[SIZE="3"]I didn’t have high hopes for this, but with Terry Gilliam at the helm I had hopes. It could have been wonderful (to quote Jeffery Lyons’s re: The Keep). This could have been a puissant story about the power of myth if Gilliam hadn’t played it so broadly. I loved the way elements from Grimm fairy tales were worked into the narrative, but the overall impact was vitiated by silly characterizations. (Though Lena Headey was wonderful, and I liked Heath Ledger as the visionary brother.) I didn’t FF much because the premise was so appealing, but the film didn’t gel. I find this sort of film extremely frustrating because all the elements for greatness are there but they’re squandered.

FF=1.5[/SIZE]

The Aussie import, Little Fish is a three-run homer to Requiem For a Dream's Grand Slam of grungy people you probably wouldn't want to know but somehow are compelled to watch in a film. Outstanding acting by Cate Blanchett, Hugo Weaving and the remaining cast make the gritty realism of the script come to life. It highlights how those unfortunate enough to be born without the silver spoon are often led astray by drugs and alcohol and how the 'real world' doesn't much care how or if you've managed to redeem yourself. A solid movie worth renting, but not if you're looking for peppy.

Sam Neill also makes an extended cameo as a drug dealer. For a guy who has been in some blockbusters, he certainly isn't afraid of taking smaller roles in indie fare. Too bad more actors can't seem to follow suit.

Just finished Conspiracies and it was another fantastic installment of my favorite character.

***** SPOILER ALERT *****

Funny story to relate. As i sat at my wprk desk and came across the exchanges between Jack and Abe about SESOUP and Abe would always refer to them by a different name for soup i burst out laughing for what my coworkers thought to be no apparent reason. I was a giggly, cackling mess and loved every second of it. My coworkers were ready to have me fitted with a new snug white jacket and, you know what, as long as i can have Jack and Abe for company that's okay with me.

zuppa de pesce and paella and hinnan faddie and whatever else he said had me picturing the movie with the old jewish guy saying it and hearing his voice as Jack corrected and he waved his hand dismissing him with his whatevers. Wonderful. Just wish i had me a gun salesman like that.

***** END SPOILER *****

i am going to get back online and do some more ordering. i didn't want to order them all at one time because then on days like today i would have nothing to look forward to as far as ordering and building up my anticipation for my next RJ fix.

Anyway have a great day folks

[SIZE="3"]I've heard AWFUL things about this, but in the past that's never stopped me from watching a film.

It wasn't so bad. Predictable and a little cornfusing, but it doesn't suck all the things and stuff I was told it did.

FF=3.[/SIZE]

I just noticed that someone is listing the entire Adversary Cycle in paperback form for a starting bid of $15.00 on eBay. Being that some of these books (especially Night World) can be a little hard to find, I thought that I would mention it. Here is the link:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Complete-Adversary-C...dZViewItem

-Luthie

BP is saddened to report that two of its Paul Wilson lettered edition customers recently passed away . . . . the result is that we have some books available we didn't think we would, and are offering them at the following special package discount for Repairman Jack fans:

We have available:

REBORN
REPRISAL
NIGHTWORLD

Normally $250 and discounted accordingly:

any one title (20%) = $200.00
any two titles (25%) = $187.50 (x 2) = $375.00
all three titles (30%) = $175.00 (x3) = $525.00

Installment plans are negotiable. If interested in any of these beautiful books contact:

[email protected]

While going through some of my stuff the other day, I found this bookmark advertising the paperback release of The Tomb. This is from back when publishers actually promoted the books they published....



Just thought you might find it interesting.

Hunter

please stop reading if you have not read Harbingers yet. i want to start a discussion while it is still fresh in my mind, but i don't want to ruin it for anyone.

spoilers follow

OK, I think Harbingers is the best RJ novel since Gateways. I didn't really care for Infernal (didn't care for the plot, but it was still Jack and that made it a better read than 9/10ths of the stuff out there) and Crisscross was good, but not as good as the previous few. Harbingers was great (really, really great). It tied up some loose ends, explained some things in better depth, and made me think about the conflict of cosmic forces in a whole new way.

I love the fact that this book focuses on the Ally/Adversary conflict in such detail. In past novels we were always told that the Ally was opposed to evil, but not necessarily good. I always assumed this meant that the Ally was just kind of indifferent. The whole colored-glass discussion helped explain why the Ally is not as interested in us as the Adversary (though a creature that craves eating glass was a little too much of a stretch of the metaphor, I think). While the Ally wants human life on Earth, it does not concern itself with human morals (It might not even understand them). But now that we know that the Ally is behind killing Jack's family off and not the Otherness it puts a whole new take on what the Ally is. The Ally is not about morals. It is all about winning, and the means are not as important as the end. Makes me wonder what the Ally will do with Earth if he wins. Does he really just want to admire it?

This explains better why Mother (the Lady) wants to get rid of both the Ally and the Adversary. She is Mother Earth (implied as such, anyway), and has this planet's life in her best interests. She is pro-human life, while the Otherness is anti-human life. That makes her good in my book, but she might turn out to be manipulative in her own right. The whole 'Does anti-evil mean good?' question really gets put through the ringer here. I think some philosophy class could have a field day with this book.

Excellent book. I loved it. Only two small gripes. 1) Wow chips are not called Wow anymore. They got rebranded Light. But I'm not sure how long ago that happened... it might have occured after the book went to press. 2) Please, no more hackers that have some code he wrote that can crack 128-bit encryption. Using 128-bit encryption there are 2^128 possible combinations. I've read that trying every possible combination would take longer to crack than waiting for the Universe to eventually implode.

One question/obseration: Do you think Glaeken's wife has Alzheimer's to make him a better spear? It would seem to fit with what we now know about the Ally. I wonder if any of this new info about the Ally/Heir/Sentinel was added to the new Nightworld.

I'm sure everyone received their Gauntlet Press announcement yesterday about the extra six books accidentally printed by the publisher, prints that contain both a numbered page and a lettered page. I hope you all ordered one, or rush to Gauntlet and order one. This "error" copy is going to become a collector's edition, I'm sure, and with only SIX in existence, well, you can do the math. My copy is in the mail. I'm wrapping it in mylar and putting it in a mayonaise jar when it arrives. I'll buy a copy of the book to read when it comes out later this year in the trade HB. But I have plans for my rare book. Professor Chaos and General Disarray would be proud.

AC

P.S. Or maybe all it'll be worth is cover price. These are the chances we collectors take. Anyone interested in buying my Larry Johnson rookie cards?

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/05/0...6037.shtml