True Blood

June 24, 2009 at 8:51 pm (Uncategorized)
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My favorite goes-bump-in-the-night monsters are vampires.  I’ve read the Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice over and over.  I like the Twilight books, BUT only the first book, the rest, you can tell, are meant for high school girls.  My favorite movie of all time is Interview with the Vampire and I have seen every episode of Buffy and Angel to make anyone cry.  I have also seen the old Dracula movie with Bela Lugosi and the newer movie with Gary Oldman (see my review here).  I also own the original Buff the Vampire Slayer written by Joss Whedon, which, need I remind you started the whole Buffy craze of the 1990’s.  So, when I heard there was a new show had the vampire theme, I jumped on the bandwagon.

A brief summation of the show is that basically vampires live among us and right now there is a bill in Congress being debated upon on giving vampires full rights under the law.  We also find many of the myths about sunlight and stakes are true.  The show’s title comes from the synthetic blood developed by the Japanese (of course!) that gives them nutritional value, so that vampires can become “mainstreamed” in society.

The story isn’t half bad.  I’ve almost finished the first season and am in the middle of someone committing murders all over town.  Our characters are Sookie Sackhouse (Anna Paquin), Bill Compton, Jason Sackhouse, Tara, Lafayette, and Sam.  You have others that drift in and out, but aren’t really that important.  They all live in the town of Bon Temps (to pronounce ‘Bon’ form your mouth like you are going to say ‘bong,’ but leave off the ‘n’ and ‘g’ sounds and Temps is pronounced like Tom, but without a heavy ‘m’.  It means ‘good times’ in French.) nestled in Renard parish and if you know your geography and your culture you can guess that this is Louisiana.  The sweet Southern state in which yours truly resides.  And this is where my problems with the show come in.

I love my Louisiana.  We have one of the richest cultures in the union and yet Hollywood seems to think they know that culture better than we do.  First off I hate how everyone in this show speaks with that stupid, like-we-ain’t-got-no-brains, stereotypical Southern accent.  I, myself, have a hint of that twang when I talk, but not everyone here sounds like that.  Furthermore, Louisiana is known, not for her deep Southern roots, but for her cajun culture.  Cajuns speak with a sort of country French accent.  It’s thick, rich, and hard to understand unless you’ve heard it all your life.  And where Sookie and Bill and everyone else are suppose to be living, they all sound like they are from Georgia, which is actually where that Southern twang (think Shelby from Steel Magnolias) completely resides.

Louisiana has plenty of parishes in which to choose, so why did they feel the need to create a new one?  I’m still perplexed as to where Renard parish would actually be.  I’ve noticed that it’s close enough to drive to Monroe, Shreveport, and Baton Rouge in one night.  This is possible, but highly unlikely that you would drive from Monroe to Baton Rouge and not spend the night.  It’s about a 3 or 4 hour drive.  Also on the topic of location, the little bar where Sookie works is in the middle of the swamp.  Our swamps only exist in the very south of the state; New Orleans and down.  There aren’t any swamps up in Monroe, Baton Rouge, or Shreveport.

During the opening credits, I love the different images (even if they aren’t from Louisiana) that seem to capture the essence of the state.  However, an image of a child wearing a Ku Klux Klan uniform is not something this state is very proud of.  And it is certainly not something we Louisiananians like to be known for.  Yes, the KKK is a apart of every state’s history here in the South, but the only people proud of that are those who are a part of it.  There is no need to show this image, it just hurts us as a culture.

Another problem I have with the show is that all Southerners seem to be drunks.  This is not true, but we do drink (beer, mostly) quite often.  I think it is only in the South in which we serve sweet ice tea with every meal.  It’s known as Southern table wine and no matter who you are, you always drink sweet ice tea with your dinner and beer with your friends after.

Aside from the culture, I don’t like how the vampires are portrayed.  It’s sort of oxymoronic to think of them as “people” who should have equal rights under the law and to make a special brew of synthetic blood in order for them to retain nutrition without killing innocent people.  However, vampires are the living dead; zombies in the most basic sense.  They are not really people and they don’t need nutrition to sustain a life which is not there.  I hate how the terms of death and life are interchangeable when dealing with the vampire characters.  And also their fangs are the wrong teeth.  Vampires are known to have incredibly sharp canines, which are the 2 teeth away from your front incisors not the ones right next to them.

The fact that the town is called Bon Temps just means someone did not know too much of the Cajun French culture to come up with something else.  Laissez Bon Temps Rouler (Let the good times roll!) is what we use during Carnival Season and is probably the most well known phrase across the US.  There are plenty of other words and names (which most of the cities here are named after people) they could have used for the town’s name.  Hell, they could have picked Vermilion parish and a little town called Maurice in which to set the story.  It’s exactly like Bon Temps.

My last complaint is that there are quite a few nude scenes that don’t even need to be in the show at all.  I think HBO is trying to keep up Showtime in this respect.  One of my favorite programs is The Tudors from Showtime.  Yes there are nude scenes in The Tudors, but knowing Henry VIII to have courted many women it’s to be expected.  I didn’t need to see every girl’s breasts in the town of Bon Temps.  It brings the story line to a screeching halt just to push sex into the program.

Strip away the lame attempt to capture Louisiana culture, that stupid Southern twang that Yankees think all us Southerners have, and, if sex needs to be in the story, a nice suggestion without going over the top, would have created a pretty decent show.  Sorry HBO, but I think True Blood is a hit and a miss.  Soon I will grow tired of it like I did with the Sopranos and Dollhouse and will continue to watch other programs that entertain me, not just gross me out.

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The Duchess

June 21, 2009 at 12:22 am (Uncategorized)
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We recently received this movie in the mail via BlockBuster.com.  I actually was really excited to this.  I was expecting something a long the lines of the Tudors and I enjoy “period” movies, especially if they are based on “true events.”

Kiera Knightley stars as Her Grace, Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire or G, as she was called for short.  I’m not the biggest Kiera Knightley fan.  I enjoy her movies, but she tends to be overshadowed by excellent actors such as Johnny Depp and Stellan Skarsgard.  And the biggest compliment to her is that she looks so much like Natalie Portman (whom I find to be an excellent actress).  Knightley is not a terrible actress, quite the opposite, she’s rather good, but in the movies I’ve seen she allows herself to become washed out by other actors and leaves her character in the cold.  I honestly think Elizabeth Swann was just a pretty face to stir up romantic interests.  She was not needed for the story to progress.

This movie is no different, except what washes her out isn’t other actors.  The story itself is simply dull.  I’ll come back to that.  Knightley is our main character, so she cannot be washed out by the other actors because they support her.  She also wears an elaborate wardrobe and speaks quite sophisticatedly to her male counterparts in politics and delightful conversation.  I didn’t know anything about the Duchess of Devonshire’s history, but this movie indicates that she was the English Marie Antoinette.  Instead of shoes, Her Grace was known for delightful conversation and her self designed wardrobe.

The movie begins interesting enough.  Georgiana (pronounced George + Jane + uh) is not yet 18 and is married off to the Duke of Devonshire (a much older man, of course).  She is told that her duties as wife is to be loving, kind, and to produce a male heir.  Upon giving birth to a boy, she will then be compensated.  Yes, ladies and gentleman, she will be paid to have a baby.

Well, there are little ripples and then huge tidal waves in her and the Duke’s marriage.  A little girl named Charlotte comes to live with them a few months after their marriage and we are led to believe that this little girl was fathered by the Duke.  Not only that, but the Duke’s extra curricular marital affairs are made quite clear when a shot of a maid’s naked behind is seen running down the hall from the Duke’s bed chamber.

The story is basically how Georgiana deals with such obscenities.  Do not forget that during this time, affairs were still scandalous, though the men ran around often.  In trying to deal with his extra marital affairs, G finds comfort in her friend Elizabeth Foster, known as Bess for the rest of the movie.  Bess comes to live with the Duke and Duchess because she was divorcing her first husband.

Long story short, the Duke ends up having an affair with Bess, which causes a huge rift in G’s marriage and her friendship with Bess.  I saw this coming from a mile away.  The worst part was that G could send her away from her own home.  The Duke would not allow it.  It seems that G had the first publicized plural marriage, so to speak.  Bess lived with them until Georgiana’s death and married the Duke after it.

It is during this time that G has an affair with a local politician, Mr. Grey.  Up to this point G has had 3 children (2 girls: Harryo and Little G) and 1 son (Hart) with the Duke.  She also gives birth to another daughter named Eliza fathered by Mr. Grey and ended up giving her away to Grey’s family.

There really is no climax.  The emotion in this movie is not only over the top, but overwhelming, and not even close to making me feel upset.  I understood that G was angry that her husband’s mistress decided to live with her and also move her own sons in as well.  I was also upset that she had to stop her affair with Mr. Grey due to impropriety and scandals in the papers about it.

There really is not much more to make of this movie.  If there was a climax, I missed it, and if there was a plot, well I missed that too.  I really felt like I was watching a documentary about their marriage than a movie.  The worst part about that would be the documentary might actually be more enjoyable.  Her Grace sounds like a fascinating history lesson, but she does not do well on the silver screen.

The movie was approximately 2 hours long, short compaired to most and by 50 minutes I was checking the timer to see how much longer I had to sit through.  I was interesting to find out what happened, but since she became friends with Bess again and decided to accept all that was happening to her, I was disappointed with the ending of the movie.  I was, however, relieved for it to be over.

Knightley delivers a so, so performance at best.  She did well capturing the essence of Her Grace as a witty and charming socialite, but added no more interest to the story than that.  It was difficult to connect the actors to the time period because, as my boyfriend said, Knightley looks too modern for the role.  It was also hard to connect with the character on any type of level, emotional or otherwise.  I was just waiting for the movie to be over, missing plot and climax all in the process.

I wouldn’t really recommend this movie.  You’re probably better off reading about Her Grace, the Duchess of Devonshire or finding a documentary on her.  At least then you will have true facts to work with and not just a soddy Hollywood money maker.

P.S.  An interesting tidbit is revealed at the beginning of this movie.  Georgiana is born of the House of Spencer.  She is a direct relative to the late Princess Diana (also born of the House of Spencer).

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Coraline

March 23, 2009 at 3:42 pm (Uncategorized)
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This past weekend, my boyfriend and I decided to go out on a date.  So, we went to the movies and saw Coraline in 3D.  Coraline was released in February, but my lack of cable does not keep me up with the times.

Coraline has just moved to a new city and living at the Pink Palace apartments.  The Pink Palace is actually just one large house divided between 3 people.  Coraline and her family live in the actual house and they have eccentric neighbors living in the attic and basement.

Coraline’s parents are writers and they write about gardening, yet her dad has never planted a plant and her mom hates dirt.  So, they two pretty self absorbed people who pay very little attention to Coraline.  So, Coraline goes off looking for adventure.  While exploring the house (which is 150 years old, I believe) she comes across a small, locked door in the den hiding behind wallpaper.  It’s been bricked off but you can immediately tell that something is different from this door.  In case you were wondering, doors like this were very popular during slavery times and the use of the Underground Railroad.  They either led outside or into a room below the house in order for the freed slaves to escape quickly or hide.

Anyway, during the night, Coraline follows a couple of jumping mice to the den and the brick wall behind the small door is magically gone.  She crawls through to a world much like her own except she’s paid more attention to and her parents are fun and it’s Coraline’s fantasy turned reality.  Everything seems magical until Coraline finds out that in order to stay in this world she must sew buttons on her eyes, just like everyone else.

I don’t want to give too much of the movie away, but Coraline’s fantasy world collides with her reality world and it’s a race against time to save her friends and her family.  The movie is one adventure after another.  The soundtrack also helps add to the feel of the movie.  This isn’t a Tim Burton, but the producer who worked with him for The Nightmare Before Christmas also produced Coraline, so you can tell that there are some Tim Burton influences although the movie is a complete original.

I fell in love with Coraline (voiced by Dakota Fanning) and the movie was wonderfully written and produced.  You are pulled in from the beginning and are taken on a wild roller coaster ride.

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The Dark Knight

March 23, 2009 at 3:29 pm (Uncategorized)
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One of my favorite superheros of all-time is Batman.  I have seen the older movies many years ago and I’ve also watched many of the cartoons associated with the comic.  I think I like Batman because he’s the only superhero that has no super power.  He is a billionaire with a ton of money to invest in all these neat little gadgets.  Batman is also a normal guy (in the sense that he works and has a home, the fact that he’s a billionaire makes him special not abnormal.  I also think that if anyone were to ever find out Batman’s true identity, Bruce Wayne would lose everything, but you aren’t reading this to find out what I think about the comics and cartoons, no, you want to know what I think about the movie.

Christian Bale is Bruce Wayne in modern day Gotham City.  Batman’s main job has been helping Detective Gordon (Gary Oldman) stop mob crimes in the city.  Batman has the bad guys pretty much terrified to come out at night.  We have a few more story lines that intermingle.  The mob storyline is to get the movie started.  It lets us know that Batman has been successfully cleaning up crime in Gotham City.  Our main storyline lies with Batman’s arch-rival The Joker (played extremely well by the late Heath Ledger).  A few other story lines intermingle with the main one.  Harvey (Aaron Eckhart) is introduced along with his current girlfriend, Rachel (replacing Katie Holmes with the gorgeous Maggie Gyllenthaal).

The Joker begins wreaking havoc all over Gotham.  He’s not playing any “games.”  He’s favorite things in life are dynamite and gasoline.  He’s pretty scary to look at and his disposition can be mistaken as insanity.  The Joker’s priority is bring about the dark side of human nature to which he almost succeeds.  Batman must stop him and the Joker does not make it easy.  A man as outspoken and down right strange as him can hide very well in a crowd.

Harvey Dent is the DA of Gotham who is also working on decreasing the crime levels.  He is very charismatic and he’s doing damn good job.  He’s also spoken highly of Batman, though, he does sound like he doesn’t like Batman very much, he is still appreciative that Batman does have morals enough to know just far he can go without over stepping too many boundaries.  Although Batman is a vigilante, he does not kill and he remains cool under pressure.

Then we have our small characters: Rachel, Detective Gordon, who is later made Commissioner when the current one is killed, and even Harvey Dent has yet to be created into a main character until the end.  These characters really just keep things interesting.  Rachel is Bruce Wayne’s oldest friend and recent ex.  There is some tension there, but she eventually chooses between Wayne and Dent  and is then killed by the Joker.  This gives fuel to Dent’s fire.  As we all know, Harvey Dent becomes Two-Face.  I think that Rachel’s death is to give Dent the push to the “dark side.”  There has to be a reason for a man on top falls to rock bottom.  I hate it that Rachel has to die, she’s a really good character and Maggie Gyllenhaal does a great job with the part.

I don’t want to give too much away, but the movie is excellent.  It brings a sense of realism to Batman, a sense that this could actually happen in real life.  The Joker’s whole look is not comical.  The scars on his face, which I believe his first story would be true, can be achieved by using an extremely sharp object.  The clothes can be made and his hair can be died.  I think the immergence of Two Face gives achieves this realism best.  The clothes that he wears were the ones he was burned in and the left side of his face was also burned.

Although I loved the first Batman films, this new set really brings it down to earth.  Batman is the down to earth superhero and the movie really shows that.  It’s a fast paced adventure and you better keep up because the next one will be coming out soon and I’m hoping for it to top this one.

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Welcome to the Book Shoppe

October 26, 2008 at 5:05 am (Uncategorized)
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Ok, I’ve decided to begin a new.  I deleted all the previous posts and will make the attempt to keep up with this blog.  I have quite a busy life and do not need any more on my plate, but books, movies, and television are my passion.  I believe that we should read to learn and watch to be entertained.  Though these concepts can be reversed.

I wanted to share my passion with everyone else.  Those of you who have stumbled upon this small, minute space on the internet should be congratulated on actually discovering.  I’m sure the task was not easy and a quaint surprise in finding something you were nor originally looking for.

This blog is for my opinions of the books I read and the movies I watch.  I will probably not add in television shows as explaining them takes too long and each episode is different.  You should know that my blogs might contain spoilers and so if you have not seen a particular movie or read a certain book, I suggest not reading the blog that partners with that medium.

I hope that you will enjoy reading my thoughts and I encourage you to leave your own.  Comment love makes me happy and I enjoy hearing opinions the same or different from my own.

Enjoy.

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