Model Citizen

This is another of those movies I've watched recently that has so many bad reviews, but when I've actually watched it, can't really see what all the fuss is about.
I think the biggest problem seems to be Brendan Fraser, there's just too many critics out there who hate the guy. It seems any of Brendans latest movies have him as the first stumbling block (Journey to the Center of the Earth/Inkheart), but myself, he does what he does, an action light hero for kids/family viewing.

OK, so to the film.
The first thing you notice that does take some getting used to is that Rachel Weisz has been replaced by Maria Bello. It took me about half the movie to get used to her, but that's not her fault, more I think that Weisz had made such an impact with the character in the first 2 movies. Also, there son Alex is now grown (Luke Ford) and is a mix of his Dad's adventurous spirit and his Uncle Jonathon's ignorance. But again, I'm not sure it's his fault I took so long to get used to him or more to the point that you kind of expect all heroes these days to be perfect and making mistakes just should'nt happen.
There's no Arnold Vosslo this outing as other than him being finished off in Mummy 2, thuis film takes place in China, with the Mummy being played superbly by Jet Li, a Warlord who conquered all he saw until he was tricked conquering the last goal-immortality by a witch played by Michelle Yeoh.
Of course after the Warlord is imprisoned for millenia along with his now Terracotta Army, he's accidentally released and the fun starts.

I think for me and my family, we enjoyed it so much as we'd been watching old Ray Harryhausen movies, and after those this just seemed the modern day equivalent. Simple classical stories interspersed with great monsters (abominable snowmen, 3 headed dragons etc) and one sided bad guys that you just know will not make it to the final credits.
What more do you want from a family movie?

Picture and sound are excellent though not stretching the format much. It's nice to see al the fiery detail in Jet Li's body as it cracks and moves exposing the fiery substance beneath, but the scenery did'nt really 'pop'as it did in The Forbidden Kingdom, the previous Blu Ray I watched.

Rated 4 out of 5

I completeley came across this by chance, it was one of those "Amazon Recommends" titles. It has excellent reviews but was a mini series noone I've come across actually saw.

It's a strange mix of Pride & Prejudice meets Life On Mars. Set over 4 episodes, it sees Amanda Price, a big Jane Austen fan, discovering one lousy evening, after her boyfriend has ruined her evening in, even trying to propose with a ring pull from his beer can, that the fictional character Elizabeth Bennet is in her bathroom.
After a short while we discover that there is a door in the bathroom that corresponds to a door in Elizabeths house that is a portal between these two unlikely worlds. Of course, Elizabeth and Amanda swap places.
Even though Amanda knows the world of P&P inside out, knows the villians from the goodies, her attempts to 'help' things along keep making matters worse.

I've leant the DVD out to a few people, and the result was exactly what I found in my house. I planned to let the girls watch it over 2 evenings (it's 3 hrs), but it seems tht once you start it just can't be stopped. It's that likeable, fun and enthralling you really have to just keep watching to see how it all pans out.

Top rated entertainment at a very cheap price.

 

I was looking in a library, a little bit bored, waiting for the rest of the family to choose their books. There was a section of Graphic Novels, and I was having a peek when I found this old hardback book and thought someone had put it back in the wrong section. Anyway, I had a little glimpse inside and was very surprised to find it was a comic, albeit disguised as a normal hardback book.
So I took note of the author, Linda Medley, and ordered it on Amazon.

I started this last week after attempting Love & Rockets book 14. Love and Rockets was one of my favourite books...was. I've just got more fed up over the years with the increasing swearing and sex which seems to more often than not try and cover the fact that the story is going hardly nowhere. It's definatley more miss than hit as the years and books have gone by...anyway, I did'nt even finish it I was so fed up with it.

So I picked up Castle Waiting and was surprised that it was a pretty straightforward fairy tale about Sleeping Beauty, allbeit told in a slightly different way, but she falls asleep for 100 years and is awakened by her Prince Charming, and that is where any similarity to a normal fairy tale stops. The princess leaves with her Prince. "I'll write" she promises, but the castle is left (waiting) for Royalty to come again.
That is only the prologue.

It was a completley refreshing story reading about decent people treating each other well, caring for each other, being genuine friends, even if, the resident Knight is a horse, the Castle overseer is a Stork, the resident holy Sister is a bearded lady etc etc.

I read somewhere (the intro I think) that it's not a story about Good vs Evil, but about being a hero in your own way. I dont know if that's how I'd sum it up, I think it's a story about friendship and how precious that is.

If I had to leave a score, it's full marks. The 500+ pages flew by and now I need to see if there's any other books by Linda Medley.

I bought this on a whim after reading a short review that basically said: A Superman story that's actually good!

The story is based on one premise, and it's an extremely clever one with incredible cosequences: What if Superman had landed on Earth 12 hours earlier? ...and then been brought up as a good communist at the height of the cold war to become Mother Russias ultimate weapon/deterrant.

America is left with the cleverest man on Earth to find a solution: Lex Luthor.
Along the way we see the Green Lantern, Wonder Woman and a Russian Batman all try and 'stop' Superman from what seems at first an ideal way of leadership.
Enough said, if you have'nt read this I dont want to spoil it for you.

It's definatley one of the most clever stories I've read in a while with extremely well thought out issues. What could have been a boring political book is nothing but entertaining and a real page turner. And the ending...? One of the most jaw dropping that you'll remeber for a long long time.

Mark Miller is writer, Dave Johnson and Kilian Plunkett on artwork duties.