Alexander
From the minute Alexander was born, he was destined for greatness. His mother (Angelina Jolie) knew that; after all, he is the son of Zeus. As a young man, Alexander (Colin Farrell) found himself not destined for royalty. His father Philip (Val Kilmer) had married another woman and waited for his young son of pure blood to grow up. But after his assassination, Alexander was thrust into the role of King of Macedonia. Soon, his lust for power grew to the point that he began a conquest to the east. From Persia to India and all points in between, Alexander and his growing army lay waste to all who opposed them. The only thing stopping Alexander was Alexander himself. From his troops' desire to return home, the constant writings from his mother, the criticism for forgiving leaders of conquered lands and marrying a Barbarian woman (Rosario Dawson), and questioning his sexual orientation, these things brought down Alexander until he finally succumbed to death at the age of 33.

You would think all of these struggles would make a worthwhile movie, but it doesn't here. Director Oliver Stone seems to be obsessed with Alexander's homosexual tendencies with the numerous scenes with his servant and Hephaiston (Jared Leto). Even the battle scenes are poorly done, especially when compared to what's been done before. Sure, there was probably that much dust when they did battle, but it doesn't look good on the big screen. But for a man known to be a warrior, there are only two battle scenes in the whole film. The first was quite confusing since by all accounts, it seems Alexander lost the battle when he allowed the opposing leader to get away and surveyed the large number of injuries and casualties that resulted, yet the next scene shows him being welcomed into Babylon with open arms. How did that happen? It leads into a major criticism of the film. Yes, it's a 3-hour film, but there was way too much dialogue, most of it not even constructive. That's no fault of Farrell, who did a good job playing the title role. Jolie lays it on with a thick accent, but does she even age in the film? Stone and the writers lead situations nowhere and even mixes things up with a flashback that wasn't even needed. All in all, it's a quite boring film that just doesn't connect all of its pieces together and doesn't connect with the audience. 1.5 stars

National Treasure
Ever become intrigued by the little things in life? As Benjamin Franklin Gates (Nicolas Cage) shows, it can also be an obsession. Passed down from generation to generation within the Gates family, Benjamin carries on the search for a secret treasure hidden by our founding fathers. The clues lie in our dollar bills, a pipe, and intricate riddles. Ultimately, a trip to the Charlotte, an old colonial ship, reveals that the map is on the back of the Declaration of Independence, a tricky proposition to steal since it is at the National Archives and protected by multiple layers of security. Gates had teamed up with Ian Howe (Sean Bean), but after he believed he got enough clues to get to the treasure, Ian abandoned him, leaving Gates to get to the treasure himself before Ian does. Gates brings along a tech whiz in Riley (Justin Bartha) and eventually the curator of the National Archives Abigail Chase (Diane Kruger) after he steals the Declaration of Independence. With Ian and the FBI on his tail, the clues lead Gates on a wild journey from Washington to New York with treasure being the ultimate destination.

CSI is an interesting show to watch, but the thing that irritates me is that most of its episodes hinge on the littlest clue available and once they have it, the investigators immediately know what exactly happened. A blue pogo ball??? YES, I know who did it! Mulitply this moment by 10 and you have National Treasure. Like most Bruckheimer productions, this film is filled with cheesy lines but Cage is willing to say them with all of his acting ability. If you're willing to overlook the relative ease that Gates solves all of the riddles and the most improbable of situations, National Treasure turns out to be a suspenseful adventure with its race around the world feel. All bets are off once you get to the ending where mindless action takes hold, everything in the cave begins to fall apart on cue, and the once cunning villain suddenly turns dumb. 2 stars

The Incredibles
The life of Mr. Incredible has been flying high as he saves people from danger and protects the world from evil. But after a series of events, it seems superheroes have outlived their usefulness as public outrage against them grows. As a result, the government has spearheaded a project that has transformed superheroes into average citizens including Mr. Incredible (Craig T. Nelson), who is now Bob Parr, the insurance guy. Married to the former Elastigirl (Holly Hunter) with three kids, Mr. Incredible longs for the days of the past, which includes listening to the police scanner with Frozone (Samuel L. Jackson). One day, an opportunity presents itself that would allow him to re-live his glory, but it's actually just a ploy by Syndrome, an inventor who wants the entire superhero business to himself, to eliminate him. A worried Elastigirl follows her husband along with the kids, who have inherited powers of their own, to get him, but soon face something far greater.

Is it just me or can Pixar do no wrong? The 6th Pixar Animated Studios film follows in the footsteps of its predecessors by offering a superior film with crossover appeal between kids and adults. Directed by Brad Bird, who helmed the little-watched "The Iron Giant", "The Incredibles" offers up the traditional hero in peril storyline and improves it through great character development, witty dialogue, and dazzling animation and effects. A variety of locales and situations showcased how far the Pixar animators have come in their work. Above all else though, the movie recognizes the importance of family unity above little squabbles, an aspect that gives it a bit more realism in an animated scene. Quite simply, "The Incredibles" is incredible. 4 stars

The Grudge
Sarah Michelle Gellar has gone the Japanese route for her latest cinematic adventure. As Karen, she has followed her boyfriend to Japan and is currently a student at the university and volunteering her time as a nurse's aide. Her first assignment brings her to the home of Emma, an old woman who's mentally out there. Her former helper never showed up so in comes Karen to sub for the day. However, she sees a weird kid and a spooky woman, so she freaks out and sits in the corner utterly spooked. Further investigation finds two dead bodies up in the attic. It opens up a new chapter in the case involving that house. A husband had murdered his wife and son in a violent rage, which has produced a curse that haunts all those who enter the house. The more Karen learns about this, the more victims the curse claims, and the greater the chance Karen ends up a victim herself.

The movie certainly has some frights. Those eyes are freaky and lots of dark places mean opportunities for something scary to happen. But repetition kills. Sure, looking at that closet that goes to the attic can be unsettling, but once you see it the twentieth time, the effect isn't so scary. Once you hear that dark music when someone walks down a dark corridor, the element of surprise has gone out the window like Bill Pullman does at the start of the film. You know exactly what's going to happen. And how that ghost is omnipresent and gets to follow people is beyond me. Some questions are left unanswered though. Is it worth a sequel to find out the answers? Probably not. 2 stars

With its glory days behind it, the old football program faces scandal, disarray, and a potential 1-win season. The current head coach is about to leave, giving the job to a new face on campus instead of promoting someone from within. Jeff Tedford has turned the trick once. Can he do it again?

The 2001 football season at Cal was a disaster. The team won only once, in its final game against Rutgers. Tom Holmoe, a master at recruiting, couldn't coach at all and was removed after a long 5 years. To make matters worse, an academic scandal erupted after class credit was given where it was not due. The penalty was there would not be a bowl for the team the next year, something laughed at after seeing the 1-win campaign just completed. Former Cal AD Steve Gladstone led the coaching search. We could've had Marvin Lewis or Art Shell, but he went with the unknown. Jeff Tedford had just completed a stint as offensive coordinator at Oregon. Nobody knew what was about to come, right down to the first game against Baylor. When the first play was a long completed touchdown pass, you knew something was different about the team. A previously inept Kyle Boller was now a QB wonder, leading his team to an unthinkable winning season. Boller would leave for the NFL the next season, but Tedford stayed and it seems that was all that was needed, leading Cal to a bowl victory.

Here we are this year. Coach Tedford is currently leading his team to the first Rose Bowl since 1959. Two Heisman candidates are playing as QB Aaron Rodgers is deadly accurate and RB J.J. Arrington racks up at least 100 yards every game. The defense is also doing its job, recently posting back-to-back shutouts. But while football is successful, a gathering storm brews above crumbling Memorial Stadium. UC Berkeley, with a new chancellor and athletic director, is just getting its feet wet in trying to renovate the stadium on Strawberry Canyon. With the price tag going well above $100 million, the money isn't coming in fast enough, fueling speculation that the savior of Cal football may leave for greener pastures. Clauses in Tedford's contract state that the penalty for leaving early will be reduced and a restriction to coach at another Pac-10 school will be lifted if the football facilities aren't upgraded.

While no Cal fan wants to see Tedford leave, if he does, it'd be best if he goes east to Florida or moves up to the NFL. But all the rumors seem to have him going to Washington. Faced with rebuilding after a gambling scandal involving former coach Rick Neuheisel, former Cal coach Keith Gilbertson has led the Huskies to a one-win season this year with 2 games left. Gilbertson has already submitted his resignation, leaving the administration looking for a new coach.

I went to Memorial over the weekend to see the nail-biter against Oregon, and yes, the stadium could use a remodel. After all, it sits right on top of a fault line. But the glacial pace it is progressing is what is fueling all the rumors. If they want to delay for the sake of the players not having a distraction, it's too late. With a source claiming only $11 million being raised, there's a long way to go before the rumors die and we find out who's going where. Bottom line is for Cal to be successful, the coach needs to stay.

In the words of former CIA Director George Tenet, this election was supposed to be a "slam-dunk". There is a sitting President with an approval rating at or below 50% while a majority of the country believe it is on the wrong track. The economy is stagnant with a deficit going through the roof. Everyone is worried about the war in Iraq and the larger war on terror. Yet even with this perfect storm of bad news for President George W. Bush, he is the winner and still President of the United States, shutting out the valiant effort put forth by Senator John Kerry and soon-to-be former Senator John Edwards.

As the tone of the above paragraph suggests, I wasn't anticipating a 3.5 million popular vote victory for Bush; a win to be sure, but not by this margin. It should increase his chances at creating the vision he wants, especially with the gains he made in the House and Senate. How did he do it? Turnout was high. While turnout would traditionally favor the Democrats, Republicans, specifically Karl Rove, took the unorthodox route and believed the only way they would win is to focus on getting more Republicans to vote for them and just hoping swing voters would come along for the ride. So while Democrats succeeded at getting out the people they wanted (1.5 million more people under the age of 30 voted compared to 2000), their votes were cancelled out and then some by older conservative voters. I voted, inexplicably waiting 30 minutes to exercise my right to vote. But from the sounds of it, I was one of the lucky ones. The issue on a plurality of voters' minds? Moral issues. What is a moral issue? Seems to me it was gay marriage, abortion, and gun control among others. And among those concerned with moral issues, Bush won these voters by a margin close to 4 to 1. Bush also made gains with minorities. No doubt he didn't win them, but improvement over 2000 counts. So even if he won 11% of African-Americans this time, it's still better than the pathetic 9% he won in 2000. Kerry for his part, failed in following through the two-step plan to unseat an incumbent. The first part was easy: unite against the opponent. The second part was harder: have people support you. People found it difficult to back Kerry as a Presidential candidate and as a result, it led to the high numbers of undecided voters up to Election Day, and eventually votes for Bush.

Looking ahead, for Bush to be truly successful in the next 4 years, he must take light of the facts. Half of those who voted for Kerry did it not for their candidate, but as a vote against Bush. A 51-48 majority in the popular vote gives Bush only a slight mandate at best. His 2000 promise to be a uniter and not a divider came true to an extent. Democrats united together like never before against Bush, but their best effort fell short, which created the largely unchanged political landscape seen in this year's electoral map. Bush faces the difficult task of uniting the country again, probably not as much as it was right after September 11th, but something better than the divide we see today. Arrogance is proving to be Bush's weak point and this "my way or the highway" mentality has not only distanced himself from the country, it has distanced the country from the rest of the world. Some may argue we've strayed too far already, never to be found again with this President in charge, but I hold out hope.

So what should be on the agenda? A policy to fix things at home and abroad. Bush needs to reach out to Democrats as he did early in the first term, highlighted by passage of the No Child Left Behind Act. In all likelihood, no progress can be made in capturing Bush's vision without the help of Democrats, whether it is another massive tax cut or trying to pass a Supreme Court justice through the confirmation process. The lines in today's victory speech mark a good start. While Democrats recover from this latest blow, it wouldn't hurt for Bush to show some compassion. Once accomplishments are made, the United States should turn its lonely eyes on the world. The growing isolationism needs to cease. Iraq, by all accounts, is a lost cause in the eyes of the world. No one is going to help us so we need an exit strategy soon. But there are other avenues where we can improve international relations including Iran, North Korea, and the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. Oh if we could use the blueprint on The West Wing for that last one.

It will only be until Bush racks up accomplishments at home and in the world when he can be considered a successful President deserving of a lasting legacy. Good luck.

As we look back on the 2004 Presidential election, some quotes from the entertaining Dan Rather as the night went on, taken from a CBS press release.

“Let’s hit these biscuits with a dab of gravy.”

“Don’t taunt the alligator until you cross the creek.”

“Bush is sweeping through the South like a big wheel through a cotton field.”

“This race is hotter than the devil’s anvil.”

“In some ways, George Bush’s lead is as thin as November ice.”

“It don’t mean a thing if they don’t get those swings.”

“Never gamble with a stranger, never bet against a Republican in Kansas.”

“When John Kerry wrote Santa Claus, he said give me [Kansas], please.”

“If you try to read the tea leaves before the cup is done, you can get yourself burned.”

On Florida presidential contest: “This race is hotter than a Times Square Rolex."

“It may yet come down to Iowa and John Kerry has a lead as thin as turnip soup.”

“Tough, rugged race out there, nasty enough to choke a buzzard.”

On the near dead heat in Iowa: “This race is hot enough to peel the paint off houses.”

“This situation in Ohio would give an aspirin a headache…”

“If this race gets any closer, someone’s going to have to call 911."

According to FOX News (not exactly the most non-partisan network), President Bush has won Ohio. With Alaska a virtual guarantee, Bush has 269 electoral votes. Since he would win the tie-breaker against John Kerry, you're looking at one re-elected president.

More to come.