by Orson Scott Card
At this point the Ender saga has sort of become a bit more like pulp fiction, only with a massive dose of moral preaching. I’m going to have to reread Ender’s Game just to remind myself why I read this one.
by Michael Chabon
A story of two cousins who team up and create a comic book hero, The Escapist, during the Golden Age of comic books.
It started out well, but then sort of ran out of steam and threw the characters into a plot resolution that came far too late to matter. Frankly, the book would have fared better by ending somewhere around 1945. A decent book, but nothing that stands in my mind as a book I’d read again.
Popcorn movie crap. It would have been better if a little humor were injected into this rather dead little film. Instead, it’s gloom, gloom, gloom. Then you’re lead to believe a love has sprung from this gloom. Right.
Cheap fun. A bunch of stories bunched into a saga-style movie. Not as much action as you’re lead to believe, but what’s there is over the top and enjoyably so. The other bits? Some are good, some are dull, but they’re all quite good to look at.
Man, this turbocharger nonsense is lasting way too long and costing me way too much. Mom chipped in with some extra spending cash and that took care of about, oh, at this point, a little less than half. Which is good, even though I basically lose out on a nice money gift (which I hear my sister used her share to get something glittery). Ah, well. Pay to play.
Considering I own The Man Who Knew Too Little, I’m probably biased when it comes to Bill Murray. That said, this is one of his best movies. The movie’s rough around the edges and parts of it are a little slow and irrelevant, but taken together, it is an excellent little film that showcases Murray’s talent in a different light.
A movie about a con man who has a neuroses and is trying to reconnect with a daughter he never knew he had. That sums it up, and pretty much tells you just how much plot is in this thing.
I liked it. With that much plot going on, wrapped up by the intricacies of the con, it doesn’t take much to start second-guessing the resolution — and nailing it a half hour before it actually happens. But I didn’t mind. Cage and Rockwell were great to watch, as were the rest of the cast. So no, I didn’t mind.
I’ve been neglecting this site for a bit. A lot of things have happened in the past few weeks, so bear with me.
For one, I decided I liked the look of the original site better, so it’s back. I’ll probably retool the backend to use the new 3-tire design, and modify the templates accordingly, but you won’t notice a thing. Well, maybe a few changes.
Anyhow, the big things that happened are as follows:
1. Nhat and Mike got married. I have pictures, and I promise they’ll be up soon.
2. Diego had a birthday. Same thing, I got pictures, they’ll be up soon.
3. Craig had a birthday. See 2.
4. The car has experienced some troubles, and it’s costing me a pretty penny. It’ll be back come next week, and I’ll have a full account of it by then.
5. Han and I are gonna get a two bedroom come November-ish for the year. After that, we’ll see.
could you make #5 sound a bit less gay?
I’m okay if you’re okay. 
No one liked The Core. No one was interested enough to see it with me, either, so I let it go by. Then it came out on DVD and I rented the sucker.
The Core is great science fiction.
Let me explain that, before someone bites my head off. Science fiction can be seen as one of two equally important and valid things: a rational story concerning the scientific aspect of the plotline, with human players who move the pieces in a logical, coherent manner in order to find a resolution; or the story fantastical, concerning characters who attempt the impossible because they are driven by a pressing need to find a resolution.
The Core is obviously of the second type. Now is it a good story? Cross my heart, it is. It really is. Critics fluff at the science of the movie, which in all honesty is basic at best and often ludicrous. But the point of the matter is to create a story that keeps you riveted. I don’t know why, but I had no problems staying focused on this movie.
I suppose you can go ahead and believe in the Nautilus and the Time Machine, but surely not a cigar shaped torpedo ship that can bore through the Earth’s crust and swim in the mantle? Please, if you’re interested in true scienctific theory being stretched within science fiction, go read Isaac Asimov. The Core is Jules Verne or Robert Heinlein. It is a fantastic story meant to keep you interested and concerned, for the cause and for the people fighting for that cause.
Watch it with that in mind, and you’ll enjoy yourself. There’s a good story there. And it ends like 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea or Moby Dick. And if you haven’t read those books, well then, nevermind.
Nothing like a good video rental to make you feel like the $3 was worth the price of viewing.
Narc’s a nice, taut, intense movie. Jason Patric looks tired but determined, and there’s enough information provided that you can fill the rest in yourself. Basically, it assumes the viewer is intelligent and can process the information presented. This is a good thing, since most movies, even thrillers, tend to go for the fancy shoot out with the big explosion all too often to care about a good resolution.
There’s no one to really like in this movie. It features a crazed, over-protective cop and a tired, scared of himself one trying to solve the murder of another cop, who also happens to not be much of anything.
There are no over-arching plotlines concerning the control of the city’s narcotics or anything big. It’s a very basic story about drugs, addiction, and the players involved in the game of vice: cops and junkies and dealers.
Good flick. I’d've been happy to see it in theaters, but it came and went so fast I didn’t have a chance to blink.
September 19th, 2003 at 9:03 am
imperial topaz, turbocharger… sem sem… but… where is my birthday present? april… september… hmmmm….