The one with the movies in

I have seen a lot of movies recently. Some good, some not. Here's a quick rundown:

Quarantine is a decent little horror film that suffers from the current shaky-cam trend. Another found footage tale, this follows a TV reporter as she follows the local firefighters. They get trapped in a building and Bad Things Happen. Some decent tension/scares. The actors gave decent performances and the story wasn't as cut and dried as the trailer led you to believe. So that was nice. Not too much worse than a trailer that gives everything away. This is a remake of a Spanish film called [rec] (I think it's Spanish anyway...). So you can't really laud Hollywood for something a little different, but at least they had good taste.

Sukiyaki Western Django (yes that's really the name favorite niece) is basically Yojimbo/A Fistful of Dollars. If A Fistful of Dollars was a western remake of Yojimbo, then Sukiyaki is a Japanese remake of a Western remake of a Japanese movie. Or something. That analogy made a lot more sense in my head. See the movie, it'll make more sense in yours too. Look. What this really boils down to is a familiar story with Japanese style and Takashi Miike action. So it's a little bloodier than the previous incarnations and a whole lot prettier. And weirder. But, you know, in a good way. Just go see it already.

Ghost in the Shell 2 is still very pretty. And very slow. And very pretty (especially on a big screen).

Eagle Eye is crap. What could have been an excellent, riveting action movie about the Patriot Act and how the government is watching us far too often instead devolves down into standard sci-fi story number 20 - the berserk computer. And they didn't even do that well. And to top it off, the only redeeming aspect of the movie (an action movie where the two wildly disparate leads don't fall in love?! About time!) goes down in flames with the LAST SCENE OF THIS HORRIBLY STUPID MOVIE! AAAAA! Make it stop! (The original ending was actually even more stupid, so some restraint was shown, but not nearly enough.) I've decided this movie should actually be considered dangerous. These are real issues. Candy coating them with a ridiculous story about an AWOL AI trivializes them and doesn't encourage the average American to think about them at all. Hey look! That there compooter sure went crazy. That Michelle Monaghan sure is purty. Zowee! Cars are crashin' and jets are 'splodin! Had me a dadgum good time. Wait? The government actually collects this sort of data about us all the time if it wants? Well shucks. <much eye rolling>

My Name is Bruce is the latest Bruce Campbell comedy/horror flick and it was great. If you like Bruce Campbell movies, this one will take you back a bit to the Army of Darkness days. Bruce plays "himself" (the B movie actor, jerk version - wait, is that acting?) getting sucked into trying to save a small town from a real demon. (Bean curd Bruce! Bean curd!) Mostly this movie made me think that it must be weird to be Bruce Campbell. I met him once when he was touring for Make Love the Bruce Campbell Way, his second book and it was a rather odd experience. But yes, movie good. (Guan you, guan me, Guan Di!)

I will briefly mention that Blue Moon continues to grow on me. Got a couple games in with the letter 'r' and it was fun. Monty Python Fluxx is odd. Mostly because Fluxx is odd. (Although I'm sure there are others that would argue the other side.) Hot Fudge shakes are yummy. Pork Loin is also yummy. We will soon have a report on some curry spices lovely wife's cousin sent out. Mmmm curry. Shooting zombies is fun. Free Starz weekends are mostly fun.

Yeah, I'm reaching now.

Oh, almost forgot, Gene Wolfe's An Evil Guest. I liked it up until the end. Then it fell apart for me as, honestly, I've not got a clue what happened. Or what was supposed to be happening. So, umm, yeah. Mostly ok book I guess?

I'm also looking for a decent fantasy themed board game. Welcoming all suggestions. (And donations! Ha!)

Partially for my Uncle

First, I finished Death from the Skies and it was great. It seems to me that boys go through some distinct phases growing up. First there are Dinosaurs (G says Raaarrr!) and then there's Astronomy. This book rekindled quite a bit of my old love for Astronomy. Never mind that the book focuses on the destruction of the Earth a dozen or so times. Death by Asteroid! Death by solar flare! Death by black hole! They're all great. Well, ok, horrific, but you get the idea. The science is always at a manageable level and if you like sci fi apocalyptic tales, it's nice to see what might really happen. So give Death a chance.

Oddly, speaking of growing up male, that brings me to my current book: The Elfish Gene (another one with a subtitle I can't be bothered to type up). If you played D&D or knew someone that played D&D I suspect this book will bring back memories, fond or otherwise. It might also help you understand that poor creature that was the nerd in the 80s. I'm not very far in, but I can already tell this will be a great book.

My own sordid past with D&D all starts with my Uncle Paul. I still have fond memories of the old red box and the hours of fun it led to. I also remember pestering him to let me fight a Dragon with my brand new magic user. The death my poor character received at the hands of the foul beast was one I still treasure. My Uncle probably still rolls his eyes at the thought of some young kid with magic missile and an obvious death wish.

And if that last paragraph made any sense to you at all, you really need to read The Elfish Gene.

In (mocking) Twilight news, they fired the director of the film as they gear up for the sequel. And it also sounds like they fired the actor that plays Jacob. The werewolf. That's not a werewolf. Because in a movie about vampires that are not vampires, you better have werewolves that are not werewolves. Has the last decade of bad fantasy cinema taught you nothing? At least you can rest assured there will be no leather clad heroine in the Twilight sequel. That would just lead to impure thoughts and we know nobody in that series has those...

Christmas fast approaches. Which means I will have to brave airline travel. I don't think I'm ready for that. Trip to see the family notwithstanding. I hate airports.

If you're not watching Leverage on TNT on Tuesday nights you should be. And the Librarian movies were pretty good too. I only caught most of the second and the third, but (go figure) our Library carries them so we'll be watching the first two on DVD. They're a little National Treasure, a little Indiana Jones, a lot The Mummy, but it works. Although Noah Wyle is no Brendan Fraser. It was funny seeing Gabrielle Anwar in the second one. Glad to see she's still working (Burn Notice!) I liked her quite a bit in 80s/90s. Whenever that silly Invasion of the Body Snatchers re-telling came out. That and If Looks Could Kill with that Grieco kid. I think she was in that.

Well, that's quite the bit of rambling. I should point out at this point that Blue Moon does look to be rather fun, especially once you're familiar with the cards. It does look like there's a learning curve there, but I think it will be worth it. Also, I managed to collect all 120 stars as Luigi in Super Mario Galaxy. I won't comment on what kind of a geek/nerd that makes me. Did you not read the beginning of this post?

Head full of cheese

While the normal human head may weigh about 8 lbs or so, I'm pretty sure mine is clocking in at about 15. I really dislike sinus infections. From the way everything acts like a slow-mo action shot to that slight sore throat to the aforementioned hefty head full of snot, they're not fun. And don't get my wife started on the snoring. Ear plugs indeed...

In other news, G has caught the Star Wars bug. He's been playing through Lego Star Wars (or Star Wars the Clone Wars as he insists on calling it as everything SW related must be named after the show on Cartoon Network) with either my wife or I (depending on who he can con into it at the moment) and having a grand old time. Apparently he finished the game (a feat I myself have not yet managed) and decided that the movies had to be consumed next. I told lovely wife that he could only watch the first one without me. For Star Wars movies are an ancient male bonding ritual and he's not allowed to watch them the first time without me. Or there will be hell to pay. (Apparently the viewing of Ep 4 this afternoon was accompanied by much light saber wielding, toy x wing flying and "hey that was in the game! I remember that!" commentary.) Now to find a way to get that really cool Lego Millennium Falcon... Hmm....

Picked up Blue Moon courtesy of Father-in-Law for my birthday. Will report back on how it is. Looking forward to it as we really enjoy Blue Moon City.

The Graveyard Book and Death from the Skies are still being consumed. I'm going to run out of patience to read long before things to read... Although they may take a backseat to Zombies: A Field Guide to the Living Dead which is lurking on the hold shelf for me. That plus some Rolling Stones, gotta catch up on my classic rock yo.

It needs to snow. That is all.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go use my head for a paperweight.