All Consuming : wereldmuis

kinda boring (rated 3 stars)

nobody@allconsuming.net (wereldmuis) — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 12:45:17 GMT

by Ari Juels

I can’t recommend Tetraktys. While the book should be filed in the same section as The DaVinci Code, its mystery – centered around cryptology and a modern version of a Pythagorean cult – is not nearly as thick, tantalizing, or convoluted.

In addition, the book is written entirely from the point of view of the lead character, a computer science grad student. With a sufficiently interesting character, that can work, but our hero is a rather dull guy, and I just got pretty bored.

Skimming the comments about this book over at slashdot, it appears that Dan Brown is pretty widely scorned, and I agree with the poster that described Digital Fortress as dreck. However, for page-turning entertainment, The DaVinci Code beats Tetraktys hands down.

Consumed "Tetraktys"

nobody@allconsuming.net (wereldmuis) — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 12:45:17 GMT

Tetraktys

by Ari Juels

Consumed "Living in Emergency: Stories of Doctors Without Borders"

nobody@allconsuming.net (wereldmuis) — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 12:21:54 GMT

Living in Emergency: Stories of Doctors Without Borders

by Mark N. Hopkins

WORTH IT!

Consumed "Twilight (Anamorphic Widescreen Single Disc)"

nobody@allconsuming.net (wereldmuis) — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 13:38:00 GMT

Twilight (Anamorphic Widescreen Single Disc)

for teens (rated 3 stars)

nobody@allconsuming.net (wereldmuis) — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 13:38:00 GMT

Twilight (Anamorphic Widescreen Single Disc)

It has been many years since I was a teen, but I decided to give Twilight a try. After all, I really enjoyed Buffy.

But I didn’t find the characters engaging, so maybe this is a movie that works for teens, but not for me. The movie seemed a little padded, with scenes that didn’t really move the plot along or develop the characters (I truly do not understand what the baseball game was doing in there).

OTOH I did find the plot original and entertaining enough to distract me during my rowing workout, so I’d probably watch the next in the series during a workout too. It’s not a bad movie, just nothing special.

Consumed "Away We Go"

nobody@allconsuming.net (wereldmuis) — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 21:37:01 GMT

Away We Go

by Sam Mendes

NOT WORTH IT!

A review of "Away We Go"

nobody@allconsuming.net (wereldmuis) — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 21:34:57 GMT

Away We Go

by Sam Mendes

Superficially, Away We Go is about a pregnant couple looking to move somewhere that they’ll have a support system for their nuclear family. But it’s just one vignette after another in which the couple encounter dysfunctional or troubled families. I suppose this could have been made funny, but in fact it was disturbing and annoying.

The lead couple are pretty unsympathetic, as well. Did anyone notice the irony when the girlfriend declared that her boyfriend’s parents were “selfish” in deciding to move to Belgium just before her baby was due?

Yuck. I was hoping this might be a funky indie movie, but no. The only thing that saves this movie was the acting, which was great!

PS I really enjoy John Krasinki in The Office, so it was a real disappointment seeing his talent wasted.

Consumed "Paris (2008)"

nobody@allconsuming.net (wereldmuis) — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 04:46:55 GMT

Paris (2008)

by CÃ©dric Klapisch

WORTH IT!

A review of "2012 [Theatrical Release]"

nobody@allconsuming.net (wereldmuis) — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 22:09:19 GMT

2012 [Theatrical Release]

by Roland Emmerich

I agree with the other excellent reviews here on allconsuming. Despite that, I don’t think 2012 is “not worth consuming”; I give it a wishy-washy rating.

The movie starts out with some scientists discovering that neutrinos from a large solar flare have “mutated” and begun “acting like microwaves” to heat up the earth’s core. Thus, you are given an idea of the quality of the movie from the get-go.

We follow a family as they manage to stay just inches ahead of disaster, in various vehicles: limo, RV, small plane, large plane, giant ship. Added to the mix is a smattering of ethical dilemma about who gets to be saved when the world ends, and some tear-jerking moments when various arbitrarily introduced characters bid a fond farewell to their loved ones.

So, it’s a mediocre movie, but despite that, I found it mildly entertaining, although not really what I want from an end-of-the-world movie (it’s not the end of the world when a ton of people survive). To give you an idea, as a disaster movie, it’s slightly better than the 2008 remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still and not as good as Cloverfield (I like my weird monsters).

Favorite memorable quote:

Noah Curtis: Woah, that’s a big plane.

Yuri Karpov: It’s Russian.

Consumed "2012 [Theatrical Release]"

nobody@allconsuming.net (wereldmuis) — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 22:09:19 GMT

2012 [Theatrical Release]

by Roland Emmerich

Consumed "The Girl Who Played with Fire"

nobody@allconsuming.net (wereldmuis) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:28:32 GMT

The Girl Who Played with Fire

by Stieg Larsson

WORTH IT!

Consumed "35 Shots of Rum"

nobody@allconsuming.net (wereldmuis) — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 21:37:43 GMT

35 Shots of Rum

by Claire Denis

WORTH IT!

Consumed "The Wire - The Complete Fifth Season"

nobody@allconsuming.net (wereldmuis) — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 16:42:32 GMT

The Wire - The Complete Fifth Season

WORTH IT!

Consumed "State of Play"

nobody@allconsuming.net (wereldmuis) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 02:15:11 GMT

State of Play

by Kevin Macdonald

WORTH IT!

Consumed "A Serious Man [Theatrical Release]"

nobody@allconsuming.net (wereldmuis) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 02:14:42 GMT

A Serious Man [Theatrical Release]

by Joel & Ethan Coen

Consumed "Duplicity (2009) (Ws Dub Sub Ac3 Dol)"

nobody@allconsuming.net (wereldmuis) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 13:52:01 GMT

Duplicity (2009) (Ws Dub Sub Ac3 Dol)

Consumed "The Golden City: A Novel"

nobody@allconsuming.net (wereldmuis) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 03:05:12 GMT

The Golden City: A Novel

by John Twelve Hawks

WORTH IT!

A review of "The Golden City: A Novel"

nobody@allconsuming.net (wereldmuis) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 02:40:37 GMT

The Golden City: A Novel

by John Twelve Hawks

This review contains spoilers, so don’t read on if you want to be completely surprised by everything that happens in The Golden City.

Way back in January, I reviewed The Dark River, the second book in a paranoid fantasy thriller series written by the mysterious author, John Twelve Hawks. Out of nowhere, several weeks ago, someone posted a comment in response to the review. The comment was from the author’s literary agency. I was offered a free copy of the third book in the series, The Golden City.

Wow! Being offered free goodies just for posting a review seemed too good to be true, and I wondered if it was a weird form of comment spam (or perhaps a ruse by the Tabula to get their clutches into me). However, it turned out to be genuine. I received a shiny new hard cover copy of The Golden City a few weeks ago. (Hopefully, writing about this clears me with the FTC.)

It took me a while to get started on the book, but once I did, I zipped through it in just a few days. This last book is consistently good, although it suffers from a few flaws, just as the first two books did.

Again, the MacGuffin – the threat of a Big Brother coming to control our lives – fails to inspire me with fear. The Big Brother organization here, the Tabula, would be fairly benign if all they did was spy on you all the time. But they don’t just do that – they also seem to be intent on killing the people who might expose them. This, it seems, is where the real danger lies – the fact that they’re an organization which thinks it’s OK to kill people to advance their cause. And since there are plenty of other organizations/people which are out to get you (terrorists, your average serial killer, and so on), I don’t see why the Tabula is touted as the greatest possible threat to all of mankind.

The entirety of Chapter 42 is a defense of the premise that the loss of privacy is the gravest possible threat, but reading it didn’t convince me. And I’m a pretty paranoid person! It seems to me that loss of privacy has its ups and downs, and humanity will learn to cope. Seriously, which is worse, the government snooping through your underwear drawer, or terrorists pointing your airplane at a skyscraper? Let’s face it, marketing agencies already know way more about us than we’d like – but does that alter our quality of life significantly?

Well, I already knew this was an issue from reading the two earlier books, and I was along for the ride. This book is just as fun as the first two, so if you enjoyed them, I think you will enjoy this one, as I did. If you enjoyed the Alias TV series, with its kickass strong female lead and its mish-mash of science fiction/fantasy paranoia, you’ll probably like this trilogy.

I don’t want to reveal too much, but here comes a spoiler: I have to mention that Maya’s pregnancy was way too jarring – one minute, she’s being rescued by Gabriel, the next she’s preggers, with nary a mention of hand-holding in between, let alone shagging. At least a few shy kisses were in order to prepare the reader.

One more thing: the series is described as a trilogy, but the book is open-ended enough that there could be another sequel. I’d be happy to read more, but I’m also happy with the trilogy as it is. Good entertainment value! If John Twelve Hawks writes anything else, I’ll definitely take a look.

Consumed "The Traveler"

nobody@allconsuming.net (wereldmuis) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 12:22:01 GMT

The Traveler

by John Twelve Hawks

WORTH IT!

Consumed "The Big Lebowski"

nobody@allconsuming.net (wereldmuis) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 11:52:13 GMT

The Big Lebowski

by Joel Coen

WORTH IT!

Consumed "Apres Lui"

nobody@allconsuming.net (wereldmuis) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 11:51:21 GMT

Apres Lui

by Gael Morel