The Brothers Grimm

Monty Python Does European Fables

Terry Gilliam of Monty Python makes yet another unique movie in The Brothers Grimm. Heath Ledger and Matt Damon wander the country side of Napoleon dominated Europe “ridding” small towns of their “ghosts” and “witches.” It just turns out to be a coincidence that all these creatures they vanquish happen to be based on the old fables they’ve chronicled for years. And it also just turns out to be a coincidence that these monsters are, in fact, two cohorts working with the brother to defraud these towns of their riches…oh yeah, I guess that wouldn’t exactly make much of a coincidence, huh?

Anyhow, they meet their match after the French capture them, and at the threat of death, are forced to flush out what seems to be an uprising in the back woods of Germany. From there on in, it’s no longer a cute little scam artist toying with french loot, they have to face a very real super natural fabel that seeks to ruin the whole continent…well, more so than what the endless wars of Napoleon did, anyway…yeah.

Ratings and Rantings

Gilliam yet again takes his knowledge of cartooning and movie making and combines them with good special effects, good actors, and a good script. The movie may keep you guessing as to whats going on, or for that matter which well known fair talethis actually is, but it never fails to entertain. Humor and action live harmoniously together in The Brothers Grimm and thus, bordum never makes an appearance. Overall, I’ll give it a 5 out of 6.

RED EYE

Or Terror Takes Place In An Entirely Different Movie

Good grief, there is no end to crappy movies, even ones which have a budget large enough to pull a third world nation into the black. Cillian Murphy plays the most unconvincing mercenary/assassin ever to rob you of a $6 movie ticket (which appears to be his most fiendish of plots). Rachel McAdams is the stereo typical ‘girl rising to the occasion’ to help foil Murphy’s plot to assassinate the head of Homeland Security. Apparently she was in on, or had no qualms about robbing you, dear friends of your $6 though. Apparently, she’s supposed to move the new HLS head to a different hotel room, at the threat of her father’s murder, so some Frenchy speaking tards can off him with a bazooka. I know what you’re thinking: hey at least we get a nice rewarding explosion, right? WRONG! Somehow even that managed to disappoint. Anyhow, half the movie takes place on a commercial airplane going from Texas to Florida. This is the place where Suspense exhibited the greatest amount of common sense of all the actors and failed to appear…ever.

Ratings and Ranting

Boredom runs wildly through this film like a five year old with scissors through kindergarten. When the actual “action” actually does make an attempt to counter weight the dull drums, things go from bad to entirely idiotic. There’s even a slap fest which extends this movie by eons between McAdams and Murphy in her dad’s house. Without giving anymore time to this film I’m heading straight to the ratings: it gets a 2 out of 6 only for making that grand attempt at being both clever AND tackling current social and global affairs at the same time, but of course bungles the whole operation and before the plane lands the movie’s essentially over.

Portuguese Irregular Verbs

The Premise

Now before you balk, Portuguese Irregular Verbs isn’t a text book. Well, it is, but not in real life. It is the opus of Professor Dr. Moritz-Maria von Igelfeld - a very pompous, very German philogist. The novel Portuguese Irregular Verbs, by Alexander McCall Smith, is a collection of misadventures staring Igelfeld supported by his equally square colleagues Professor Dr. Detlev Amadeus Unterholzer and Professor Dr. Dr. (hc) Florianus Prinzel.

I must say it’s very cute. It’s different and very creative - almost borderline absurdism with a dry sense of humor.

Portuguese Irregular Verbs is a very light read despite McCall Smith’s wide vocabulary… you may have to crack open a dictionary. There is no mind bending plot, just short vignettes that provide a chuckle or two as von Igelfeld’s ego gets him into trouble - be it at the dentist, attempting tennis or a duel at Heidleberg.

However, hidden within the stories and McCall’s descriptions is a European’s view of Europe that most American could use and may cause wanderlust. You get a sense of small towns and different cultures that aren’t always touched upon by the mainstream.

You also get a sense (albeit satirical) of what it’s like to be an intellectual for a living - delivering academic paper after academic paper all the while putting up with academic paper after academic paper.

The Verdict

If Basil Fawlty had brains he’d probably be Professor Dr. Moritz-Maria von Igelfeld, and that’s good enough for me. Like I said, nothing cerebral here even though it deals with the everyday lives of scholars.

McCall Smith has gained my interest with this one. He has a slew of other books that I may just pick up. He has a good sense of narrative, description and all that other good stuff that makes a good author good, with the wit to match.

Go get the book, if not for the reasons stated then for the fact its only 10 bucks.

See, I Told You So by Rush Limbaugh

DNC, RNC, and Reviewsies

See I Told You So by Rush Limbaugh is, as defined by modern day terms, techically both political and historical. Firstly, in a historical sense, it documents the political climate in the United States at the dawning of Bill Clinton’s eight year presidential reign. It highlights, although admittedly biased towards Rush Limbaugh’s political opinion, deperation of the radical liberal wing of the Democratic Party. It also outlines the disorganization and want for leadership of the Republican Party after George H. Bush’s (the first President Bush) presidential defeat.

Secondly, in its political sense, it is an unabashed, conservative response to Bill Clinton winning the 1992 presidential election, and the left-leaning policies he intended to bring about during his term. Through most chapters, he dissects the short comings of various policies, from politically correctness to taxation, and perscribes right-wing answers to each.

Ratings and Rantings

As much as Rush Limbaugh is decidedly right-wing, so too is this, the book he compiles his ideas and solutions in. This is not to say that all Democrats or for that matter Liberal Democrats are vilified, old school liberals such as Huebert H. Humpherys (MN) is given an even hand where he is discussed. However, cultural and societal questions are deal with a starkly different approach than what you might find in one of Bill O’Reilly’s books. Whether or not you like O’Reilly’s approach over Limbaugh’s depends on where you stand in the political spectrum. It should be an obvious note, of course, that Limbaugh is much more partisan than is O’Reilly. In terms of message cohessiveness, the book is fairly point blank. There are a few chapters which deal with finance and taxation which are a bit grueling to sift through, but they plainly state the case he is trying to make. Overall, the book is worth a read, if for no other reason than you get a taste of how the champion of the right-wing views things. Effectively you walk away with ever you take out of it. I’ll give it a 5 out of 6 on the NWOt rating scale.