The One with a Bunch of Movies

Lots of Olympics going on.  Anyone else notice that the Korean short track racers are teaming up?  I thought that was illegal.  I also think they took out that British Elise on purpose, but that's just me.  The Bode Miller story was pretty said, with his brother and all.  Other than that, I've enjoyed watching the US get whipped in curling, and I find the Snowboard Cross fascinating, if a bit of a train wreck.

Dredd
Okay, I knew going in this was super-violent and going to be bloody with a lot of swearing.  I do find it hard to give a good depiction of a Megacity One without drugs, and the swearing was actually appropriate to the setting.  I found the movie interesting and fun.  The hook, the new street narcotic SloMo was pretty neat as an idea and the villain was an intense and creepy (and a woman) crime boss.  One thing, this movie is more about his rookie partner than Dredd, but that didn't detract from the movie.  I enjoyed it, but warning, this one is not for the squeamish.  ***

Unforgiven
One of my favorite westerns still doesn't disappoint after all these years.  On this viewing I found a new perspective.  Gene Hackman's character is the real draw to this film, and strikes a chord as a realistic depiction of a hard-bitten and flawed lawman trying to keep the peace.  While Eastwood's William Money character can't shake his reputation, Hackman is trying to build a house, symbolic of him trying to build a new life after his own shady past and the ragged scars on his character.  His final words after crossing the wrong gunman are, "I don't deserve this, I was building a porch."  I absolutely love this movie.  "'Deserves' got nothing to do with it."****

Sword in the Stone
Classic Disney.  This one is probably my second favorite to Aladdin.  My favorite part is the battle with Mim.  ***1/2d

The Raven
The first few minutes of this movie didn't catch me, but I stuck with it and it paid off.  I'm a fan of the genre, the 19th century mystery such as Sherlock Holmes and there is a definite parallel from Poe's flawed genius to Doyle's creation.  I liked that they drew in a decent amount of historical accuracy to a fictitious portrayal, including the election going on at the time, Poe's West Point background, his dying in an infirmary.  The more they included the better I felt about the movie.  The murders were gory owing to the source material, Poe's vivid writings, and the copycat killer plot is tried and true.  Speaking of copycats, I was reminded of Harry Connick's Copycat serial killer, and that is a good thing for horror fans.  I enjoyed it.  ***

I need to read more and watch less.

End of January

What's happened in 2014 so far?  Well, they are coming to fix the washer, hopefully for free.  That's what GE consumer relations said anyway.  Ellice is stressed and that's no great surprise between our precarious financial situation and both of the kids going through a phase.  I'm trying to support where I can, but it isn't always enough.  I'm trying to make friends, but it takes me a long, long time to do that and this culture is decidedly different from the one I'm used to.  At any rate, here are some reviews...

The Magnificent Seven

So I knew this was based on the Seven Samurai and the story is pretty much the same.  What I didn't know was that Akiro what's-his-name based Seven Samurai on the American Western (Thank you AMC for that little tidbit.)  The movie was good and has renewed my interest in Westerns in general.  the only knock on this movie is that I can understand about 1/4 of what Yule Brenner says.  My favorite thing about this movie is Charles Bronson's relationship with the village kids.  Good old fashioned Wild West fun.  ***1/2

The Sapphire Rose: Book Three of the Elenium by David (and Leigh) Eddings

Ellice was right--I loved this series.  The knights are way, way cool especially the main character Sparhawk and his supporting cast is amazing.  This series was right in my wheelhouse and I highly recommend this series to any lover of fantasy; in fact I recommend all of David Eddings's writings.  His novels are more character than story driven, but his characters are dynamic and very interesting.  There is a comfort to his style that isn't always apparent in works by other authors in the genre.  I'm heading right into the second series of books featuring these characters, the Tamuli.  ****

The Second One in 2014

Let's get right to the reviews:

Battlefield: Los Angeles

This appeared to be a scifi alien movie, but in actuality, it's a war movie against overwhelming odds.  This very easily could have been set in WWII without missing much.  Sure, there was a little advanced tech and aliens, but you get my point.  That being said, I enjoyed it.  It was predictable, but in a comfortable way.  (Spoiler: the good guys win).  This movie got bad reviews but I didn't find it any worse than much else in the genre, in fact better than many.  ***

Star Wars: Han Solo at Star's End

Brian Daley's Han Solo trilogy is good Star Wars fun.  This is not a deep, hard-hitting novel (I would put Shatterpoint in that category), but this is one of the early Expanded Universe titles that set the stage for the Star Wars fiction that followed, and a good read.  Han displays his cleverness, his fly by the seat of his pants flair, and tries to live up to his moniker 'Solo' but ends up revealing unwavering loyalty and honor when the sabacc cards are on the table.  ***

Sherlock Holmes: His Last Bow

This is the last of Watson's recounting of Holmes's adventures and he is well established by this point as the world's leading detective.  Even the villains have heard of him by this point and the stories herein feature much of Holmes's famous disguises.  The last tale is perhaps the best featuring Holmes coming out of his retirement of studying bees to rejoin Watson on one final mission for king and country.  ****

New Year's Day 2014

Well, well, well.  2014.  A few years since we've talked last.  Anything going on?  Oh, yeah.  Jareth, my son was born.  He's two now.  Laurana is four.  And we moved to Henderson, Ky.  Anything else?  Naw.  Just some injuries, job changes, some sicknesses, lots of bills.  Normal stuff.  Still writing; nothing publishable yet but plugging away.  UK won a championship...and then went to the NIT again and lost.  Win some, lose some.They blew up the Celtics, now only Rondo is left.  Bengals have made playoffs 3 years running.  Same for the Reds.

Anyways, we'll see if I can keep this blog going awhile.  Maybe I'll reinstitute the review section.  Happy 2014!