Crown and Country

Author: David Starkey

Genre: Non-Fiction, Historical

Rating: A-

This book could be divided into three parts, beginning, middle, and end, each part which is rather different and each part which I have different feelings about.  Throughout it, historian David Starkey describes the rise and falls (and there are many, many falls) of the men and women who have served as monarch of the nation that is now known as the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.  Covering literally two thousand years of history Starkey traces the history of the monarchy, and the history of the nation itself, from its inception in the Celtic British period to the modern day Windsors.

The beginning part of this story, in my opinion, is the period of Britons, Anglo-Saxons, and Danes, ending with the death of Harold Godwinson and the Norman invasion.  William the Conqueror starts the middle section, and it continues on through the Normans, into the Plantagenets, and its cadet branches the Lancasters and Yorks, and ending with the rise of the House of Tudor.  The final part starts with the children of Henry VIII, Edward, Mary, and Elizabeth, and the Nine Days Queen, Jane, and continues through the Stuarts, Hanovers, the short-lived Saxe-Coburg and Gothas, and the current Windsors.  While each part is in itself extremely interesting and well linked - both with the contents of itself, and with the overall arch of the story it's telling - the way they're handled is somewhat different.  You can tell that Starkey prefers what I'm calling his middle part to the other points in British history, simply by the amount of detail that he uses when discussing the Normans, Plantagenets, and the first Tudors.  The bulk of the book is in itself a glance at the Kings and Queens of Britain and the making of the monarchy, but somehow it feels as though there is more detail to the stories of some of the earlier monarchs than there is in the later monarchs, or at least more of an attempt.  Obviously there is considerably less in regards to the Britons or the early Anglo-Saxons, who existed in a largely unrecorded period, but following the rise of Wessex and the subsequent rise of the Normans the amount of detail grows and it feels as though Starkey is really interested in what he's writing about.  Then, suddenly the amount of detail begins to drop and his interest appears to wane.

This can be seen just through the division of the chapters.  No monarch gets their own chapter in "Part I  - Beginnings," although for a good portion of this section the reigns are short and factual knowledge is limited - and it should be noted Edward the Confessor and Harold Godwinson, the latter whom had a very short reign, don't share their chapter with any earlier monarchs.  Each of the Norman kings gets his own chapter, as do the early Plantagenet kings - yes, Stephen and Matilda share one, but in a way they also share a reign.  Things move quicker with the later Plantagenets, particularly as the War of the Roses comes into force, but once again this kind of makes sense - the Richards, Henrys, and Edwards all kind of go together in terms of their historical greatness.  Where Starkey kind of loses me, however, is in giving Henry VIII his own chapter (deserving), but then dividing the reign of Elizabeth I into two, to be shared in a chapter with her siblings (no special chapter header for Jane Grey) first, and a shared chapter with her successor James VI & I and his son Charles I.  The reign of Elizabeth I is kind of a big deal - so big, in fact, that the era was named after it.  It is one of those reigns that kind of deserves its own chapter.  Likewise, Victoria deserves her own chapter, if only because of the length of her reign.  Dividing into two and wedging it into chapters that deal first with her uncles, George IV and William IV, and then with her son, grandson, and great-grandsons, in order Edward VII, George V, Edward VIII, and George VI, does not do her justice.

Nor, for that matter, does the whole way that he treats the 20th century (or several other centuries for that matter).  The closer to the present day the more the the reigns seem to be a bit squished together, the more the story becomes rather rushed.  Events like the two World Wars, the Jacobite Risings, Napoleon, the Abdication Crisis, etc, are all kind of glanced over.  There's also the idea of the Hanoverian monarchs having poor relationships with their parents, or conversely their eldest children. While Starkey touches on it he seems to be unaware of it at times - even going so far as to inaccurately say that the relationship between Prince Philip and Prince Charles shows the resumption of this Hanover tradition for the first time in three generations - it's not, not at all.  While there was a good relationship between George VI and Elizabeth II, the relationship between brothers Edward VIII and George VI with their father, George V, was at best less than stellar.  Likewise, while the relationship between George V and his father, Edward VII, was great, he was the younger brother, his elder brother, Prince Albert Victor, having had a very bad relationship with the King.  This trend continues too; Edward VII and his father, Prince Albert; Victoria and her mother the Duchess of Kent; George IV and George III; George II and George I... it continues.

The one thing that I really want to give Starkey credit for is the fact that while this book is very much historical, Starkey uses a narrative approach to make it interesting and appealing.  It was really great.  I also really enjoyed how he addressed and made reference to the different myths and legends that have been attached to the monarchs he's discussing, like the means of the death of Edward II.  I actually kind of want to re-read this book just so that I can take note of every time homosexuality, homoeroticism, etc, comes up.  It's actually a lot more than one might expect.  I also wouldn't mind re-reading to take extra note of ever usurping, rebellion, revolt, civil war, revolution, etc.  It's actually a lot more than one would think - in all honesty, going into this, I knew of the Norman Conquest, the struggles between Stephen and Matilda, the back-and-forth between Henry VI and Edward IV, and the subsequent usurpers Richard III and Henry VII, the Civil War and rise of Cromwell, and then of course the banishing of James II.  In a lot of ways, though, that's only the tip of the iceberg; there's so much more to it all.

Week in Review: January 14 - 19

Awards - With the mentality of better late than never, I did up a thing on the nominations for this year's Golden Raspberry Awards, my favourite awards of the season.  Also up were the results of the 70th Golden Globes, and a bit of a commentary on the presentation itself.

Birthdays -  Two birthday's this week, Betty White's 91st, and A.A. Milne's 131st.

Movies - While I said last week that I would be doing Gangster Squad this week I clearly lied.  Instead new movie of the week was Jack Reacher, which I thoroughly enjoyed.  Other movies of the week were the 1984 Red Dawn and The Bang Bang Club, neither of which was all that good.

Books - Book of the week was Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, which is probably my favourite instalment in the series.

TV - TV show of the week was the first season of the original series of Star Trek.  I've had some computer problems, so the review was initially posted uncompleted; that's been corrected now.

Recommendations - The movie out this week that I'm most looking forward to is Broken City. While I made other recommendations, nothing else overly caught my attention and I doubt I'll see them in theatres.

Next Week - I'm not too sure about next week, owing to the computer problems.  I'm definitely going to do Gangster Squad, and I'll do the weekly recommendations, but the rest of the week is up in the air.

Requests -What about you? Anything I should read or see? Let me know!

Star Trek: The Original Series (Season 1)

Starring: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForrest Kelley, Nichelle Nichols, George Takei, Grace Lee Whitney, Majel Barrett, James Doohan

Creator: Gene Roddenberry

Genre: Sci-Fi

Rating: C+

This is going to be a bit sacrelige, but I didn't really enjoy the first season of Star Trek: The Original Series (initially known  as simply Star Trek).  There was a plethora of reasons, but the biggest were simply the overall writing, the horrible special effects, the overall plot (or lack thereof), and the acting.

For those who don't know Star Trek (are in the dark so to speak, probably owing to the rock on the far side of Pluto that they've been living on for the past forty or so years), the original series follows the crew of the starship USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) as they "boldly go where no man has gone before."  The crew is headed by Captain James T. Kirk (Shatner), first officer Spock (Nimoy), and chief medical officer Leonard "Bones" McCoy (Kelley), and rounded out by crew members chief engineer Montgomery "Scotty" Scott (Doohan), communications officer Uhura (Nichols), helmsman Sulu (Takei), yoeman Janice Rand (Whitney), and nurse Christine Chapel (Barett).  In the first series, the crew encounter aliens, defy death (except for when they don't), deal with mutants, and watch as Kirk loses his shirt and sleeps his way through the galaxy.

I don't actually mind the general plot of the story, as it's really rather typical of science fiction (especially of science fiction of this time), and I can appreciate the ways in which it helped the genre.  I'm not a big fan of the writing though, simply because I found myself having to buy into a bit too much.  This probably could have been avoided had the show been less episodic and more serial; each episode essentially carried itself and was unaffected by the episodes that came before it - and thus had no effect on the episodes that came after it.  I'm not a fan of TV tabula rasa, which in my opinion is essentially what happens here.  Every episode the Enterprise crew come up against some new adventure, Kirk sleeps with some new woman, and people (often in red shirts) die.  Every episode the crew learns something - only to conveniently forget it by the next episode.  It is because of this that the show is able to be aired in a non-chronological order, which goes contrary to the order in which they were produced in.

The problem of the special effects is one that can be dismissed by the fact that Star Trek was created in the mid-1960s, until you realize that Planet of the Apes was created around the same time.  Some of the effects are actually pretty cool and I have to admit that I love the backgrounds that fill the show.  What I hate, however, are the aliens.  They're really kind of lame, and often really cheesy.  The worst, in my opinion, is the neural parasites in the season finale, which were literally created by covering novelty vomit in a plastic bladder.  Seriously: the special effects involved dollar store fake vomit.

The worst thing, though, is the acting.  While there are some good, possibly even great actors, here - I really have to say that I love Leonard Nimoy's Spock - most of them are a bit more on the mediocre side of things, and William Shatner... William Shatner is not a good actor.  He's entertaining, yes, but he's not exactly good.  The fact that he's the lead here just makes things worse, as does his manner of enunciating every word and thus making them into their own individual sentence. While I suspect that this is done so as to add emphasis and create dramatic tension, what it actually does is makes him sound as though he's constantly struggling to remember his lines.

33rd Golden Raspberry Awards: Nominations

So, I'm a bit late on this one, but the 33rd Golden Raspberry Awards nominations were announced last week. These ones are always my favourite nominations, just because they look at what was the worst things to come out of the previous year.  What's not fun about that?

I'm not going to make any predictions here, but I am going to note which movies I have seen, in bold, and which ones I, for some ridiculous reason, want to see, underlined.

Please, don't judge me.

Worst Picture	Worst Actor	Worst Actress
Battleship The Oogieloves in the Big Balloon Adventure  That's My Boy A Thousand Words The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2	Nicholas Cage in Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengence Eddie Murphy in  A Thousand Words Robert Pattinson in The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2 Tyler Perry in Alex Cross and Good Deeds Adam Sandler in That's My Boy	Katherine Heigl in One for the Money Milla Jovovich in Resident Evil: Retribution Tyler Perry in Tyler Perry's Madea's Witness Protection Kristen Stewart in Snow White and the Huntsman and The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2 Barbra Streisand in The Guilt Trip
Worst Supporting Actor	Worst Supporting Actress	Worst Screen Couple
Taylor Lautner in The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2 Liam Neeson in Battleship and  Wrath of the Titans Nick Swardson in That's My Boy Vanilla Ice in That's My Boy	Jessica Biel in Playing for Keeps and Total Recall Brooklyn Decker in Battleship and What to Expect When You're Expecting Ashley Greene in The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2 Jennifer Lopez in What to Expect When You're Expecting  Rhianna in Battleship	Any two cast members from Jersey Shore in The Three Stooges Mackenzie Foy and Taylor Lautner in The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2 Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart in The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2 Tyler Perry and his Drag Get Up in Tyler Perry's Madea's Witness Protection Adam Sandler and either Leighton Meester, Andy Samberg, or Susan Sarandon in That's My Boy
Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-off, or Sequel	Worst Director	Worst Screenplay
Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengence Tyler Perry's Madea's Witness Protection Piranha 3DD  Red Dawn The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2	Sean Anders, That's My Boy Peter Berg, Battleship Bill Condon, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2 Tyler Perry, Good Deeds and Tyler Perry's Madea's Witness Protection John Putch, Atlas Shrugged: Part II	Battleship That's My Boy A Thousand Words The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2
	Worst Screen Ensemble
	The cast of Battleship The cast of Tyler Perry's Madea's Witness Protection The cast of The Oogieloves in the Big Balloon Adventure The cast of That's My Boy The cast of The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2

Birthday: A.A. Milne

Today is, or would have been, the 131st birthday of author A.A. Milne.

If you don't know who A.A. Milne is, then I feel for you and am questioning what kind of childhood you had.

Milne wrote extensively throughout his life, publishing his first work in 1903 at the age of 21.  Milne wrote extensively for the magazine Punch, while also writing short stories, novels, poems, and plays.  He wrote in many different genres, for both adults and children, and was kind of rather awesome.  What he is most known for, however, is his Winnie the Pooh stories.  As the story goes, Milne's son, Christopher Robin Milne, had a collection of stuffed animals, one a bear named Edward.  Then one day Milne and his son went to the London Zoo where they saw a Canadian black bear named Winnie, which Christopher Robin renamed his bear after.  Milne then began to write stories about the adventures of Christopher Robin, Winnie-the-Pooh, and Christopher Robin's other toys, Piglet, Eeyore, Kanga, Roo, Owl, Rabbit, and Tigger.

And so, despite the fact that he's been dead for 57 years, and Christopher Robin for 17, today is A.A. Milne's birthday, and he would have been 131.

Recommendations: January 18

Mama - Okay, so I'm going to guarantee that I won't see this one - I don't like horror movies  But, based on the cast I'll also say that it's probably worth checking out if you do like them.  This one stars Jessica Chastain and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, who are both great actors.

The Last Stand - It's Arnold.  What can I say?

Broken City - A new cop-involved-in-bad-shit movie, starring Mark Wahlberg, Russell Crowe, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Kyle Chandler.  Despite the over use of this genre, I like everyone who's in it and I'll see it for that alone.

Taken 2 - The sequel to the 2008 film, Taken, in which Liam Neeson plays a man who, along with his wife, is taken hostage by the idiot who didn't learn that taking things Liam Neeson loves hostage is a bad idea in the first film.  I haven't seen either, but hey Liam Neeson!

To Rome With Love - The latest from Woody Allen.  If you like Woody Allen, why not check this one out?

Won't Back Down - The latest movie about people trying to save the school system, this one starring Maggie Gyllenhaal and Viola Davis.  This is kind of a genre that I love, so I'm really looking forward to seeing it.

Farewell, My Queen - A foreign film about Marie Antoinette in the first days of the French Revolution, this film looks really good.  Plus it stars Diane Kruger, so yeah. There's that.

An Irish Country Doctor - I stumbled across the Irish Country series by Patrick Taylor rather by accident - the book cover caught my attention when I was browsing through the bookstore.  I'm really glad that I did, because these books are great.  Set in 1964 in Ulster, Ireland, An Irish Country Doctor follows new doctor Barry Laverty as he takes on an apprenticeship under Doctor Fingal Flahertie O'Reilly in the village of Ballybucklebo.

Birthday: Betty White

Today is the 91st birthday of actress, comedian, singer, author, television personality, and, since 2010, soul surviving Golden Girl, Betty White.

White has had an active career since 1939, when she entered into show business by appearing in radio shows.  She soon got her own radio show, The Betty White Show, before entering into television.  In 1950 she received her first Emmy nomination, for Best Actress in the first year that the category was made.  White went on to appear in the comedy shows Life with Elizabeth, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Love Boat, Mama's Family, The Golden Girls, The Golden Palace, Boston Legal, The Bold and the Beautiful, and most recently Hot in Cleveland.  She was also the hostess of NBC's annual Tournament of Roses Parade, then CBC's Macy's Thanksgiving Parade, and now hosts Betty White's Off Their Rockers.  Oh, and for many years she made regular appearances on game shows like Password and Match Game, the former which was hosted by her third husband Allen Ludden.  In her lengthy career, White has received 21 Emmy nominations, won seven Emmy Awards, won one Grammy, and in 1995 was awarded a Star on the Walk of Fame.

Yeah, and she's 91.  Happy birthday!

Red Dawn (1984)

Starring: Patrick Swayze, Charlie Sheen, C. Thomas Howell, Lea Thompson, Ben Johnson, Harry Dean Stanton, Ron O'Neal, William Smith, Powers Boothe

Director: John Milius

Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama, War

Rating: C

This is not a good movie.  I'm just going to stick that out there: Red Dawn is not good.  At best it's a very conservative, rather violent movie about a situation that is really hard to buy into.  When the premise of your movie is that the United States is caught unaware by a Soviet invasion and the only people who fight back (at least for a good chunk of it) are a group of teenagers in Colorado, I kind of have a hard time buying into it.

So, yeah.  At some point in the 1980s the USA becomes increasingly isolated when several European nations, all of them except for the UK, withdraw from NATO, at a time when the Warsaw Pact is being aggressively expanded.  In addition to this, there's a wheat harvest failure in the Ukraine and a communist coup in Mexico.  In order to cope, the Soviets and Cubans invade the United States.  Specifically, they invade the small town of Calumet, Colorado and quickly completely take over the town - and many other parts of the USA.  Enter our heroes, a small group of teenagers lead by Jed and Matt Eckert (Swayze and Sheen), who manage to escape the occupation and begin to form a resistance.

Okay, so 1. I do not buy that a group of teenagers who have no military experience and really are just kids who grew up hunting would be able to effectively fight the KGB.  2. I do not buy that the Soviets would be able to invade Colorado without being noticed well before getting to Colorado.  3. NATO consists of more than just the USA and European countries.  4. By the time of the movie, the Cold War was kind of dying down and it was beginning to be pretty clear that the Soviets? Weren't going to win it.

Actually, let's go back to number 2 here.  There are a few ways that the Soviets/Communists could have invaded the USA based on the premise of this movie.  They could have come up through Mexico, in which case they would have hit California, Arizona, Texas, etc, first.  They could have come via the Pacific, in which case they would have hit Alaska, Canada, and Washington state first.  They could have come up through Cuba, in which they would have probably hit Florida first. Finally, they could have flown over the Arctic Sea, in which case thy would have hit Canada first.  There is no way that they randomly hit fucking Colorado first - which thus brings to question just how the hell this was a surprise attack.  Dear movie makers: please consider geography.

This overall problem comes into play with issue number 3 here.  Canada is a part of NATO. Canada has always been a part of NATO.  In the premise of this movie, Canada is still a part of NATO.  In all likelyhood, Canada also had to be invaded in order to get to the USA here.  Thus, two nations would have been invaded.  Furthermore, the whole "the UK is still a part of NATO" thing comes into play.  Even without NATO, Canada has a very delicate relationship with the UK and it's a bit hard to buy that the UK does nothing to come to the aid of two allies, both which they're entered into military alliances with and one which is a part of the Commonwealth.  Just saying.

Then there's the whole issue of 1.  I'm not even sure I want to go there.  Yes, Americans are known for their gun loving ways - yes, it's somewhat of a stereotype.  Yes, Guerrilla warfare can completely screw over traditional armies, and in a lot of ways that's what the Communists are here.  No, a handful of teenagers are not going to successfully fight the KGB for long, nor are they going to be the only resistance.  That's just ridiculous, sorry.

Jack Reacher (2012)

Starring: Tom Cruise, Rosamund Pike, Richard Jenkins, Werner Herzog, David Oyelow, Robert Duvall

Director: Christopher McQuarrie

Genre: Action, Crime, Thriller

Rating: B+

I am not a Jack Reacher fan.  I've never read the books, had never even heard of them before the movie caught my interest.  As such, I have no clue just how wrong for this role Tom Cruise is or just how much they messed up the book.  And, in all honesty, I don't really care - while I am all for trying to be true to the books as much as possible, not knowing the books I can say that this was a good movie and Tom Cruise was great in this role.

In Pittsburgh a man goes to a parking garage, pulls out a sniper rifle, and kills five people.  The case, headed by Detective Emerson (Oyelow), appears to be quickly solved, with all the evidence being linked to former U.S. Army sniper James Barr (Joseph Sikora).  When interrogated by the Detective and the District Attorney Alex Rodin (Jenkins), Barr is given a choice between confessing and facing the death penalty - and instead instructs them to find Jack Reacher (Cruise).  Reacher is a former U.S. Army Military Police Corps Officer who now exists as a drifter and has a history with Barr.  The question is, can Reacher prove Barr's innocence - and does Reacher even want to do so?  Rounding out the case is Barr's defence attorney, and the D.A.'s daughter, Helen Rodin (Pike), who believes that if the case goes to court Barr will not get a fair trial, owing to her father's tactics.  Oh, and then Barr is brutally attacked by fellow inmates and put into a coma, the question now being whether or not he'll be considered fit for trial at all.

I really liked this movie.  The action is great - I particularly loved the car chases which did away with a lot of the jumpy confusion typical of the genre - the humour is snappy, the suspense is sound.  I like how you know whether or not Barr's innocent from the get go, but you still get to watch Reacher and Helen put things together - and see as their opponents try to prevent them from being able to do so.  Pieces start to be put together, but it isn't until closer to the end of the movie that you have it all, and you're liable to be surprised by the picture that you end up seeing - it's not necessarily the one on the box.

I'm not going to comment too much on the book-to-movie transition, because as I've already mentioned, I haven't read the books.  I will say, for those who are unsure of Tom Cruise as Jack Reacher because of the books, the casting came with the support of the author.  In the books, Reacher is a giant of a man and Tom Cruise... well, Tom Cruise is not (although, credit goes to the way they chose to film this, which kind of hides how short he really is... granted, that's a common theme in Tom Cruise movies).   Lee Child has said "Reacher's size in the books is a metaphor for an unstoppable force, which Cruise portrays in his own way" and that "With another actor you might get 100% of the height but only 90% of Reacher. With Tom, you'll get 100% of Reacher with 90% of the height."  Yes, Tom Cruise is short, but there was never a moment in this movie when I thought that he was really anything less than intimidating and a very viable threat.  He definitely portrays an unstoppable force, regardless of how tall he is (or is not).

My final note here is regarding the potential sequel.  There are something like 17 stories written about Jack Reacher, the bulk of which are novels.  It's being reported that a sequel is unlikely due to the film's box-office performance (while it's done well and made more than double what it cost to make, it's about $100 million short of what they wanted if they were to do a sequel), I do hope that they go for it.  This seems like it could be a fun franchise; it's up Tom Cruise's alley, and really I don't need to see another Mission Impossible.  It'd be nice to see Tom Cruise embark on a new franchise.  That being said, I'm also still hoping that Christopher Nolan decides to do another Batman movie with Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Nightwing.  I can't be the only one.

The Bang Bang Club (2010)

Starring: Taylor Kitsch, Ryan Phillippe, Frank Rautenbach, Neels Van Jaarsveld, Patrick Lyster, Russell Savadier, Malin Åkerman

Director: Steven Silver

Genre: Drama

Rating: C+

The Bang Bang Club has two things to really support it: an interesting (and based on truth) story, and a good cast.  These tend to be the makings of great films, which is why it's  so disappointing that this is not really an all together good movie.

Bang Bang Club follows Kevin Carter (Kitsch), Ken Oosterbroek (Rautenbach), João Silva (Van Jaarsveld), and newcomer Greg Marinovich (Phillippe), a group of photographers who together form the Bang Bang Club.  The group is known for the extremes that they have gone to in order to get photos representing the lives - and deaths - of people living in Apartheid South Africa.  Joining them is their editor, Robin Comley (Åkerman).

So, I do have to say that while the acting is good and the story interesting, there's something lost in Bang Bang Club, and I'm really not sure just what it is.  Somehow, the way the story is told removes the actual excitement and the fact that the timing of it is unclear for a lot of the film makes the historical significance of the events a bit unclear.  The passage of time is a bit wonky; it's suggested that a lot of time passes, but I'm not really sure how much, or how quickly, or really if any time did in fact pass.  The acting is good and the idea of it is good, but the story itself is in need of development.

Another thing that I had a problem with was the casting itself.  While I don't think that the acting was bad, it really does annoy me when people are hired to fake an accent.  There are some actors who are great at it - Meryl Streep - and others who are not.  The accents here were probably about midranged, but it still bothers me.  If you're going to do a film about a group of South Africans, hire a group of South Africans.  Not Ryan Phillippe.

70th Golden Globe Awards: Results

Last night was the 70th Golden Globe Awards.  Which, you know, were entertaining and what not.  Stuff happened, awards were won, Jodie Foster came out (which I swear, I thought she did a few years ago?).

Best Picture - Drama	Best Picture - Musical or Comedy	Best Actor (Drama)
Argo	Les Misérables	Daniel Day Lewis, Lincoln
Best Actress (Drama)	Best Actor (Musical or Comedy)	Best Actress (Musical or Comedy)
Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty	Hugh Jackman, Les Misérables	Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook
Best Supporting Actor	Best Supporting Actress	Best Director
Christoph Waltz, Django Unchained	Anne Hathaway, Les Misérables	Ben Affleck, Argo
Best Screenplay	Best Original Score	Best Original Song
Quentin Tarantino, Django Unchained	Life of Pi	"Skyfall," Skyfall
Best Animated Feature	Best Foreign Language Film
Brave	Amour
Best Series (Drama)	Best Series (Musical or Comedy)	Best Actor (Drama)
Homeland	Girls	Damien Lewis, Homeland
Best Actress (Drama)	Best Actor (Musical or Comedy)	Best Actress (Musical or Comedy)
Claire Danes, Homeland	Don Cheadle, House of Lies	Lena Dunham, Girls
Best Actor (Miniseries or TV Film)	Best Actress (Miniseries or TV Film)	Best Supporting Actor
Kevin Costner, Hatfields & McCoys	Julianne Moore, Game Change	Ed Harris, Game Change
Best Supporting Actress	Best Miniseries or TV Film	Cecil B. DeMille Award
Maggie Smith, Downton Abbey	Game Change	Jodie Foster

So, a few notes.  I either agreed with or had no opinion on most of the awards (more an agreed with in regards to the movies and no opinion in regards to the TV).  I didn't think that Argo really deserved to win as many awards as it did - the movie is good, yes, but it does bother me as both a Canadian and a historian, and I thought other films were more deserving.  I kind of wish that Bradley Cooper had won best actor instead of Hugh Jackman, and I'm a bit divided on the best actress for a dramatic TV show.  I love that Maggie Smith won her category, and that Anne Hathaway won hers - I also really loved Anne Hathaway's acceptance speech.

For the most part I was neither wowed nor bored by the presenters, although I did think that Jennifer Garner's continuation of husband Ben Affleck's acceptance speech when she presented was a bit tacky.  I did really love Kristen Wiig and Will Ferrell's bit - I thought it was great. I also loved how Robert Downey, Jr introduced Jodie Foster.  Oh; the Megan Fox/Jonah Hill thing was lame.  Hosts Tina Fey and Amy Poehler were also great, I particularly loved their monologue and the Sarah Palin jokes.

Finally, Jodie Foster.  I loved her acceptance speech - from when she was talking about her career in general to when she came out.  I was a bit surprised by the coming out itself, not because I didn't realize she was gay but because I swear to God the coming out happened a few years ago when her and long-time partner Cydney Bernard broke up.  She wasn't exactly in the closet anymore, she was simply not commenting on her personal life - something that I respect.  Regardless of her sexuality, I think she was really deserving of the Cecil B. DeMille Award, after nearly 50 years in the film business.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Author: J.K. Rowling

Genre: Fantasy

Rating: A

Okay, so this is my favourite of the Harry Potter books.  I love the story within it, the way that the it plays out and the way that things relate to the overall series.  I love the idea of Harry finally becoming good at potions, like his mother before hand, even with the aid of a book (I also love the idea of him working with the aid of a book and Hermione frowning upon it).  The horcruxes are awesome as is the back story of Voldemort that we're given here, and the relationship between Harry and Dumbledore is further developed. Oh! And love is in the air, as the canonical pairings become very clear here.

It's year six at Hogwarts, and Harry's back and taking private lessons from Dumbledore himself with the aim of learning how to defeat Voldemort.  Harry's also captain of the Quidditch team, the favourite student of new potions professor, Horace Slughorn, and increasingly attracted to his best friend's younger sister, Ginny.  It's all great.  Oh, except for one thing: someone keeps on attacking students, and no one's sure who or how to stop it - although Harry is rather determined that the culprit is none other than Draco Malfoy.

The one bad thing about this book is Harry's obsession with Draco throughout it.  Very quickly on, Harry begins to annoy his friends by obsessing over what Draco's up to, and it doesn't take long for him to begin to annoy me with it as well.  Regardless of whether or not Draco is actually up to something (no spoilers), Harry's obsession is still annoying.

That being said, I absolutely loved the rest of the book.  The backstory, the pensive, the horcruxes, the consequences that it has for the rest of the series - the implications that it has for the things that happened before.  Love it all.  The fact that we get to really see why Harry is the Chosen one and what it all means and now what he's going to do with it is great.  The fact that people area actually supporting him through this, even though they don't all necessarily know as much as he does is also great.  Plus Harry and Ginny! I love them together, and I love how we got to see more of her in this book, although I do have to say it wasn't enough.  It's never enough - Ginny's probably my favourite character, and I always want more of her.

Week in Review: January 7 - 12

Awards - This was an award filled week.  First up was the People's Choice Awards, followed by the Critic's Choice Awards.  Most importantly, though, were this years Academy Award nominations.

Birthdays -  Birthdays this week included David Bowie - who announced the release of new music - the Duchess of Cambridge, and Diana Gabaldon.

Movies - Three movies this week; Judd Apatow's Knocked Up and it's sort-of-sequel This is 40 and the teen party film Project X.  The best is, by far, This is 40, and the worst is, also by far, Project X.

Books - Continuing with the Terry Pratchett novels, this week we did the City Watch Discworld novel Men at Arms which was awesome.

TV - No TV this week, sorry. Life got a bit in the way.

Recommendations - Two limited releases this week, Quartet and Struck by Lightning, both of which look great, and the wider release Gangster Squad.  I want to see all of these.

Next Week - Tomorrow we'll continue the Harry Potter-a-thon with Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, and a review of this year's Golden Globes. Movie of the week will be Gangster Squad which I've been anxious to see for months now.  Not sure about the rest of the week, but there'll be something.

Requests - Anything I should watch? Let me know!

Birthday: Diana Gabaldon

Today is the 61st birthday of author Diana Gabaldon.

Gabaldon is best known for her Outlander series, which I've been slowly making my way through review, but she's also done a series of shorter works based on a secondary character in the Outlander novels, Lord John Grey.  More recently, she's also taken to writing a series of short stories based in the Outlander world but not actually set during the time of Outlander - including "A Leaf on the Wind of All Hallows" and the forthcoming "The Space Between."  Oh, and there's the Outlander graphic novel, The Exile.  So, yeah. She's a busy woman.

Happy birthday, Ms. Gabaldon!

18th Critics' Choice Awards: Results

So, last night was the 18th Critic's Choice Awards.  Once again, I didn't watch it, but here are the results and my commentary.

Best Picture	Best Actor	Best Actress
Argo	Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln	Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty
I really don't think Argo should have won here.  Sure, it was good, but not the best picture.  There were other movies that were a lot better in this category	I actually really agree with this.  While I don't necessarily think Lincoln should win its best picture noms, I do think Daniel Day-Lewis deserves the win for best actor	I still haven't seen this yet, but I really want to and this just makes me want to more
Best Supporting Actor	Best Supporting Actress	Best Young Actor/Actress
Philip Seymour Hoffman, The Master	Anne Hathaway, Les Misérables	Quvenzhané Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild
I really think that anyone in this category could have won. Except for Matthew McConaughey. I don't know how he got nominated	Yes. Just yes. This was so deserved.	I really want to see this now, just based on how much award recognition this has gotten
Best Acting Ensemble	Best Director	Best Original Screenplay
Silver Linings Playbook	Ben Affleck, Argo	Quentin Tarantino, Django Unchained
This was well deserved, but then once again, I think anyone could have won here	I kind of think that anyone else could have been a better win than this. Sorry, Ben Affleck, I love you, but yeah	Once again, this is making me want to see Django Unchained
Best Adapted Screenplay	Best Cinematography	Best Art Direction
Tony Kushner, Lincoln	Life of Pi	Anna Karenina
I can see this.  There were a lot of good nominations in this category	Now I really want to see Life of Pi	This was another really good category.  Everyone could have won
Best Editing	Best Costume Design	Best Makeup
Zero Dark Thirty	Anna Karenina	Cloud Atlas
Really want to see this!	I think any one of the films nominated here deserved to win	Ditto
Best Visual Effects	Best Animated Feature	Best Action Movie
Life of Pi	Wreck-It Ralph	Skyfall
Ditto, again	Wreck-It Ralph is definitely the best nominated here	Any one could have won
Best Actor in an Action Movie	Best Actress in an Action Movie	Best Comedy
Daniel Craig, Skyfall	Jennifer Lawrence, The Hunger Games	Silver Linings Playbook
I think I would have actually gone with Joseph Gordon-Levitt in Looper here	I'm not sure who I would have gone with here. I do kind of question how Gina Carano got nominated though	I think this could have gone anyway, to be honest
Best Actor in a Comedy	Best Actress in a Comedy	Best Sci-Fi/Horror Movie
Bradley Cooper, Silver Linings Playbook	Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook	Looper
Bradley Cooper really deserved this. So did Paul Rudd	I love how Jennifer Lawrence won both the action and comedy categories. I think she was the best win here	Yes. Yes, yes, yes. Although, how did Prometheus get nominated?
Best Foreign Film	Best Documentary Feature	Best Song
Amour	Searching for Sugar Man	"Skyfall," Skyfall
I really want to see everything in this category	I have no comment.  The only one I'm actually interested in here is Bully	I love this song, so much
	Best Score
	John Williams, Lincoln
	Of course John Williams won. John Williams should always win

Recommendations: January 11

Gangster Squad - This one was supposed to be released in September, but had the date delayed due to the Batman shooting.  Starring Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, and Sean Penn, it's set in the 1940s and 50s and is about gangsters and cops.  I want to see this so badly.

Quartet - Sadly this one's only getting a limited release, but it still looks funny.  Dustin Hoffman's directoral debut, it's about a group of opera singers in a retirement home preparing for their annual concert. Oh, and it stars Maggie Smith, Billy Connolly, and Michael Gambon.

Struck by Lightning - Another limited release, but an important one at that.  Struck by Lightning is written by and stars Glee's Chris Colfer, and is about a guy who is struck and killed by lightning and his life before it.  A friend of mine has read the book and says it's amazing.

Frankenweenie - The latest adaptation of Frankenstein this one follows a young boy, Victor, as he reanimates his beloved dog, Sparky.  It was cute, a definite return to some of the more classic Tim Burton films.

Dredd - The newest take on the Judge Dredd comics, this one received better ratings than the first.  I haven't seen it yet, but I do really want to.

House at the End of the Street - The best thing that this horror film has going for it is Jennifer Lawrence.  She plays a girl who's just moved to a new town and discovered that there was a murder in the house next door to hers.  Horror ensues.

Game Change - This TV movie has a lot of big names attached to it - including Ed Harris, Julianne Moore, and Woody Harrelson - and follows John McCain's 2008 presidential campaign, with a heavy focus on his running mate, Sarah Palin.

Struck by Lightning - Speaking of the book, let's just outright recommend it here.  Check out the book, also written by Chris Colfer.  Because why wouldn't you want to read about a guy who was struck by lightning? It's a great read!

Knocked Up (2007)

Starring: Seth Rogen, Katherine Heigl, Paul Rudd, Leslie Mann, Jay Baruchel, Jonah Hill, Charlyne Yi, Jason Segel, Martin Starr

Director: Judd Apatow

Genre: Comedy

Rating: B-

After getting a promotion at work, career-minded Alison Scott (Heigl) has a one-night stand with stoner Ben Scott (Rogen). Alison very quickly begins to regret it, but when she finds out she's pregnant all hilarity ensues.  Alison and Ben must figure out if they want to make it work, and if they can make it work, and really how to do so.  Along for the ride are Ben's stoner friends and Alison's sister and brother-in-law.  By far the best part of the film is actually Alison's sister and brother-in-law, Debbie (Mann) and Pete (Rudd), and their children, played by Judd Apatow and Leslie Mann's real life children, Maud and Iris Apatow.  There's a reason that the sequel, This is 40, focused on Debbie and Pete and not on Ben and Alison.

Um, okay.  So, I liked the basic idea, but I disliked how it ended up basically being a stoner take on the romantic comedy.  I would have rather it gone a less typical route - yes the pregnancy bit is less typical, but the whole guy meets girl, things are awkward, guy and girl hook up, and they all live happily ever after (after that one massive fight where they almost break up) is a bit cliched at this point.

I did really like the dynamic of Debbie and Pete and what they offered to the table.  I believe I said it in my review of This is 40, but I really like how the kids feel like real people here, like real kids.  I attribute this to the fact that they're actually Apatow's kids, but hey it works.  I think if you're going to write children in your movie (or book or TV show or whatever) then you need to have children in your life - a lot - otherwise it just seems fake.

Katherine Heigl criticized this film saying that it's sexist, saying that it "paints the women as shrews, as humorless and uptight, and it paints the men as lovable, goofy, fun-loving guys."  I both agree and disagree with her here. While the women are shrewish at times and the men are goofy fun-loving guys, I kind of think that Knocked Up tries to show that both are essentially good.  Yes, Alison is a bit uptight, but she's the responsible one, the one who you should admire.  Ben is a freeloading stoner - as are all of his friends.  Debbie and Pete are both a lot more likeable, and both a lot more relatable.  The guys say at one point how great the women are and how they aren't deserving of them because they don't put enough into the relationship - and this is something that we see throughout the film.  I do kind of think Heigl's character is a bit humourless, but I also think that's a lot to do with the fact that she doesn't relate to Rogen's style of humour - which I can totally get.  Debbie, however, has a much better dynamic with Pete - something played out further in This is 40.  Oh, also, as far as Heigl is concerned, it's kind of bad form to badmouth a movie you're in.   Just going to toss that out there.  Also, one final note: I'm not really sure how to tag Knocked Up and This is 40 to show that they're related.  It's part of a series, but not part of a series? If anyone has any ideas, let me know!

Academy Awards Nominations

So today the nominations for the 85th Academy Awards were released.  The most nominated movie was Lincoln, with twelve nominations, and the second most nominated movie was Life of Pi with eleven nominations.  For the first time since 1972 the show's host, this year Seth McFarlane, actually made the nominations, along with actress Emma Stone.

Bolded are my picks.

Best Picture	Best Director	Best Actor
Amour Argo Beasts of the Southern Wild  Django Unchained Life of Pi Lincoln Les Misérables Silver Linings Playbook Zero Dark Thirty	Michael Haneke, Armour Ang Lee, Life of Pi David O. Russell, Silver Linings Playbook Steven Spielberg, Lincoln Behn Zeitlin, Beasts of the Southern Wild	Bradley Cooper, Silver Linings Playbook Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln Hugh Jackman, Les Misérables Joaquin Pheonix, The Master Denzel  Washington, Flight
Best Actress	Best Supporting Actor	Best Supporting Actress
Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook Emmanuelle Riva, Armour Quvenzhané Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild Naomi Watts, The Impossible	Alan Arkin, Argo Robert De Niro, Silver Linings Playbook Philip Seymour Hoffman, The Master Tommy Lee Jones, Lincoln Christoph Waltz, Django Unchained	Amy Adams, The Master Sally Field, Lincoln Anne Hathaway,  Les Misérables Helen Hunt, The Sessions Jacki Weaver, Silver Linings Playbook
Best Original Screenplay	Best Adapted Screenplay	Best Animated Feature
Amour, Michael Haneke Django Unchained, Quentin Taratino Flight, John Gatnis Moonrise Kingdom, Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola Zero Dark Thirty, Mark Baol	Argo, Chris Terrio Beasts of the Southern Wild, Lucy Alibar and Benh Zeitlin Life of Pi, David Magee Lincoln, Tony Kushner Silver Linings Playbook, David O. Russell	Brave Frankenweenie ParaNorman The Pirates! Band of Misfits Wreck-It Ralph
Best Foreign Language Film	Best Documentary - Feature	Best Documentary - Short Subject
Armour Kon-Tiki No A Royal Affair War Witch	5 Broken Cameras The Gatekeepers How to Survive a Plague The Invisible War Searching for Sugar Man	Inocente Kings Point Monday at Racine Open Heart Redemption
Best Life Action Short Film	Best Animated Short Film	Best Original Score
Asad Buzkashi Boys Curfew Death of a Shadow (Dood Van En Schaduw) Henry	Adam and Dog Fresh Guacamole Head Over Heels  The Longest Daycare Paperman	Anna Karenina, Dario Marianelli Argo, Alexandre Despalt Life of Pi, Mychael Danna Lincoln, John Williams Skyfall, Thomas Newman
Best Original Song	Best Sound Editing	Best Sound Mixing
"Before My Time," from Chasing Ice "Everybody Needs a Best Friend," from Ted "Pi's Lullaby," from Life of Pi "Skyfall," from Skyfall "Suddenly," from Les Misérables	Argo Django Unchained Life of Pi Skyfall Zero Dark Thirty	Argo Les Misérables Life of Pi Lincoln Skyfall
Best Production Design	Best Cinematography	Best Makeup and Hairstyling
Anna Karenina The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Les Misérables Life of Pi Lincoln	Anna Karenina Django Unchained Life of Pi Lincoln Skyfall	Hitchcock The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Les Misérables
Best Costume Design	Best Film Editing	Best Visual Effects
Anna Kareinina Les Misérables Lincoln Mirror Mirror Snow White and the Huntsman	Argo Life of Pi Lincoln Silver Linings Playbook Zero Dark Thirty	The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Life of Pi Marvel's The Avengers Prometheus Snow White and the Huntsman

39th People's Choice Awards: Results

So I didn't actually watch this year's People's Choice Awards, so I can't comment on the actual ceremony itself, although based on the list of presenters and the host, I do wish I had thought to record it.  What I'm going to do instead is make a quick commentary on some of the night's wins.

Just to predicate this, I am going to point out that the wins really show the voting demographics of the awards.  Young people, very young people, vote for these awards.

Favourite Movie	Favourite Action Movie	Favourite Comedy Movie
The Hunger Games	The Hunger Games	Ted
You know what, I'm a little surprised here.  I thought Hunger Games was great, but it was up against The Avengers and The Dark Knight Rises, which were both better	Once again, surprised here, for the same reasons.  I don't think Hunger Games was really all that actiony, either.	This category kind of surprised me.  The nominations were a bit weird.  Ted definitely was not the worst possible winner.
Favourite Drama Movie	Favourite Movie Franchise	Favourite Movie Fan Following
The Perks of Being a Wallflower	The Hunger Games	Twihards, Twilight
I actually really loved this movie.  Of the other movies in this category, I think it was the best deserving one	I'm a bit iffy about this one, just because at this point The Hunger Games isn't really a franchise.  It's the first instalment in one	This category basically sums up who these awards are aimed for.  I do find it funny that two of the franchises nominated here didn't release a movie this year
Favourite Movie Actor	Favourite Movie Actress	Favourite Dramatic Movie Actor
Robert Downey, Jr	Jennifer Lawrence	Zac Efron
I think any one of these actors could have won.  This is the only category I've really liked so far	I feel the same about this as I did about the last category.  I really like Jennifer Lawrence, I'm happy she won	I'm a little surprised that Zac Efron won.  Not complaining, because it's Zac Efron, but surprised
Favourite Dramatic Movie Actress	Favourite Action Movie Actor	Favourite Movie Superhero
Emma Watson	Chris Hemsworth	Robert Downey, Jr. as Iron Man in The Avengers
I love Emma Watson and I'm really glad she won.  The Perks of Being a Wallflower was great	I found it interesting how Chris Hemsworth won here, but lost the superhero nomination.  It's weird	Okay, yeah. Iron Man is awesome.  I'm happy with this. I do find it interesting how all of the people nominated here are men
Favourite Comedic Movie Actor	Favourite Comedic Movie Actress	Favourite On-Screen Chemistry
Adam Sandler	Jennifer Aniston	Jennifer Lawrence/Josh Hutcherson/Liam Hemsworth in The Hunger Games
How does Adam Sandler still win these awards? I think he's kind of passed his time here	I'm also a bit disappointed here.  Don't get me wrong, I love Jennifer Aniston on Friends, but I don't think she's the best comedic actress this year	Um... yeah. No.  Not the best. It was good, but not the best.  I would have gone Andrew Garfield/Emma Stone in The Amazing Spider-Man here
Favourite Movie Icon	Favourite Face of Heroism	Favourite Network TV Comedy
Meryl Streep	Jennifer Lawrence in The Hunger Games	The Big Bang Theory
I'm happy with this.  Meryl Streep is awesome	I'm not really sure what this category means, it's confusing. I do find it odd that all the superheros were men, while all the faces of heroism were women	I like this show. It's great. And, also important, it's not Modern Family
Favourite Network TV Drama	Favourite TV Comedy Actor	Favourite TV Comedy Actress
Grey's Anatomy	Chris Colfer	Lea Michele
Once again, I love this show.  It's great, but also not great. I'm happy with this win	I think I would have gone with Neil Patrick Harris here.  I like Chris Colfer, but I'm not as big of a fan of his character	Yeah... This could have gone a few ways.  I'm not complaining about the winner, I just find it odd
Favourite TV Drama Actor	Favourite TV Drama Actress	Favourite Cable TV Comedy
Nathan Fillion	Ellen Pompeo	Awkward
Nathan Fillion is the kind of guy who should be nominated for everything and win everything he's nominated for. Just saying	There were a few really good people nominated here, so I think it could have gone a few ways	Honestly, I don't actually watch any of these shows, so I have no comment
Favourite Cable TV Drama	Favourite TV Crime Drama	Favourite Sci-Fi/Fantasy Show
Leverage	Castle	Supernatural
I haven't watched any of these either, although I have heard of a lot of great things	Castle is great because of Nathan Fillion.  I would have also liked it if Bones had won too	This was a really good category and had some interesting nominations.  It could have gone anyway
Favourite New TV Comedy	Favourite New TV Drama	Favourite Daytime TV Host
The New Normal	Beauty and the Beast	Ellen DeGeneres
I don't watch The New Normal or pretty much anything else here.  I've been told New Normal is really good though	How did this win? Seriously? How? How did it even get nominated?	Ellen is awesome!
Favourite Late Night TV Host	Favourite TV Competition Show	Favourite Celebrity Judge
Jimmy Fallon	The X-Factor	Demi Lovato
I would have gone with Conan here, just saying	I don't actually watch anything here, but I've been told The X-Factor is great	I would have gone with Blake Shelton, who wasn't even nominated
Favourite Premium Cable TV Show	Favourite New Talk Show Host	Favourite TV Fan Following
True Blood	Steve Harvey	SPNFamily, Supernatural
Huh. Is True Blood still good?	I kind of find it funny that Katie Couric, Jeff Probst, and Ricki Lake all somehow qualify as new talk show hosts	Once again, who cares about the fan followings? Really? This is a category?
Favourite Song of the Year	Favourite Album of the Year	Favourite Music Video
"What Makes You Beautiful," One Direction	Up All Night, One Direction	"Part of Me," Katy Perry
I'm a little surprised "Call Me Maybe" didn't win, just because that's everywhere	I can see this, given who else was nominated. A little surprised Maroon 5 didn't win though	And I'm totally surprised that neither "Gangnam Style" nor "Call Me Maybe." They were everywhere
Favourite Male Artist	Favourite Female Artist	Favourite Band
Jason Mraz	Katy Perry	Maroon 5
How does Chris Brown keep on getting nominated for things? How does Chris Brown still have a following?	Honestly, I think of all the people nominated here, Katy Perry is the least deserving	I can see this. They were kind of everywhere this year
Favourite Pop Artist	Favourite Hip Hop Artist	Favourite R&B Artist
Katy Perry	Nicki Minaj	Rhianna
I would have gone with either P!nk or Adele here	Nicki Minaj is probably the biggest name here	I don't think I actually like any of the artists in this category. Sorry
Favourite Country Artist	Favourite Breakout Artist
Taylor Swift	The Wanted
Um... yeah. I can name 4 artists nominated for this who should have won instead of Taylor Swift	I'm really surprised that The Wanted won here, instead of any of the other artists nominated
Favourite Humanitarian	People's Voice
Sandra Bullock	Christina Aguilera
I'm not really sure what this category was for, but Sandra Bullock is awesome	Also not sure what this category is for, sorry