Though, I cherish all things geekesqe and fantastical, I never really fell head over heels for the whole Harry Potter craziness. I'm more of a Star Wars kind of guy. However, I do praise what it has done to bring the realms of the fantastic to young readers while also getting kids interested in reading again. But, I also felt it was a little too geared to much younger fans than myself. Believe it or not, I've only read the first book and found it to be... cute. I've seen all the movies, with the exception the most current, ...Order of the Phoenix. Apparently everybody went to go see it without me (hurumph, hurumph). I find I've liked each movie a little more than the last. The previous one, Goblet of Fire, seemed to edge it's way closer to being my kind of movie - dark and spooky. I've heard that Order is even more on track with what I dig. But, again, everybody saw it without me (hurumph, hurumph).
Harry Potter is now as much a part of modern pop culture as Micky Mouse, Darth Vader and The Fonz (please, younger readers, please tell me you know who The Fonz is, as to not let me feel that I'm grown much older every second of the day!). The release of the latest book summoned many a Potter geek to bookstores in the late evening of it's release in hopes they would walk away with the final answers to all of the Potter questions. My friends Roberto, Iris and Peej stood outside of a Target all night to get their mits on "The Deathly Hallows". Would I tease them in jest for doing so? Frack NO! After all, I stood outside for 6 hours prior to a midnight showing of Episode III! God bless the geeks of this world!!!!
J.K. Rowling must bathe naked in a bath filled with nothing but money (come to think of it, I'd like to see that!)
If I get to see Phoenix this week, I'll give you the blow by blow in the space below.......
Actually, I decided to do the review in the most recent blog since I have other things to yammer about. So, check there for my review of the movie.
Also spooging forth from the realms of Magic and fantasy comes Neil Gaiman's "Stardust" to the big screen. I believe it is the first of one of my favorite author's works to be adapted into film. I got into Gaiman through the phenomenal comics he has written. His most popular being "The Sandman". He is also the author of one of my favorite dark fantasy novels, "Neverwhere". I believe I've blogged about one of his best known novels, "American Gods" before.
I've never read "Stardust", but the fact that the always unimaginably beautiful Michelle Pfeiffer is in this film will make me make it a point to try and catch it in the theater. Oh yeah, De Nero's in it too. He's got some acting chops, doesn't he?
Gaimen, Pfeiffer and De Nero! This has boatloads of potential!
In other magical news, I've discovered the literary world of detective / mage, Harry Dresden from author Jim Butcher's "The Dreseden Files" series. I've always heard that these were really fun reads but could never find the first one of the series. Luckily, last weekend, I found "Storm Front" and, though I'm just starting it, I'm enjoying the frack out of the story.
The SciFi Channel actually made the Dreseden files into a TV series. I've caught parts of a couple episodes of it. Not bad. But, so far I'm enjoying the first novel more so than the TV series. Note: The vampire chick in the TV series is quite fetching, according to my friend, Bruce.
Anyway, Since the character fo Harry Dresden resides in Chicago, I found it quite amusing he notes a fictional even that occurred here in Milwaukee, the Unseelie Incursion of 1994.
"...when the entire city of Milwaukee had simply vanished for two hours. Gone. Government satellite photos showed the river valley covered with trees and empty of life or human habitation. All communications ceased. Then, a few hours later, there it was, back again, and no one in the city itself the wiser."
Oddly enough, I do remember a couple of hours that I blanked out in '94. I was in my tub reading Haunted Attraction Magazine when... ZAPPO... lights out. Then I awoke still in the tub a few hours later all moist and wrinkly. Could this have been the Unseelie Incursion of 1994? Or was it the 6 pack of Samuel Adams' Octoberfest I consumed beforehand? One may never know.
You're asking me for more movie reviews? Allow me to oblige....
- Miami Vice - This falls into the "90+ minutes of my life I'll never get back" file. This was the most boring action thriller I've ever seen! I thought I was bored by the TV series? Well, the movie certainly passes that torch. Not only is there no chemistry between the main characters of Crocket and Tubbs, all of the villains are completely generic. On top of that crap heap, viewers will have to wait until the last 45 minutes of the movie to see any action. Up until then it's a lot of cheesy, machismo cop lingo and bravado between the main characters. The only character you give a flying whooey about is Tubb's girlfriend / co-worker, played by Naomi Harris (The voo-doo queen from the Pirates movies). And I'm not just saying that 'cause she has a brief nude scene..... well, maybe a little. Wait until this one ends up in rotation between the USA, FX and TBS cable channels.
- Snakes on a Plane - This one got a hell of a lot of pre-Internet hype before it's release. Naming it Snakes on a Plane helped a bit as it hints at the goofy action movie that it is. Even though it's far from being set with the Die Hards and Leathal Weapons in our action genre DVDs, it's still a good silly implausible romp. And Samuel Jackson does his usual share of bad-ass-madre-frackin' a$$ kickin'. Even though the script is pretty horrible, the shear silliness of it is worth taking a peek at. Who knew that snakes could be trained by drug dealers to bite people directly in their private parts?
- Blood and Chocolate - This is the Werewolf version of Lost Boys. A group of trendy youths, including the sultry (did I actually use the word sultry?... god, I need a date) Agnes Bruckner roam about modern day Budapest as a clan of werewolves. She falls in love with a human and all hell breaks loose. Though it's visually interesting and there's some good characterization, it doesn't exactly measure up as a revitalization of modern horror mythos the way Lost Boys did. The script plods along and the story slows to a bit of a crawl at times. I should mention that if you liked The Lost Boys or have played Vampire: The Masquerade or Werewolf: The Apocalypse, you may want to check this one out. It's far from being a disappointment. I know I enjoyed it, though Roberto and Iris, who I saw it with, fell asleep at times while watching it.
Well, I've finally finished watching the Deadwood series and will comment on that at a later time. I'm also full into Gears of War and am at a horribly difficult part involving a huge monster that is protected by a legion of man eating bats... while we're on a moving train. Perhaps Roberto may have some clues as to how to get out of this mess?
Anyway, until next time, if you find that you've inexplicably lost some hours in the day, blame the Unseelie Incursion.
Zangz.
(Please note: I do appologize for some problems that Blogger is having with separating paragraphs and spacing issues. I've tried to edit and fix the problems to no avail. Sometimes I love Blogger, sometimes... not so much.)
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