Duma key

Duma Key is the latest Novel by best selling author Stephen king. I must admit i am a big fan of king and Horror in general so take that for what it is worth. This novel has some typical King tendencies. The character build up is long and very in depth. I persona;;y have always liked this aspect of his writing but some people have told me that hate this and don’t read him for this reason. I tend to think it makes me care for the characters a bit more and have something invested in them, so if they are in danger it makes me care a bit more. This happened several time for me in this book. I really found myself caring for the characters and was very moved when they were in danger.These are some of the most believable characters he has ever created in my opinion.

King used the fact that the book was written in first person past tense to foreshadow some big moments, which i thought worked very well in keeping me interested. This book is not nearly as scary as some of his past efforts but it is not supposed to be. It does have a good bit of imagination and some nice thrills and a few solid scares. This is one heck of a ghost story. I drive allot for my job so i listened to this on audio book. It was well read and the reader was easy to listen to.

My rating 9.0 out of 10 for the book.

My rating 7.0 out of 10 for the audio book.

Review by Elvis Lawson

Here is the trailer.

Se7en

I have seen this movie several times but the last time must have been several years ago. this movie does lose a bit of its impact on further viewings but I still remember it being one of my favorite films after my first viewing. Everything about this movie is engaging to me. From the opening credits featuring a remix of a Nine Inch Nails song to the climax at the end, this movie keeps me interested throughout. Seven has a very dark mood throughout and David Fincher (Fight Club) does an amazing job of setting the mood even further with dark lighting and interesting settings.

This movie has a great cast that delivers in every aspect. Kevin Spacey plays his part with such perfection that I am not sure anyone could have done any better. I would put it on par with Anthony Hopkins in Silence of the Lambs. Having a great cast is great but it has been demonstrated in the past that cast alone can’t hold a movie together. Luckily This film also has a great script and amazing director. Everyone does their job and does it well with this film. This film is what Saw tried to be and while it was good, it couldn’t hold a candle to the tone and performance in this film. If you haven’t seen this I suggest you immediately head to your nearest Video store and pick up a copy. Be warned though, it is a bit gory.

My rating 9.5 out of 10

Review by Elvis Lawson

Here is the trailer.

WALL-E

so this week I decided to take the whole clan to see WALL-E, the new movie from Pixar(Finding Nemo, Toy Story). As a family, all of the Pixar movies have been near the top of our list. The kids have always enjoyed them and my wife and i have always found enough adult humor to keep us interested. WALL-E was a bit of a departure for Pixar. This movie was different from their others on several levels. For starters in case you haven’t heard, it has very little to no dialogue for the first third or so of the movie. This was really not a problem for me and my kids didn’t seem to notice, or at least never mentioned it. I have heard a few people complain about it though. I felt the action of the cute little robot pulled the movie along well enough without it and kept me interested. I found allot of comedy in the movie in general and my kids laughed several times. To be fair my wife didn’t find it funny in the least.

Another thing that stuck out at me was the movie trying to push its messages. it didn’t come off as preachy but it may have been close. Also to be fair i agree with most of the messages (people getting too lazy and the world not caring enough about being green) so maybe to another person it might come off as preachy. This might push some people away form the movie since it does seem to be making a bigger point than their other films in the past (it is more in your face about it) so it seems a bit less fun on a whole.

The movie does flow well and didn’t seem long to me. it looked beautiful as well and is overall an extremely well made movie.I fell though that many adults will not find this one as fun as Pixar’s past efforts. My wife actually liked the Pixar short that showed before the movie much more than the movie itself. I liked it but it would be far from my favorite Pixar movie.

My rating 8 out of 10

Review by Elvis Lawson

Here is the trailer.

Airplane!

So here is another older movie that I hadn’t seen in years but suddenly had and itch to view again. For those that don’t know, Airplane! is a parody type comedy made by David Zucker and Jim Abrahams (Naked Gun movies). This doesn’t parody other movies but does parody life and takes small things in life and makes the most ludicrous jokes about them. this movie has some of the best lines in the history of comedy that still work amazingly well nearly 30 years later(wow time flies).

I know this movie is popular but i feel it is often overlooked because it’s jokes are so outrageous. Just the fact that some younger people are all there calling the latest Adam Sandler (whom I do think is funny at times) movie the best ever, and have not even seen this movie bothers me a bit. I guess my age is showing a bit as that sounds exactly like when i was younger and my parents were talking about Psycho and 12 Angry Men (they were right by the way) being better than the movies I was watching.

The laughs in this movie come so fast that it takes many viewings to see them all. I found myself laughing through many great jokes and having to rewind. This movie is also best watched with a few of your best friends and with a 6 pack or two. I promise you everyone will have a great time and it will be a Saturday night very well spent.

My rating 9.5 out of 10

Review by Elvis Lawson

Here is the trailer.

There’s Something about Mary

So it has been 10 years since i first saw this film. I remember finding it hysterical and at the time thought it was possibly the funniest movie i have ever seen. I know I watched it several times in the few months following its DVD release back then, but I hadn’t watched it in around 9 years or so. I am not really sure why other than always having tons of other new movies to choose from. A couple of days ago I made a joke referencing a line from the movie and my 16 year old son was completely lost. I was surprised he hadn’t even heard of the movie but decided he was old enough to show him what he was missing.

So the big question is does the movie still hold up after 10 years. The short answer is absolutely yes. I knew the major jokes were coming up and was still doubled over in pain. The scene with him caught in his zipper almost hurt me from laughing so hard. And as proof that it was not just my immature sense of humor, my wife who normally hates potty humor was also laughing very hard. There are several scenes through out the movie that were ground breaking (well boundary pushing) at the time and while they may seem a bit tame compared to some of today’s films still pushed the laugh button very hard.

The movie is not perfect as it does have some dead spots and a couple of not so great performances. It does make up for it in a huge amount of hearty laughs and some career highlight performances. Some critics and purists would scoff at my rating and wonder how i could rate a movie that showed sperm in hair on par with The Godfather. My answer is simple, I rate movies on their particular genre. So this movie may not be as moving as Schindler’s List, It is one of the best comedies I have ever seen and my rating is comparing it to other comedies. Bottom line is if you are not a prude (it is a bit rude in its comedy) and want to laugh, this movie is for you.

My rating 9.0 out of 10

Rating by Elvis Lawson

Here is the trailer.

The Dark Knight….As good as advertised

The Dark Knight Poster

So I woke up this morning already planing to see The Dark Knight with my son. I decided before hand to do something i rarely do, i checked reviews and the IMDB rating. I often check out a movie based on good reviews or a high rating when I was not planing on seeing it but don’t like to when i plan on seeing it. It always leads to being put off by disappointed reviewers. Nothing sucks more than Being excited to see a movie and read a bunch of reviews panning it or see that it has a 3.1 rating on IMDB. I fully understand that the reviews mean nothing (as does this one), but it is still disappointing and I think may actually sway your view before you even see it. Besides everyone knows it can be fun to bash a movie when it is deserved, so if you know it sucks before hand then it ruins the fun. I am not sure why I looked at the reviews but when I saw how great they all were plus the fact it had a 9.7 rating at IMDB I was shocked and got even more pumped up. I kept telling myself that it can’t possibly be this good so I wouldn’t get let down.

I forgot about all of that stuff within minutes as I was instantly sucked in. Like its predecessor this movie looked fantastic. Christopher Nolan did a wonderful job at capturing the visual feel of the darker comics. Gotham city has never looker better. the big buzz is about Heath Ledger and his Oscar worthy portrayal of The Joker. It doesn’t take long to see him and I must say that i instantly believed him. His performance is honestly one of the best I have ever seen. People are saying he is the best villain ever but for my money I would still take Robert DeNiro as Max Caddy. Ledger does deliver though an comes across as crazy in a big way. Aaron Eckhart’s performance as Harvey Dent was spot on and like Ledger’s was light years ahead of the franchise’s previous version of the character. The rest of the cast is not to be over looked though as they all gave great performances.

The script was easily the best script for a superhero movie I have ever seen (to be fair i have yet to see Iron Man which i hear good things about). Christopher and his brother Jonathon have shown they could write several times before but I felt this was their best work since Memento. The movie is pretty long for this type (two and a half hours) but never felt long to me. The movie flowed very well and kept a fairly complex plot without seeming rushed or drawn out. It had several twists and turns that always kept me on my toes and enough action to satisfy the biggest of explosion appetites. All in all i would Say this movie should satisfy even the pickiest of movie goers. It should go down in history as one of the best in the last 10 years regardless of genre.

My rating 9.5 out of 10

Review by Elvis Lawson

Here is the trailer.