Huck yeah!

My friends, after careful thought and deliberation, I have finally decided to pick a candidate to back in the 2008 presidential election. After reading this, I had no choice:

In the race for presidential endorsements, Mike Huckabee has the kitschy pop culture celebrity vote on lockdown.
First it was martial arts hero and Walker, Texas Ranger star Chuck Norris, who appears with Huckabee in his first TV ad.

Then hard-rocking hunting enthusiast Ted Nugent jumped on the Huckabee bandwagon, citing the Republican’s support for second amendment rights.

Now, Huckabee is getting ready to rumble: wrestler Ric Flair, a.k.a. The Nature Boy, is supporting the former Arkansas governor in his bid for the White House.

CNN has confirmed the former WWF and WWE star wrestler is on board with Huckabee, and will co-host a campaign tailgate with the candidate at the South Carolina vs. Clemson football game on Saturday afternoon in Columbia, South Carolina. More details are forthcoming.

It’s time to get your oxfords shined and your hair combed, because when it comes time to walk that aisle in the west wing, you wanna be the BEST. THING. GOING. TODAY. WHOOOOOOOOOOO!

Other thoughts from the pop culture universe:

• I watched Beowulf over the weekend. The 3-D animation was dazzling, but the movie proved to be disappointing. The creative team behind this movie didn’t need to stray so far from the original story. Roger Ebert described it like this: “The movie uses the English poem, circa 700 AD, as its starting point and resembles the original in that it uses a lot of the same names.” I understand the need to add a few things to stretch it out to standard movie length, but was it necessary to completely gut the story?

I’m also disappointed that the filmmakers removed any trace of the film’s religious angles. The book isn’t overtly religious but Christian theology plays an important role in the characters’ background. Grendel was a descendent of Cain, he of the world’s first murder, and Beowulf worshiped the Christian god (succeeding in his battles where those who followed other gods failed).

I hate it when writers/directors/producers/studio heads remove any trace of religion in an effort to make a film all things to all people. And that’s just not in reference to people sidestepping Christianity, either. I’m exceptionally disappointed that the upcoming film The Golden Compass is said to remove the religious aspects found in the book, which challenged the Christian church and Catholicism and embraced an atheistic outlook.

With or without God on it side, though, Beowulf kind of sucked.

Instead of plunking down your cash (including a $2 fee for the 3-D glasses) on Beowulf (and if I had any sort of computer skills, I’d fashion a YouTube video combining the movie and Charles in Charge and call it Baiowulf), try a couple of smaller movies this long Thanksgiving weekend.

I’ll be watching No Country for Old Men tonight, and as a huge fan of the Coen Brothers and the book its based on, I have to say I’m just a wee bit excited for this one. I hope it lives up to its fantastic buzz.

I’ve already written about Lars and the Real Girl, but I’ll remind you that if you haven’t seen it, please do so. It’s beautiful.

Two other movies are high atop my recommendation list: Into the Wild and The Darjeeling Limited, probably the two best films I’ve seen this year. Both are accounts of personal journeys and treks across a country. Both have great acting/directing/writing and feature beautiful landscapes. Both stay with you long after you leave the theater.

• I am currently addicted to Led Zeppelin. I can’t stop listening to them, and XM’s 24/7 Zeppelin channel isn’t exactly helping.

• Heroes is improving, but it’s still a far cry from last year. Maybe the writer’s strike will give the show a chance to find out what it’s doing wrong and give it time to be fixed.

• Speaking of the writer’s strike, there are no new episodes of The Office, and 30 Rock is quickly winding down. For those of you in need of a comedy fix, go out immediately and buy the Arrested Development DVDs. If nothing else, you’ll be able to share little inside jokes with me (and, I guess Jeff ) about finishing each others sandwiches, having ourselves a stew and the importance of family and breakfast.