The War of the Worlds (book), by H.G. Wells

There is a place in my heart for the classics. And as a lover of science fiction, it was high time I picked up this novel.

Written in the late 1800s, this classic is no stranger to most readers and movie-goers, so I won't bore you with the details of the plot. All I really want to say is that it was tough to get through this one.

Admittedly, I'm conscious of the fact that I found this story fairly boring, likely due to my modern mind. Today's stories are filled with suspense, plot twists, sub plots, and various story lines that interweave. It seems that in H. G. Well's days, a single linear story was enough, and the subject matter was more important than the exposition of the matter.

I've read a few Jules Verne books (20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, and Journey to the Center of the Earth), as well as other H. G. Wells novels (The Time Machine, and The Invisible Man). As far as sheer enjoyment goes, I enjoyed this one the least of those listed here. Verne's 20,000 Leagues was a phenomenal book, and I also really enjoyed Wells's Invisible Man. The War of the Worlds doesn't compare by today's standards in my opinion.

It should be noted, however, that every time I put myself in the place of someone in the late-1800s/early-1900s, I could easily understand how this book would have been revolutionary. 50 years before Roswell, 70 years before the moon landing, H. G. Wells was already writing about space travel and aliens. He paved the way for much of today's science fiction and I will forever be grateful for that.

Is The War of the Worlds a literary classic? A revolutionary novel that deserves a place in history? Absolutely. But if I am to be honest and base my rating and critique on how much I enjoyed the book, on how interesting and captivating it was, then I have to say that it bored me and I couldn't wait to finish it so that I could move on to something else.

My Rating: 1.5/5
My Recommendation: If you're a science-fiction reader, then you should read this if nothing else then for context in your genre of choice. Otherwise, based on the shallow and dull story, I say look elsewhere for a more interesting novel.

The Spirit (Movie)

The previews looked amazing. The cast is unbeatable. It's based on a comic book from the 1940s. Doesn't this sound like the best film ever created? Okay, well maybe I'm stretching it out a little, but the point is, this movie looked like a no-fail awesome movie.

I was sorely dissapointed. Don't get me wrong, the cast did a great job, and it was in fact very... comic-booky. But that was it. The story was shallow at best. The script was beyond HORRIBLE. It was cheesy and silly throughout. I understand that it is based on a comic book and the director was trying to keep that image. But it was a bad idea. Adults don't want to go to a movie and watch something cheesy. They don't want to see something that views like a comic book.

I don't know much what else to say. The silly b-movie style jokes made my eyes roll every 5 minutes. That said, this film could have easily been saved. If they had gotten rid of the enormously silly side kicks and ALL of the jokes, I think this film might have been okay. But for my money.... I want it back.

My Rating: 1.8/5 (for some great visual work)
My Recommendaiton: SKIP it!

The Flight Before Christmas

Worst. Kids. Christmas. Movie. Ever.

This isn't so much of a movie per se, but a one-hour kids "movie." It's cgi animated and is the story of a little raindeer whose dream it is to fly someday and join Santa's team.

But here's the thing: the reindeer asks who his daddy is and his mother tells him, in more words or less, that she had a one night stand with someone on Santa's team, and BAM he was born.

Great, so now we've glamorized adultry to kids.

The little reindeer finally makes it to the north pole and finds Santa's reindeer where he is quickly shunned and belittled because he can't fly. He's a nobody and the other reindeer leave him, sad, all alone in the snow. But then he jumps off a cliff after a friend, only to find that he CAN fly, and BAM suddenly all the other reindeer are his best friends!

So aside from adultry, this movie has now taught my daughter (who LOVED this "Bambi" movie) that you should shun people and reject people if they're not as "cool" as you and only accept them if they're as "good" as you.

*sigh*

In reality this was a cute movie on some levels. In spite of these HORRID lessons taught in a KIDS movie, it was cute. That said, however, there are many better holiday movies you can show your kids this year.

My Rating: 1/5

My Recommendation: Skip it.

Cocoon: The Return (movie)

I finally got around to watching this movie. This is the sequel to Cocoon, which I reviewed before. As it turns out, I had seen this movie before. I remembered things as they happened.

As was the first, this was a cute movie--though this one was a bit more cheesy than the first and the story line was not nearly as deep. Keep in mind, however, that this was in the era in which sequels were never as good as the originals. Only in our modern day do we find sequels that live up to, or even surpass, thier predecessors.

The best part about Cocoon: The Return, was that the original cast was completely in tact. I would have liked a more involved, deeper plot, and it would have been nice to see the alien planet or some more of thier powers and abilities, etc.

But it is what it is. And what it is, is cute, but perhpas not worth your time unless you're incredibly bored as I was today. Plus I'm a sucker for a sci-fi so I kind of felt obligated to see it. :P

My Rating: 1.5/5 (somewhat entertaining, only based on the fact that I sort of liked the first one)

My Recommendation: Skip it. Not skip it like it was bad or terrible, but there are so many other great movies you could fill your time with instead. Otherwise, catch it on TV... if you're really bored. :)

Breach (movie)

This is the true story of FBI agent and tratior-spy, Robert Hansen. The plot: internal affairs hires a secretary/clerk for Hansen who spys on him, looks through his stuff and tries to find incriminating evidence against him... umm.. what else... oh, nope, that was everything.

Here's the problem: it was based on a true story. Now, that fact alone was enough to peak my interest enough to watch the movie all the way through. As you know, something that is real or plausible tweaks my reality nerve. But it wasn't enough.

The fact that it was based on a true story, I believe, was in itself its own demise. The reason is because in real life (apparently), NOTHING HAPPENED! While interesting to some extent... it was in fact BORING.

I hate to say this, but, other than the very end (which you can probably guess easily), I've already told you the WHOLE MOVIE.

My Rating: 1/5 (I didn't hate the movie, but then again I don't hate many movies at all)
My Recommendation: Skip it. It's slow, depressing and not worth your time.

The Darkest Evening of the Year (Book)

Many of you know that Dean Koontz is my favorite author. I've read nearly everything he's written (see list of all books I've read here). So when this book came out, I had to have it... in hardcover. Let me just say: I want my money back. I have read over 37 of Dean Koontz' novels and I must say, this was right up there with his worst.

The Darkest Evening of the Year was Dean's attempt at immortalizing his recently deceased and cherished dog, Trixie. This book was nothing if not a very long epitaph.

80% of the book talks about how wonderful Golder Retriever's are and how they think. Look, I like dogs as much as the next guy, but.... BOOOOORING!

There was little if any plot in this book. No exaggeration, I was about 3/4 the way through the book and still wondering what it was going to be about and when the plot would emerge.

My rating: 1 out of 5 (the "1" is merely because he is STILL an amazing author. Even though the book itself was terrible, the individual paragraphs are still written by the hands of a literary master)

My Recommendation: Avoid at all costs