Category Archives: Review

These aren’t so much reviews as contemplations on the subject matter. What I loved, what pissed me off, what intrigued me, what I disliked, what made me think, what made me beg Google for answers.

Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin

This book was fantastic and accomplishes a fascinating analysis of Lincoln by analyzing not only his life but the lives of those he worked with politically, chiefly his three rivals for the Republican presidential nomination of 1860: William Seward (his Secretary of State), Salmon P. Chase (his first Secretary of the Treasure) and Edwards Bates (his Attorney General). A lot of really interesting things to learn about Lincoln…remember a little while ago when U.S. News came out with a cover page that said Lincoln was gay (or posed the question was he gay)? Goodwin does a wonderful job of explaining that basically, everybody in the 19th century was a homosexual. No they just weren’t as “inhibited” when it came to room and board. Sleeping in bed with another man was strictly that and nothing more. What else do we learn? Lincoln pulled the first John Kerry by not supporting the … Continue reading →

My Super Ex-Girlfriend

This movie was a lot of fun…more fun than the reviewers are giving it credit for. Heck I was 20 minutes late and I loved it. But then again, with a great concept in “good hands” you can be as late as you like and still have a good time. Maybe it’s just the fact that I love comic books that makes this movie enjoyable…no that can’t be it. The basic movie structure? It’s like a PG-13 Wedding Crashers…one of those comedic romance flicks that tell a great story. I mean the concept alone is priceless: what happens when a superhero wants to fall in love? As a comic book fan I’m glad that they’re mainstreaming this issue…although Spiderman might have done the same thing (it is remarkably mainstream for a superhero film). What issue you ask? The issue of superheroes falling in love while maintaining a secret identity. How … Continue reading →

Monster House

I can’t explain it…this movie was not among my top movies priorities (hell it didn’t even make the top 20), and yet it was thoroughly enjoyable. The comedy, the animation, the story…it was all spot on. They basically take the concept of the “scary house up on the hill” and take it a step further by making the house not just the residence of some scary old man, but a possessed house that will eat you if you disturb it. With a wonderfully talented cast of voice actors, the movie is a lot of fun and very enjoyable. About the only disparaging remark I can come up with against it is that the camera (it’s CGI so can I still call it that?) was way too jerky in the opening sequence/first half an hour (bouncing up and down and around so much I nearly got seasick)…I mean I was in … Continue reading →

A Scanner Darkly

This was a very intriguing film to watch. I love Phillip K. Dick stories and I fell in love with the cell-shaded actor’s not from seeing director Richard Linklater’s previous exploit, but from the trailer. The reason it was so intriguing was because I was kind of tired and didn’t really know what to expect and I kept getting vague about which characters were who and to top it all off it’s a movie about drug addiction, so that doesn’t help at all. Now I’m choosing not to comment on the plot/story until I read Dick’s original story because this was very obviously a story that was close to his heart because the very end of the movie (aside from not resolving the main storyline in my opinion) is either the author’s foreword or epilogue where Dick lists his close friends who are now paralyzed or dead because of drug … Continue reading →

Clerks 2

This is the greatest movie Kevin Smith has made since…the next one. Every time I watch one of his films, it really brings home a point I love to extol: director’s who write their own material create “good” movies. Now when I say good, I don’t necessarily mean movies that everyone loves, but films that tell a particular story or that make a particular point or a particular commentary about life. Also, every single one of his movies has touched me in some way…except for Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back…that movie was basically Kevin Smith’s love letter to his dedicated fans. As much as Kevin Smith likes to talk trash and say that he’s just writing dick and fart joke movies, he really does reach out to us. That’s why I’m a bit upset with one thing in his list of tributes at the end of the movie, “Jersey … Continue reading →

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest

Where is the line between Bill Nighy’s live performance and the CGI effects? That was one of the most incredible things I’ve ever seen…reminded me of the whole debate that went into the foam suit for Ben Grimm (The Thing) in Fantastic Four…live versus animated. Those had to be his eyes and I think maybe his cheeks (with makeup)…but those tentacles…maybe half were animatronics (the ones that flop about or puff steam) and half CG…absolutely incredible. As the credits roll (9 minutes total…seems kind of tame for a film with such gorgeous CG), I scream at the screen when they say “Soundtrack available on Walt Disney Records”…the soundtrack doesn’t come out until July 27th…bastards! I mean…that’s what everyone told me Leave it to me to never do independent research…it’s available now…damn it! I love the new Walt Disney Pictures logo…but why now? Celebrating the 50th? That was the only logic … Continue reading →

The Lord of the Rings The Musical

You cannot come to this musical if you think Oklahoma is the epitome of musical theatre. “It’s not for you!” This movie is all about spectacle. One of the greatest things about it is that it does for me what Lion King could never do: tell me a story that I love AND blow me away with technical wizardry. As a matter of fact, this show takes at least two technologies from Lion King and heartily improves them: the turntable with rising platforms (17 elevators!) and extended legs/arms to alter the human gait (movement pattern). The show is 3 1/2 hours long with one 15 minute intermission and one 3 minute intermission. My biggest complaint is that there are several subplots/moments from the books/movies that I wanted reproduced and didn’t get, leading me to whine a little. Actually while these missing moments made me shake my head in wonder, it … Continue reading →

Superman Returns

Wow….that’s all I can really say about this movie. I have two views, as it were, to layout here: one as a rabid comic book fan and the other as an engaged movie-goer. View 1: I LOVE WHAT DC IS DOING! I suppose it’s all Dan Dido’s fault (he signed on as the new king of DC a couple of years ago), because I don’t know who else to blame for these beautiful renditions of first Batman and now Superman. I know I mentioned it in my Batman Begins review, but I’ll say it again, because it makes me even more of a rabid fan. Now that they’ve restored two of the major three DC heroes, after Wonder Woman comes out (how can a Joss Whedon script be anything but brilliant?), they could very well tackle a Justice League of America film, which would introduce as “bit players” Flash and … Continue reading →

Pirates of the Caribbean Returns

So as part of my preparation for my trip to Amsterdam, I was up at 6am yesterday. Not knowing what else to do that early, I headed to Disneyland for the grand re-opening of Pirates of The Caribbean. The Esplanade at 7:17 am. There was a family scuttling from one letter to another doing that photo collage that EVERYBODY does. Nicely done with the F. The Esplanade at 7:54 am. Nice line to get into the park. Park opened at 8:00 dull, and people start running. Security guard says, no point, the line for pirates is already 2 hours. The 2 hour line, stretching from the flag pole all the way down Main Street… Through Frontierland… and straight into the ride. Apparently I missed the new mural in the lobby that features Jack Sparrow. Oops. The ride was lots of fun. A lot darker than I remember it…which of course … Continue reading →

1776 by David McCullough

This book was an enjoyable read…even if it took me 6 months to finish. It’s not because I was reading other books, but because his writing style was rather strange to me. It takes a little while for me to really get into the book when I crack it open and I kept cracking it open for short moments and getting lost on the same page. But I finally finished it! It was most interesting to read this book after finishing the George Washington biography, His Excellency as the book follows the Continental Army from July 1775 to January 1777. The one thing I would have appreciated was battlefield maps. McCullough did an incredible amount of research (a third of the book’s length is sources and bibliography) and includes nearly all of it, especially personal letters from many of the participants regarding the actions of the war. “But those of … Continue reading →