On Riddick

Dong Nguyen developed a little app for iOs called Flappy Bird.  The game was extraordinarily simple in design, and extraordinarily difficult in play.  The concept, tap the screen to get a bird through small gaps.  There is no end-game, no goals other than get through as many gaps as possible. The game took the world by storm.  The designer got more attention than he wanted and pulled the game from iOs.  But it was too late.  The world knew about Flappy Bird.  The world loved Flappy Bird.  And with it gone, it has been emulated to no end.  Type in Flappy in the app store and there will be no end to the games where one must get a flappy something through small gaps.  What happened?  Someone created a formula for a game.  It worked.  Designers trying to cash in on the success copied the formula to varying degrees of success.

In 2000, a low-budget movie was released, chronicling the story of a convict stranded on a remote planet with his would-be captors.  The story initially begins with the attempt to maintain capture of said convict, but quickly turns into survival against the environment as the world goes Pitch Black and chaos ensues.  A simple formula for a movie.  It worked.  It remains my favorite of the franchise. It is considered a "cult classic" (so says Wikipedia - this isn't rocket science, I can use Wikipedia for research if I want!).

Four years later a sequel was released.  The budget of said sequel was significantly higher, and the story strayed into the realm of convict versus bounty hunter versus necromongers (so over-the-top on the naming convention there), dropping the alien-esque aspects of Pitch Black altogether.  The movie was high in action, but with all its fanfare and pomp, it failed to live up to its predecessor.  

Ten years later a third movie was released; Riddick (the movie in question, and where my Flappy Bird story starts to make sense).  After the flopping of the sequel, someone in the production/writing department must have looked back at Pitch Black and said "why did this work where The Chronicles of Riddick failed?  Oh, we eliminated the survival from the environment aspect of the franchise from Chronicles.  Maybe that would help!).  And so Riddick returns to the formula that made Pitch Black so successful: Part B) Convict versus Bounty Hunter.  Part C) Everyone versus the planet.  You may have noticed that earlier I stated Pitch Black was my favorite still (even though Riddick follows a similar formula).  You may also have noticed that I broke the two parts similar in formula to Pitch Black as Part B and Part C.  The problem?  Part A.

Riddick takes approximately 30 minutes to get to a point where there is ANY plot.  It is 30 minutes of Riddick finding himself on a planet and fighting one creature after another.  You would think this would be exciting, but after the third or fourth random monster, brief flashback to the necromonger stuff you hoped would be left behind (and thankfully is after said flashback), and extremely low volume self reflection, it just drags.  I have to wonder how many people the movie lost to walk-out due to the excruciatingly slow start.

If you find yourself willing to brave the 30 minute introduction, the movie then follows the Pitch Black formula and becomes a better/more exciting movie.  It has action, it has monsters, it has Katee Sackhoff (in the shower, no less).  It loses to Pitch Black due to that 30 minute snooze-fest, and due to its attempt to be more edgy through over-the-top action (did Riddick seriously need to dive head first in dramatic fashion to get down that three foot ledge?).  It also has some atrocious dialogue.

So why bother seeing this?  Aside from my griping, once you pass that 30 minute introduction, it is an entertaining survival film that simply fails in its attempt to one-up what made the first movie such a success.  Vin Diesel remains the likable tough-guy convict.  Katee Sackhoff is gorgeous and badass.  And apparently sales of the DVD have been high enough that the company is in discussion to continue the franchise for a fourth film (so some people must have been less critical of it than me).  I wouldn't care to own this (whereas I now wonder why I don't own a copy of Pitch Black), but I don't regret following up on the franchise.

I give it...  Ewoks.

On Gun Machine by Warren Ellis - REVIEW

Synopsis (per Goodreads):

After a shootout claims the life of his partner in a condemned tenement building on Pearl Street, Detective John Tallow unwittingly stumbles across an apartment stacked high with guns.  When examined, each weapon leads to a different, previously unsolved murder.  Someone has been killing people for twenty years or more and storing the weapons together for some inexplicable purpose.  

Confronted with the sudden emergence of hundreds of unsolved homicides, Tallow soon discovers that he's walked into a veritable deal with the devil.  An unholy bargain that has made possible the of some of Manhattan's most prominent captain's of industry.  A hunter who performs his deadly acts as a sacrifice to the old gods of Manhattan, who may, quite simply, be the most prolific murderer in New York City's history.  

Warren Ellis' body of work has been championed by Wired for its "merciless action" and "incorruptible bravery," and steadily amassed legions of diehard fans.  His newest novel builds on his accomplishments like never before, announcing Ellis as one of today's most daring thriller writers.  This is twenty-first century suspense writ large.  This is Gun Machine.  

Review:

How I came about picking up Gun Machine by Warren Ellis is a mildly convoluted story of mistaken identity.  The book appeared on a recommendations page and immediately the name struck a chord of recognition.  Upon further inspection one finds out Ellis did significant amount of writing in the comic book industry.  I read comics!  I must know what he wrote!  Then, as I read the reviews for Gun Machine (and his earlier work) I see he tends to write somewhat over-the-top gore (I'll go into that in a minute) and it hits me.  Punisher Max!  I'm totally picking up this book.  And I did.  And then I realized that it was Garth Ennis that wrote Punisher.  Ennis.  Ellis.  Oops.  Ellis has written numerous things you would know whether you're a major comic book geek or not.  Look it up.  Regardless that it was mistaken identity that pushed me to move this to the top of the read list, I am glad I picked it up.  

Story time is over (ha!).  Review time.  

On to the gore!  Ms. Au Lait and I like our TV.  One of the shows we watched quite a bit of was Bones.  Bones is a sometimes humorous police procedural that utilizes forensic anthropology to solve crimes.  Though the show is generally light-hearted, the premise requiring an anthropologist to solve murders requires that the crimes exhibit a certain...  grotesqueness.  As such, the bodies on the show are generally characterized as some of the more "gross" things in police procedural TV these days.  However; this more a side-product of the show, not what the show is actually about, which is character and case driven.  I would make the same argument for Ellis' work.  Yes, there is gore.  Yes, it is a little over-the-top at times.  However, it is a side-product of a story of a downtrodden NYC detective who just lost his partner, who is having a complete change in his outlook on life, and who is also on a case for a prolific murderer.  

This is a police procedural.  Murders have been committed and the case must be solved.  But this has a flair that Ellis brings to his works.  His characters are witty and quirky (protagonist and antagonist alike).  The action is immediate and non-stop.  

My only complaint (and it's not a bad one I suppose) is that the ending comes too fast.  There is significant buildup to the climax, but the climax happens extremely quickly.  I would have liked to linger a little longer in heat of it.  

In conclusion.  This is a book with entertaining characters and an imaginative plot.  And if I've learned anything from books, TV and movies it's that you need to enjoy the little things.

On The October List by Jeffery Deaver - REVIEW

Synopsis (per Goodreads):

Gabriela waits desperately for news of her abducted daughter.  

At last, the door opens.

But it's not the negotiators.  It's not the FBI.

It's the kidnapper.

And he has a gun.

How did it come to this?

Two days ago, Gabriela's life was normal.  Then, out of the blue, she gets word that her six-year-old daughter has been taken.  She's given an ultimatum: pay half a million dollars and find a mysterious document known as the "October List" within 30 hours, or she'll never see her child again.  

A mind-bending novel with twists and turns that unfold from its dramatic climax back to its surprising beginning, The October List is Jeffery Deaver at his masterful, inventive best.  

Review:

Normally I would omit the part of the synopsis that is self-congratulatory and gives no actual "synopsis" of the novel.  However, I wanted to ensure here that I left in the point that this is a book that starts from the end and, chapter by chapter, works its way back to the beginning.  If you were the Merovingian, you must take a piss because you had too much wine.  It's effect and cause.  It's the picture of the Merovingian, and then the explanation of why there's a picture of the Merovingian (how many times can Szever type "Merovingian" in one paragraph?).  (4). 

So, the question on everyone's mind is - does it work?  It certainly takes some getting use to.  Everything we read and watch is typically follows that "cause and effect" mentality.  There are snakes on the plane, ergo we get tired of these mother$*($&@ snakes on the mother*$&#(##0 plane.  So, in a sense (while reading this novel) you come to expect what the next chapter will be.  Something bad happens, and then we get the explanation of why or how the bad thing happened.  You read along and think, "there's really no reason for this to be backwards."  It would still be a good story had it been going the "right" way.

Then you hit the last 5 or so chapters and you're Charlie Brown.  You have the kick lined up, you think you know what's going to happen, and that (*#$&R pulls the ball away.  The rather straightforward story you just read completely changes, maybe three times, in very quick succession (hopefully that's not too spoiler-y.  I mean, you had to know there would be a twist if you're reading a book that goes backwards in time).

In the "foreword" section (which is the last thing you read...  backwards and all), Deaver explains he was inspired by some of the great films where chronology is toyed with - Pulp Fiction, Memento, Back to the Future...  He wondered if it was possible for a thriller writer to pull off a backwards story.  And to that I say, you have succeeded, Mr. Deaver.  Mind is sufficiently blown.  

On 2013 - Top Three and Bottom One

So, 2013 has come and gone (10 days ago, I know I'm a little behind on the obligatory "year in review" type of post).  It was an entertainment filled year where I went to the theater to see more movies and read more books than 2012.  I hope to continue this trend in 2014.  

I see a lot of top 10 lists around (most of them posted timely around New Year's, but I'm behind on reading the blogs too).  I will cut the list down to the top three and bottom one.  Movies / Books are linked to my review where one exists.  

Movies (only counts if I saw the movie in the theater):

# 3 - Monsters University

I took my four year old to see this and she loved it.  I did too.  Even today, weeks after she received the movie on DVD over the holidays and we have more-or-less had this on TV any time Yo Gabba Gabba is not on, I still love it.  It is fun, funny, and one of the better sequels done by Disney.  Ok, what it teaches children may not be the best lesson in the world, but it's a fun movie filled with a lot of good laughs.  I mean, it's Revenge of the Nerds for kids.

I don't believe it.  I'm on a top of the year list!

# 2 - The World's End

These guys are comedy gold.  All three of the movies are completely different yet all carry similar humor, heart and over-the-top ridiculous goodness.   

Made the list.  Time to hit the pub!

# 1 - Pacific Rim

Giant Robots fighting Giant Monsters.  And Ron Perlman.  

I liked the movie this much!

Honorable Mention - The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug  

This loses a little ground in that to me it didn't live up to the first part, and was an hour too long.  

Bottom - Broken City

Maybe it would have been better had I not gone into the theater thinking it would be an action movie.  Probably not.  So.  Slow.  

Books (based on what I read, not year of release)

# 3 Demon Cycle (I need to cheat and use the series since I did a lot of series binging this year)

I never posted a review of these books, so I feel compelled to at least put a blurb here.  I was convinced I would not like the Demon Cycle books (great way to start a review, no?).  I read the premise and thought it really interesting.  And then I picked up book one.  It starts WAY in the past of the "present" storyline (though you don't know that at the time).  Thinking this is what the story would be, I knew I wouldn't like it.  But the present storyline comes on with a vengeance, and it grew on me more and more with each page.  

# 2 The Republic of Thieves 

Sabetha

# 1 The Lightbringer (again cheating with the series name)

Cliche cloaked man doesn't do justice to a FANTASTIC book series (love the coloring though)

Bottom - NOS4A2

I love Joe Hill, and it's really not fair that he holds this position as the bottom of my 2013 pile.  Heart Shaped Box and Horns are fantastic books.  NOS4A2 wasn't horrible, but it really didn't hold my attention as well as his prior works.  And I should add that being the bottom book I read in 2013 is not necessarily a terrible thing.  I had no 1 or 2 (goodreads) rated books in 2013.  I don't read 50 books a year, so I tend to make sure my selections will hold my interest whenever possible.  Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.  2013 was a good book year for me.  I still highly recommend Hill's works, though maybe you pick up the other two books first.  

On Insane City by Dave Barry AND The House of Silk by Anthony Horowitz - REVIEWS

A quick two-fer.  

Insane City by Dave Barry

Synopsis (per Goodreads):  

Seth Weinstein knew Tina was way out of his league in pretty much any way you could imagine, which is why it continued to astonish him that he was on the plane now for their destination wedding in Florida. The Groom Posse had already sprung an airport prank on him, and he’d survived it, and if that was the worst of it, everything should be okay. Smooth sailing from now on.

Seth has absolutely no idea what he’s about to get into. In the next several hours, he and his friends will become embroiled with rioters, Russian gangsters, angry strippers, a pimp as big as the Death Star, a very desperate Haitian refugee on the run with her two children from some very bad men, and an eleven-foot albino Burmese python named Blossom. And there’re still two days to go before the wedding.

As it turns out, it’s not smooth sailing, it’s more like a trip on the Titanic. And the water below him is getting deeper every minute. By the end, amid gunfire, high-speed chases, and mayhem of the most unimaginable sort, violent men will fall, heroes will rise, and many lives will change.

Seth’s, not least of all.

Review:

Dave Barry writes characters so bizarre, so out-there, so unrealistic, that they are completely realistic.  His novels (and Insane City is no exception) read like some of the great movie capers - Clue, Oscar...  

Insane City carries that same...  insanity, and adds in a dose of The Hangover.  

A wonderful break from Fantasy / Sci-Fi.  Recommended.

The House of Silk: A Sherlock Holmes Novel by Anthony Horowitz

Synopsis (per Goodreads):

In freezing London, November 1890, Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson receive a man unnerved by a scarred-face stalker with piercing eyes. A conspiracy reaches to the Boston criminal underworld. The whispered phrase 'the House of Silk' hints at a deadly foe.

Review:

I need to admit that it was extraordinarily difficult to read through this without picturing Sherlock and Watson as Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman. The novel (the first authorized by the Conan-Doyle estate) takes place in traditional Sherlockian times, but even with the imagery updated in my head to the contemporary BBC version of Sherlock, it still made sense and flowed well.  I suppose that speaks well of BBC's version of Sherlock and how close his character is to the original despite the large time differential.

The House of Silk is told by an older Watson, recollecting one last case that was too disturbing to tell in his times.  Thus it would not be discovered for 100 years, and here it is.  It is a fast read, with what you would expect in a Sherlock Holmes novel.  Horowitz did a good job doing justice to the character and I was glad to get another chapter of the great detective in anticipation for Sherlock season 3.

Also recommended.  

On The Rithmatist by Brandon Sanderson - REVIEW

Synopsis (per Goodreads):

More than anything, Joel wants to be a Rithmatist.  Chosen by the Master in a mysterious inception ceremony, Rithmatists have the power to infuse life into two-dimensional figures known as Chalklings.  Rithmatists are humanity's only defense against the Wild Chalklings - merciless creatures that leave mangled corpses in their wake.  Having nearly overrun the territory of Nebrask, the Wild Chalklings now threaten all of the American Isles.  

As the son of a lowly chalkmaker at Armedius Academy, Joel can only watch as Rithmatist students study the magical art that he would do anything to practice.  Then students start disappearing - kidnapped from their rooms at night, leaving trails of blood.  Assigned to help the professor who is investigating the crimes, Joel and his friend Melody find themselves on the trail of an unexpected discovery - one that will change Rithmatcs - and their world - forever.

Review:

Decided to take a trip back to the YA zone.  Picked up The Rithmatist at the local library.  The story is that of a young man/boy (age: 16) who goes to an elite school that, on top of their standard classes, also teaches Rithmatics for those chosen by the Master to be Rithmatists.  It's explained in the synopsis what Rithmatics is, but incase you skipped over that section (you wouldn't do that, would you?), Rithmatics is the power to use chalk to a) give life to little chalk creatures (Chalklings) as well as create defensive / offensive structures (mostly based on circles and lines).  Joel (our protagonist) is not a Rithmatist, though yearns to be one.

The story carries a rather cliche structure, but behind that structure is an interesting concept - chalk-monsters and spring/gear-punk.  While chalk does not sound exciting and/or scary, Sanderson has a way of making it interesting.  These are not pretty unicorns (mostly) running about to make the world a more beautiful place.  Spiders, monsters, amorphous blobs, are drawn and have the ability to rend a man to nothing but bones.

There are few twists and turns that one doesn't necessarily expect.  As well as twists and turns that one would expect.  Regardless, this was a pretty easy read and another interesting world that Sanderson has created.  Again, this is the first of a new YA series he will be continuing.  I look forward to see more growth in the American Isles and Rithmatic studies.

Never did Joel think he was going to make it in the Melee.  Gonna be a Rithmatist, he thought.  Give Nalizar a run for it.  You know how the story goes.  Up, always up.  Never down.  Gonna study his ass off and learn all there is about Rithmatics whether he becomes one or not.  Let the stuck-up Rithmatists at Armedius look down upon him!  You know he'll come out on top.  Down to the wire.  Never give up.  Gonna take Rithmatics by storm!  Run towards the danger.  Around politics.  And in the end, Rithmatist or not, Joel will be there.  Desert, Nebrask, the tower of Chalkling power.  You just wait.

On Control Point (Shadow Ops #1) by Myke Cole - REVIEW

Synopsis (per Goodreads):

Army Officer.  Fugitive.  Sorcerer.

Across the country and in every nation, people are waking up with magical talents.  Untrained and panicked, they summon storms, raise the dead, and set everything they touch ablaze.

Army officer Oscar Britton sees the worst of it.  A lieutenant attached to the military's Supernatural Operations Corps, his mission is to bring order to a world gone mad.  Then he abruptly manifests a rare and prohibited magical power, transforming him overnight from government agent to public enemy number one.  

The SOC knows how to handle this kind of situation: hunt him down-- and take him out.  Driven into an underground shadow world, Britton is about to learn that magic has changed all the rules he's ever known, and that his life isn't the only thing he's fighting for.

Review:

I didn't intentionally read this right after reading Steelheart.  Two books with different takes on Stan Lee's "with great power yaddayaddayadda." Opposite ends of what Magneto would hope to strive for.  In Steelheart, the powered populace essentially run the world (what's left of it).  In Control Point we see Magneto's greatest fear.  Government.  What does the United States (or any) government due when something threatens its way of life?  It regulates the shit out of it!  All powered individuals in the army...  now!

Control Point is heavy into the military side of things.  The plot, dialogue, acronyms.  This is military fantasy fiction.  And Myke Cole knows his stuff.  That's him on the right looking like he can rip your head off (and he probably can).  Three tours in Iraq and still a reservist to this day.  How did Patrick Rothfuss word it?...  "He's a hell of a nice guy, and a bit an an exception to the fantasy author cliche.  He's not a bearded pudgy ex-D&D geek.  He's a clean-shaven, military-fit, ex-D&D geek." Well put, Mr. Rothfuss (as always).

Control Point is a man questioning his decisions, his government, all of the rules and regulations that had guided his life.  Who does the government serve?  In whose best interest is a war beyond the realm of the average citizen?  The questions don't all have answers and Oscar does quite of bit of reflecting over these points (again and again...  probably the biggest downside is his repetition of the same questions to himself).  As a whole, the book is certainly interesting.  My experience in military fiction is...  well...  this.  So, I'm pleased it kept my attention.  And I have added book #2 to my "to read" list (I know...  book #3 comes out soon...  I'm behind *cough*Warcraft*cough* leave me alone).  

And who doesn't like stories with super powers?  

I give it...  Professor X firing Wolverine (click the link for the video).