Dead as a Doornail

Book Five is pretty Were heavy. Alcide comes back in along with Calvin who's in charge of the local werepanthers.

Someone is killing off the local Weres while Alcide's dad is making a run at pack leader. A lot of politics in this one but not dull at all.

Eric has his memory back but can't remember what happened while he was in Sookie's care. That's amusing enough.

Sookie meets Quinn, a weretiger and her next love interest, during the battle for pack leader and realizes that things won't work between her and Alcide.

Book Four until further notice is my favorite book of this series.

Bill is off doing research for his database of vampires and isn't featured much in this one.  Yay!

Sookie is feeling pretty shell shocked and sick of her current life.  She tries to lay low but one night low and behold Eric shows up half naked and without a memory.  Some bad witches are in town and put a spell on Eric for refusing to play nice.  Sookie takes care of him while the other vamps try to figure out a way to get the spell removed.  The memory-less Eric is sweet, a little timid, and more affectionate than normal Eric.  It takes a few chapters before Sookie joins Team Eric.  And really, who wouldn't want to join Team Eric.

This plus a big battle at the end between the Vamps, Weres, the local Witches and Wiccans, and Fairies versus the bad Witches won me over.  

Oh, there's a Plot A.  Jason disappears which really isn't such a big deal but Sookie suspects the bad witches have played a part.  He eventually shows back up at the end...a little worse for the Were.  Ha.

Club Dead

Book Three ended my rooting for Vampire Bill.

There's a King or Queen vampire of every state and a Sheriff of each area.  Eric is a sheriff and answers to the Queen of Louisiana.

Bill is called back to the vampire that made him, Lorena, who's working for the King of Mississippi.  Apparently the word is out that Bill has a telepath for a girlfriend and everyone wants her.  Bill is tortured and sexed up by Lorena in an attempt to find who Sookie is. 

Sookie however is dead set on rescuing Bill even after Eric tells her that he's returned to Lorena.  Eric gives her an escort, Alcide, who is a sweet werewolf.  Together they get access to the King of Mississippi's court and with the help of Bubba, vampire Elvis, they rescue Bill.

Sookie does realize that she could have a relationship with Alcide which I took as a turning point for her.  But he is pretty complicated and has a lot of crazy baggage - his ex-girlfriend - that tries to kill Sookie a few times.  

This one was pretty fast paced and we get a brief introduction to the Were world and politics.  I didn't really buy Bill's excuses and just found him to be pretty much a wuss.  Go team Eric.

 

Living Dead in Dallas

Book Two of the Sookie Stackhouse series was not as good as book one.  Sean always hates Simpson episodes that start with plot A move on to an unrelated plot B and finish with a plot C.  This book followed the same pattern which I normally love but I found it irritating.

The story starts with a death of a co-worker of Sookie's.  The body is found in Andy Bellefluer's (the local detective) car.  Dun dun dun.  Plot A.

We move on to Sookie and Bill driving along after being called to Eric's bar Fangtasia.  They begin to argue and the car breaks down.  Sookie in a snit walks off and is attacked by a supernatural who may have orchestrated the fight and break down.  Bill comes to the rescue though and rushes her to Eric.  All the vamps save her but now she owes them.  Plot B.

Sookie is now off to Dallas to find a missing vampire and we get a look into the Fellowship of the Sun, a cult devoted to snuffing out vampire life.  (I did think that was utter genius on Charlaine's part)  She discovers that the cult has the vampire and is going to kill him at dawn unless Sookie can get him out.  Along the way she meets Barry the bellboy, another telepath, who plays an important role later in the books.  Plot C.

Sookie does need some help this time from some Weres to get out alive but still no Vampire Bill busting down doors.  In fact after her escape she's summoned to a party where the house is attacked and its Eric that saves her from being shot.  Bill is around but he's a little busy feasting on their attackers.  Bill really isn't a great boyfriend.  

After she gets back into town Sookie still has to solve the mystery of her dead friend that seems to have been on the back burner for several weeks now.  Slowly she figures out that maybe her friend was partying with the wrong people and has to infiltrate a sex party with the help of Eric again...in neon spandex.  Maybe plot A was worth it for the spandex.

It seems that plot A was just a way to divulge some information about Bill's current relatives none of which are pleasant people.  And it just seems to add to his ADHD around her.  Now he becomes obsessed with helping them and pay less attention to his Suckie.

Dead Until Dark

I started watching True Blood last month and got hooked quickly.  After picking up the hints that there was something going on with Sam, Sookie's boss, I couldn't wait until his secret was revealed in the show and started reading the books.

The first  book was actually better than I thought it was going to be.  There's less gratuitous sex in the book than the series so it does drag here and there.  The book is told from Sookies pov and Sookie is very enamored with herself so there's a lot of description of how she looks, what she's wearing, and how big her bust size...all of that can  be forgiven however.

Sookie is telepathic so she's pretty much a reject in her little town.  Her parents are killed while she's still young leaving her and her brother Jason to be raised by their grandmother.  Sookie grows up to work at the local bar.  One day Vampire Bill walks into the bar and her world gets shaken up.  

I'd have to admit that the Bill/Sookie romance is pretty ok.  I actually liked Bill in this first book and was rooting for him for several books afterwards.  Some of the locals don't take kindly to Sookie dating a vampire and Bill has a few close calls.  I thought that part was the more interesting plot point of the book - how normal people would react to supernaturals coming out.  Some burned down a house and another went on a killing spree.  Wee.

You do get a taste of the vampire community with Eric and Pam at Fangtasia and there are other supernatural beings in this world namely Sam.  I really love Pam in her sweater sets and Eric is just perfection.

I was really happy the ending.  I didn't pick up on who was the real killer until the last moments and was thrilled that Sookie didn't need Vampire Bill to save her.

My new baby!

Isn't she pretty? She's a Dyson Animal. I'll have her sometime next week and I didn't pay $500 for her. I've never been this excited about a vacuum.

Doctor Who Season 4

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/cult/a93187/billie-cameo-stuns-doctor-who-viewers.html

Really? Because I knew about Rose coming back like six months ago. Maybe the people living in basements were surprised.

Wee. Another season of watching the very...talented...and very overpaid David Tennet as Doctor Who. Please, oh, please let him regenerate this season.

[Rec]

I finally found an English subs version and now Sean is off the hook for providing translation from Spanish. And good thing because there was more going on than just screaming and hiding.

This is probably the scariest movie I've seen in a decade. It's a decent neo zombie like 28 days later - infection drives people into a frenzied state and they eat other people. Granted it isn't unique or as well made as 28 days later but it's decent. It is filmed with a hand held camera but this isn't nearly as shaky as Cloverfield.

The story follows local tv reporter Angela and her cameraman, Pablo as they film firefighters on a routine call. Except it turns out to be not so routine. An older and apparently sick resident of the apartment building they enter attacks a police officer biting him. Things get worse when the Spanish version of the CDC seals everyone in the building. The infection spreads and everyone gets zombiefide. There were few "oh, shit" moments that had me yelling at the screen but the gore was pretty mild. For the most part I was involved but it was still pretty clear that I was watching a movie.

The last 20 minutes or so get incredibly creepy. This would definitely fit on the list of creepiest movie moments. (I may have slept with a light on last night - which makes no sense because I would really prefer to not see if a zombie was going to attack me and I am fairly certain that there are no zombies in the tri-county area.)

Angela and Pablo find refuge in the penthouse apartment that's supposed to be vacant but you know it isn't. More is revealed about what's really going on but not a whole of questions are answered.

It isn't clear exactly what the infection is or how it spread to the other residents. The CDC guys knew about it too, so this isn't the first outbreak. And it seems to be able to be spread from animal to human.

All the actors were believable and the characters seemed real. I really liked Angela even though occasionally you'd wish she'd shut up.

Of course there is an American remake in the works starring Deb from Dexter. I think I'll miss that one.

Torchwood Season 2

I'm bored so hey, here's a recap with very little spoilage:

Episode 1: Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang
James Marsters guest stars as Captain John Hart, a fellow Time Agent and ex of Jack's. Captain John has his own agenda and tricks all the silly, trusting Torchies.

This was quite possibly the best episode ever... of any show ever. That's not because of the hot kiss between the two captains. He did for Torchwood what he did to the last few seasons of Buffy; Breathed new life into it. They really need to keep him as a reoccurring character.

Episode 2: Sleeper
Whoops! The Torchies wake up alien sleeper cells. (If these people are the last defense, we are doomed.) The alien design was brilliant though. And it looks like the aliens will make an appearance at some point in the future.

Episode 3: To the Last Man
This one was weird. There's a soldier from WWI that is kept frozen at Torchwood. (Who else do they have living in the freezer?) At some point in the future, the past and the present will merge and bad things will happen. So this guy is going to put the times back in their place. (I really didn't get this.) But don't feel bad for him, he gets to spend one day awake each year and most of the day he's poked by Owen. For the past few years, the time he's not being poked by Owen, he spends with Tosh. Too bad that Tosh doesn't have such a great record with keeping love interests alive.

Episode 4: Meat
Some slime balls find a sperm whale sized alien that's slipped through the rift. One of the more brilliant slime balls finds a way to sell it to a local meat processor. Yum. Trouble ensues when the Torchies uncover the alien meat in a crashed truck - a truck that was coincidentally contracted from Rhys' truck company. Even more trouble ensues when Rhys (Gwen's boyfriend who has no clue she's in Torchwood) sees Gwen at the site of the crash. Warning: the last five minutes or so don't really make sense.

Episode 5: Adam
Adam is a very naughty alien that can alter people's memories with a touch. In a matter of seconds he has Tosh believing she's attractive, Ianto believing he's a serial killer, Owen believing he's a likable character, and Gwen forgetting about Rhys. Alternate realities are not bad things.

You do get to see Jack's home world and family which was cool. However Ianto cries again. I can't stand him. He's a big baby man.

Episode 6: Reset
Martha, one of the only likable Dr. Who characters, makes an appearance. People who have mysteriously been cured from incurable diseases start showing up dead. Ironic? Someone has been shoving a big needle through their eye and extracting something from their heads. There is smallish "ew" factor to this episode. Martha goes undercover as a test subject to find out if the lab is to blame. There is a cliff hanger at the end of this episode. One of the Torchies may or may not have stopped being unlikable.

Episode 7: Dead Man Walking
Apparently Jack ,who's lived on earth for what 150 years, never caught an episode of Buffy or Angel. When you bring dead people back, there are always consequences, duh.

Owen is resurrected by Jack with the second glove that's been kept at the Weeble church. They just don't wear jumpsuits and orthopedic shoes, they're bible thumpers as well. Something masquerading as death piggy backs with Owen's soul. Martha gets old and the Torchies unintentionally kill 12 innocent people. Martha miraculously gets better when Owen defeats "death" but his life is still over since he can't drink, sleep, or shag. Can't wait for Episode 8 that seems to be a lot of Owen whining and brooding.

Episode 8: A Day in the Death
This is episode lived up the teaser. Lots of brooding and whining by Owen. Jack even takes away his badge and gun and puts him on coffee duty to put the cherry on the whine sundae.

I have some fundamental problems with Owen's condition. He's alive in the sense that he has brain function. No organs are functioning and his blood flow has stopped. He is warned not to hurt himself because he will not heal. But he of course cuts himself so the wound has to be continuously stitched. Don't want an open wound because he lacks the ability to fight off infection. This is going to be an issue eventually as his body begins to rot around him. Can't give him antibiotics because there's blood flow.

Owen in a snit throws out all his food and his toothbrush. Dead or not, no one should deal with his stanky breath and he's still a candidate for gum disease.

The Torchies eventually give Owen a job because they need someone without body heat. Owen meets an old billionaire that's bought some kind of lighted alien shell off of eBay that he thinks is keeping him alive. Eventually old guy buys it* and Owen walks away with the shell. I don't know if the shell had some kind of super power besides being a nightlight but it gives Owen some kind of Prozac shot and he stops brooding for the moment.

*No breath comes back. Owen has breath. Angel has breath. They talk so they inhale. They can exhale as well. It yet again makes no fing sense that they can't perform cpr.

Episode 9: Something Borrowed
Gwen gets knocked up with an alien baby on her wedding day. The usual hijinks ensue but not before her in-laws think she's carrying Jack's bastard child.

I really hate that they've never really developed a Gwen/Jack love story but they continually refer to some passion between them.

I really think that Rhys isn't long for this series though. Sooner or later he's going to get killed off and Gwen's going to end up in Jack's bed.

Episode 10: From Out of the Rain
Mildly scary circus folk come out of an old film. I think this has been done before and quite a bit better. Pretty dull episode but we find out that Jack has spent some time as a side show act.

Episode 11: Adrift
From IMDB, "When a local teenager disappears Gwen is drawn into an investigation that reveals a darker side of Torchwood. Hundreds of people have disappeared without trace, but why is Jack obstructing attempts to find them? The answer seems to lie in the rift, and as Gwen follows the trail she makes a shocking discovery."

The darker side of Torchwood revealed is that Jack is an ass and he enjoys setting Gwen up. The shocking discovery is that Torchwood really isn't well funded. For an agency that's supposed to be our defense against aliens, you'd think they'd get more than $100 to open up a half way house for rift victims. They need to do some fund raisers. Maybe a bake sale. I'm sure Jack makes killer brownies when he's not being an ass.

PC Andy makes an appearance and Gwen walks in on Jack and Ianto. Possibly the only enjoyable parts of this episode.

When is Rhys going to start knocking Gwen around?! I keep forgetting that Rhys is a self obsessed ass as well. Suddenly the Rhys/Gwen/Jack/Ianto love square is making sense.

Smaug

Yes, I am all excited that there will be a Hobbit movie. Yay!

The most anticipated casting is of course the voice of Smaug. LotR was a great series with mostly little know actors and for most of the cast of the Hobbit that would work well. They *have* to bring Ian McKellen back for Gandalf and possibly Hugo Weaving for Elrond but the rest could be unknowns.

However, Smaug like Aslan has to be a recognizable voice. But unlike Aslan, they should pick someone cool and not disappointing like Liam Nieson.

Smaug's voice has to be deep, arrogant, sinister, slithering and seductive. He also has to be British and NOT David Tennant.

Jen's Nominations:

Andy Serkis - my first choice. He did a great job as Gollum, the Witchking and King Kong. Just let him go to town and I'm sure he'll come up with the right voice. Maybe Andy isn't really a big name but as far as voices go, he's good.

Richard Amitage - I love his voice. It might need to be brought down to make it a bit deeper but he can do sinister and seductive. He tends to get a little whiny and nasally when angry though. But I think I secretly want to see him as Beorn.

Jeremy Irons - He could most definitely play a dragon and his voices kind of slithers at times. He was in that Eragon movie so that might hurt his chances.

Alan Rickman - Next to Christopher Lee (who is Saruman and can't be Smaug unfortunately), he has the best voice on the planet. He could be Smaug but then I would be attracted to Smaug. Then I would yet again be conflicted.

Jason Issacs - Past work: Lucius Malfoy and James Hook. I'm convinced. He has a good range too.

Patrick Stewart - Yes, he could do it but would it be much of a shocker? I didn't list Sean Connery because he seems like a given. I may change my mind on Patrick Stewart. Maybe he'd be good for one of the Dale guys. Not Bard but maybe his dad.

Bill Nighy - He's got a great voice and great range. I think out of everyone he has my favorite angry voice.

Sam Neil - I've always thought of him as a sort of a poor man's Hugo Weaving and since Hugo needs to be Elrond, Sam could do it. He can be seductive.

Max Van Sydow - Not British but he can pull it off. And seriously, how cool would it be if he were Smaug?

Nicol Williamson - Although maybe not the nicest of human beings, his Merlin made Excalibur. And his narration on the Hobbit record is a treasured childhood memory of mine. And hey, IMDB says he's available.

Honoroable Mention:
David Warner - Because I love David Warner. He's been in pretty much everything, done a lot of voice work and has a very memorable voice. A voice that's perfect for a dragon.

It's not too late.

http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20185951,00.html?xid=rss-topheadlines

Unless you're opening an agency to help struggling single moms, shut up. We don't need to know every moment of pain in your life and you don't need the attention. Just take a swim in your huge Scrooge McDuck sized vault the next time you feel the need to share. The next headline will be J.K. Rowling forced to wear polyester pants while living in poverty. Oh, the horror.

This makes me sick.

I hate this woman.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080229/ap_en_ot/harry_potter_lawsuit

Seriously, Jo, go crawl under the rock you came out from and stay there. You obviously know that the HP is your only claim to fame and you're holding on to every dime with a death grip. Exactly how much money will it take to fill the empty void where your soul should be?

The Dark is Rising

I had to watch this because of Sean.

Last year Sean drug Jason to the movies to see this craptacular piece of film because Jonathan Jackson was it in. That's him in the upper left hand corner of the movie poster.

You would actually think he was in this movie because he's on the poster, but he's not. Jason had to sit through hours of poorly written dialog, b movie special effects, and boring plot points for nothing.

This was the worst movie I've seen in years and I happen to enjoy really bad movies. This wasn't enjoyable. Christopher Eccleston wasn't even enjoyable. I sincerely hope the book was better than this "movie".

You know if you're going to make a movie that's going to compete with the Harry Potter franchise, it should be original and mildly interesting. Not everyone has the same budget as the HP movies but the special effects were just poor for something coming out this century.

This movie was just bad. No one should see it.

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

I really can't stand Brad Pitt and I don't want to voluntarily give money to anyone who's name ends in Affleck, but this movie was just superb. Superb acting, beautiful shots, and just brutal violence.

It does have a slow pace at times so if you're trying to stay up past your bedtime to finish it, you just may very well nod off a few times. But I did want to finish it.

Basically it's about the last days of Jesse James, who shares my birthday, btw. At this point in his life, he's paranoid and worn from the years of leading a brutal life. Brad Pitt is good and a little frightening at times when he loses control. I am thankful that we have a violent media to desensitize us now.

Casey Affleck is just amazing as Robert Ford, who has his own personality disorders. He is just plain creepy. He should get an oscar for being creepy. And they do show the aftermath of the shooting on Bob and his own brutal murder.

The whole movie leads up to the moment when Bob shoots and kills Jesse. It does it well. I found myself holding my breath through the last five minutes.

Ok, so it brings up lots of questions like the portray of celebrities in the media and how a killer could possibly be portrayed as a saint. And did Jesse know about the plot to kill him and did he let it happen?

Cloverfield

It's taken me awhile to get back to this, but I absolutely loved Cloverfield. (Clovey is above. Isn't he a cutie? Rar!)

The shakey camera work did make me a little ill afterwards and my inner ear was very unforgiving. However, I don't recall the last movie that gave me an "oh, shit" moment as I cowered in my seat...maybe Aliens 4. And it wasn't scary like having to sleep with the lights on for two weeks after watching the Exorcist for the first time. I am really now a coward.

The absolutely best thing about this movie was that it was pretty much just the monster attacking New York. There was very little back story featured in the movie - you can find it online though. And you know, after sitting through the pain that was the Transformers Movie, I was just fine with that.

I also liked Hud who was filming. He made me giggle quite a few times and alas he is now just under three feet tall according to his myspace page.

'What is that?'
'It's a terrible thing.'

Rudy on Alien Attack

Let's go ahead and start bowing down to our alien masters if Rudy is elected.

We still need to know his policy on Zombies - fast and slow, and giant monsters.