August 12, 2011 by M. B. Barlow
I’ve been reading King since I was young and he’s always been my inspiration as a writer and how I see other books that use his style. He’s been accused of doing sloppy work for the last decade and there is some degree of truth to that but I’ve still enjoyed all the books that I’ve read in the last few years even if they don’t touch the quality of his older works.
Full Dark, No Stars is a collection of four novellas, not unlike his old collection Different Seasons and this doesn’t touch the quality of those older stories but, still, there is some good here.
The first story is of a farmer conniving with his son to dispose of his wife who is threatening to get rid of the farm that has been in his family for generations. He justifies her death by showing how abusive and hurtful she can be towards her son and husband although it still feels like a bit of an overreaction to the situation. There is also some supernatural aspects mixed in to this 1920s set story to make it a little more King-like.
The second story, Big Driver, is the story of a woman’s rape at the hands of a giant clichéd southern hick and her story of her quest for revenge. I was disappointed in this one, I was waiting for a twist that never came and I was frustrated with a main character that just refused to do the obvious and sensible thing by reporting her rape to the police and getting the guy arrested. Yes, that would have led to a less interesting story but it was frustrating to me how an apparently intelligent woman could be so stupid, even if she did really want the guy dead.
The third story is of a man, dying of cancer, who is given the opportunity to pass on his bad luck to someone he hates for nothing more than giving the seller a small percentage of his wages every year. Again, I was waiting for some kind of twist that never happens. It feels like a morality tale without the actual morals and this man just doesn’t feel any remorse for what he has passed on to the person that he hates. I was reading, waiting for the moral lesson to slap me in the face but it doesn’t come; in fact King seems to be justifying ruining a man and his family’s lives as long as you really do hate the guy. Odd but quite enjoyable.
The last story, A Good Marriage, is the story of a woman, happily married for nearly thirty years, who discovers one day that her mild-mannered, coin-collecting spouse is not who she thinks he is and may be a serial killer. I enjoyed this story, again there is no twist when I was expecting one but the ending feels satisfying and does make you wonder just what would you do if you found out the person you loved was a psycho and a murderer. That’s one tough question.
Full Dark, No stars is a fine and fairly entertaining book but it is a bit forgettable, without any of the stories really sticking in my memory like Different Seasons did. King may have lost some of the magic but that doesn’t mean you should just dismiss him completely because, although there may be nothing especially memorable about this book, it still has some good entertainment value.
One more thing: I read the new paperback edition which contained a bonus short story which is even more forgettable than the main stories.
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Posted in Books, Reviews | Tagged Author, Book, Books, Full Dark No Stars, Novel, Novels, Review, Reviews, short story, Stephen King | Leave a Comment »
March 1, 2011 by M. B. Barlow
No Strings Attached, starring the stupidly good-looking team of Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher, was a fine comedy about two friends who decide to have a relationship of just sex without any emotions attached to it or even the facade of a relationship. Of course, you’d think that they’d end up happily together by the end of it and there is the typical hollywood ending you’d expect. High on swearing and of course the sex, without showing the good bits, the movie has the occasional funny bits but ultimately it falls a bit flat. Kutcher plays the part exactly the same as he does in every part that he ever stars in and Natalie Portman, although fine in her first comedy role, is better suited to serious parts she’s been playing recently.
The steal of the movie goes to Kevin Kline as Kutcher’s father. It’s a travesty that he’s used so infrequently in recent years but here he is great as the womanizing failure father, showing the feelings he has towards his son on his shirt and the regret that he feels not being there for him when he was growing up.
Occasionally funny but totally forgettable, apart from Kline, this movie is worth a watch if there is nothing else on.
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Posted in Film, Reviews | Tagged Ashton Kutcher, Film, Films, Movie, Movies, Natalie Portman, No Strings Attached, Review, Reviews | Leave a Comment »
November 20, 2010 by M. B. Barlow
I couldn’t help but get swept up in all the great reviews and constant advertisement for Lee Child’s Jack Reacher novels and to find that there are fifteen of them was pretty daunting so I started the first book with little optimism; I very rarely am impressed with books that are popular, finding the ones that few people read to be better most of the time and after reading the first Jack Reacher book I’m not sure my opinion has changed.
Jack Reacher is a wanderer. At the start of the book he has been wandering around the USA for six months after leaving the military. He doesn’t stick in any one place for long and that seems to be the basis for all the novels. He enters a town and gets involved in some kind of conspiracy or action that he just has to sort out himself, always being in the wrong place at the wrong time. This is not a bad idea for a series and I get the feeling that this first book, compared with the rest in the series, is more of a test for what the rest will be like.
Killing Floor is told in first-person from Reacher’s point of view and from checking the rest of the books in the series I noticed that the rest are in third-person, which would be much more effective; Reacher is fine as a main character but the story should not be told from his perspective; his opinions are often very annoying and make little sense. He is a shoot first ask questions later kind of guy but the perspective should always be from someone who has some sense and can think things through, not Reacher, so it made sense that the author would change it for later books. Reacher would be much more interesting as seen through another’s eyes.
Some of the plot twists fall a little flat, being obvious from well before and this proved annoying. Jack Reacher constantly knows things rather than just assuming the obvious. He knows that certain characters are dead even though he can’t possibly it so, of course, they’re not really dead at all and Reacher comes off as idiotic and far too eager to spout of things he just doesn’t know. This happens throughout the book and it’s constantly annoying but does not destroy what is a reasonably interesting story involving counterfeit money and murder.
I will read the next book, because I am interested and I do believe things will evolve over time for Jack Reacher but I do hope this is just what I think it is: a starting point for better things.
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Posted in Books, Reviews | Tagged Book, Books, Jack Reacher, Killing Floor, Lee Child, Novel, Novels, Review, Reviews | Leave a Comment »
November 16, 2010 by M. B. Barlow
The movie Skyline looked great in trailers, with the obvious money shot of thousands of human being sucked into the alien ship being the focal point and when that scene does come up it’s great visually but it’s a shame there was no movie to put that scene in. The script, what little there is, is filled with so many clichés that it becomes laughable and so many plot holes that it was becoming obvious that they just let a monkey do the writing as no human being with any kind of cognitive function could have written such a piece of atrocious drivel that is the script. According to the credits there was actually two screen-writers, which is absurd; that’s two monkeys but no common sense.
The cast of actors is almost unknown. I recognized Turk from Scrubs and a guy that used to be in Six Feet Under and that was it. What their names are I don’t care because even if there was some kind of worthy script they probably couldn’t pull it off with any kind of purpose.
The effects of the film, obviously the focal point, is adequate but nothing greater than the average episode of Stargate Universe. The alien creations of this movie also show little inspiration with various examples of carbon copies of other movies and video games, Independence Day in particular. This shows serious laziness on the filmmakers’s part, two visual effects artists.
To top it all off is the ending. When finally it looked like something interesting might happen, it ends. This just tops off an already horrible experience.
The worst movie I’ve seen this year by far.
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Posted in Film, Reviews | Tagged Film, Films, Movie, Movies, Review, Reviews, sci-fi, science-fiction, Skyline | Leave a Comment »
November 9, 2010 by M. B. Barlow
Alan Wake comes from the makes of the now very old Max Payne games and it shows with dark visuals and a great sense of atmosphere. I was reminded many times of the nightmare sequences from the first Max Payne and although they do share a similar style they differ in story.
Alan Wake is writer who takes his wife to a small town for a break and you know that never turns out well. Before you know it strange things are happening everywhere and it comes into question whether this is all real, a symptom of Wake going steadily insane or just a visualization of the book that Wake has written yet doesn’t remember writing. The story is definitely interesting, a step up from most video game scripts and it combines with a simple but effective game mechanic that relies on interesting uses of your torch and the surrounding landscape more than it does just blasting away with a revolver, although you do get that too. It’s my kind of game style as I do get sick of just mindlessly blasting away at identikit enemies all the time. Alan Wake hits a sweet spot with it’s combination that few games do.
Above the story and the gameplay is atmosphere which Wake is ripe with throughout the game. Dark shadows and a heavy mist hang through the small village with the dark presence of enemies called The Taken at every turn ready to jump out at you. It gives a great sense of dread and malice. I was constantly reminded of Silent Hill which is does copy a fair bit but manages to remove itself enough to stand out on its own.
I enjoyed it immensely and plan to play the two DLC that are available for the game, although it does seem to be another case of producers removing parts of the main game just to sell it on to make a few extra quid, a trend that is becoming far too rife. Still, if you like the game you’re going to want to download them and that’s what I’m going to do.
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-4.257208
Posted in Reviews, Video Games | Tagged Alan Wake, Review, Reviews, Silent Hill, Video Game | Leave a Comment »
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