Reviews
I saw a couple of movies last week. First was:
It was pretty good. Not as good as Iron Man, but not bad. Edward Norton has finally won me over. The first movie I saw him in was Primal Fear. He got incredible reviews and was touted as the next big thing. I thought he was just ok. Overrated. But over time, he's really won me over. I've really liked him in The Illusionist, The Painted Veil and this film, so he's officially off my list of actors who kind of bug me. Norton plays Bruce Banner, who everyone probably knows turns into The Incredible Hulk because of his exposure to high levels of gamma rays. There were little nods to the tv show, which I was a huge fan of back in the day, and the comic books, which I really liked. I felt like it was just a little too much action, though. Tim Roth plays Blonsky, who turns into The Abomination. The climactic battle scene between the Hulk and the Abomination felt like a rip off of the Transformers battle scene from last summer's movie - or like Godzilla, as my brother pointed out. It just wasn't all that interesting to me and the movie felt like it dragged out. If you're a fan of super heroes, comic books and big action films, I'd say check it out. If that stuff isn't your cup of tea, skip this, but go check out Iron Man - I'm telling you, it's a great movie!
The other movie I saw was this:
I didn't care for this one. I really wanted to like it. I've been a big fan of M. Night Shyamalan. I liked Signs and The Village even though I may be one of the few. Didn't see the last one. I checked out the reviews for this one and some of my favorite critics liked it, so I thought I'd give it a shot. The writing was just terrible. If you sit and think about the plot and what happens for any amount of time, the whole thing just falls apart. And I've been a big Mark Wahlberg fan, but he sounded so wooden and stiff reciting these incredibly lame lines. The idea was pretty good - some sort of biological disaster is causing people to kill themselves. The opening sequence where you first see something taking hold of people and them killing themselves is pretty scary and creepy. But then it all sort of unravels. There were a few moments of suspense, but it really wasn't very scary or suspenseful and I don't blame him for not wanting to be a one-trick pony, but there isn't some sort of trick twist ending, either.
And I finished up a book:
I've heard so many great recommendations for this series and I finally picked up the first one. The main character is Stephanie Plum, a woman who becomes a bouny hunter because she really doesn't have many other choices. Her first assignment is to capture Joe Morelli, a former cop accused of murder who also happens to be sort of an ex-boyfriend. Plum is a great character and the writing and pace of the story are great. The mystery kept me guessing most of the way through the book and I liked how everything got wrapped up. I'm assuming Morelli makes his way into future novels, and I'll be looking forward to reading his, Stephanie's and her family's further adventures.
It was pretty good. Not as good as Iron Man, but not bad. Edward Norton has finally won me over. The first movie I saw him in was Primal Fear. He got incredible reviews and was touted as the next big thing. I thought he was just ok. Overrated. But over time, he's really won me over. I've really liked him in The Illusionist, The Painted Veil and this film, so he's officially off my list of actors who kind of bug me. Norton plays Bruce Banner, who everyone probably knows turns into The Incredible Hulk because of his exposure to high levels of gamma rays. There were little nods to the tv show, which I was a huge fan of back in the day, and the comic books, which I really liked. I felt like it was just a little too much action, though. Tim Roth plays Blonsky, who turns into The Abomination. The climactic battle scene between the Hulk and the Abomination felt like a rip off of the Transformers battle scene from last summer's movie - or like Godzilla, as my brother pointed out. It just wasn't all that interesting to me and the movie felt like it dragged out. If you're a fan of super heroes, comic books and big action films, I'd say check it out. If that stuff isn't your cup of tea, skip this, but go check out Iron Man - I'm telling you, it's a great movie!
The other movie I saw was this:
I didn't care for this one. I really wanted to like it. I've been a big fan of M. Night Shyamalan. I liked Signs and The Village even though I may be one of the few. Didn't see the last one. I checked out the reviews for this one and some of my favorite critics liked it, so I thought I'd give it a shot. The writing was just terrible. If you sit and think about the plot and what happens for any amount of time, the whole thing just falls apart. And I've been a big Mark Wahlberg fan, but he sounded so wooden and stiff reciting these incredibly lame lines. The idea was pretty good - some sort of biological disaster is causing people to kill themselves. The opening sequence where you first see something taking hold of people and them killing themselves is pretty scary and creepy. But then it all sort of unravels. There were a few moments of suspense, but it really wasn't very scary or suspenseful and I don't blame him for not wanting to be a one-trick pony, but there isn't some sort of trick twist ending, either.
And I finished up a book:
I've heard so many great recommendations for this series and I finally picked up the first one. The main character is Stephanie Plum, a woman who becomes a bouny hunter because she really doesn't have many other choices. Her first assignment is to capture Joe Morelli, a former cop accused of murder who also happens to be sort of an ex-boyfriend. Plum is a great character and the writing and pace of the story are great. The mystery kept me guessing most of the way through the book and I liked how everything got wrapped up. I'm assuming Morelli makes his way into future novels, and I'll be looking forward to reading his, Stephanie's and her family's further adventures.
rdladd@arnan.com
