The Book of Life (book)

The Book of Life by Deborah Harkness.

A good ending to The All Souls trilogy.  And for a vampire and witch romance trilogy it was good as they as they get.  Her vampires had weight, felt old and ancient not like the wimpy, moaning, teen wanna-be vampires of today.  These vampires were fierce and deadly killers when they needed to be.  The romance between a four or five hundred year old vampire and a history/alchemist witch was thoroughly convincing as I've never understood how a vampire that old could ever have any type of emotional relationship to a teenager like in these new soapy, puking vampire stories of today.   Her two main characters relationship is convincing as they both had a large history and could relate on a mental level with each other as the physical part of their relationship was just a bonus. 

One thing I really like about Harkness world is her world building and the characters she populated it.  Her characters completely sell the story and move it forward with such confidence that no matter how crazy everything gets I didn't care because I was invested the characters.  Harkness isn't afraid to have her characters in scenes talking and actually those scenes I really looked forward to because Harkness not only moved the story forward in these scenes but she also used these scenes to flesh out the characters more.  She wasn't afraid to share information about the story as characters found out things, they didn't hold back information but explained and talked about it like real friends and family would in real life.  There are a lot characters in this story and by a lot, I mean a lot, but she makes them completely unique and interesting.

Her world building was spectacular especially for a romance story.  She created a world in book one and then continued to build on it as her trilogy continued.  From what I've read she doesn't plan on any more books in this world, which is a shame because her world and characters I can honestly say I would like to revisit again.

Foxcatcher

Foxcatcher directed by Bennett Miller, starring Steve Carell, Mark Ruffalo, Channing Tatum, Sienna Miller, Vanessa Regrave, and Anthony Michael Hall.

This is without one of the oddest films I've seen in a while but I found it completely captivating throughout.  The main reason for this is the combined talents of the director (Miller), the acting of Carell, Ruffalo, and Tatum, and the juxtaposition of a wealth and class.  All mix together well in this movie, as they support each element of each other in some wondrous ways to make a truly remarkable movie experience. 

Miller did a great job of directing this movie as he never let the story line or themes get to far ahead of anything but kept everything in balance without preaching or being pretentious.  He kept the story line and characters forefront and let them carry the movie.  But boy was his direction spot on.  There were many scenes that had a horror or thriller element to them where tension was just invading the scene - ultimately nothing happened but I still found myself on the edge of my seat so thick was the tension.  And it was justified tension not manufactured tension.  I seem to find too many directs today who want to be flashy or edgy that they short change the movie they make because they make themselves a distraction to the story and characters.  Miller doesn't do that here as he actually sets scenes up and isn't afraid to just let things play out before cutting.  He even shows the production of the movies sets and costume letting them become part of the movie.  Looking forward to seeing if he has more good movies inside him.

 I know Steve Carell, deserve-ably, got acclaim for his performance but I must say it was the combine talents of all three actors that moved this story along with confidence.  Ruffalo and Tatum must also be celebrated as they physically and mentally inhabited the mindset of a wrestler, to some remarkable levels. From their walk and mannerisms I found myself forgetting they were acting much like Carell seemed to have lost himself in his role.  All three were a joy to watch acting in this movie and alone would justify a journey into this world.

The themes of wealth and class play big roles in this movie.  Each one is explored from different perspectives without ever feeling preachy.  These ideas are presented not just from the story but also handled extremely well from the actors and directing.  It's common mix of these ingredients that help these themes to be stirred into the movie so they aren't overpowering the story or characters.  I've seen a lot of movies where the theme dominates everything because the director is being preachy and more or less yelling at me instead of just letting the story or characters move the theme forward (Avatar is a prime example of this).  Despite the fact whether or not I agree with the theme or not - that doesn't matter because if the story and characters are center of the movie I can at least understand the theme without feeling it overbearing to everything else going on. 

This movie is worth seeing and largely went unnoticed, despite all the accolades thrown at Carell.  This isn't just his movie but a great mixture of talent that make it a movie that needs to be talked about more.         

Whole Lotta Led Zeppelin

Whole Lotta Led Zeppelin by John Bream.

First book I've read about my favorite rock band.  I had heard a lot of the stories in this book but this time I got them first had instead of just reading snippets of their stories here or there.  This book doesn't hide anything about the band members and more or less a no holds barred look at them.  It also goes through their entire discography and gives reviews on each album - which is really cool as the reviews go very in depth into the songs and their structure.  There is also a lot of pictures of not just the band but all kinds merchandise from their many tours.  Throw into the mix a great many interviews with musicians about Led Zeppelin and the effect this group had on their life.  All of this adds up to a very good read. 

The Judge

The Judge directed by David Dobkin, starring Roberts Downey, Jr, Robert Duvall, Vera Farmiga, Billy Bob Thornton, and Vincent D'Onofrio.

The main reason to see this movie is because of the team up Downey, Jr. and Duvall.  They completely carry this movie from beginning to end and with an ending that for once seems to fully end a story with a satisfying conclusion that compliments the characters without feeling overly emotional or syrupy.  This is not by any means a great movie but the acting of everyone in this movie is great and made it a great watch.  They story line is a typical prodigal son returns home, doesn't want to be there, and they ends up realizing he does.  But despite that cliche being the catalyst for the story line it never felt forced, while the power of Downey and Duvall as they pole positioned their characters to the end helped to sell the cliche aspect of it.  I fully bought in to their characters development and how they stayed true to themselves throughout the movie.  

The Boxtrolls

The Boxtrolls directed by Graham Annable and Anthony Stacchi, starring the voices of Ben Kingsley, Jared Harris, Nick Frost, and Tracy Morgan.

One of the more idiosyncratic movies I've seen - from the visual standpoint and from the storyline standpoint as I'd never heard of a boxtroll before this movie.  Visually this movie is very odd and strange but that oddness and strangeness fully matches creation of the boxtrolls and the world they were creating with these boxtrolls.  From a story line standpoint nothing new is going on here but none-the-less it was an interesting movie to have seen and kept the kids entertained all through out. 

Fury

Fury written and directed by David Ayer, starring Brad Pitt, Shia LaBeouf, Logan Lerman, Michael Pena, and Joh Bernthal.

I think the one thing that hinders this movie from being truly good is the ending.  For a movie that strives for realism visually (which is succeeds), production design (which is also succeeds), and from character stand point (which it mostly succeeds).  Then have an ending which falls back on typical Hollywood cliches kind of defeats the whole point of the movie. 

But other than that this was for the most part a good watch.  The movie doesn't lose track of main characters of the movie - namely the characters in the tank.  They are the focus of the movie and it doesn't get bogged down narrative-wise in anything else, the story line follows them and them only. Most screenplays now-a-days seemed more focused on everything else happening in the story but what they story is supposed to be focused about thus loosing the narrative of the story.  They  want to tell all the other stories in the movie but the main characters.  This movie is about the tank crew of the tank called Fury. And that is what this movie is about. 

From a visual stand point this movie does a good job of recreating the Saving Private Ryan and Band of Brothers production design that really helps to shape the world they live in.  It feels like a real war they are in and not some back stage production.  Ayer does a good job of creating the confinement and closeness of the tank crew inside the tank and does wonders when the camera goes outside of the tank as the visuals and wideness of the outside contrast with the smallness of the tank. 

The tank crew does have it's cliche characters but I thought they were a lot more well played than the ones presented in Saving Private Ryan.  I felt these guys didn't seem as forced into stereotyped roles and stayed true to their characters throughout the movie - which is something Hollywood has a hard time doing now-a-days.  All of the actors rose to the challenge with the characters and breathed a good bit of fresh air into them with each scene they were in.  I also liked how all the characters weren't extremely likable - this helped to make them seem more real.

The Book of Life

The Book of Life directed by Jorge R. Gutierrez, starring the voices of Channing Tatum, Zoe Saldana, Ice Cube, Ron Perlman, Christina Applegate, and Diego Luna.

The style of the animation alone is what drew me to this movie.  It is easily one of the most unique and visually pleasing cartoons I've seen in a while but it doesn't rely on that visual style alone to sell the movie.  It mixes in a good story the fully compliments every aspect on display visually.  The story line isn't trying to reinvent anything it's a simple love story told with a Mexican flavor.  For me another thing I really liked about the movie was the music.  It was some really good songs that made the main character even more intriguing and complex as the style of music, the lyrics, and just the sound really helped to flesh out his character. 

Definitely not time wasted.