Kiss The Dead - Salinger

Tres sorry ya'll, unlike Bolingbroke, my only online connection has ever been dial-up and friend's internet. And now phone. But I have a cheap phone and don't have an app for Blogger and I'd really like to include pictures, but can't so that's why I make ya'll wait and wait. And you love me right? =]

Okay, so Kiss The Dead by Laurel K. Hamilton

Bolingbroke pretty much said the main faults of the book. 

• Still too much sex
• Anita's morality is still an issue
• She's spouting out tween lingo now
• Her height bother's her (though it shouldn't since she's "tough as nails" now)
• The sex again
• Where is this series going?
• Pointless

 I'll give LKH props for toning down the sex scenes down just a notch, but they're still there, for those of you that enjoy them. Also there was more Marshal Anita Blake and I liked that, but from page one all the way to pretty much chapter 17, it was all her investigating one crime scene, going to the next clue onto Boring St.

Anita is becoming too powerful and if the main character can bend time and become Neo..well what the fuck next? What other bad guy is left for her to beat up? I'm too involved in the series to just stop reading it, still hoping that this little ray of light will turn into a decent book and get things going back in the, in my opinion, the right direction.

~Salinger

Kiss of the Dead

Hello, I am still alive an promise to one day add the other books i've read, I know i've been lagging it, but no internet! Anyway to the problem.
Kiss the Dead
 Book number 21... what can i say about this series? That it started dying at book 16? Maybe and that i keep hoping LKH will get her shit together and write a new and exciting book worthy of Anita? Maybe. I liked the series up to the Harlequin. Now even i have hard time defending LKH, if only she tried harder. I feel the plot line is rehashed, and sometimes she drifts so fucking far that its hard to remember what the fuck really happened. I miss the days where Anita was just  plain hard ass and stuck to her guns. Now shes happy and doesn't care about anything. I like the fact that shes ok having a thousand and one boyfriends but come on at least make them part of your main story. I think in this book Nathaniel her number 2 main bf had like seven lines. I love the Nathaniel and it is because of him i read the series. Hoping for Anita to change! To not ask questions like, why did she mind sleeping with a 18 year old? or Do the cops take me seriously? To stop bitching about her height! She can't magically grow two inches get over it! You made her short fucking deal! Furthermore why you always toying with Nathaniel's life? You kill Nathaniel and I'm done with you LKH! I suggest Ms. Hamilton take a break- not the pathetic two hr break she took last time- no a real one, and think about some new plot lines and where she wants the series to go, because right now there is no direction. And stop with the random sex, please, it used to be fun when it was a guilty pleasure. Haven't you heard too much of something is bad enough? ( Spice Girls anyone?) anyway she gives it up (literally) in such copious amounts im wondering if her vagina is the circus of the damned. Its just bad, bad and  sex is never bad. But she made it bad. Its like this no one likes a gray character (hear that fifty shades of grey?) Anita either has morals or she  doesn't make up your mind. LKH make me want to read Anita again. Give your audience something to work with, have Anita chased by Olaf and a undead and were beast army, cuz now he master of the city of dallas or something and all her lovers go to protect her and she whoops ass or something like a three trimuverate convergence!!!

Dark Shadows

Just got home from a wonderful night out with Blondie, Wifey and Ed. We had amazing pupusas & home made vegan cake. Delish. Then we went to see Dark Shadows.

Amazing. Can Johnny Depp do no wrong? It certainly seems that way. Dark Shadows is a cooky movie that could have quickly turned bad had it not been set mainly in the 70's. Well, 1971, maybe '71, no 1972! The cast was amazing, no complaints whatsoever about anyone, and I believe that's a first for me. The script was genius, maybe a bit too serious for anyone looking for a comedic movie throughout. Don't get me wrong, there's side-splitting moments, but the main theme is love. And love is a serious matter.

You'll come out of the theater with an array of new catch-phrases and believe me reader, you shall catch yourself conversing in the Queen's.. Old English! Do watch Dark Shadows for your own and write me a line if you wish to add your thoughts. Oy, I can't carry that shit on for too long. Go watch it.

p.s. Ok, I think I've just remembered one or two things that bugged me. These are minor things that just barely make a dent in an otherwise flawless movie. 1. Chloe Grace Moretz character is an annoying teen and Ms. Moretz plays the part beautifully, if maybe a little too convincing. I really didn't like her angtsy scenes, but all of that is explained. 2. Towards the end, Angie explains certain things too quickly, as if they didn't matter, or as if things should have been extremely obvious and she just stepped from behind a curtain to say, "Well duh!" Those are my two only complaints. I still give this movie a 5*.

~Salinger

Day 8: The Great Ziegfeld

The Great Ziegfeld:1936:Winner of the 9^th Academy Awards

Starring:

William Powell as Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr.

Myrna Loy as Billie Burke

Luise Rainer as Anna Held

Frank Morgan as Jack Billings

Fanny Brice as Herself

Virginia Bruce as Audrey Dane

Reginald Owen as Sampson, Flo's frequently-nervous bookkeeper

Ray Bolger as Himself

Ernest Cossart as Sidney, Billing's valet, who is hired away by Flo

Joseph Cawthorn as Dr. Ziegfeld

Nat Pendleton as Eugen Sandow

Harriet Hoctor as Herself

Jean Chatburn as Mary Lou

Paul Irving as Erlanger, Billing's later partner

Herman Bing as Costumer

Buddy Doyle as Eddie Cantor

The Great Ziegfeld is a stunning masterpiece! I truly mean it! I was so awed by the stage show that I wish I had a transport machine to take me to the 20’s and be present to one of his shows. The Ziegfeld Follies and to have been able to see them in their hayday! Ahh what a wish, however I could have done without the back story. Ziegfeld going up, Ziegfeld coming down… blah blah blahitty blah. I did like Fannie Brice’s bit though she was funny. Truthfully this is  the movie I thought I would like best from the three and since one I haven’t seen and one I think is kind of awesome “The Broadway Melody” I say watch this only for the shows. Skip the talking and the politics … unless you like to be bored. What I can also say is this, half of the “Wizard of Oz” is in the movie. The Wizard Oz, The  Scarecrow, and The Good Witch of the North. But seriously, this film bleh!

It also won awards for:

Academy Award for Best Actress - Luise Rainer

Academy Award for Best Dance Direction - Seymour Felix - For "A Pretty Girl Is Like a Melody".

Day 7: The Broadway Melody

The Broadway Melody:1929: Winner of the 2^nd Academy Award

Starring:

Charles King  as Eddie Kearns

Anita Page as Queenie Mahoney

Bessie Love as Harriet (Hank) Mahoney

Today was the first time I  have seen a movie that old since “Diary of a Lost Girl”, it was pretty good. The plot since I know most people won’t bother to watch , is about two sisters in the era of the two-bit sister act. Hank the older sister is more talented than Queenie but not half as pretty. They are in New York to make it big in the city. Eddie, Hank’s boyfriend, has promised them promising spots, considering he is a sing and dance guy. Zenfield, the head of the department is enchanted by Queenie’s beauty and is happy tp put her in the show despite her lack of talent. Hank has the talent but not the face and is dismissed by Zenfield, however Quenie talks him into hiring them both, so he agrees. Eddie has fallen in love with Queenie and she with him, but they do not dare to carry on with their love because it would hurt Hank. Queenie was raised by Hank and so she knows how disastrous this may seem to her. To dissuade her feelings she starts to go out with a “stage door Johnny” named Jock Wernier. The tension rises because Queenine and Eddie are always fighting about Jock and Hank gets thrown in the middle. After the shows first performance a couple of weeks later Hank realizes that her sister and her fiancé have the hots for each other and decides to step down and let them be happy. A couple of months later, they are seen coming back from their honeymoon and they insist that Hank live with them (as if pfft.) and she politely declines. The last scene is split between Queenie telling Eddie that she is sad that Hank never catches a break and that she took him from her. The other half is Hank in the train car looking dejected but trying to motivate herself.

So this movie was good but fuck that bitch Queenie. I hate her. How dare she steal her sister’s man! How could she, I know the saying goes, “the heart wants what it wants,” but goddamn , Hank has given Queenie everything and Queenie took it away . Her spot in the show, her man  and her chance at happiness. Come on, can Hank please meet a fabulous guy to make up for what Queenie has done! Why is it that its ok for a decent looking girl to lose the love of her life to the prettier girl? I really was burned by that, and I hated Eddie for not being able to look beyond the looks and for falling in love with the “kind and gentle beauty.” *Sigh* It was totally unfair and I have a slight with Queenie, and Hank wasa bigger person for forgiving them and for allowing their love to blossom. I just wish that she had some recompense in return, you know. I liked it well enough the songs are annoyingly catchy,(although not as catchy as a Bollywood song)  and the dance numbers are supreme.  Furthermore it kind of reminds you of a lighter hearted Chicago. Although shit, Vilma Kelly had it right .. do the crime, do the time but get even. 

Day 6: The English Patient

The English Patient:1996: Winner of the 69^th Academy Awards

Starring:

Ralph Fiennes as Count László Almásy

Juliette Binoche as Hana

Willem Dafoe as David Caravaggio

Kristin Scott Thomas as Katharine Clifton

Naveen Andrews as Kip

Colin Firth as Geoffrey Clifton

Julian Wadham as Madox

Jürgen Prochnow as Major Muller

Kevin Whately as Sgt. Hardy

Clive Merrison as Fenelon-Barnes

Salinger and I had wanted to see this film since, well her since she found out that Ralph Fiennes was in it and myself, since I found it on Netflix. However it wasn’t until today and the verdict is, I loved it!!It made me cry and the love story was amazing. The story centers around a burned man found in the Desert after WW2, in this garrison a nurse named Hana tries to nurse him back to health. She has lost everyone she loved and is taking upon herself to save this man, this English Patient. They find an abandoned monastery in the Italian countryside and use it as a place for him to get better. A couple of nights later we meet Moose, David Caravaggio, who was someone that the English Patient knew in a past life, the life he cannot now remember or does not wish too. This is how the love story between Mrs. Clifton and Count de Almasy is told. Through flashback we get a glimpse of the man who was burned and heartbroken. This was a really good, albeit long, movie. I truly enjoyed it and was glad to watch. Yesterday I was complaining about overused love plots and today I find myself rekindled in that belief. Even though it was tragic and sad and I ended up with my eyes watering, I also found myself thinking that love is really all that drives human condition. Without love there is no life. It is life that brings the profound sense of belonging and acceptance that humans need. Yes, I got all that from watching this movie. Because when Hana the nurse is telling the English Patient that she wants to make him better he says that he prefers to leave this world as has his beloved. The movie was really good, I recommended that everyone watch it.

It also won awards for:

Best Actress in a Supporting Role: Juliette Binoche

 Best Art Direction-Set Decoration : Stuart Craig and Stephanie McMillan

 Best Cinematography  : John Seale

 Best Costume Design : Ann Roth

 Best Director :Anthony Minghella

Best Film Editing :Walter Murch

Best Original Score :Gabriel Yared

Best Sound :Walter Murch, Mark Berger, David Parker, and Christopher Newman

Day 5: West Side Story

West Side Story: 1961: Winner of the 34^th Academy Awards

Starring:

Natalie Wood (Marni Nixon, singing) – Maria Nunez

Richard Beymer (Jimmy Bryant, singing) – Tony Wycek,

 Russ Tamblyn – Riff Lorton,

Rita Moreno (Betty Wand, singing) – Anita,

George Chakiris – Bernardo Nunez

Simon Oakland – Lieutenant Schrank,

Ned Glass – Doc,

William Bramley – Officer Krupke,

John Astin – Glad Hand

Penny Santon – Madam Lucia

The Jets:

Tucker Smith – Ice,

Tony Mordente – Action,

Eliot Feld – Baby John

David Winters – A-Rab

Bert Michaels – Snowboy

David Bean – Tiger

Robert Banas – Joyboy

Anthony 'Scooter' Teague – Big Deal

Harvey Hohnecker – Mouthpiece

Tommy Abbott – Gee-Tar

Jet Girls:

Susan Oakes – Anybodys

Gina Trikonis – Graziella

Carole D'Andrea – Velma, Ice's girl

Rita Hyde d'Amico – Clarice, Big Deal's girl

Pat Tribble – Minnie, Baby John's girl

Francesca Bellini – "Cool" dancer

Elaine Joyce – dancer

Sharks:

Jose DeVega – Chino Martin

Jay Norman – Pepe

Gus Trikonis – Indio

Eddie Verso – Juano

Jamie Rogers – Loco

Larry Roquemore – Rocco

Robert E. Thompson – Luis

Nick Covacevich – Toro

Rudy Del Campo – Del Campo

Andre Tayir – Chile

Shark Girls:

Yvonne Othon – Consuela

Suzie Kaye – Rosalia

Joanne Miya – Francisca

West Side Story is based on Shakespeare’s classic Romeo and Juilet, however he is substituting warring families with warring nations. The Jets are the rough and tumble low bred Whites, the Sharks the newly exported Puerto Ricans. The story is set in the 50’s a very tense and racial time in America’s history and of course one member of each the warring countries people falls inevitably in love with each other. I wish I had watched this movie when I was younger. That way I wouldn’t be so hard on it, even thought it was lovely and I can’t stop singing that damn “Tonight ,Tonight” song , I think it might have lacked something. Maybe I just don’t like gang movies because they frustrate me, or maybe the false accents were really starting to grind against my Hispanic ego, hell if I know the right reason, it just wasn’t all that amazing plot wise to me. However the dance numbers were worth the watch all on their own. I soo wanna dance like that on a New York building now! I love Natalie Wood, ever since I saw her in “Sex and the Single Girl”, and West Side Story almost made me think, eh she’s not that great, until the last scene which was the saving grace. If you’re going to watch the movie watch it for the dancing, the songs, for the love story and try to watch it before you’ve watched some of other greatest love stories. I will say this though; this would be great on Broadway.

It has also won awards for:

Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor – George Chakiris

Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress – Rita Moreno

Academy Award for Best Art Direction – Victor A. Gangelin and Boris Leven

Academy Award for Best Cinematography – Daniel L. Fapp

Academy Award for Best Costume Design– Irene Sharaff

Academy Award for Best Director – Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise

Academy Award for Best Film Editing – Thomas Stanford

Academy Award for Best Original Score – Saul Chaplin, Johnny Green, Irwin Kostal, and Sid Ramin

Academy Award for Best Sound – Fred Hynes and Gordon E. Sawyer