Time to Party

It’s that time of year. Time to bust out the champagne, get some party poppers out, wear a goofy hat, and blow on a kazoo.

Yes, The Blog of Mikey has just made its one year anniversary.

Just remember to drive safely after throwing your big Blog of Mikey anniversary party tonight.

Sicko

Over this weekend, I got the chance to watch the Michael Moore movie, Sicko.

A couple of things about me before we get into the movie review. First, I like documentaries. I have no problem with what others would classify as “boring.” Second, I’ve never been a fan of Michael Moore’s. Honestly, the worst movie I’ve ever seen is Fahrenheit 9/11. In the same vein, I gave Bowling for Columbine 2 stars out of 5. Third, despite my dislike for Michael Moore movies, I am not a Republican. I tend to agree from the side of the argument Moore comes from, but I just dislike the way his movies jump to bizarre conclusions.

Now that we have all that out of the way, what about his newest movie?

If you don’t know already, Sicko is a documentary about the American health care system. Through the movie, Moore gives anecdotal examples of the health care provided in the U.S. with the health care provided in other industrialized countries.

If you live in America, you should probably check the movie out. It is by no means a perfect movie. But it does shed light on an important issue. Honestly, before I watch Sicko, I sided with the group against Universal Health Care. Now that I have watched it, I have looked further into the topic and I’ve swayed over to the UHC side.

Sure, Moore does things a little over-dramatically throughout Sicko, but the end result is the raise in awareness on a subject. Really, isn’t that what any documentary hopes to do?

Overall I gave Sicko 4 stars out of 5 on Netflix. I strongly encourage every American to watch the movie once and/or look into the topic of Universal Health Care (Honestly, why is America the only industrialized nation to not have UHC? Also, if we have public education, public fire departments, and public law enforcement; why don’t we have public health care?).

The Mike Naretta Story

A few days ago, I posted some questions (generated by Chuck Klosterman) and answers (generated by me). Among those questions, one asked about if couple of movies were being made about your life (an independent documentary and a big budget Hollywood biopic) which would you be more excited to see?

I went with the biopic. Then I started thinking about who would be cast in what roles. Here is my take on some actors that could fill the roles of my family and me.

In the role of me, I came up with a large list of actors that could to a good job. Based on looks, the obvious pick would be Wes Bentley. But if you were making a big budget movie, would you give the lead actor role to the kid from American Beauty (or Blackheart from Ghost Rider)? I didn’t think so.

So, going with a little further away from me in looks, but better acting talent (and better box office strength) we open a few more options. The first couple of actors that come to mind would be Tobey Maguire and Elijah Wood. Both are pretty good, and I could see them doing a good job as me. Continuing on this same angle, I would also throw in Emile Hirsch and Jake Gyllenhaal as possibilities. Really, any of these four actors could step up to the plate as me. I’d give a slight edge to Tobey Maguire (despite him being my least favorite out of the four actors). His look is more similar than the others, and he tends to mumble (which I do also).

For the role of Patti, it is a lot more difficult to come up with actresses. Chris had suggested Alicia Witt. Which is good, but she hasn’t really done anything of note lately. Then you have to think about how the character would stack up (Patti the character would have to be quirky and fun loving). A decent option might be Natalie Portman. Especially with the short hair. I also suggested Lauren Ambrose, Jenna Malone, or maybe Christina Ricci. It would depend, at least partially on the chemistry between the lead actor and actress (i.e. I don’t think a Tobey Maguire/Christina Ricci coupling would work, do you?).

Moving on to the supporting characters. First off we will try and figure out the role of Chris. This one is difficult. First off, he is 6′3″. That alone is difficult to find. Then throw in the ability for great outbursts of comedy and it is almost impossible. The first name I thought of was Joseph Gordon-Levitt. He is a bit tall and has floppy hair, but his comedic stylings are different than those of Chris. After discussing this with Patti, she came up with the winner (in my book), Jason Segel. He pulls off the look decently (but not great), but he is able to nail the comedy aspect.

To pair up with Chris, we have my sister Diane. She looks just like the chick from Even Stevens. The only issue would be the fact that no one knows the Even Stevens chick. But seeing as though the role of Diane is just a supporting one, we will role with it.

The easiest role to cast was the role of Dad. The only problem is that the perfect actor is 20 years too old for the part. If we could work the make-up department to take the years off him, the role has to go to Martin Landau. I mean, he’s got the hair, the bushy eyebrows, and the glasses. Next time you get the chance, check out The Majestic and tell me that Martin Landau doesn’t look like dad.

The rest of the roles left me stumped. It always came down to either someone being too old, or someone not having the right look/personality (honestly, how do you cast someone for a 6′4″ red headed guy with a crazy goatee? It just doesn’t work).

Feel free to comment on your picks (naturally, this is a bit of a inside blog post in this case). Seeing as though only people who know me and my family would get any of this.