Tuesday, December 16, 2008

My New Religion

I just picked a religion this morning, and I decided on The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster (see car logo on the left). The Flying Spaghetti Monster was established after bible thumpers decided to come up with 'intelligent design' to skirt the courts' rulings against creationism being taught in public schools as a science. This movement uses ambiguous references to an unspecified intelligent creator. What a crafty way to get around using the word God.

Even craftier was Bobby Henderson who professes a belief in a supernatural creator that resembles spaghetti and meatballs, which fits quite nicely into the profile for 'intelligent design.' Sayeth our prophet Bobby, "I think we can all look forward to the time when these three theories are given equal time in our science classrooms across the country, and eventually the world; One third time for Intelligent Design, one third time for Flying Spaghetti Monsterism, and one third time for logical conjecture based on overwhelming observable evidence."

Prophet Bobby goes on to mock intelligent design's assertion that correlation implies causation by creating a chart linking the decline of pirates since the 1800s to the increase in global warming, hurricanes, and other natural disasters. Bobby points to Somalia as his case and point: it has the highest number of pirates and the lowest carbon emissions of any country. So there!

Look people, I'm all for everyone's right to worship the religion of their choice. But the place to teach your kids your religious principles is not in a public school biology classroom. That's what your church is for.

Monday, December 15, 2008

The Day the Earth Stood Still

I was a little disappointed with The Day the Earth Stood Still. I liked it because I'm a total sci-fi buff and the special effects were great, but it was missing two main elements that made up the basis of the original movie from the '50s. The alien guy doesn't try to reach the world leaders to tell him why he's here, nor does he try to communicate anything about why he leaves. In this version, only Jennifer Connelly knows and I guess we're just supposed to assume everyone will listen to her later on. These key missing elements created a movie without a lot of cohesion in the plot.

On the plus side, Gort totally rocked! He looks the same as the original, which was cool because he's very menacing looking, except he's like 20 stories tall. Freakin' awesome! They did some cool things with Gort but I wish they could have figured out how to do more with him, especially since the main story line with Keanu Reeves was a little loose. If I was film editor on this, I would have cut back to Gort a lot more to watch him do stuff.


If you're a sci-fi fan I would say to catch this on cable or DVD, but overall I would have to recommend the original over this remake - cheesy '50s special effects and all. It was a much better story and the point is (sadly) still very relevant today.

Thursday, December 4, 2008

The Power of Pop Culture, Teenagers, and the Internet and the Korean Guy who Profits from it All

So I'm a Twilight fan and a hack at the piano, so I thought I'd look to see if Bella's lullaby from the Twilight movie was available to purchase as sheet music. I looked at a couple sheet music websites and didn't find it so I Googled it. That's when I realized the craziness occurring in the online community at large.

One guy - one guy!!! - said hey, this particular song would be a good choice for Bella's lullaby in the movie. Now all the Twihard piano players have adopted it for themselves as Bella's lullaby. It's a beautiful piece of music called River Flows in You by a Korean piano player named Yiruma, and it's a much better song than the one featured in the movie - I'll give that to all the Twihard pianists.

On You Tube, there are tons of videos entered for this song. Some just show people performing the song, others have made visual montages to Twilight to go along with the music, and all mention the song as Bella's lullaby. ???

It is a very pretty song and I finally found the sheet music and plan to start hacking away at it in the near future. So I thought today that I should download this song from iTunes so I can listen to it anytime I want, because when I play a song it tends to not sound the way it's supposed to (I said I was a hack). So, lucky me, this Yiruma guy has a best of album on iTunes that has the song I want. You know that Popularity scale that's featured for each song in the iTunes store? Well, all of his other songs have one bar, meaning his mom downloaded the album so he wouldn't feel bad, and River Flows in You is rated at maximum popularity! The previously obscure and unheard of Yiruma is raking in the dough and gaining popularity all because one guy - one guy!!! - on the Internet thought this sounded like an appropriate song to use as Bella's lullaby in the Twilight movie.

And that, my friends, is the story of the power of pop culture, teenagers, and the Internet and the Korean guy who profits from it all.

The Tales of Beedle the Bard

What a fun little read The Tales of Beedle the Bard was! In case you live under a mushroom, this is the book of fairytales wizards tell their children in the Harry Potter universe. This book was mentioned in the final installment of the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, and played a key role in helping Harry defeat Voldemort. JK Rowling had hand written and illustrated seven copies of this book about year ago, giving six away to people close to her and auctioning off the seventh for her charity, the Children's High Level Group. She has now released the book for mass consumption with all the proceeds going to the same organization. This release, however, contains annotations on each of the five stories from Albus Dumbledore himself and was translated by Hermione Granger from the original runes! What a fun idea that adds to the pure enjoyment of the book.

I, being the the ultimate Harry Potter geek that I am, sprung for the deluxe edition. Wowee! It came in a nifty box that looks like a large leather book. Inside the box on the left side is a package of collectors edition prints of the illustrations in the book. On the right side is a burgundy velvet sack with a gold drawstring and JKR's signature stitched in gold at the bottom. Inside the bag, of course, is the book.

And what a book it is! It's a small book bound in brown leather with silver adornments and blue gems in each of the four corners and on the clasp. In the middle is a large silver adornment with a skull that has the blue gems for eyes. Each of the five silver adornments has a picture on it representing each of the stories. It's quite a book to behold. It also had a green bookmark ribbon attached to the binding to you can easily mark your favorite story. (If any of you marked The Warlock's Hairy Heart you're sick and twisted.)

The book begins with an introduction in Jo's handwriting explaining that these stories are the Wizard equivalent to our Muggle fairytales, such as Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty. She goes on to explain that magic was usually the cause of the problem in our Muggle stories, but that magic in these Wizarding stories is readily available to the characters and it doesn't make their lives any easier at all (a theme that's been carried over from the main Harry Potter books). She also tells us that Dumbledore created this annotated version about 18 months before The Lightning Struck Tower (a chapter that left me breathless and stunned) and he left these papers in his will to the Hogwarts archives.

The five stories are The Wizard and the Hopping Pot, The Fountain of Fair Fortune, The Warlock's Hairy Heart, Babbitty Rabbitty and her Cackling Stump, and, of course, The Tale of the Three Brothers which played in integral role in the final Harry Potter book. I'm not going to summarize the plot of each of the stories. I want you all to read them for yourselves for the pure enjoyment of it, because they are purely enjoyable - especially with Dumbledore's notes. They all center around the same ideas as Muggle fairytales - good things happen to kind and virtuous people and bad things happen the greedy and malicious.

This is a must read for everyone who has read the Harry Potter books. And if you haven't read the Harry Potter books yet, then get off my blog and crawl back under your mushroom!

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Just After Sunset

Just After Sunset, the latest book by Stephen King (one of my top 5 favorite authors), is an interesting collection of short stories ranging from scary-freaky to non-nightmare inducing even though most (but not all) deal with a little bit of supernatural booga-booga. He was inspired to compose this after editing a collection of short stories in 2007 when he realized he forgot the art of writing short stories. I'm glad he found it again. I always enjoy his writing, but this isn't a must-read that I plan to force on my friends (as I have in the past with other books). I think the reason maybe that the thing I like most about his writing is his ability to write characters, and these short stories don't allow him enough time to develop them the way novels do. Regardless, he's a great writer and this is worth checking out.

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Twilight

I was impressed by the Twilight movie. It stayed true to the book and successfully carried the characters we all know and love onto the silver screen. Before the movie I wasn't sure if I liked Kristen Stewart as Bella; Kristen seems so aloof in interviews it didn't seem like she had enough energy to put into a major movie role. But soon after the movie started I knew the casting crew got the absolute perfect actress. She got Bella's disaffectedness as well as her desperate need to break through it.

I was also afraid that Robert Pattinson was just a pretty face and didn't have the acting chops to pull off the depths of Edward's character. I'm so pleased to have been so wrong! Robert got all the little nuances of Edward and made it fun to watch his character's transformation. Also, a nod to Robert for writing that nifty piece of piano music for the movie. I will be looking on line for the sheet music in the very near future.


Much of the book, especially the first half if I remember correctly, takes place in Bella's thoughts. The movie makers didn't seem to have any difficulty in getting everything across to the viewing audience. I like the first scene in biology class where we see wings behind Edward from a stuffed bird, which was a nod to Bella's description of Edward in the books as an angel. The choice to cast all unknown actors made it easier to slip into the world of Forks, Washington and the secret subculture that lurks beneath the surface. And, of course, I love all the Cullens - even snotty Rosalie. They made me want to be a Cullen vegetarian vampire too! Ok, I wanted to be one since way back when I was reading the books, but now I want to be one even more!


It's a good movie. If you have any interest at all, and can maybe stand a few giggles and gasps from fan girls during the movie, I recommend you see this one.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

All A-Twitter

So my brother's been hounding me for a while now to get on Twitter. I keep asking him what the point of it is and he never gives me an answer (because there is no point). The best I can get from him is that it's Web 2.0, whatever that means. So I created an account a couple days ago figuring that some meaning or purpose would eventually surface after I tried it out. Nope. I feel no need to post the minutiae of my day to no one in particular. Nor is it interesting in the least to follow other people who are equally as boring but try to hide it by posting lots of meaningless garbage. The only thing that could salvage this is if I could find some some smart alec who can make me laugh. But so far no dice.

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Quantum of Solace

I'm not a fan of the Bond franchise, but I really enjoyed Quantum of Solace. The Bond movies have always been all flash and no substance until the last movie, Casino Royale. It seems like they revamped the franchise and actually put some thought into the movies and the casting. The scripts are better, but I think the main difference is that Daniel Craig is an exceptional actor that can bring some depth to the character for once. And, of course, Judy Dench totally ROCKS as M. If they keep this up I might actually have to call myself a Bond fan.

To read a more in-depth review check out http://jandkatthemovies.blogspot.com/.

Saturday, November 8, 2008

Kindle

I got a Kindle from Amazon two weeks ago and I'm totally hooked! I didn't think I'd love this device as much as I do. There are over 180,000 books available to be directly downloaded onto the Kindle (no computer is needed). I chose to download the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon as my very first Kindle books. I'm really enjoying re-reading them while I play with all the features on the unit, the best of which is the built in dictionary which is quick and helpful. The screen isn't back lit, and therefore doesn't hurt your eyes. It's actual ink that electronically rearranges when you "turn" the page so it reads just like a book. Also, there are six different font sizes from size 7 to size 20 that you can choose at any time. You can place bookmarks, make annotations, and "clip" pages. Check out the Amazon website to learn all of the super-cool things it does. If you are an avid reader I highly recommend getting one of these.

Underworld / Underworld Revloutions

My friend is big fan of the Underworld movies so he loaned them to me to watch this weekend. They weren't very original but as a sci-fi buff I enjoyed watching them. They're full of action, special effects, and vampyres - totally up my alley. The main story centers around a centuries old feud between vampyres and werewolves with a heaping dose of betrayal mixed in to stir up the plot lines. They aren't must-see movies, but give them a try if you like this sort of thing.

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Island of the Sequined Love Nun

Island of the Sequined Love Nun by Christopher Moore is a hilariously silly book about faith and redemption. (I bet you weren't thinking I'd say that about a book with that title, huh?) Tucker Case is a pilot who, after completely screwing up his life, finds himself on a tiny island in Micronesia. This island is the home of a people who worship a WWII pilot named Vincent who landed on their island during the war and helped them get rid of the Japanese and gave them food and supplies. Tucker is in the employ of the people exploiting the natives and risks his life to save these people, with the help of Vincent's ghost.

The overall plot is a little heavier than the title of the book suggests, but it's full of Christopher Moore's smart alec sarcasm and, as usual, lines and scenes so funny that I was laughing out loud. I recommend checking this book out for a good read and a great laugh.

Monday, October 27, 2008

Highlander

Wow! What a craptastic 80s movie! When I was in college in the early 90s one of my roommates told me to check out Highlander because we're both into sci-fi. So this weekend I finally did (over two decades after it originally came out in 1986). It was fun to watch because everything about it was a cliche, from the "cop speak" to the (now crappy by current standards) special effects. I'm sure my roommate was right and that I would have loved it back then. I'm not even sure if the main character was really Scottish (he hardly had an accent), but Sean Connery was in it and he is.

It must have touched a lot of people, though, because I see it spawned three sequels and a TV show (none of which I've seen or plan to see). The biggest kick I got out of it was the bad guy played by Clancy Brown. I first recognized him as an actor in the HBO series Carnivale in which he played Brother Justin (also the main bad guy). He later showed up in Lost as the original guy in the hatch (who was then joined by Desmond) who was also the guy in Iraq that got Sayid to torture his own leader for information. So it was fun to see him in this really early acting role. But I wouldn't recommend it without being in the mood to watch a bad 80s sci-fi movie.

Monday, October 20, 2008

The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove

With a title like The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove you know you're going to laugh at the sheer ridiculousness of the characters and the plot. A sea monster from the depths of the ocean decides to come ashore in a town full of goofy characters. Its feeling of randiness permeates the whole town. Meanwhile, the town psychiatrist had most of the town on antidepressants and decides to substitute placebos for everyone. It's a crazy and fun read, as are all the books by Christopher Moore.

Restraint

Restraint is a psychological thriller where a pair of desperate fugitives take an agoraphobic man hostage in his home. But over the course of the movie the man somewhat befriends the female fugitive and eventually the tables turn giving the the hostage the upper hand. It was a well acted movie with an interesting plot. It's a little light on the action, but the psychological play between the three characters is fun to watch unfold. You should add this one to your rainy day movie queue.

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Body of Lies

This was a fabulous movie made for an intelligent audience. I recommend you put this on your must-see list. To read a full review, please go to my other blog http://jandkatthemovies.blogspot.com/

Friday, October 10, 2008

Kill Your Darlings

Kill Your Darlings is a weird dark comedy. The main character is writing a script about suicide (which of course is complete crap), and his day job is taking pictures of hamburgers and other food for print ads. He ends up finding several suicidal people when he road trips to Vegas with a flaky girl named Lola. Meanwhile, a small group of suicidal people are also traveling there for a reality TV show for a famous psychologist. This movie was weird at first, but the more it went on the more I liked it. It had a happy ending that left me with a warm fuzzy. If you're up for an odd indy movie check this one out.



So you're asking yourself if it was so weird why did I rent this movie that no one's ever heard of? The answer is simple: eye candy. I rented this because Alexander Skarsgard is in it; I didn't even read a synopsis before I rented it. But my plan backfired on me a little because his character is a suicidal cross dresser. Whatever.

Practical Demonkeeping

Practical Demonkeeping, Christopher Moore's first novel, is about a man who unwittingly called up a demon from hell 90 years ago and can't get rid of him. Having read a few of his later novels, you can see in this first one the beginnings of his smart alec sense of humor. It's a funny book, but riotously so as the others I've read. It was a fun read full of wacky characters and crazy situations.

Thursday, October 9, 2008

Grave Surprise

Grave Surprise is the second book in Charlaine Harris' Harper Connelly mystery series. Harper was struck by lightning as a teen and can now sense corpses and their causes of death. This book starts with her attending a university class about paranormal events as a guest "speaker" which takes place in a cemetery on this day so Harper can demonstrate her talent. The professor's goal is to expose her as a fraud, but she, of course, is not. In the process of (accurately) naming the causes of death for all the bodies in the old cemetery, she comes across a grave with two occupants, the second being the body of a missing girl that Harper was trying to locate a year ago in another city with no success. The plot centers around her attempt to solve the mystery to clear her name in this suspicious set of circumstances.

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Grave Sight

Grave Sight by Charlaine Harris is the first book of a mystery series featuring the character Harper Connelly. Harper was struck by lightning as a teenager and has since had the ability to sense corpses nearby and tell how they died; a freaky "gift" to be sure. I like that she's not a typical cute and spunky heroine, and that she has character flaws. Harper needs her step-brother, Tolliver, around her to keep her nerves at bay.

Harper and Tolliver travel to a small town to locate the body a missing teenage girl. They find the body, but various occurrences keep preventing them from leaving town which forces them to solve the mystery of her death themselves. The ending is satisfying because it's nice and messy. I'm looking forward to reading more in this series.

Sunday, October 5, 2008

Appaloosa

Me and my movie buddy went to see Appaloosa, mostly because we're both Viggo Mortensen fans but also because Ed Harris, a phenomenal talent, directs and stars in this movie. While the acting in this movie is spectacular, the script could have used a lot of work. It was long, slow, and boring. I know this was more of a character study than an action movie, but they really should have edited out about a half hour to tighten it up. Also, I hate looking at Renee Zellwegger's face. To read more see my other blog http://jandkatthemovies.blogspot.com/.

Lily Bard Book Series

I read a mystery book series by Charlaine Harris. They were OK but I didn't think they warranted separate reviews since they were all sort of the same. The books were Shakespeare's Landlord, Shakespeare's Champion, Shakespeare's Christmas, Shakespeare's Trollop, and Shakespeare's Counselor. These all take place in a small city in the south called Shakespeare (hence all the book titles).

Our heroine in these books, Lily Bard, is much more interesting than Aurora Teagarden from one of Harris' other mystery series. She has a more interesting background and, due to that, she doesn't react to situations in a way you would expect of a typical spunky heroine. These books were easy and somewhat interesting, but they're definitely not classified as "must read."

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Library Books SUCK!

So this past weekend I decided to get a library card and start checking out books for free instead of single handedly keeping my local Barnes & Noble afloat. (They know me by name - I'm in there way too much.) While I enjoy the free reading, I'm grossed out at the books themselves.

Let's start with the fact that about every third page of all the books I've read so far are dog eared. How rude is that?! These aren't your books so why would you purposely damage them? I guess because the general population at large is too lazy to find a scrap piece of paper. I mean, it would be way too difficult to use the receipt you get every time you check out a book as your bookmark. Better to just bend the corners of the pages at will.

While the bent page corners make me angry, the weird and mysterious stains on about a third of each book makes me sick to my stomach. Some stains are identifiable. There was mustard on about 15 consecutive pages of a book I read yesterday (I wish I was joking). There are also the Cheeto/Dorito thumbprints on very large number of pages of many books. I guess wiping your hands, much less washing your hands, is way too inconvenient, especially for the people who can't use a bookmark.

But the absolute worst are those disgusting brownish booger-looking stains that were in every single book I've read so far, and in some books more than once. WTF?! That just gives me the heebie-jeebies. What the h-e-double-hockey-sticks is wrong with people?! I'm thoroughly disgusted. Every time I get up from reading I wash my hands. God knows what kind of cooties you can catch from the crap is on the covers and pages. Did I say crap? Uh-oh. One more reason to get totally grossed out.

Seriously, some scientists should study the contaminates on library books. I'd bet a million dollars their findings would be astonishing. Then again, if I had a million dollars I'd just go to Barnes & Noble and buy all my books.

Last Scene Alive / Poppy Done To Death


The last two books in Charlaine Harris' Aurora Teagarden mystery series are Last Scene Alive and Poppy Done to Death. These two were like all the others in the series. I think this is why she stopped writing this series. The character of Aurora Teagarden just isn't that interesting to keep going with this series. While murders and mystery seem to surround her, she's a boring little librarian in a boring little town. The books themselves were OK. I'm glad I finished the series but I would never pick these up to read again.

Sunday, September 28, 2008

A Fool and His Honey

A Fool and His Honey is the sixth book of Charlaine Harris' Aurora Teagarden mystery series. The book starts with the unexpected visit from Aurora's husband's niece and her two week old baby (surprise! no one even knew she was pregnant). The niece goes missing and the niece's husband ends up dead on Aurora's property. Now she and her husband Martin are left with a baby to care for, a murder to solve, and some screwed up family issues of Martin's to deal with.

Overall, these Aurora Teagarden mysteries are quaint, quick little reads (no heavy lifting required). I classify this as an airplane/beach read. I stopped buying these from the bookstore and checked this one out from the library. They're light, fun reads but I don't want to keep the books once I'm done reading them.

You Suck: A Love Story

Christopher Moore is one of the funniest writers ever! I picked up You Suck: A Love Story from the library on a whim and ended up laughing so hard I was crying. This is the sequel to Bloodsucking Fiends, which the library did not have so I'll have to backtrack on that one sometime.

As you can tell from the book cover this one is about vampires. This outrageously funny book is about a (good) vampire couple and the crazy situations in which they find themselves. Along the way they pick a minion, a 16 year Goth/Emo chick who calls herself Abbey Normal (a tip of the hat to Young Frankenstein, I'm sure) though her name is really Allison Green. The chapter where I broke down into tears of laughter from which it took me quite a while to recover is told from her perspective as she wrote it in her diary. I won't ruin the moment for you but I started my hysterics when she compared her best friend to Boo Radley in To Kill A Mockingbird, followed by a description of how traumatized she was from seeing a naked old man.

You have to read it for yourself. I guarantee this book will make you laugh. You owe it to yourself to add it to your book list. Christopher Moore is too great a smart ass to not read his stuff.

Reservior Dogs

I finally watched Reservoir Dogs by Quentin Tarantino, just one of many movies in my queue that I should have already seen (but haven't). What an amazing movie. It's not just the story and plot, it's how he chooses to deliver the story to us. It starts in a warehouse after a botched jewelry heist. The details of the characters and certain parts of their get-aways are told in flashbacks, while the main story continues in the warehouse where they try to figure out who set them up.

And what a killer cast (pun intended)! Harvey Keitel as Mr. White, Tim Roth as Mr. Orange, Michael Madsen as Mr. Blonde, Steve Buscemi as Mr. Pink, Quentin himself as Mr. Brown, as well as Chris Penn and Lawrence Tierney. Mix these first class actors with Quentin's highly skilled story telling ability and the result is movie making at its absolute finest. This was made in 1992 and I can't believe I didn't take the time to watch this before now. If you haven't seen this yet, add this to the top of your queue. This is a must see movie.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Untamed

Untamed by P.C. and Kristen Cast is the latest installment in their House of Night series. I have to say that I'm hooked on this series. The writing is good and the story is a grand epic of good vs evil in the world of vampyres (right up my alley).

Zoey Redbird is a young woman who has been marked by the vampyre goddess Nyx as being exceptionally special. Her aim is true and her heart is good. Her nemesis turns out to be the powerful high priestess of Zoey's school, Neferet, who has turned away from Nyx and chosen a path of evil. Only a small handful of Zoey's closest friends know the truth and it's up to them to stop Neferet in her quest for dominance.


If this sounds at all intriguing to you, pick up the first book in this series called Chosen. If you decide you like it then there are three more books waiting for you.

Monday, September 22, 2008

Bite and Powers of Detection


I just finished reading Bite and Powers of Detection, both collections of short stories by various authors. The former focuses on vampire stories and latter on supernatural murder mysteries. I bought them because Charlaine Harris, author of the Sookie Stackhouse vampire series on which the HBO series True Blood is based, wrote stories for both of these collections.
Bite has the short story that goes after Dead to the World and before Dead as a Doornail. It's only about 20 pages long, but we're introduced to new characters and there's an occurrence that turns out to be the catalyst for events in subsequent books. You don't need to buy this book, but you'll definitely want to at least check it out from the library so you won't feel lost.
Powers of Detection has a Sookie short story but it's not "required" reading to keep up the novels. This one focuses on Claudine and Claude, fairies that occasionally help Sookie out of trouble. The book was OK. I finished reading all the stories but I wouldn't recommend it.

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Righteous Kill

Righteous Kill is one of the top 10 worst movies ever made. It begs the question: Why did Pacino and DeNiro choose this movie, of all the movies in the world, to star in together? Do not waste your time on this horrible movie. It's two hours of your life you'll never get back. If you want to read more about how bad this movie sucked, check out my other blog: http://jandkatthemovies.blogspot.com/

Shadow of the Vampire

I just watched Shadow of the Vampire, which is a fictional movie about the making of Nosferatu. The fabulously gruesome part of this movie is that it posits that Max Schreck, the guy who played the vampire, actually IS a vampire! The vampire is brilliantly played by Willem Dafoe for which he earned an Oscar nomination. His performance in this movie is absolutely worth your time to watch this. It also stars John Malkovich who plays the director Murnau. The scenes they have alone together are quite dynamic.

It was fun to watch this movie right after watching the actual 1922 film Nosferatu. I liked watching them "film" the scenes from the movie, and I think they used a couple shots from the original film. If you have the inclination I suggest you watch the original followed by this film. But if you can't tolerate silent films you really should watch this anyway - I guarantee you'll like it even if you haven't seen the movie it's based on.

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Harry Potter & The Sorcerer's Stone - 10th Anniversary Edition

Being a total Harry Potter geek I ran right out on Tuesday to pick up the 10th anniversary edition of Harry Potter & The Sorcerer's Stone, primarily because there were rumors of additional content. I was a little disappointed on the "additional content" which turned out to be a drawing of Severus Snape as JK Rowing had always seen him in her head. It was cool to see, though, and if you're a fan I recommend perusing the front of the book at a bookstore so you can see it for yourself. Other than that, I don't think there's a reason to purchase this book if you already have one.

In reading it, though, it was fun to notice that they made corrections to the text from the original printing of the book. For example, in the original version, when they're at the start of term feast at Hogwarts Nearly Headless Nick tells Harry that he hasn't eaten in nearly 400 years. This conflicts with the next book which takes place a year later where Nick has his 500th death day party. So in this new edition it's corrected to say that Nick hasn't eaten in nearly 500 years. Yes, I'm a total geek - haven't you figured that out yet?!


I realized that I hadn't re-read the series since the last book came out. It's fun to read the beginning of the series knowing now how it ends, and also realizing the significance of many, many things in this first book. I never would have guessed that the way Harry caught his first snitch at his first Quidditch game would play a key part in the denouement of Deathly Hallows. Or that Dumbldore's put-outer that he used on Privet Drive in the very first chapter of the series would even show up again at all, much less in a very significant way. These are just two examples that highlight how technically well-crafted these books were from before she even wrote a word.


Anyway, I loved reading this again. It's like putting on a warm pair of fuzzy slippers and wrapping up in a cozy blanket on a cold winter day. There's nothing like a good book, no matter how many times you've read it.

Nosferatu

So, as you can probably tell from my recent posts, I'm on a bit of a vampire kick right now. So I decided to rent the old 1922 silent film Nosferatu, which is a German rip-off of Dracula. (Bram Stoker's estate sued and lost, FYI. Apparently, changing the names of the characters was good enough to prove that you had an original story back then.) They must have thought movie goers were idiots and slow readers back then. The text they throw up on the screen to explain and/or advance the story is up there for about 10x the amount of time it actually takes to read. They also show certain things repeatedly like we're all too dumb to remember what we saw five minutes ago. And, overall, it was really slow-moving compared to what we're used to watching now.

Having said all that, it was sort of fun to watch. I was impressed at the creativeness of the special effects - yes, that's right, special effects! Pretty amazing considering there wasn't Industrial Light & Magic to turn to for help. And the guy who plays the vampire, Max Schreck, is really creepy looking even by today's standards.


If you have any interest I recommend watching this when you're in the right mood for this type of film. Be prepared to hate the supposed "hero" of the movie. He's a total idiot and you'll probably end up rooting for the vampire to get him like I did. However, his wife actually has the ability to use her brain and she ends up saving humanity from the evil vampire. Which goes to prove that if you want something done right send a woman to do it! (But she can't be too smart or else she never would have married that tool in the first place.) Anyway, enjoy.

My Big Fat Supernatural Wedding

I just finished reading another book of short stories by various authors called My Big Fat Supernatural Wedding, which, obviously, centers around supernatural weddings. I enjoyed reading it but it's not something that I would strongly recommend to anyone. I picked it up because there is a story in there by Charlaine Harris who wrote the Southern Vampire Series (featuring Sookie Stackhouse) on which the HBO series True Blood is based. Her story doesn't feature the characters from that series, but it does take place in that "universe" with vampires and werewolves. If you're interested, maybe check it out of the library instead of purchasing it.

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Burn After Reading

The Cohen brothers hit a home run with Burn After Reading. I was laughing out loud throughout this whole movie. This dark comedy is more intelligent than the usual stupid comedy that everyone puts out these days (such as every Will Ferrell movie ever made). These A+ actors were so much fun to watch in the horrible mess of a plot that only the Cohen brothers could conceive and bring to life. You should definitely make it a point to watch this.

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Mission Impossible III

I caught Mission Impossible III on cable this weekend. I'm glad I waited to see this movie. When it was released in the theaters it was around the time when Tom Cruise was all over the place being weird and I was really sick of him. I was able to watch this movie more objectively than I would have before. Philip Seymour Hoffman is exceptional, as he always is. Everyone else is OK. It was a decent movie, but maybe a little too long. It's not great but worth the time if you haven't seen it yet and you have a couple hours to kill.

Many Bloody Returns

I finished another book of short stories by various authors called Many Bloody Returns: Tales of Birthdays with Bite. The requirement to write a story for this compilation was that is had to be about birthdays and vampires. I thought it was amazing that all the authors could write such different stories about the same topic, ranging from grim to funny and everything in between. Of course, the reason I bought this book was that Charlaine Harris wrote the first (and funniest) narrative, which is a little side story for Sookie Stackhouse and Eric Northman of her Southern Vampire series (which is also the basis for the new HBO series True Blood). I enjoyed all but one story in this book. If you're willing to gamble on liking the writing styles of various authors, I suggest you pick this one up sometime.

Friday, September 12, 2008

http://thebellesblog.blogspot.com

Night's Edge

I bought a few books that are collections of novellas and short stories by various authors. The first one I finished was Night's Edge which contains three novellas. Of course there is a sci-fi edge to all of the stories. (Surprise, surprise coming from me, huh?) The first story, the best one of the three, involved discovering why ghosts haunt a particular house resulting in the solving of a crime. I really couldn't get into the second story which also involved a haunting. I just didn't like the writing and therefore couldn't relate to the characters or the story. The last one was by Charlaine Harris and is the reason why I bought the book. She's the one who writes the Southern Vampire Series I've blogged about (which is also the basis for the True Blood HBO TV show), and this story was part of that "universe" though with a completely new set of characters. Overall, I would say not to waste your time on this book. You can probably find something more enjoyable to read.

Be Kind Rewind

I just finished watching Be Kind Rewind with Jack Black, Mos Def, and Danny Glover. All the VHS tapes in a video rental store get accidentally erased so our two buffoons remake all the movies themselves (a.k.a. sweded). As it turns out, their little neighborhood likes the sweded versions more than the originals and they're a huge success. The movie is mostly silly, but there are several very funny parts. If you haven't seen this one yet you should put it in your queue.

The Women

It was a rainy day so I went to the movies with my mom to see The Women (her pick, of course - you know I'm more of an action/sci-fi girl), and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. I was expecting a boring chick flick. While this was predictable in some ways, it was funnier than I thought it would be and very well acted. Every single person in this movie was a woman; there weren't even any men in the background. Having said that, it wasn't an anti-guy movie. If you have a rainy day with some time to kill, give this one a shot.

Monday, September 8, 2008

Tropic Thunder

Tropic Thunder was so much funnier than I thought it would be! I thought there would be funny moments in between general lulls in the comedy, but I was laughing throughout the whole movie. It's about a group of spoiled actors who aren't pulling their weight on a Vietnam war movie, so the director drops them into the middle of a jungle in Vietnam to get them to act their parts better. They think they're filming certain scenes in the movie, but they're actually in the middle of a drug lord's territory. It's absurdly hilarious. If you haven't seen it yet, do.

Sunday, September 7, 2008

Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay

OK, I have to admit that I liked Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay. I liked their first movie too and this one delivered the humor just as well. The plot isn't the point in these movies - it's the crazy situations they keep finding themselves in. It's definitely silly humor, but I highly recommend you check out this movie.

Saturday, September 6, 2008

Hellboy

A friend of mine suggested I give Hellboy a try. Hmm. I think she might start losing her movie credibility with me. In all fairness to her, I also wanted to see it because Guillermo del Toro, the director, made a couple other movies I really liked (Pan's Labyrinth, The Orphanage). I didn't like it. It wasn't horrible but it was too long and a little boring. I was fast forwarding through several parts of the movie. I probably won't pick up Hellboy 2. I wouldn't recommend it.

The Egyptian Cross

My dad recommended an old Ellery Queen mystery, The Egyptian Cross. The fun part about these old Ellery Queen books is that once the main story is told, there is a challenge to the reader to figure out from all the clues, not guess, who did it before old Ellery solves it for you. I didn't guess correctly (yes, I guessed) but at least I did, at one point, guess the correct person and motive even though I dismissed it and went in a wrong direction. I wasn't into it for about the first half of the book. There were a huge pile of obvious red herrings and the story didn't begin to be cohesive until about halfway through. I might pick up a few more sometime in the future.

Sunday, August 31, 2008

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

So Buffy the Vampire Slayer (the movie) was just on cable so I thought I'd watch it to see what I had missed. What horrible movie! I know it was supposed to be campy, but it wasn't even funny in the slightest. It was entertaining to see a young Hilary Swank in a supporting role and Ben Afleck in a 2 second role that didn't even get him end credits. I don't see what the creators of the TV show saw in this movie to inspire them to make it into a series. I can only assume that the TV show (which I never watched) had a lot more thought behind it since it was hugely popular and lasted a long time. In any case, don't waste your time watching this piece of crap movie.

Constantine

I watched Constantine (again) this weekend starring Keanu Reeves and Rachel Weiss. The more I watch this movie the more I like it. The overall story is about the son of the devil who finds a cohort in heaven to do some tricksy move to take over the earth, which would upset the balance that God and Satan have worked out. Keanu Reeves as Constantine finds himself drawn into this plot while on a mission to save his own soul. He tried to commit suicide when he was younger and now he knows he's going to hell when he dies, but he keeps fighting demons in an attempt to get into heaven. It's not a bad movie and it's on cable a lot, so I suggest you check it out sometime.

Friday, August 29, 2008

Playing for Pizza

There's a lot of football in Playing for Pizza by John Grisham. Lots of Italian culture and food, too, but mostly football. I think it would help the general enjoyment of the book if you gave a fat rat's patootie about football, unlike me. It's not poorly written by any means. It's just that there are numerous detailed descriptions about Italian food, sites, and culture. Which leads me to believe that Grisham spent some length of time in Italy and is a football fan. (Pretty smart how I figured that out, huh?) Rick Dockery, the worst quarterback in the NFL, can't get picked up by any team except the Panthers - the Parma Panthers in Italy, that is. He initially goes because he has to, and ends up staying because he wants to. You might want to pick this one up if you're a football fan, but otherwise I'd try some other John Grisham book.

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Spiderman 3

Spiderman 3 was lame. It was hokey. It was stupid. I'm glad movies like Batman 2 and Iron Man came out, otherwise I think I'd be losing my faith in sci-fi action movies. It started out really s l o w and then it hardly went anywhere. Even the action scenes were boring and dragged on too long - how do you do that?! A guy turns into dirt - how stupid is that?! The acting was over the top and campy, except for Kirsten Dunst who's always flat. It got so bad I started fast forwarding through the movie. The only good part of the movie was a 2 second cameo by Stan Lee. I wasn't a huge fan of the first two and I'll warn you to skip this one. It's not worth the time.

Funny Exam Answers

OMG! I found the funniest website ever! http://funnyexamanswers.com/ I was laughing so hard at work this morning I was crying. Kids are such slacker smart alecs these days. I couldn't imagine turning in any of these answers when I was a kid. You have to have to have to read every entry on this site, which is not that large (but I hope it grows quickly). Keep hitting the previous entries button at the bottom of each page to read all the content. My favorite entries are the three essays written by Peter Nguyen which are further back in the site. I think he's my new hero. You owe it to yourself to read this. It's time well spent.

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Talladega Nights

I am surprised that Will Ferrell can make the same movie over and over again, and that it doesn't totally stink. The only reason I watched Talladega Nights - The Tale of Ricky Bobby is that my boss gave me the DVD (I wouldn't have rented it - I hate NASCAR and everything related to it). Some of the scenes go on a little too long and of course all the humor plays to the lowest common denominator. But I was laughing out loud during a few of the scenes, including the opening scene where they quote Eleanor Roosevelt saying that, "America is all about speed; hot, nasty, bad ass speed." This ode to white trash is sort of funny. Give it a go if you like this kind of humor.

Chosen (House of Night #3)

I just finished Chosen, third in the House of Night series by PC and Kristen Cast. I was surprised who ended up being chosen, just like I was surprised in the second book who ended up being the betrayer. This book picks up in December of Zoey Redbird's first year and things just keep getting more complicated. The big problem in this book is that someone has started killing vampyre's and displaying their bodies just outside of their grounds. Zoey's also still trying to solve the problem of what happened to her best friend in the last book. Zoey can't confide in her friends or she'll risk exposing them to danger. And she still has the problem of having three boyfriends (to which we will find some resolution in this book). I'm looking forward to the next book coming out in a few weeks.

Betrayed (House of Night #2)

The second book in the House of Night series by PC & Kristen Cast is Betrayed. I have to say, I was a little shocked as to who the betrayer was to our Zoey Redbird! When this book picks up, Zoey has taken on the leadership of the Daughters of Night, an elite student organization, and she has some great ideas of changing the structure and purpose of the group. Some (human) kids in the area go missing, including her sort-of-ex-boyfriend, Heath, and some vampyre students die, including her best friend and roommate. Oh yeah, and in addition to Heath and Erik, her vampyre boyfriend, the young (and hott) temporary poetry teacher starts hitting on her pretty hard too. While she's juggling three boyfriends she figures out the mystery of the missing human teens and the dying vampyre teens ~ which is when we find out who betrayed her. Like I said in my book review for the first in this series, I think this is better written than the Twilight series, so if you read that you should give these a try.