Reviews and More

It’s not often that I veer away from my very long “To Be Read” book list in order to tackle a title solely based on the number of recommendations it has received from other people, but that’s precisely how I came to read The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Mark Haddon’s award-winning 2003 novel.

I had no idea what the novel was about before I started reading it, so I was basically going into the whole thing without knowing what to expect. As it turns out, that was probably the best approach for me, since the premise — a 15-year-old autistic youth chronicles his attempts to find out who killed his neighbor’s dog — doesn’t sound all that appealing to me.

Fortunately, I never had the chance to form any pre-judgments, otherwise I would have missed one of the best modern books I’ve ever read!

Plot summary (with possible spoilers): Christopher Boone is a 15-year-old British boy who lives a couple hours outside of London, England. He suffers from Asperger Syndrome, which is a form of autism. As a result, Christopher has numerous personality quirks that the reader comes to know about over the course of the novel. For example, there are certain colors he doesn’t like, his food has to be served a certain way, he doesn’t like to be touched, and he has trouble communicating with people because he doesn’t understand the various nuances of conversation (such as sarcasm). He’s also very good at math, and is incapable of telling lies, two characteristics that play prominent roles in the story.

As the novel opens, Christopher is relating to the reader the story of how he discovered Mrs. Shears’ dog Wellington stabbed to death with a pitchfork. Christopher felt sorry for the dog, so he picked it up and hugged it — just in time for Mrs. Shears to come out and catch him. She of course thought Christopher was responsible for the horrible deed, and calls the police.

Christopher freaks out when the police arrive, punching one of the cops who tries to touch him. So they haul Christopher down to the station and call his father Ed to come pick him up. Although Ed believes Christopher when he says he didn’t kill Wellington, Christopher is worried about what the other neighbors must think, so he decides to investigate the incident for himself to find out who really did it.

Ed is not too keen on this idea, but Christopher receives encouragement from Siobhan, his counselor at the special-needs school that he attends. Siobhan is the one who tells Christopher it might be fun to write a book about his investigation, so that’s why he’s recording everything.

The rest of the relatively short novel goes on to deal not only with Christopher’s investigation, but also with various subplots that come up as a result of the investigation. Of particular interest is the turn the narrative takes when Christoper discovers that his mother, whom he thought had died of a heart attack, is actually alive and well in London.

My Reaction: I found Curious Incident to be a highly engaging read. I am usually not too fond of storytelling “gimmicks”, so I was a bit apprehensive as to how this novel would work out as told from Christopher’s perspective. Now that I’ve read it, I have to say that I can’t imagine the story being half as interesting if told from any other character’s point of view.

I thought Haddon did an excellent job of giving readers an idea of what it was like to be in Christopher’s shoes without making the boy’s condition the be all and end all of the novel. Yes, I was acutely aware of Christopher’s condition throughout, but that just served to heighten my appreciation of his narrative abilities.

In one review of this book, the reader praised Haddon’s skills at inserting nuances into the story despite the fact that Christopher himself couldn’t understand these nuances. Instead, Christopher resorted to a faithful retelling of everything that happened to him (remember, he cannot tell lies), and it was up to the reader to notice these nuances and make the connections that Christopher couldn’t.

I’m finding it quite difficult to express in words just why you ought to read The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. It’s more than simply an exercise in reading, and the experience transcends the limits of the story itself. Needless to say, I highly recommend this title, and encourage you to check it out for yourself!

It’s a time-honored tradition in the movies that the villains possess astoundingly bad aim, and can’t shoot to kill no matter how long they’ve been engaging in their nefarious activities. Conversely, it’s an unwritten rule that the hero can hit nearly every target he aims at — even if he’s so unfamiliar with guns that he needs to read a manual to figure out how they work.

These and other cinematic head-scratchers (such as the ability of a mild-mannered executive to survive gunshots and body blows in hand-to-hand combat that would put ordinary people in their grave) are on full display in the 2007 movie Death Sentence, and are no less frustrating just because viewers have seen this kind of thing umpteen times before.

Plot summary (with possible spoilers): Kevin Bacon stars as Nick Hume, a senior risk analysis expert with an idyllic home life. Nick adores his wife Helen (played by Kelly Preston) and two sons Brendan (Stuart Lafferty) and Lucas (Jordan Garrett), and they all love him just as much.

Then one night, Nick’s entire world comes crashing down around him. While driving Brendan home from his hockey game in the city, Nick stops for gas at a service station in a bad part of town. It just so happens that a group of gangbangers have chosen that particular service station to enact part of the initiation rites for their newest member Joe (Matt O’Leary). To prove his devotion to the gang, Joe must kill an innocent person in cold blood. He takes out a machete and slices Brendan’s throat, while Nick watches helplessly from outside.

Nick recovers in time to charge towards the store, and manages to tackle Joe before he can escape with the rest of his crew. Nick rips Joe’s ski mask off his head and gets a good look at the murderer, but Joe is able to jump up and run away. However, he gets struck by a car while trying to flee, and is subsequently taken into custody. Brendan is taken to the hospital, but it’s too late for doctors to do anything about his injuries.

Nick picks Joe out of a police lineup and is prepared to serve as the prosecution’s only witness in court when he hears some bad news from the D.A. Because of the scant amount of hard evidence, it’s likely that Joe will only get 3-5 years of jail time. Nick doesn’t like this at all, of course, and decides that he has to do something about it.

He stands up in court and tells the judge that he was mistaken about Joe. That’s not the right guy after all. The judge lets Joe walk free, and Nick follows him home. Once Nick learns where Joe lives, he goes to his own home, selects a weapon from his tool shed, and returns to Joe’s place where he lies in wait for his opportunity. When Joe emerges from the building to take out the trash, Nick pounces and kills him.

When Joe’s brother Billy (Garrett Hedlund) discovers what happened, he pieces the puzzle together and decides that Nick is responsible. From that point forward, the rest of the movie deals with the gang’s attempts to get revenge on Nick and his family for killing Joe, while Nick does his best to defend Helen and Lucas against harm.

My Reaction: I know that movies like Death Sentence aren’t supposed to reflect reality, but a bit of plausibility along the way would be nice. There wasn’t much in this film that was even remotely believable, from Nick flashing his headlights at the gangbangers’ cars to set their initiation killing in motion (this urban legend was dispelled on Snopes.com years ago) to Nick singlehandedly taking out every member of the gang by the time the credits rolled, this film featured one “Yeah, right” scene after another.

Besides all of the unrealistic things that Nick does (which I really don’t have the energy to list here), I have to say that I just didn’t understand the point of Aisha Tyler’s character, Detective Wallis. She didn’t put any pressure on Nick or the gangbangers, nor did she conduct any kind of investigation at all. She was entirely superfluous, and the movie would have been exactly the same if this character wasn’t involved at all.

There were just so many problems with this film that I couldn’t enjoy it at all — even when I turned off my brain and simply tried to soak it in as a couple hours worth of entertainment. Because it was impossible for me to like Death Sentence on any level, I give it only 3.0 stars out of 10.

Reese Witherspoon and Christina Ricci are two of my favorite actresses, so when I heard that they teamed together for the upcoming feel-good comedy Penelope, I immediately put the movie down on my “To See at the Theater” list.

Penelope is being billed as a modern-day take on the fairy tale notion of true love. Ricci stars as the titular character, a wealthy heiress whose life is made unbearably lonely because of a family curse that gave her the nose of a pig. This curse, known as the Wilhern Spell, can only be broken if Penelope finds true, lasting love with “one of her own kind.”

The trouble is, most suitors, even those looking only to score a piece of the inheritance, take one look at Penelope and run for their lives — until Max (played by James McAvoy) enters the picture. Max and Penelope seem to have a real connection, but when Max suddenly disappears because of secrets of his own, Penelope must face another crushing rejection.

Penelope then decides that she’s had enough of her sheltered life hidden away on the family estate, so she ventures out in the world. There she meets her first friend Annie (Witherspoon), and embarks on an unforgettable journey to discover who she really is.

I think this sounds like a fantastic movie, so I’m already counting down the days until its nationwide release on February 29. Be sure to check back here after that date to read my full review of the film.

Penelope Trailer — Extended Version

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In the meantime, here’s the extended trailer from the official Penelope MySpace page so you can judge for yourself. Check out the website, and go see the movie on Feb.29!

Heath Ledger’s death remains a top story on celebrity and entertainment websites, despite the fact that no new information has been uncovered in the last few days. Instead, the focus seems to have shifted to Heath’s family, and how they’re trying to cope with their tragedy.

TMZ reports that the Ledgers held a private memorial service for a small group of family and friends in Los Angeles on Saturday night, and that Heath’s body is now en route to Australia, where he will presumably be interred near his native Perth.

Meanwhile, the Ledgers took a rare step as far as celebrity deaths are concerned, and publicized their grief by writing tributes to Heath in the West Australian newspaper. Here are a few of the heartbreaking entries:

From older sister Kate:

I can hardly breathe when I try to write this . . . we were the ultimate in soul mates. I feel both my heart and life have been torn apart. I loved our special talks, our daily chats from where ever you were in the world.

I especially loved all the precious time we spent together. We were so fortunate to have you as long as we did. You were so many things to so many people, but to me you were just my little brother.

There will never, ever be another “Heath” and I think that in itself is the greatest tragedy.

I will continue to talk with you everyday and love you just as if you were here. You will never leave my thoughts “Roast”, ever.

From father Kim:

“Heatho”, “Beef”, . . . my beautiful boy, so loving, so talented, so independent, so caring, so young . . . no more chess games mate . . . this is it, couldn’t beat you anyway!

My body aches for the sound of your voice, our chats, our laughs and our life and times together.

Your truly varied artistic skills, insatiable desire to improve and eclectic abilities set you apart from any other person on the planet . . . it had only just started for you … and for us to further enjoy. We were one, in soul and commitment. Just . . . Father and Son. I will love you forever, Dad.

From mom Sally:

Our darling boy, special in so many ways to all of us. You knew you were so loved. You lived life with courage and daring and we are so grateful for the wonderful times we shared. We will be there for Matilda. Your loving Mamma, Rog and Ash.

There are several more entries like this, which you can read on the Perth Now website.

That’s just very sad stuff, isn’t it?

I watch Entourage mostly because I love Jeremy Piven’s portrayal of Hollywood super-agent Ari Gold. Piven has won two Emmy Awards for his work on the HBO original series, which made me want to check out some of the other things he’s done in his career.

So a couple weeks ago, I rented Smokin’ Aces, a 2006 film in which Piven co-starred with Ray Liotta, Andy Garcia, Ben Affleck, and Jason Bateman, among others.

Well, I didn’t like that movie at all, and didn’t get very far in it before I just gave up and returned it to Blockbuster without finishing it. I made it to the part where Buddy (Piven’s character) is holed up in a Vegas hotel after jumping bail and running away from the mob hitmen on his trail.

At least, that’s what I think was going on. In all honesty, the storyline was so jumbled and confusing that I had a hard time following along (which is probably the main reason that I gave up on the film).

Anyway, it’s kind of strange that I haven’t liked any of the Jeremy Piven movies I’ve seen thus far. He’s just not as fun or interesting in these other roles, so I guess I’ll just stick to Entourage from now on!

There’s a new box office champ in town, as last weekend’s victor Cloverfield tumbled three places to No.4 in its second week in wide release. The new top movie in the U.S. is Meet the Spartans, a spoof flick starring Kevin Sorbo and Carmen Electra that took in a healthy $18.7 million.

Meet the Spartans barely edged out fellow newcomer Rambo for the No.1 spot. Sylvester Stallone’s fourth turn as the bulletproof mercenary grossed $18.2 million, and showed that there’s still a major audience for this type of mindless action romp.

Katherine Heigl’s romantic comedy 27 Dresses slipped from the second spot last week to No.3 this week, with receipts of $13.6 million. That brings its two-week total to $45.3 million, and is the second silver screen hit in a row for the Grey’s Anatomy star — which seems to beg the question of how long Heigl will be content to play Dr. Izzie Stevens on TV.

Here’s the rest of the top 10 for the weekend ending 1/27/08, along with their projected grosses:

1. Meet the Spartans, $18.7 million
2. Rambo, $18.2 million
3. 27 Dresses, $13.6 million
4. Cloverfield, $12.7 million
5. Untraceable, $11.2 million
6. Juno, $10.3 million
7. The Bucket List, $10.2 million
8. There Will Be Blood, $4.8 milliion
9. National Treasure: Book of Secrets, $4.6 million
10. Mad Money, $4.6 million

I just heard that an old college classmate of mine had a bit part in the 2000 film Mercy Streets. The movie wasn’t a major blockbuster or anything like that, but it did have some familiar names in it.

David White stars as John, a small-time con fresh out of jail who hooks up with bad news buddy Rome (played by Eric Roberts, aka Julia’s brother) for another scam. But instead of going through with it, John decides to put their combined money into some kind of Florida land investment deal that he thinks is on the up and up. Of course, Rome isn’t just going to sit back and let John run off with the money, so there’s plenty of conflict along the way.

I’m not sure what role my classmate plays in this movie, but he does have a line or two of dialog, so I’ll definitely recognize him when I see him.

The problem is, I can’t find this movie at any of the video stores near my house. I don’t want to buy it just to see a 2-minute scene, so I guess I’ll have to start checking some of the rental shops that I haven’t been to in a while.

What would you do if you knew that you only had a few months to live? That’s a question that makes many people uncomfortable, but Carter Chambers and Edward Cole have no choice in the matter. They’re both afflicted with cancer, and when chemo doesn’t have the desired effect, they realize that they better start living.

That’s the basic scenario in Rob Reiner’s latest film The Bucket List. This movie was ripped apart by Roger Ebert, himself a cancer survivor, but I decided to give it a try anyway since it has a pretty high (7.9 stars out of 10) rating on IMDB.com at the time of this writing.

While I didn’t think it deserved Ebert’s harsh review, it certainly doesn’t deserve such a high IMDB rating either.

Plot summary (with possible spoilers): Carter (played by Morgan Freeman) and Edward (Jack Nicholson) meet in the cancer ward of the hospital that Edward happens to own. Despite being a rich man, Edward can’t get a private room because of the stringent cost-cutting policies he put into place himself. How would it look if he received special treatment?

At first the two men barely talk to each other. Edward’s going through chemo, so he’s not really up to socializing anyway, while Carter is content to watch Jeopardy!, read, and take visits from his loving wife Virginia (Beverly Todd) and their grown children. Edward has no visitors except for his personal assistant Thomas (Sean Hayes).

Eventually, Edward and Carter do start interacting more. They play cards, watch TV, and shoot the breeze while going through the usual battery of tests and diagnostic procedures — until they both get the bad news: the chemo isn’t working, and they likely have less than one year to live.

Carter immediately starts writing a “Bucket List” containing all the things he would like to do before he dies. Edward thinks that’s a great idea, so he starts adding his own ideas to the list, and soon the men realize that they simply must do these things together. So, over the Virginia’s vehement objections, Edward and Carter embark on their life-defining journey.

The rest of the film then shows Edward and Carter knocking items off the list one by one, starting with skydiving and race car driving, and progressing through various exotic travel destinations (which is where Edward’s unlimited financial resources really come in handy). Along the way, they talk about the meaning of life, love, and faith, and they both grow to appreciate each other and the loved ones they’ve left behind.

My Reaction: As I said, I didn’t think The Bucket List was a god-awful film; but then again, I’ve never been a cancer patient so I obviously can’t look at this the same way that Ebert did. Even so, the movie did have some very glaring flaws that prevent it from being as meaningful as the filmmakers would have liked.

For instance, I couldn’t understand why Carter would want to complete his Bucket List without Virginia by his side. He wanted to experience some amazing things and see some unforgettable places, but wanted to do so with a relative stranger rather than his wife of 30+ years? I don’t buy it.

I’ve only been married for seven years, and yet I can’t imagine jetting off to see, say, the Pyramids without my husband there with me. It just wouldn’t mean as much and I would feel like something was missing. How could Carter not have felt the same way? That seemed like such a selfish move for an otherwise upstanding guy.

I also didn’t like the fact that all of the items on the Bucket List were so… ordinary. I’d wager that most people would want to see the Pyramids or Paris (I won’t even get into how cheesy the special effects looked), and go skydiving. Couldn’t they have come up with some really cool, unique activities to showcase in this film?

Otherwise, I thought The Bucket List was a fairly decent movie. I enjoyed watching Edward and Carter’s friendship develop, and thought Edward’s character arc was pretty believable. Moreover, I did like the overall message here in spite of the way it was communicated at times. As such, I give this movie 6.0 stars out of 10.

I’ve had dogs my entire life, and can’t imagine a home without pets. I currently have a 10-year-old miniature Dachshund and a 6-year-old Beagle, both of whom keep things very lively and energetic around here. They’re great with my son too, which is obviously an extremely important point to consider. All in all, I couldn’t ask for better canine companions!

I’m interested in connecting with other pet lovers out there, so I today I checked out a website called AnAmigo.com. It’s a social networking community that operates more or less like a MySpace for animal aficionados, meaning users can create profiles, upload pictures, post messages, and interact with like-minded people.

I signed up for an account today, and appreciated how easy the process was. I just had to provide basic information (name, address, birthday, pet details), wait for a confirmation email to arrive, and click a link to verify my registration. In less than 3 minutes, I became a full-fledged AnAmigo.com member, and was able to browse through other user profiles. I soon found other Beagle owners on the site, and discovered this picture of a dog named Jasper. Too cute!

After signing up, I spent a lot of time surfing through the site. I love all the useful resources on AnAmigo.com, such as the Service Directory that helps me find pet-friendly businesses and care providers in my area.

AnAmigo.com just recently launched, and to celebrate, they had an official Launch Party at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah. Celebrity pet lovers Nicky Hilton, Jack Black, Felicity Huffman, Simon Rex, and other stars were in attendance, so hopefully they’ll end up submitting profiles to the site!

I have a feeling AnAmigo.com is going to turn into one of the top pet-related websites on the Internet, so be sure to check it out for yourself!

As you probably know, I’ve been spending the last year and a half in trying to get through all of Agatha Christie’s novels in chronological order. While I like her works well enough, I do like to change things up every once in a while, so I decided I’d read something a bit different last week. Since I’ve been wanting to get into the Sherlock Holmes novels and stories a bit more, I decided this would be a good time to pick up the second title in the series, The Sign of Four by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

I wasn’t exactly impressed with Doyle’s first Holmes novel, A Study in Scarlet, but wasn’t going to let that stop me from proceeding with the series. As it turns out, I liked The Sign of Four a great deal better — despite several weak plot points that detracted from the work as a whole.

Plot summary (with possible spoilers): The novel opens with Sherlock Holmes enumerating the beneficial effects of his cocaine habit. Watson disapproves, but since there has been a decided lack of detective action lately, Holmes doesn’t really care.

However, a knock on the door soon changes their situation. The visitor is a young woman named Mary Morstan who has heard of the services Holmes provides. She has recently received a mysterious letter asking her to meet the sender at an appointed time that evening. She may bring two friends along for security if she likes, and that’s why she’s asking Holmes for help. After getting a bit more background information, Holmes and Watson readily agree to accompany Miss Morstan.

The mysterious stranger turns out to be a man named Thaddeus Sholto. His father and Miss Morstan’s father served in India together, and somehow came upon a vast treasure while they were over there. Thaddeus subsequently learned that Major Sholto didn’t give Captain Morstan his fair share of the loot when it came time to split it up. Now that both of the fathers are dead, Thaddeus wants to make things right by giving Miss Morstan a cut.

Thaddeus then takes Miss Morstan, Holmes, and Watson to a house in an out-of-the-way neighborhood. His twin brother Bartholomew is holding the treasure there, so all they have to do is pop in, hand out equal shares, and live happily ever after. Right, except for the fact that the group discovers that Bartholomew has been murdered and the treasure stolen.

From there, the mystery takes off in earnest. Holmes scours the crime scene, and even though he finds very little, it’s enough for him to have a general idea of what went down. The rest of the novel then deals with Holmes’s investigation, eventual capture of the criminal, and a fuller explanation of the origins of the treasure.

My Reaction: I thought The Sign of Four started out very well. The premise was intriguing, and any story that involves vast amounts of treasure, double-crossing partners, a villain with a wooden leg, and a Pygmy with a penchant for poison darts ought to have no problem generating reader interest.

But, as with A Study in Scarlet, I felt that this novel went downhill in the second half, beginning with Small’s narrative. That’s when Doyle introduces the most implausible events and actions he could think of, and asks the reader to accept them without question. Sorry, but I can’t do that.

For example, are we really to believe that four prisoners would simply tell a couple of random army officers where their treasure was hidden — and trust that those fellows would actually come back and share the loot?? Furthermore, would Small really confess to murdering two people when there was no evidence that he did so? I mean, this guy spilled the beans so freely that it felt like an episode of Cold Case or something!

So while I appreciated the basic story in The Sign of Four, I couldn’t say the same about the details. In my opinion, this book was far better than A Study in Scarlet, but still not something that I’d recommend to anyone.

Regular readers of my blogs know that I rarely talk about my personal life, choosing instead to focus on reviews, sports, current events, or any number of other topics. The reason for this is simple: I’m not really happy with where I am in life, and don’t want to reveal these shortcomings to others.

But if I actually stop and think about why I’m not happy with my life, it’s because I feel this constant need to measure myself against my high school and college classmates. Many of them have exciting professional careers and make obscene amounts of money, and I can’t help feeling that I’m missing out on something.

However, after reading about The Sedona Method, I realized how destructive this type of thinking is. If I really examine my life, I can see that there’s nothing wrong with it. I have a beautiful family, a nice house, and am able to earn a living from home while I raise my son. In other words, all the ingredients for happiness are there; I just have to learn to let go of my negative thoughts.

That’s precisely what The Sedona Method can help me do. The Sedona Method has been used successfully by people such as Marci Shimoff and Mariel Hemingway, both of whom were able to raise their happiness set point by following the five steps of The Letting Go Process. Once they learned to let go, they were able to reveal the happiness within and are living better lives because of it.

Marci Shimoff has even written a book called Happy For No Reason that reveals her secret for becoming happy right now.

The Sedona Method definitely sounds like something that would benefit me at this point in my life. If I can finally let go of all of these feelings of inadequacy that have been plaguing me since high school, I might actually be able to enjoy all of the good things I have in my life.

I should really give this program a try!

Trying to watch modern teen films from an adult’s perspective is nearly an impossible task for me. I don’t come into contact with enough teens to be able to tell if the ones on film act anything like the ones in real life. As a result, I’m left to compare the movie versions to the way my friends and I behaved when we were in high school — which is not very fair since we’re crossing generational lines here.

So when I recently viewed crazy/beautiful starring Kirsten Dunst and Jay Hernandez, I had no idea what to make of the film. Apparently, Dunst’s character Nicole was “crazy” because she danced in public, cut classes, and didn’t care about her future, while Hernandez’s Carlos was beautiful because… well, because, he’s good-looking. Yawn.

Plot summary (with possible spoilers): The film opens with Nicole performing garbage pickup as part of a community service sentence. Carlos and a group of his friends see her, and go over to talk to her. It turns out that Carlos and Nicole both go to the same elite high school, one that Carlos has to ride a bus for two hours every day to attend.

At school, Nicole and Carlos start getting to know each other a little more, and eventually start dating. Of course, their relationship is beset with a whole laundry list of problems, all of which should be familiar to anyone who has seen teen movies before.

For instance, Carlos comes from a poor, working-class family, while Nicole’s family is loaded. Carlos is a straight-A student who dreams of attending Annapolis and becoming an Air Force pilot. Nicole is flunking out of school and doesn’t plan anything beyond the next party. Et cetera.

The film mostly deals with the developing relationship between Carlos and Nicole, and chronicles the expected series of ups and downs. Along the way, we get the usual fights, make-out sessions, parental disapproval, and break-up. However, since Carlos and Nicole are IN LOVE, they work through everything and end up sticking it out together.

My Reaction: I didn’t like this film at all. It seemed that Nicole didn’t have any redeeming qualities, so that made me wonder why Carlos would be so attracted to her in the first place. I mean, sure, most guys in Carlos’ situation would want to get with a cleaned-up version of Nicole. But she was just so greasy and gross in this movie that I couldn’t understand why Carlos even bothered.

Plus, it’s not as though she possessed a “winning” personality either. They just didn’t make sense as a couple, so I was actively rooting for them to break up instead of stay together. I doubt that’s the reaction the filmmakers intended to provoke.

I’ve read a few positive reviews about this movie, and they mostly say the same thing. crazy/beautiful is different because most of the roles are reversed. It’s not the poor kid who’s bad news; it’s the rich kid. The dad isn’t protective of his daughter; he’s protective of the guy who actually has a future.

I’ll admit that yes, it was refreshing to see something a little bit different in that respect. But I don’t think these changes were big enough to impact the story in a positive manner. The movie was still boring, regardless of who inhabited what roles.

Overall, I was disappointed in crazy/beautiful. As I said before, it could be because I’m too old for teen movies now, or it could be because the movie truly sucked. Maybe it’s a little of both. I give this film 4.5 stars out of 10.

With Valentine’s Day less than a month away, I’ve been sitting here trying to figure out what kind of gifts I can buy for my husband and son. I have a few ideas already, but it’s going to be tough to pull off these purchases with the limited budget I have to work with. I’m going to try to stretch my dollars a bit further by checking out Coupon Chief for online shopping coupons, so hopefully that will do the trick.

My husband is an electronics geek and really has his heart set on getting a home theater system sometime soon, so I’m going to try my best to save up and buy one for Valentine’s Day. I found several good Best Buy deals at Coupon Chief, including one for 10-15% off on home theater systems, receivers, and speakers. That kind of discount can really help me out — as long as I can find an affordable system to begin with!

My son is much easier to shop for, as he likes just about everything. While I would love to be able to get him the mini Yamaha ATV that he’s been begging for, that’s not going to happen this year. Instead, I’ll probably end up buying him a fun toy or game. Coupon Chief has a few good KB Toys coupon codes, so I can definitely save some money that way.

If money wasn’t an object, I’d go right out and buy a couple of fancy cars and expensive toys for my family. But since we’re average, middle-class people, I’ll have to make do with much smaller gifts!

The title for the newest James Bond movie was released today. It’s apparently called Quantum of Solace, from the title of an Ian Fleming short story.

The movie is said to be a sequel to 2006’s Casino Royale, with action picking up about one hour after that last film ended. That’s about the time when Bond realized that he had just been double-crossed by latest paramour Vesper Lynd, so I guess the new film will deal with some sort of revenge storyline.

Daniel Craig will return for his second stint as 007, and Gemma Arterton will make her debut as the newest Bond girl.

I was surprised by how good Casino Royale was, especially since I’ve never been a huge fan of the Bond series to begin with. So I’m really looking forward to Quantum of Solace and will definitely go see it in theaters!

With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, it’s time to start thinking about what you’re going to get for your sweetheart this year. Unfortunately, buying a Valentine’s Day present can be somewhat of a challenge, especially if your significant other is a difficult person to shop for. This is the situation I face every year in trying to find something nice for my husband.

But this year, I might be getting a little help. That’s because I’m going to enter the Game O Love Valentine’s Day contest sponsored by Overstock.com. The contest, which starts tomorrow and runs until February 11, gives everyone the chance to win major discounts and fantastic gifts for their loved ones.

Entering the contest is simple. All you have to do is visit Overstock.com’s “Game O Love” website, select a gift that you would like to win for your sweetheart, and submit that product via the online entry form. Winners will be drawn daily, which means you’ll have 18 chances to win (provided that you enter every single day).

I have a feeling that my husband wants a home theater system, so I’ve selected a Panasonic model that would be great in our home. If I could somehow win this prize, we’d both be in heaven!

If you’d like a chance to win an amazing gift for that special someone in your life, be sure to check out Overstock.com’s Valentine’s Day Game and get your entries in every day!

Although I’ve been an avid reader my entire life, that didn’t automatically translate into being a conscientious student in my literature classes. On many occasions, I didn’t read my assigned books because I was too busy going through other works of my own choosing. This was precisely the case when my high school Am Lit class was assigned Walden by Henry David Thoreau.

I started on it, but couldn’t even get through the first chapter without falling asleep. As a result, I put Walden aside for the time being, opting to make do with the Cliffs Notes instead. I figured I’d give the book another chance at a later date — which, as it turned out, didn’t happen for another 15 years. I should have just left well enough alone.

Book Summary Thoreau’s stated goal was to spend a couple of years out in the woods by Walden Pond near Concord, MA as an extended experiment in living simply. He was convinced that there would be numerous spiritual benefits associated with giving up city life and the constant pursuit of material things, so he decided to try to become as self-reliant as possible.

Towards that end, he built his own house, planted crops, fished, and did all the other things you’d expect of someone trying to live off the land. Most of the book contains descriptions of the land, the animals, and Walden Pond itself, as well as detailed accounts of how Thoreau set about building his house and tending his fields. He also spends some time reflecting on the importance of reading, education, and spirituality, and laments the fact that these things aren’t valued by most of his contemporaries in Concord.

My Reaction: I don’t think I’ve ever been so bored as I was while plodding along through Walden! I simply can’t believe that this work is required reading in high schools, as I see very little merit in covering the book from beginning to end. While there may indeed be some philosophical nuggets worth noting in Thoreau’s writing, it would be an act of mercy on the part of teachers everywhere if they just let students read the important passages or quotes because trying to take in the whole thing is mind-numbing torture.

It certainly didn’t help that Thoreau came off as such an arrogant, condescending, know-it-all jerk throughout the entire essay. He was smarter than everyone else, he knew the secret to living well, he spent his time wisely, and he was deigning to impart his wisdom on the common folk. He constantly passed judgment on everyone he came in contact with, never failing to point out how he (Thoreau) would do things 100 times better.

I’ll confess that even though I also read the GradeSaver Classic Notes study guide to make sure I was following the “action” properly, I still don’t understand why Walden is considered such a great work. I mean, for every 10 pages of tedious descriptions of the pond, Thoreau’s bean fields, or his daily routine, there was perhaps one page containing Thoreau’s reflections or analysis of his mode of living. There was so much garbage to wade through that the “good stuff” lost any chance of making an impact on the reader

In short, Thoreau’s message, whatever it may have been, was lost on me. Sure, I got the “live simply” part; but if there was something more to the book than that, I must have missed it.

Overall, Walden now holds the position of my least favorite book ever. Do yourself a HUGE favor and just leave this one alone. Trust me, it’s not worth your time!

Were you able to catch the premier of the new and improved George of the Jungle series on Cartoon Network last week? I tuned in with my 5-year-old son, and we had a great time watching the show together.

The 30-minute season premier consisted of two separate stand-alone cartoons. The first one was called “Brother George,” and centered around a great battle that was supposed to occur in the jungle. Several different animal species were going to fight for dominance, and George finds out that he’s supposed to support each side. This leads to some silly situations until George finally gets everyone to settle down and forget about the battle.

The second cartoon featured in the premier was called “Rebel Without a Claw”. In this one, George decides that it’s wrong for animals to prey on each other. He convinces the more ferocious jungle animals to turn into vegetarians, which of course ends up disrupting the balance in the jungle. While this is going on, Maggie and Ursula try to teach the smaller creatures how to become self-sufficient so they don’t have to rely on George to bail them out of tough situations all the time.

I thought these cartoons were pretty goofy from an adult’s perspective, but they were fun nevertheless. George is just as lovable as ever, and I really enjoyed the updated look of the show. My son liked this cartoon a lot, as evidenced by the fact that he laughed his head off every time clumsy George took a spill or got whacked in the head!

The only problem I had with the premier was that there was no explanation of who the characters were or why they were living in the jungle. A bit of background info to let viewers know the basic situation would have been nice.

Otherwise, I thought the George of the Jungle premier was a fun time for the whole family. We’ll definitely be tuning in every Friday night for more new eps!

When I hear the term “straight-to-DVD”, I automatically think of some low-budget film with cheesy special effects and unknown actors. I certainly don’t imagine that a $25 million project starring Oscar-winner Morgan Freeman and John Cusack would suffer the straight-to-DVD fate, but that’s precisely what happened with their 2006 film The Contract.

Of course, I didn’t know all of this before I rented the last weekend; I just assumed that I had somehow overlooked the movie when it played in theaters. It wasn’t until I started watching this plodding, uneventful “thriller” that I realized there was something off about the whole thing.

Plot summary (with possible spoilers): Freeman stars as contract killer Frank Carden. We meet him as he’s organizing his henchmen for another job, this one in Washington state. Carden has a perfect record of completed kills, and has managed to elude the police for his entire career — that is, until he gets into a freak car accident while completing Phase One of the new job. He’s taken to the hospital, and when the local police identify him through his prints, into custody.

We also meet Ray Keene (Cusack), a recently widowed father who feels that his teenage son Chris (Jamie Anderson) is slipping away. Chris blew off his baseball game and was instead picked up by the cops for smoking pot. Ray, an ex-cop himself, realizes that he’s got to reach out to Chris before it’s too late, so he proposes that they go on a camping trip. It’s not Ray’s thing, but Chris loves the outdoors. The boy accepts.

The lives of these characters intersect when Frank’s associates organize a rescue mission to break him out of custody while being transported. The attempt goes terribly wrong, and the vehicle carrying Frank plunges into a river after running off the road. Frank and a U.S. Marshall are pulled out of the water by Ray and Chris, who happen to be hiking in the same area.

The marshall uses his last breath to tell Ray that Frank is a prisoner. After the marshall dies, Frank hints that it would be in Ray’s best interest to just let him go. Frank has friends coming after him, and if Ray and Chris get in the way, they’ll both be killed. Ray doesn’t go for this, however, and decides that he will watch over Frank until the authorities arrive. The problem is, there’s no cellular service where they are, so they have to start walking back.

The rest of the film then deals with Ray and Chris trying to bring Frank in while being chased by the bad guys. Frank is surprisingly compliant the whole time, and while Ray and Chris encounter a few close calls along the way, there aren’t really any totally tense moments where their lives are in danger.

My Reaction: Like I said, I was surprised that anything starring Morgan Freeman and John Cusack could go straight to DVD, but after actually watching The Contract, I can see the reasoning. This movie was pretty bad.

One problem I had with the film was that there was no suspense at all. I never got the sense that Frank was a brutal killer, so I never felt that he would harm either Ray or Chris. Sure, there was a half-hearted fistfight in the middle there, but obviously nothing came of it. As a result, I was pretty bored as I just waited for the inevitable conclusion to arrive — with both Ray and Chris intact, of course.

Another problem I had with the film was that I couldn’t understand Ray’s motivation here. Why did he have to bring Frank in? I think 99 out of 100 parents in his shoes would have simply refused to get involved with the situation after discovering that Frank was a contract killer (I know I would have).

I realize that there wouldn’t be a movie if Ray just gave up, so I don’t mind that he stuck it out. What I do mind is that the screenwriter didn’t bother giving the audience a strong enough reason to believe that Ray would go through with the mission. Sorry, but wanting to impress his kid was not enough of a reason for an otherwise ordinary guy to turn into Rambo all of a sudden.

Finally, I thought the entire script was rather uninspired. It’s as though the writer followed a by-the-numbers template, merely plugging his characters’ names into scenes and scenarios that have been done a thousand times before in cinema.

Overall, The Contract was definitely a below-average effort that deserved its straight-to-DVD fate. I give it 4.0 stars out of 10, and recommend that you skip it despite the fact that Freeman and Cusack are in it.

Wow, what is going on with these Hollywood stars? A week after 25-year-old actor Brad Renfro was found dead in his L.A. home, there’s news of yet another untimely death. This time, it’s 28-year-old Heath Ledger, who won critical acclaim for his role in the 2005 film Brokeback Mountain.

This is a breaking story, so not many details are known at this time. However, early reports indicate that Ledger was found unconscious in his SoHo apartment by his housekeeper, who called 911 at 3:26pm ET. Paramedics arrived on the scene to find Ledger in full cardiac arrest, and were unable to revive him.

Authorities believe that drugs could be involved in the death, as prescription pills were found near Ledger’s body.

I have to admit that I was shocked by this news. I’d never heard of Ledger being involved with drugs (unlike Renfro), so I didn’t even consider that something like this was possible.

How tragic. This guy was so talented and had such a long, bright career in front of him… What a waste, ya know?

R.I.P.

After taking a long break, I’m back to watching The O.C. on DVD. I’m a few episodes in to Season 3, and am surprised at how much I missed this show. Seth and Summer have been somewhat tolerable, Sandy and Kirsten seem to be on the road to recovery, and Ryan and Marisa are trying to handle the fallout from shooting Trey. Ah, teen drama at its best!

And of course, I love getting these frequent glimpses at upscale living that The O.C. provides. The million dollar homes, the brand-name clothes, and the exotic automobiles are all fun to look at. Oh, and don’t forget about the big, fancy parties with designer evening gowns and tuxedoed waiters, or golfing at the country club with hot young caddies to haul around their Ogio bags and Callaway clubs.

At any rate, I’m looking forward to this season because it can’t possibly be as bad as Season 2. Can it??