Wall-E

Even though it's a Disney film and technically a kid's movie - anyone of any generation can appreciate the moral of the story behind this movie.  Earth has been left TRASHED, humans become technologically dependant and slothful.  And a cute little robot who's been alone for 700 hundred years left to clean up Earth's mess - has developed a personality.

It's easy for us to anthropomorphize something, but I think there's more intelligence than the artificial kind that can be learned from the simple innocence of Wall-e and his new obsession Eve. 

The graphics are beyond amazing, the story line went in a different direction than the predictable (which is refreshing) and the little quirks usually found in Pixar films for the viewing adults are hilarious (just think mental-ward patient robots on the loose - gut busting!).

The other cool thing? They manage to create two distinct personalities with these two robots with each knowing only about three distinct words. There is relatively little dialogue which had to make this story writing difficult.  But the animation is beautiful. It'll jerk your heart strings (wouldn't be Disney without that), and it'll make you giggle and laugh out loud.

We give it 4 out of 5 stars!

Blood Noir, Anita Blake #16

Beware - spoilers ahead, geniuses

Blood Noir delves into the life of Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, Necromancer, Lupa, Bolverk, human servant to the master of the city, focal of TWO triumverates and living succubus. Oh, and she's also a panwere. How can this little woman still be alive with so much on her plate? And strangely, in the series, she seems to be the only person in all the world with all of this so-called impossible possibilities. Fantastical.

I read the Anita Blake series because it's different. Not because I like it. Make sense? It doesn't to me, either. I sometimes get tired of Ms. Hamilton's constant ramblings of erotica when there's so much potential for a story line. I also tire of her constant validations of Anita's character. We're 16 books in - I think we get her, now. Redundant paragraphs where Anita is contemplating a moral struggle in her head, and then another character will then reflect aloud about it. 

What I do like about the books is the innovation of the subject matter, taking modern fantasy of the supernatural in a series where no other series gets quite as gritty as Ms. Hamilton does. Also, the depth of supporting characters in Anita Blake's life.  In this case, Blood Noir was supposed to start out as a novella about Jason like Micah, but there's so much to Jason's character it made it to a full novel. We've known Jason since he was turned into a werewolf and have seen him grow along the way with Anita as a friend, fellow warrior and the resident joker who tries to keep things light. We all know a Jason in our lives who is a carefree spirit and doesn't take himself or too much else seriously. 

In the light of a blurred line between morals and values that is a constant struggle with Anita, Jason takes these things with a grain of salt. He is an 'in the grand scheme' of it all thinker, life is too short to get hung up on small things. He is a great balance to what Anita has been struggling with during the entire series. So, when he needs help, she drops everything to assist, just like always, Anita runs to the rescue of those who are close to her.

Jason is further re-introduced to the reading audience as a person with thoughts, hopes and dreams, a family, old girlfriends and rivalries - rivalries that very will may cost him his life. Mix in the danger of being an associate of Anita - one of the most powerful not-so-human humans in the world, and it turns into a very action-packed story. 

I was happy Ms. Hamilton kept it mostly story line and character development and she only punctuated the book with moments of the ardeur rather than a book all about ardeur punctuated with small bits of story. It renewed my faith in the series much like how the first 4 books were.

I hope she continues with it now that in the last 10, she's been focused mostly on erotica. I keep waiting for her to move her series from horror to romance. And if that ever happens - I will no longer be a patron of her readership. There is so much potential here with where Anita can go and those that follow her that I hope most of the nuances of the ardeur will be a thing of the past and we can see what is in store for Anita and company.

I give it 3 1/2 stars out of 5.

Indiana Jones: Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

We have not watched an Indiana Jones in YEARS. Especially after the whole Sean Connery one. It was okay, I guess - but believing that Sean Connery, who is only 8 years older than Harrison Ford, is not very believable. Especially with the accent.  With this George Lucas and Steven Spielburg joint venture, Crystal Skull  was a fun family movie.  The effects were decent, Harrison Ford was hilarious (he has the funniest facial expressions) and bringing in talented new-comers and comfortable old-timers (no pun, Karen Allen) was a great plot enhancement.

At first I was a little worried in the direction the movie was going - and the pace it was at.  Secondly, they brought in a new dynamic adding to the layers of Indiana Jones in regards to his REAL occupation. Quite interesting.  I found it funny (as in ha-ha) that the enemies and foes Indiana faces are often icons of the times such as Nazis and then this time around - Russians.

What the story line was based upon wasn't unlike watching National Treasure, but without Nicholas Cage's whininess. Overall, take the family, take the kids - while it wasn't as epic or grand as Lost Arc or Temple of Doom, Crystal Skull delivers a fun Indy-rific action adventure that delivers nostalgia and a gleam of hope for a future generation of Indiana Jones lovers.

We say 3 1/2 out of 5 stars.

Weiner Works

Home of the 14" Weiner

Weiner Works is a tiny neighborhood joint hole-in-the-wall that has an ambience of good, hometown cooking.  When you walk in, the small communal quarters and tables let you share close quarters with other patrons who love the place. Memorabilia covers just about every square inch of the dark green walls and come holiday-time the decorations dangle from the ceiling. Local personalities and other celebrities that stop in leave their marks in signed pictures or a simple John Hancock squeezed between framed photos on the walls.

The food is delicious. From beer-steamed hotdogs, a super 14" dog, to the YUMMIEST chili cheese fries (a TINY will be plenty to share between two people), to big fat hamburgers and an assortment of beer worthy of Oktoberfest. When Vin & I are wanting to treat ourselves after a hard week or busy weekend we go to Weiner Works. Vin loves the sauer kraut with the German or the spicy Polish dog and they make a hot mustard to compliment all their dogs.

Once you become regulars they remember who you are and remember your last conversation to chat about. Truly a rare jewel in the industry of any service food place.

Don't bother with the plastic - they only take cash, but once you try these weiners, no others will ever compare! We give Weiner Works 5 out of 5 stars!

Outlaw Demon Wails

Kim Harrison's 6th Installment of the Rachel Morgan Series

May contain spoilers, geniuses

I wasn't sure if I was going to be happy with this book after the way her last one ended. To save you from too many spoilers I felt that the ending was rushed, not that well thought out and was bending the characters we'd grown to know and love to do things outside their scope just for the sake of furthering a dead-end plot (this was the last book, not ODW).

As far as ODW, Harrison has redeemed herself.  While some questions still have not been answered in regards to the open plot lines from A Few Demons More (this is a good thing, keeps the reader interested), many more questioned were answered about how the Hollows came to be, just how witches are related to demons and thusly adding another more rich layer to the incredible universe Harrison has created. Rachel has a lot to be thankful for in this book, we see the character growing up a little more, and the bonds that were forged early on that the reader may take for granted were brought to the forefront to prove just how strong these relationships are. 

At points the book was slow, but it was only because some much needed skeletal instruction was taking place and the building blocks of the story were becoming stronger, laying the foundation for future plot lines. I like how in each book Harrison puts Rachel in these rock-and-a-hard-place positions and, because Harrison isn't afraid to kill people off, it makes the reader worry about the character's welfare. That suspense is critical, and in this book, even though things turn out relatively well for everyone involved what happens between the cover and the back page puts Rachel in a position to where she's better off dead to many than alive.

Overall a great story (made staying home for 4 days with a fever go better) and I've renewed my interest in the series again because of all the interesting little nuances (and the love of the characters).

I give it 4 out of 5 stars.