Video Review - The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford - 3.25 stars

HBO Movie Review - Bernard and Doris - 3.5 stars

Video Review - Rescue Dawn - 3.25 stars

Video Review - Elizabeth - The Golden Age - 3.0 stars

Video Review - Once - 3.75 stars

Video Review - Paris Je'Taime - 3.0 stars

Movie Theater Review - Rambo - 2.5 stars

Movie Theater Review - There Will Be Blood - 3.5 stars

Video Review - The Waitress - 3.0 stars

Movie Theater Review - I Am Legend - 3.25 stars

solid movie, enjoyed it throughout, i guess they did a good job with the special effects of the infected humans. was a bit hokey in the scene where the dogs attack (where are the infected humans who unleash them?) and when he's trying to essentially commit suicide (the woman fights all the infected humans off exactly how?). anyways, quality flick, well acted and directed...

Movie Theater Review - Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem - 2.75 stars

Video Review - I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry 2.5 stars

Video Review - The Lives of Others - 4.0 stars

fantastic cold war thriller about a east german stasi official assigned to spy on a presumed western leaning playwright, and the official's slow dawning of conscience. great roles for the official, playwright, and the woman who loves the playwright...

sad end to woman's character. touching shots of stasi official delivering mail and then looking at the book inscribed to him at end of movie...

Video Review - Pirates of the Caribbean - At World's End - 3.0 stars

reasonably entertaining end to the pirates trilogy, tying up loose ends, etc. solid action/adventure trilogy/movies.

end scene with the maelstrom was almost too over the top with effects/action.

excellent scene with depp riding the pearl on the ocean of sand.

overall movie mostly for the completist and nothing groundbreaking...

Movie Theater Review - Atonement - 3.5 stars

solid adaptation of great book. all three actresses playing briony nailed it perfectly. well played by knightley and mcavoy. doesn't quite rise to the level of the english patient as far as literary adaptations with the star crossed/doomed lovers set against a war backdrop...

Video Review - Factotum - 3.25 stars

interesting character study of hank chanowski (matt dillon), a bum alcoholic who happens to be a poetical writer as well. bit of a metaphorical/existential ride through his life.

good interplay between him and lily taylor's character.

nice understated score. also well played by dillon, makes a jerk/loser of a character into something compelling...

Video Review - The Hoax - 3.0 stars

interesting true life tale of clifford irving, who perpetrated the hoax of trying write an autobiography of howard hughes without hughes's say so.

good role for richard gere. character who is unlikeable becomes interesting. nice and somewhat nuanced portrayal of irving's friend by alfred molina. not much use here for oscar winning marcia gay harden, sort of a cliche role of disapproving wife.

was intrigued by the movie's theory of how the book tied in to nixon's paranoia which led to watergate, and how hughes perhaps orchestrated much of the proceedings to regain the upper hand over nixon and gain several favorable airline and business rulings.

Video Review - Hot Fuzz - 3.5 stars

funny british comedy, parody of american buddy cop action movies like bad boys 2 and point break. great lead role for simon pegg, amusing secondary characters. good final action scenes...

good hamming it up role for timothy dalton...

Book Review - The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle - Haruki Murakami - 3.5 stars

story of mild mannered man toru okada whose cat goes missing and then his wife (kumiko).




good descriptions of back alley way.




enjoyed the tale of lieutenant mamiya and his war time stories of fighting/surviving in manchukuo (manchuria) during world war 2.




some real interesting side characters like malta kano, creta kano (psychic sisters?), may kasahara (teenage neighbor), lieutenant mamiya, and noburu wataya (kumiko's strange brother).




enjoyed the story of the japanese soldiers trying to determine how to kill off zoo animals...




typical murakami themes of memory, blurring of reality and hallucination/fantasy, and long personal tales (metaphorical and real)...




very long and bogs down a bit when toru ends up purchasing? the supposed haunted house and his dealings with nutmeg and cinammon are even stranger than the rest of the book.

Video Review - Lucky You - 2.75 stars

somewhat entertaining poker movie about a young character (played by eric bana) who is trying win the world series of poker and also beat his dad, played by robert duvall. solid enough acting from the two leads.

a bit overdone on the poker vs. life metaphors.

nothing all that special from drew barrymoore.

enjoyed the poker scenes and the contest of running 5 miles and playing a round of golf in 3 hours.

passable recommendation at best, nothing on the level of curtis hanson's previous best, l.a. confidential and wonder boys...

Movie Theater Review - American Gangster - 3.5 stars

solid drama about frank lucas (denzel washington), real life criminal who took over the drug trade in harlem in the late 60's, early 70's, and was tracked down and convicted by a cop (played by russell crowe).

good roles for both washington and crowe. excellent period soundtrack, well acted and directed.

a bit unoriginal in that i've seen the charismatic criminal rise to fortune and fame and then have a downfall (scarface).

would be curious to see how many details were embellished, in particular whether heroin was really smuggled in with the help of the u.s. army.

Movie Theater Review - Into the Wild - 3.5 stars

solid adaptation of jon krakauer's fabulous book, about christopher mccandless who leaves his upper class existence to take on the life of a wandering tramp.

accurately depicts conflict between society and man's absolute freedom, and also the cold power of nature when man is not prepared.

solid role for emile hirsch, good direction from sean penn. nice supporting work from catherine keener and hal holbrook. kind of a nothing role for vince vaughn.

enjoyed the two foreign characters mccandless meets in the grand canyon.

Book Review - Lady Chatterley's Lover - D.H. Lawrence - 2.75 stars

tale of lady constance chatterley who takes up an affair with her estate's gamekeeper oliver mellors while married to her husband the invalid clifford. strange end to the book with both main characters apart but expectant for a return together.

long and tedious book, writing not all that engaging. none of the characters are all that interesting, except perhaps a secondary character mrs. bolton who helps take care of clifford once lady chatterleybecomes less interested.

some insights about the evils of industrialization (technology). arguments/philosophical discussion about the life of the mind vs. the life of the physical (sensuality).

i can see how some found this book shocking, some very frank sexual descriptions between constance and mellors.

could never really tell if mellors cared all that much for constance, the letter at the end where he expresses his feelings seemed a bit out of place.

overall, not worth recommending...

Video Review - Sicko - 3.0 stars

latest documentary from Michael Moore about the american health care industry and the flaws inherent to the system, namely high premiums, denials of claims, for profit industry.

one sided documentary in that moore does not offer time for the health care lobbyists/industry to refute his claims.

i'd need to do some research to see if the rosy picture he paints of health care life in canada, u.k. and france is true or he's just cherry picking instances. in particular france with the traveling doctor, and nannies who help new mothers.

kind of felt sorry for the 9/11 workers who were used as props by moore during the cuba trip to demonstrate better health care in cuba.

all that said, very sad the real instances of people whose lives were lost or irrevecably changed due to denial of health care...

Movie Theater Review - No Country For Old Men - 3.25 stars

quality thriller/suspense movie about a man (played well by josh brolin) who happens upon a murder scene in the middle of nowhere, takes the money that was left there, and who is tracked by a mysterious and unstoppable killer played superbly by javier bardem.

great suspense scenes with dog chasing brolin in water, bardem tracking brolin at points.

over the top with bardem killing at least 15-20 people.

a bit too metaphysical at the end with tommy lee jones's character.

strangely shot end to brolin's character, not even sure he dies at the end other than assumed...

Video Review - Talk to Me - 3.25 stars

intriguing tale of petey greene, real life d.j. in washington, d.c. who went from prison to a radio and then tv sensation. good tale of friendship between the two leads in don cheadle and chiwetel ejiofor (also solid as dewey hughes, who reluctantly takes on greene as a dj and then oversteps his bounds by pushing greene into a stardom he does not want), good roles for both.

a bit too similar in tone/feeling to mr. holland's opus and good morning vietnam. the inserted real life footage of anti war demonstrations seems tired at this point.

well acted and directed movie otherwise...

Book Review - Tomorrow - Graham Swift - 3.5 stars

intriguing tale of Paula Hook, who is recounting during a sleepless night how she and her husband the next day (tomorrow) will tell their two children that they were the product of in vitro fertilization and their father is not their real father. some good tales of years past, tales of a pet (Otis) taking the place of the kids before the kids. The meeting of the couple in the flat with the two other roomates was handled well.

A bit much perhaps with constantly (at least 2/3 of book) hinting at the big secret in order to build tension...

good second book i've read of swift's (after light of day)...

Book Review - The Mysteries of Pittsburgh - Michael Chabon - 3.5 stars

good first novel from michael chabon, not quite up to the level of wonder boys or the amazing adventures of kavalier and clay.

tells the story of art bechstein, after he graduates from college, aimless summer of falling in love with a woman named phlox, a man named arthur, and befriending an alcoholic named cleveland. some interesting tales and compulsively readable. nothing fantastic buy enjoyable nonetheless...

Book Review - New England White - Stephen L. Carter - 3.25 stars

second murder mystery/social commentary novel from yale professor stephen l. carter.

intriguing story of julia carlyle who is trying to track down who murdered professor kellen zant, who himself was trying to determine who killed gina joule decades ago. double murder mystery gets bogged down a bit in byzantine details of interrelationships between both time periods.

good social commentary about african american power being wielded in secret, social commentary on upper class african americans and how they desire to be treated/respected.

not enough character devleopment of lemaster carlyle, julia's husband. good character portraits of julia, bruce vallely (campus security officer).

all the clues left get a bit muddled and don't really congeal in that satisfactory a manner.

Movie Theater Review - The Darjeeling Limited - 3.25 stars

good nostalgic, whimsical movie from the master of whimsy, wes anderson. less gags than past movies of his. solid performances from owen wilson, jason schwartzman, and adrien brody. pretty touching after they get off the train. the funeral scene was well done. good opening with the hotel chevalier. nothing groundbreaking but definitely worth catching for fans of anderson.

Video Review - Knocked Up - 3.0 stars

pretty entertaining film about a grown up kid basically who knocks up a gorgeous tv reporter. judd apatow's follow up to 40 year old virgin, probably not as funny, memorable, not really worthy of the hype imho. good performances from seth rogen and katherine heigl. decent supporting turn from paul rudd and leslie mann. some funny moments from rogen's characters's deadbeat friends...

Video Review - 1408 - 2.75 stars

decent horror flick starring john cusack as writer who is seeking out horror stories by staying in supposed haunted hotel room. direction nothing special, no real great spooky moments. solid acting from cusack, good enough small supporting turn from samuel l. jackson...

Video Review - Death Proof - 3.0 stars

decent exploitative flick from tarantino, second part of grindhouse double feature intending to harken back to 70's exploitation films.

excellent role for kurt russell as homicidal stunt man. very talkative otherwises, lots of good looking ladies that don't amount to really any decent characters. a couple of decent lines thrown off of tarantino's dialogue...

Book Review - The Plot Against America - Philip Roth - 3.5 stars

intriguing alternate history book about the Roth family (semi autobiographical tale of philip roth, his elder brother, cousin, and parents) living in newark and anti-semitic pogroms/policies that are enacted when charles lindbergh defeats fdr for u.s. presidency in 1940.

solid character study of roth family, in particular the father and cousin alvin. sandy's character seems underwritten once he is banished from participating in one of lindbergh's policies of diluting the jewish center of ny/nj by sending youths across country...

interesting take on walter winchell (radio personality) who decides to run against lindbergh.

Movie Theater Review - Michael Clayton - 3.25 stars

a well made thriller about lawyers defending a corrupt corporation and the attacks of conscience they face and the consequences that flow from there. good role from clooney, tom wilkinson. solid work from sydney pollack (completely typecast yet again as the agressive morally lax boss) and tilda swinton (though her role was a bit underwritten i thought). a bit non-original (evil corporation, main character with crisis of conscience)...

two villains were mysterious and well played by two no name actors, sort of fix it guys doing evil deeds at tilda swinton's character's behest...

Book Review - Vanilla Bright Like Eminem - Michel Faber - 3.25 stars

enjoyable collection of short stories by michel faber. second collection read since his great novel the crimson petal and the white. he needs to write a novel again.

good interesting stories for the most part, somewhat forgettable but enjoyable reading. can't imagine many of these stories will linger in the memory...

Movie Theater Review - 3:10 to Yuma - 3.5 stars

solid flick, good acting from bale and crowe, neither probably stretched to their full talents. good action, excellent supporting turn from ben younger.

All Time Favorite Movies

no particular order...

The Big Lebowski
Ben Hur
Glengarry Glen Ross
Chariots of Fire
The Sting
A Clockwork Orange
The Godfather Movies
Rocky
First Blood
Predator
Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan
Caddyshack
What About Bob
The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
Dirty Harry
L.A. Confidential
The end of Field of Dreams
The Empire Strikes Back
Back to the Future
Jaws
Raiders of the Lost Ark
The Color of Money
parts of Barry Lyndon
parts of Wyatt Earp
Dr. Strangelove
parts of Pulp Fiction
parts of The Fellowship of the Ring
2001
Manhattan
helicopter attack in Apocalypse Now
Network
Die Hard
The Matrix
Aliens
Patton
parts of A Few Good Men
end of Dead Poets Society
Amadeus
parts of Fargo
The Usual Suspects
The Shawshank Redemption
Braveheart
Das Boot
Hoosiers
The Remains of the Day
Wonder Boys
Wall Street

All Time Favorite Books

No particular order...

Shogun - James Clavell
Noblehouse - James Clavell
The Fellowship of the Ring - J.R.R. Tolkien
The Hunt for Red October - Tom Clancy
Bangkok 8 - John Burdett
Arthur and George - Julian Barnes
Into Thin Air - Jon Krakauer
The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt - Edmund Morris
Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
The Brothers Karamazov - Fyodor Dostoevsky
A Civil Action - Jonathan Harr
Lincoln - Gore Vidal
Atonement - Ian McEwan
Neuromancer - William Gibson
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay - Michael Chabon
The Winds of War - Herman Wouk
Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
The Big Nowhere - James Ellroy
Cryptonomicon - Neal Stephenson
The Confusion - Neal Stephenson
The Diamond Age - Neal Stephenson
Snow Crash - Neal Stephenson
The Terror - Dan Simmons
Hyperion - Dan Simmons
Dreadnought and Castles of Steel - Robert K. Massie
A Conderacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
The Crimson Petal and the White - Michel Faber
White Teeth - Zadie Smith
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norell - Susanna Clarke
The Bonfire of the Vanities - Tom Wolfe
The Sun Also Rises - Ernest Hemmingway
Moneyball - Michael Lewis

Book Review - Underworld - Don Delillo - 3.0 stars

not worthy of 2nd best novel of last 25 years by NY Times

extremely long

some interesting character studies, Manx Martin (father of boy who caught ball from Giants vs. Dodgers, Thomson off of Branca, great scene trying to sell ball outside yankee stadium), J. Edgar Hoover (fbi, good scene at masquerade party in ny), Lenny Bruce (comic)

two lead characters nothing special

strange end with Sister Edgar seeing visions on a billboard

no real plot, meandering about cold war, waste management (trash strikes, main character works for waste management company)




jumps all over in time

Movie Theater Review - Eastern Promises - 3.25 stars

good effort by Cronenberg, continues with his odd penchant for showing obscenely violent acts on screen like his last A History of Violence.

great role for Viggo Mortensen...

solid but slightly underwritten role for Naomi Watts.

stahl solid in what seems for him a typically understated villain...

Recent Books Within Last Year Or Two

After Dark - Haruki Murakami 3.5 stars
Kafka On The Shore - Haruki Murakami - 3.75 stars
Stalin's Folly - 3.25 stars
Palestinian Power - Jimmy Carter - 3.25 stars
Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro - 3.0 stars
Infinite Jest - David Foster Wallace - 3.5 stars
On Chesil Beach - Ian Mcewan - 3.25 stars
The Ruins - Scott Smith - 3.25 stars
The Yiddish Policemen's Union - Michael Chabon - 3.25 stars
You Don't Love Me Yet - Jonathan Lethem- 3.0 stars
The Terror - Dan Simmons - 3.75 stars
Olympos - Dan Simmons - 3.25 stars
The Blind Side - Michael Lewis - 3.5 stars
Number9dream - David Mitchell - 3.25 stars
Black Swan Green - David Mitchell - 3.75 stars
Brooklyn Follies - Paul Auster - 3.5 stars
Spook Country - William Gibson - 3.0 stars
Heyday - Kurt Anderson - 3.75 stars
Bangkok Haunts - John Burdett - 3.5 stars
Arthur and George - Julian Barnes - 4.0 stars
Before She Met Me - Julian Barnes - 3.0 stars
The Light of Day - Graham Swift - 3.0 stars
The Echo Maker - Richard Powers - 3.0 stars
Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert - 3.25 stars
The Tipping Point - Malcolm Gladwell - 3.75 stars
The Courage Consort - Michel Faber - 3.0 stars
A Spot of Bother - Mark Haddon - 3.25 stars
The Assassin's Gate - George Packer - 3.5 stars

The Painted Veil

3.25 stars, solid work from both leads. still not sure what the painted veil was???

a bit rushed first half with some major developments (marriage, infidelity) happening without quite enough development...

good chemistry between watts and norton...

Sports events

opening weekend, nfl, caught
no at indy - (indy), manning awesome, defense much better than expected
Philly at GB - (GB), solid GB defense, mcnabb o.k. on offense
bears at SD - (SD), excellent defense both teams, tomlinson didn't do anything, grossman/benson both underwhelming
NYG at Dal -(Dal), awful cowboy defense, great games from romo, witten, barber looked solid, jones unspectacular but decent yds/rush attempt average

federer over djokovic in us open final - federer straight sets win, nothing spectacular, djokovic blew mutiple set points

Recent Plays/Performances

August:Osage County - Steppenwolf
Beethoven 9th Symphony - CSO
Doubt - LaSalle Bank Theater
Betrayal - Steppenwolf

Recent Movies

Zodiac, Disturbia - rentals
In the Valley of Elah - theater
The Bourne Ultimatum - Theater
Sunshine - Theater
Transformers - Theater
Live Free or Die Hard - Theater