Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Movie List 2014: 1-50


Oh, movies. Who doesn’t love movies? My first love will always be books, but there’s just something universally attractive about movies, isn’t there? You can share them with friends, talk about them with strangers, or even just experience them by yourself. They can cheer you up when you're sad, provide an excellent excuse to curl up with someone you love, and even inspire you towards change.

I dont know about you, but I just don’t trust people who claim they don’t like movies.




 * = Rewatched
[a] = Animated

1SR = A one sentence review of the movie by yours truly.




*   1   *

Batman Begins
2005

Genre: Superhero
 

The first of Christopher Nolan’s modern Batman trilogy. Covering Bruce Wayne’s transformation into Batman and his subsequent battle against Ra’s al Ghul and The Scarecrow.


Starring: Christian Bale, Michael Cain, Liam Neeson, Gary Oldman, Katie Holmes, Cillian Murphy, Morgan Freeman, Ken Watanabe


1SR:
This thing just straight up puts the previous Batman movies to shame.


“But it’s not who you are underneath, its what you do that defines you.”





*   2   *

The Dark Knight
2008

Genre: Superhero


A new district attorney named Harvey Dent may be Gotham’s best hope for a better tomorrow, but Batman is forced to go to extreme lengths to stop an anarchist called Joker from causing Gotham to rip itself apart.


Starring: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman


1SR:
The greatest superhero movie ever made.


“Don’t talk like one of them. You’re not! Even if you’d like to be. To them you’re just a freak. Like me! They need you right now, but when they don’t, they’ll cast you out. Like a leper! You see, their morals, their code, it’s a bad joke. Dropped at the first sign of trouble. They’re only as good as the world allows them to be. I’ll show you. When the chips are down, these...these civilized people, they’ll eat each other.”





*   [a]   3   [a]   *

Tokyo Godfathers
2003

Genre: Homeless fairy tale adventure

Its Christmas Eve on the streets of Tokyo and a trio of homeless people have just discovered a baby girl abandoned in a pile of garbage. Now they're determined to take care of her and uncover the mystery of her past.


1SR:
If “Japanese fairy tale hobo adventure” doesn’t make you want to see this movie, then I just don’t understand you.


“What is your desire? My magic? Or an ambulance?”
“A- Ambulance...”
“Well! Aren’t you rude!”





*   4   *

Home Alone
1990

Genre: Heartwarming slapstick comedy


A large family decides to take a Christmas vacation overseas, but accidentally leaves their youngest son home alone. Now he’s the only one left to defend his home against two would-be burglars.


Starring: Macauly Culkin, Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern, Catharine O’Hara, John Heard


1SR:
Arguably the greatest slapstick comedy ever made.


“You guys give up? Or are you thirsty for more?”





*   5   *

The Matrix
1999

Genre: Sci-fi action


A hacker named Neo discovers that the world around us is a lie: an advanced computer simulation fed into our brains to keep us enslaved. Now he’s free and it’s up to him and a group of freedom-fighters to hack themselves into the system and it from within.


Starring: Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Laurence Fishburne, Hugo Weaving

1SR:
The first time I saw this was when my sister told me I needed to see it, popped it into the VCR, and blew my little teenage brain.


“What is real? How do you define ‘real’? If you're talking about what you can feel, what you can smell, what you can taste and see, then ‘real’ is simply electrical signals interpreted by your brain.”





6

Jack Reacher
2012

Genre: Action mystery


A sniper goes on a shooting spree and when caught all he says is, “Get Jack Reacher.” Reacher, an itinerant hobo and former military police officer, gets involved in the investigation and discovers that there is a lot more to this case than it seems.


Starring: Tom Cruise, Rosamund Pike, Richard Jenkins, Werner Herzog

1SR:
I went in thinking this movie would be terrible, but it’s actually a pretty darn good adaptation of the book.


“You think I’m a hero? I am not a hero. I’m a drifter with nothing to lose. Now you killed that girl to put me in a frame. I mean to beat you to death and drink your blood from a boot! Now this is how it’s gonna work. You’re gonna give me the address and I’ll be along when I’m damn good and ready. If she doesn’t answer the phone when I call this number, if I even think you’ve hurt her, I disappear. And if you’re smart, that scares you. Because I’m in your blind spot. And I have nothing better to do.”





7

Hansel and Gretel:
Witch Hunters
2013

Genre: Brainless fairy-tale action


After Hansel and Gretel defeated the witch in the fairy tale they continued to ply their trade. Now this brother-sister witch-hunting duo is after the queen witch, hoping they can stop her before she can perform an ancient rite.


Starring: Jeremy Renner, Gemma Arteron, Famke Janssen

1SR:
Haha, I kind of wish I had never seen this.


“Most people will say witches aren’t real, it’s stuff of fairy tales. Then, one day, they show up at your door and eat your kids. That’s where we come in!”





8

Philomena
2013

Genre: Drama


An elderly woman attempts to track down the baby that was taken from her and sold by a nunnery after she had birth out of wedlock as a teenager.


Starring: Judi Dench, Steve Coogan

1SR:
Judi Dench is brilliant & the Church has done some really messed up stuff over the years.


“But I don’t wanna hate people. I don’t wanna be like you.”





*   9   *

Miss Congeniality
2000

Genre: Comedy


When a terrorist threatens the Miss America pageant it’s up to FBI agent Gracie Hart to enter the contest undercover and save the day. She has the looks, but the grace? Not so much.


Starring: Sandra Bullock, Michael Caine, Benjamin Bratt, Candice Bergen, William Shatner

1SR:
This flick was a lot more fun than I remembered it being.


“Miss Rhode Island, please describe your idea of a perfect date.”
“That’s a tough one. I’d have to say April 25th. Because it’s not too hot, not too cold, all you need is a light jacket.”





10

Grabbers
2012

Genre: Drunken Irish Horror


Strange blood-sucking creatures are crawling out of the ocean to threaten a small isolated town in Ireland. However, it turns out that they’re allergic to alcohol and thus a person with a high blood-alcohol content is poisonous to them. Now it’s up to the town to get trashed and kick ass.


Starring: Richard Coyle, Ruth Bradley, Russel Tovey

1SR:
I will happily watch any movie that has Ruth Bradley & Richard Coyle getting drunk and fighting monsters.


“As flattering as it is to hear a beautiful drunk slurrin’ her feelings for me...now’s not the time.”





11

Dead Heat
1988

Genre: So bad it’s good


Two LAPD officers are on a strange case to track down whoever is reanimating corpses to commit crimes. But when one of them dies and gets brought back, he’s only got 12 hours to solve the case and bring his murderer to justice before he falls to pieces.


Starring: Treat Williams, Joe Piscopo, Lindsay Frost, Darren McGavin, Robert Picardo, Vincent Price

1SR:
The 80’s were a very strange time.


“Hey, you’re hurt.”
“Lady, I’m fucking dead.”





12

Magicians
2007

Genre: Surprisingly dark comedy


Two best friends used to be a successful magician duo, but after a tragic accident they go their separate ways. Years later they’re both strapped for cash and are forced to team back up in order to go after a magic contest’s large cash prize.


Starring: Robert Webb, David Mitchell, Sarah Hadland, Jessica Hynes

1SR:
Not as good as a one would expect from a movie starring Robert Webb and David Mitchell.


“So, I’ll take you out and show you my prop van in a bit, but first, coffee. How do you like it?”
“Weak and white, like my men.”





*   [a]   13   [a]   *

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs
2009

Genre: Goofy comedy


An oddball inventor creates a machine that can convert water into food. But when the machine goes out of control it threatens to destroy the town.


Starring: Bill Hader, Anna Faris, James Caan, Bruce Campbell, Andy Samberg, Benjamin Bratt, Neil Patrick Harris, Mr. T

1SR:
I know this movie kind of sounds dorky, but trust me when I tell you that it is outstanding.


“Not every sardine was meant to swim, son.

I don't understand fishing metaphors!”





*   [a]   14   [a]   *

Mulan
1998

Genre: Disney musical


When the Huns threaten China, an eligible male from every household is required to join the army to defend the country. Fa Mulan disguises herself as a man in order to spare her aging father from going.


Starring: Ming-na Wen, Eddie Murphy, James Hong, Pat Morita, BD Wong

1SR:
One of my favorite Disney movies.


“Ha! I see you have a sword. I have one too. They’re very manly and...tough. [drops sword]”





*   15  *

Get Smart
2008

Genre: Secret agent comedy


An analyst for a secret-service group dreams of one day becoming a field agent and gets the chance when the identities of all the other agents are compromised.


Starring: Steve Carell, Anne Hathaway, Dwayne Johnson, Alan Arkin, Terence Stamp, James Caan

1SR:
Its kind of a stupid movie, but Ive got to admit I have a lot of fun watching it.


“I’ll tell you what we’re not! We’re not people who jam staples into other people’s heads! That’s CIA crap!”





*   16   *

Cool Runnings
1993

Genre: 90’s Comedy


A group of Jamaican sprinters who failed to make it into the Olympics convince a washed-out coach to teach them how to Bobsled and thus become Jamaica’s first bobsled team.


Starring: John Candy, Leon, Doug E. Doug, Rawle D. Lewis, Malik Yoba

1SR:
My friend Hannah sent me a copy of this movie for no real reason other than her being the sweetest person around.


“Derice, a gold medal is a wonderful thing. But if you’re not enough without one, you’ll never be enough with one.”





17

Captain Phillips
2013

Genre: Thriller


An ocean liner is attacked by pirates, leaving the captain to desperately try and protect his crew.


Starring: Tom Hanks, Barkhad Abdi

1SR:
It's well done, but I don't really like movies that make you tense the whole time.


“I’m the captain now.”





18

Steamboat Bill, Jr.
1928

Genre: 20’s silent comedy


A college student comes home to see his father and help him run his paddle-steamer operation, but he instead falls in love with the competition’s daughter.


Starring: Buster Keaton

1SR:
This is now my favorite silent movie; it's like a 20's Jackie Chan movie!





*   19   *

West Side Story
1961

Genre: Romantic gang war musical


It’s 1960s Manhattan and a white gang (the Jets) are having a turf war with the Peurto Rican gang (The Sharks), in this modern and musical take on Romeo and Juliet.


Starring: Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer

1SR:
West Side Story is quite possibly my favorite musical.


“All of you! You all killed him! ... Not with bullets or guns. With hate. Well, now I can kill too, because now I have hate!”





*   20   *

Space Jam
1996

Genre: Animated


Space aliens challenge the Loony Tunes to a basketball game, but then cheat by stealing the talent out of the NBA’s best players for themselves. Luckily for the Tunes, Michael Jordan had retired and thus is the only one who can help them save the day.


Starring: The Loony Tunes, Michael Jordan, Dwane Knight, Bill Murray

1SR:
There’s a lot of nostalgic love out there for this one, but none of it is mine.


“I tought I taw -- I did! I did! I did tee Michael Jordan!”





*   21   *

Galaxy Quest
1999

Genre: Satiric Star Trek comedy


A group of aliens see the broadcasts from a defunct sci-fi show called Galaxy Quest and mistake it for historical documents. They recruit the show’s out-of-work actors to help them save their planet from an evil warlord.


Starring: Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, Alan Rickman, Tony Shaloub, Daryl Mitchell, Sam Rockwell, Justin Long, Enrico Colantoni

1SR:
This movie is so friggin’ fun that I rented out a theater to show it.


“HEY! Don’t open that! It’s an alien planet! Is there air? You don’t know!”





22

Sweeney Todd:
The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
2007

Genre: Dark musical


A murderous barber kills those who wronged him in the past and turns them into meat pies.


Starring: Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman, Jayne Wisener, Laura Michelle Kelly

1SR:
There’s something about the rhyming structure of the songs that really bugs me.


“There’s a hole in the world like a big black pit,
And the vermin of the world inhabit it,
And its morals aren’t worth what a pig could spit,
And it goes by the name of London.”





*   23   *

Down Periscope
1996

Genre: 90s (Naval) comedy


A scheming Naval commander wants to sway an upcoming war game in his favor so he assigns a nearly washed-out and highly unconventional naval captain to the command of an old junker WWII submarine loaded with the worst the Navy has to offer.


Starring: Kelsey Grammer, Lauren Holly, Rob Schneider, Harry Dean Stanton, William H. Macy

1SR:
This movie is too 90s for its own good.


“Now call me a prude if you want, but I don’t think its good policy for the Navy to hand over a billion-dollar piece of equipment to a man who has ‘Welcome Aboard’ tattooed on his penis.”





24

Burke & Hare
2010

Genre: Corpse thief comedy


In the 19th century, two ne’er-do-wells get into the corpse selling business in order to make some quick money, but end up getting in over their heads.


Starring: Simon Pegg, Andy Serkis, Tim Curry, Tom Wilkinson, Isla Fischer

1SR:
Despite a great cast, this movie somehow still manged to be really dull.


“I played Agnes in Moliere’s ‘School for Wives’ at the Garrick Theatre in London. Then times got tough and I branched out to...physical theater.”
“Ah, like acrobatics?”
“...sometimes.”





*   25   *

The Cutting Edge
1992

Genre: Ice-skating romance


A modern figure-skating take on The Taming of the Shrew, in which an oafish ex hockey star is recruited to be the doubles partner to a talented but termagant figure skater.


Starring: D.B. Sweeney, Moira Kelly, Roy Dotrice, Terry O’Quinn

1SR:
It's rather silly, but I love it anyway.


“As a matter of fact, I do have a boyfriend.”


“Well there’s a rough gig. What do you do, keep him chained up in the basement?”





*   26   *

Hot Rod
2007

Genre: Absurd Comedy

Despite a significant lack of talent, Rod dreams of being a stunt man. And when his step-father becomes ill Rod’s stunts are the only hope to save the day.


Starring: Andy Samberg, Bill Hader, Isla Fisher, Will Arnett, Sissy Spacek

1SR:
When it comes to absurd comedies, this one is my favorite.


“Life is pain. We’ve got to scrape the joy from it every chance we get.”





27

Penelope
2006

Genre: Modern Fairytale romance


A young girl is cursed with a pig nose until such a time as a royal learns to love her.


Starring: Christina Ricci, James McAvoy, Catherine O’Hare, Peter Dinklage

1SR:
A cute little story with a nice message.


“With such a large nose, do you smell better than the rest of us?”

“Haha, you tell me.”





28

This was a German movie I saw at a local theater that shows random movies. I thought it was called “Risen,” but for the life of me I can't find anything about it even exists. So I'll just have to go back and fill this part in once I figure out what the heck this movie was.







29

The Monuments Men
2014

Genre: Historical comedy


An allied group during WWII who were tasked with finding and preserving art from being destroyed.


Starring: George Clooney, Matt Damon, Bill Murray, Cate Blanchett, John Goodman

1SR:
Both humorous and historically interesting.


“You can wipe out an entire generation, you can burn their homes to the ground and somehow they’ll still find their way back. But if you destroy their history, you destroy their achievements and it’s like they never existed. That’s what Hitler wants and that’s exactly what what we are fighting for.”





30

The Usual Suspects
1995

Genre: Who-dun-it?


While in police interrogation, the only survivor of a mob massacre tells what led to the event and how a motley crew of criminals got together to work for a mysterious mob boss named Keyser Soze.


Starring: Kevin Spacey, Benicio Del Toro, Stephen Baldwin, Pete Postlethwaite, Kevin Pollak, Gabriel Byrne

1SR:
Not as good as the hype, but still interesting.


“Do you believe in him, Verbal?”

“Keaton always said, ‘I don’t believe in God, but I'm afraid of him.’ Well, I believe in God, and the only thing that scares me is Keyser Soze.”





*   31   *

The Kings Speech
2010

Genre: Amusing Drama


The story of the King George VI’s rise to throne and battle with a speech impediment.


Starring: Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, Helena Bonham Carter

1SR:
I'm a sucker for historical dramas that have a comedic slant.


“My husband is, um...well he's required to speak publicly.”

“Perhaps he should change jobs.”

“He can’t.”

“Indentured servitude?”

“Something of that nature, yes.”





[a]   32   [a]

Batman Beyond:
Return of the Joker
2000

Genre: 3-seasons-and-a-movie Movie


Following the events of the TV show, Terry McGinnis, the new Batman, gets involved in a torrid mystery when the infamous (and supposedly deceased) criminal the Joker resurfaces to wage war on Batman once again.


Starring: Will Friedle, Kevin Conroy, Mark Hamill, Angie Harmon, Melissa Joan Hart, Dean Stockwell

1SR:
I love the cartoon and I quite enjoyed this, but really didn’t like their explanation for why the Joker was back.


“The real Batman never talked to you much, did he? That’s probably why you were so fixated on him.”

“Don’t play psychoanalyst with me, boy!”

“Oh, I don’t need a degree to figure you out. The real reason you kept coming back was you never got a laugh out of the old man.”





*   33   *

10 Things I Hate About You
1999

Genre: 90s Shakespeare


A 90s retelling of The Taming of the Shrew, in which a younger sister can’t date until her older sister (who has no interest in doing so) does. So a would-be suitor hires a ne'er-do-well to try and woo the elder sister.


Starring: Julia Stiles, Heath Ledger, Joseph Gordan-Levitt, Larisa Oleynik, David Krumholtz, Andrew Keegan, Daryl Mitchell

1SR:
I realized that I didn’t own this movie and have subsequently rectified that situation.


“I guess in this society being male and an asshole makes you worthy of our time.”





34

Veronica Mars
2014

Genre: 3-seasons-and-a-movie Movie


A sequel to the classic television series, wherein Veronica (now a college graduate looking for a job with a law firm) is called back to to help Logan who’s been accused of murder.


Starring: Kristen Bell, Enrico Colantoni, Jason Dohring, Tina Majorino, Percy Daggs III, Krysten Ritter, Francis Capra, Jerry O’Connell

1SR:
Everything a marshmallow could have hoped for.


“You were issued a private investigator’s license for your 18th birthday? Is that something California kids do?”

“My dad is a P.I. I worked for him. It was more  answering phones and handling his travel than anything else.”

“Really? Before you were 20, your name popped up on LexisNexis in 14...”

“Fifteen.”

“Fifteen separate articles or briefs in cases ranging from multiple homicides to dognapping. You have a degree is psychology, Miss Mars. What do you think that says about a person?”

“Compulsive, clearly. Addictive personality. Possible adrenaline junkie.”





*   35   *

Star Wars Episode I:
The Phantom Menace
1999

Genre: George Lucas is the worst


Darth Vader as a kid, lots of talk about trade embargoes, Jar Jar Binks.


Starring: Jake Lloyd, Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, Ian McDiarmid

1SR:
One of the friggin’ worst movies of all time and a blight on precious childhood memories all over the world.


“But, master, what are midi-chlorians?”




*   36   *

Star Wars Episode III:
Revenge of the Sith
2005

Genre: Poorly directed sequel


Anakin Skywalker loses his freakin’ mind and all common sense when goes over to the dark side. “WTF, man!?” says Obi-wan.


Starring: Ewan McGregor, Hayden Christensen, Natalie Portman, Ian McDiarmid, Samuel L. Jackson, Christopher Lee, Frank Oz

1SR:
Still below Star Wars par, but Ewan McGregor friggin’ straps this thing to his back and single-handily carries it above mediocrity.


“You were my brother, Anakin! I loved you!”





37

Seven Chances
1925

Genre: 1920s silent comedy


A lawyer finally succeeds in tracking down a benefactor of a will. The man is informed that his deceased grandfather’s will states that he will inherit seven million dollars if he gets married before 7pm on his 27th birthday. The only problem: Today is his 27th birthday!


Starring: Buster Keaton

1SR:
I have yet to see a Buster Keaton movie that wasn't entertaining.





*   38   *

Scream
1996

Genre: Meta-horror


A mask-wearing psycho-killer is going after young high-school women.


Starring: Neve Campbell, Skeet Ulrich, Courtney Cox, David Arquette, Matthew Lillard, Rose McGowan

1SR:
I have a soft spot for horror movies that make fun of horror tropes.


“Do you like scary movies?”


“What’s the point? They’re all the same. Some stupid killer stalking some big-breasted girl who can’t act, who is always running up the stairs instead of going out the front door. It’s insulting.”





39

Muppets Most Wanted
2014

Genre: Modern muppet comedy


A notorious criminal discovers that Kermit is his doppelganger, so he arranges to trade places with him and then use the Muppets as a cover to commit crimes.


Starring: The Muppets, Ricky Gervais, Tina Fey, Ty Burrell, (original songs by) Bret McKenzie

1SR:
Much better than The Muppets, but not nearly as amazing as the old Muppet movies.


“You mean all this time I’ve been trapped in a Russian Gulag, no one, not one single person from the Muppets, except Animal, noticed I’d been replaced by an evil criminal mastermind?”

“It sounds worse than it was...”





*   [a]   40   [a]   *

Dumbo
1941

Genre: Weirdly fucked up kids movie


A little elephant with abnormally large ears is shunned and bullied until he becomes rich and famous.


1SR:
This movie is really fucked up when you think about it.


“You all oughta be ashamed of yourselves. A bunch of big guys like you, pickin’ on a poor little orphan like him.”





*   41   *

The Return of the Living Dead
1985

Genre: Comedic Horror


A couple of medical supply warehouse workers accidentally unleash a strange chemical that brings the dead back to life.


Starring: Thom Matthews, James Karen, Clu Gulager, Beverley Randolph, Linnea Quigley

1SR:
I don’t know if it’s good or not, but it’s definitely entertaining.


“Send more cops!”





*   [a]   42   [a]   *

Frozen
2013

Genre: Disney fairy tale musical


A princess is cut off from the world when her magical powers prove too dangerous to control and her sister tries desperately to save her.


Starring: Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel, Jonathan Groff, Josh Gad, Santino Fontana, Alan Tudyk

1SR:
I hope they one day release a version of this that edits out that dumbass Troll song.



“Some people are worth melting for.”





43

Stripped
2014

Genre: Documentary


A documentary about comic strips.


1SR:
The guys who made this movie are greedy pricks who took advantage of all their Kickstarter backers. So they can go shove it.





44

Night of the Comet
1984

Genre: Ridiculous 80s fun


The Bad News:
Anyone who looked at that strange comet last night have been turned to dust or transformed into a horrible mutant, leaving two teenage sisters alone in a strange new world.

The Good News:
100% off sale at the mall!


Starring: Catherine Mary Stewart, Kelli Maroney, Robert Beltran

1SR:
This movie is ridiculous, but it’s ridiculous in the best way possible.


“You were born with an asshole, Doris, you don’t need Chuck.”





45

Devil
2010

Genre: Elevator horror


A group of people are trapped in an elevator and one of them is the DEVIL!


Starring: Some people and brief moments of Caroline Dharvernas

1SR:
I watched this entirely because Caroline Dhavernas was in it, but it is a TERRIBLE movie.


“‘Don’t worry,’ she’d say. ‘If the Devil is real, then God must be real, too.’”





46

Thor:
The Dark World

2013

Genre: Superhero sequel


I have no idea. I even went and looked it up and I'm still not entirely sure what it was really about.


Starring: Natalie Portman, Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Kat Dennings, Anthony Hopkins

1SR:
Can we please get a Thor spin-off that is just about Natalie Portman and Kat Dennings cracking jokes, doing science, and having fun?


“Look at you. Still all muscley and everything!”





47

The Haunting
1999

Genre: Godawful adaptation of a classic book


While pretending to invite subjects to stay in a house to document paranormal sightings, a scientist is conducting an experiment on the nature of fear. But things start to go wrong when the house turns out to really be haunted.


Starring: Lili Taylor, Liam Neeson, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Owen Wilson

1SR:
An awful movie with an amazing Owen Wilson death.


“What’s the deal with the Addams Family mansion?”





*   48   *

The Avengers
2012

Genre: Superhero


When the god Loki attempts to break open a hole to another world, the Marvel heroes must team up to stop him.


Starring: Chris Evans, Samuel L. Jackson, Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johansson, Robert Downey Jr., Tom Hiddleston, Chris Hemsworth, Jeremy Renner

1SR:
I didn't like any of the Action, but loved all the Comedy.


“That man is playing Galaga! Thought we wouldn’t notice. But we did.”





49


The Grand Budapest Hotel
2014

Genre: Wes Anderson


A promiscuous hotel manager and his lobby boy are forced to go on the run after an issue regarding a missing painting of great worth.


Starring: Ralph Finnes, Tony Revolori, F. Murray Abraham, Adrian Brody, William Defoe, Saoirse Ronan

1SR:
There’s some fun performances in this movie, but it was putting me to sleep.


“Rudeness is merely an expression of fear. People fear they won’t get what they want. The most dreadful and unattractive person only needs to be loved, and they will open up like a flower.”





50.

Farscape:
The Peacekeeper Wars
2004

Genre: 4-seasons-and-a-movie Movie


The movie that wraps up the TV show Farscape.


Starring: Ben Browder, Claudia Black, Anthony Simcoe, Gigi Edgley, Wayne Pygram, The Jim Henson Creature Shop

1SR:
Thank goodness they made a movie to wrap things up, because the series ended on a friggin’ crazy note.


“Goodbye, John. Thanks for your memories.”

Saturday, January 24, 2015

Booklist 2014: The Final Half

* = reread

CB = Children’s Book
GN = Graphic novel or comic anthology
art = art book




*   64.   *

Guards! Guards!

by. Terry Pratchett

Someone is causing trouble in the city of Ankh-Morpork, but unfortunately for the City Watch that someone just happens to be a dragon.


The Guards books tend to be my favorite Discworld stories. Although I've gotta admit it’s weird seeing the early stuff, because out of everyone in the series the guards are the group that evolves the most as the stories go on. I mean, in this one they're still operating out of the Treacle Mine Road headquarters? It's madness!





*   65.   *

Eric

by. Terry Pratchett

A young boy with a penchant for demonology tries to summon a demon to grant his wishes, but accidentally summons an incompetent wizard instead in this Faust parody.


This is probably my second Least favorite Discworld book. There's just no meat to the story and I don’t care about Faust.





67.

California

by. Edan Lepucki

In the near future the world as we know it has fallen apart. Cal and Frida have managed to create a life for themselves in the wilderness, but when Frida becomes pregnant they start considering joining a mysterious and guarded community of survivors.


I spent a large portion of this book rather bored, but really curious where it was all headed. But it turns out it was headed to a really dumb ending.






*   69.   *

We Have Always Lived in the Castle

by. Shirley Jackson

A poisoning incident left everyone in the Blackwood family dead except for the two daughters and their senile uncle. Now they keep to themselves to avoid the judgement, persecution, and hateful gossip of the people in town. But events are taking place that will force them all into the open and the wrath of their conformist community.


I love Shirley Jackson and this is one of my favorites of hers. It captures that frightening feeling of not fitting in and being judged for it. Of just wanting to be by yourself and with the few people you love and not dealing with anyone elses bullshit. The whole thing is like a wonderfully dark urban fairy tale.





70.

Silverwing

by. Kenneth Oppel

During the old war between the beasts and the birds, the bats refused to pick a side and were subsequently barred from ever seeing the sun again. But war is about to reignite once again when a young silverwing bat dares to sneak a peek at the sun.


Definitely kids’ fare, but it was a fun light read. I loved the backstory of the war that set up the world of the bats. I was expecting this series to be like Redwall, but it’s actually got more of a Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH thing going on.





71.

In the Heart of the Beat:
The Poetry of Rap

by. Alexs D. Pate


For me, reading this book was like getting trapped in a conversation with a horribly pretentious person.





72.

Shadow & Claw
The First Half of the Book of New Sun

by. Gene Wolfe

When an apprentice to the guild of executioners is excommunicated for showing mercy, he sets off on an epic journey.


I honestly have no idea how to describe this series to anyone. Let’s just say that it’s essentially a science-fiction story that's been translated as a fantasy?

It’s just like that, except not entirely.





*   [GN]   73.   [GN]   *

Last Chapter and Worse

by. Gary Larson

A collection of comic strips from The Farside.


Much to my discredit it’s been quite some time since I’ve read a Farside collection. But, damn, do I ever love that strip. It is far and away the greatest single panel comic strip ever made.





74.

Sunwing

by. Kenneth Oppel

Shade and the others are back in this sequel to Silverwing, but this time they’re on a mission to find Shade’s father and unravel the mystery of the humans’ bands.


Haha, this one starts off a lot like the other one and then ends up getting really weird.

But it did introduce me to the concept of the Bat Bomb and for that I am eternally grateful.





75.

Black Noise:
Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary America

by. Tricia Rose

See subtitle.


Absolutely fascinating. No question the best non-fiction book I read this year. After I finished I immediately went out and bought a copy of it for myself. If you have an interest in rap music I highly suggest you give it a try.





76.

100 Things You’re Not Supposed to Know

by. Russ Kick

A collection of 100 unfortunate facts that are not commonly known.


I think someone gave this to me for Christmas last year, and I’ve rather slowly been working my way through it this year. It’s full of some really fascinating stuff that I was not aware of. For instance did you know that America once accidentally dropped an atomic bomb on itself? Because that totally happened.

I also liked how they cite all their information, so you can look into some of this stuff yourself if you so desire.





77.

Rabid:
A Cultural History of the World’s Most Diabolical Virus

by. Bill Wasik & Monica Murphy

A look at the history of rabies.

Turns out rabies has had a much bigger and more fascinating impact on human history and culture than I ever imagined. Did you know that rabies was a huge part of life in ye olden days? Or that a lot of monster myths probably stemmed from rabies symptoms? How about that possible symptoms of rabies include a fear of water and sustained erections/uncontrollable ejaculations?

See what I mean? Turns out rabies is both fascinating and horrifying.





78.

Shock Wave

by. John Sandford

A small town in Minnesota is awash in controversy regarding the construction of a huge mega-store. When a terrorist begins using explosives to impede the construction, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension sends agent Virgil Flowers in to try and get to try to get to the bottom of it all before anyone else gets hurt or killed.


My dad recommended this one to me, but it wasn’t really my thing. The whole thing was rather forgettable. Especially since I thought Virgil Flowers was a pretty darn bland for a main character.





*   [GN]   79.   [GN]   *

Dogs Are Worth It!

by. Charles Schulz

A collection of Peanuts strips.


I actually reread this one to see if it was really the kind of thing I needed to keep it on my bookshelf. But goshdarnit, I just really like Peanuts! It’s really just one of a million various Peanuts collections, but whatever! I enjoyed it.





[art]   80.   [art]

Avatar: The Last Airbender
The Art of the Animated Series

by. Bryan Konietzko & Michael Dante DiMartino

A collection of Avatar art and interviews.


Yeah, Im a big ol’ Avatar fan. Okay? I love that show and I loved getting to see all the production artwork, storyboards, character designs, and inside stories regarding the making of it! No regrets about buying this thing. None at all.





81.

A Wanted Man

by. Lee Child

Former military police officer and current itinerant hobo Jack Reacher hitches a ride late one snowy night. Inside the car are three people: The driver, a frightened woman, and a man whose stories don't add up. Meanwhile, three miles back the police have just discovered a murder scene.


The first half of this book is absolute gold. Reacher finds himself in a regular Agatha Christie style mystery when his hitchhiking lands him in a car with 3 people, a lot of lies, and 1 murderer. Meanwhile the FBI is investigating the the murder of a man found dead in a gas station bathroom. As Reacher tries to subtly unravel the secrets of his mysterious car pool, the FBI lets the readers in on more of the secrets behind the case.

It was just tons of fun.

BUT THEN, about halfway through, the car ride ends and not long after so did my interest. By the end I found that I really couldn
’t care less about what was happening. So take from that what you will. If nothing else I’m glad I read it, if only for that first half.






[GN]   82.   [GN]

Through the Woods

by. Emily Carroll

A collection of Emily Carrolls short story horror comics.


I can not say enough nice things about this book. It is one of the most hauntingly beautiful things I’ve ever read. All of the stories are wonderfully spooky and riveting, but a couple of them were actually freaking me out!

You can read a number of them on her webpage if you want to get a little taste for what’s in store.

I really have absolutely nothing negative to say about this book. I loved everything about it.





83.

The Inconvenient Indian:
A Curious Account of Native People in North America

by. Thomas King

A discussion of the history of the settlers’ dealings with Native peoples in North America.



Normally I’m really bad with historical books. There’s a lot of dates & figures and I’m really terrible at keeping all the information in order in my mind. But this one is a very interesting and enjoyable read. As Thomas King says, the book isn't really a history book per se, it’s more like a really engaging conversation with someone who knows a lot about what they’re talking about.


“Still, for me at least, writing a novel is buttering warm toast, while writing a history is herding porcupines with your elbows.

As a result, although The Inconvenient Indian is fraught with history, the underlying narrative is a series of conversations and arguments that I’ve been having with myself and other for most of my adult life, and if there is any methodology to in my approach to the subject, it draws more on storytelling techniques than historiography. A good historian would have tried to keep personal anecdotes in check. A good historian would have provided footnotes.

I have not.”





84.

Firewing

by. Kenneth Oppel

The third book of the Silverwing series, wherein a now older Shade must journey into the bat-underworld in order to rescue his son from bat-Satan.



At first I was quite confused at why this book even exists, because it sounds ridiculous. Now that I’ve read it though, I’ve gotta admit that it’s probably my favorite book of the series. I mean, if nothing else, its craziness makes it extremely memorable. It’s honest-to-goodness a story about bats fighting their way out of hell! Either that sounds like something you’ve gotta read or the stupidest thing you’ve ever heard of (or possibly both). So I’ll leave that judgment up to you.





85.

The Tao of Wu

by. The RZA



The Wu-Tang Clan’s leader tells of the spiritual lessons he’s learned in his life in this autobiography / spiritual guidebook.


This is one of the most theologically interesting books I’ve read. And yet the amazing parts are scattered amongst a lot of bits that just made me want to throw the book own in sheer annoyance/disgust. The RZA frequently goes off on these self-aggrandizing tangents about how amazing he is. Even when he tries to talk about his faults he still describes them as if they were assets.

If that wasn’t enough, a few times he goes into out-and-out racism. Talking about how white people are inherently evil by their very nature. Not, mind you, that our current cultural naturally instills a sense of racism in white people, but that white people are evil fucks from womb to tomb and the only ones who aren’t are the ones who fight against their natural tendencies. I mean...wow. He says this kind of thing while talking about the importance of understanding and compassion and stuff too.

So yeah. Fuck that noise and this book too.





*   [GN]   86.   [GN]   *

Dragon Ball, vol. 1-3

by. Akira Toriyama

A strange boy with a monkey tail and a mastery of martial arts helps a girl named Bulma to track down 9 mystic spheres. Legend tells that if you gather them all together an ancient dragon will be summoned to grant you a wish. But things get complicated when they discover that they aren’t the only ones who want to summon the dragon.


Oh, I do so enjoy the Dragon Ball series. DBZ is so over the top and obsessed with fighting, but Dragon Ball has so much more humor and good fun.

Although, I’ve gotta admit that there’s a few parts in the early story that are unfortunately creepy. But context is everything, and the series was written 40 years ago, in another country, for adolescent boys. Still though, while I love so much of this series, there’s a couple bits in early on that make me uncomfortable.





87.

Akata Witch

by. Nnedi Okorafor

A young girl in South Africa finds she has inherited a rare gift from her grandmother and is part of a magical community known as the Leopard People. Now she’s a studying African magic in secret, but she and her friends better learn fast, because a serial killer is on the loose and if they’re not careful they could wind up dead.


So much fantasy out there is rooted in the same old Witches & Wizards and Wands & Dragons of the Western traditions. This book, being rooted in African myths and legends and traditions, was just such a nice breath of fresh air. We’ve all heard the magical school story somewhere before, but it’s all wonderfully fresh and new when it’s also introducing ideas from a tradition I’m not as familiar with.

Although I’ve gotta admit that the ending was quite disappointing. It was really sudden and quite anti-climatic.

While the book is not on the same level of writing quality as Harry Potter, it’s still a lot of fun and the world is wonderfully imaginative. I, for one, am pretty interested to see what the next book in the series will be like.





*   88.   *

Reaper Man

by. Terry Pratchett


The auditors of the universe fire Death. They give him a golden timer, a Life, and send him on his way. But even without Death, people still believe in death. And their belief is creating a new reaper, a dangerous one. While Death is enjoying his chance to experience life, he’s the only one with the skills and experience to put this new personification of death into its place.


The early Discworld’s Death-centered stories always have such interesting concepts, but are a little weak in the plot department. I mean, not a lot happens in this book. BUT it’s still a really enjoyable read with some amazing moments and interesting ideas about the nature of life and death.





*   [GN]   89.   [GN]   *

Bravest Warriors, vol 2

written by. Joey Comeau
art by. Mike Holmes

The Bravest Warriors must go undercover at the Miss Multiverse Pageant to uncover who’s been stealing contestants’ brains!


It’s a comic written by Joey Comeau and based on the animated webseries by Pendleton Ward! Anyone who knows me is not at all surprised that I would be a big fan of this.






90.

Here Be Monsters!

by. Alan Snow

The town of Ratbridge is a strange place where boxtrolls and cabbage heads live under the streets, cheeses run wild, and rat pirates run a laundry business out of their ship. A young boy who live with his grandfather underground becomes embroiled in a sinister plot when he discovers that an evil aristocrat from above ground is trying to capture all the underground dwellers and thus threaten all life down below.


I heard that The Boxtrolls movie was based on a book and had to go check it out.

I don’t know if you’ve seen the movie or not, but let us just say that the book is quite a lot different. They made a large number of changes/cuts to the original. Perhaps it’s just that I saw the movie first, but I prefer the movie’s story to the book’s. The book is really quite inexplicably odd. It kind of feels a bit like a wannabe Roald Dahl? I don’t know. I can see why it would be a popular book, but it just wasn’t for me.





91.

The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing,
Traitor to the Nation
Volume I: The Pox Party

by. M.T. Anderson

Set in 18th century Boston, Octavian Nothing is a black boy who has unknowingly grown up as part of a grand experiment to see whether or not intelligence is racial trait. But people start to fear what the ramifications of the experiment’s results will have if Octavian disproves their racist beliefs and they seek to disrupt the experiment. Octavian begins to see that his life has all been a lie: that he is and always has been a slave and a lab rat. He runs away, but there are those who have invested a lot of time and money in him and aren’t about to let him go without a fight.


My friend recommended this one, but at the end of the day it wasn’t my kind of thing. I’ve just never been a fan of M.T. Anderson’s writing style.





*   [GN]   92.   [GN]   *

Yu-Gi-Oh!

by. Kazuki Takahashi

A young boy solves an ancient Egyptian puzzle and unlocks the soul of an ancient pharaoh. Now these soul-brothers battle evil by playing games.


Have you ever wanted to see a young boy with crazy hair gain magical Egyptian Pharaoh powers and use them to play ridiculously twisted games with various thugs? Probably not, but sometimes the best things are the ones you didn't even know you wanted.

While most people have seen the wonderful absurdity of the Yu-Gi-Oh cartoon, much fewer have taken a look at the comic. And they're missing out. Believe it or not the show actually toned done the absurdity level of the original.
ESPECIALLY in the early volumes before the Duel Monsters game is introduced. 


For instance? Well, how about the part where Yami Yugi plays a game of air hockey with a high school thug, except they play it on a hot griddle with a puck made of ice. Oh, and did I mention that there's a vial of explosives in the puck so whoever is next to the puck when the ice melts down will explode? Because that totally happens. And this kind of thing is happening every chapter! The whole thing is so ridiculous and over-the-top that you can't help but enjoy it.





[GN]   93.   [GN]

Costume Quest

by. Zac Gorman

There’s a candy shortage in the world of monsters! A couple of monster kids decide to break the rules and head into the human world for a treat this Halloween. But getting back is going to be harder than they first thought.


I’ve never played the computer game this one is based on, but I had to check it out anyway because Zac Gorman wrote/drew it! I’m a big fan of his work and he doesn’t do nearly enough stuff.

So yeah! It’s fun. It’s not some Earth-shattering, run to tell your friends kind of story, but I enjoyed it. A great one for kids to read around Halloween I should think.





*   94.   *

John Dies at the End

by. David Wong

John and Dave are two 20-something slackers.

John and Dave took a drug called “Soy Sauce.”

John and Dave can now see beyond the surface of our reality to the horrors underneath.

John and Dave aren’t both going to live to see the end of this book.


I end up talking about this book every year, don’t I? Well, thats because its amazing and I love it and you should read it too! I consider it to the be the ultimate unreliable-narrator story. It does an amazing job of straddling the line of hilarious and freaky to create a brilliant story of kooky what-the-fuck Horror.





95.

Coraline

by. Neil Gaiman

A young girl named Coraline (NOT “Caroline,” thank you very much) moves into a new house with her parents who never seem to have time for her. Left to her own devices she discovers a strange door in the house that leads to a parallel world. One where everything is perfect, where her other-parents fawn over her, where everything is fantastical and never boring, where no-one calls her Caroline, and a place where everyone...has buttons for eyes? A world that perhaps isn’t so perfect after all...


I’ve seen the fun animated Laika adaptation of this book, so I figured it was overdue for me to read the source material. It’s a fun book. The movie was actually quite faithful for the most part, but I think I would say the book is a bit better.

All in all though, it reminds me a lot of Clive Barker’s book The Thief of Always...except not as good. Yes, I know that’s something I say a lot! But it’s true a lot! I know it’s wrong to deal with something based on anything other than its own merits, but sometimes I can’t help myself. Coraline is fine and all, but The Thief of Always is absolutely brilliant.





*   96.   *

The Day of the Triffids

by. John Wyndham

A strange and deadly new species of walking plants called “Triffids” is discovered. Despite the danger people have begun breeding them to harvest a valuable oil they secrete. But the power tables are turned when a freak astronomical event renders the majority of the world blind. Now humans have become prey.



This one’s been overdue for a reread. It was written in the 50s and it dates itself a bit with the preconceptions of the time, but it really is a fun piece of sci-fi. It’s part post-apocalyptic scenario, part alien invasion, and part horror. While I wouldn’t say it’s a masterful piece of writing, I would certainly highly recommend it to anyone who’s interested in a unique sci-fi story.





*   97.   *

Witches Abroad

by. Terry Pratchett

Magrat is one of the three Lancre witches and has just received a letter informing her that she’s the new fairy godmother of a young woman in the distant city of Genua, and P.S. to absolutely not tell the other witches about it, because they’d just muck everything up. Well, when they hear about that they insist on coming along. Now the witches are off to distant lands to do battle with foreign customs, a tyrannical queen, and a city that’s being forced into a fairy tale.



As I go along through the Discworld books I’ve noticed certain ages developing in terms of the style of Pratchett’s writing. I would say that the first books are part of the Rough Age: they are filled with interesting characters and ideas, but on the whole he’s still finding his legs and the stories aren’t very refined.

But I would say that this book is the start of a new age. Let’s call it, I don’t know, the Dawning Age? This is where Pratchett really starts to get a feel for his world and the kind of stories he wants to tell. This is the first book where I could really see that signature Discworld style that I love so much.

I didn’t really remember anything about this book when I went to reread it, but it’s pretty great. ESPECIALLY if you love fairy tales, which I do!





[CB]   98.   [CB]

Wild

by. Emily Hughes

A children’s picture book about a young girl who was raised in the woods by animals until she is found by people who try to tame her.


This was the best new book I read this year. I love it so much. It now ranks as my favorite children’s book. I stumbled across it while looking for a good birthday present for my little niece and I loved it so much that I couldn’t bring myself to give it away.

First of all, the art is absolutely GORGEOUS! I would happily put framed pages of this book up on my walls. And if that wasn’t enough I love the story! It is so cute and wonderful.

Just trust me about this and track down a copy of this book, because it is the greatest thing.





[GN]   99.   [GN]

Clive Barker’s The Thief of Always

written by. Kirs Oprisko
original story by. Clive Barker

A graphic novel adaptation of a book by Clive Barker.


For the record, I consider The Thief of Always to be the greatest YA book ever written. It is the bar by which I rate any other YA book and it is brilliant and I love it to death.

This abomination, however, I do not love. In fact, I kind of despise it. It strips the novel of all its original charm and eloquence and leaves nothing but the empty skeleton of its basic plot. So fuck this graphic novel. Let us go back to pretending this thing does not exist, and just happily read the original. Shall we?





*   100.   *

Horns

by. Joe Hill

Ig Perrish was accused of raping and murdering the love of his life. He was never convicted, but as far as the town is concerned, he did it. Who else could have? Living under this constant perception of being a monster, he wakes up one morning to find horns growing on his forehead and no one seems to care. Now people are starting to tell him all their darkest thoughts. With this new twisted power on his side he begins to unravel what really happened the night the love of his life was murdered.


I reread this one because, A.) I’ve been meaning to for a while because I loved it the first time I read it, and B.) because they made a movie out of it. However, I never made it to the theater to actually see it. Haha, but who cares about the movie! The book is amazing! I love it. It’s both a super romantic love story and an unnerving horror fest. When it comes to horror stories Joe Hill is my favorite. He has a spectacular ability to use Horror as a tool for talking about the difficult things in life.





101.

The Mist

by. Stephen King

A strange mist descends on a small town in Maine. But there’s something unnatural about this mist. Or should I say there’s something unnatural inside the mist...


Yes, yes, I read the book because I really like the movie. I’m that person! That person who annoys everyone by always comparing movies to books. Deal with it.

In any case, this book is not nearly as good as the movie. Also, what on Earth is the deal with Stephen King and brand names? That man goes insane in this book with brand names. No one can use any sort of product without King telling you exactly what brand it was. At one point he even goes on to tell you about how this one brand of chainsaw is superior to this other brand of chainsaw, even though its significantly cheaper! It was truly maddening.

So yeah. To its credit there is some good stuff at the story’s heart, it’s just that (in my opinion) it was all handled much better in the movie.





[GN]   102.   [GN]

GoGo Monster

by. Taiyo Matsumoto

A story about being different, growing up, and a young boy who says he can see beyond our world's veil.


Since I loved Tekkonkinkreet and Ping Pong so much, I figured I should really try out some of Taiyo Matsumoto’s other work. Much like Tekkonkinkreet, this one has a very surreal angle to it, where you aren’t quite sure what’s real and what’s not. If you’re a fan of his work, I’d definitely recommend giving it a try. But I can see why something like this wouldn’t be appealing to everyone. It’s one of the those stories that merges novelization and poetry...if that makes sense?





[GN]   103.   [GN]

Sunny, vol 1

by. Taiyo Matsumoto

The story of an orphanage in Japan from the perspectives of the children living there.


My tour of Taiyo Matsumoto's other works continues! This one is actually a series and a lot more straight forward than a lot of his other work. I really liked it though. It's hard to describe what exactly I enjoyed so much about it. The stories are pretty simple, but they fill you up and remind you what it was like being a kid.





[art]   104.   [art]

The Legend of Korra, Book One: Air
The Art of the Animated Series

by. Michael Dante DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko,
& Joaquim dos Santos

A book of the art surrounding the creation of the first season of The Legend of Korra.


I am in love with these Avatar art books. Not only are they filled with wonderful production and concept artwork, but also with great stories from the creators. I think my favorite parts are when you get to see the concept ideas behind the show and seeing how characters were originally pitched.





105.

The Inspection House:
An Impertinent Field Guide to Modern Surveillance

by. Emily Horne & Tim Maly

A look at the concept of the Panopticon and how its ideas of the architecture of surveillance are used in today’s world.



I was intrigued by this one because it was cowritten by Emily Horne! Some of you might know her as half of the duo that creates A Softer World and whose yearly book lists inspired me to make my own.

It wasn’t what I was expecting, but it was certainly fascinating nonetheless. Its approach to looking at the architecture of surveillance (not as in how surveillance systems are built, but as in the actual building of phyiscal-scapes to allow for surveillance) was one I had never really thought of before. The book speaks of itself as a sort of field-guide to spotting modern pantopicons and it really is. Once it points out these systems to you you start to see them everywhere.

And who doesn't love a book that changes how you see the world?





*   106.   *

Small Gods

by. Terry Pratchett

In a land ruled by the church of a mighty and vengeful god named Om, a lowly pupil named Brutha was tending to the melon patch when a tortoise began talking to him. If that wasn’t strange enough it claimed it was the great god Om! Now Brutha and Om are on an adventure to learn of the nature of Gods, restore belief in Om, and stop the church from being overtaken by a power-hungry zealot.


For me this is the most philosophically interesting book I’ve ever read. Pratchett takes on the subject with all the good humor and eloquent wit you expect from him and the result is fantastic.

In fact, when introducing people to the Discworld series, I usually suggest starting here. You see, it’s a Discworld book, but it takes place away from the usual settings and characters, so you don’t have to worry about missing any sort of references. Plus it’s far enough into the series to be at the point where Pratchett’s writing is more polished.





*   107.   *

Pride and Prejudice

by. Jane Austen

A story about love and how hard it can be to see the truth about people when your prior misconceptions get in your way.


Romance is a book genre that I don’t venture into very often as I don't really know what to look for. So it probably doesn’t carry to much weight when I say that Pride and Prejudice is my favorite romance story. But it is! So there. It is delightful.





*   108.   *

Lords and Ladies

by. Terry Pratchett

Elves. Such a beautiful and elegant race, don't you think? Not in Discworld. But few can remember the truth: that elves are a wicked, cruel, and ugly lot who will get inside your head and torture you just as soon as look at you. When a foolhardy group of wannabe witches accidentally release the seal keeping the elves locked away, it’s up to the real witches of Lancre to save the day.


You can pretty much assume every Discworld witch-centered story is worth reading. I love how this one goes back to the old school elves: the cruel tricksters who only seemed beautiful, because they could cast glamour over humans. This one is kind of like a proto-Wee Free Men in a lot of ways.





[GN]   109.   [GN]

Ms. Marvel, vol 1:
No Normal

written by. G. Willow Wilson
art by. Adrian Alphona

A high school girl struggling with...well, everything (school, romance, peer pressure, family pressure, etc.), has her world thrown upside down when a strange mist gives her shape-shifting abilities.


This comic is So. Much. Fun! It’s like a Spider-man for a new generation. It’s got struggles with school and family and love (not to mention superpowers), plus an endearing quippy hero! The whole thing is such a wonderfully refreshing thing to see in a genre that has become known for its lack of diversity.

In short: This comic is amazing and I can’t wait until the next volume comes out!





110.

Brain on Fire:
My Month of Madness

by. Susannah Cahalan

The memoir of a woman who was struck with a mysterious disease that inflamed her brain, but appeared to the world as having just gone mad.


I heard about this one from the Hannibal commentaries, actually. Bryan Fuller mentioned it as being the inspiration for Will Graham's condition in Season 1.

It's really quite a horrific tale. Her sickness presented itself as psychosis, so most people weren't looking for a physiological cause! I mean, holy shit, getting sick and everyone just thinking you were going crazy? Talk about a scary scenario.

Not only is the premise intriguing, but her account of what it was like to live through madness and eventually recover from it is really quite fascinating.





111.

I Work in a Public Library:
A Collection of Crazy Stories from the Stacks

by. Gina Sheridan

A collection of stories and occurrences in the life of a public library librarian.


I work in a library and am obviously extremely biased here, but I loved this one. And since I work for an academic library the whole thing makes me like my job all the more! I don't know how the public library workers of the world do it. If you like stories about the crazy things people in customer service come across on a daily basis then you’ll enjoy this book for sure.





[art]   112.   [art]

The Art of Richard Thompson

by. David Apatoff, Nick Galifianakis,
Mike Rhode, Chris Sparks,
& Bill Watterson

A collection of art and interviews with Cul-de-Sac creator Richard Thompson.


I’m a big Cul-de-Sac fan so I obviously found this collection to be quite interesting. I never knew he had be so prolific in so many different types of art. I liked how the book was divided up into sections based on the different types of art he’s done over the years, with each section having an artist from that specific field doing the interview.





113.

Death of a King

by. Tavis Smiley

The story of the last year of Martin Luther King Jr.’s life.


Normally I’m not a fan of biographies, but I really enjoyed this one. It’s written in a very engaging style and tries to ground Mr. King as a human being and not as some exalted figure out of history.





114.

Why Do Men Have Nipples?:
Hundreds of Questions You’d Only Ask a Doctor After Your Third Martini

by. Mark Leyner & Billy Goldberg

A book answering some of the strange medical questions doctors get asked at dinner parties.


Some of it is interesting, but the whole thing tries way too hard to be funny. As if they thought that the answers to kooky medical questions weren’t interesting enough. It made the whole thing rather tiresome.





* 115. *

Dealing With Dragons

by. Patricia C. Wrede

A princess is continually told that the things she’s interested in (like magic and fighting) are improper activities for a princess, but when her family tries to arrange her marriage, that’s the last straw. She runs away from home and decides to find a dragon. After all, being a dragon’s princess certainly sounds a lot more interesting than marrying a dunce and practicing her diction.


This was a favorite series of mine as a kid, but it’s been a Long time since I’ve read it. It holds up though. The way they play with the whole captive princess / dragon thing is pretty great.





[CB]   116.   [CB]

Fraidyzoo

by. Thyra Heder

A children’s book about a little girl who is afraid to go to the zoo, but can’t remember why. Her family proceeds to dress up and act out all the animals of the zoo to try and jog her memory.


I actually gave this one to my little niece for Christmas. I loved it. It’s got a lovely art style, it incorporates animals in unique way, and it gives a lot of fun ideas for playing dress-up and using your imagination to have fun.





[CB]   117.   [CB]

The Book With No Pictures

by. B.J. Novak

A children’s book that features no pictures whatsoever. None. And yet it cleverly makes use of the fact that when parents are reading books to their kids...they're reading out loud.


I got this one for my little nephew for Christmas and I haven’t yet heard back about it, but personally I think its concept is a lot of fun. It forces the reader to say a lot of silly stuff out loud and in doing so it creates a very unique reading experience. One that shows kids that books are fun not just because of their pictures, but because of how their words (and our reading of those words) can shape our reading experience.





[GN]   118.   [GN]

Saga, vol. 1-2

written by. Brian K. Vaughn
art by. Fiona Staples

In an epic war between the inhabitants of a planet and its moon, two soldiers from opposing sides fall in love and have a child. Now they are on the run from everyone, as both sides want them and their child to be destroyed before their story can get out.


I’ve heard a lot about this one over the past year or so, but I never got around to reading it until now and now I’m hooked! It’s a story that has everything: romance, fantasy, sci-fi, action, adventure, comedy. Plus, so far it hasn’t fallen into that horrible American comics trap of switching artists every chapter! So the art is consistent and great.





119.

The Worthing Saga

by. Orson Scott Card

A collection of 3 books (1 novel, and 2 collections of short stories) centered around a sci-fi world where people can sleep time away and live for centuries, and the ramifications that ends up having for the universe.


The first book in the collection, the novel The Worthing Chronicle, is most definitely worth reading. It has a really intriguing story structure, some fantastic characters, and a wonderfully thought-provoking story.

The collections of short stories aren’t bad, but they struck me as mostly superfluous. Everything they do was better done in the novel, and expanding on them kind of takes away some of their charm.





120.

Annihilation

by. Jeff VanderMeer

All 11 expeditions to the bizarre land of Area X have ended in strange disasters. Now the 12th expedition is about to learn why.


The whole thing was rather bizarre yet still somehow boring? I nearly quit partway through, but kept reading anyways in order to learn where exactly they were trying to go with this story.

Now Ive finished it and Im clueless as to what they were trying to do with that story.





[GN]   121.   [GN]

Box of Bones

by. Clio Chiang

A short vignette of a comic about a little skeleton who runs off to join the circus.


It’s short and has almost no words in it, but its imagery is charming and it uses the medium to wonderfully tell a really great little story.





*   [GN]   122.   [GN]   *

Essex County, vol 1:
Tales From the Farm

by. Jeff Lemire

After his mother dies a young boy is sent to live on his uncles farm. While his uncle struggles to find a way to connect with him, the boy uses tries to use the fantasy world of comic books as a way of escaping from his reality.


A short little graphic novel, but a great one. The whole Essex County series is brilliant.





*   123.   *

The Golden Compass

by. Philip Pullman

In a world where people’s souls manifest as animals outside their bodies and armored bears rule the lands in the North, a young girl finds herself in the middle of a dangerous battle between politics, religion, and science.


While I have some mixed feelings about the rest of this trilogy, I can say without hesitation that this specific book is one of my all-time favorite fantasy books. It masterfully creates a truly fantastic world, while always leaving you grounded within it.

P.S. If you can avoid it, never see the movie adaptation...unless you're drunk and feeling pugnacious.