Author | Title | Rating/5 | |
Atwood, Margaret | Oryx and Crake | 4 | |
Brackett, Leigh | The Long Tomorrow | 3 | |
Brooks, Max | World War Z | 3.5 | |
Capote, Truman | In Cold Blood | 3.5 | |
Carlson, Jeff | Plague Year | 3 | |
Cerasini, Marc | 24: Operation Hell Gate | 3 | |
Frank, Pat | Alas, Babylon | 4 | |
Gaiman, Neil | American Gods | 2.5 | |
Heinlein, Robert | Stranger in a Strange Land | 1.5 | |
Heinlein, Robert | Podkayne of Mars | 3 | |
Heinlein, Robert | Starship Troopers | 3.5 | |
King, Stephen | Cell | 2.5 | |
King, Stephen | The Stand | 4.5 | |
Laimo, Michael | Dead Souls | 2.5 | |
Lewis, C.S. | Out of the Silent Planet | 3.5 | |
Lewis, C.S. | Perelandrea | 5 | |
Matheson, Richard | I Am Legend | 3 | |
McCarthy, Cormac | Outer Dark | 2.5 | |
McCarthy, Cormac | Blood Meridian | 3.5 | |
McCarthy, Cormac | Child of God | 3.5 | |
McCarthy, Cormac | The Road | 5 | |
Miller, Walter | A Canticle for Leibowitz | 2 | |
Niven, Larry (Jerry Pournelle) | Lucifer's Hammer | 4 | |
Simmons, Dan | The Terror | 3.5 | |
Stewart, George R. | Earth Abides | 3 | |
Stirling, S.M. | A Meeting at Corvallis | 3 | |
Stirling, S.M. | The Protectors's War | 3 | |
Stirling, S.M. | The Sunrise Lands | 3 | |
Stirling, S.M. | Dies the Fire | 4 | |
Stirling, S.M. | The Scourge of God | 3 | |
Stirling, S.M. | Island in the Sea of Time | 3 | |
Stirling, S.M. | Against the Tide of Years | 3.5 | |
Turtledove, Harry | Worldwar: In The Balance | 4 | |
Turtledove, Harry | Worldwar: Tilting the Balance | 3.5 | |
Turtledove, Harry | Worldwar: Striking the Balance | 3 | |
Turtledove, Harry | Worldwar: Upsetting the Balance | 3 | |
Turtledove, Harry | Colonization: Second Contact | 3.5 | |
Turtledove, Harry | Colonization: Aftershocks | 3 | |
Turtledove, Harry | Colonization: Down to Earth | 3 | |
Turtledove, Harry | Homeward Bound | 3 | |
Turtledove, Harry | Days of Infamy | 3 | |
Turtledove, Harry | End of the Beginning | 3.5 | |
Varley, John | Titan | 3 | |
Wilde, Oscar | Picture of Dorian Gray | 4 | |
Wyndham, John | Re-Birth (The Crysalids) | 3 | |
Wyndham, John | Day of the Triffids | 3.5 | |
Wyndham, John | The Kraken Wakes | 3.5 | |
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
My Book Ratings Spreadsheet
For the past couple years I have kept a spreadsheet of every book I read. Its nothing fancy, just the auther, title, and what I rate the book. However for the few people who read this I thought you might be interested in what I like to read. This does not cover comic books.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Eden Lake (2008)
2008
Horror/Thriller
Lets just cut to the chase on this one, fuck this movie. It is negative and hate filled, while at the same time being not interesting. I am always looking for new horror movies to see, and people kept telling me to see this one, I wish they wouldn't have. Below will be a synopsis of the plot with spoiler, which I hope you read so you won't accidentally see this movie.
A guy and his girlfriend go camping in the English countryside. While at a remote lake they run into a gang of troublemaking teens (which is a common theme in many English movies for some reason). The teens keep messing with the pair until they eventually steal their car. When they catch the kids the guy accidentally kills one of the kids dogs while taking the kids knife away, which the kid then blames on the guy. The kids begin to chase and terrorize the couple through the woods. They eventually capture and torture the guy until he dies. Then they chase to woman. To bring her out of hiding they light an innocent kid who just happened to be there on fire and burn him to death. The woman kills a couple of the kids before getting out of the forest. She escapes to a house down the street and tells the people what happened and to call for help. But in the least shocking twist ever, they are actually the kids families, and when the kids come back to the house the kids dads butcher the innocent woman in the bathroom with a razor. The movie ends with the main kid (who was the leader) putting on a pair of sunglasses he stole from the guy and then making some "badass" poses in a mirror.
There may have been a time when the un-hollywood ending (like having the bad guys win) was actually interesting and not expected, but that time is long gone. At least most movies where the bad guy wins have the decency to actually have the bad guy be interesting or something. I bet the creatores of Eden Lake thought there plot/ending was "cool" or "badass" when in reality it was one of the most predictable things ever and basically made the whole movie uninteresting. I mean about 20 minutes into it I said "I bet they get away from the kids and get help but end up going to the kids families house and still dying." Was there anybody who saw this movie and didn't see that coming?
I mean they had a chance to have some payoff in some revenge killings but chose not to for whatever reason. I don't know about anybody else but I was just super annoyed the kids the whole time. They had no character development and there was no reason to take any interest in them at all. Whch only made me dislike the movie more since they were the only characters left in the end.
How exactly is the end of the movie suppose to make the viewing experience more enjoyable? What exactly is the viewere suppose to take from watching this crap? What exactly is interesting about having an innocent woman slaughtered by a group of men in a bathroom? Or having a kid burned to death?
Oh but wait the lead bad guy got away with it and then put on some sugnlasses and made some badass poses in the mirror, thats cool, right?
The review on poster actually calls this movie "provocative." I would like to know what that guy was smoking. There is nothing provocative or thought provoking in this whole movie. I have also heard some people commend this movie for being realistic, which could not be further from the truth. There is nothing about this movie that operates with a sense of realism or authenticity.
I avoided this movie for awhile because I was afraid it was going to be exactly what it was, but people kept telling me it was good so I decided to watch it. I wish I would have listened to my gut feeling on this one. I take some solace in thinking that there is no way the kids would actually get away with the crimes (too much evidence, not all the witnesses were the kids direct families, etc.) but by doing that I actually put more thought and care into the story than the actual creators did.
Avoid this detestable piece of garbage at all costs.
1 out of 5 Stars (since I don't give out zeros)
A guy and his girlfriend go camping in the English countryside. While at a remote lake they run into a gang of troublemaking teens (which is a common theme in many English movies for some reason). The teens keep messing with the pair until they eventually steal their car. When they catch the kids the guy accidentally kills one of the kids dogs while taking the kids knife away, which the kid then blames on the guy. The kids begin to chase and terrorize the couple through the woods. They eventually capture and torture the guy until he dies. Then they chase to woman. To bring her out of hiding they light an innocent kid who just happened to be there on fire and burn him to death. The woman kills a couple of the kids before getting out of the forest. She escapes to a house down the street and tells the people what happened and to call for help. But in the least shocking twist ever, they are actually the kids families, and when the kids come back to the house the kids dads butcher the innocent woman in the bathroom with a razor. The movie ends with the main kid (who was the leader) putting on a pair of sunglasses he stole from the guy and then making some "badass" poses in a mirror.
There may have been a time when the un-hollywood ending (like having the bad guys win) was actually interesting and not expected, but that time is long gone. At least most movies where the bad guy wins have the decency to actually have the bad guy be interesting or something. I bet the creatores of Eden Lake thought there plot/ending was "cool" or "badass" when in reality it was one of the most predictable things ever and basically made the whole movie uninteresting. I mean about 20 minutes into it I said "I bet they get away from the kids and get help but end up going to the kids families house and still dying." Was there anybody who saw this movie and didn't see that coming?
I mean they had a chance to have some payoff in some revenge killings but chose not to for whatever reason. I don't know about anybody else but I was just super annoyed the kids the whole time. They had no character development and there was no reason to take any interest in them at all. Whch only made me dislike the movie more since they were the only characters left in the end.
How exactly is the end of the movie suppose to make the viewing experience more enjoyable? What exactly is the viewere suppose to take from watching this crap? What exactly is interesting about having an innocent woman slaughtered by a group of men in a bathroom? Or having a kid burned to death?
Oh but wait the lead bad guy got away with it and then put on some sugnlasses and made some badass poses in the mirror, thats cool, right?
The review on poster actually calls this movie "provocative." I would like to know what that guy was smoking. There is nothing provocative or thought provoking in this whole movie. I have also heard some people commend this movie for being realistic, which could not be further from the truth. There is nothing about this movie that operates with a sense of realism or authenticity.
I avoided this movie for awhile because I was afraid it was going to be exactly what it was, but people kept telling me it was good so I decided to watch it. I wish I would have listened to my gut feeling on this one. I take some solace in thinking that there is no way the kids would actually get away with the crimes (too much evidence, not all the witnesses were the kids direct families, etc.) but by doing that I actually put more thought and care into the story than the actual creators did.
Avoid this detestable piece of garbage at all costs.
1 out of 5 Stars (since I don't give out zeros)
Sunday, September 6, 2009
The Uninvited (2009)
2009Horror
Allow me to summarize my feeling for this movie in 4 words: stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid.
This review will contain SPOILES so be warned if you planned on wasting 90 minutes of your time with this movie.
The plot is this. Committed to a mental hospital after her mother's tragic death, grieving teenager Anna discovers upon her release that her father plans to marry his deceased wife's former nurse , a woman who might not have the best intentions. In fact her and her sister begin to think the woman actually killed their mother. So for the first 80 minutes of the movie you follow the sisters around as the piece together the clues as to what happened to their mother and being to discover how evil and murderous their new step mom is. At that point it is pretty formulaic but is entertaining. But in the last 10 minutes there is a plot twist, a plot twist that was really stupid and made me hate the movie. Right as the climax happens, which is the step mom trying to kill Anna but her sister stopping the step mom and actually killing her because no one would believe that she was evil, the plot twist happens. It turns out that Anna's sister has been dead the whole time, she was killed in the accident that killed their mother. And it turns out it wasn't the evil step mom who killed their mother it was all Anna's fault. Then through a 10 second series of flashbacks you see that basically everything you watched for the first 80 minutes never actually happened. Everything in the movie was an illusion inside of Anna's mind and nothing you saw happen was actually real. So like the good characters you grew to like and the bad characters you hated, neither were actually like that because nothing they showed actually happened. So stupid, and a waste of my time.
I had a whole bunch of complaints about this movie before the twist, but since the twist basically erases everything that happens prior there is really no need to complain about them. One thing I will complain about is Anna sees visions of like creepy dead looking children all movie, telling her the step mom is evil, but those kids have absolutely nothing to do with anything in the plot. There are no children killed before or after the twist. They basically put them in the movie to make it more creepy and have them jump out for cheap scares, which is so lame. "OMG the creepy ghost girl dropped a glass of milke and it turned to blood!!!! OMG so scary!!!" Oh wait, it has nothing to do with anything and is fucking pointless.
I will give the movie some credit for a few things. All the actors did a pretty good job. The movie also looked nice, not relying on too many effects. And Emma Browning who plays Anna is pretty cute, she looks really young but is actually 20 so it is not creepy for me to say that. She looked really cute in Lemony Snicket's too (never saw that movie, just from the trailers) she was 15 then so it might be creepy for me to say she was cute in that.
If you want to waste your time on a movie that exists solely to waste your time, and have what you watched be made pointless by a stupid plot twist, be my guest. But when it comes to horror movies or movies with plot twists, there are about a thousand ones better than The Uninvited.
2 out of 5 Stars
Factoid: This is a remake of the Korean movie The Tale of Two Sisters. That movie was pretty critically acclaimed, but if it is similar to The Univited I am starting to wonder why.
This review will contain SPOILES so be warned if you planned on wasting 90 minutes of your time with this movie.
The plot is this. Committed to a mental hospital after her mother's tragic death, grieving teenager Anna discovers upon her release that her father plans to marry his deceased wife's former nurse , a woman who might not have the best intentions. In fact her and her sister begin to think the woman actually killed their mother. So for the first 80 minutes of the movie you follow the sisters around as the piece together the clues as to what happened to their mother and being to discover how evil and murderous their new step mom is. At that point it is pretty formulaic but is entertaining. But in the last 10 minutes there is a plot twist, a plot twist that was really stupid and made me hate the movie. Right as the climax happens, which is the step mom trying to kill Anna but her sister stopping the step mom and actually killing her because no one would believe that she was evil, the plot twist happens. It turns out that Anna's sister has been dead the whole time, she was killed in the accident that killed their mother. And it turns out it wasn't the evil step mom who killed their mother it was all Anna's fault. Then through a 10 second series of flashbacks you see that basically everything you watched for the first 80 minutes never actually happened. Everything in the movie was an illusion inside of Anna's mind and nothing you saw happen was actually real. So like the good characters you grew to like and the bad characters you hated, neither were actually like that because nothing they showed actually happened. So stupid, and a waste of my time.
I had a whole bunch of complaints about this movie before the twist, but since the twist basically erases everything that happens prior there is really no need to complain about them. One thing I will complain about is Anna sees visions of like creepy dead looking children all movie, telling her the step mom is evil, but those kids have absolutely nothing to do with anything in the plot. There are no children killed before or after the twist. They basically put them in the movie to make it more creepy and have them jump out for cheap scares, which is so lame. "OMG the creepy ghost girl dropped a glass of milke and it turned to blood!!!! OMG so scary!!!" Oh wait, it has nothing to do with anything and is fucking pointless.
I will give the movie some credit for a few things. All the actors did a pretty good job. The movie also looked nice, not relying on too many effects. And Emma Browning who plays Anna is pretty cute, she looks really young but is actually 20 so it is not creepy for me to say that. She looked really cute in Lemony Snicket's too (never saw that movie, just from the trailers) she was 15 then so it might be creepy for me to say she was cute in that.
If you want to waste your time on a movie that exists solely to waste your time, and have what you watched be made pointless by a stupid plot twist, be my guest. But when it comes to horror movies or movies with plot twists, there are about a thousand ones better than The Uninvited.
2 out of 5 Stars
Factoid: This is a remake of the Korean movie The Tale of Two Sisters. That movie was pretty critically acclaimed, but if it is similar to The Univited I am starting to wonder why.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Quick Hits 9/3
I watch way more movies than I fully review on this blog. Mostly it is because I don't feel like typing out a full entry every day, and most of the time I forget what I want to say about it by time I am on the computer again. So a new concept, just give a really short run down of some of my recent viewings, similar to the reviews available from users on Netflix.
When Harry Met Sally
1989 - Romantic Comedy - Billy Crystal, Meg Ryan
This is one of the most famous romantic comedies, but I really didn't find it that funny. There are a few cute moments that put a smile on your face but I wasn't cracking up. That doesn't mean I didn't like it. It is a very well put together movie asking the question "Can men and woman be just friends?" Of course it doesn't answer the question but it shows how the two main characters deal with it. Meg Ryan is totally adorable in this movie and I can see why she became a big star after this. When it comes to romantic comedies you could do a lot worse than this one.
3 out of 5 Stars
In the Heat of the Night
1967 - Crime Drama - Sidney Portier, Rod Steiger
A classic movie right here, winners of several Oscars including Best Picture. When a murder happens in a small southern town they arrest the first black guy they see, but he turns out to be a homicide detective from Philly. So the racists sheriff is forced to put aside his prejudice and work with the detective to solve the crime. This movie is 42 years old and puts basically everyhting put out today to shame. The scenes between Portier (the black detective) and Steiger (the racist sheriff) are fantastic. You can really tell how much it bothers this racist white sheriff to know that a black guy is so much better at his job than he is. In addition to the acting the investigation into the actual crime is fascinating and keeps you on your seat until the very end.
4 out of 5 Stars
Judge Dredd
1995 - Sci Fi Action - Syllvester Stallone
Here is a movie based on a comic book that was made before that became a huge fad in Hollywood. Which is odd because Judge Dredd is by any standards a very obscure comic. There were a lot of movies made in the 90s that were hollow action flicks, Judge Dredd is one of them, but it is a pretty fun example. It is the kind of thing you could watch over and over again when you want to see some mindless action and explosions. What impressed me most was how good the special effects looked. There are very few effects scenes that looked dated. My big gripe with the movie is a lot of the characters, and a lot of Stallone's dialogue, were made to be overly cheesy. If they would have had it be more realistic with fewer lame one liners it would have been a better flick. If you want to turn off your brain and relive some 90s action fun check it out and watch Stallone and Rob Schneider take care of the bad guys.
3 out of 5 Stars
When Harry Met Sally
1989 - Romantic Comedy - Billy Crystal, Meg Ryan
This is one of the most famous romantic comedies, but I really didn't find it that funny. There are a few cute moments that put a smile on your face but I wasn't cracking up. That doesn't mean I didn't like it. It is a very well put together movie asking the question "Can men and woman be just friends?" Of course it doesn't answer the question but it shows how the two main characters deal with it. Meg Ryan is totally adorable in this movie and I can see why she became a big star after this. When it comes to romantic comedies you could do a lot worse than this one.
3 out of 5 Stars
In the Heat of the Night
1967 - Crime Drama - Sidney Portier, Rod Steiger
A classic movie right here, winners of several Oscars including Best Picture. When a murder happens in a small southern town they arrest the first black guy they see, but he turns out to be a homicide detective from Philly. So the racists sheriff is forced to put aside his prejudice and work with the detective to solve the crime. This movie is 42 years old and puts basically everyhting put out today to shame. The scenes between Portier (the black detective) and Steiger (the racist sheriff) are fantastic. You can really tell how much it bothers this racist white sheriff to know that a black guy is so much better at his job than he is. In addition to the acting the investigation into the actual crime is fascinating and keeps you on your seat until the very end.
4 out of 5 Stars
Judge Dredd
1995 - Sci Fi Action - Syllvester Stallone
Here is a movie based on a comic book that was made before that became a huge fad in Hollywood. Which is odd because Judge Dredd is by any standards a very obscure comic. There were a lot of movies made in the 90s that were hollow action flicks, Judge Dredd is one of them, but it is a pretty fun example. It is the kind of thing you could watch over and over again when you want to see some mindless action and explosions. What impressed me most was how good the special effects looked. There are very few effects scenes that looked dated. My big gripe with the movie is a lot of the characters, and a lot of Stallone's dialogue, were made to be overly cheesy. If they would have had it be more realistic with fewer lame one liners it would have been a better flick. If you want to turn off your brain and relive some 90s action fun check it out and watch Stallone and Rob Schneider take care of the bad guys.
3 out of 5 Stars
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