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.

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.

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.

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.

Marked (House of Night #1)

How do I keep getting sucked (pun intended) into teen lit vampire series'? At least I'm enjoying the reading even if I am too old for the intended audience. Marked was a good beginning to a series. Written by PC Cast (an established sci-fi writer) and her daughter, Kristen, It's about a normal high school girl, Zoey, who, while putzing around her locker one day, gets "marked" by a freaky vampire. After saying something dark and scary while pointing to her, she gets a quarter moon outline mark on her forehead. Her mom and step-dad are religious zealots and basically disown her, so she flees to grandma's house for some reassurance and comfort before going to the School of Night, a.k.a. the "vampyre finishing school." Her grandma is a Native American who believes in earth goddess-type stuff and is proud of Zoey getting marked. While visiting her grandma Zoey trips and knocks her noodle pretty hard and has an out of body experience where she is visited by the vampyre goddess Nyx. Nyx tells Zoey in her vision that she is special and fills in her half moon tattoo (something that doesn't happen until you're older and fully develop as a vampyre). She then has to get to the School of Night PDQ or else she could die before she has the chance to fully transform into a vampyre (which takes years). Once she arrives at school, it's clear that it's like every other high school, unfortunately, with snotty cliquey bratty girls and a few nice ones that help Zoey adjust.

I know it seems like I told you the whole plot of the book, but that's just how it starts. The rest is the interesting part where we get to learn about this particular world of vampyres and why Zoey is so special. And, of course, no vampire book with a female lead is complete without a totally hot vampire boy to have a crush on (I'm sure I didn't ruin that part for you). Overall, I think I like this one more than the Twilight series (so far anyway). This seems to have a little more substance to the writing and goes into more detail about the experiences. I've already started the next book in the series so look for the next review soon.

Wake

I accidentally bought a teen fiction book called Wake by Lisa McMann. I was at work and I got an email with a one day only 30% discount from Barnes & Noble on line. So I quickly skimmed through the sci-fi list and ordered a couple books. I was bummed when I realized they were both written for teens, but now I think that teen lit is where the best sci-fi books are coming from (Harry Potter, Twilight, Artemis Fowl, Eragon, etc.). I certainly haven't been blown over by many (if any) recent adult sci-fi novels.

Wake is about a teenager who gets sucked into everyone else's dreams and can't stop it from happening. Other kids tease her not only for this, but also because her mom is an alcoholic and they're living on welfare. One day she gets sucked into a nightmare featuring a hideous and murderous monster and is forced to figure out how to control this "gift" and whether or not the boy who's trying to help her is trustworthy. I liked the creative idea of exploring what someone's life would be like if they couldn't help but experience everyone else's dreams. It's more of a novella and won't take you long to read. If you're interested check it out.

Dead Over Heels

I've finally plowed through all of the available Aurora Teahouse mysteries by Charlaine Harris (the last one will be available in February 2009). This latest one, Dead Over Heels, starts off on page one with a body falling from the sky into Aurora's yard. Yikes! All sorts of other weird and random things happen to her and around her. But never fear! Our intrepid little heroine figures out the culprit and saves the day! This one had a better plot and was more of a typical murder mystery than the last one. I've enjoyed reading this series. If you're looking for some murder mysteries that aren't too tough on your noodle give these a try.

The Julius House

The next installment in Charlaine Harris' Aurora Teahouse mystery series, The Julius House, has a slow start to the mystery portion of the story, which is somewhat relegated to the background until about halfway through the book. Aurora and her new husband move into an old home that hasn't been lived in for over six years because the previous family went missing without a trace. Aurora decides to investigate the disappearances of the unsolved case. She also has to deal with the realization that her husband is keeping some very deep secrets about his past from her. Overall it's a decent book but it focuses more on Aurora's story than the murder mystery.

Three Bedrooms, One Corpse

I'm still working my way through Charlaine Harris' Aurora Teagarden mysteries. The latest one I finished was Three Bedrooms, One Corpse. Aurora tries dabbling in her mother's realty business, and as she's showing her first house they find the body of a local area real estate agent. Then another one is found dead. Aurora is trying to figure out how these murders tie in with the many items that have gone missing over the years in houses that have been open for showings. And what about that guy that pretends to be interested in buying a house just so he can be shown other people's homes by a female real estate agent, the guy the agents have nicknamed The House Hunter. Is he really as harmless as he seems? Give this book a "spin" and let Aurora figure out for you.

I Am Legend

I Am Legend is a little on the boring side. Will Smith is the only human left in NYC. Everyone else has been infected with a virus and turned into zombies. The virus started as a scientist attempted to turn the measles into a virus that cures cancer. In the beginning it seemed like a miracle cure and was administered to the masses. Will Smith is now on his own trying to find a cure in lab rats that he can administer to the zombies to turn them back to normal. I wouldn't recommend this movie, unless you don't mind watching it on fast-forward so you're not bored to tears.

Suspect Zero

I heard of Suspect Zero in the previews to one of the other movies I rented and became instantly interested when I saw that it starred Ben Kingsley as a psychotic killer. It turns out he's stalking (in a very bizarre and supernatural way) the FBI agent, played by Aaron Eckhart, who happens to be the trying to find him for the murders he committed. This movie also stars Carrie Anne Moss as the FBI agent's partner. Ben Kingsley is an incredible actor and totally rocks as a bad you-know-what mo-fo. Definitely rent this movie. You might also want to want rent Sexy Beast, another tour de force role for Sir Ben.

A Bone To Pick

I just finished A Bone To Pick, the second book in Charlaine Harris' Aurora Teahouse mystery series. Our plucky little librarian (Roe, as she likes to be called) finds herself inheriting the not-so-small estate of an elderly acquaintance who passed away. Everyone, including Roe, wonders why she was named as the beneficiary, especially after she finds a skull very cleverly hidden in the house she inherited. Roe realizes that she was specifically chosen by this woman because they were members of a now defunct club that studied famous old murder cases, and that she will have to solve the mystery of the skull. Pick this one up if you're looking for a light, easy to read murder mystery.

The Day The Earth Stood Still

At the suggestion of a good friend (J of J&K at the movies - see link to blog in the sidebar) I watched The Day The Earth Stood Still. If you can get past the fact that it was made in 1951 so the overall look of it is dated, it's quite a good movie. It's a fairly accurate study of humanity. A man from outer space lands on Earth and the first thing that happens is that we shoot him (tell me that wouldn't happen in real life). The purpose of his visit is to attempt to stop humanity from using nuclear power before it can spin out of control resulting in catastrophic devastation, for more than just the planet Earth. Again, it's dated, but there is obviously great potential for the remake coming out later this year starring Keanu Reeves. I'm really looking forward to seeing what they do with this. If you have a free hour and a half, you should give this moldy oldy a go. If you need a little more convincing, it did actually win a Golden Globe.

The Amber Spyglass

I finally finished reading The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman. I started reading it ten or eleven books ago and couldn't bring myself to continue reading it. I made quite an effort to finish this before the weekend just I wouldn't have it sitting on my nightstand anymore. I'm sick of looking at this book. Needless to say, I didn't like it or the His Dark Materials series as a whole. Everything that happened seemed to be a random series of events that, in and of themselves, on some level may be exciting happenings but they're just thrown together in a big, messy jumble which makes for obnoxious reading. Lyra saved all of existence and I didn't even care. I was just relieved that it was over. I never saw the movie they made for The Golden Compass; I can't imagine them making the other two movies of this series. They'll probably bomb just because the source material is so bad. I don't know why these books are so popular. Don't buy these books. You'll waste hours of your life that you'll never get back.

Book Review: Real Murders

After reading the Sookie Stackhouse series I decided to check out Charliane Harris' mysteries, the first of which is Real Murders. Her writing style seems to be what refer to as "a good beach read" or "a good book to read while on a plane." Having said that, I enjoyed the light and quick-to-read murder mystery. A librarian is part of a club that studies and discusses real-life famous murders (such as Lizzy Borden), but someone is killing off each member of the club in the fashion of one of these famous murders. Definitely not a must-read. I bought the first three books of this series at the same time. I'm not sure I'll continue with her mysteries after I read the next two.

More Sookie Stackhouse

Well, I've been on a tear reading the rest of the Sookie Stackhouse books: Dead in Dallas, Club Dead, Dead to the World, Dead as a Doornail, Definitely Dead, All Together Dead, and From Dead to Worse. Whew! I thought I'd just post one blog for the rest of these. As part mystery, part sci-fi, and part romance these books are tons of fun to read. I have a new favorite literary character: Bubba. I won't spoil it for you, but I guarantee you will get a chuckle out of this minor character. If I've piqued your curiosity, check out the first book in the series, Dead Until Dark; Bubba pops up toward the end of the book. {snicker, snicker} I highly doubt Bubba will show up in the upcoming HBO series based on these books, True Blood. I'm looking forward to the show. I hope it's as fun as these books.

Dead Until Dark

Ruh-roh Raggy! I found a new book series that you're going to hear all about starting with this book and carrying on with the other seven once I read them. The first book is called Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris. HBO is starting a new series on September 7th called True Blood, which is based on this book series and created by the Six Feet Under guy. So I thought I'd give the first book a read before the TV show started and I got hooked immediately. I read the first book last night, and I plan to crank through the rest of the books almost as quickly. It's set in Bon Temps, a small Louisiana town, in present time; the only difference is that vampires "came out of the coffin" a couple years ago after the Japanese successfully synthesized blood and are trying to find their place in society (well, some more than others). The main character in these books is Sookie Stackhouse, a young woman who can read minds whether she wants to or not. She becomes instantly attracted to a vampire that moves into town because she can't read his thoughts and enjoys the peace and quiet of just being around him. Of course, murder and mayhem ensues. If you're looking for a fun, easy read pick this up and give it a try.

Reign of Fire

I had low expectations for Reign of Fire but it turned out to be a fun movie. It's got dragons - what more could you ask for?! Who cares about the plot?! In case you're one of those people who actually do care about the plot, it's set about 20 years in the future when dragons mysteriously and overwhelmingly take over the world to consume everything. There's a small pocket of human survivors in Scotland, who are joined by a group of Americans (not quite sure where they came from), who attempt to hold off the dragons and prevent human extinction. Rent this one if you want to see some cool looking dragons.

Book Review: The Subtle Knife

The second book in Philip Pullman's Dark Materials trilogy, The Subtle Knife, was a little disappointing. The first three-quarters of the book was somewhat boring. We're following around our 10 year old heroin, Lyra, who doesn't know or learn much of what's going on so we're mostly left in the dark until close to the end of the book. We eventually find out more about what's going on, and the cliff-hanger at the end of this book leaves the reader anxious to find out what happens next. It's not bad, but I have higher expectations for the pace of the last book. I guess this book fell deeply into the pit that most second books of triliogies fall into: The Great Pit of Nothing Much Happens Because I'm Saving It All For The End Of My Epic Trilogy.

Hope for Dumbledore?

I heard a rumor that Michael Gambon may have actually looked at the sixth book of the Harry Potter series, HP and the Half-Blood Prince, while filming the movie. Notice that I didn't say he read the book, only looked at it. Apparently Daniel Radcliff who plays Harry Potter said at one time or another that they were consulting the book during some scene they were filming together. This is just a rumor I heard. I have not found the actual quote.

Any glimpse whatsoever at any of the books could only help Michael Gambon and his horribly inaccurate portrayal of Albus Dumbledore. If there was anyone who ever needed to consult the source material it's him. I don't understand what his problem is. He's a British actor so he obviously has tremendous talent. The books are neither too simple to be interesting nor too complex to follow. I can only conclude that he is lazy and belligerent and in it for the money since he clearly puts no thought whatsoever into the character he's portraying.

I'm not going to set any expectations of a better performance, but I will hope that Daniel Radcliff loaned him the book for a day or two peruse. We'll see in November.

Rescue Dawn

I don't know why I did this to myself. I hate watching war movies. I hate seeing all the horrible things people do to each other in times of war. But I rented Rescue Dawn because I'm on a Christian Bale kick since Batman came out. I think my kick is over. It's based on a true story about guy who got shot down in Laos while on a top secret mission and he gets caught by the natives. Basically, the rest of the movie is watching him being tortured. Because it's such a well made and well acted movie it makes the cruelty that much more horrible. Watch it at your own risk.

Breaking Dawn

Breaking Dawn, the last book of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series, was great send off to a fun saga. This books wraps of the story of Bella and Edward and their struggle to make a place for themselves in this world; a somewhat difficult task since Edward is a vampire and Bella wants to become one. It took a turn near the beginning that I wasn't expecting and brought the story in a whole different direction than I was anticipating. I like when stories surprise me like that. I was more interested in reading the book since I didn't predict this turn in their story. It was obvious from the previous books, though, that there would be a showdown with the Volturi, the ancient rulers of the world of vampires. I was pleasantly surprised, again, that the confrontation occurred differently than I had anticipated. I liked that it didn't quite follow the cliche that I had anticipated. This was a fun series and I recommend that you at least give the first book a try.

Movie Reviews

I've rented a few movies recently. The first was The Machinist starring Christian Bale. I rented it because in all the articles surrounding the Batman release they mentioned this movie. I enjoyed this movie overall, but it was a little artsy-fartsy. The majority of the movie was him doing seemingly random things while weird things happened to him. But in the last five minutes or so it all fell together and I sighed a big "Ohhhhhhhhh." The acting and the filming of this movie were really good, so if you're in the mood for something a little off the wall try this one. But I will warn you that Christian Bale is anorexic in this movie; it's very disturbing to see.

I rented Shattered with my mom and it was OK. It starred Maria Bello and Gerard Butler who play a couple terrorize by Pierce Brosnan who is holding their young daughter hostage and making them do all kinds of weird things. Overall the movie was just OK so don't rush out to rent it right now, but it had a big twist at the end and I always like a movie with a surprise ending.

The last movie I saw was In Bruges starring Brendan Gleeson, Colin Ferrell, and Ralph Feinnes. This was a funny, non-PC British movie about a couple thugs hiding in Bruges, Belgium after a hit goes wrong. You should really add this one to your rental list. It's very well done.