Valkyrie: Is it ok to root for Nazis?

Between countless "Call of Duty" video games, history books and classes, Academy Award winnings films, and historical visits around Europe, I have learned that Nazis are pure evil.

So wrap your mind around this: if the Nazi's which so vile, why is a movie coming out where they are the good guys? In "Valkyrie" the Nazis are trying to kill the supreme evil Nazi Hitler, but I still wonder, was everyone involved in the plot 100% good.

A quick wikipedia session on the Clau Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg (Tom Cruise) reveals he was a pretty decent guy who hated almost every aspect of the party. However, the plot was multi-faceted and it's tough to imagine that everyone involved was as noble at Stauffenberg.

Maybe I am just old fashioned, I just like seeing Nazi's meet justice's wrath for all their terrible actions. If anybody is getting back at the Nazi's, it's not other Nazis', it everybody else. For this reason, I'll be seeing "Defiance" before "Valkryie."

Happy Birthday Steven Spielberg

Today is Steven Spielberg's birthday and to honor him, I figured I would break down some of my favorite scenes in his repertoire.

1. Hungry Raptors Hit The Kitchen- This classic scene from "Jurassic Park" nearly made me urinate in my sweatpants when I saw this in the theater. When that raptor opens the door you know he's not there for Spaghettios, he's there to eat kids.

2. Kari-mah, Kar-MAH, KARI-MAH- Another scene that seriously damaged my mind as a child. From "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom," this sequence had some wicked evillllllll (notice the extra letters to exclaim the point) Indian priest ripping out some poor guy's heart. What makes the whole thing bonkers is the guy is alive when it happens and that the Priest dude (a.k.a. the guy with the headdress) is chanting some crazy shit that still lives on in my nightmares.

3. Boooby Traps- As a child I was fascinated by the booby traps in the Indiana Jones movie, but "The Beard" outdoes them all in "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" where Indy has to go through not one but three elaborate traps to get to the grail. You know the stakes are high when the young terrified nazi tries to go through and his head comes rolling out like a soccer ball. Of course, it's not problem for Indiana Jones.

4. Hiding in Public View- This often forgot film has a great chase scene when Tom Cruise evades capture by hiding behind the things he knows are going to happen. It has been more done more recently in some effect in the "Bourne" films, but first done here it's effective and exhilarating.

5. Dude Eaten Off Toilet- So fitting that the guy who's a huge ass in "Jurassic Park" get's eating while sitting on the toilet. A great way Steven takes a movie that had me melting in fear (and awe) at the dinosaurs and makes it just a little bit funny. (readers note, from now on I'm going to use this clip on the blog to show when things are awesome, stay tuned)

Does an Eyepatch make you super cool or super lame?

I'm going to be airborne for most of the day, so I'll make this brief. Eye-patches are not cool in my book. It's not because Tom Cruise is wearing one in "Valkyrie", it's just that after thinking about it, I feel like they are completely un-necessary. I mean no disrespect to people who wear them in real life, I mean that's in a different story, but in thislalife, eye patches should only be worn by villains. And if villains do so, they should take the eyepatch off promptly which should then reveal a nasty scar or a creepy glass eye. Then and only then will we know how menacing they really are and reafirm what we already knew: eyepatches are weak.