District 9

Despite this movie supposedly being low budget with no-name actors and simple settings, I found it richer because of that. The graphics and special effects were right up there with blockbuster budget flicks. It was reminiscent of Cloverfield, but without the pretensious pretty people and the cookie-tossing camera jarring.

The story is about an alien species whose mothership becomes stranded over South Africa due to the crumlbing of their leadership ranks. Perhaps it was illness, dissension, or abandonment, the people of Africa just don’t know, but what they do know is it’s there. After months of trying to get into the ship, they finally succeed by drilling a hole into its side where they find the refugee aliens sick and dying from starvation and malnourishment. Because they are “worker-bees” they don’t seem to have the ability to think for themselves or be able to work the equipment.

A government agency is formed to handle the species and quarantine them into concentration-camp like slums not unlike the Korean work camps of the US. Despair follows and tensions mount over two decades as clashes between the aliens and humans drive the government to create new camps farther away from civilization for the aliens.

The real story takes place when the eviction move occurs and one simple, underestimated man becomes the salvation for the aliens through a hapless discovery.  He finds himself torn between the world he once knew and the one he was destined for. Sounds campy, right? It’s anything but. Tense moments, high emotions, and the basic human instinct to survive in an ugly ruthless manner make it almost look like the aliens possess more humanity than we do.

There’s more than just a physical transformation of Wicus, the pasty, office-dwelling, insignificant man bullied by his father-in-law who is the director of his department. He realizes that doing things right doesn’t necessarily mean that doing the right thing.

In the end, one asks just who had delivered who from evil in an action-packed flurry of alien technology, corrupt governments, cruel slums and abandonment.

Inglourious Basterds

Quentin Tarantino rarely disappoints, and true to form, Inglorious Basterds was a gritty suspense flick with his trademark gore and plot twists. Brad Pitt is able to seamlessly transform into the role of Tennessee Lt Aldo Raine. Tarantino keeps us guessing with this character who, unlike the other Basterds, has no back story vignette, but a horrendous “hang man’s” scar that is never explained. Nice touch, Tarantino, nice touch.

The setting is World War II and mostly in Germany-occupied France. With lush backgrounds and detailed costumes it’s a beautiful cinematographic treat. Even better is the great acting, punchy comic relief, quirky cameos (Mike Meyers), and righteous motivations all mixed into the brutality and lack of humanity a war brings out in most civilizations.

There are some moments that are so deliciously suspenseful, I found myself holding my breath in the theater. Especially the scene in the basement bar where a clandestine rendezvous is complicated by the thick presence of German soldiers and officers—not exactly the prime spot for plotting the Third Reich’s downfall.

Just when you think things are going to go one way, Tarantino jerks the rug out from under you. You just don’t know how it’s going to end until it does.

The parallel plot lines that twist into a nice, explosive fuse on a dynamite story have us thinking we want the director’s cut when it’s released on DVD.  Forget what you learned in the history books here, folks. Tarantino rewrites it for us, the way it should have been.

Transformers Revenge of the Fallen, a movie review

Transformers offers an escape from reality—that much is guaranteed, and having said that, one shouldn’t expect anything more from the movie. Down to the Megan Fox hottie in love with a twitchy, fast-taking nerd to how her character works in an auto shop in daisy-duke shorts in the midst of flurrying welding embers. It’s a testament to who the writers must feel is their only target audience. I actually groaned aloud when the pan-in shot was of Megan Fox straddling a motorcycle in those teeny shorts “airbrushing” a pin-up on the fuel tank from the WRONG angle. Sooo convincing, guys.

The opening scene dialogue is forced between the Witwicki family and McKayla--almost seeming to be a pick-up scene. Even more forced are the attempts of Sam’s mother’s role as comic relief. Especially when nothing heavy is going on to need relief from. It was at this point a couple of people actually left the theater.

The story really starts when Sam is away at college and is failing to stave off the affections of a femme fatale, who turns out to be a terminator-esque Decepticon in the flesh. Does this raise any red flags to anyone? If she exists, shouldn’t there be an entire legion of these types who are able to take over the world? Anywho, here comes a leather-clad Megan Fox to save her boyfriend’s ass. Again.

I did appreciate Shia’s performance in the lecture hall with his Turrette’s-syndrome seizure as he began to suffer the symptoms of his great-grandfather before he was committed.

In the absence of the Hot Australian Computer Nerd of the first Transformers, Sam’s roommate happens to be a conspiracy theorist hacker, conveniently, and he gets roped into the adventures of going on the lam to hide from the forces behind the Decepticon revolution.

For folks who were never Transformers fans, or remember any of its back story, they won’t understand the Primes or why the Ancients play such a huge role in this movie. Kudos to the writers who wove this into the story and brought it back to what Transformers lore was all about.

Okay, spoilers, so look away if you don’t want any plot twists. No peeking! So, in this fantastical knock out, drag out, explosive fight, Optimus is “killed” saving Sam. It’s like the moment in Lord of the Rings where Gandalf falls to the black depths with the Balor and everyone’s gaping in horror. Sam, earlier in the movie, discovers a shard of the All Spark in his tore-up clothes in his closet from That Day he saved all of humanity. In an attempt to rally troops, and after Optimus’s death, they realize they have to revive another Prime in order to fight the Ancients if there will ever be Any Hope for Survival and this tiny shard of the All Spark will allow it to happen. And during this scene, it becomes apparent Fox can’t deliver a line to save her life. Just let Sam do the talking. So the misfit group goes through yet another adventure to find another Prime. WHY DIDN’T THEY JUST REVIVE OPTIMUS WITH THE SHARD?!

After that it’s a lot of screaming, running, and Sam and McKayla fighting over the Three Little Words, and robot fights—awesome robot fights, mind you, and this movie’s only saving grace—and lots of campy moments. Only see it in theaters if you want to get the full affect of the graphics, otherwise, you won’t be missing anything if you wait for it to come out on Blu Ray or DVD.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen succinctly describes the plot of the story.

The Neighbor, a novel by Lisa Gardner--a review

Beware! Spoilers! Duh...

Lisa Gardner's new book, The Neighbor, is an interesting, fast-paced suspense thriller that had even me scratching my head until the end when it neatly all came together. The slow unfolding of the story, the quiet reveal of the characters, the witty pace between points of view--which I love--and the "woah!" moments at the end were brilliantly pieced together by a master story-teller who never flinches from the grit. It was unpredictable and compelling, a refreshing change in the summer reading I've had as of late.

We're given insight, almost like a diary, from the point of view of the victim. The voice of this character was strong and had me wanting to read more. The person of interest in her disappearance is her husband, someone who is doing everything but cooperating with authorities to help find her. His motivation is only because he wants to protect his daughter. From what, we don't know, but only makes me want more to find out. Ree, the four-year-old daughter in question is cute, adorable, and precocious--an important piece to the puzzle as the story begins to unfurl with delicious suspense. But even more compelling is the husband. Who he is, not who people think he is, is the most important piece of the puzzle--and nothing is what it seems to be in the book.

I'm surprised with the lack of backstory that's necessary for a reader picking up this book without ever having read a Lisa Gardner book to understand who the husband is. You MUST read Say Goodbye before you read this book to have a greater appreciation of the characters and their internal monologues.

It also brings to question time line. At the end of Say Goodbye, the husband in The Neighbor is only 12 or 14 years-old. It seems to have been written in present time, but in The Neighbor, the reader must fast-forward 15-17 years for his current age. I don't know about you, but many things may change in that amount of time (technology, the real-life settings, etc), but it is written in "present-day". This makes it distracting a hard for me to suspend my disbelief.

Aside from that it bears the unsavory people, the realistic relationship dramas, the burden of family and defining happiness as it dissects human nature and post traumatic stress disorders that we see in every day goings on. The plot twists are unpredictable and the strong characters have you empathizing with even the most horrible of offenders.

Skin Trade -- A review of an Anita Blake Novel

Beware! Spoilers!

Skin Trade is the newest Laurrel K Hamilton novel in the Anita Blake series. Vampire serial killer Vittorio returns, laying a trap for Anita by luring her to Vegas--his newest crime scene. All the big names are called to wrangle in the unruly mass murderer whose body count now includes local cops. Edward and Olaf as well as Bernardo help Anita who is on her own from her St. Louis camp, much to the disappointment of Jean Claude, and a refreshing change from his oppressive tediousness.

The story starts out remeniscent of Obsidian Butterfly, especially with the interactions with Edward, who we are starting to see in a more human light. While it's a little different, it's a welcome change. Hints of Edward's hunter side bleed through in moments of curiosity, but his "love", if you can call a cold blooded killer capable of such, for Anita becomes a strong anchor she desperately needs. And Edward seems welcome to give it. Perhaps being a married man with children, even though it's a facade to his family, has changed him for the better.

Olaf also becomes an interesting spice in the bloody burrito that is Skin Trade. It seems Anita is capable of taming even the most feral of beasts, Olaf, a human serial killer whose victim profile is too much like Anita to be comfortable for anyone involved. Olaf makes a concerted effort to bridge a gap between his serial killer pin-up, Anita the Executioner, to win her over. At moments it provides much needed comedic relief, in others, it delivers a serious and well doneick-punch to the gut.

Most interesting in Skin Trade is the evolution of practioners in urban SWAT teams, and Anita's thoughts pinging on the idea of retirement or changing careers. It becomes an undulating conflict that ebbs and flows, but something I can see becoming a bigger issue down the road. Especially since she has said aloud, as well as in her thoughts, she's tired of being held prisoner by the ardeur. Thank you, because we're tired of it too. I was very happy to see more story and character development in this book--something that has been lacking over the last 6 books in the series.

The story flowed well with intense interactions and the gritty unapologetic and realistic crime scenes, but what I found clunky and constricting was LKH's, or perhaps Anita's, constant over-acting to prove herself to a bunch of men. Working in a male dominated field myself, I know how dismissed females can be, however, we have evolved significantly in this world--and with the series. If Anita's reputation precedes herself as much as it is portrayed (for the good and the bad), I don't feel 100 pages need to be dedicated to her constantly showing she can run with the boys.

The ending, I felt, was very poignant, only it was overshadowed with too much of the ardeur returning, and it became anticlimactic. It felt rushed when there was so much more that could have been done to end it with the usual Edward and Anita bang from the earlier books. But I felt like LKH wanted to skip over it all (battles with the Jinn, more magic use from Rocco and Anita, etc., the raid on the rogue witch's house) to get to the sick fantasies of a vampire and of course, more sex scenes.

I felt cheated and it dragged down the importance of what the SWAT relationships meant, the strengthening of the tiger clans that were involved, , Anita's "level up", the meaning behind Max and Bibiana's survival and what it meant for another Master's human servant to do save them (since Vampire politics are so huge in this series) and, the biggest bang of them all with the alleged death of what all vampires feared--The Mother of Darkness. I think that in itself would have been a nice book in the series that would allow LKH to clean house with all of Anita's baggage. And, give Edward a chance to feel as dangerous as he doubts himself to be anymore--especially since it came up as a turning point in the book.

Needless to say I was disappointed in the ending, many questions were left unanswered and it ended without tying up loose ends (something also quintessential, strangely, for this series).

And I still don't know why the book was called Skin Trade. Unless it had to do with the holy water scars of the afflicted vampires, or maybe how Vittorio could hide his identity as the Father of Day.

Skin Trade started out with so much promise, but failed miserably.