My Soul to Take - Movie

I thought as an extra bonus, I would give my ordinary opinions on a movie that I recently had the chance to see via Netflix.  Yes, I know.  It isn't a "library find", but I couldn't help myself on this one.

"Now I lay me down to sleep. I beg the Lord my soul to keep...."

Now, I hadn't heard anything about this one.  I knew that it was a horror movie.  I had no clue who was in it or who directed it or any of those types of things. (I don't watch tv, read the paper or anything else like that.  It's too depressing.)  But, I happen to love most things horror, so I thought I would give it a chance.

Again, I'm not great with plot summaries, so I am borrowing this from Wikipedia... just the first paragraph.  "In the town of Riverton, Abel (Raul Esparza) is working on some toys for his daughter and a soon-to-be-born child. A story on the news announces that the town is being gripped by a serial killer known as the Riverton Ripper. After his wife calls him to bed, it is revealed that Abel is in fact the serial killer, and appears to have multiple personality disorder. He kills his wife and is arrested and shot by police, but the ambulance he is in explodes on the way to the hospital"........  

Given that this is a high school horror movie it reminds me of how out of touch I am with the younger generation, but I found this movie very fun.  It wasn't too predictable and there were enough twists to keep me interested.  Pretty much what I would expect from a Wes Craven film.

Would I recommend it?  Definitely.  I will admit to not the greatest acting in the world, but when are horror actors ever truly wonderful?  Not bad, though, not bad at all.....

The First Commandment - Brad Thor (Possible Spoilers)

As promised, Brad Thor's The First Commandment.

    

     Once again I chose a book in this series that was out of order as I didn't know any better, really.  This book could stand alone if I didn't know that it was part of a series.  So, instead of getting into the fact that as a reader, I am somewhat lame with regards to reading books in order, I will simply give my opinions on the book itself.  (I have since read Lions of Lucerne, the first book in the series, and it is a MUST read book.  It was THAT good!)  We also know that I suck for plot summaries, but I'll do my best.

     Plot:  Five terrorists are released from Guantánamo Bay .  Four go on their merry way and one is left to his own devices to seek his revenge on Agent Scot Harvath by targeting his family and friends.  It is up to Scot to track down this mysterious killer and forces the help of The Troll, a nemesis from previous novels.  (I can't wait to read the book where he is introduced!)  

     The First Commandment has all the elements of a really great novel.  Action, suspense, great characters (a lot of which were from previous books that I haven't read yet), revenge, and loads of great description.  I really felt like I was there, at the island or in the hospital room or on the plane with the terrorists who were being released.

     Knowing that there are more books to come has given me a predisposed fear of a cliffhanger, which Thor, thankfully, has not used as of yet.  The story definitely has elements from previous books, but as with The Last Patriot, he manages to be descriptive enough without dragging out fodder from former stories.  If that makes sense to you, you are doing really good!

     There is nothing really bad that I have to say about The First Commandment.  I can't wait to read the rest of the books, then reread these last two books in the order that they were supposed to be read in.  I've said it before, but I'll say it again... READ THESE BOOKS!

The Last Patriot ~ Review Possible spoilers..you've been warned.

The most recent book I picked up from the library was The Last Patriot by Brad Thor.  Little did I know when I chose it that it was a book in a several novel series.  That fact will not sway my opinion of this book.

Ok, I'm no good at plot summaries.  I don't want to ruin anything for you anyway, but suffice it to say that I found this book very intriguing.  Thor takes ideas and concepts from current events and weaves them into a story so believable that it really made me stop and wonder.  This book was banned in Saudi Arabia, most likely for it's talk about the Koran.  I can totally see why.  Actually, this story revolves around the Koran and the supposed lost  section.

I have never read a book quite like this before, one that talks about homeland security or other countries, things like that. The chapters were quite small, no more than five pages each and some as few as one, but even still, Thor does a tremendous job in keeping the story's continuity.  I had mentioned that this was one of several books in a series, and even though he makes several references to what I can only assume are previous books, there is enough information about what is going on that I didn't feel lost.  What I felt was that I will have to get the rest of the books to see what the whole story is.

Thor's characters are believable without being over the top.  There is depth to each character, weaknesses, strengths, and background information.  I really feel like I know these characters.

This book has been compared to National Treasure, but I think that it hold its own against any story out there.  There are clues, explosions, references to Thomas Jefferson, and evil doers.

There is a section in the back of the book where Thor explains what is true and what is his own creation.  I really liked that part.

A book doesn't get much better than this.  I have picked up The First Commandment and am about halfway through it already.  I don't usually read that fast.  I will review that one when I'm done.  Read it with me and leave comments, won't you?

and, no, I don't usually give 5 stars to anything, but this was really THAT great for me!

Next up:

After this one, I'll pick a different author. I just couldn't help myself.

Current Book

I do believe I forgot to post what book I am currently reading that I found at the library last time I went.

The Last Patriot by Brad Thor

So far, it is very interesting....

Stay tuned for full review.  I'm about a third of the way through........

Badlands by Richard Montanari

I know I was going to do something weekly, but my schedule has simply gotten too busy.  I am planning on changing the theme of this blog and the title, so be aware that if you suddenly see "Onyx's Library Excursions" or something like that, just know that you haven't gotten to a different place.  I've just switched it up a bit.  But, for now, I will relate my very average opinions about the last book that I found at the library a few weeks ago.  Yes, it does take me that long to read a book.

Title: Badlands: A Novel of Suspense
Author: Richard Montanari
Publish Date: August 27, 2008
Genre: Suspense/Crime

The plot:  Joseph Swann, or Mr. Ludo to his victims, prey on the runaways of Philly and leave clues to their identities and whereabouts for detectives Kevin Byrne and Jessica Balzano to find.  It's a race against time as they attempt to track down the mysterious Swann before another victim is found dead.



Okay, okay.  So, I'm not very good at plot summaries yet, but I didn't just want to use someone else's words.

This book is awesome.  Frankly, it reads like an episode of Law and Order, and I really enjoy that show.  I will admit to this book being just a bit confusing at first.  I don't have the memory of some and probably would have done well to have a pen and paper handy for writing things down as there were many victims and such in this book.  Eventually, he tied it altogether nicely.

I enjoyed this book also because it portrayed old-time illusionist, or magicians, if you will. Raven's biodad Vile is a magician and I couldn't help but think of him as I read this book.

Montanari does a very good job of telling the story from both sides of the fence.. the killer and the detectives.  A somewhat supernatural type visions come from Kevin Byrne as he touches some things, yet they give a plausible reason for his talents.

The one downer about this book is that even though Montanari does do a great job explaining things to the reader, I was still confused about tangram puzzles.  I will have to look them up, and probably should have looked them up while I was reading, but I only read before bed time and don't feel like getting up to do anything on the computer.

Would I recommend this book?  YES!  Read it.  Go to the library and check it out now, today.  It was a great read.

My rating:

MOVIE: Dead Silence (Probably spoilers...you've been warned)

Greetings fans of the Monthly Musings.  I think I should really change that name to something else since I'll be musing about something more than once a month. I'll ponder that for a while.

And now, on to the review!

Year: 2007

Director: James Wan

Story: James Wan and Leigh Whannel

Stars: Ryan Kwanten, Amber Valletta, Donnie Walhberg, and Judith Roberts as Mary Shaw

"Beware the stare of Mary Shaw. She had no children only dolls. And if you see her in your dreams, do not ever, ever scream."

imdb.com

Ok, so this movie is a bit old to really be reviewing, but I felt that I had to.  If the director looks familiar, it is the same guy who directed the first SAW movie. I enjoyed the Saw movies quite a bit, so I decided that I would take a chance on Dead Silence.  

I have come to determine that it is a cross between Puppet Masters and Darkness Falls.  The basic tale is that of an old ventriloquist who ends up murdered by the townsfolk of Raven's Fair.  And, this being a ghost story, she comes back to exact her revenge as is the case with most ghost stories.  It is a very classic old ghost story told very eloquently.

It all starts when a mysterious package arrives at the door of the Ashen couple.    This movie is so good that I don't want to get into it more than that.  :)

What made this movie so great was that even though you KNEW when the scary parts were happening, it was shot in such a way that still eeeped the bejeezus out of me even though I was in my living room with my lights were on.  I actually had a hard time bringing myself to watch it a second time, it was that creepy.  I don't get creeped out by movies very often.  

Now, about the acting.  Probably not the best I have ever seen, but not real terrible, either.  We'll forget that I hadn't heard of very many of the actors. Obviously Mark Walhberg because of his work in the Saw movies, but who the heck is Ryan Kwanten?  Ok, I see he's a character in True Blood.  Not something I have brought myself to see, though I have read a few of the books.  I don't recognize any of his other stuff save for an episode of Law and Order :SVU.  No matter.  His performance was pretty good.

I won't get into too much of the other actors separately, save to say that for the most part not real terrible. I will say that the best performance was given by Billy, the ventriloquist doll.

Cinematography was really good, but I can't stand when directors use that awful blue tint.  I felt that it could have done without it, but that's why I'm just an average schmoe and not a director. :)

As far as if I would recommend this movie to others.  YES YES YES!  See this movie!  It's not full of a lot of gore like other horror movies.  It has its moments, but don't they all?  

Until next time... oh, and by the way, if you haven't cast your votes yet, please do so.  The poll is at the bottom of the page.

Thanks for reading my really average review of a really great movie.

A Mysterious Button Error

It looks as though my previous post got deleted.  I probably hit a wrong button or something.  I've been working all day so I'll just say that yes, I'll be writing my average reviews more than once a month.  I'll probably do a movie next.  Not a new movie, but a fairly recent movie. I haven't decided just yet.  I hope that it will be interesting for you.

Until then.....

My First Book "Review" : "Wicked" by Gregory McGuire

I hear the broadway musical adaptation of this book is phenomenal.  In fact, I hear it is coming to Boise for more than two weeks.  I hear that it may sell out most evenings.  Local radio stations are giving away VIP packages and such.

I have to wonder ............

Actually, I am curious as to how they managed to adapt this book to broadway.  

As most people know, it is the story of Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, before she became such.  That part of the story was really great.  The tales during her childhood and school days were great.  They gave the Witch such depth and the fact that she was born green gave her enough tragedy to deal with.  What I had a hard time grasping was the political concepts throughout the book.  Not that I don't grasp politics, but mostly I read to be entertained and it took me forever to get through this book because at most points I was thinking to myself, "So what?"  

There were lots of religious points to the book, too.  I could dig that.  McGuire did a great job of creating religious aspects that never really got fully explained.  OR perhaps I had fallen asleep through those parts.  I guess all of the elements combined were intended to give a super sense of depth to an otherwise green character.

I have never read the original book "Wizard of Oz" so perhaps I am missing some key elements here, but there were many points during this novel that I thought they skewed many of the characters out of the realm of what they should have been.  

I believe that this book could have been more entertaining than it was.  Perhaps the Broadway Musical is more so.  I'm not counting on it, though.  I suppose I should make a point to go see it, so that I can write a review of that, too.  

There was a lot of NO closure with many of the characters, and other times the author jumps around.  Actually, he jumped around A LOT. Very irritating.

This is a book that I will never read again.  It had come HIGHLY recommended from many friends, and I have to wonder why.  Why was this book so recommended?  Perhaps it was not to my liking because I am way more into fantasy books that don't take as long to read.  (Don't judge!)  

I will more than likely try to pick up a copy of the original Wizard of Oz to see if I am misjudging this story or not.  I will at least give it that chance and adjust my thoughts accordingly.  

Until then, I'll wait for the DVD release of Wicked.

Rating: 

Upon further searching the internet for one who thinks as I do, I did find a 1 star review of Wicked, but the reviewer has this to say about the musical:

"SEE THE SHOW: The broadway show is wonderful and amazing. It is everything that this book is not. However, don't go thinking that they have much in common, because they don't. The plot in the show makes sense, is interesting (far more interesting than the plot in the book), creates characters with whom you really become involved AND gives you a GREAT payoff in the end, explaining things in a MUCH better way and giving you a WONDERFUL and different point of view of the whole story of Oz. The show is one of the best that I have ever seen, and I have seen quite a few. Don't miss Julie Murney as Elphaba, if you get a chance. 

THE SHOW: 2 THUMBS UP, 4 STARS, DON'T MISS IT!

THE BOOK: 2 thumbs down, 0 stars, skip it."

Perhaps I will take that very good advice.....