After all the time that my mother tortured me while writing to this book I can now proudly present you:
(Movement Univers of the Young Child - 0-3 years old)
Not bad, eh?
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Monday, August 25, 2008
Book Review: The Prestige - Magicienii (1995)
Published by http://www.nemira.ro/
I was looking for this book and almost missed it because of the changed title. Bad translation work, very unimaginative, as if calling a book about chickens… chickens. Anyway, moving on.
The story evolves around the rivalry between two magicians in turn-of-century London. In present days their descendents get together to swap stories and solve mysteries. We perceive them as pieces of diary written by both of them.
On one hand there’s Alfred Borden, coming from a poor background and being a great engineer. On the other hand there’s wealthy Rupert Angier who has a great stage presence. These two men have in common their fascination for magic acts and their body and soul devotion to their art.
It’s fate that makes them meet early in their career when due to a misunderstanding and accident they become sworn enemies. From that point on they’re obsessed with ruining each other’s act and becoming the better showman.
Borden has an act called The Transported Man during which he disappears from one place appearing almost instantly in another, something that couldn’t normally be achieved without using a body double. In order to out do it and unable to figure out how Borden does it, Angier hires scientist Testla, who currently experiments with electricity, to build him a teleporting device, a machine capable to physically transport him, and designs a new and more impressive show.
It’s Borden’s turn to try to find out how he does it and in his search the results are disastrous for both magicians. It’s hard to explain it without ruining the plot, but back in present days the ending is weird and creepy having a bit of a horror feel added to it.
The narration is fluent in spite of the constant change of point of view and jumping in time. The writing style is a bit rigid though and dry. The scenes in the past and the main characters are well done, unlike the current day episodes and descendents who seem to have been given less attention and purpose. Once used as a mean to introduce the story they’re neglected and mostly get in the way.
The novel has a distinct feel compared to the movie. It’s one of the very rare cases when the movie is better than the book it’s inspired from, being one of the best movies of the last decade and even more. Under the supervision of director Christopher Nolan, Christian Bale, Hugh Jackman, Michael Caine, and Scarlet Johansson make a brilliant performance worth watching.
* * * * *
Written for “Scrie ca sa primesti…o carte”
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Book Review: The Year's Best Science Fiction (2006)
Published by http://www.nemira.ro/
I’ll only review a few of the stories. Since Nemira skipped several stories from the original collection not bothering to translate them, then I feel I can take the liberty to do the same.
The Little Goddess – Describes the life of a little girl chosen and raised to be a goddess until she bleeds. It focuses on her life inside the temple, her learning, banishment after an accident and how she finds a purpose for her life in the real world becoming something close to what a goddess should be not only in name.
Beyond the Aquila Rift – It deals with long distance space travel and the danger of being away from home for too long. Dunno why it brought in my head images that would better associate with the title ‘The Restaurant at The End of The Universe’.
Triceratops Summer – What would one do if told an entire summer is going to be relived in the near future? Take a vacation and travel and try to indulge itself in things he or she likes best? That’s what our hero thinks too. Still he and his wife end up spending it at home looking at the triceratops brought from the past by a glitch in time.
Camouflage – On a giant ship inhabited by various species of aliens a mysterious man is hired to catch a murderer. Only that in the end it turns out that no one is who they seem to be, neither the man, his employer, or the woman whose husbands are killed one by one and who he is hired to protect.
A Case of Consilience – Something about a priest who manages to communicate with a species of fungus through an accident/self sacrifice. Not so interesting.
The Blemmye's Strategem – This one is set back in time being more fantasy than sci fi. It’s a bit grotesque and heavily written. Didn’t like it.
In the Quake Zone – Probably my favorite story from the collection. A private investigator travels through time to prevent a series of murders on the gay scene of a 50’s LA. He breaks some rules and he’s brought to the distant future for a career change.
The Children of Time – Several generations of children in the future, how they see the world and what this one has come to. Boring stuff.
Little Faces – This must be the answer to In the Quake Zone. The male population has disappeared leaving only the women in lesbian relationships travel the space in their ships.
Softly Spoke the Gabbleduck – An action packed story with a big alien thrown in for fun. Enjoyable enough.
Softly Spoke the Gabbleduck – An action packed story with a big alien thrown in for fun. Enjoyable enough.
Angel of Light – Interesting perspective of what value and signification things can have for various people.
Burn – The life of a firefighter injured in the line of duty and who is part of a community formed around a religious sect.
As a whole the collection is well done and I’m definitely going to buy the next volumes.
* * * * *
Written for “Scrie ca sa primesti…o carte”
Written for “Scrie ca sa primesti…o carte”
Friday, August 15, 2008
Book Review: Ken Grimwood - Replay (1987)
Published by http://www.nemira.ro/
It’s hard to imagine that a fun comedy like Groundhog Day could be inspired by such a dry tedious novel. I had picked the book because of the movie having had a good experience with Minority Report, but then again that’s Philip K. Dick we’re talking about. Must remember to flip through the book and not read just the back cover next time I do it.
The story is about a middle age radio journalist who dies of a heart attack in the 80’s only to wake up in full youth in the 60’s with all his memories intact. A chance to a new life? Make that several. The same heart attack ends them all, but while the world is the same in general, the immediate surrounding is never the same. He gets to change his life by his actions, living several possible variants and becoming wiser after each experience and at the end of the day lonelier too. ‘Cause at the end of each life he loses everyone he loved and made his life worth living.
This predicament makes him look for other people like him and he eventually finds a woman who goes through similar life cycles. It seems like a good idea to team up together and they even become a couple. Unfortunately their replays show the clear tendency to become shorter with them continuously waking up in later stages in life. In lack of synchronicity they have to wait for each other to wake up too losing precious time they could have spent together. The only constant they have in their multiple lives is their love.
Sometimes though a lifetime of love is not enough. Through ads put in the papers they kept looking for other people with similar experiences but their searches are in vain. No one can tell them what is going on, why, and when or if ever this is going to end. The stress levels are high and desperation is settling in.
A clear sign for that is their decision to go public and face the media hysteria. The government is even worse. They end up being locked up and forced to answer questions about the future to no end. Depression and alienation tear them apart. It’s time for another life.
And this goes on again and again until the day when beginning and end meet in an everlasting heart attack. This could be the rest of his life right until the end. But the purgatory is over and the heart attack stops. Somewhere in Scandinavia another man starts repeating his nightmare. You’re free to make of this what you wish, your guess is as good as mine.
* * * * *
Written for “Scrie ca sa primesti…o carte”
It’s hard to imagine that a fun comedy like Groundhog Day could be inspired by such a dry tedious novel. I had picked the book because of the movie having had a good experience with Minority Report, but then again that’s Philip K. Dick we’re talking about. Must remember to flip through the book and not read just the back cover next time I do it.
The story is about a middle age radio journalist who dies of a heart attack in the 80’s only to wake up in full youth in the 60’s with all his memories intact. A chance to a new life? Make that several. The same heart attack ends them all, but while the world is the same in general, the immediate surrounding is never the same. He gets to change his life by his actions, living several possible variants and becoming wiser after each experience and at the end of the day lonelier too. ‘Cause at the end of each life he loses everyone he loved and made his life worth living.
This predicament makes him look for other people like him and he eventually finds a woman who goes through similar life cycles. It seems like a good idea to team up together and they even become a couple. Unfortunately their replays show the clear tendency to become shorter with them continuously waking up in later stages in life. In lack of synchronicity they have to wait for each other to wake up too losing precious time they could have spent together. The only constant they have in their multiple lives is their love.
Sometimes though a lifetime of love is not enough. Through ads put in the papers they kept looking for other people with similar experiences but their searches are in vain. No one can tell them what is going on, why, and when or if ever this is going to end. The stress levels are high and desperation is settling in.
A clear sign for that is their decision to go public and face the media hysteria. The government is even worse. They end up being locked up and forced to answer questions about the future to no end. Depression and alienation tear them apart. It’s time for another life.
And this goes on again and again until the day when beginning and end meet in an everlasting heart attack. This could be the rest of his life right until the end. But the purgatory is over and the heart attack stops. Somewhere in Scandinavia another man starts repeating his nightmare. You’re free to make of this what you wish, your guess is as good as mine.
* * * * *
Written for “Scrie ca sa primesti…o carte”
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Book Review: Joe Haldeman - Camouflaj (2004)
Published by http://www.nemira.ro/I’ll start by saying that the Nebula Awards aren’t what they used to be since you can’t buy a book only based on that recommendation, and Nemira taught us that in a painful (for the wallet) and disappointing way.
The story is set in the near future starting with the discovery of an egg-shaped artifact at the bottom of the ocean. Several scenes are taking place in laboratory and scientific testing environment in the attempt to understand the past and purpose of the artifact. The scientist characters are believable and interesting written considering the fact that they are mere humans.
But the egg is not the only alien presence on earth. There are two more roaming freely around the earth for centuries, millenniums even, without being aware of each other’s existence, or the humans knowing about them at all. Both shapeshifters to some extent, they’ve outlived thousands of generations paying more or less attention to the human race during their own evolution as separate species.
Aware of their uniqueness on the planet they’re eventually drawn to each other, in their attempt to answer the same fundamental question, what is their purpose in the world. Given the different mentality and lonely upbringing they’re not what we would we call nice people, they can be cruel and murderous without giving it much thought, being one worse than the other. Though while one of them pays more attention to humans trying to understand their feelings and eventually becomes capable of love, the other one is more predatory-like. They go through the entire animal reign eventually ending up impersonating people, which facilitates their approach to the scientist circle in order to get to the egg.
I guess it’s not hard to guess what the egg really is. And the ending is not a total surprise. But this is not the main problem with the book. I have no problem with the writing style, that’s quite fine as far as I’m concerned, the plot is what bothered me. Or, more exactly the missing parts.
The three interlinking storylines are not confusing, but it is a bit annoying when it switches from one to the other, and even more so when it gets to the less important/interesting one. While the story covers their life on Earth with long back story episodes, there is no explanation of who they are, how they got there or anything else about them. We’re mere observers, we don’t know more than they do and we’re left none the wiser at the end with no idea regarding what is going to happen to them. It is as if once they reached the needed stage of development they moved on and kissed this world goodbye. I’m sorry but this won’t do for me…
* * * * *
Written for “Scrie ca sa primesti…o carte”
Written for “Scrie ca sa primesti…o carte”
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Book Review: Philip K. Dick – Time Out of Joint (1959)
Published by http://www.nemira.ro/Any Philip K. Dick book should be great, right? An honor and a delectation to read. Well, this one starts rather slow. It takes a good dozen of pages or more to stop and wonder what is going on, is there anything going on, and where is this all going? This should be a good point to stop, go back to the front cover and realize that the book was actually written in 1959 when everything moved to a much slower pace and we didn’t get shootings from the first page or even the prologue.
Still, the monotony of the life in the suburbs is maddening, just like it’s alienating our hero, Ragle Gumm. He is a middle age man, a former military, who passes his time solving newspaper games and guessing where the little green man will be the next day. He’s become sort of a national hero after having come up with valid solutions day after day for years in a row. It’s become his job, keeping him at the desk for six hours a day while working on the solution as he lives with his sister and her family, having no time and will for a real life.
Until he starts noticing little things, things that are out of the ordinary like disappearing stands, pieces of paper with words written on them, people or events that might or might not exist in his world. With too much time on his hands paranoia sets in. He shares his observations with his friend and together they start on a journey that is literally going to change their life. It’s here that the real adventure, and the book too, begins. Once you get to this part it’s almost impossible to put it down.
Things aren’t as simple as they seem once we realize that the civilization is ahead with about 40 years, a present in which the inhabitants of Earth are at war with the Moon colonists. In this setting, our hero is the only human being capable of predicting the exact location of the colonists’ attack. In order to keep the stress to a minimum an entire city has been built, a quiet place with reminders from the hero’s childhood, filled with dummies and actors with their memory wiped off just like his is, people he’d known in real life and whose role is to maintain a balance in this illusory world.
With a new conscience and perspective over the situation, Ragle Gumm is given the chance to change sides during his escape from the city. What happens next, read and find out. The ending is predictable, but satisfying from a narrative and imagistic point of view.
* * * * *
Written for “Scrie ca sa primesti…o carte”
Written for “Scrie ca sa primesti…o carte”
2008 Summer Olympics Games
Fencing - Women's Individual Epee
1. GER Britta Heidemann 15
2. ROU Ana Maria Branza 11
3. HUN Ildiko Dr Mincza-Nebald 15
Gymnastics - Women's Team
1. CHN Fei Cheng Kexin He Yuyuan Jiang Shanshan Li Yilin Yang Linlin Deng
46.350 49.625 47.125 45.800 188.900
2. USA Shawn Johnson Nastia Liukin Chellsie Memmel Samantha Peszek Alicia Sacramone Bridget Sloan
46.875 47.975 47.250 44.425 186.525
3. ROU Steliana Nistor Sandra Izbasa Andreea Acatrinei Andreea Grigore Gabriela Dragoi Anamaria Tamirjan
45.275 45.000 46.175 45.075 181.525
Judo Women's Extra Lightweight (Under 48 kg)
1. ROU Alina Alexandra Dumitru
Fencing Men's Individual Sabre
3. ROU Mihai Covaliu
1. GER Britta Heidemann 15
2. ROU Ana Maria Branza 11
3. HUN Ildiko Dr Mincza-Nebald 15
Gymnastics - Women's Team
1. CHN Fei Cheng Kexin He Yuyuan Jiang Shanshan Li Yilin Yang Linlin Deng
46.350 49.625 47.125 45.800 188.900
2. USA Shawn Johnson Nastia Liukin Chellsie Memmel Samantha Peszek Alicia Sacramone Bridget Sloan
46.875 47.975 47.250 44.425 186.525
3. ROU Steliana Nistor Sandra Izbasa Andreea Acatrinei Andreea Grigore Gabriela Dragoi Anamaria Tamirjan
45.275 45.000 46.175 45.075 181.525
Judo Women's Extra Lightweight (Under 48 kg)
1. ROU Alina Alexandra Dumitru
Fencing Men's Individual Sabre
3. ROU Mihai Covaliu
Movie Review: Mamma Mia!
*** MIGTH CONTAIN SPOILERS! ***
Featuring: Amanda Seyfried, Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan, Stellan Skarsgård, Colin Firth, Julie Walters, Christine Baranski
Genre: musical, comedy
Plot: Young girl invites three possible fathers to her wedding.
Official website: http://www.mammamiamovie.com/
Comments: As much of a musical fan that I am I was only vaguely aware of Mamma Mia’s existence and I had no idea what to expect. I can’t say I was disappointed. It’s cheesy, but it’s also lots of fun and you can’t go wrong with ABBA’s songs. Low points were the fact that Amanda Seyfried was supposed to be 20 and she looks like 16, and the discovery that Pierce Brosnan can’t sing but we’ll forgive him because he has great chemistry with Meryl Streep. I already knew that Colin Firth has a pleasant voice from The Importance of Being Called Earnest, and I was impressed with Christine Baranski’s voice. Julie Walters stole the show in each scene she was in.
Rating: 8/10
Featuring: Amanda Seyfried, Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan, Stellan Skarsgård, Colin Firth, Julie Walters, Christine Baranski
Genre: musical, comedy
Plot: Young girl invites three possible fathers to her wedding.
Official website: http://www.mammamiamovie.com/
Comments: As much of a musical fan that I am I was only vaguely aware of Mamma Mia’s existence and I had no idea what to expect. I can’t say I was disappointed. It’s cheesy, but it’s also lots of fun and you can’t go wrong with ABBA’s songs. Low points were the fact that Amanda Seyfried was supposed to be 20 and she looks like 16, and the discovery that Pierce Brosnan can’t sing but we’ll forgive him because he has great chemistry with Meryl Streep. I already knew that Colin Firth has a pleasant voice from The Importance of Being Called Earnest, and I was impressed with Christine Baranski’s voice. Julie Walters stole the show in each scene she was in.
Rating: 8/10
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Movie Review: The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor
*** MIGTH CONTAIN SPOILERS! ***
Featuring: Brendan Fraser, Jet Li, Maria Bello, John Hannah, Michelle Yeoh, Luke Ford, Isabella Leong
Genre: action, adventure
Plot: Yet another tomb, yet another mummy.
Official website: http://www.themummy.com/
Comments: I burst out laughing when I read on IMDB a post about this movie deserving an Oscar. Sure, there were about two cool CGI scenes, but other than that Brendan Fraser looked like he didn’t know what he was supposed to do in that movie, Maria Bello was totally miscast, Luke Ford gave a wooden performance, and even John Hannah seemed to have lost some of his appeal in such company. And really, Jet Li and Michelle Yeoh couldn’t save the movie by themselves. And don’t even get me started on the plot! Oh, and then there were the Yettis… I loved them… maybe they’ll get an Oscar!
Rating: 5/10
Featuring: Brendan Fraser, Jet Li, Maria Bello, John Hannah, Michelle Yeoh, Luke Ford, Isabella Leong
Genre: action, adventure
Plot: Yet another tomb, yet another mummy.
Official website: http://www.themummy.com/
Comments: I burst out laughing when I read on IMDB a post about this movie deserving an Oscar. Sure, there were about two cool CGI scenes, but other than that Brendan Fraser looked like he didn’t know what he was supposed to do in that movie, Maria Bello was totally miscast, Luke Ford gave a wooden performance, and even John Hannah seemed to have lost some of his appeal in such company. And really, Jet Li and Michelle Yeoh couldn’t save the movie by themselves. And don’t even get me started on the plot! Oh, and then there were the Yettis… I loved them… maybe they’ll get an Oscar!
Rating: 5/10
Saturday, August 9, 2008
Movie Review: The Dark Knight
*** MIGTH CONTAIN SPOILERS! ***
Featuring: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, Michael Caine, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman
Genre: action, drama
Plot: Batman’s fight with The Joker
Official website: http://thedarkknight.warnerbros.com/
Comments: Hmm, I must say I was expecting something more. Given all the expectations and buzz it caused it was a bit of a let down. First, it was too long and dragging in spite of all the cuts from one scene to the next. Then, this movie was more about anything else rather than Batman who kinda got lost in the scenery. Good conficts, but way too many and neither fully developped. Good solid performance from all the actors though The Joker’s part is not Oscar material as rumored. Bruce cracked less jokes than he used to, but was the script’s fault and not Christian Bale’s who tried his best with what he had. Rachel’s character simply does not work with the movie. The only good part about killing her is that they’ll have to bring in another female leading character worthy of Batman for the next sequel. I mean there is no actual romance involved with either Bruce or Harvey, and when she and Bruce kiss you're left absolutely cold. Aaron Eckhart plays perfectly his character, the Two Face part is less convincing than the Harvey Dent part. Gary Oldman, Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman didn’t disappoint. Surprisingly, Eric Roberts wasn’t too bad. The Batpod was fun but I prefer Bruce Wayne’s apartment. The score deserves an Oscar, the visuals too. Still, I'll take Batman Begins any day.
Rating: 8/10
Featuring: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, Michael Caine, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman
Genre: action, drama
Plot: Batman’s fight with The Joker
Official website: http://thedarkknight.warnerbros.com/
Comments: Hmm, I must say I was expecting something more. Given all the expectations and buzz it caused it was a bit of a let down. First, it was too long and dragging in spite of all the cuts from one scene to the next. Then, this movie was more about anything else rather than Batman who kinda got lost in the scenery. Good conficts, but way too many and neither fully developped. Good solid performance from all the actors though The Joker’s part is not Oscar material as rumored. Bruce cracked less jokes than he used to, but was the script’s fault and not Christian Bale’s who tried his best with what he had. Rachel’s character simply does not work with the movie. The only good part about killing her is that they’ll have to bring in another female leading character worthy of Batman for the next sequel. I mean there is no actual romance involved with either Bruce or Harvey, and when she and Bruce kiss you're left absolutely cold. Aaron Eckhart plays perfectly his character, the Two Face part is less convincing than the Harvey Dent part. Gary Oldman, Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman didn’t disappoint. Surprisingly, Eric Roberts wasn’t too bad. The Batpod was fun but I prefer Bruce Wayne’s apartment. The score deserves an Oscar, the visuals too. Still, I'll take Batman Begins any day.
Rating: 8/10
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