Showing posts with label Reviews. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Reviews. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Review Tuesday: The Matarese Countdown by Robert Ludlum
0 comments Posted by jaraneilang at 11:22 AM
Earlier in the year I read The Matarese Circle
by Robert Ludlum. I loved the book (review HERE), so when I found out there was a sequel I had to get my hands on it! Twenty years after the events of The Matarese Circle
, the family business is back at it. The grand children of the Baron Matarese, along with the son of the shepherd-boy have put together a time-table for global domination. First, they will destroy economies, then the governments of the world. The smallest scraps of information on the case are dumped on the desk of CIA Agent Cameron Pryce and he's told to find the reclusive hero from the first book, Brandon Scofeld, for his assistance and knowledge on the subject.
, the family business is back at it. The grand children of the Baron Matarese, along with the son of the shepherd-boy have put together a time-table for global domination. First, they will destroy economies, then the governments of the world. The smallest scraps of information on the case are dumped on the desk of CIA Agent Cameron Pryce and he's told to find the reclusive hero from the first book, Brandon Scofeld, for his assistance and knowledge on the subject. The book is a series of twists and turns as the good guys and bad guys are in a death grip for control of the entire planet.
The concept is chilling, and the story will enthrall you. However there is entirely too much reflection by Scofeld and his wife to the first book to make it drag a bit.
All in all, it was a fun book to read and the 566 pages went by very quickly. If you like Ludlum and read the first one, definitely consider this book as well!
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
I was a small child when the original Planet of the Apes movies came out. I have very little memory of those movies, but I know that when the remake from a couple years ago starring Marky Mark came out, I absolutely refused to see it. Something wasn't right about the vibe. However, when I recently saw a trailer for Rise of the Planet of the Apes, I suddenly felt inspired to see this movie. 
A scientist, Will Rodman (James Franco) working for a pharmaceutical company is working desperately to find a cure for Alzheimer's disease, less so for the company and more so for his father, Charles (John Lithgow) who is fading fast from the disease. The rest of the movie stands as a warning about drug testing, toying with nature, and the accidental damage that good intentions can create.
I walked in with very low expectations. It's Planet of the Apes. Will it really be provocative? Indeed, it IS! It's riveting. It pulls you in. The bulk of the movie is from the perspective of Caesar, the lone survivor of the original test. You get to see him grow in age, size, and intelligence. The perspective was almost haunting. You get a guided tour of Caesar's life while his and Will's lives start to crumble some 7 years later.
The original Planet of the Apes movies dealt with the major crisis of the time: The Cold War. War breaks out, we destroy ourselves and our planet, and the Apes inherit the Earth. This time around, Will Rodman plays around with the brain and viruses, and unwittingly unleashes a plague on mankind that, we assume, will decimate the human population of the planet while making the apes smarter. It's a brilliant plan to make this Planet of the Apes vehicle roll! Now, the dire warning about disease is topical today and plays well with the story, it's only really introduced in the final moments of the movie. The bulk of the flick is developing the character of Caesar, and his climb to lead smarter apes to freedom.
I'll call this movie brilliant and the ending is wide open for a sequel, though I'm not sure that it needs one. It also makes clever references to the original movies, so pay attention! Oh! And co-star Caroline Aranha (Frieda Pinto) is smoking HOT in the movie!
Definitely worth watching! Be sure to catch it sooner than later! Movies vanish all too quickly these days.
More on IMDB:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1318514/ Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Cowboys & Aliens. What an odd title. Who would come up with such a thing? What sort of combination is this? That was exactly what Jon Favreau in mind when he put this together: MEMORABLE. He did it!
When an expeditionary force of Aliens invade the Old West, it takes a band of Cowboys, Indians, and another alien in the form of a hot chick to prevent them from devastating the planet.
The story starts with Jake Lonergan (Daniel Craig) waking up in the middle of the Arizona desert with no memory or shoes, but did have a nasty wound in his side and an odd bracelet on his left wrist. He ends up in trouble in a nearby town that is under attack by aliens in search of gold and humans to run tests on.
The rest of the movie is a typical Western: men on horses traveling through the dusty Arizona desert, overcoming adversity, and finding allies that would normally be enemies until the final assault.
The movie clocks in at about two hours, but you would never know it. It moves at a steady pace and the journey is more of a tool to develop the characters. There's no wasted screen time. It's just a lot of fun. I definitely suggest catching it. Good movie!
More at IMDB:
And, Cowboys & Aliens DID beat out Smurfs last weekend:
Box Office
1. Cowboys & Aliens $36.4M2. The Smurfs $35.6M
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