Religulous

Religulous came out on DVD yesterday and I rented it. I was not expecting a documentary about religion to be so incredibly funny! Bill Maher's sharp wit keeps the movie light and entertaining while exploring the absurdities of religion. He finds all kinds of crazy religious zealots to talk with from almost all the major religions - and a few lesser known religions as well. Surprisingly, the two most sane (in fact, the only two sane religious people he talked to) were priests, one of whom was the Vatican astronomer. The person I was most shocked at was a rabbi who's in league with the Holocaust deniers. WTF?!

This is not an objective exploration of religious beliefs. Maher makes it clear from the very beginning that he is going to mock religion in all its forms and denounce all the many horrible things that result from religion. While doing all of that, Maher throws in lots of jokes which helps keep the movie light, along with the many film clips that mock just about everything everyone says.

I would absolutely rent this movie unless you're a hard-core bible thumper. Anyone else will at least enjoy Maher's humor, even if they don't agree with his viewpoint.

Caught in the Light

I got Robert Goddard's name from a list of authors Stephen King likes, and if all of his books are like Caught in the Light I'm a fan for life. It's a mystery novel centered around photography with lots of twists and turns and surprises. The plot is deep and rich, and I don't want to say much more because it would ruin the enjoyment of reading as it all unfolds. You should absolutely pick this one up.

Bottle Shock and Benjamin Button

I wish I would have gone to see Bottle Shock when it was in the theaters. It's a move about wine, but not like Sideways which was pretentious and boring. This movie is charming and fun and has a heart that Sideways lacked. Starring Alan Rickman and Bill Pullman, it's based on a true story in 1976 that pitted California wines against French wines in a blind test. I would absolutely rent this one.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, on the other hand, is one you can absolutely skip. There's nothing about that movie that you haven't already seen in the previews. Clocking in at 2:45, it's l-o-n-g and s-l-o-w and boring. I have absolutely no idea why this movie is up for best picture. I can think of several others off the top of my head that I would rather have had the nomination (Gran Torino, Doubt, and Revolutionary Road just to name a few).

Movie Reviews

I rented a bunch of movies so I'll make these individual reviews short. The best movie of the latest batch I saw was Rock n Rolla by Guy Richie and starring Gerard Butler, Tom Wilkinson and Thandie Newton among many others. It was a fun, twisty story about the seedy scums of the London underworld crossing and double crossing each other. Definitely rent this one if you haven't already seen it.

Zack and Miri Make A Porno, the latest Kevin Smith movie, wasn't as funny as I was hoping it would be but it was a fun, light, silly movie. It's about two high school friends who decide to make a porno to make ends meet and end up falling in love. Max Payne starring Mark Whalberg was a good looking stylistic action movie, but it was predictable. It's about a cop wrestling his personal demons while trying to get to the bottom of a hallucinogenic drug ring. Pride and Glory was a well acted movie about good cops and bad cops (any movie with Edward Norton is guaranteed to be well acted), but it was excessively long. Oliver Stone's W. was an interesting look at how W lived his entire life in his father's shadow and ended up being Cheney's puppet - nothing new there. Vicky Cristina Barcelona is a slow movie about two women who spend the summer in Spain. It's clear to see why Penelope Cruz was nominated for her performance in this. Alien vs. Predator: Requiem was fun to watch but I honestly don't know why they spent so much time on a plot full of characters no one cares about. None of these four movies are "must see's" but they're entertaining if you're in the mood.

Book Reviews: Fool and Fade

Fool, the latest book by Christoper Moore, was absolutely fabulous! It's the story of King Lear told from the point of view of Pocket the fool, who we see is really pulling all the strings in the background with a little help from the three witches from MacBeth and a ghost (there's always a bloody ghost). It's amazing to think that Moore's funny, witty, irreverent style could be applied to Shakespeare's stuffy and boring King Lear, but it works quite well. I love everything I've ever read by Moore, so pick up this book or any of his others. You won't be disappointed.

I also read Fade, the sequel to Lisa McMann's Wake, about a girl who gets sucked into other people's dreams. Over the course of the two novellas the heroine is learning to use control in her dreams and in others. These are both good stories, but they're written as more of a thorough outline than a fully developed book. I like the stories, but I wish wrote more to fill out the story and the characters a bit more. You can skip these books, but if you're looking for something quick and easy to read you might want to check them out.

The Hulk and The Happening

I was surprised at how horrible The Incredible Hulk was, especially since it has first class actors like Edward Norton, William Hurt and Tim Roth. The movie was boring and predictable, and the green monster was ridiculously stupid. The only redeeming scene in the movie was Robert Downy Jr.'s cameo at the end of the movie as Tony Stark (a.k.a. Iron Man). I'm surprised that these two franchises are linked because Iron Man was so good and Hulk was so bad. If you haven't seen this movie, don't.

The movie that was supposed to be horrible but was better than I thought was The Happening. But maybe I liked it more than everyone else because I watched it after that horrible piece of crap The Hulk, which might make any movie watched after it seem like pure genius. I thought The Happening was well made and thought provoking, though not nearly M. Night Shyamalan's best (The Sixth Sense). But it's not his worst either (The Village). I'm guessing the criticism comes from the movie focusing on the experience of a small group of people and not in explaining in full detail the cause of the occurrence, though it is explained - quite adequately in my opinion. If you're looking for something to watch I would check this one out.

Cold Creek Manor

Cold Creek Manor, starring Dennis Quiad and Sharon Stone, is a few years old but I just got around to watching it on DVD. A family moves from the city into an old dilapidated manor and they renovate it. This is about all that happens in the first hour. Then, inexplicably the house is over-run with snakes. Then more boring stuff happens and the movie ends. This movie was really lame. Skip it.

Taken, Get Smart, and Ghost Town

Taken is a good action thriller starring Liam Neeson as an ex-CIA agent whose 17 year old daughter gets kidnapped on a trip to Paris with her friend and sold into prostitution. The majority of the movie centers on Neeson who explores the seedy underworld in his attempt so rescue his daughter. We know that he's a father who would do anything to get her back, a fact that is demonstrated several times during the film. The plot is a little obvious, but it's till a fun ride and Liam Neeson is a great actor. If you don't catch this one in the theater, definitely check it out on DVD.

Get Smart was very funny and well cast with Steven Carell as Maxwell Smart, Anne Hathaway, Dwayne Johnson (a.k.a. The Rock), Alan Arkin, Terence Stamp, and James Caan. The movie stayed true to the feel of the old TV series, while updating it for the modern age of technology and audience expectation. It was fun watch Carell fumble around as Agent Smart; I couldn't imagine anyone else in that role. I laughed through the whole movie. I can't believe I didn't see this one in the theater. If you haven't seen it yet, definitely rent it.

Ghost Town was also a good and funny movie starring Ricky Gervais, Greg Kinnear, and Tea Leoni. Gervais plays a cynical dentist who "dies" on the operating table for seven minutes due to a reaction to the anesthesia during a colonoscopy. When he wakes up he can see the ghosts of people who have passed on that need closure on some aspect of their lives before their spirits can move on to a higher plane. This was a better movie than I thought it would be. If you haven't seen this one add it to your movie queue.

In the Land of Women

In the Land of Women is one of those odd little indy films that could be decent if you're in the right mood. It starts out with a guy who writes soft porn that gets dumped by his actress girlfriend so he decides to go to Michigan to help his ailing grandmother while he gets over his break up. He gets involved in the lives of the family who live across the street from his grandmother.

Overall it's kind of tedious. There are too many small moments that don't have a lot of significance which makes for a somewhat boring movie. I would suggest skipping this one.

Doomsday

Doomsday is very Mad Max-esq. A virus devastates Scotland forcing a quarantine of the entire country. The virus is successfully contained but Scotland is left isolated from the world as the virus ravages the country and presumably destroys the entire population. 30 years later the virus resurfaces in London. When proof of survivors surfaces on satellite photographs, a special top secret task force is sent into Scotland to find the doctor who led the research team back when the virus first surfaced. We follow the task force through the anarchistic war zone that Scotland has devolved into while we simultaneously watch London be destroyed by the virus and the rioting by the infected people trying to escape. This one is OK, but it's not a must see.

Milk

I went to see Milk today because I wanted to see Sean Penn's Oscar nominated performance before the awards are handed out. It was a powerful and moving true story about Harvey Milk, America's first openly gay elected official in San Francisco in the 70s. Obviously Sean Penn's performance was very powerful. I thought the movie itself was successful in describing the gay lifestyle of the 70s while keeping it artfully tasteful but honest all at the same time - kind of a touchy line to walk to appeal to main stream film audiences. An excellent film that you should add to your movie queue.

Underworld 3: Rise of the Lycans

OK, I have to admit that I am now officially and Underworld fan. I think this third movie was better than the first two. Underworld 3: Rise of the Lycans is a prequel to the first two movies and details the story of Lucien, head of the werewolves, and Sonja daughter of Victor, the head of the vampires. Their story, obviously one of forbidden love, is referenced in the first two movies so I wasn't sure if I would enjoy watching it since I already know how it was going to end. I think it's a testament to the great acting talent of Michael Sheen and Bill Nighy that I was enthralled in the story from start to finish. This movie focused more on the characters than the first two which seemed to focus more on action and plot (which I love, so I'm not knocking it). If you're a fan of the first two, you should definitely see this one.

The Visitor

I finally got a chance to watch The Visitor this weekend. It's clear to see why Richard Jenkins received an Oscar nomination for his performance. Jenkins plays a widowed Connecticut college professor with a completely empty life who goes to NY for a conference and finds a pair of illegal aliens living in his apartment. As he befriends the young couple he discovers a passion for playing the African drum and begins to find some meaning in his life. If you haven't seen this yet, add it to your movie rental queue.