytelling of the movie was also creative and different. I knew at that point it would be a “different” type of Pooh movie.

The story revolves around Eyore having lost his tail and the gangs effort, with the help of Christopher Robin, to find it. Hilarity, misunderstanding and good old fashioned sheninagins ensue with the usual fun outcome. The characters are representative of the types of people and personalities our kids will encounter so the lessons learned in working together despite our differences shines through. The calmness and steady gags, songs and laughs really make the short film (just over an hour) wiz by keeping the little kids attention throughout.

This “reset”, if you can call it one, shows to me that the Disney Animation Studio is getting back to some basics. Despite the success of its computer, 3D animated classics by Pixar (except the latest disaster that is Cars 2), Disney is getting back to creating calming and innocent films for kids in an increasingly busy world. The Pixar classics are great, but the simplicity and literary inspired new Winnie the Pooh movie is a refreshing change from the high-tech and over-the-top energy in most new animated features.

If you have younger kids and you’re looking for a great way to spend just a little time out of the summer heat, I highly recommend the new Winnie the Pooh movie. You’ll get cool in the theater but your heart will warm along with the rest of the gang in the Hundred-acre Wood.

Winnie the Pooh opens this coming Saturday July 15 at theaters everywhere. Check out the Pooh bear over on Facebook.

Note: I was given a free screening of this film because I’m a Klout influencer. I was under no obligation to receive the sample or talk about this company. I get no additional benefits for talking about the product or company. http://corp.klout.com/perks/disclosure.

The movie, in short, was a dud. While I had high hopes for the film — especially considering Mr. Depp’s range — it just didn’t deliver. And unlike the dialog in some of the other enjoyable kids films (Monsters Inc. comes to mind), this was for the most part way above what your average kid would appreciate. Don’t get me wrong, it was witty, but I didn’t hear any kids laughing unless a fart or burp noise was made. If the dialog was intended for the adults in the crowd, the plot surely was not.

I remember a friend telling me that The KLF wrote a book before publishing “3 AM Eternal” about the music industry. They basically said that in order to write a hit you needed to create a song that sounded “familiar” but not an exact copy of a song people already knew. This included the beat, the hook and the lyrics. If plagiarism is the way to success in music it certainly doesn’t  carry over into Hollywood, where “Rango” steals the familiar plot lines from “Antz” and “Chinatown” to create a “been there” movie.

On top of the lack of originality, the language isn’t suitable for kids. I wasn’t thinking that a kids movie would include “damn” and “hell” — and trust me, I’m far from being a Puritan. While my kids have heard those words before, being engaged in a children’s tale of a gecko fighting to prove his legitimacy doesn’t need it. In fact, recalling the opening credits and seeing the Nickelodeon logo it really was disturbing to think that any vulgar language would improve this craptastic flick.

Overall I can’t recommend the movie. There was witty banter on Rango’s part throughout the movie and the human-like qualities of the characters were very appealing, however the overall plot and lack of originality made it a film worth skipping over — even when it comes to Netflix.

There are some films that make a man cringe. No, not horror films, but those that draw blood from a specific organ – the heart. Without having seen any of these films, I bring you the EOT edition of “The Most Painful Chick Flicks of 2010″.

There were a plethora of films that every man should avoid in 2010. Certainly countless single men had to endure viewing these absolute travesties to testosterone in order to secure fellatio, but for those of us con spouse it’s another story. Being asked to see “Chicago”, “Black Swan” or any other film that is clearly not geared toward men is one of the most painful experiences married men can go through. “Why?”, you may ask? Because, for those of us who’ve been married for a while, there is absolutely no up side to this equation. That being said, let’s get started.

5. Happy Tears

I don’t think there’s ever been a less masculine title of a movie. The name alone is so feminine it should make a man’s sack shrivel. Here’s the plot:

“Jayne (Parker Posey) and Laura (Demi Moore) are about to take on the first man they just might not be able to handle: their seventy something-year-old father Joe (Rip Torn). Dutiful daughters returning to the house they grew up in, Jayne and Laura are forced to take a closer look at their own not-so-perfect lives while dodging childhood memories. Laura suspects that Joe needs full-time care, but Jayne refuses to believe that their father’s condition is that serious.

Their adventures back home are not without magic, mischief and mayhem, and even a search for buried treasure in the backyard! In the end, any tears that Jayne and Laura might shed will be happy ones.”

Sounds kind of like the backstory to the grandkids from “Grumpy Old Men” except you have to watch all of the boring, heart felt details. No thank you. On the plus side it’s so boring that it has to be good for a quiet nap.

Rating: 0 out  of 5 beers; Pros: Nap. Cons: You just had a coffee, are over-caffeinated and can’t sleep.

4. Burlesque

You’d think a movie that’s named after dancing women wearing pasties and all sorts of naked-ness would be awesome, but au contraire mon frere. This is just another reason for Cher to trot her rotting, half-naked, plastic corpse out onto the screen; just enough to kill any sort of enjoyment from seeing uber-hussy Christina Aguilera naked. I couldn’t imagine a worse way to spend a Friday night with the wife.

Rating: 1 out  of 5 beers; Pros: Other chicks naked. Cons: Tons of singing and Cher.

3. Love and Other Drugs

This movie falls into the category of “Misleading Titles”, like when you’re flipping through the DirecTV Guide page and see “Horny As Hell”, only to find out it’s a documentary about frogs. “Love” falls into this same classification, undoubtedly misleading men into thinking there will be wild party scenes, topless moments and hardcore drug abuse a la Sid + Nancy meets Dazed and Confused. Much like the frog documentary, there’s no such luck. Instead you are forced to endure “Mr. Brokeback Mountain” Jake Gyllenhaal naked and a bunch of sappy, below-par romantic-comedy crap. Blurgh.

Rating: -1 out  of 5 beers; Pros: None. Cons: Naked dude.

2. Twilight

I don’t care what the ladies say, the British dude who’s on one of the “teams” looks like he’s better suited to play Teen Wolf than a vampire. Also, just because you’re British doesn’t mean it’s OK to have bad teeth. It’s not. Our health care system might suck but at least we can afford Crest White Strips and fake teeth. I’d rather take one square in the nuts than subject myself to a movie theater full of pre-teens screaming for their favorite vampire.

Rating: 1 out  of 5 beers; Pros: Killing. Cons: A movie theater filled with 13 year olds screaming for hairless gay guys with false teeth.

1. Sex and the City 2

Hands down not only the worst movie of 2010 but also the dumbest movie. A bunch of old-ass New York hags take their sorry asses to the Middle East for a wedding whilst offending every possible culture and religion possible with an incomprehensibly “out of touch with the real world problems the rest of the country faces” overtone to it. Where do I sign up? Seriously, even women said this movie sucked. I guess they could make a dude version of this, except it’d be a remake of The Hangover, they’d be 50 years old, they’d all get laid all the time and instead of going to Vegas the head to China where they beat the nerdiest Chinese teens in Black Ops and make 50 babies just to piss off the Communist government while showing citizens how to hack the Net and post protest videos. Actually, that would be a pretty bad ass movie, but I digress.

Rating: -100 out  of 5 beers; Pros: None. Cons: Everything.

Overall 2010 was a horrible movie for men, and that wasn’t even including the train wreck that was the terrible remake of the A-Team. Look for more of the same as more women gain disposable income but apparently, not a filter for the formulaic bullshit coming out of Hollywood.

Honorable metion: Eat Pray Love. Julia Roberts trots her saggy ass across the world on a whirlwind of romantic adventures to cure a post-divorce hangover. Kill me now.

Anvil, founded in Canada in 1973 by Steve (Lips) Kudlow and Robb Reiner (no, not that* Rob Reiner), shot to fame in 1982 with their first, and most influential metal record, Metal On Metal. Cited by Metallica, Megadeth, Guns ‘n Roses and many other 80′s era metal gods as one of the original groups to forge the “Heavy Metal” template, Anvil rapidly faded into obscurity, thanks to the now-typical laundry list of music industry landmines: shitty management, horrid tour booking and awful follow-up record production. Take those three ingredients and repeat them for the next 20 years and you have Anvil.

The story doesn’t dwell on their fireball start in the industry but quickly humanizes every member by documenting their present-day worlds. Unfortunately for them, they are unable to make ends meet purely by their music, and we’re taken along for an intimate, sobering and sometimes lighthearted tour of their shitty jobs and broken dreams. Miraculously, the core of the band (Kudlow and Reiner) remained best friends and refused to stop rocking.

Luckily, after a terrible European “tour” that was booked by a rabid, incoherent female Czech fan, inspiration strikes Kudlow on the lips. He decides to send a demo CD of their latest tunes to the original producer of Metal On Metal. To their surprise, the producer gives it a go (with the appropriate amount of funding from the band, of course) and pulls the band together to complete their 13th studio record, aptly titled “This Is Thirteen.”

Anvil then tries to go the old-school route by sending out CDs to record labels for distribution deals. It takes a few rejections before they turn to the power of the Internet and social media to get the word out. Luckily things take off and they triumphantly return to Tokyo, Japan to play a festival, and they kill. And that, my friends, is just the beginning of Anvil’s new lease on life.

With a strangely compelling and charismatic band and blindly supportive yet weary and sympathetic family members, it’s hard to imagine how Director Sacha Gervasi couldn’t make you hope for Anvil to pull it out of the fire. With great editing, great pacing, and just enough drama without seeming like it’s from a reality tv show, it’s no wonder this film won so many awards.

Anvil: The Story of Anvil, is one hell of a story. Forget that it deals with an 80′s metal band. Or they’re from Canada (not that there’s anything wrong with that ). Any sympathetic human being would find this film to be moving, uplifting and inspiring. Said person might even venture to iTunes and buy their music after hearing their latest stuff. Go see it and turn it up!

Final verdict: 4 out of 5 beers. I dare to say this is the all-around best rock music film ever made. Better than It Might Get Loud, better than Spinal Tap, and better than the U2: Rattle & Hum. I would have given it 5 out of 5 if it had an amazing live guitar solo moment, but it didn’t.

It seems an extraordinary feat to create a movie with Will Ferrell in it that’s not funny, but unfortunately, that’s just what Adam McKay did.

The Other Guys, a story about two NYPD desk jockeys, one of which was on the way up until he shot Derek Jeter in the leg during the World Series, come into their own by solving a massive financial scheme which would ruin the NYPD pension fund.

Sound hilarious? I didn’t think so either.

I don’t mean to pin this all on the film’s director and co-writer, Adam McKay. The casting was average, but the real problem was with Mark Wahlberg. He didn’t seem to have a good rapport with Mr. Ferrell, and their characters never seemed to evolve into “the next great cop duo of NYC” the film called for.

Mr. Wahlberg’s character, Terry Hoitz, had serious potential if only Dwayne Johnson portrayed him, rather than his actual character, Christopher Danson, one-half of the NYC über-cop team, which also consisted of Samuel L. Jackson as P.K. Highsmith. Like the stereotypical criminals in the film, Mr. Wahlberg just seemed like the wrong guy in the wrong part at the wrong time. is character was such a mishmash of unfinished comedy bits that I started to wonder if Mr. Wahlberg even silently questioned their rationale during filming.

Mr. Ferrell seemed trapped in his wound-too-tight character while the script never took advantage of his ridiculous college-age pimp back story. Mr. Ferrell did have some moments that reminded me why I bought the ticket in the first place, but not enough to give me confidence that this Ferrell/McKay team really put their all into this effort. Unfortunately I found myself wanting to laugh out of desperation, not out of necessity.

It also doesn’t help to have closing credits feature all of the recent national financial disasters in our country while Rage Against the Machine blasts in the background. Didn’t they realize people usually stick around for the credits because something FUNNY is in there? Was this movie about averting a major financial investment disaster or two unlikely lead characters becoming top cops? In the end, that question is what prevented me from thinking this was a comedy all along.

Come to think of it, the movie poster doesn’t even make sense either. Did the designer think this was a kung-fu cop movie? WTF?

Final verdict: 2 out of 5 beers. You’ll need those 2 to get through the first 45 minutes, then take your time heading to the john and then sneak into a different theater to see something else.

A pretty talented athlete in both baseball and basketball, he had never put on the pads and actually tackle someone. After bugging me all last spring and into the summer, and after really thinking through the dangers, we agreed to let him play.

Football is a tough sport. There are lots of other great sports, but I am learning quickly how much football really jolts young men into being just that: young men.

I was reminded of this again last night as I sat down after one of my son’s football practices to watch the ESPN documentary Boys of Fall.

The film, the brainchild of country music superstar Kenny Chesney, was born out of his song of the same title. Chesney, who played high school football, decided to explore the many facets of the game from high school up to the NFL. It’s a fascinating and intimate look at the world of football and what the game means to the boys and men who play it, but also to small communities who live for their local high school team.

Torrey Pines HS (San Diego) Coach Ed Burke and his famous “Last Play” speech.My brother graduated from Torrey and Burke mentions the game they are about to play against my alma mater, Carlsbad High School

My goal here is not to review or recount the film, but it did trigger many thoughts and relates to what I see my son and his teammates encountering right now in 4th grade club football.

Most importantly, the life lessons the great game of tackle football teaches the boys who play it.

Not every kid who puts on the shoulder pads and a helmet is going to be any good at it. It’s a tough game where the aggressor and those that think quickly succeed. What every boy who plays the sport can learn is what they see on that field mimics life better than any other sport they have played or will play.

In seeing conversations with great coaches like Nick Saban, Bobby Bowden, Bill Curry, Sean Payton, and local high school coaches, you quickly see how well these coaches lead young men into not only learning a game, but learning how to deal with challenges throughout their lives.

In a time when manhood is maligned, this documentary so well captured how football serves as a window into what it takes to be a man. That’s not to say those who don’t play football aren’t masculine or grow into good men, but there is something truly special about a boy starting as a young, awkward child and growing into a man on the gridiron. Everything that happens on that field, that sacred 100 yards, so easily translates to what they will face as men in the big bad world.

As the father of a first-time football player, I am seeing this first hand. When I was asked to help out and be a part of the coaching staff, I jumped at the opportunity to work with a head coach and assistants who are teaching this great sport and life lessons. It brought me back to my short but valuable high school football career. It brought me to realize just how important the lessons we teach four days a week translate.

Just like the film, the boys on my son’s team are building character in a way that exposes their strengths, weaknesses, fears and desires. It’s all happening on that field in real time. Just like it happens in life. The unexpected despite meticulous plans, the crushing disappointment of failure, the sweet joy of victory, it all happens between the lines.

When my son started, I perhaps forgot how valuable the experience is in developing his character. That rediscovery has been phenomenal and Chesney’s film brought out even more raw emotion and the memories of a teenage boy who learned on the field of play as well.

Football is a classroom for life. It makes boys into men and gives them the tools, guidance and direction that are building blocks for a successful, happy and fulfilled life.

Even if sometimes you lose the game, the lessons always make the boys and men who play the great game of football winners.

Follow Scott on Twitter @sdgully or email him at sgulbransen@gmail.com. His personal blog, where he writes about leadership and social media, is www.scottgulbransen.com. Scott also a contributor on Technorati, to the Shamable Blog, and is the Director of Social Media & Digital Content for Applebee’s at their corporate office in Lenexa, Ks.

Life before the Brazilian

They WERE America's Team, after all

Lunch, anyone?

Say it ain't so, Fido

So what are your thoughts/experiences? Has it gone too far?

Just Shoot Me had better covers and titles IMO

Having worked in public relations it was pretty apparent that this movie was made as a response to “The Devil Wears Prada”. I haven’t seen TDWP, nor will I ever, so I can’t comment on how accurate it is, but I can tell this movie was made to provide some balance to the accusations that Ms. Wintour is an insane, heartless bitch. The September Issue is called a documentary because it literally follows her and her supporting staff around as they prep for the big September issue of Vogue, loosely showing the production process and decisions made to get to a final product. Companies and designers kiss her ass through the movie to be graced with being on the cover, her staff acquiesces to her like she’s Mommy Dearest and ultimately they celebrate a big magazine hitting the newsstands, circa Fall 2007.

In the movie they claim that the cover of Vogue is what sets the fashion trend for the upcoming year. At one point in the film they pointed to a 1990′s cover that featured fur which they claim prompted everyone to want to wear fur again. I recall the era distinctly because this was about the time that PETA stepped up their efforts by throwing red paint on people and even dropped a dead raccoon carcass on Ms. Wintour’s restaurant table. I have no doubt that Vogue wields this sort of influence over its readers, however I don’t think it’s anything to necessarily be proud of. After all, women’s magazines have been dishing out horrible sex advice and making women feel fat and ugly for decades, so while influential I’d hardly call it positive.

There is very little insight into how she makes her decisions throughout the process and it’s the exact sort of guesswork and snobbery that I imagined the high fashion society runs on – a hierarchy of pompous former models using their  longevity and power to maintain a status quo. Don’t get me wrong, there are a few folks in the movie that bring a sort of reality to the screen. In particular, Anna’s lead creative/photographer, Grace Coddington, has a ton of talent and patience and is really the star of the movie (and magazine). She’s a former model as well (shocker!) but her eye for creating beautiful imagery is what ends up, aside from a worthless celebrity cover shot, making the issue come to life. (Side note: “Celebrity” is a term that used to define those with some talent, whether it’s acting, modeling or musical ability. Today’s “celebrity” – with a lowercase C – is anyone who’s flashed themselves on YouTube or appeared on a reality show)

There is one other star of the movie who has a minor role but shows that there’s hope for humanity. See, Anna’s daughter, Katherine (aka “Bee”), could have been “one of those” daughters – spoiled, bitchy, arrogant and entitled. Bee is remarkably grounded and actually doesn’t care for the fashion industry. She came off as being articulate, personable and as real as the other personalities in the movie do phony. I wish they would have focused more on her dislike of her mother’s profession, however that would have provided some real drama and substance to the movie’s apparent whitewashing of Anna’s tarnished image.

The rest of the cast is a veritable who’s who of people I would never recognize in real life but whose names on clothes would make your wife wet. And unfortunately for the ladies, I have a better chance of hooking up with all of them. Case in point is the egregiously, over the top personality that is André Leon Talley. The guy is not only the stereotypical gay fashion personality but is so flaming that he makes Richard Simmons look straight. Case in point is when he decides to haul several Louis Vuitton bags and matching blanket to his tennis “exercise”. I use that term loosely, because he’s neither exercising nor is he actually playing tennis as much as he baby steps back and forth, slapping the racket at the ball. It was actually painful to watch and I even noticed my wife rolling her eyes at the scene.

There were a few other moments in the movie that showed a lighter side to Ms. Wintour, like when she gives a young designer an opportunity via the Vogue Fashion Fund to showcase his work, however it’s pretty apparent that she’s an introvert who’s obsessed with appearances. Between the side-shots of her face and the straight away, “look at me pout” shots, it’s clear that her direction to the film crew was to make her look attractive. The reality is that she’s old, however I’m sure Curtis et al would undoubtedly shack up with her after a few High Lifes.

Overall I found the movie to be boring (I mean, we’re talking models and photo shoots and not even one side boob? Nothing?) and nothing more than the glossing over of someone obsessed with image. One other observation is that all of the people in this movie were gay, old, or gay and old. So take note, young ladies who move to New York to work in beauty and fashion – you can make it too, provided you outlive your colleagues or are actually a gay guy.

I would have found this film to be more refreshing if she actually was a bitch or justified her behavior through sheer genius – instead it only glamorized a dying profession and an aged, stodgy industry.

Final verdict: 1.5 out of 5 beers. Drink a few beers, watch the old ladies work to make a magazine and enjoy the post-movie sex with your wife because you made it through this chick flick.