Now Playing: John Carter

Last night, I ventured out of quarantine to the movie theatre for John Carter.  Based on Edgar Rice Burroughs' A Princess of Mars, I was a little leery of a Disneyfication of yet another classic.  I mean, they'd already renamed the work and toyed with the characters a little, but okay.  I'm up for some mindless movie mayhem after all the deep films we've been ingesting. 

It was okay.  I thought the story was paced a bit slow, but nothing terrible.  LilBro fell asleep complete with loud snores (much to giggleworthy delight of the girls sitting behind us).  I thought the special effects were done quite well, especially the interaction between the live action players and the CGI models.  Really well done.  (Who wouldn't love that cute Woola; I can see the stuffed versions versions of these on sale at the Disney store now...).  And Taylor Kitsch by the uber-cool (and relatively unknown) Lynn Collins.  had all his scenes stolen by the As an origin story, it's not bad.  We probably could have rented it.  3 out of stars.

typhoid mary

After months (bordering on years) of being illness-free, I am struck down.  I blame it on the unholy coupling of "Spring Forward" and unseasonably (unreasonably!) warm weather.  Within three days, I went from a slight tickle to coughing fits that induce sharp pains in my left arm.  A very supportive DK assumed point at work and took care of all my duty manager commitments; half my department is either currently ill or recuperating.  I suggested a full decontamination of the department.  I wish we had windows at work: it can't be healthy to have all these semi-sick people (who have taken flu shots so they don't feel ill enough to stay home, thereby infecting the rest of us) breathing in recycled air.  Long story short: am sick at home.

I ordered a BUNCH of spicy food from the local Thai place; it's the only thing I can taste.  And then, it happened.  I ran out of cough syrup.  NOOOOOoooOoOoOooO!

How To Score Boyfriend Points:

Through Black Spruce by Joseph Boyden

I was supposed to have read Through Black Spruce by Joseph Boyden for January's Book Club.  I confess to have taken almost three months to finish it.  Now that I'm done, I have mixed feelings.  TBS is the 2008 Giller Prize winner, a prize that has given me such gems as A Fine Balance, Late Nights on Air and The In-Between World of Vikram Lall.  Excellent - and intimidating - company indeed.

As per usual, spoilers abound and I can't help it.  A more cogent reviewer will be able to talk about this book, its high and lows, without ruining plot, but I make no such promises.

Should you read it?  Yes.  Should it be the very next book you pick up?  Probably not - especially if you haven't read those listed above.

Now Playing: Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance

As a break from the esoteric, we decided to catch Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance.  In a word? Bad.  And before you go blaming my hate-on for Mr. Cage, I'm going to admit to all two of my readers that I actually quite enjoyed the first Ghost Rider, even given its vacuous nature.  So it wasn't that.  It's just, well... it was a waste of time, good actors, decent special effects.  Honestly, I was bored enough to think about napping a little.  And there wasn't a a single cool new thing it did that could redeem it.  Not one moment where i said, "ooh, neat!" It was Ugh.  Don't go see it, don't rent it...hell, don't even watch it in the background on TV at a party.  1 out of 5 stars.