PUBLISHER: Putnam Adult PAGES: 356 BUY IT FROM AMAZON: CLICK HERE! AUTHOR’S WEBSITE: www.BarryEisler.com (Be sure to read his fantastic political blog, THE HEART OF THE MATTER while you’re there) In the first several pages, something magical happens in Requiem for an Assassin: all the exposition you’ll need on the world of this series and … Continue reading
PUBLISHER: EccoPAGES: 272BUY IT FROM AMAZON: CLICK HERE!AUTHOR’S WEBSITE: Larry Doyle, Writer-American I love teen movies*. I really do. I remember Molly Ringwald as being an early crush when I was a little boy and I thought it was the coolest thing ever that a guy named Cameron got to hang out with Ferris Bueller … Continue reading
Sports films might be the most formulaic genre there is, and they end one of two ways: the big win or the close loss that teaches the value of trying, good sportsmanship, teamwork, etc. That’s it – unless you count Alive as a sports film, in which case it ends with ‘white meat or dark?’ … Continue reading
Somewhere in an immaculate kitchen in an immaculate house situated in an immaculate neighborhood somewhere in Bel Air, Nora Ephron is toasting her troubles away*, wondering how in the hell a common vulgarian like Judd Apatow could reinvent the romantic comedy for modern audiences. And somewhere, perhaps a few blocks away or maybe in an … Continue reading
Mr. Brooks is a trainwreck, but not in the ‘I cannot turn away as this fast-moving train slams into another fast-moving train’ way. It’s more like ‘I have come upon the bloody, fiery wreckage of a wrecked train, and I can just make out some of the mechanical and body parts in this mess, and … Continue reading
Bug is an extremely unpleasant movie. Not necessarily gross, although there’s some stuff in there that made me wince. What makes Bug so unpleasant is the grimy immediacy of its environments, the inexorable downward trajectory of its story and the shocking emotional intimacy it creates with its deranged characters. What makes Bug so special is … Continue reading
I’ve had it with anime. I’ve had it with sitting through modestly well-animated movies that make no sense, that feature juvenile stories and characters and that I’m supposed to judge on a different level than I would judge any other film from any nation. It isn’t like live action Japanese films are regularly baffling in … Continue reading
Angel-A is one of the most gorgeous movies I have ever despised. Luc Besson’s black and white photography makes love to Paris, highlighting not just the beautiful architecture and geography of the city, but also the very soul of it. Angel-A does for Paris what Woody Allen’s Manhattan did for that city. But all of … Continue reading
The very concept of a film trilogy engenders certain expectations. When a studio stretches a tale over six hours or more, we hope for a certain fluidity from one chapter to the next, for plotting, action and character arcs that are consistent both within each film and across the entire span. Few series ever truly … Continue reading
Towards the end of Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, Captain Barbossa cackles something to the effect of ‘I know the real secret to immortality, me mateys!’ (or something similarly salty dog). Could the secret be ‘Get involved in a seemingly endless series of Disney blockbusters’? Because as POTC: AWE comes to its credits, … Continue reading