Red

When "Red" was in the movie theaters, I heard mixed reviews but the previews intrigued me and my daughter recommended it so I put myself on the waiting list to get it from our local library and (after a long wait) it finally arrived. My spouse and I watched it last night and found it to be so much fun that we wanted to watch it again tonight. I believe seeing all the deleted scenes and CIA back stories after watching the movie last night really added to our second viewing tonight. Don't miss this action packed film (with a little romance) starring a cast of greats including Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich, Helen Mirren, Mary-Louise Parker, Karl Urban, and Richard Dreyfuss among others. This might even be one we want to own in our personal DVD library!

pazt

"Let Me In"

"Let Me In" by John Ajvide Lindqvist is touted as a "phenomenal international bestseller" and it's already been made into a movie. Lindqvist is a Swedish author who writes in the same vein as Stephen King. Although I can't say I particularly liked this book, I did finish it. It's a story of adolescents and bullying as well as complicated adult relationships/friendships and something sinister that is likened to vampirism but doesn't appear quite to be vampirism thus a little hard to describe. I guess Lindqvist is trying to piggyback on the vampire craze of the moment but I much prefer the Twilight series set in Forks, WA.

The back of the book has an excerpt from his next book, "Handling The Undead," and it did not pique my interest even a little bit!

pazt

"Darkness, Take My Hand"

Dennis Lehane's second novel in the Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro series is "Darkness, Take My Hand." Kenzie and Gennaro are recovering from physical and emotional wounds when they are asked to help out a psychiatrist whose college age son's life has been threatened. They are recommended to her by a mutual friend who teaches criminology at the university her son attends. What appears to be a straightforward case is anything but. Before the case reaches its surprising conclusion they risk losing those near and dear to them as well as their own lives. Lehane has created another gripping novel that kept me reading late into the night -- again!

I'm off to the library to look for the third book in this series, "Sacred."

pazt

"The Ghost Writer"

Philip Roth's thriller, "The Ghost Writer," was filmed by Roman Polanski and has an all star cast that includes Ewan McGregor, Pierce Brosnan, Kim Cattrall, and Olivia Williams. I don't remember hearing much about this film when it was in the theaters but, when I saw a copy of the DVD at our local library, I was intrigued enough to bring it home for last weekend's date night.

"The Ghost Writer" is about a young man (Ewan McGregor) who has been hired to complete former British Prime Minister(played by Pierce Brosnan) Adam Lang's memoirs after the original ghostwriter has drowned. Was that drowning death a suicide or something more sinister?

As McGregor's character settles into his new job and begins interviewing Lang, he also starts asking questions and digging into the past with some surprising results. It appears he has asked the wrong questions and is now in danger himself but who can he turn to for help?

This film had me on the edge of my seat and the surprising turn of events kept me guessing to the end. I'd classify this as a political spy thriller which turned my expectations about who are the "good" guys upside down. This film has left me still thinking about that one long after the film ended!

As I get older, I'm learning to question everything I've been taught (or told)throughout my life and to no longer accept it at face value. I've learned that life (for me) calls for making my own discoveries about the truth and sometimes that truth is not what I expected.

I'd highly recommend this movie to anyone who enjoys a good thriller/mystery and also to those who might like something to mull over after the film is over.

pazt

P. S. I Love You

"P. S. I Love You" was a DVD I checked out from the library and my spouse and I watched it several weeks ago on one of our movie-at-home date nights. It's a love story -- serious but funny -- and I liked it so well that I am trying to decide if I want to add it to our personal DVD library so we can watch it over and over like some of our other favorite romance movies. It boasts an all-star cast that includes Hilary Swank, Gerard Butler, Lisa Kudrow, Harry Connick, Jr., and Kathy Bates. When we watched the additional scenes (or ones that didn't make the final cut), I wish they'd left them in as they added so much to the story. This movie is based on the bestseller by Cecelia Ahern which I think I may now need to read. Although the movie has its sad moments, it is mostly about joy and hope and new beginnings and I highly recommend it.

pazt

"A Small Death In The Great Glen"

"A Small Death In The Great Glen" by A.D. Scott is her first novel and I hope we'll be seeing much more of her work. This almost 400 page paperback book comes complete with a readers club guide.

When a young boy is discovered dead in a canal, what first appears to be an innocent drowning turns out to be a case of murder. Local Inspector Tompson conveniently places the blame on a Polish sailor who has gone missing from a docked Russian ship and he seems disinterested in looking at any other possibilities. The local community is reassured because they already distrust foreigners -- even those who have lived in their midst for years -- and believe no one from their own community could have possibly committed such a dastardly deed.

The cast of this novel (set in 1950's Scotland) centers around the staff of the local newspaper, the Highland Gazette, whose new editor-in-chief, John McAllister, is determined to update this century-old newspaper. He has his task cut out for him, though, initially going head to head with veteran editor, Don McLeod. Rob is the cub reporter on the paper and Joanne Ross is a part-time employee. Joanne is the mother of two young girls and comes to work hiding bruises received from her spouse.

The solving of the young boy's murder is methodical and includes a large cast of characters who work together to piece together the details that lead to the actual murderer. At one point Chief Inspector Westland is brought in to oversee the case and, when he returns home to his family for Christmas, he has some thoughts (page 367) about his time in the Highlands that might be telling about society in general:

"What the chief inspector hated most of all--and he acknowledged that this was not exclusive to this part of the world--was the denial, the complicity, the hiding of society's ills in order to maintain that all-pervading moral imperative, respectability."

In addition to writing each scene with rich detail, Scott does an excellent job of fleshing out the lives of all these characters as well as their friends and family so I felt like I was getting to know them intimately by the end of the novel. I was left with the feeling that there must be a second book coming in this series because there has to be more to their life stories - this just seemed like a beginning. I was right - She has a second book due out 9/27/11 - "A Double Death on the Black Isle."

Please check out this new author -- I don't think you'll be disappointed if you like a good mystery.

pazt