Now Playing: John Carter

Last night, I ventured out of quarantine to the movie theatre for John Carter.  Based on Edgar Rice Burroughs' A Princess of Mars, I was a little leery of a Disneyfication of yet another classic.  I mean, they'd already renamed the work and toyed with the characters a little, but okay.  I'm up for some mindless movie mayhem after all the deep films we've been ingesting. 

It was okay.  I thought the story was paced a bit slow, but nothing terrible.  LilBro fell asleep complete with loud snores (much to giggleworthy delight of the girls sitting behind us).  I thought the special effects were done quite well, especially the interaction between the live action players and the CGI models.  Really well done.  (Who wouldn't love that cute Woola; I can see the stuffed versions versions of these on sale at the Disney store now...).  And Taylor Kitsch by the uber-cool (and relatively unknown) Lynn Collins.  had all his scenes stolen by the As an origin story, it's not bad.  We probably could have rented it.  3 out of stars.

typhoid mary

After months (bordering on years) of being illness-free, I am struck down.  I blame it on the unholy coupling of "Spring Forward" and unseasonably (unreasonably!) warm weather.  Within three days, I went from a slight tickle to coughing fits that induce sharp pains in my left arm.  A very supportive DK assumed point at work and took care of all my duty manager commitments; half my department is either currently ill or recuperating.  I suggested a full decontamination of the department.  I wish we had windows at work: it can't be healthy to have all these semi-sick people (who have taken flu shots so they don't feel ill enough to stay home, thereby infecting the rest of us) breathing in recycled air.  Long story short: am sick at home.

I ordered a BUNCH of spicy food from the local Thai place; it's the only thing I can taste.  And then, it happened.  I ran out of cough syrup.  NOOOOOoooOoOoOooO!

How To Score Boyfriend Points:

Through Black Spruce by Joseph Boyden

I was supposed to have read Through Black Spruce by Joseph Boyden for January's Book Club.  I confess to have taken almost three months to finish it.  Now that I'm done, I have mixed feelings.  TBS is the 2008 Giller Prize winner, a prize that has given me such gems as A Fine Balance, Late Nights on Air and The In-Between World of Vikram Lall.  Excellent - and intimidating - company indeed.

As per usual, spoilers abound and I can't help it.  A more cogent reviewer will be able to talk about this book, its high and lows, without ruining plot, but I make no such promises.

Should you read it?  Yes.  Should it be the very next book you pick up?  Probably not - especially if you haven't read those listed above.

Now Playing: Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance

As a break from the esoteric, we decided to catch Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance.  In a word? Bad.  And before you go blaming my hate-on for Mr. Cage, I'm going to admit to all two of my readers that I actually quite enjoyed the first Ghost Rider, even given its vacuous nature.  So it wasn't that.  It's just, well... it was a waste of time, good actors, decent special effects.  Honestly, I was bored enough to think about napping a little.  And there wasn't a a single cool new thing it did that could redeem it.  Not one moment where i said, "ooh, neat!" It was Ugh.  Don't go see it, don't rent it...hell, don't even watch it in the background on TV at a party.  1 out of 5 stars.

84th annual Oscars

Having just squeaked in the ninth film on the Best Picture list, I will say poppets, I dropped the ball.  I normally would have shared my predictions with you prior to the red carpet, but alas; Sunday snuck up on and and I just had so much to do.  I had printed out a ballot for all of us to fill in, and we even put our five bucks into the kitty.  I did not fare well, overall, only getting twelve categories right.  I did not anticipate the love-fest for Hugo in the technical department, who walked away with five statues, tying with The Artist, which I thought was a much more... creative film.  I did bat 1.000 on the Big Six, correctly predicting Best Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, Supporting Actor and Supporting Actress.  I was also very happy to see that Tree of Life was shunned.

Now Playing: Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

The final entry on the 2012 Oscars list: Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close.  Starring a multitude of famous people, this a story centered around a boy named Oscar trying to cope with the loss of his father during 9/11. While the acting etc. was passable, I actually found the story the most compelling part of this movie.  Because I don't want to spoil it for you poppets, this will (by necessity) be a short review.  I just want to say that the unfolding of the six messages is probably some of the best tension you'll find in the top nine this year and the "reveal" at the end involving two of the main characters demonstrates quality plot development.  This is definitely the movie that surprised me most, in the best possible way: 3.5 out of 5 stars.

For Rent: 2012 Oscars

Normally, I don't do DVD movie reviews (I'd have to do this full-time if I did that) but since I watched so many Oscar nominees on video this year, I thought, what the heck.  So, here are my short thoughts.