NPR is reporting that Roger Ebert has died. He just recently announced that he was diagnosed with cancer again. I don’t know how I missed him, but he most certainly deserved to be on my ‘people who I would want in my neighborhood‘ list. He has been added posthumously. He was a great writer and by all accounts a wonderful soul. His writing certainly has inspired mine. He will be missed.
Category Archives: Reviews
Movie Review: The Incredible Burt Wonderstone
This is just a placeholder post to acknowledge that I did, indeed, see this movie. It was completely forgettable in every way. I forgot about it so quickly that I had to be reminded that I saw it to write this review. I can’t even remember enough about it to determine how many stars I should give it.
“The Incredible Burt Wonderstone”, it was a movie that I saw.
Movie Review: Olympus Has Fallen
Ratings for reviews will appear above the fold, while the review itself will appear below the fold to avoid spoilers for anyone that wants to go into it with a blank slate.
Jean-Paul’s rating: 4/5 stars
An incredibly flawed but immensely fun movie.
Book Review: South Of Broad by Pat Conroy
Ratings for reviews will appear above the fold, while the review itself will appear below the fold to avoid spoilers for anyone that wants to go into it with a blank slate.
Jean-Paul’s rating: 3/5 stars
The South is messed up. The South is beautiful. Those two things often go hand in hand in this world.
Movie Review: Oz The Great And Powerful
Ratings for reviews will appear above the fold, while the review itself will appear below the fold to avoid spoilers for anyone that wants to go into it with a blank slate.
Jean-Paul’s rating: 3/5 stars
A movie based solely on nostalgia. And opportunism. Don’t forget opportunism.
Movie Review: Jack The Giant Slayer
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Jean-Paul’s rating: 3/5 stars
There are giants in the sky. There are big tall terrible awesome scary wonderful giants in the sky!
Movie Review: A Good Day To Die Hard
Ratings for reviews will appear above the fold, while the review itself will appear below the fold to avoid spoilers for anyone that wants to go into it with a blank slate.
Jean-Paul’s rating: 1/5 stars
a.k.a. Die Hard With a Paycheck. a.k.a. A Good Day to See Any Other Movie.
Book Review: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
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Jean-Paul’s rating: 5/5 stars
There is infinitely more beauty in sadness than in happiness. Maybe it’s because sadness makes you appreciate the beauty all the more.
There is a Vonnegut-esqueness to Markus Zusak’s writing that made me want to hate this book at the beginning; the short sentence aside that makes Kurt Vonnegut Kurt Vonnegut. But the more Zusak utilized it, the more I came to enjoy it. Reading “The Book Thief” was like digging for gems in a bed of gold. There were so many single sentences scattered throughout the book that made me stop and smile. That a person can express so much in so few words is a testament to both Zusak’s ability.
“The Book Thief” is brutally sad. It also happens to be brutally beautiful. The book is narrated by Death which at first comes off as annoyingly cheesy until you get into Death’s personality. If there’s one personality that can find the beauty of the worst of situations, it’s Death, right? And how much worse can it be than living in Molching on the outskirts of Munich during World War II? Much worse, it turns out, if you happen to be a Jew.
Movie Review: Side Effects
Ratings for reviews will appear above the fold, while the review itself will appear below the fold even though I will actively avoid any spoilers this time around.
Jean-Paul’s rating: 4/5 stars
Soooo, you want to be a psychiatrist? Watch this movie and call me in the morning. I knew next to nothing about this movie going into it and I suggest you do the same if you are going to see it. It is worth it.
Movie Review: Broken City
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Jean-Paul’s rating: 3/5 stars
Every politician’s corrupt. Some of them just happen to do good along the way. “Broken City” is a perfectly adequate film about corruption at the highest levels of New York City if you don’t do something stupid like think about it too much. I, however, suffer from the rare disease of thought. I will try not to let that spoil my review. Continue reading