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.

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.

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.

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/

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.

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.

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.

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."