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Sunday, November 6, 2011

Book Review: Red Nails by Robert E. Howard

This is a review of the Kindle version.

I understand that this book was written in the 1930s and it shamelessly advocates male chauvinism. While this might have (and was probably overlooked) in those times, such a view is highly inappropriate for the current times. In addition, the book is also politically incorrect.

As for the story, I stopped after reading about 20 pages. From what I read, Conan pursues a lady warrior and they both encounter a monster. After that, I stopped as I was highly amused and put off by the amount of male chauvinism on display.

I cannot recommend this book to anyone except historians and readers who watched the Conan movies and are interested in the original book that “inspired” these movies.

Jason Momoa in Conan the Barbarian

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Image Source: IMDB

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Saturday, November 5, 2011

Book Review: Bigfoot War by Eric S. Brown

This is a review of the Kindle version.

The story is set in a small-town setting and has the B-movie feel. The characters are developed well and the Bigfoot mayhem is described in vivid detail.

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The only drawback is that there is not much of novelty in the novel, as it hits all the spots in the monster genre: Opening attack, introduction to characters in a small town setting, the slowly escalating deaths etc.

I personally liked this book as this is my first Bigfoot read.

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Image Sources: Jamesmelzer.net, Jennybeans.net

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Movie Review: Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)

The movie is a reboot of the popular series Planet of the Apes. Directed by Rupert Wyatt, the movie attempts to explain the circumstances leading to the takeover of our planet by our simian relatives.

Will Rodman (James Franco) has working on developing a cure of Alzheimer's disease, that afflicts his father, Charles Rodman (John Lithgow). He tests his cure on chimpanzees, one of whom turns out to be pregnant (without the knowledge of the scientists and this is one of the logical loopholes in the movie). Will ends up adopting the new born baby chimp, who is named “Ceasar” by Charles.

Ceaser is quite the naughty one and soon receives a cut on his leg after a brief encounter with the neighbours. This leads to Will taking Ceasar to a primatologist, Caroline Aranha (Freida Pinto) and this leads to the mandatory romance part of the movie.

James Franco and Freida Pinto in 'Rise of the Planet of the Apes'

Ceasar soon starts showing signs of extraordinary intelligence, thanks to being exposed to the drug while he was still in his mother's womb.

Things take a turn for the worse, when Ceaser intervenes in a verbal altercation between Charles and his neighbor, Hunsiker (David Hewlett) and ends up biting off one of Hunsiker's fingers.

Ceasar is sent to a Primate Shelter run by John Landon (Brian Cox) and his sadistic son Dodge (Tom Felton). Ceasar studies his fellow inmates and soon assumes leadership by dethroning the alpha male.

Soon, it is a showdown between humans and the liberated chimps, led by Ceaser, atop the Golden Gate Bridge. Ceaser and his cohorts win the battle.

Meanwhile, Hunsiker gets infected with a newer version of the drug developed by Will and the infection quickly spreads all over the world. The stage is set for a sequel!

Andy Serkis gives an amazing performance as Ceasar

Andy Serkis gives an Oscar-worthy performance as Ceasar. His work marks a continuation of his winning streak since playing Gollum in The Lord of the Rings trilogy and the titular character in King Kong. He is ably supported by the WETA team that does a flawless job bringing Ceaser to life.

Coming to the human cast, Franco and Lithgow are competent in their roles. Lithgow, in particular, is appealing.

Freida looks ravishing and brings grace and dignity to her role.

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I did have a hard time understanding how the initial troop of the apes that numbered around 50-60, suddenly swelled to around 200 in the climactic fight. This was something that I could not accept, even though it is understandable that the initial numbers were not enough to support an uprising. Still I wish the script/director had accounted for this.

Highly recommended to fans of Planet of the Apes series and/or people who love the Great Apes.

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Image Sources: G4TV, USA Today

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Movie Review: Gamer (2009)

I watch movies frequently in theatres and never have I felt so bored that I have even entertained the thought of leaving the theatre in the middle of a movie..

Congrats to the makers of Gamer as I did just that when I was unfortunate enough to buy ticket and watch this drivel of a movie.

What can I say about the movie or the plot? Gerard Butler plays a character who is in jail and is used by a teenager as a real-life stand-in in shootout games. The guy who owns the game is the bad guy in the movie. There is a cult thing going on in the movie. There is a lady reporter character running around interviewing the bad guy.

Then there is the wife character of Gerard's character. Terry Crews plays a character who does nothing but glare menacingly at Gerard's character. I would tell you to check out the movie if you don't believe me on this, but trust me. Just take my word for it and save the time.

Gerard Butler and Michael C Hall in Gamer

The directors of this movie, I understand are helming the next Ghostrider movie, which surprisingly looks good at least in the trailer. I will most probably skip that one, despite the presence of Nic Cage.

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