No, really, I’ve been going through them these past six months, even rereading my favorite Robots Trilogy with Elijah Bailey. I never read the Foundation stories until now, and only because Asimov tied them together as I tried to read the books in their appropriate timeline as deduced by fans of the Robot and Foundation universe.

Reading it in that fashion makes for an entertaining journey. The older stories featuring Susan Calvin and the few “”monster”" robot stories that slip out without a Three Laws paradigm were gratifying, as were the novels Asimov and others wrote that challenged them. The Foundation series was all right. My love for Hari Seldon is nothing compared to Elijah Bailey. That Daneel is around for both makes the character unique, and I know many fans of the robot. But I missed Elijah after progressing into the Foundation period, enjoying the stories prior to that timeline (The Stars, Like Dust and The End of Eternity were particularly good).

If you ever have the time, lunch breaks, bedtime, lazy Sunday, etc., I’d say you ought to try it. It’s a great ride.

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by Robert Crais

I can’t help feeling sad about the series of novels Robert Crais began with The Monkey’s Overcoat, a paperback I picked up at the archaeological research station on Santa Cruz Island off the coast of California near Santa Barbara back in 1995. Years have gone by and Crais let his character age with them. Unlike the gumshoes of old, Elvis Cole and Joe Pike got older… and got hurt. I’ve read all the Elvis Cole novels and the related novels with other protagonists.

And now I’ve read this one as well. Altogether, a decent read, but I have to be honest: Crais may be tired of writing in the first person with Elvis’ perspective, but I haven’t. I still prefer it to the third person narrative switches per chapter for these stories, but I will say this, I’ll still get the next one in this series, if there is one.

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The Iron Giant and The Incredible are two wonderful films directed by Brad Bird. With this one, he just made it three for three. Not only that, but I think he’s managed to top himself every time. Granted, it’s not like he’s topping himself by a mile, it’s really more about being consistently slightly better than before, but since he started off with The Iron Giant, being consistently slightly better than before is a pretty tough gig.

This one’s definitely his best and I might even say that it’s the best Pixar/Disney film as well. It doesn’t pander, it doesn’t go for the easy joke. It builds and it savors. It comes up with an ending just as conceited as the premise, and it does it wonderfully.

Go see this movie.

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I realized I didn’t write this one up. It’s all right. Fairly amusing and engaging while you’re there, but it all sort of goes awry once the scene leaves Antarctica and goes into this odd place where a quick and easy resolution finds itself with little or no explanation other than, hey, Happy Feet!

And while Robin Williams does well, he also does as expected and so, really, it’s not like you got anything new out of it.

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Okay film. Didn’t bother mentioning it when I saw it a few months back, which ought to tell you something. Not sure whether it was the plot or Richard Gere that made it less than good for me.

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Penguin movies. Well, things come in threes so this should be it, right? Right? Fortunately, this one happens to be the one I liked best. The documentary was interesting but, with all due respect to Morgan Freeman, I think I’d've liked to see the dialog dubbed in, much like the original French release. Happy Feet was good, but the resolution was sort of, well, heavy-handed (and I notice I never bothered to mention I saw it), not to mention sort of glossed over.

This one? This one is light fare for all ages. No “”message”" except the old standby for uplifting sports films: winning isn’t everything. It’s a fun and funny movie. Worth full price to me, even.

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So. Better than the second, obviously cannot compare to the first.

Still. Pacino and Barkin in this thing, and Andy Garcia is back in. It really could have been better than the first. Seriously, why aren’t De Niro and Caan in it? You’d have a Godfather-fest right there if they were.

As always, the cinematography and charisma all deliver a fun movie. Fun, but not special.

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“She is only a hysterical woman who wants to hurt you.”

Awesome.

The sort of movie that makes you wonder why people make such stupid decision. Then you read the news about how some idiot decided to get on a plane to Greece to get married even though the CDC told him he shouldn’t leave the country on account of having a virulent strain of TB. Then you read further and find out that this man’s soon-to-be and eventual father-in-law works for the CDC, specifically in TB, and he was there in Greece with him and had a wonderful time.

Then all of a sudden the premise of 28 Weeks Later, the sequel to a much more horrific 28 Days Later, which begins with, of all things, stupidity (and also ends with it), isn’t all that surprising after all.

Great pace, great storytelling, but overall, just a retread beyond that bit about humans being idiots when it comes to people we love. That’s just a truism.

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Not as laugh out loud as prior Apatow movies, but the same sort of heart is in there. I had a problem with the two leading roles not really syncing. I realize that the movie is about two people with nothing in common getting pregnant from one night of throwing caution to the wind, but the way the movie progresses you sort of find yourself with a couple already together and arguing and you can’t figure out how they fell in love enough to start that sort of arguing, that 2nd act.

I still liked it. I just didn’t LIKE it.

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