cars

Movie Review - 'Cars 3' Desperately Tries Not to be Cars 2

cars 3 If you haven’t been brought up to speed over the last eleven years of Cars history, I’ll help you out. The Cars movie only exists to sell toys. And if you’re parent, it’s likely you know this pretty well by now. Pixar makes bank selling Lightning McQueen and Mater toys. However, as a film franchise, it’s one of the worst Pixar properties in their long and successful film history. Of all their movies, Cars 2 is the only critically panned Pixar film to date. Usually, when a sequel gets panned,...

Movie Review — 'Furious 7’ Blows Stuff Up Good

Furious_1

What is the Fast and Furious franchise exactly? I mean what is it about? Pirates of the Caribbean is about pirates, for instance. You can say it’s about the characters, but I’d venture a guess that if Captain Jack Sparrow was, say, a lawyer or a dentist in the next film, that would probably throw some people. The Fast and the Furious, I thought at least, was' a movie about street racing. It was also a little bit about crime and a fairly obvious knockoff of Point Break, but that’s beside the point. You had the racers and family (Vin Deisel, Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster, et al), you had the police (nobody anyone...

St. Paul Drivers: A Hidden Obstacle for the Green Line

[caption id="attachment_273635" align="aligncenter" width="570"]Light-rail operater navigates University Avenue - Photo by Michael Hicks Light-rail operater navigates University Avenue - Photo by Michael Hicks[/caption] The worst drivers of our great state are on the prowl in St. Paul. It's a proven fact! There's a convergence of confusing non-grid-like streets, funky intersections and poor winter-time plowing. The great Pigseye secret is that locals don't follow the suggestions of their own traffic signals. The Green Line is learning this the hard way. In the first days of its public operation, the light-rail connecting...

Solar Roadways: A Dream Come True for Minnesota

[caption id="attachment_258661" align="aligncenter" width="560"]What Solar Roadways could look like (graphic design by Sam Cornett) What Solar Roadways could look like (graphic design by Sam Cornett)[/caption] For one of my other jobs, I drive a lot. I make squiggly lines all over the Twin Cities using freeways and side-streets. Roads are challenging in Minnesota for a myriad of reasons; as soon as icy (or snow-laden) surfaces are clear, summer...