Thursday, August 04, 2005

Review: Stephen King's The Gunslinger


The Gunslinger (The Dark Tower, Book 1)
Michael Whelan
Book from Plume Books
Release date: 24 June, 2003

The Gunslinger (The Dark Tower, Book 1)by Stephen King
Basic Plot: Roland is a gunslinger, an order of well-trained gun-toting warriors in what seems to be a post-apocalyptic future (after the world has "moved on"), but also could be a surreal dreamscape. He follows the 'man in black' across a desert and encounters various characters; there are some flashback sequences filling in his past. The book moves towards the encounter of the gunslinger and the man in black, a sequence that illuminates the gunslinger's obsession with attaining the Dark Tower, the namesake of the series, and the reason why the gunslinger is following the man in black in the first place.

The Gunslinger is more of a surreal fantasy than a horror story, which King is most well-known for. There are some spooky elements, but just enough to spice it up. Imagine the wild west with supernatural elements and an atmospheric mood, and an underlying metaphysical quest to tie things together. If that sounds good to you, check this book out.

Review: Dead Man on Campus


Dead Man on Campus
Mtv Films

Starring: Alan Cohn, Tom Everett Scott, Mark-Paul Gosselaar, PoppyMontgomery, Lochlyn Munro, Randy Pearlstein, Corey Page, Alyson Hannigan. etc..

It's a dark comedy based on the apocryphal university policy of awarding straight A's to students whose roommates kill themselves. Two freshman dunces seek to boost their academic performance by inviting a series of depressed, self-destructive classmates to share their dormitory suite. The film casts include familiar faces such as Saved by the Bell's Zach Morris (Mark-Paul Gosselaar) and That Thing You Do's Tom Everett Scott.

The cinematography is not all that great. The soundtrack is not bad and the plot is easy to follow.

3 Stars

Tuesday, August 02, 2005

Harry Potter "Pottermania"


When did the craze all start?

When the madness had begun,
Most of us were reading are favorite author over again for at least the third time and there were many of us searching through the book rack for that great book that was hiding and just out of reach just waiting be read and take us on a journey of which the like we have never been.

The pottermania phenomenon has grown ever increasingly to a point of no explanation. Harry Potter novels have already reached legendary status. What is so enriching about the novels that keep everyone so enticed by these wonderful works of reading is its vast point of storytelling at its finest. A world so illusive in an imagination so thought out by the second wealthiest lady in Britain besides the Queen, J.K. Rowling has brought us into a world we could not see ourselves without. I hope after all seven books are finished that she may find time to enhance on this world she has created and maybe even develop new stories with potter or with new characters.

The 6 book in the Potter series has lightened up a bit form book 5 which is still by far the darkest Potter book to date. It is definitely a page turner by all means and a great read.

I’m very curious as too what will be J.K. Rowling’s next project after the Potter series is indeed complete. But as the Pottermania continues so do the many thousands of blogs about Potter continue.