Movie Reviews

Up was a fabulous movie! I love that animated movies are more geared to an adult audience these days. It's about old man who lifts his house up with helium balloons to fulfill his life-long dream of exploring South America. Soon after lift off he realized that he's not alone. An eight year old Wilderness Explorer was on his porch when the house lifted off. I loved this kid - he had the funniest lines!

The most beautiful part of the movie is the beginning, which tells the life story of the old man exclusively visually (no dialogue whatsoever). We learned so much about our main character in only a few minutes of animation. Very impressive. Definitely go see this one.

One you should definitely skip is Drag Me To Hell. Indeed. I felt like I was actually in hell while sitting through this piece of crap. At the half hour point I was bored stiff. I wasn't scared at all and it was completely predictable. At several points I laughing because it was so lame - like the angry talking goat, for example. I'm amazed that someone thought this was a good enough script to give Sam Raimi millions of dollars to make this. Do you really want to be the guy who made the worst movie in the past decade?!

I've rented several movies as well. Ones you should catch are Kill Shot based on an Elmore Leonard book starring Mickey Rourke and Diane Lane (filmed in Michigan, btw); December Boys, a British coming of age movie about a group of orphans in Australia starring Dan Radcliff; and Swing Vote, a very over-the-top political comedy starring Kevin Costner, Dennis Hopper and Kelsey Grammer.

Ones to remove from your movie queue Paul Blart: Mall Cop, which was really stupid and not funny at all (I think Adam Sandler had his hand in this somehow which explains why it sucked so hard); and American Yakuza from 1993 which wasn't horrible, but doesn't stand up to today's movie standards.

Terminator Salvation

I have to say that I liked Terminator Salvation, I think mostly because I didn't have any expectations going into it. Christian Bale was totally awesome as John Connor, leader of the resistance against the machines who have taken over the world. It fills in the backstory implied in the first three movies nicely. The movie seemed to wander a bit in the middle, but pulled together nicely toward the end. It was totally awesome to get a bit of Ah-nold in there too. It was fun movie to watch, but it's only a must-see for Terminator junkies.

I also rented a few movies. Mirrors with Keifer Sutherland was so beyond horrible that it wasn't scary at all. I can't believe they make movies this bad. The original War of the Worlds made in the 50s was really horrible too. Sid & Nancy with Gary Oldman was somewhat interesting. It's about the relationship between Sex Pistols bass player Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungeon. These people are really annoying so the movie got a little boring.

Movie Reviews: Angels & Demons, etc.

I've been a movie watching fool these last few days. I went to see Angels & Demons this weekend. I thought it was a good adaptation of the book, which is essentially an action/adventure story anyway. One of the reasons it probably works so well is that we actually get to see the churches and statues referenced in the book, which helps a lot if, like me, you don't know anything about old sculptures and churches in Rome.

This story centers around a group founded hundreds of years ago by scientists who were bold enough to go against the Catholic church and say crazy things like, "the earth isn't the center of the universe." This group, called The Illuminati, has supposedly been secretly kept alive and are now exacting their revenge on the Catholic church by threatening to blow it up with anti-matter made in an experiment that basically proves that man can create "the big bang," thereby kind of proving that there is no god. It's a fun romp . Definitely go see it.

I don't recommend the rest of the movies I've seen recently. Therefore, I'll give you a quick list.

Lucky You - boring movie about a poker player. Great acting by Robert Duvall and Eric Bana. Horrible horrible horrible acting by Drew Barrymore.

The Nugget - little Aussie film about three average guys who find a giant nugget of gold and the problems it causes. It's a light, funny film but not a must-see.

5th Element - futuristic sci-fi movie that's too quirky for its own good. Surprisingly, Milla Jovovich was the best part about this movie. Go figure.

The Grudge - would have been scary if it wasn't overly-long and thus, boring.

Pumpkinhead - lame 80s horror flick with false advertising - no guy with a pumpkin on his head.

Vampires - I almost enjoyed this movie. It got the right mix of serious and sass. Made by John Carpenter and stars James Wood.

Star Trek

Star Trek is possibly the best movie ever made. It was so incredible. There are so many 'easter eggs' for trekkies (from Captain Pike to the Kobayashi Maru to Captain Archer's Beagle) but if you've never seen a Star Trek movie or tv show you could enjoy the movie just as much. It's a 'prequel' to the entire series focusing on a young Kirk, Spock and the gang and how they came together.

Hats off to JJ Abrahm's and his crew for putting a lot of thought into the actual script and effort into making a great movie. I think my favorite character (aside from Spock, of course, who is and will always be everyone's favorite character) was Bones played masterfully by Karl Urban. He got the exact attitude and timing down for Dr. McCoy's lines. But the whole cast was fabulous, especially our Romulan villain played by Eric Bana.

If there's any downside at all to this movie it's bad science. I won't even tell you about it because if you don't know about it (or don't really care, like me) you can just go with the flow of the the story and enjoy a marvelous movie.

I can't say enough great things about it. I can't wait to see it again. This is a must see.

Dead and Gone

I just read the latest Sookie Stackhouse book Dead and Gone by Charlaine Harris. I enjoy reading these books because they're light and fun and easy to read. This latest book is very Eric-centric (for you Eric fans out there) but centers around a rift within the fairy realm. Sookie gets sucked into the war because her great-grandfather, Niall, is one of the two fairy princes at war with each other. But don't fret, vampires, werewolves, shapeshifters, and witches are all part of Sookie's life so they're all in this book.

And, I am very pleased to say, my favorite literary character of all time makes an appearance, Bubba. If you don't know who Bubba is, pick up the first book in this Southern Vampire Series called Dead Until Dark. If you've watched the first season of the HBO series based on these books, True Blood, you will have missed out on the insanity that is Bubba. It's your loss.

These aren't the deepest books in the world, but if you're looking for something fun and light to read on the beach this summer I would recommend these.

Assassin's Quest

Wowee wowee wow. I just finished Assassin's Quest by Robin Hobb, the last book in the Farseer trilogy. I totally loved this series and adamantly recommend it to everyone. I had no idea that any current author was writing fabulous science fiction tales. Why hasn't this gained the same popularity as the works of Tolkein and Rowling? Am baffled at this because Hobb truly belongs in the upper most echelon with them.

I have read several reader reviews that complain of the story, and especially this last book. I think their primary complaint stems from this story not taking the obvious route to the expected closure of a typical science fiction novel. However, this is what I enjoyed most about this series. The world and the characters Hobb created had me mesmerized from start to finish. The end of this book had me speed-reading as fast as I possibly could because I absolutely had to see how the final events were going to unfold as quickly as possible. I was not disappointed.

I the other complaint I've read from readers is of our hero, Fitz. I think Fitz is the best protagonist I've ever read in science fiction. I find it extremely boring to read about perfect people who always make the best choices; what's interesting reading about somebody doing something that's easy for them? In this story, Fitz tries throughout his life to do the right thing, to be a "king's man." But his mistakes, misjudgments and wrong assumptions combined with his constant struggle to do what he wants versus what he should, shape him into such a robust character that, by the end of the series, I was breathing each breath with him and hoping his same hopes and fearing his same fears.

This was an incredible series. I can't wait to read other books of Hobb's. She has written two more trilogies in this same world she created in the Realm of the Elderlings, as well as other books outside of this universe. Check back to my blog in the future for postings on all of these books, which I will surely read.

Reviews

I haven't posted in a while and I do have several reviews to post. I'll start with the movies. I went to see I Love You Man, which was much funnier than I expected it to be. It was nice to see that his fiance wasn't a nagging you-know-what and was happy for him when he found a friend. I think it's out of the theaters now, but you haven't seen it make sure you rent it on DVD. I guarantee you'll laugh.

My good friend loaned me some of her horror movies and I managed to watch two of them so far. The Prophecy stars Christopher Walken (mister freaky looking himself) as a fallen angel and Viggo Mortensen as The Fallen Angel. Hellraiser was just a smidge disappointing because there wasn't very much Pinhead in this first movie. I am told that the next few have more Pinhead and that if I watch them I will be rewarded (with a puzzle box). These two are both decent in an 80s horror flick kind of way. They're fun to watch if you're in the right mood.

Last and least for the movies in this post is 88 Minutes starring Al Pacino. I figured out the problem - Al can't act. He just just struts around stating his lines with extreme arrogance and no emotion whatsoever. It's quite a far fall from The Godfather. Do not watch this movie under any circumstance.

Now on to my latest book, The Spymaster's Lady by Joanna Bourne. I found this book on the blog of Diana Gabaldon, the author the Outlander series which I adore. This was a fun romp following French and English spies during the reign of Napoleon. I classify this book in the same category as the Outlander series - action/adventure books for chicks (I say for chicks because there is a romantic element to the story, as you can probably tell from the cover). It was a fun and easy read that I definitely recommend. I have her follow up book in my book queue and will probably be blogging about it in the near future.