[SIZE="3"]Highly quotable mini-review in the current Entertainment Weekly. Here’s the whole thing:

“Private eye Jack - just Jack - is hired by a distraught mother to to investigate the skeevy older guy dating her daughter. See, the first PI she hired has disappeared. But when Jack finds his predecessor tortured and drowned in a bathtub, he embarks on a harrowing journey involving murder, an anarchist movement, genetic engineering and a suspicious mental institution. In his 11th Repairman Jack thriller, Wilson offers a canny mix of sci-fi paranoia and criminal mayhem. Despite a contrived end that baldly strains for a sequel, Bloodline starts fast, keeps the accelerator down, and defies you to stop reading. B+ - Bob Cannon”

About that “contrived end that baldly strains for a sequel”…he’s not the first to mention it. And he has a point. Maybe you felt that way too. Here’s my problem: I’m into the end game of the series. I’m putting the pieces and the players into place. I’ve got long arcs (4 books or so) that have to flow through in order to pay off at the end. The only “straining” I’m doing is trying to tie up each book into a stand-alone. But try as I might, it’s not happening. The arcs are too big and too important to abridge. So you’re going to have to bear with me here. I don’t like it, but the story demands it. In the end, I think/hope you’ll agree it was worth the frustration. But trust me, I’m not teasing for teasing sake. It’s do it this way, or make you sit and wait four years for a 2000-page novel.[/SIZE]

[SIZE="6"]**SPOILER FOR THE TERY**[/SIZE]






I FINALLY received my copy of The Tery yesterday. I ordered it from Amazon soooooooooooo long ago I forgot about the book. Well after much reading this afternoon, I finished the story. I really liked the story and the tie in with LaNague and Dalt. But poor Jon, so sad his fate.

Wow. Talk about a head trip.

I checked out this 131 minute magical mystery tour this
morning. A musical about college-age adults in the late
1960's, set in New York City, and touching upon every
conceivable cinematic cliche to the tune and lyrics of
33 classic Beatles' songs...I've got blisters on my temporal
lobe.

You can read my longer review at the blog on my website.

Suffice it to say that The Beatles' song list, along with a
few inspired set pieces, guarantee that this eclectic mess
never quite becomes "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band,"
"Popeye," "The Return of Captain Fantastic," or "Xanadu."

I actually enjoyed it.

I give "Across The Universe," THREE out of five cans of
diet cherry vanilla Dr. Pepper.

Mike out

I recently watched Blazing Saddles in Hi-Def on Blu-Ray. The picture was fantastic, the sound was wonderful (except for the campfire scene) and I laughed harder than I had at any movie in recent memory.

If you have never seen this Mel Brooks masterpiece rent it immediately. The movie manages to insult everyone. Blacks, Whites, Jews, Gays, Native American Indians, Rednecks, Women. The list goes on.

But as insulting as the movie could have been interpreted it comes across as an equal-opportunity lambast, a roast honoring the human condition with guffaws and belly laughs galore.

Cleavon Liitle delivers his lines with Shakespearian gusto and manages to convey so much emotion with subtle expression. One memorable scene stands out when as the newly appointed sheriff of Rock Ridge he goes out one morning and greets an elderly woman. Her harsh response is both hilarious, insulting and sad at the same time.

Then there is the soft-spoken Gene wilder, a famous gun-slinger, The Waco Kid, who lost his nerve after a horrible misjudgment of character which is recounted with sorrow and a punch-line by Wilder to Little.

No movie has made me miss Madeline Kahn more than this. Kahn was in her heyday in this film, pulling off a brilliant performance and an even more outstanding musical number "I'm Tired" which Brook's claims is the dirtiest song he ever penned.

Blazing Saddles is perhaps the best social commentary wrapped cleverly in laughs and perhaps could be the precursor to the likes of Chappell's Show.

Watch the opening sequence here then go rent or buy Blazing Saddles.

Not "Heaven's".

Today I saw "The Kingdom" in a theatre. At first I guessed it's like SYRIANA. But The main plot is FBI vs. al-Qaida in Saudi Arabia, "Find and kill the terrorists!". So this movie was thriller but also had a lot of action scenes.

The incident suddenly happened. The terrorists began shooting citizens. They killed a lot of Americans, including men, women, children...

Jamie Foxx played leader of FBI investigator. Jennifer Garner, Chris Cooper, Jason Bateman, they played also FBI investigators. Chris Cooper's acting was excellent. I think this is his best.

They go to Saudi and start the investigation about who did it. But also they struggle with different cultures and habits.






















[SIZE="1"]As a result, this was made in Hollywood, so America got win....Not! No, no, no, this is NOT so simple. Why? If you saw the last scene, you'll know that. That was very shocking and sad.

The last conversation was that violence can't solve anything.[/SIZE]

So --- how many people have you gotten hooked on Jack?

I've recruited 3 eager addicts thus far. Still working hard to spread the word. I've got one (my youngest brother) that showed some interest in the series based on the eager and positive reviews of myself and his sister-in-law, but he opted to jump into the FPW world at the Midnight Mass end of the world - he loved it so it's only a matter of time - mwuhahahahaha

It's a given that when you read a book before you see the movie based upon it, you'll tend to like the book more. But of course, that ain't always the case - especially when you read the book AFTER the movie.

What are some of your favorite movies that you liked BETTER than the books they were based on?

Here are a few for me...

• The Thirteenth Warrior (I couldn't stand the fact that the book was fiction...but also, the movie had a much more "fun" feel to it)
  
• Stir of Echoes (while the book is that much more atmospheric, the movie has such an edge to it that somehow was missing for me when I read it)
  
• Stardust (funnier, more charming, and altogether "brighter" than the book for me)
  
• Fight Club (only marginally)
  
• The Mothman Prophecies (although I had a lot of things I wanted to see included in the film, it was far, FAR less boring)
  
• L. A. Confidential (okay, so I didn't finish the book, but in the wake of Mr. Ellroy's discovery that he is, without a doubt, the best crime writer currently at work, I kiiiiind of don't have that same sort of want-to-hurt-someone feeling when I watch the excellent movie)
  
• And for the ultimate clincher... 300. I was SCREAMING for movement when I was reading the graphic novel, and the movie not only provided movement, voice, and better atmosphere, but added in whole scenes that, based on the previews alone, I was sorely missing during the read. Not that it was a terribly great movie, however...

I just wonder if 30 Days of Night will be like this, also. I liked the first graphic novel the one time I read it, but like 300, it seems too "frozen" (no pun intended) for the kind of scenes it portrays. It needs the movement, the voices, the atmosphere that a movie could provide.

Your turn!

I usually hate these kind of threads, but I am a huge Vince Flynn fan. I often wonder who is the more resourceful and skilled hero.

Anyone else a VF fan?

My musical tastes are pretty broad-from classical to punk-and I met quite a few music maniacs in the mix too (Got good and gassed up in NYC with Dave Vanian of "THE DAMNED" and drank with GG Allin in Long Branch, NJ) .
So here are my favs
"MOODY BLUES" Love all their stuff, AL STEWART "Road To Moscow, Nostradamus", "Joe The Georgian" the list goes on (he tried to pick up my wife too!)
BLACKMORE'S NIGHT Ritchie Blackmore and Candice Night-love em (check them out on youtube). BAUHAUS "Bela Lugosi's Dead"-live, THE BYRDS, THE DAMNED, LISA BOUCHELLE (man can she belt a tune!), KATE BUSH, THE DOORS. FRANK ZAPPA-"Billy The Mountain", Cheepnis".
Ahhhh I don't to use em all up. Hey Paul! Remember "SHINDIG", "GOGO" and "DON KURSHNER's ROCK CONCERT Sat. Nites on NBC?

I just started reading Infernal and Jack's Dad just died. That was quite a way to start my Wednesday morning. Jack got rid of his AMT and I see he'll be getting a new backup. For my backup I carry a Beretta Cheetah .380 loaded with Federal Hydra Shoks. Paul if you're reading this it's a very good and very accurate backup. Just wanted to share my grief at Jack's loss and my $.02 about backups. Thanks for listening or in this case reading I suppose.