Pitch Black (Movie Review)

This is a movie from 2000.  Carolyn Fry was a heroine who gave her life to give hope and peace to a serial murderer.  She inspired him and gave him back his sense of humanity.  She took charge and led the others in the movie to safety in the dead of night.  This was a gory horror movie but it was inspiring because I liked that Carolyn went out of her way to be as human as possible and help a bad person regain his own sense of humanity.  I give this a 9.9

The Box (Movie Review)

I thought this was a rather disappointing and down right creepy movie.  It was more about aliens than a box.  There is a horribly disfigured man who is making people make horrible moral choices because he like his employer, is possessed by aliens.  For instance people were made to choose between money and people's lives. The man was heartless the whole time.  I thought that the movie title was kind of false pretenses because it did not mention anything about aliens in the title.  When something is called "The Box" I thought it would be more about the actual box.  I was disappointed and give this a 5.6

Dinner For Schumucks

. . . a meta palooza of metaphors and a laugh o ut loud comedy that is the schmuckiest of them all.

Paul Rudd learns the value of true friendship,while Steve makes fun of himself anyway.  The goats and birds on the ranch, were a metaphor for balancing life's guilty pleasures and life's tranquil moments of inner peace (like nature.) 

I really like the painter used the metaphor about the true beauty of birthing a zebra and that beauty is in the mundane. 

Goofball Steve and Zak Galifianakis at the dinner, had a contest of "brain control vs mind control." This was freaking hilarious and it was one of my favorite parts of the movie.

The metaphor they discribed about laying eggs in ones brains was about life's struggle to get along with other people.  I could relate to this since I have a hard time getting along with my mom all the time.  To me, the severed finger was a visual metaphor for separating oneself from cruelty.

The people at the dinner were more concerned about saving the finger from the bird than putting out the fire or stopping the bleeding. I think this showed how dumb the people were, which was part of the point of the movie.

The blind swordsman was pretty cool, even though because he couldn't see, he really fought at nothing. 

The broken window was a metaphor for Paul starting to make big changes in his life and attitude.  He changed his attitude about what was important to him in life.  Paul learned there are more important things in life than money and promotions,  and he learned not to mock people, but to cherish them and value them for who they were.

I rate this movie a big hilarious 10

Spring Heeled Jack: A strange Affair (BK review)

Spring Heeled Jack was a warped and twisted story that jumped back and forth throughout time. This happened so much that it made the plot very confusing.  The whole raping your ancester concept was kind of weird.  Spring heeled Jack had a very intricately detailed plot line, but I felt it was very incomplete.  Why do they not tell you the 'what now" question or answer things.  This question is never answered through the book.  There was no closure and no obvious success or failure at the end of the book.  Only the greedy and most corrupt scientist remained. The extraordinarily time travelling Jack was deteriorating throughout the story, both physically and emotionally until he was eventually killed.  Jack was supposed to be the ultimate good guy but wound up being the ultimate bad guy.

Whether Jack was able to restore the time line or not was never made very clear.  Perhaps a sequel will be made.  Greyhounds and parrots as a messenger service, cleaning cats and small furry cleaner people, all made for a fascinating and gripping world that also held vampires and werewolves.  This all took place in London in the 1800's.

I give this book a 5.6, not very well thought out, incomplete plot and too overly detailed without giving some important facts that would explain the actual plot line.

Harry Potter 7

Harry Potter part 7 really was like a big giant movie trailer in preparation for the grand finale.  The old lady who nearly kills Harry and forces a giant snake out of her mouth was awesome.  It was a really great special effect. Creepy but cool. 

The killing of the horcruxes was utterly amazing though long and drawn out.  I thought it was too bad about the collapsing of the Lovegoods home though. I thought that was poorly done.  They never showed anything about repairing it. Old Man Lovegood's story in flashback mode was eeriliy fascinating and riveting.  The plot was predictable and reliable but kept me interested.

I give this movie a 9.5 out of 10.

Angels and Demons

This movie is about a secret society. It is a  thriller that tears psychologically  at the Catholic churchs very core. The Professer is like a modern day Indiana Jones (minus the whip).  There are also many great historical sites in this movie.  High speed action at its best, this is a race against time and a ticking time bomb with a very gargantuan explosion.

The Illuminiati were raised in the Christian faith but grew up believing  that  Catholicism  as we know it is wrong and evil. They hide within the hierarchy of  Catholicism  almost like sleeper spys (like the Russians in the cold war era).

The Illuminati priest was a criminal mastermind  who eventually gets cornered by the Professer and was revealed in front of the ranks of priests and bishops in the Vatican.  He then pours alcohol all over himself and the floor surrounding him. . . and sets himself on fire.  He takes this drastic suicidal measure so that he can not be questioned further about their plot and to protect the identities of other Illuminati.  This allows the gunman to maintain his hidden identity and work on his mission.

To think all the Professor wanted was a book from the Vatican for his research!  He got a lot more than he bargained for, becoming both a hero and a target throughout the film.  The idea of this happening in the heart of  the Vatican makes for an intriguing movie.  A big, well thought out plot that deserves a big 10!

Skulduggery Pleasant Book Review

At Chet's request I have copied his book review of Skulduggery Pleasant to his book and movie blog.  Took me awhile to figure out how to do that, much to his annoyance.  I am so not technologically gifted! :-)



" I thought that this book was scarier than the other 3 and about 10 times more awesome than the previous books. Valkyrie was more reckless but extremely loyal to her friends.  Tanith keeps getting hurt, isn't anyone going to give her a break all ready?!?  Skulduggery became more mysterious and more confusing, which is probably what you would expect of a skeleton!  Valkyrie seems to lose more and more of her humanity as time goes on as well. 

This book is rivetting because the excitement is so high that I felt in full blown panic mode, wanting to find out what happens next.  There is another book in the series but it isn't available in this country yet, and I hope it is soon!"

The DaVinci Code

This is a big thrill ride that keeps you on the seat of your pants as you read your way through this exciting journey.  To create an analogy:  like a conspiracy theorist that thinks the government is hiding the truth, so also the great Catholic and Christian works of art through out history allegedly the truth.  These works hide their origins and their true meanings. 

I thought this film was similar to a mob film from the 70's, only there was a lot more action and a lot less talk.  Instead of the mob, you've got priests and bishops with guns trying to kill people instead.  Like the mob trying to hunt somebody down, the priests and bishops were doing exactly that to stop the professor from finding the truth which was the final resting place where Jesus' bones were buried with the great lady's bones!

They were trying to stop him from proving that Jesus was a mere mortal man and not a son of God. They did not want people to know that the stories in the Bible especially about the resurrection were not true.  A high action thriller, this deserves an awesome 10!

Unfaithful

This is an older film starring Richard Gere.  I only give this movie an 8 out of 10 because it is a little long winded. The plot is fine and dandy and fascinating.  As movies go, I was riveteed, but it still seemed to take forever to get from beginning to middle to end.  Romantic thriller or not, it was too drawn out.  Even the scenes of panic seemed to drag on and on. 

Tangled

Tangled is an animated feature that is funny, sarcastic and romantic as it can possibly be.  I vote this a big 10.  It would definately be enjoyed by both adults and kids alike. It is filled with funny villiens and nonsensical hilarity.  Hilarity ensues when Flynn Rider runs from the law only to find the lost princess.  They go on the run from her adoptive and evil mother!  The evil mother tries to entice Princess Rapunzel back to her tower.  On the run, Flynn shows Rapunzel how to adapt to life and to accilmate herself to life's struggles outside her tower.  Ultimately, Flynn cuts her hair to foil the evil mothers plan to stay young and beautiful.  Eventually the princess meets her own biological parents for the ultimate happy ending.

Introducing Paperback Book Swap

Paperback Book Swap is a great way to get books that you want to read without paying a lot of money to obtain them.  You can also get rid of books that you do not want but don't want to throw out or don't know where to donate them too. The one down side is having to store the books somewhere so that you know where they are when someone wants them.

How does Paperback swap work you ask?  Well I"ll explain. . . Basically you list books on the site and you get credits for them when people want them.  They request them from you by email from the site.  You  have to ultimately pay all the shipping to ship out your books but you can use media mail which is pretty cheap. Once someone has your book they will email the site back and you will get a credit so you can pick a book from someone else.  You don't pay any shipping for a book you request, the book owner always does that.

I like this because it only costs a few bucks to buy books that would cost a lot more and that cost can really add up when you like to read as much as I do.  Another advantage is that this is a good way to find books that you can't find at the local library or sometimes even at book stores.  I like to find older copies of books in the Star Trek and in the Star Wars and in the Love Inspired book series. 

And speaking books, I will be putting up a few more at the swap site in the next few days. I have quite a few up there all ready too!  So feel free to check them out.

Donnie Darko

This is a review of a movie disaster.  Not a disaster type movie, just a disaster.  This movie was (on a scale from 1 to 10 with 1 being the worst) barely a 1.  It should have been a 7 because of the really cool special effects like the explosions.  The last scene or two are what made it barely a 1.  Here is why:  The last scene or two where Donnie goes back in time, only to die before the demonic 6 ft tall rabbit tortures ( psychologically) and torments him. . . which begs the really big question " what is the whole point of the movie?"  Why have a love interest, who becomes his girlfriend, that at the end scene does not even know of Donnie's existance except as a mere rumor of "some kid that died."  The demonic 6 ft rabbit was a metaphor for life and life's struggles.  So Donnie struggles through his depression, gets a girlfriend, laughs and learns to enjoy life, so what is the point of going back in time only to die before he learns to overcome his depression? It is like someone took the last two scenes from an alternative version of the film and plopped them into this film which had a totally different plot line.  All of these questions remain unanswered by the conclusion of the film.  The anchient woman in the film could have been nicer and less of an annoyance to everybody. The little girl, Donnie's little sister, was shy and not bratty. She was not even a tattletale when she caught him smoking with the "bad" crowd at school. The teacher who gave Donnie the book in the film was underutilized as well.  The explosions were awesome though!  All in all, this film from 1992 was basically a bust.

Introducing Me!

I am Gregory E. I am starting my own blog so that I can be an amateur movie critic and book and analyse books that I read. I read a lot of science fiction and a lot of Christian romance novels.  Occasionally I even read a "bodice ripper."  I enjoy fantasy novels as well. 

When it comes to movies, I enjoy science fiction thrillers, horror occasionally, mystery (detective type dramas) comedies and romantic comedies.  I also love animated movies a lot.  I think it would be fun to write about what I am reading and watching and see what other people think about it too.

When I am not reading or watching TV I like to help out my family, do yard work in the summer, hike and occasionally I even like to help clean the house.  I hope people enjoy reading.