Fantasy & Sci-Fi Lovin' Blog

Quick! P-Dub is giving away $500!

2008-07-26T18:06:00.000-07:00

Enter at Pioneer Woman to win a $500 American Express gift certificate -- but you gotta enter soon. She's ending the contest by 12:00 noon Pacific time tomorrow.

I want to win. But I'm always happy to get good karma points by letting other people know.......

Does liking sci-fi mean I'm immature?

2008-07-24T23:16:00.001-07:00

I already know I'm a child, that's not even a debatable point. But I wonder if my sci-fi lovin' tendencies have anything to do with it.

For example, I love Sky High. I don't know how many of you have seen it, but gosh darn it, it's the best. It kind of looks like a teenage-angst movie, but I love it enough that whenever it's on T.V. I must watch it. Kind of how my husband is with Adam Sandler movies. If you haven't seen it, it's about a school for kids with super powers who're divided up into groups of "heroes" and "sidekicks," and then taught to use their powers. Okay, that's a simplistic description, but I'm not doing a review here, I'm explaining that even though I'm 38, I still watch movies that feature teenagers-- at least ones that have a sci-fi theme. Is that wrong?

And my obsession with "The Dark Knight" only makes me question my maturity level a little more. It is a great movie-- very few people dispute that. But how many grown women do you suppose want to hunt down graphic novels about Batman after seeing the movie? Probably not many. How many grown women do you suppose went and saw "Hellboy 2" by themselves? I know I'm the only one who would raise their hand in our social circle.

I don't mind being a little childish-- most of the time. But I have to admit, I get a lot of strange looks if I mention my blog. I don't know if it's because I have a blog or it's theme though... I'm constantly surprised by how many people think it's odd that I have a blog in the first place. Sadly, I've learned not to bring it up in conversation because of the strange looks people give me.
But back to the sci-fi thing. After I went and saw "Hellboy" by myself, my husband thought that was quite the story to tell people. I guess he literally walked around telling co-workers about it because he thought it was so funny. Imagine what he'd do if I finally got a chance to go to a convention.

I knew when I was in high school that I was a little different than a lot of the other girls. I was lucky enough not to be an outcast, I blend in well. But none of my girl-friends had the slightest interest in sci-fi books or action packed movies. All they wanted to do was go see movies like "Mama Mia," (shudder). I've even noticed that some of my blog friends have drifted away from here because they don't really like sci-fi, they were just being polite by being good blog-buddies. And I appreciate that, I don't really get into the mommy blogs myself most of the time, so we're even.

But I wonder, just a tiny bit, if I seem a little odd to the other mommies. If I'm a little out-of-synch because I go see "Hellboy" by myself and have no real interest in shopping for designer purses. Is that what grown-ups are supposed to do? Shop for expensive purses?

I hope not.

The Psychological Depth of a Bat-Villain

2008-07-22T23:22:00.000-07:00

**Note-- I will NOT have Dark Knight spoilers in this post***

Okay, it's official. I am obsessed with "The Dark Knight." I've been trying to think of a new post to put up and I keep going back to TDK. I think the reason the movie is sticking with me is because the characters have such great psychological depth to them. After I saw the movie I found myself wanting to know more about the Joker and Two Face. We already know Batman's back-story but I don't know as much about what makes a Bat-villain tick.

And that's what's so great about the Batman saga. It's more than a comic book, more than a graphic novel and much more than a Hollywood blockbuster. It's the human psyche printed out in graphic-novel form. All the villains represent psychological archetypes that we see in real life; the psychopath (the Joker); the narcissist (the Riddler); the split personality (Two-Face); and the sadist (the Scarecrow). I'm not a psychologist, so I'm not qualified to say whether or not the psychological assessments of the Bat-villains I've listed here are accurate. In fact, I totally stole the diagnosis' from The History Channel. That's right, they had a great special on The Psychology of the Dark Knight. I only caught about half of it, so I have it scheduled on my Tivo for the next showing on Saturday.

But don't you love that The History Channel has a special on the psychology of Batman? I think it's great. I didn't take notes or anything, so I have to kind of paraphrase what I recall from the show. What they did was have a group of psychologists actually analyze Batman and the various villains from the graphic novels and discuss why these characters are so fascinating to us and how they relate to real people who terrify us; like Jeffrey Dahmer and Ted Bundy.

Because I didn't catch the whole show I missed some of what they had to say about the Joker, which is the main reason I have to catch the whole thing. Before watching TDK I always had the Jack Nicholson version of the Joker in my head. I mentioned in my previous post about TDK that Nicholson's portrayal was more like the story we had seen in graphic novels in which the Joker is disfigured by a fall into a vat of chemicals. What I don't recall about Nicholson's Joker is the complete craziness that Heath Ledger brought to the character. So which portrayal is more true to the character? From what I've been able to glean from the net, and what I saw on The History Channel, is that Ledger was closer to what the original creators of Batman had in mind. According to Wikipedia (accuracy not guaranteed), the Joker first appeared in 1940 and was a mass murderer. But during the 50's and 60's, due to censorship, was turned into a far less menacing character. It wasn't until the 70's and 80's that the Joker was brought back to his sociopathic roots.

The Joker was kind of sidelined during the 50's and 60's when the character lost some of his edge. In fact, he almost disappeared. But I'm glad he came roaring back the way he did. I've been so fascinated by Ledger's performance in TDK that I've been wanting to go hunt down some graphic novels that show the story between Batman and the Joker. Why? I'm not sure. I think it's because the Joker is so inexplicable. You can label him a psychopath or a sociopath, but does that make him any more understandable? One of the psychologists interviewed for The History Channel special said (paraphrasing here) you don't know if the Joker would shoot you or give you a thousand dollar bill. He'd probably shoot you, but you don't really know... And that's what makes him such a great villain. I mean, he's terrifying.

But why is the Joker crazy? That's kind of the ultimate comic-book enigma. According to Wikipedia one comic book says one thing: As he says in The Killing Joke: "Sometimes I remember it one way, sometimes another... if I'm going to have a past, I prefer it to be multiple choice!" While another claims he was an engineer at a chemical plant whose wife and child are kidnapped and killed to force him into committing a crime. But the thing is, there are several different versions of what happened to make the Joker into the madman he is and chances are, we'll never have a definitive explanation.

And then you have a character like Two-Face. I've been scanning the net to see what I can find out about Harvey Dent, and he's quite a bit more developed than the Joker as far as his history is concerned. One rumor I've run into is that the next Batman movie is going to focus more heavily on Two-Face and I kind of hope that is the case. I think TDK did a pretty good job of laying down the foundation for further development of Two-Face's character, but I don't think the depths of his psyche have even begun to show.

One thing that I really find intriguing about what I've seen on the net as far as Two-Face is concerned is how often his character has been compared to Anton Chigurh from No Country for Old Men. If you haven't seen No Country-- and I won't spoil it for you--, the villain in that movie is fond of flipping a coin to make decisions. I'm surprised at how many people have been accusing the director of The Dark Knight, Christopher Nolan, of ripping off that idea from No Country for Old Men. I mean, doesn't anyone know their comic book characters anymore? But I suppose the randomness of the coin-toss sticks in people minds. As well it should. Would you like your life and death decisions left to the toss of a coin?

But why does Two-Face flip a coin? I do remember Tommy Lee Jones' portrayal of Two-Face 1995. His Two-Face would flip a coin to decide the fate of his victims (kill or don't kill), but if he didn't like what the coin toss said, he'd keep flipping until he got his desired result. But what I've been able to pick up, both from The History Channel and the net, is that Two-Face is a split personality and he is incapable of making a decision without a coin toss. The radical disfigurement of his face split Harvey Dent's personality in two (good and bad) and he has to flip a coin when faced with a decision because he isn't capable of reconciling his two sides. The old comic books apparently also go into detail about an abusive childhood, bi-polar disorder and a latent split personality. Pretty detailed stuff huh?

Why is any of this important? Why do we care what the motivations of a comic book character are?

I can't answer that for anyone but myself. But I think it's because we can relate to this characters in a strange way. They dress up in crazy costumes and act totally bizarre but they're not that unlike villains who have really existed. When we look into the motivations of people like Adolf Hitler, we want to know what motivates a man to such levels of depravity. Did he do what he did because he wasn't accepted into art school? Was he beaten as a child? We want to know these things because we hope that it isn't random circumstance that creates these monsters. We hope that by being good parents, and not beating our children, we won't raise little psychopaths.

And I think that's why The Dark Knight is still rattling around in my brain a couple of days after I saw it. Somehow, in two-and-a-half -hours, Christopher Nolan caught just enough of the essence of what the creators of Batman had in mind for the Joker and Two-Face to get me thinking about what makes a Bat-villain, or any villain for that matter.

Cool. I'm a Badass

2008-07-21T00:37:00.000-07:00

Your result for The What Middle Earth race do you belong to Test...

Dunedain

You scored 0% Size & Strength, 82% Morality, 41% Aggression, and 88% Intelligence.

Congratulations, you're one of the Dunedain. You scored high on size & strength, high on morality, low on aggression and high on intelligence. The Dunedain are all that remains of the once great line of men from Numenor. Described as tall, with dark hair and grey eyes, the Dunedain are much greater in stature and spirit than common men. Those of high rank are possessed of enhanced wisdom and occasional prophecy, in addition to just being bigger and stronger. Aragorn himself was described as being 6'6" and was one of only three warriors to come out of the Battle of Pelennor Fields completely unscathed. (Incidentally, only one of the three was not Dunedain). He was also able wrest control of the Palantir from Sauron using just the force of his will. Summary: Dunedain = Bad Ass.

FYI, your polar opposite is the Orc. You know, those nasty little critters you've been beating the living hell out of since you were three. Yeah, those.

Take The What Middle Earth race do you belong to Test at HelloQuizzy

The Dark Knight

2008-07-19T19:57:00.000-07:00

This post marks my 500th post on this site, and I gotta tell you, I can't think of a better topic.

I have just seen what I am sure will go down as the best comic book movie ever. In fact, The Dark Knight will probably become an iconic film along the lines of Star Wars.

It's not just the audience reaction that allows me to say this movie will have incredible staying power-- though the response has been overwhelmingly positive. No. I'd say it's the vision of director Christopher Nolan and the performance by Heath Ledger that will make The Dark Knight linger in our minds well beyond the closing credits.

Let me just start by saying, if you thought Batman Begins was a dark movie, you ain't seen nothin' yet. We've heard all along that Heath Ledger's Joker was menacing and disturbed, and the fact that Ledger's death has been rumored to have been linked to his emotional state after playing the role only strengthened that impression. I was still blown away by Ledger's ability to portray the Joker's sociopathic nature.

The story picks up not long after the end of Batman Begins. I really don't want to offer too many spoilers, but let's just say there hasn't been enough time to build a bat-cave yet. There has been time, however, for Batman to become a real presence in Gotham City. He has brought a bit of hope to the beleaguered city but also galvanized the Joker into bold action. He is both hailed as a hero and derided as a vigilante. Because Batman has brought a flicker of hope to Gotham, the city is all too ready when the idealistic, and tough, District Attorney Harvey Dent comes to town as Gotham's White Knight. Aaron Eckhart's performance deserves mention because he does a fabulous job of capturing the optimism of Harvey Dent as well as his descent into madness as Two-Face. Dent, in many ways, is the linchpin of the story between Batman and the Joker. Like Many people in Gotham, Bruce Wayne has become a true believer in Dent, despite the fact that Dent is romantically involved with Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal). Wayne, believing that Gotham needs a hero they can see, supports Dent strongly and harbors a hope that Dent will be successful enough to see that Gotham won't need Batman anymore. But Wayne's hope turns out to be naive in the face of the Joker, whose main motivation seems to be chaos.

There isn't really any back-story to the Joker despite the fact that so much of the movie is given to his character. I mostly know the version of the story that claims the Joker fell into a vat of chemicals, leaving him scarred, white faced and with a permanent grin. But Nolan's Joker is a scarred psychopath who paints his face with the trademark red grin. He leers, licks his lips and walks with hunched, stilted gait and offers more than one explanation for his maimed face; each more disturbing than the last. There are surprising moments of black humor and Ledger captures the hysterical laugh of the Joker with a spine tingling eeriness and an unpredictability that is chilling. This Joker isn't motivated by money but rather the urge to see other men give in to their basest instincts--especially Batman. He terrorizes the city of Gotham beyond what you would believe one man could be capable of doing. He's a man who would go laughing to his death just for the perversity of it. Nolan also increases the tenseness of the scenes featuring the Joker by sometimes taking out the music and all you hear is a sort of low-pitched buzz. Very effective.

The relationship between Batman and the Joker is a long one through comic book history, but sadly it's likely to be all too short in this movie franchise. Ledger nailed the character so well that it would be a travesty to attempt to put anyone in the role in the future. What could have been a melancholy experience for me was saved by the fact that I didn't see Heath Ledger while I was watching the film; only the Joker. There was a momentary sadness when, in one scene, the Joker says to Batman, "I could see us doing this forever." If only that were true.

Everyone has been talking about Ledger. There's has been blog buzz about an Academy Award nomination, though I don't know if that is more than wishful thinking. But the fact remains, The Dark Knight is Ledger's movie. I've said it before, but I think it bears repeating, that the best thing Nolan did for the Batman franchise was to hire a real actor in Christian Bale to portray Batman. He made the same wise decision when he hired Ledger.

If Christian Bale wasn't such a class act I'd feel sorry for him that Ledger's performance has been getting all the attention for this film. I have seen countless interviews and in each one Bale is asked to comment on Ledger's death, but it never seems to bother him. If you have seen any of Bale's other films, like 3:10 to Yuma or The Prestige, you'd know that Bale doesn't mind leaving the flashier performances to his fellow actors. He is known as a man who dedicates himself to the role and not to being the bigger name on the marquee. The Dark Knight is no different.

There really isn't anything I can find to say that is bad about this movie. There have been a few people who have tried, maybe one or two for notorieties sake. I even saw one review that claimed we should be ashamed of ourselves for gushing over this movie when people are still dying in Iraq. Worst segue ever. But I think Nolan hit all the right notes with this one. I liked Maggie Gyllenhaal in the role of Rachel Dawes because I think the storyline demanded a level of maturity that Katie Holmes didn't bring to the role. As always, Michael Cain, Morgan Freeman and Gary Oldman were solid and believable.

But like the movie poster above shows, the triad of Batman, the Joker and Harvey Dent are what this movie is built upon and it's a heck of a solid foundation. The movie is a dark, violent, tense ride of a PG-13 movie and I can't recommend it enough.

10 Years......

2008-07-18T00:13:00.000-07:00

Today is my 10-year wedding anniversary. Somehow my husband and I have managed to beat the 50% (give or take) divorce rate and hit 10 years.

You want to know why?

Because my husband understands that I don't want to go out of town for my anniversary or do anything that might make it difficult to catch a showing of "The Dark Knight" this weekend.

I got tickets for Saturday morning. That was the earliest we could get babysitting.

I'm so lucky I have a man that understands me.

I can't wait to see "The Dark Knight." Having the release date on my 10-year anniversary must be a sign that I cannot miss this film.

Yeah. That's it.

More Free Book Goodness

2008-07-17T12:12:00.001-07:00

I just got the heads up that there is a giveaway at MentatJack (a new blog discovery for me...) for 2 sets of T.A. Pratt's Marla Mason series (Blood Engines and Poison Sleep) I haven't read either one of these but I've heard good things about them. Be sure to head on over and enter.

The Book Swede has also got a contest going on. He's giving away three signed copies of The Tower of Shadows by Drew Bowling.

If you haven't already, be sure to head over to Sci-Fi Chick and enter to win a copy of Dragonforge by James Maxey. She's picking a winner for that tomorrow.

Updated(Joss Whedon's) Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog Act I

2008-07-15T21:05:00.001-07:00

**If anyone tried, but couldn't watch this, I replaced the video. The old one was taken down, so I'm not sure how long this will stay up. The sound tracking is off too. But since I still haven't been able to view this on the official site-- it's never working, this will have to do. **

This is Joss Whedon's new baby. I had a teaser trailer up, but finally found the first installment on Youtube so you can watch it here and see what you think.

Superdickery

2008-07-14T23:38:00.000-07:00

There's a site that's been around for awhile called Superdickery and it is one of the funniest sites I have ever been to. If you haven't been there before, you should check it out. It's basically dedicated to pointing out all the times that Superman is a total dick-- though they have branched out into pointing out the absurdities of any and all comic books.

Here's a few examples (the captions are theirs):

Damn, that's cold.

You know, if you're going to step out on your woman becauses he's inexplicably turned into an old woman, seems like the classy thing to do would be to not call attention to it...

I love this. Superboy would rather be pimping outhis ho there than save some little kid falling off a building.

Is this funny stuff or what? Go check out their site for more examples of Superdickery. If you're like me, you'll lose an hour or two.

Hellboy II: The Golden Army

2008-07-13T23:54:00.000-07:00

I didn't expect to see Hellboy II in the movie theatre because no one I know is as into comic book movies as much as I am. I can (and will) drag my husband to see movies like The Dark Knight but I can't seem to get him into the spirit of Hellboy.

But as I was watching the original Hellboy the other day I realized I needed to see Hellboy II on the big screen because you need a venue that large to appreciate the work of director Guillermo del Toro-- anyone who has seen Pan's Labyrinth will know exactly what I am talking about. So I did something I never do-- I went to the movie by myself.

Was it worth it? I'd say definitely.

Hellboy (Ron Perlman) is a creation of Dark Horse comics writer Mike Mignola. He is a demon who fights for the U.S. government (The Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense or BERD) to protect America from any kind of supernatural danger. Hellboy was discovered as a child after he was brought through a dimensional portal and raised by an adopted father, Professor Bruttenholm (John Hurt). Hellboy longs to fit in, and tries to hide the fact with a gruff nature, but with his bright red skin, horns and tail, he is forever an outsider-- despite filing down his horns to look more human.

In this second installment (in what I hope is a continuing series) Hellboy is confronted with an enemy who is also an outcast. Prince Nuada (Luke Goss), the Elf Prince of the Underworld, seeks to raise The Golden Army and destroy the human race for what he believes is a broken truce between races. There are several moments between Nuada and Hellboy in which you can almost sense an understanding between the two-- they both know what it is like to be different and alone-- and Nuada is a great cinematic villain in my opinion. The fight scenes are also as beautiful as they are deadly and Goss performs them exceptionally well.

Hellboy II brings back most of the characters we saw in the first movie: Liz Sherman (Selma Blair) as Hellboy's pyrokinetic girlfriend; Abe Sapien (Doug Jones) an aquatic empath who also works for BERD; and Tom Manning (Jeffrey Tambor) as Hellboy's obnoxious and officious boss. Hellboy and Liz's relationship is expanded upon, though not dwelled upon too much in this movie. Abe gets his own love interest this time out and Manning is still trying to get Hellboy to behave--with no luck. All of the film's humor comes from this core cast-- with the addition of Johann Krauss (Seth MacFarlane), a German psychic brought in to try to help control Hellboy. I had several laugh-out-loud moments when the movie focused on this group.

But like any Guillermo del Toro film, the real star of the movie is the visual effects. They are, in a word, stunning. Like the original Star Wars films, del Toro features a lot of unusual creatures; from trolls, goblins, some pretty crazy tooth fairies to the Angel of Death. What I appreciated was that every creature was given amazing detail. If you saw the original Hellboy, you'll know from just seeing the characters of Hellboy and Abe the quality to expect from a del Toro creation. Multiply that by 10 (at least) and you'll have an idea of what to expect here.

As I was watching the movie I couldn't help but think that this was what George Lucas was trying to achieve with his final Star Wars trilogy. Hellboy II has all the special effects you could want from a sci-fi film but still manages to keep its heart. I have read some criticism that Hellboy II doesn't have as much character development as it should but I don't think I agree with that. It is a comic book movie and as such the comic book aspects have to be emphasized, but I don't think the characters suffered for it. I think del Toro did a fine job of weaving the plot among the action and the special effects.

At the end of the day though, I suppose you have to love comic book movies to love Hellboy as much as I do -- I am something of a fangirl in this regard. This movie hit all the right notes with me. It has humor, action and outstanding visuals. I would definitely say this was worth the price of admission.

Friday Feature, Best Posts Revisited: The Future's So Bright I.....Oh Wait

2008-07-11T00:36:00.001-07:00

Is it me, or are we as people fairly pessimistic? The reason I ask is that while I was looking for movies that were set in the future I noticed that movie makers generally seem to assume we're heading for trouble.

Avery had a post on her blog that mentioned the movie Logan's Run, which is what got me to thinking about this topic in the first place. I remember seeing this movie when I was a kid. I don't remember if it was particularly good, but I do remember it. If you haven't seen it, the basic idea is that the futuristic society in this movies kills off everyone once they reach the ripe old age of 30. If anyone attempts to escape this fate and become a "runner" then another character called a "sandman" will hunt you down. The main character, Logan-- a sandman in the beginning, becomes a runner, hence the name of the movie.

What's interesting to me about futuristic movies is that there always seems to be assumptions that the planet will either be totally overpopulated, resulting in a need for extreme population control, or that we will be living in a totally post-apocalyptic society in which humanity will be struggling to survive. Well, either that or the machines will take over. But no matter the future depicted, it usually isn't one we would want to live in.

Another movie that follows the overpopulation scenario is Soylent Green. This movie also uses euthanasia as a convenient form of population control, but also explores other problems associated with too many people. The name of the movie refers to a type of food that has been developed to feed a population that does not have the money, or access to regular food. Soylent green is a sort of cracker like wafer that is supposed to be a combination of soy and lentils which are cheap to produce. And though the main "scandal" of the movie is the fact that Soylent Green isn't solely made of soy and lentils, I won't spoil it for those who haven't seen it. Like Logan's Run, Soylent Green is pretty dystopian in nature. The Government is run amok and the poor, pathetic populace at large doesn't really know a thing. Hmmm, maybe they're on to something here.

Mad Max, the movie that brought us Mel Gibson (I'll let you make the judgement call on that) is sort of the flip side of dystopian stories like Logan's Run. Set in post apocalyptic Australia, Gibson is a member of the Main Force Patrol, who's job it is to protect the few surviving citizens from violent motorcycle gangs. To be honest, I don't remember this movie that well. It wasn't my taste at the time but I do remember it showed a bleak vision of the future.

I also remember 12 Monkeys as a very bleak, and profoundly weird movie that assumed most of us probably won't survive very long. Like a lot of futuristic movies, 12 Monkeys assumes that time travel will be possible in the future and that it will be used to try to change the past. Unlike the Terminator movies, our fate isn't at the hands of machines who have decided to take over, but rather the result of a man made virus that wiped out most of the population. The virus is so virulent that the survivors are forced to live underground as it is still possible to be killed if one ventures above ground. The movie does end on an open-ended note, with the possibility that humanity will still be able to change the future. But it is one weird ride.

Omega Man is a more old school version of the same theme in 12 Monkeys. I haven't seen this one, but it came up a lot when I was looking at post-apocalyptic movies to include in this post. Charlton Heston stars in this one as the Omega Man, "the last immune and uninfected person on Earth" according to Wikipedia. Those of you who have seen this will have to tell me if it's worth watching. But the thing that is really interesting to me is that most movies and books about viral/bacterial/chemical infections wiping out humanity were written prior to 9/11 and our current worries of chemical/biological weapons after the Anthrax attacks of several years ago. It could be argued that authors like Michael Crichton, The Andromeda Strain and Stephen King, The Stand were just a little bit prescient on the subject.

I mentioned The Terminator movies previously, and they are kind of the go-to example of films about machines taking over the world with Battlestar Galactica as the television equivalent. Blade Runner examines the idea of sentient machines without the complete takeover of humanity, though the society depicted in this future isn't particularly rosy either. The Matrix assumes sentient machines will use us as batteries and I, Robot shows us where it all might begin.

And I haven't even begun to talk about the aliens-take-over-the-world scenario. But like all my posts, I run the risk of going on and on and you get the idea. If we were to belive most authors/movie-makers/TV shows, we don't have a heck of a lot to look forward to. I don't know if this is the result of a basic study of human nature, or if simply put, it sells. Some of these movies do end on a hopeful note, though as often as not nothing is expected to change. And the funny thing is, we like it. I know I do anyway. I guess I do hope for a happy ending though. A humanity-will-triumph ending-- only time will tell though...

The View Outside My Front Door

2008-07-09T23:12:00.000-07:00

Okay, I have to do it. The smoke here has been crazy today. I tried to take some pictures while out driving, but it's hard to drive and take pictures-- and I don't recommend trying. So the picture here is the best I could do. I don't know if you can tell how hazy it is, but let me tell you this. It was about 2:30 in the afternoon when I took the picture and about 103 degrees. We have no clouds in the sky-- just smoke. It kind of looks like a cloudy winter day.

The other picture you see here is right off my front porch. I took it at about 7:30 in the evening. I was hoping to catch a really red sun today, but it wasn't as bright as it has been on other evenings. Normally though, you wouldn't be able to look directly at the sun, especially as it was just going down. But this shot is just as it looked from the naked eye.

I wish blogs came with smell-o-vision so you could smell the smoke too. It smells like I'm directly in the path of a campfire.

I promise. This will be my last smoke related post.

Just pray there are no floods or earthquakes in my future.

Smokin'

2008-07-08T22:49:00.000-07:00

California is smokin' these days, and not in a good way.

I don't know how many people pay attention to the wildfires in California. We get tons of them every year, so I don't blame anyone for not paying attention. I see footage every year of hurricanes along the Gulf Coast, but since I'm so far away they seem abstract to me most of the time. But Mother Nature isn't going to let me overlook the wildfires.

According to The Wall Street Journal there have been over 1,700 fires sparked this summer. I don't know about you, but that seems like an awful lot to me. And for the last two weeks we've been breathing in the smoke from all these fires and my lungs are getting sick of it. I am very grateful that I don't live in one of the affected areas, though I don't want to take it for granted that we're safe. We were 110 degrees here today and I'm pretty sure just thinking hot thoughts could spark a fire in my backyard. I don't know how we survived the 4th.

But I am also a little worried about sucking in all the smoke in the air. When I lived in L.A. years ago, it took two weeks for my eyes to stop burning because of the smog. This is worse. I'm afraid we may have already gotten a little used to seeing the haze and aren't realizing how hazardous it is. I thought it looked pretty clear on Sunday and took the kids to the pool at the gym and I've been regretting it ever since. I was feeling ambitious that day and swam laps in the lap pool and now it hurts when I breath. I'm not one hundred percent sure it's from the smoke, but I suspect it is. And that leaves me wondering one thing.

There are people out there who smoke? Voluntarily?

Dude, Where's Your Career?

2008-07-06T22:54:00.000-07:00

I was TV today, as usual, and I saw an ad for a movie starring Eddie Murphy called Meet Dave.

Am I the only one who sees this commercial and thinks, who in their right mind is going to pay money for this?

I don't even know what the movie is about, except that it is somehow related to "Men in Black." What I do know is that it stars Eddie Murphy and that usually means stay away in my language.

Am I being too hard on the guy?

All I know, is that when I was a kid Eddie Murphy was hilarious. He was singing "Wookin pa nub" as Buckweat on Saturday Night Live. He made "Beverly Hills Cop" and "Trading Places." All my friends could quote directly from "Raw."

Then, somewhere around the time Murphy made "The Nutty Professor" things went awry. I don't know if it was because Murphy had kids, or because he wanted to play all of the characters himself, but all of a sudden, he was dressing up in all kinds of fatsuits and doing an awful lot of fart jokes.

What the heck happened?

I'd say that I've been subjected to a ton of bad movies since then, but really, I never watch any Murphy movies anymore. I don't recall if it was "Dr. Doolittle" that put the nail in the coffin, but I stopped even considering watching one of his movies a long time ago. I haven't even seen "Dreamgirls." I know some of you might be thinking about "Shrek" right about now, but does that really count? I don't consider "Shrek" to be a movie that is an Eddie Murphy vehicle. Though I think it may be the reason he is still able to make movies.

But the biggest mystery to me is that he still gets starring roles anymore. I could understand if we were talking about someone like Sean Connery, he's made some bad movies but he still has the cool factor. Murphy? Not so much.

And Murphy isn't the only actor that baffles me. Take John Travolta.

I can't claim to be, or ever have been a huge fan of Travolta, but he had a good thing going after "Pulp Fiction" resurrected his career. He hit a slump after "Saturday Night Fever" and "Urban Cowboy" and no one was more surprised than I was to see him turn up in a Quenton Tarantino film; but it worked. The next thing you knew Travolta was all over the place. He was in some movies that did quite well, from "Face Off" to "Primary Colors." But then, like Murphy, I think his ego may have gotten the better of him as he decided to do "Battlefield Earth." I think we all know what a fiasco that was. I also think it's safe to say it's been a downhill slide ever since.

Now, I'm not suggesting that Murphy or Travolta are the best actors around. Not by a long shot. What I am saying is that they had hot careers at one point. They had figured out a formula that got them good roles and good money and then.... I don't know what. I don't know if they stopped listening to their agents or they started believing their own press. But something went wrong.

Hollywood is littered with the careers of such men (and women). I don't know why I was thinking of these two men in particular. I also think of Nicholas Cage as I write this. He's managed to hang on to moderate success with his "National Treasure" movies, but I think he loses ground every time he makes a "Ghost Rider."

I will say this though, at least Murphy, Travolta and Cage haven't hit the reality TV show circuit. Wouldn't that be sad? Every time I see another has-been celebrity in a reality show I cringe. I mean, how many Baldwin brothers have been on reality shows? What is it about fame that leaves people clinging to it so desperately? Celebreality shows are reason enough for me to never, ever want to be famous. I don't want to cling to last vestige of a career while I toss my dignity aside.

I don't know... I don't have any real point to this post. Mostly I'm just thinking out loud-- so to speak.

But what do you think about people like Murphy who make bad movie after bad movie? Are you as baffled as I am that anyone would actually put money into making these things? Is there an audience for this that I am unaware of? Would anyone pay for "Dr. Doolittle 3?" Did anyone pay to see "Norbit?"

Happy 4th!

2008-07-04T00:02:00.001-07:00

Time to eat, drink and be merry....And light a few fireworks...

I'm in a mood...Updated

2008-07-01T23:06:00.001-07:00

****New***********************************************

I know you're probably tired of the links. But I am freak when it comes to free stuff. I can't pass up a chance to tell everyone about it....

Author David Louis Edelman has a contest going on in which he's giving away four books, every week for four weeks. The titles are:
One copy of the Solaris edition of Infoquake
One copy of the Pyr edition of MultiReal
One copy of The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction, Volume Two (containing Edelman's story “Mathralon”)
One copy of Overlook Press’ new edition of Mervyn Peake’s Titus Alone (containing Edelman's introduction to the book)

******************************************************

And not a blogging mood if you know what I mean.

I'm in a funk.

I think it's because P'Dub had a contest for a $500 gift certificate this last weekend and I missed it. Oh sure, I wouldn't have won. But dammit, I like to kid myself that I would have had a chance.

So I'm going to offer up my normal linkage and hope some of you might have some better luck-- and tell me about it.

First, you gotta visit my Book Review Blog, I have two contests listed, both ending on Friday.

Then, as always, you've got to visit the Fantasy Book Critic. He has 6 giveaways listed on his left sidebar including, "A Darkness Forged in Fire" by Chris Evans, "The Blood King" by Gail Z. Martin, "Daniel X" by James Patterson, "The Ten Thousand" by Paul Kearney, A set of books by David Webber, "Vicious Circle" and "The Devil You Know" by Mike Carey and "The Tower of Shadows" by Drew Boling.

Graeme's Fantasy Book Review has 3 copies of "The Briar King" by Greg Keyes to giveaway. I highly recommend this one...

Author Rachel Vincent has several books, by many different authors up on her blog in a contest that ends THURSDAY. The list includes Happy Hour of the Damned by Mark Henry, Shadows on the Soul by Jenna Black, Ashes to Ashes by Jennifer Armintrout, Dark Lies by Vivi Anna, Scions: Insurrection by Patrice Michelle, Dancing with Werewolves by Carole Nelson Douglas.

Sci-fi Chick has a copy of "Codespell" by Kelley McCullough. Very cool series.

The Book Swede has a copy of "Eternal Vigilance" by Gabrielle Faust up for grabs.

That's all I can find for now. I'll keep you posted if I see more though...

WTF? Moments

2008-06-29T23:30:00.000-07:00

Have you ever been watching a movie, no enjoying a movie, when something happens that throws you completely out of the moment?

Me too.

I call those WTF? moments.

There is no science to WTF? moments. I'm sure the things that I find jarring won't necessarily bother someone else. But I know we all have our little pet peeves that sometimes take away our enjoyment of our favorite movies.

One thing that gets me are the BIG explosions that the main characters somehow always manage to survive. Sometimes this isn't a big deal. Other times this becomes a big deal when it seems to happen a lot.

Case in point: I was watching "Live Free or Die Hard" yesterday. I already mentioned in a previous review that this movie had a lot of oh come on moments in it, but it wasn't until re-watching it that I decided to characterize it as a WTF? movie. Don't get me wrong, it's a fun movie for what it is. But realistic doesn't come to mind. And there are a lot of explosions. The first one comes when Bruce Willis' character rescues the hapless computer hacker played by Justin Long. The bad guys have rigged a bomb to Long's computer and the whole apartment blows up. Miraculously, Willis and Long survive while all the bad guys in the apartment are blown up. Okay. I'll play along. But then, later in the movie, Willis and Long are in another explosion--- at a power plant where all the natural gas lines have been routed to their location and yes, it explodes. Somehow they manage to run really fast and get ahead of the explosion- because we all know that's possible. Don't even get me started on the woman who was hit by a car at high speed but not only survives without any apparent injury, but fights Willis in an elevator shaft-- in the car. And need I mention the scene where Willis walks on a jet?

Another common WTF? moment for me is when only the bad guys are hit by the bullets. I'm trying to think of what I watched recently that had this going on.... Oh yeah, "Mr. & Mrs. Smith." Now, I love this movie. I love black comedies and I think "Mr & Mrs. Smith" is great. I don't know if I should even really mention the scene at the end when Pitt and Jolie have a massive shootout with a bunch of assassins sent to kill them. This isn't a movie that's really meant to be realistic. But I have to admit, the sheer number of people they were facing, and killing, kind of threw me out of the fantasy. I kept thinking, there's no way they'd survive.... But I know, I know you've seen other movies where this happens. I'd be willing to bet if I go back and watch any number of Arnold Schwarzenegger films, he is rarely hit by a bullet. I bet Rambo doesn't get hit a lot either.

Speaking of Schwarzenegger.... I remember watching "True Lies" not too long ago, or maybe it was "Eraser," I can't remember. But I recall a scene in which Arnold is shot in the arm, but within moments is hanging, one handed, by that arm, as if nothing is wrong. It must be nice to be able to shake off a severe injury like that, don't you think? Pretty much every action movie I have ever seen, from "Die Hard" to "Kill Bill," has characters of incredible resilience. I wish I was that tough.

Helicopters are another great action movie conceit. How many times have we watched helicopters maneuver through tunnels during a car chase? And how many times have we watched a guy with a hand gun shoot one down? Although, I think I have only seen one movie ("Live Free or Die Hard" again) in which someone catapults a car at a helicopter to bring it down. I have watched countless fights on the skids of a helicopter as well as many miraculous rescues in which the hero hoists himself up on the skids to safety. My, helicopters are handy aren't they?

I also can't think of any kind of flight without thinking about all the times I have seen someone jump out of a plane without a parachute after the bad-guy. I don't know if James Bond started this trend ("Moonraker") but it has popped up in a lot of movies. It also inspired another brand of incredible stupidity-- Travis Pastrana jumping out of a plane without a parachute-- though it appears to have been done with a tiny bit of safety in mind.

Don't try this at home kids.

I could go on and on. From the scene in "The Transporter" in which Jason Statham scrapes a bomb off the bottom of a car by flipping it upside down and using a crane to take it off in mid-air to all the times I have seen a car (or a bus as in "Speed") survive impossible jumps and remain intact.

I guess the reason I mention all of this is that I hate it when I am jarred out of the happy fantasy that a movie creates by heavy-handed stunts. I know that most of my favorite movies are impossible from beginning to end. I know that Terminators aren't real. I get it. But show me a hero that looks a little dirty. Show me a car that won't run after an accident. Show me an arm that stays injured after taking a bullet. Let me get through the two hour movie I paid a fortune for without a WTF? moment. Just once.

And please. No more copycat stunts done by real people. YouTube scares me sometimes.

Just Right

2008-06-25T23:20:00.001-07:00

As much fun as I have picking apart the casting choices in different movies, I suppose I should acknowledge when it gets done right. The fact is, I get a lot of enjoyment out my favorite sci-fi/fantasy action films, and it's only fair to give credit where credit is due.

Though it is more fun to be a little snarky.

Anyway. Here are my picks for the best casting in movie/TV roles.

Tobey Maguire as Spiderman

I don't think I could have imagined a more perfect Peter Parker. It would have been so easy to cast a typical face-of-the-moment guy who looks pretty, but doesn't really keep to the spirit of the role. But this time, the movie-makers cast the part based on who fit it the best. Maguire captures that slightly geeky, everyman quality that is so essential to the comic book character of Peter Parker to perfection.

Daniel Craig as James Bond

I admit it. I wasn't a believer when Craig was first cast as Bond. I had only seen him in "Tomb Raider" and I remembered him as being slight, wiry and very blond. I had been a fan of Pierce Brosnan up until I saw "Casino Royale" because I thought he looked the part. But Craig showed there is a whole lot more to being Bond than being able to wear a tux. Craig not only beefed up considerably to play Bond, he also brought a rugged, world-weariness to the role that woke up the whole franchise. He made Bond exciting again and I love him for it. I cannot wait for "Quantum of Solace."

Angelina Jolie as Lara Croft

The great thing about a character like Lara Croft is that she's fun and the part doesn't require an actress as much as someone who can kick ass. I suppose, since Jolie has an Oscar, you could say we got both. I don't know that Jolie brought her acting chops to the role as much as she brought attitude. Croft is a video game character so she doesn't have to be that deep, she just has to be tough -- and hot. I remember seeing the movie posters for the film before it was released and I couldn't believe how much Jolie looked like the video game character. It's a silly thing to look for I suppose, but I kind of liked that she fit the part so well. For me, she made the movie a lot of fun. It's great, escapist entertainment and I can't see anyone else pulling it off as well.

Tom Hanks as Forrest Gump

Whenever I think of an actor who became the role, I think of Tom Hanks as Forrest Gump. I have seen the movie a dozen times at least and it never seems like I'm watching an actor play a part. I'm not even sure I can explain it, but I feel like I'm watching Forrest Gump instead of Tom Hanks whenever I watch that movie. I appreciate the innocence he brought to the role and I truly believe he deserves the Oscar he won for playing the part.

Harrison Ford as Han Solo & Indiana Jones

You gotta love Harrison Ford. He created not one, but two iconic roles that no one can ever touch. Both characters have a bit of the rogue in them, a twinkle of the eye that is all Ford. But they're distinctly different characters as well. Han is the reluctant hero; the guy who never thought he'd be the one to rush to the rescue. Indy is the scholar and the action hero all rolled into one. I can't imagine another actor making those characters as believable or as lovable.

Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow

I won't say the "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies are the best franchise out there. In fact, I will go so far to say I might not have watched any of them had it not been for Johnny Depp. I can't imagine what made Depp choose to base the character on Keith Richards, but it was an inspired bit of insanity. Sparrow is, without a doubt, the one thing that makes the "Pirates" movie interesting. Sadly, there was sooo many scenes with other people in them that made my interest in the series wane. But I did like Johnny.

Patrick Stewart as Professor Xavier

It would seem like a no-brainer to cast Patrick Stewart in the role of Professor Xavier, but that doesn't make him any less perfect for the role. I've always like Stewart. I'm one of those people who choose Picard over Kirk. In a way, it's hard to find something to say about him in this role. I don't feel like there was anything special he had to do to become Xavier. It's like he was born to play the role.

Arnold Schwarzenegger as The Terminator

No, Arnold is not a great actor. But he is perfect to play the role of a cyborg isn't he? Arnie fits this role in every way possible. His face, which looks chiseled out of a piece of rock, looks like the face of a robot. His speech, accent and all, sounds like what a robot might sound like if it was trying to mimic human speech. All I can say is that Arnold was inspired casting for this role.

Lynda Carter as Wonder Woman

I don't think it's any accident that no one has replace Lynda Carter as Wonder Woman yet. Joss Whedon was supposed to write and direct a new Wonder Woman, but pulled out of the project. I don't know if casting was an issue, but I can believe it was a near impossible task to find someone to live up to the standard Carter set. Not only was she drop-dead gorgeous, but she managed to take a hokey role and do something with it. This is a show that could have died after a few episodes if it hadn't had someone like Carter in the title role. I don't envy any actress who tries to fill Carter's shoes.

Christopher Reeve as Superman

...Speaking of filling someone's shoes. When "Superman Returns" came out, I thought Brandon Routh seemed like a fine choice for the role of Superman. Until I saw the movie. It wasn't that Routh was bad, but it seemed like he was doing a Christopher Reeve impersonation the whole time. Clearly, Reeve set the bar. Reeve looked the part for sure, but somehow, he brought the sense of wonder that is so essential to the role of Superman. The character could be so arrogant in unskilled hands. But Reeve gave the man of steel a heart. No matter what, Reeve will always be Superman to me.

Christian Bale as Batman

As far as I'm concerned, Bale saved Batman. Batman had been dying a slow death in the hands of George Clooney. I'm sorry, but I had to say it. I know that Batman had been campy in the 60's with Adam West, and that was fine then. But I couldn't stand what had happened to the character in the 80's and 90's. Thank goodness Bale agreed to play the role. Maybe "Batman Begins" would have been as good with someone else. I don't know. But I liked the toughness Bale brought to the movie. It was impressive how he bulked up to play the part (especially so soon after making The Machinist). Bale is one of those actors who really commits to a role and I sincerely admire that. I can't wait to see how he does as John Connor in the next Terminator movie.

Matt Damon as Jason Bourne

I love the Bourne movies. I'm a big fan of good spy thrillers in general but too many of them attempt to be Bond rip-off's that they rarely live up to the hype. Bourne does. The Bourne movies are great because they have fast, intense fight scenes and the sneaky spy parts. Matt Damon has become integral to the part because he pulls it all off. He seems smart enough to be the spy and tough enough to be the fighter. He seems credible as the bewildered tough-guy who doesn't just want to know what's going on, but needs to know. When I think of other actors who might have been tapped to play the role, like Mark Whalberg, I think nah.... It just wouldn't have been as good.

Ben Stiller as Gaylord "Greg" Focker

This is probably the only time I will ever, ever say that I not only liked Ben Stiller in a role, but that I thought he was the most suited for it. There's just something so awkward about Stiller's character in "Meet the Parents". You don't really believe that he could get the hot girl but you can believe that he'd be totally intimidated by Robert Deniro. Then again, who wouldn't? No one else that I can think of could have pulled off the scene where he talks about milking a cat either. He seems like a guy who would do that doesn't he? I also loved the casting of Barbara Streisand and Dustin Hoffman as his parents in "Meet the Fockers." So great.

Anglica Huston as Morticia Addams

I was only 20 when "The Addams Family" came out, so you may have to give me some slack on liking this one. Who knows, maybe I'm not so silly for thinking that was a fun movie. I like Huston as Morticia Addams-- and I liked Raúl Juliá too. Angelica always cracked me up in this role, especially while she was giving birth in the second movie. Maybe this wasn't a hard role to play but she brought her sense of humor and she looked great.

My "on-the-fence" picks.

Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark--- I loved Downey in this role. No question. The only reason I haven't definitely put him in the only-he-can-play-it category is because I don't know enough about the Iron Man character to say for sure. Plus, I really want to see a few sequels to be sure. The more the better.

Tom Welling as a young Superman-- I like Tom Welling a lot. I think he's great as a young Clark Kent. (( I also like Michael Rosenbaum as Lex)) I'm just not sure that the role has been completely sealed as his yet.

Sarah Michelle Gellar as Buffy the Vampire Slayer-- I liked Buffy. I watched probably every episode. But Sarah got on my nerves now and then. I'm not sure if it was the character being annoying, or Sarah. Kristy Swanson also played the role, so it's been claimed by two women, but I'm not sure it's been owned by either one of them.

Katee Sackoff as Starbuck-- I still think Starbuck should have been a guy. But in casting the role to a woman I think Katee has made it hers. There are times when she drives me nuts, but Starbuck is fairly crazy. I think Sackoff has made the role hers as much as anyone could. I'm just not sure it was created the right way.

So that's my personal list of favorites. You may or may not agree. I'd think you were wrong...;)

So tell me. Who are your favorites? Who have I forgotten to mention?

Miscast

2008-06-23T22:30:00.001-07:00

"Mr. & Mrs. Smith" was on TV today and as I was doing chores I was watching it, and laughing out loud a lot. I like black comedies and I kept thinking to myself how funny Brad Pitt was in the role because I liked his goofiness. Of course, my thoughts then digressed to what the movie would have been like if another actor had been cast.....

What about all those movies in which you know the wrong actor was picked to play the role?

I remember when it was first announced that Daniel Craig was going to take over as James Bond and I thought no way! That guy is not even cool enough for the role. Was I ever wrong.

So you can imagine how hard it is to cast a movie. There have to be times when the casting seems like a good idea at the time, but I expect once filming starts it becomes obvious when the casting is just all wrong.

And then there are the movies that make us think, how the hell did they ever think this was a good idea???

Here's my list of the most miscast roles I can think of off the top of my head.

Jessica Alba in The Fantastic Four

I don't think one has to have any particular feelings about Jessica Alba one way or another to come to the conclusion that she was all wrong for this role. I mean really, Sue Storm? The blond, all American girl? Sister to Johnny Storm (played by Chris Evans)? When did this ever seem like a good idea? I thought Alba came across as too shrill and she never interacted naturally enough with Evans to play his sister. And do I need to mention the horrible dye job? Wrong wrong wrong.

Kevin Costner in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves

I haven't watched this movie in years because it I couldn't put myself through it again. I can't begin to understand why this iconic role would not be filled by an English actor, much less Kevin Costner. I think this film was done not too long after "Dances With Wolves" and Costner was in full arrogance and thought he could do anything. Clearly speaking with an English accent was not one of his skills.

Hayden Christensen & Jake Lloyd in the second Star Wars Trilogy

I know I'm not alone in having problems with the last three "Star Wars" movies George Lucas produced. I think one of my biggest complaints has to be the casting. This was the time to really lay down the character of Darth Vader and I can't help but feel that Lucas failed miserably. Lloyd can be excused for being a little kid-- he couldn't really help it that he wasn't suited for the role. But Christensen has not proven that he ever had the acting ability to pull off a young Vader. I wanted to blame Lucas' directing, but I keep hearing that Christensen is pretty wooden in everything he does ("Jumper" being the latest example). On the other hand-- Lucas had to have had his pick of virtually anyone for the role(s), why did he pick these two?

Tom Cruise in Interview With a Vampire

I know a lot of people go back and forth on this one. A lot of people have come to the conclusion that Cruise did a good job in the role of the vampire Lestat. Maybe. But I still feel as if Cruise was all wrong. I remember when I read the book, Lestat seemed very delicate and charismatic. Cruise could potentially pull off the charismatic part, but he could never be called delicate looking. Lestat was the rock star, all lithe grace and sinuous movement. Cruise is bold and never subtle. The image in my head never gelled with the casting of Cruise.

Ben Affleck in Daredevil

I've heard that there are people out there that didn't mind Affleck in this role. I'm not one of them. I wanted to like this movie a whole lot but I could never buy into Affleck as Matt Murdock. Maybe it's because he never seemed like the guy who would have enough discipline, or smarts, to become Daredevil. Maybe he's just too goofy for me. I don't know. I like it when real actors are picked to portray my favorite comic book heroes, like Christian Bale and Robert Downey Jr. Wouldn't someone like Bale have been kick-ass in this role? Maybe they'll remake it someday with someone tough enough to pull off the character.

Kate Bosworth in Superman Returns

I didn't like Bosworth as Lois Lane. I don't know if that was because of how the character was written or because Bosworth wasn't convincing. This might be a case in which I am picking on the actor when really, the movie is to blame. It never did have the magic of the original. But then, it was basically just a copy of a good movie that didn't need a remake. But I still think the movie might have been better had they cast someone who could play Lois with a little more life. You may or may not have liked Margot Kidder as Lois, but you have to admit, she had a lot more sass than Bosworth did.

Denise Richards in The World is not Enough

Denise Richards as a nuclear physicist? This was a good idea? Ever?

Will Smith in The Wild Wild West

This movie was soooo bad. I'm not even sure I should pick on Will Smith exclusively. It was bad enough that the original TV series was mangled so badly and Will Smith was cast in the role of Jim West, but Kenneth Branagh was horrible! I don't think I have ever sat through this whole film. In fact, I doubt casting anyone other than Smith could have saved this film, but the casting was a mistake too.

Ben Stiller & Owen Wilson in Starsky & Hutch

Why did these two have to go and ruin Starsky & Hutch? Why? I admit it. I like the old series. I don't remember it much from when I was a kid but I've managed to catch a couple of episodes since then and it was not a bad show. It could have been a decent cop movie, but no, Stiller and Wilson had to get their hands on it and turn it into another retarded spoof. That just irritates me. But then, Stiller and Wilson irritate me in just about anything.

People I'm "on the fence" about

Keanu Reeves in "The Matrix" -- I don't know that the movie suffered because he was in the role, but how much better could it have been with someone who could act?

Michael Keaton in "Batman"-- I never thought Keaton looked the part. Batman should have a square jaw and be at least six-feet tall. Shouldn't he?

Kirsten Dunst in "Spiderman"-- I'm not sure if it's the role I don't like or the actress. Maybe it's just the hair.

Keira Knightley in "Pirates of the Caribbean"-- I didn't mind her in the first one but she irritated me in the sequels. Is it me, or is her mouth always open?

That's all I have right now. I'm sure if I have time to think about it, I could come up with a ton more. But now it's your job. Tell me who drives you crazy in a particular role. And just for kicks, maybe let me know who you think would have done it better.

Kung Fu Panda.... I'm a little surprised at all the glowing reviews

2008-06-22T23:10:00.000-07:00

Just as I predicted, I was unable to escape the Panda. The massive marketing campaign seeped into the unsuspecting mind of my children until it wove its evil web around my....

Okay, maybe I'm being a little dramatic.

But the Panda has been in my face a lot lately and we finally succumbed to the pressure and took the kids to see the movie today.

Overall, I thought it was cute enough but not a movie I would rave about. Before we went and saw it I went to Rotten Tomatoes to check out the reviews and saw an 88% positive rating so I expected the movie to be better than my first impressions would indicate. But really, it didn't do as much for me as I had hoped it would.

Plot-wise the movie is very simple. Po (Jack Black) is a Panda who dreams of being a Kung Fu master. Hearing about a martial arts demonstration in which the legendary Dragon Master will be chosen, Po launches himself into the middle of the proceedings. Po is then chosen, apparently by accident, to be the Dragon Master, to the anger of the other martial arts masters who were vying for the title.

The other masters, called the "Furious Five" are voiced by Angelina Jolie, Seth Rogan, Lucy Liu, Jackie Chan and David Cross; though you'd only be likely to recognize Jolie's voice as she is the only one given more than one or two lines. Predictably, they're not too happy with the title of Dragon Master going to Po. And Po, for his part, is earnest, clumsy and not at all convinced he is the Dragon Master either.

However, the martial arts master (Dustin Hoffman) does begin to train Po after a former student escapes prison and the Dragon Master is said to be the only one who can defeat him. Po's training consists mostly of using food as encouragement and his clumsy attempts are amusing and fun to watch.

For what it's worth, my kids really liked the movie. But I found I couldn't dredge up more than a perfunctory interest. Jack Black wasn't bad in the role of Po, but I wouldn't go so far as to say the role was "made" for him. There were a few times where his personality seeped into the dialogue, but nothing to the extent that Robin Williams took over the role of the genie in "Aladdin."

Mostly though, I was baffled at how little the celebrity talent that was hired to voice the film was used. Most of the dialogue was between Po and Shifu (Hoffman) with Jolie filling in most of the other gaps. For the life of me I can't figure out why the producers of the movie would pay to hire actors like Liu, Rogan and Chan and not use them hardly at all.

But my complaints are that of an adult viewer. I have been so spoiled by films like "The Incredibles" that I look for that kind of quality of storytelling whenever I take my kids to see a movie. "Kung Fu Panda" is bouncy and entertaining and delivers its fair share of chuckles. But the simplicity of the plot left me with kind of a "meh" feeling about it. I also didn't feel like this was a must-see-on-the-big-screen-movie. The visuals were pretty but not stunning and the fight scenes were more comedic than anything else. For what it is, "Kung Fu Panda" is cute, but not worth all the rave reviews I've seen-- in my oh-so-humble opinion.

Okay then, let's put it to a vote

2008-06-19T22:00:00.000-07:00

I had no idea when I put up my BSG post and mentioned Lucy Lawless that I would get the response I did.

People love Xena don't they.

But is she the coolest woman in sci-fi? I don't know. I think she's great, but you gotta admit, there's a lot of kick-ass women who show up in our favorite films and tv shows. Plus, there are so many women who paved the way for the Lucy Lawless' of the world.

So who rocks them all?

Your title
Who is the coolest woman of sci-fi

Lucy Lawless
Angelina Jolie
Katee Sackoff
Linda Hamilton
Lynda Carter
Sigourney Weaver
Michelle Yeoh
Jennifer Garner
Kate Beckinsdale
Carrie Ann Moss
Other

view results

For you, SQT

2008-06-18T16:09:00.000-07:00

My newest obsession

2008-06-17T23:53:00.000-07:00

It's official. I have no life.

We bought Rock Band.

My husband and I have been playing Guitar Hero for months now and since our interest hasn't waned, we decided to get Rock Band so we could try our hand at the drums.

I suspect we will spend far too many weekends indoors.

I even got my daughter to sing today. That's right. We're breeding a whole new generation of geeks.

Things I've learned from watching the new Battlestar Galactica

2008-06-15T22:42:00.000-07:00

First, let me geek out a minute over this show. I love the show this season. Obviously the writers are throwing revelations at us fast and furiously because the show is supposed to end this season. (Though now they're breaking mid-season, ending in '09 and talking about doing some BSG movies after the show is over. Clearly this series isn't going to die a premature death like "Firefly").

The show has kept me riveted this season and I need to be a nerd-girl for a minute because I don't have a single person who isn't a visitor to my blog to geek out with. I haven't been able to get my husband to watch the show with me and somehow we're still married. But what that means after every show is that I am left without anyone to say OMG! Can you believe what they did? ((Though the ending of Friday's show was slightly predictable. I was wondering if they were going to do a "Planet of the Apes" kind of thing and it sure looks like they did.... ))

Anyway.... Long story short. I want to share with you what I have learned from watching the new BSG. And please, feel free to share with me any bits of wisdom you have gained from the show.

Even in deep space, if you're a Cylon, you will have a stunning wardrobe.

Maybe it's because the cylons knew they were going to destroy the planet that they packed all those great clothes.

It doesn't matter if you're batshit crazy as long as you can fly a viper.

I have a love/hate relationship with Starbuck. I like her when she's "defying authority" but I don't like her when she's cruel for no apparent reason. I wonder if she's bi-polar?

Nepotism does work; especially if your name is Lee Adama.

Don't get me wrong. I love Lee Adama. I especially love looking at him. But they've been in space, what? Two years? Three years? And he's already commanded a Battlestar and been president? Yeah, the old man pulled a few strings....

New Age prophets are the rock stars of the future.

Baltar has managed to recreate himself into a new age messiah and I must say it's working for him. The religious groupies on a Battlestar are much better looking than the ones that followed Charles Manson.

You can't have a sci-fi show on TV without hiring Lucy Lawless to join the cast. ((She's basically the Heather Locklear of sci-fi))

Okay. I know she's not on every sci-fi show. But you have to admit, she shows up a lot.

The technology exists to make Battlestars but the phones are surprisingly primitive.

Maybe they never thought of inventing the "Star Trek" communicators.

Cylon women are hot.

No explanation necessary.

P.S. Any thoughts on the final cylon? D'Anna said the final cylon wasn't with the fleet while Roslin, Baltar and many of the pilots were on the cylon baseship-- does that mean it's Baltar or Roslin? Is there anyone else I'm overlooking?

Oy!....... and a Winner.

2008-06-12T21:28:00.000-07:00

I don't know about everyone else, but when I have personal stuff going on, I pretty much can't function anymore. I write about my stuff a little bit on my personal blog but I don't really feel like I should do it here too much. A little self-pity goes a long way and I don't want to wear out my welcome.

To make a long story short, my family is crazy.

Oh wait. Yours is too? Whew. It's nice to know I'm not alone.

Anyway. I feel the need to get back on track. For those of you who have sent books to me-- first, I love you. Second, I haven't forgotten about a single one. I have sent some off to a guest reviewer so I can get to them faster but I will do my darndest to get some reviews up very soon.

And the last bit of business is the short story giveaway I have going on. Time to pick a winner.....

And the winner of my "Short Story 2" collection is Shaun Duke!

Congrats Shaun!

Thanks to everyone who entered. I have many more books to giveaway so keep an eye out.