Damn, I've been busy!

I have a combination of reviews this time!
This past week I have seen 1 movie in theaters, one on DVD and I also managed to read another book as well.
Damn, I'm awesome!


I'll start off with the book: Stephen King's "Duma Key"

I consider myself a bit of a Stephen King loyalist. There has not been a novel of his that has been published that I have not read. Like any author he has his good books and his not-so-good books. "Duma Key" is probably the best book he has written in years. "Duma Key" is the story of a man who is horribly injured at work who gets divorced and moves down south to the Florida Keys. Once there he begins painting and his new hobby brings forth from the island a powerful force that threatens him, his family and the new friends he has made in Duma Key.
The characters are perfect and the story keeps building momentum and a feeling of dread like a train speeding up on a dead end track. What I liked best about this book was the attention to detail in the ongoing rehab of a man who was crushed mentally & physically almost to death. The first hundred pages or so detail his attempt to regain a sort of normality again in his life again. His accident left him without an arm, crushed his head and left him unable to walk, yet he is determined to start a new life and work on finding himself again. Of course, this being Stephen King, his road to recovery includes painting the future and digging into the mystery of several deaths that happened years earlier on the island. In all, I find this to be one of the best books Stephen King has written in over a decade.
****1/2 out of *****




I also just saw the movie 10,000 B.C. on DVD.

This movie was one of the biggest hits in the spring of 2008. I really cannot fathom that though. There is often a huge discrepancy between what is popular and what is good. There was a movie that came out a year or 2 ago, Mel Gibson's Mayan movie "Apocalypto" that covered most of the same ground that this one does. It was almost as if someone saw that movie and wanted to dumb it down so that people of little or no intelligence would understand it. I can picture the studio execs seeing "Apocalypto" and saying to each other: "What if we made this movie, set it in pre-historic times, made everyone speak clear English (so we can eliminate most subtitles) and threw in some Mammoths and top it off with having the main character having the typical "black sidekick." I would stop here usually to mention the acting, but seeing as it was all OVERACTING it would be pointless. What this movie needed was space aliens and huge explosions and it would have made even more money I think. Overall, this is not a movie anybody needs to spend their money on. If they want to see a good movie, with basically the same plot, they should see "Apocalypto" instead.
*1/2 out of *****




The final review I will include today was for a movie I saw in theaters today: "Wanted"

This movie stars James McAvoy, Angelina Jolie & Morgan Freeman. It is the story of an "everyday" man who finds out he has inherited from his father the special talents to be an assassin. I went into this flick thinking it was going to be a ridiculous waste of time, but I was happily surprised. That is not to say it wasn't ridiculous, but the insanity fit pretty well within the spirit of the film. The first thing to keep in mind that this based on a comic book of the same name, so having your main character discover he has some sort of superpower shouldn't come as a huge shock to anyone. I found that the plot kept surprising me from time to time and there was even a bit of humor that kept me interested in the characters onscreen. The acting was nothing spectacular though and as much as I like seeing Morgan Freeman, I think he should take a break for a while. He has been in so many movies recently (Evan Almighty, The Bucket List, The Dark Knight) that all his characters are starting to hit the same dull note with me every time I see him onscreen. I think this is an OK summer movie, and is a good fun waste of 2 hours in an air conditioned theater, but it won't be winning any awards anytime soon. I good see it and forget it summer movie.
*** out of *****

Book Review - "Next"

It's Book Review Time!!






Today I am reviewing Michael Crichton's novel "Next." This book came out a few months ago, but I just finished reading and thought I'd throw my 2 cents in and tell you what I thought.

In the spirit of full disclosure, I did not read this book all the way through on the first attempt. The narrative was pompous and uneven and also uninteresting, so I took a break, read another book, then picked up this one again and finished it.
The biggest problem i had with this novel was the overly large cast of characters. There are so many characters in this book that the first person to be introduced disappears after page 16 not to be seen again until around the page 250 mark. There were so many characters I lost track of who was who and "who cares!" I am a fan of Crichton's work (mostly) and I don't even mind the insane amount of technical jargon he throws in to tell the reader how much smarter he is than them. I do mind though when i read a book that is over 400 pages long and never produces any sort of real story. All the characters just floated along, most never connecting with the others until some minor event happens around page 350 that draws the story to it's mundane conclusion.
I think by now you probably know my opinion on this book. I would advise against purchase and if a desire to read this book happens against my best wishes, then please, go to a local library and rent it for free. Hell, you might even find something a lot more interesting and well written while you are there.

I give "Next" by Michael Crichton: * out of ***** stars

Movie Reviews (6/8-14)

OK, I have decided to use this blog to give a few movie reviews from time to time. This weekend I saw both movies being released. On Friday, I saw "The Happening" and Saturday, I saw "The Incredible Hulk."



"THE HAPPENING"










** out of ***** (stars)

I will begin this review by stating for the record that I am a sucker for "disaster" flicks. Any movie where the world is in peril is a fun movie to me. That being said, this movie was an OK "disaster" flick, but I cannot recommend it to anyone. I don't like stating "spoilers" so I won't tell you what the main cause of "The Happening" was except to say I have not seen this scenario put on film before. An unknown & unseen air virus is making people kill themselves in all sorts of gruesome manners. It was ridiculous, but then again, so is the cause of most "disaster" movies. What I didn't like in this film was the complete lack of acting talent displayed by every single person in the cast. Mark Wahlberg, Zooey Deschanel & John Leguizamo were all pretty bad in this movie. It was a genuine case of extreme "overacting" by all involved. I read elsewhere that someone described Zooey Deschanel's performance akin to someone who was just hit by a car & I totally agree on that call.
Mark Wahlberg spoke all his lines in this annoying soft & high pitched whine that began to make me root for the "Happening" to claim another victim before I offed myself instead. My final complaint lies with the director himself, M. Night Shyamalan. Like or hate his movies, his presence has always been felt behind the camera. In movies like "The Sixth Sense", "Signs" and even "Lady in the Water" I have always felt his unique presence all over the film. "The Happening" has none of his presence in it at all. I hope that whatever has happened to him, he can rebound from it and once again make a film that has the originality of what I once expected from him.



"THE INCREDIBLE HULK"










**** out of ***** (stars)

I was one of those millions of people who saw Ang Lee's version ("Hulk") that came out 5 years ago and was disappointed by it. That movie looked like a comic book, but took itself WAY too seriously and was a action-free letdown. I am happy to say that this "Incredible Hulk" is everything the previous film lacked. It was a good, fun, action-fueled flick. I liked Edward Norton & Liv Tyler & thought they did a good job bring their characters to life.


The plot was a pretty simple one, but actually allowed some time for a little character development from time to time. I am not a comic book man, so I am sure there were "shout-outs" to the fans that I probably missed. I did like the references to the TV show that was thrown in there from time to time. The visual effects were fine & I think this "Hulk" looked more realistic (granted - how "real" can something called "The Hulk" look anyways?) than the previous incarnation. One thing I am sick of though, is Stan Lee's obligatory cameo appearance in all his movies. That cameo takes me right out of the movie and those bits need to stop! Overall, there wasn't a lot to complain about here. After liking "Iron-Man" and now "The Incredible Hulk" I am looking forward with great interest to the next Marvel Comics superhero that makes it to the big screen. One thing is for certain - it will have a lot to live up to.

It's June already!!!

Wow
I just realized it had been a few months since I last posted anything here! Sorry about that!
I will be getting back to more regular postings again soon. A lot has been happening lately and I will quickly summarize here:
My company, New Line Cinema, is being absorbed by parent company Warner Brothers. I will get to stay on staff until the end of the year, unless I get a job elsewhere. Until recently, I was going to be let go at the end of June, but that was extended until November or December to finish up the projects I am working on.
I went white water rafting with a few friends this past Memorial Day weekend. It was a blast, even the part in which I was flung out of the raft and had to go down 2 rapids without a boat and hit a few rocks. I may have been sore, but it was well worth it.
I might go camping in July with some friends, and I also plan on possibly going skydiving sometime this summer too. It is something I have always wanted to do and after seeing some pics of someone else skydiving, I want to do it more than ever.

That is a quick summary. I also got into a car accident, had my car totaled and had to buy a new one. Anyways, I will post again soon!