First I want to say Into the Wild writer and director Sean Penn is an incurable douche-bag and I really wish Mr Hand would have done more then just discuss American History with the surf punk.

That aside, Into the Wild is a very good, but not great, adaptation of a wonderful book by Jon Krakauer. Krakauer did an incredible job researching and studying the physical and spiritual path that Christopher Johnson McCandless took from his Emory University graduation all the way across the country to an abandoned school bus on the Stampede Trail near Denali National Park.

I was hoping for a little more spectacular cinematography from this film, especially of America’s last frontier and, more importantly, I didn’t get the same hopeless sense of isolation that came from the book. However, this is a movie worth watching and one of the better films I’ve seen in a while.

With a stirring soundtrack from Eddie Vedder and a heartwarming performance by Hal Holbrook this should be in your Netflix queue, but do yourself a favor and read the book, even if you’ve already seen the movie. Krakauer is a great storyteller and with all of the people he touched along his journey, McCandless’s true story really can’t be told in two an a half hours.

Also read Krakauer’s Into Thin Air, a story about a deadly hike up Mount Everst.

For what is the last Netflix Friday before Christmas I leave you with the single best, holiday classic of all time.

Die Hard.

Now don’t give me any lip about A Christmas Story because it doesn’t hold a candle to spending an evening with a dozen or so well dressed German thieves. I mean really, what would you rather be armed with? A Red Rider BB gun or a Glock 19 taped to your back with only two bullets remaining? (I thought that was a better argument then comparing getting your tongue frozen to a pole or walking through broken glass barefoot.)

So sit back with some Eggnog, a box of Twinkies and enjoy…and yippee ki yay mo%#er f%@#r! (Sorry, I had to say it).

These are three tragic comedies that are tragic in the fact that I lost five or so hours of my life watching them.

Norbit – One of those Eddie Murphy movies that has Eddie playing seven or eight characters in an obvious attempt to reduce production costs by the studio.

I had high hopes for this movie as the trailers and commercials were pretty darn funny, however I barely made to the end. I couldn’t even tell you what the plot was or how it ended…other then painfully.

Do yourself a favor and rent Eddie Murphy Raw instead.

Wild Hogs – Dumber beyond dumb. A rip of City Slickers without the funny. Really. There’s more entertainment value in season one of Dancing with the Stars. I didn’t pull the plug this movie before the ending but I did leave the room to clean the bathtub.

On the flip side, Battlefield Earth is no longer the shyttiest movie on John Travolta’s resume.

Dan in Real Life – I hesitated to include this movie in the category of tragic comedy but I just expected more from Steve Carell then a holiday formula film.

The formula?

Big family gets together for Thanksgiving at mom and dad’s to resolve, in 36 hours no less, a lifetime of deep dysfunction by swapping wives/husbands and/or girlfriends/boyfriends.

Dan was funny and all but the movie was as predictable as a Lifetime movie…not that I watch Lifetime.

To be honest, I haven’t seen a good, truly funny comedy in a long time, but Super Bad is at the top of my Netflix queue.