emptying my brain onto the internet since 1998…
Reviews of Music, Movies and More…
Every once in a while, a book comes along that really matters. You read it and it gets down into your soul, affects your core beliefs and really, truly changes you. I just finished reading Pattern Recognition by William Gibson, and let me tell you… this is not that book.
Normally, I don’t post spoilers, but I can’t talk about this book without them. So, if you want to read more and don’t mind a little (or a lot) of spoiling, read on.
In case you haven’t seen a trailer that actually explains it, here is the short version: Buddy “Aces” Israel was a Las Vegas magician who turned mobster. Buddy causes a split in the Vegas mob with him running one side and Primo Sperazza on the other. Primo is sick and he’s ordered the death of Buddy. Buddy is in the process of turning Federal witness against the whole West Coast mob families. A couple of Primo’s guys decide they want to make sure Buddy dies (or maybe they just want to be the guys who do it) so they hire a few more hitmen to go after Buddy too. Oh, and some bail bondsmen guys are after Buddy for jumping bail. The Feds learn about the hit and hightail it to Lake Tahoe where Buddy is hiding to try to protect him, meanwhile the hitmen all decend on Tahoe as well.
There is alot of set up for the first part of the moive, introducing each of the hitmen (or hitwomen in the case of Alicia Keys and Taraji P. Henson), all the Feds and giving some background on Primo Sperazza, Buddy “Aces” Israel and the case against the mob. The characters and the actors (including Ryan Reynolds, Ray Liotta, Jeremy Piven, Andy Garcia, Jason Bateman, Ben Affleck, Peter Berg, Tommy Flanagan, Curtis Armstrong, Matthew Fox, and more) make the movie… and when the shooting starts, the action ain’t half bad either.
All in all, this was a great fun movie. I recommend it, though it is a bit bloody, so it is not the best date movie and absolutely not for kids.
In recent weeks I’ve watched all of Rescue Me, a show that airs on FX. I have the first and second seasons on DVD, and the third season I downloaded from torrents (but I’ll pick up the DVDs when they come out). And, damn, this show is good.
If you have never heard of it, the simple premise is Denis Leary plays Tommy Gavin, a New York City firefighter. His house lost four guys on 9/11 and when the show begins its 3 years later but the tragedy still lingers.
As the show unfolds, it follows the lives of Tommy and his crew. Tommy in particular is interesting to me because he is a hero, really. His character is that when he’s on the job he is perfect, almost superhuman, in his duties. He saves lives. Meanwhile, his personal life is in the shitter. He is separated from his wife, he’s an angry beligerant asshole, and he begins seeing ghosts. Not really, this isn’t some Sci-Fi show, he’s obviously just halucinating, but it begins to make him unravel even further. Denis Leary plays the character superbly, from scene to scene he makes you love him, hate him, root for him, root against him… as Tommy fights his demons, you really want him to straighten out but at the same time when he knowingly takes the low road, you completely understand why he does it.
I can’t wait for season four.
If you haven’t seen the show, I seriously recommend picking it up.
Finally finished reading Hellboy: The God Machine. The length of time it took to read had nothing to do with the content of the book, but more to do with the time available to read. The Holiday season is always rough.
But I did finish, and it didn’t disappoint. Like the other Hellboy books I’ve read, this one, written by Thomas E. Sniegoski, had a style all its own while still retaining the nature of the Hellboy universe. I think that’s what I enjoy most about these books. Each author has a slightly different take on the narrative, but it doesn’t mess up the fact that its a Hellboy book. Its like having a bunch of different painters paint the same bowl of fruit.
This book is about a group of people led by a man who speaks to God. Well, I should say god, little ‘g’, although its close. God wants the man to build a machine to bring him to the world so that he can help them make it a better place. Or at least that’s what the voice says. In reality, the god isn’t God but Qemu’el, one of three archons created by God (big ‘G’) to destroy the world if the world needs destroying. Only God decided he liked us humans and put the archons to sleep for eternity since he didn’t want the world destroyed. Two of the archons went quietly, while one, Qemu’el, managed to rip a tiny hole in the fabric of reality so he could stay awake and monitor the world, just in case God was wrong. And of course, he thinks God was wrong. Humans are messing up the planet and don’t deserve God’s gifts, so Qemu’el wants to do God a favor and wipe out the world so that it can be started again.
Meanwhile, Hellboy and his team are on the trail of missing artifacts of worship, and it just so happens that these items are being stolen by the group mentioned above to power their God Machine.
I enjoyed the book. Sniegoski has a good writing style, and while its not as good as the Tim Lebbon book I last read in the series, its good enough and certainly worth the read. I give this book a thumbs up.
This is one of those movies that people will tell you that its one of those movies you either love or hate, there is no middle ground. Only, I kinda found the movie to be… meh.
I suppose I can see their point. Much of this film is irritating, and its the kind of irritating that either you laugh at or that you go see a doctor about. If you don’t know what American Movie is, well, its a movie about this guy who wants to make this movie called Northwestern, only for some reason he feels he needs to make this short film called Coven (that’s pronounced “koh-ven” so that it doesn’t sound like “oven”). Northwestern is supposed to be the excellent drama type film, while Coven is a horror flick.
These guys, they are stupid, and their lives are stupid, but only in an “Hi, I’m an average American” type way. Its not that they are actually mentally deficient, but its like that friend of yours who insists that he’s good at basketball despite losing every game he’s played, of which no one you know has actually witnessed so you can’t be sure he’s ever even played at all.
The best thing about this movie is the feeling that if I had the money he had access to, I’m sure I could make a better movie than Coven… or even American Movie. Unless you are interested in the painful telling of not quite making it, I’d suggest you pass on this one.
Last night I saw a sneak preview of The Holiday which opens today.
If you like romantic comedies, this is right up your alley. Kate Winslet plays Iris, an English woman who has spent too many years loving a man who doesn’t love her back. Cameron Diaz is Amanda, an American woman who spends all her time on her career and not enough on her relationship. When Iris’s man becomes engaged to another woman and Amanda breaks up with her boyfriend, the two of them, separately, decide to go on holiday, they meet each other through a website and agree to swap houses for two weeks over Christmas.
Both Amanda and Iris end up meeting men (Jude Law and Jack Black, respectively) and learning how to get over the things that are blocking their lives.
Yeah, its a chick flick, but its extremely funny and completely worth the price of admission. Go see it, and take a date.
I read the book. It was pretty good. I enjoyed Angels & Demons more.
I just saw the movie. It was slow.
Not every good book makes a good movie.
I enjoyed the book.
And that’s all I have to say about that.
This past weekend, I finally found a little free time to get to the theater and see a film. The wife and I picked the new James Bond film Casino Royale.
I’m not going to spend much time talking about the legacy of Bond and the history of this particular story… I’ll just cut to the chase. Its a good movie.
First off, just forget everything you know about James Bond, because except for a few inside jokes that is what they are doing. This is Bond just starting out, having previously done some other work for the British (its hinted at that he is former SAS) and is now working for MI6, something he might not be ready for. The ultra-sexy swagger is gone, but he exhibits a predilection for married women because they are “less complicated”. The slapstick from earlier films is also absent. No Bond girls named Pussy Galore, Honey Ryder, Plenty O’Toole, Holly Goodhead, or Christmas Jones, whose names always seemed to be picked for single line jokes, most of which could be seen coming a mile away. Q is gone, so no theatrics with gadgets going wrong as he shows James his new toys. In fact, the toys are gone as well.
The movie isn’t perfect… there are moments when it gets slow, but the action scenes are damn good and left me itching to see more Bond in the future.
And about the new man himself… Daniel Craig might be blond haired and blue eyed, but he makes the role his own, and he has a look about him that really makes you believe he could be a spy: rugged good looks that clean up well in a tuxedo, but rough enough to be a street thug if its needed. The wife gives him the thumbs up.
So, the end result is a film worth seeing. If you haven’t, do so.
If you have never seen the short film 12:01 PM, then you have missed out.
Don’t confuse 12:01 PM with 12:01, a horrid movie update of the same basic plot starring Jonathan Silverman and Helen Slater. 12:01 PM is about a man, Myron Castleman (played wonderfully by Kurtwood Smith) who appears to be repeating the same hour, from 12:01 PM to 1:01 PM. Its kind of like Groundhog Day, only its just the one hour. Looping a whole day over and over again isn’t really all that scary, because you have a whole day, but how much can you really do in an hour. Anyway, Myron realizes that he is repeating the hour and tries to figure out how to get out of the time bounce, but one hour just doesn’t seem to be enough to get anything done.
This is a masterpiece of short film making as its only 25 minutes long and yet in just about every way is more satisfying than most feature films.
Now, I bet you are wondering why it is I’m talking about a short film that was made in 1990, over 15 years ago. Its because I really would like to see this short film again. I’d like to own it on DVD. Its only 25 minutes long, but I would gladly pay $20 for a DVD with this on it and nothing else. The problem is… its not available. Well, not in the US anyway.
I really hate region codes. They suck. As does the NTSC and PAL crap. There is a box set for sale over on the Amazon UK site called Academy Award Winning Shorts – Cinema Collection – 56 Movies – One Box. It looks like a pretty damn kickass box set. There is a full list of the shorts over on Play.com. I want to own this box. Of course, its confusing, because the Amazon site and the Special Features section on Play both say its Region 0 or All Regions, but the details on Play say its Region 2, which is more likely. But it doesn’t matter, because its PAL, which means my TV won’t play it. And this box, which is just awesome for its content, is not available in the US (Region 1) or in NTSC. And I just find that to be really crappy.
So, I’m going to do something I don’t normally do and make an open call for piracy… if they won’t sell it to me, I have to resort to other methods. If you know where I can get a copy of 12:01 PM, point me at it. And if you work in the film industry and have any influence, put this on a Region 1 DVD and I’ll buy it, even if I already get a pirated copy.
Grabbing a few minutes here and there, the occasional bus ride to and from work, and my recent trip to Jamaica, I finished reading the second book of the Bartimaeus Trilogy, The Golem’s Eye.
Once again we fight Nathanial, a.k.a. John Mandrake, dealing with the magician government. He’s got a new master and a new job working for the Internal Affairs department, and he’s been tasked with tracking down the Resistance. Bartimaeus, as usual, doesn’t want to be there, but bound to service helps Nathanial make his way. The trouble this time comes in the form of a Golem, the likes of which haven’t been seen since the great war with Prague, trashing buildings and businesses of reputable magicians. Everyone wants to point fingers at the Resistance, but Nathanial feels there is more going on and begins his investigation with Bartimaeus’ help.
Kitty, one of the Resistance members introduced slightly in the first book, becomes a main character here and gives us insight into the Resistance, which isn’t the organized rebel movement the magician’s fear it is. In fact, they are little more than petty thieves and vandals, but a new conspiritor shows up and begins to usher them into something far more dangerous.
Over all, I really enjoyed this book. There is something refreshing about this dark and miserable tale that is missing from the Harry Potter series. I look forward to picking up the third and final book of this trilogy.