January Auto Sales Make Huge Surge

In more good news for the once beleaguered auto market, America's three largest auto makers all reported huge January sales gains. GM sales were up a whopping 36%, while Ford rose 27% and Chrysler rose 23%. Chrysler's sales were buoyed by a giant 47% increase in Jeep sales for January.

Import automakers such as Toyota scored some gains as well, however Kia scored gains in excess of 25% and Hyundai had a 22% increase. Mazda was one of few brands to post lower sales, with a 9% decline.

Overall, January was a great month for auto sales with the average increase of 23%. The sharp untick in auto sales should be a good omen of an improving economy.

Mugshots Of The Stars: Jaime Pressly Formally Charged With DUI

33 year old actress Jaime Pressly has been formally charged in California following a suspected DUI traffic stop that took place on Jan 5. This came only days after she filed for divorce from her husband of only 15 months, Simron Singh.

Pressly has been charged with two misdemeanor charges related to having a blood alcohol content of .20 or higher. At the time of the January traffic stop she was released from jail after posting a $15,000 bond.

The actress was probably best known as Joy Turner on NBC's MY NAME IS EARL which ran for several seasons on the Peacock network.

DVD Review: THE TOWN

Ben Affleck really surprised me what a talented screenplay writer he can be here. THE TOWN is a nearly flawless, nearly excellent movie. It is easily one of the very best movies of 2010. What a great film. One of the best crime story films I've seen in some time. A great screenplay.

Taking place in Boston, Massachusetts, there is a neighborhood called Charlestown which is known as the bank robbery capital of the U.S. because of the high preponderance of crime. And a group of Irish American hoodlums engage in a series of violent bank and armored car robberies often dressed as grotesque Catholic nuns. And where these nuns go, trouble certainly follows.

What makes one of their bank robberies so complicated is that Ben Affleck's character who is Doug McRay is involved in the abduction of a bank teller who the robbers forced to open a bank safe, but then McRay later makes contact with the female teller and begins to fall for her. Because she is so traumatized by the robbery, she quits her job at the bank, but then becomes a suspect by the FBI for being involved in an inside crime because her relationship with Doug McRay is being tracked by the FBI agents. This creates a huge problem for both characters and adds unique literary tensions to this story.

Ben Affleck is at his peak as an actor here as well. He's in fine form as are the other actors such as Jeremy Renner who was so good in THE HURT LOCKER. THE TOWN is a highly recommended film for sure. You won't be disappointed with this very fine film. It's so good.

The Bottom Line: One of the very best films of 2010 makes for a great DVD treat. +++ 1/2 (Three and a half stars, or just an eyelash shy of being excellent. Extremely good. I wish every film I had to review was as fine as this one. Enjoy this one!).

Pontiac and Cadillac's Corvettes That Never Were

Way back in 1964, Pontiac designers built a one of a kind concept car that had many styling cues that were later used in the 1967 Camaro and Firebird models. However, the front end of the Pontiac Banshee strongly suggested that Pontiac may be developing their own Corvette type sports car. However, executives at GM worried about this possiby causing identity problems for the unique Corvette line, so this project was eventually halted.

The Pontiac Banshee was actually a six cylinder car aimed at competition for the Mustang, although a car looking this good needs a nice V8 and no doubt would have received one. However, due to fate, it just remains an automotive oddity and rarity.

Very fortunate for this extremely rare concept car was that in narrowly escaped being crushed by GM, and was sold to a car collector for $214,000. Later, the car was offered at the exclusive Barrett-Jackson auction for $1.3 million, however it failed to sell the first time around at that price. But, regardless this beautiful classic Pontiac concept car is an awesome ride.

GM once envisioned offering a Cadillac version of the Corvette back in the 1950's with the resurrection of the old LaSalle nameplate. And a rare concept car was built, however it never came into production either. But, the concept of a high end luxury sports car bearing the Cadillac nameplate no doubt inspired other world class brands to later consider offering high end luxury sports car offerings as well. There was the 1955 Corvette styled LaSalle II roadster and the bigger LaSalle II sedan, however neither went past the showcar concept stage.

Big Time Sissyass Stuff: Local CBS Affiliate KOIN Picks On Little Korean Grocery Store

In the hollowed halls of big time sissyass stuff, few moments come as cheap or as cowardly as an attack this week by Portland, Oregon CBS news affiliate KOIN on a little Korean grocery store located in S.E. Portland. The news geniuses at KOIN decided that a great lead news story on the 11pm night news was that a little Korean grocery store has a tiny enclosed section that sells a few mainstream adult magazines such as CHERI, HIGH SOCIETY and other titles in this enclosed section that is just on the other side of a separate area that sells a few dollar store type toys for kids.

The fact of the matter is that few folks stop by this store to buy toys or even porn. The same crap probably sits there for months. Neither are big sellers for your typical small family run grocery store. These are mainly an outlet business for adults to buy beer and cigarettes. And many poor Koreans work huge 15-16 or more hours each day to piece together enough in sales on small profit items like cigarettes, where the profit margin may be as little as just a few cents to pay their $2000 in rent bills, while local news anchors pull down salaries well into the six figures or even better. But, that sure didn't stop these KOIN news folks from kicking a dog that's down. They made this their lead story this week. No, not the economy. No, not crime. Just kicking some little Korean grocery store around, while they sell lots of overpriced ads to advertisers and pull down their big news anchor's salaries.

These KOIN ignoramuses also referred to the mainstream adult magazines available at this store as being hardcore pornography. Well, that's a little bit deceptive here. Many mainstream men's and adult magazines may feature some hardcore content these days. However, there's a little difference between mainstream titles such as CHERI, HIGH SOCIETY, HUSTLER, or other titles that are sold at many convenience stores that may feature some hardcore content and your purely adult bookstore magazines which may feature some harder fetish material or other strange sexual material . The distributor for the magazines, SunnyCo sells to all sorts of convenience stores all through Oregon and Washington. So why did KOIN pick on just this one convenience store then? And other than a few screwballs, who even gives a rat's ass about a little porn these days.

The fact of the matter is that this little Korean store was being responsible by setting up a seperate section for the adults only magazines. And, they don't sell materials any different than other many other small convenience stores do, yet KOIN made an attack on this business in an effort to hurt this business financially by giving them bad publicity for really nothing. That's the true Webster Dictionary meaning of big time sissyass stuff to me.

DVD Review: RED

The latest Bruce Willis action comedy DVD release, RED, is enjoyable enough, yet seems like sort of a generic Bruce Willis action film in so many ways. It's hardly any entertainment masterpiece, yet is certainly a watchable and acceptable enough action film. Loaded with a catalog of great stars including Morgan Freeman, Ernest Borgnine, John Malkovich, Mary Louise-Parker, to name just a few cast members here, this comic thriller based on a DC Comics graphic book seems to wallow in cartoonish larger than life violence. The explosions and other violence seem comical exaggerated.

RED is pretty good, but just not great entertainment. You'll enjoy yourself as much with a bag of popcorn watching this as you would probably a thousand other films. It just doesn't stand out as outstanding, although it's far from a bad film by any means. And with cast members like Morgan Freeman and Ernest Borgnine how can you go wrong. Ernest Borgnine won't be winning any Oscar for his role as Henry the records keeper here. But still it's so nice to see this 94 year old actor up and around and healthy enough to do a film like this with a clear mind and acting skills as good as ever. He's a real legend. Let's see more films with this guy in the future.

BTW, RED is short for retired extremely dangerous.

The Bottom Line: Not a great film, but a decent enough popcorn action film. ++(Two stars, fair. Give it one good watch, then forget about it. But, it's more than great to see both Morgan Freeman and Ernest Borgnine. Both are two living legends. And Bruce Willis is as quirky as ever as the lead action star guy.

DVD Review: THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE

IFC has a history of releasing some very unconventional and outrageous films. The highly acclaimed Norwegian Nazi-zombie horror comedy, DEAD SNOW. was also released by this company as well as a number of other outrageous films. However, THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE certainly ranks as the most outrageous film ever released by IFC, bar none. And it's a twisted classic of sorts. It's a horror genre film you can't believe that you're watching.

The premise of this horror film is so twisted and far out and sure to offend. Two young women get a flat tire and seek help at a nearby house. But, they fall into the deep evil of German doctor gone mad. The German doctor used to be an expert at separating Siamese twins, but now has a medical clinic built into his basement to build his dream, a "human centipede" comprised of joining three persons mouth to anus together in a conjoined monster. The premise has so many disgusting ramifications here. You can only imagine. But, like watching a train-wreck, you can't turn away. It's a fascinating horror film in a very perverse way. Simply unbelievable.

If you have a strong stomach for the bizarre in horror films, then this highly Dutch unusual horror might just be for you. While most of the terror is implied rather than explicit, the movie still manages to shock and horrify. It's a very bizarre and unusual film.

The Bottom Line: A horrific premise makes for one of the most unusual foreign horror films ever produced. +++(Three stars, good, if you can stomach it. Prepare to be shocked or maybe disgusted).