Susan Hated Literature

Dir: Simon Hunter
Writ: Philip Eisner

• Thomas Jane … Maj. ‘Mitch’ Hunter
• Ron Perlman … Brother Samuel
• Devon Aoki … Cpl. Valerie Duval
• Sean Pertwee … Capt. Nathan Rooker
• Benno Fürmann … Lt. Maximillian von Steiner
• John Malkovich … Constantine
• Anna Walton … Severian
• Tom Wu … Cpl. Juba Kim Wu
• Steve Toussaint … Capt. John McGuire
• Luis Echegaray … Cpl. Jesus ‘El Jesus’ de Barrera
• Pras … Captain Michaels

See also: IMDb ; Elsewhere

Okay so I knew this was going to be rubbish. But then again look at that cast. How could I resist? And to be honest I was expecting something resembling a plot to show up somewhere. It never did. And without a plot it is pretty hard to have characters that have any motivation for anything they do. Although in fairness these all were such walking stereotypes that you needed no motivation. They even had one of the black guys die first! How clichéd is that?

In case you were wondering the plot was supposed to be about some machine, sent by the “enemy”^[1] which transformed the near dead into mutants who do nothing but kill, and bring back others for the machine to turn. Exposition^[2] tells us that after the last ice-age the machine was defeated, temporarily, by being hidden under ground. But since then, this is the year 2707, man has forgotten what once he knew. Oh yeah, and all the world has been taken over by four corporations who are continually at war with one another. I suppose that is as good a reason as any for soldiers to be milling about.

Anyways thats a whole heap of backstory to explain away a mess of a story that really didn’t need it. They coulda just started off with the machine. But whatever. It is their mess. And boy oh boy is it ever a mess.

Plus, with Irish. A weird-ass version of Ár n-Athair^[3] But still. Irish^[4]

So with all that negativity you can just tell that I’m going to say I hated it, can’t you? But I didn’t. Yes it was pish. Utter pish. But so pish it was fun. And I think it might possibly be incredibly improved by the imbibing of alcohol before watching. So that’d be my recommendation, go get hammered, then watch. You’ll love it.

Oh, I almost forgot, apart from some ropey special effects it does look quite cool. I’m a fan of the whole steampunk look, and while this isn’t quite that, it does have a cool world war one vibe to it. So that’s pretty nifty.

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Author: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
ISBN: 9780007189885 DDC: 823.92
LibraryThing ; Other Reviews

Things started to fall apart at home when my brother, Jaja, did not go to communion and Papa flung his heavy missal across the room and broke the figurines on the étagére.

Kambili, the teenage narrator of the book, is a 15 year old girl. In many ways she lives a priveliged life in Nigeria. Her father owns factories; he is a “big man” in the community. A fact that is brought home to her when she visits her less well off aunt and cousins. But wealth doesn’t equal happiness. Kamibili and her brother Jaja live under the strict rules of their father and his fiercely religious beliefs.

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Dir: Marc Forster
Writ: David Benioff based on book by Khaled Hosseini

• Khalid Abdalla … Amir
• Atossa Leoni … Soraya
• Shaun Toub … Rahim Kahn
• Sayed Jafar Masihullah Gharibzada … Omar
• Zekeria Ebrahimi … Young Amir
• Ahmad Khan Mahmidzada … Young Hassan
• Homayoun Ershadi … Baba

I haven’t read the book this film is based on so I can’t comment on how well the story makes the translation from one medium to the other. The film tells the story of a young boy growing up in Afghanistan before the Soviet invasion, and so before the Taliban came to power. He is best friends with a younger boy who is the family’s servant’s son, Hassan. We first meet Amir and Hassan when they are flying kites above Kabul. Hassan is the best kite runner in the city; he chases, or runs, down the kites that have had their strings cut. But Hassan is of a different tribe to Amir and so both have to put up with a lot of bullying. As Amir’s Baba laments, Amir rarely stands up for himself, it is always the younger Hassan who fights back.

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Author: Sherri S Tepper
ISBN: 0006482694 DDC: 813.54
See also: LibraryThing ; Mia’s Booklist ; Infinity Plus review ; The Speculative Life

Grass!
Millions of square miles of it; numberless wind-whipped tsunamis of grass, a thousand sun-lulled caribbeans of grass, a hundred rippling oceans, every ripple a gleam of scarlet of amber, emerald or turquoise, multicolored as rainbows, the colors shivering over the prairies in stripes and blotches, the grass - some high, some low, some feathered, some straight - making their own geography as they grow.

This was an impulse purchase, I’ve read one or two others by Tepper and although I enjoyed them I do think that she has a tendency to be a little preachy in her books. However if the story is good enough I’m willing to overlook that, and I’d have to say that I really enjoyed this novel. Set at some point far in the future when humankind has colonised many different worlds, the majority of this book takes place on the planet Grass, among the insular bon as the aristocrats are called.

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Author: Lois McMaster Bujold
ISBN: 0380818604
DDC: 813.54
#1 in the Chalion series

Cazaril heard the mounted horsemen on the road before he saw them. He glanced over his shoulder. The well-worn track behind him curled up around a rolling rise, what passed for a hill on these high windy plains, before dipping again into the late-winter muck of Baocia’s bony soil

Lois McMaster Bujold is one of the big names in SFF, but I’ve only recently come to read her books. A few months ago I read Paladin of Souls, which is the second in the Chalion series. But although there are reoccuring characters and shared history I don’t think you have to have the first one in order to read that. I hadn’t, but I’m sure that if I now reread it after reading The Curse of Chalion it would make a lot more sense.

The main hero of this novel is Cazaril, a man who has only recently escaped from life as a slave, chained to an oar. Now he returns to a former home where he once served as page, looking for somewhere to call home. Where he can rest and recuperate. Instead he finds himself appointed secretary-tutor to the Royesse Iselle, the sister to the heir to the throne of Chalion. And in the process becomes caught up in political intrigue, as well as theological debates and the work of the gods.

In some ways Chalion stands in for Castile, with Royina (Princess) Iselle standing in for Isabella of Castile, but it is not a historical novel tinged with fantasy elements, rather a fantasy novel inspired by history.

Throughout the book religion plays a large role, as does discussion on the nature of free will and the role of the gods. But in an entertaining, though serious, way. Cazaril’s story is one of sacrifice, redemption and divince intervention.
The curse of the title happened before the novel’s beginning, but its effects, and the attempts to lift it are what drive the plot of the novel.

A good read, Caz is an entertaining and likeable character, and the plot itself will keep you reading.

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I was just over at non vocabulum where Dena has purchased^[1] a statue of Jesus, which prompted me to remember a sacred heart portrait that was on sale in Sligo many years ago.^[2] And I was going to reply in her comments section, but then I thought it was quite a long reply, so figured I’ll blog about it instead.

First of all, are you familiar with a sacred heart pic? They were fairly ubiquitous in Ireland a few years back. Or in the catholic parts anyways. We had one up when I lived in Dublin. It hung in the kitchen. It is possible this picture still resides somewhere in the house/sheds, but it was never hung up in the Sligo house.

Anyways, this picture in the shop was kindof a sacred heart. Only not really. As you’d walk down the road you’d catch a glimpse of it in the window. Jesus, head all bloody from the thorns, eyes closed, on the cross. Then as you got a little closer, or changed angle, BANG! the eyes would open, and the head would move a little.

No, we were not inflicted with the moving statues phenomenon, but this was one of those holographic pictures.

Could you imagine having one of those in your house. Talk about What Would Jesus Do, what would you say when you saw Jesus move?

It was the creepiest thing ever, and has to rate quite highly on the tasteless scale, sitting in the car, watching Jesus open and close his eyes, thorny crown making him bleed, as you made your way through traffic.

If someone did buy it I hope that they didn’t display it where we had our Sacred Heart. Could you imagine eating your cornflakes under that watchful gaze?

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• Laura Linney …. Erin Bruner
• Tom Wilkinson …. Father Moore
• Campbell Scott …. Ethan Thomas
• Jennifer Carpenter …. Emily Rose

Based on a true story The Exorcism of Emily Rose deals with the death of Emily Rose. Doctors said she was suffering from psychotic-epilepsy, her priest said it was possession. And because of Father Moore’s role in Emily’s refusal to take her medication, and her lack of medical attention he is put on trial for negligent homicide. Erin Bruner a high-profile lawyer takes his case because she wants to be made senior partener. Father Moore allows her represent him only after making her promise that he can take the stand and tell Emily’s story.

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