SCRE4M

Off the top I will point out immediately, that I thought this was a great movie. One of the better ones that I managed to see lately.

Now, it's been a long time since I've seen the original trilogy. But I was entertained with the throwbacks to the 90s and the first three. And the right mix of humor thrown in.

Of course, it's not exactly original, but then I have to wonder what people expect to be coming from Hollywood these days anyway.

It kept me guessing to the end about who the killer was going to turn out to be. And I had a few solid choices by the end.

If I had any problems it was at the very end. Once they had Sid, Jill and Gail in the hospital.

Once Jill ripped off all her hospital gear, a nurses station somewhere should have lit up like christmas tree. And the hospital seemed to be strangely deserted. Even for the middle of the night.

Once nurses and security didn't come running, I was thinking that they knew. And this was the setup to catch Jill red handed. Until Dewey and Gail had that realization, 'How did she know I was stabbed in the shoulder?" moment, and then I became aware that things just seemed to get sloppy at the end.

Maybe it's because I've been watching a lot of wrestling lately, but the sequence of false finishes at the very end was at least mildly interesting. And I fully expected Officer Judy to be dead.

Supposedly this is supposed to be the first of a new trilogy. If so, that's great. I wouldn't mind seeing some more. If they can manage to keep them all at this level.

4 stars out of 5

SOURCE CODE

Lets start off with, wait for video. The movie just doesn't seem to be complete. Jakes character has like no development time, and neither does anyone else really. For the whole length of the movie, you don't really care about anyone except maybe Christina.

Maybe had they started with Jakes character when he was in the military. Take 20 or 30 mins and show us who he is. And why we should care anything about who he is, and the ordeal he's going through with these constant trips into the train to find the bomb and the bomber.. But they don't. We hear about it in snippets as he is trying to figure out what's going on in between jumps. But it's not enough.

They should have taken a page from the old Six Million Dollar Man, and had him rushed into some secret military hospital. Where he 'dies' and is take into the program. And since, he is technically KIA they can just take possession of him and wire him into the 'Source Code'..

But again, we don't get any of this. And it could have been done in a half hour or so, and it would have something of a foundation for the last half the movie.

I would think that this may have worked better as a mini series of some sort. The movie just didn't seem to have all the pieces. And the ones we were shown, didn't do it justice.

I liked the fact that we find out, this isn't a time travel movie after all. The alternate universe, parallel dimension schtick was so much more interesting.. But, wait.. At the end we find out it is time travel after all.. /yawn.. Did M. Night just walk in.. What a horrible bit of a twist end..

Ugh.. wait for video.
Interesting concept.. Just not handled well IMO..
2 out of 5 stars

Damages

Well.. after watching the bulk of Season One this weekend I don't think I will ever be able to watch Law and Order ever again. Not that I've watched it on some time anyway.

But if you have any interest in a legal drama / Mystery / Thriller at all then this is the show for you. It took a few episodes for me get going with it. But I like the cast, Glenn Close is great, and I'm just loving Ted Danson as this slimy dirt bag character. And there are enough strings and threads going on, that I hope they get wrapped up at the end of the season. Because I'm not entirely sure who is working for who, and doing what exactly.

Not recommended for people who don't like to think much or need their answers hand delivered on a silver platter.

Watch it now

4 out of 5 stars

DEVIL

This was a pleasant surprise. I guess it may go to show that M. Night may be better placed these days in the idea department and let other people run with it, putting together the scripts and directing the movies.

This movie turned out plenty entertaining. And the movie focused on the cast stuck in an elevator for the whole movie, wasn't as boring or anything as I would have thought. Reminded me a lot of Clue the movie without the comedy.

Who killed who, with what and when.. Seeing as every time the lights went out, someone was going to die. Also felt a lot like an extended episode of Twilight Zone..

I wouldn't quite call it a horror movie at all, more of a Thriller to me. If anything I was dissappointed in that the 'Devil' wasn't quite as creepy or supernatural as I would have liked. The black contact lenses are just done to death. I would have prefferred a spectre like entity with horns and some smoldering or something that just fades away at the end when he loses.

Well worth seeing, and hopefully we won't have to wait 2 years for the next one..

3.5 stars our of 5

The Ghost Writer

Seen this one finally, the trailers at the theatre looked good for this one. But it didn't quite turn out this way. The movie bored me really.. I can't name too many Polanski movies. And the only one that I actually like is The Ninth Gate.

The plot sounded interesting, but it didn't turn out that way. I liked the cast but it wasn't enough. Wait for it to appear on television. If you want a summary I'm sure you can google it. Not much else to say about it.

2 stars out of 5..

Unthinkable

Finally got around to seeing it. A thriller with Sam Jackson and Carrie Ann Moss. Jackson is always entertaining in pretty much everything I've seen him in. And it's nice to see Moss in something, since I don't think I've seen her since The Matrix trilogy and Red Planet.

Pretty straight forward thriller about a home grown terrorist planting three bombs and then allowing himself to be picked up. And the moral dilemma of his captors about how far will they go to get the information they need from him. Is his rights and wellness more important than the hundreds of thousands and in this case potentially millions of innocent civilians that his bombs may kill..

I found it to be an entertaining movie, but it is all pretty much about the interactions of the characters. So you won't find much action here.

Well worth the rental for me.

3 out of 5 for me.

The Historian

Just finished reading this book. It was a fantastic read too. From what I've found out, it was a first novel from Elizabeth Kostova. The movie rights have been picked up, but that's always a roll of the dice on how Hollywood treats stuff.

The book basically revolves around the idea that Dracula is still alive. But the book isn't what you would call a vampire novel. Apparently there was a bidding war when the book was published, as they all thought they had the next Da Vinci Code on their hands.

This book is more about the search for the clues that Dracula is still alive, and where he might be. And the evidence of the existence of what could turn out to be vampires. It's more of a Mystery / Thriller. With the disappearances, and cover up the evidence and the race across Europe trying to tie together the clues to locate him. Dusty old libraries, tombs and events taking place in a couple time lines. As the plot continues from a father down to his daughter.

Highly Recommended. Was much better than the last Dan Brown book, which I found to be a big disappointment really. And hopefully no movie version coming. Or then again, maybe this time the movie would be better.