:: Privatjokr ::

Richard: I just feel like everyone tries to do something different, but you always wind up doing the same damn thing.

In 1929 J.M. Barrie gave the copyright in Peter Pan to the Special Trustees of Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital. Marking that work's centenary, the hospital authorized the creation of a sequel to Peter Pan. The result of the worldwide search for its author?

MAGIC.

Journey back to Neverland in the first-ever authorized sequel to J.M. Barrie's masterpiece, Peter Pan.

Set in the 1930s, when the devastating effects of World War I are still resonating throughout the world, Peter Pan in Scarlet sends readers soaring into a landscape of magic and adventure, on an unforgettable journey fraught with danger. All is not well. Nightmares are leaking out of Neverland as if chafes against the Here and Now, wearing holes in the fabric in between. Somehow Time is moving on where Time was never meant to. Fearing for Peter Pan's life, Wendy and the Lost Boys go back to Neverland -- with the help of the fairy Fireflyer -- only to discover adventure waiting in ambush and their worst nightmares coming true!

How Peter Pan -- the boy who never grows up -- and his friends restore Neverland to rights is the heart of this brilliant story told in a style that captures the elusive spirit of J.M. Barrie's classic. Illustrated by Scott M. Fischer, Peter Pan in Scarlet is a literary treasure that will leave no heart untouched.

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1. Star Wars Trilogy

2. Indiana Jones Trilogy

3. Blade Runner

4. Apocalypse Now

5. Presumed Innocent

(Honorable Mention: The Fugitive)

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Go backstage with A Prairie Home Companion, and experience the laughter and joy of down-home America's favorite radio show. Acclaimed director Robert Altman (Gosford Park, The Player) leads an all-star cast in this magical, fictional account of the legendary show's final radio broadcast. As cast and crew assemble one last time to sing, tell stories and reminisce, the result is an unforgettable homage to a beloved American treasure.

The things I had heard about A Prairie Home Companion were positive ones. No one seemed to gush over the movie and no one called it an "absolute must-see." All of the thoughts I heard or read seemed to portray A Prairie Home Companion as a GOOD movie. And that is what it was. A Prairie Home Companion is a hearty, meat and potatoes, stick-to-your-ribs kind of good movie. The movie may be overflowing with highlights personal to you, but from a broader perspective I would only list one highlight. It wasn't "that kind of movie." Rather than a story about a radio show airing its last broadcast, it was a heartwarming story about a band of radio personalities giving their final performance. The focus was the people.

The movie was a look into their lives. They tell stories, some for the first time, with others they've lost count. They laugh. They cry. They are a family. And while the stories may not be familiar to us, the faces sure are.

The cast includes Woody Harrelson, Tommy Lee Jones, Garrison Keillor, Kevin Kline, Lindsay Lohan, Virginia Madsen, John C. Reilly, Maya Rudolph, Meryl Streep, Lily Tomlin, Marylouise Burke and L.Q. Jones. Surely you've heard one or two of those names! So many names, some bigger than others. It was nice to see so many people be a part of a movie like this when many of the roles were limited. Try to argue all you want that there aren't big names in that list, but I will fight you there.

Oh, and before I forget: that highlight I mentioned earlier. Kevin Kline. If you are a fan of Mr. Kline, I probably won't need to elaborate. If you have seen the movie, then you may even agree. This guy is magic. I loved the part he played as Guy Noir, the short-of-work 1930s private eye stuck manning security for the theater. As he spoke, whether it be conversationally or in narration to the movie, he did so in an overly dramatic style characterized decades ago by men and women in film. In the DVD extras, director Robert Altman talks admiringly about Kline. He says that the camera has to be on Kline's body rather than zoom in because he plays his parts with his entire body. Think about that after watching one of his movies if you don't believe it. The man is talented, and his performance was the highlight for me.

I liked A Prairie Home Companion. It was fun to hear some of the ridiculous jingles that the performers had to sing. It was a pleasure to be let into the lives of the characters facing the end of the careers they loved so deeply. And it was a riot to hear some of the jokes. A Prairie Home Companion may never see an award from the Academy, but please do not limit your movie watching based upon that metric.

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If you don't know or care, you'll be all right. I heard it's modern to be stupid. You don't need to talk to look good.

Danny Deckchair

An average guy uses gags and pranks to liven up his blue-collar life and accidentally ends up taking off in a deck chair strapped to giant helium-filled balloons while his friends watch helplessly from below. He starts a whole new life in a far-off town where he crash lands...until his old life catches up to him.

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Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs

Running with Scissors is the true story of a boy whose mother (a poet with delusions of Anne Sexton) gave him away to be raised by her unorthodox psychiatrist who bore a striking resemblance to Santa Claus. So at the age of twelve, Burroughs finds himself amidst Victorian squalor living with the doctor's bizarre family, and befriending a pedophile who resided in the backyard shed. The story of an outlaw childhood where rules were unheard of, and the Christmas tree stayed up all year-round, where Valium was consumed like candy, and if things god dull, an electroshock-therapy machine could provide entertainment. The funny, harrowing, and bestselling account of an ordinary boy's survival under the most extraordinary circumstances.

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Maggie Gyllenhaal (World Trade Center), Tony Shalhoub (Monk), Edie Falco (The Sopranos) and Stephen Colbert (The Colbert Report) deliver brilliant performances in this intoxicating, intelligent comedy. In this character driven masterpiece several New Yorkers -- an oddball office shrink, a cluelessly competitive pastry chef, and a flirtatious security guard -- reveal their eccentric private stories. It's a deliciously bittersweet comic triumph from director Danny Leiner (Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle).

How does that Meat Loaf song go? Two out of Three Ain't Bad? I guess that means one out of three is bad. This movie was neither Great, nor Wonderful. And as soon as it is no longer considered "new," it will be zero out of three.

I wanted to enjoy the movie. For most of the movie I enjoyed the characters and felt for them in certain scenarios. Something was just missing. Well, I figure two things were missing: cohesion and closure.

I can appreciate the idea of many smaller stories combined to form one bigger super-movie. Maybe I am just used to seeing it more when the stories have some common element. These stories never intertwined and nothing, except the emotional roller coaster of life in The Big Apple was the same for any of the characters.

There were emotional highs and lows. Hopes were exalted and dashed. And all the while...nothing really happened. There was no story; we simply follow a few people on their day-to-day routines and see the happiness and pain they experience at whatever intervals they experience them.

And then the movie ends. That's it.

Well to be fair they showed one more scene that only serves to compound the abundance of loose ends and detract from any feeling of compassion. I won't spoil the final scene, but it was not the most "pro-family" scene I have ever watched.

The movie does have a decent list of names associated with it. Probably my favorite of the bunch is Jim Gaffigan. He may not be the funniest comedian, but I have enjoyed seeing him in what I can when I can. He and Tony Shalhoub bantered well together as doctor and patient. Their story was a little forced, but the two had good chemistry.

Maggie Gyllenhaal is finally beginning to grow on me. Or then again it might just be the part she played was much more...wholesome than roles she has had in the past (e.g. Happy Endings)

It certainly would take much more than additional witty banter from Jim Gaffigan and wholesomeness from Maggie Gyllenhaal to even make The Great New Wonderful into A Movie Worth Seeing. I do not recommend you see this movie. I will even go one step further to recommend you avoid it altogether.

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Outwork - Elektro ft. Mr Gee

Even though the video leaves much to be desired, I like this song a lot. I guess you could always watch this version instead; it may hold your interest better. I happened upon the song using my most-likely-not-to-be-renewed free subscription to a satelite radio service. While I only dabble in the electronic genres, I am surely a sucker for a fun dance song. And no, that doesn't mean I will dance for you. I think the proper remix would have a room full of party-goers bouncing off each other excitedly. This is a fun track you may enjoy if you like to turn the volume up and let the music pulse through your body.

1. The Muppet Christmas Carol

2. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

3. Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (original animated version)

4. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

5. A Christmas Story

(Honorable Mention: Home Alone)

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Sometimes bouts of nostolgia happen under the most random circumstances. Many times they are triggered by something you have seen or heard or a feeling that comes over you. Other times, the explanation may not be so simple. I cannot explain what caused my latest jaunt down memory lane, but what a strong feeling it was.

It was with an incredible fondness that I remembered my favorite childhood toy. It wasn't my big wheel. It wasn't my basketball cards. Sure, Nintendo was great, but it wasn't that either. It had been years since I had last thought about My Pet Monster.

Maybe this is the root from which a long series of family jokes stem. Maybe my family gets a hoot from teasing me about quantity of friends because I grew up relating better to a fanged ball of blue fuzz than I did to most other people.

I think they're just jealous of me and My Pet Monster.

(Pictured is a newer, updated version of My Pet Monster. They made it significantly easier on the eyes. I opted for this picture to save face a little bit. You would definitely wonder about me if you saw what it REALLY used to look like...)

Sometimes the hardest thing and the right thing are the same.

Hellogoodbye - Here (In Your Arms)

We may have found another track to add to the cd we wanted to build around Beating Heart Baby. Alas, I think I am sufficiently over the desire I once had to put "BHB" on a cd, so my timing could have been better. Regardless, Hellogoodbye gives us a fun song about a girl. Unlike many songs about girls, "Here" is complete with strange electronic music and a video set at a summer camp that featured a bully who lords over the camp because of his prowess with Pogs (you expected something else, maybe?). Anyway, the song is simple...in a good way. I dig it. Check it out.

An underground classic since its first publication in 1996, Fight Club is now recognized as one of the most original and provocative novels published in [that] decade. Chuck Palahniuk's darkly funny first novel tells the story of a god-forsaken young man who discovers that his rage at living in a world filled with failure and lies cannot be pacified by an empty consumer culture. Relief for him and his disenfranchised peers comes in the form of secret after-hours boxing matches held in the basements of bars. Fight Club is the brainchild of Tyler Durden, who thinks he has found a way for himself and his friends to live beyond their confining and stultifying lives. But in Tyler's world there are no rules, no limits, no brakes.

I like to read things that come from Chuck Palahniuk's mind. The result could be good (Diary) or bad (Invisible Monsters); sometimes you never know. What you do know is that the story will likely be something you could never come up with on your own. That is not to say that they are mystery novels and the suspense is imaginative. Though Palahniuk's suspense is certainly imaginative, his stories follow no mold I have seen before.

Chuck Palahniuk is probably just what you would expect him to be like, should you have an opportunity to see him. I saw him give a speech a few years ago, and he was just as I expected. He said that when he writes books he tends to pick one music album to listen to while he writes. One album. For Fight Club, he said he listened to The Downward Spiral by Nine Inch Nails. Again, probably just as you would have expected. Neat guy. Wonderful speaker. Incredibly interesting writer.

I have seen the movie adaptation for Fight Club. I love the movie and am always impressed with the parts played by Brad Pitt and Ed Norton, Jr. I was not hesitant, but rather curious to read the book. Normally I figure a person will prefer whichever version they experience first. I wasn't reading the book in hopes that it would be better than the movie since as they say, "the book is always better." I wanted to see this story on paper through Palahniuk's eyes and with his words rather than a Hollywood adaptation of both.

I found exactly what I had hoped for. The foundation was the same as the movie, but the writing was a little rougher around the edges. It was rough because it was not written to appeal to a broader audience like the movie script was, and it was rough because it was his first book. Like many authors, Palahniuk's writing has become...smoother, for lack of a better term, with each book he has written. Please do not interpret that as a complaint with the book or a negative comment, it is only an observation. If anything, it made the book better as it was more fitting with the feel of the story.

I have seen the movie. Any potential, big plot-twist at the end of the story, if one existed....would not have been a surprise reading the book. I did not care. I wasn't reading the book for the story to be new again. I was only interested in seeing the story a different way, which I was able to do. Fight Club isn't the best book I have ever read, nor is it one of my favorites, but I am glad I took the time to read it. And I recommend it. You have no excuses, it's short.

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Clerks II

From the Main Menu, highlight and select "Special Features." The Special Features menu has two pages. If you highlight and select "more" you will be taken to the second page. Randal (Jeff Anderson) appears on the right side of the screen. Highlight the top option (Play introduction to film by Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier) and move the cursor to the right. A thought bubble of what appears to be a hamburger will show up by Randal's head. Pressing enter/select will take you to a video where writer/director Kevin Smith talks about "The Askewniverse Bible."

Mark Wahlberg, Tyrese Gibson, André Benjamin and Garrett Hedlund co-star in this gripping tale of brotherly love, betrayal, and revenge from acclaimed filmmaker John Singleton.

After their adoptive mother is gunned down during a grocery store holdup, the estranged brothers reunite to seek revenge and take matters into their own hands. Defying police orders, the four begin turning their old Detroit neighborhood upside down searching for the mastermind behind the brutal killing. Along the way, they discover they are bound by ties thicker than blood in this emotionally powerful, action-packed drama.

I had expected only to like this movie. I had seen the trailer and commercials and from them the movie looked decent. I had not expected to run out and buy a copy after seeing it so I could watch it time and time again; I did not expect to love it, only to be entertained. And I was entertained, at parts...but only a few of them.

The self-help street justice that the brothers turn to in their effort to avenge their adopted mother's killer was over-the-top unbelievable. The "saintly" woman who took these lost-cause boys into her home apparently did not do nearly as good of a job raising them as everyone gave her credit for. She took these boys when no one else wanted them. She gave them a home when no one else would. In her and each other, they had family. But then they grew up, went their separate ways and never got off the streets. Only one of the four appears to have his head on straight.

Marky Mark was good in his role, but the role just wasn't impressive. None of the roles were. The writing and the action were hijacked out of some 80s movie that is only aired on the basic channels Saturday afternoons when the networks have nothing else to show. I would have thought the film industry had evolved beyond movies like this.

I am usually a supporter of violence in movies. In most action movies it can paint a picture. In Four Brothers it was senseless and unnecessary as it just leads you back to the idea that what the brothers got away with was completely ridiculous.

The ending. Oh my, the ending. "There is a plot twist coming, I can feel it... Wait, was that it? Was that the big finish? Huh. I guess it was." I just narrated your thought process as you watch the end of Four Brothers.

I think the plot was too big for the movie and there was no way the makers could have achieved what they wanted. I cannot imagine a scenario when this would be a movie worth watching. Feel free to pass on Four Brothers.

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The Poet by Michael Connelly

Michael Connelly has written one explosive thriller after another featuring Detective Harry Bosch. Now, in an electrifying departure, he presents a novel that breaks all the rules and will keep your heart racing and your mind guessing until the very last page.

Death is reporter Jack McEvoy's beat: his calling, his obsession. But this time, death brings McEvoy the story he never wanted to write -- and the mystery he desperately needs to solve. A serial killer of unprecedented savagery and cunning is at large. His targets: homicide cops, each haunted by a murder case he couldn't crack. The killer's calling card: a quotation from the works of Edgar Allan Poe. His latest victim is McEvoy's own brother. And his last... may be McEvoy himself.

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Tommy: Look at 'em there, pretty maids all in a row. I want the one on the left; she's perfect. Which one d'you want? Huh, huh, huh?... Alright. Paul: Does it make a difference? Tommy: Oh yeah. Wait a second. Is this your first time? Paul: Yeah Tommy, it is. Tommy: God, you're gonna remember this the rest of your life. Can't believe you've never been cow tipping before. Get ready to live. She's sleepin'. What you do is, you put your shoulder into her and you push. Paul: And? Tommy: They fall over... Paul: And this doesn't strike you as kinda dumb? Tommy: We're family, we're gonna be doing lots of dumb stuff together. Wait 'til Christmas.

The Muppet Christmas Carol

Charles Dickens's classic holiday story sparkles with humor and whimsy in the hands of the always hilarious Muppets! Michael Caine stars as the penny-pinching Ebenezer Scrooge in a performance that's anything but "bah humbug!" Alone on Christmas Eve, Scrooge is visited by ghosts who transport him to his past, present and future -- and it's not a pretty sight! but along the way he comes upon poor, kind, humble Bob Cratchit (Kermit the Frog) and his family, including Tiny Tim who teaches Scrooge the true meaning of Christmas. Complete with original music and dazzling effects, this heartfelt holiday movie is exceptional entertainment your family will enjoy for every Christmas to come.

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Academy Award winner Jamie Foxx and Jake Gyllenhaal star in this critically acclaimed, brilliantly unconventional war story from Oscar-winning director Sam Mendes.

Jarhead (the self-imposed moniker of the Marines) follows Swoff (Gyllenhaal) from a sobering stint in boot camp to active duty, where he sports a sniper rifle through Middle East deserts that provide no cover from the heat or Iraqi soldiers. Swoff and his fellow Marines sustain themselves with sardonic humanity and wicked comedy on blazing desert fields in a country they don't understand against an enemy they can't see for a cause they don't fully grasp.

One quick note before I go on about how much I enjoyed Jarhead. It is described as this ground-breaking film for being set during a war in a hostile zone, but not being ABOUT the war. I think it is unfair that Jarhead is credited as being the first movie to focus on the mental anguish endured by soldiers when other movies have done the same thing. To name a few, see Full Metal Jacket, Apocalypse Now and The Deer Hunter.

And now that I have gotten that out of my system, Jarhead exceeded my expectations. I really enjoyed the performances by Peter Sarsgaard and Jake Gyllenhaal. Even Jamie Foxx deserves credit for the work he did in Jarhead.

I do not normally like Jake Gyllenhaal. It is not that I dislike him at all, in most of his roles I have simply found him unremarkable. He brought a passion to Jarhead that he has not had the ability to display in previous movies. He has come a long way since Bubble Boy.

I like Peter Sarsgaard. I have liked him in pervious parts and I appreciate the complexity he brought to the character in Jarhead.

Not too long ago I could be heard requesting the end of Jamie Foxx's 15 minutes of fame. More often than not he plays a relatively transparent character and he does little, if anything, to bring the parts to life. (Granted, I have not seen Ray, so I am speaking only of his other work.) If he continues to bring the maturity to future characters that he brought to Jarhead, I will gladly eat my words.

I liked the way Jarhead, in a subtle fashion, portrayed different types of Marines. The movie primarily featured the enlisted son of a proud veteran, the cowboy Marine who can't wait to kill anything and everything, the man with the haunted past trying to lose himself in the Marines, and the firm-but-fair, almost fatherly, commanding officer. There were many other men and women who fought and participated bravely in the war, but these characters were the focus of the movie.

I liked two main themes/symbols from the movie. I found it very interesting the way the movie suggests that soldiers are coached on how to address the press when expressing their opinions on the war. I also enjoyed the contrast in one of the final scenes as the veteran Marine joins the young men on the bus. This scene was brilliant in its awkwardness.

(I was a little disappointed by how similar boot camp experience with the drill sergeant was to the beginning of Full Metal Jacket, but it may not bother you at all.)

I approached Jarhead very objectively and found myself very pleased with the movie. I had no expectations, lofty or otherwise. I was able to enjoy the movie for what it was. The language and some subject matter may make the movie prohibitive to a younger audience, but I believe Jarhead is an important movie for the respect and appreciation of our armed forces.

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1. Lost Horizon

2. Casablanca

3. Clerks

4. Raging Bull

5. M

(Honorable Mention: Seven Samurai)

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Mac: But our shenanigans are cheeky and fun! Thorny: Yeah, and his shenanigans are cruel and tragic. Foster: Which... makes them not really shenanigans at all. Mac: Evil shenanigans!

01.	Camp Lo	-	Luchini
02.	Master P	-	Ooohhhwee
03.	Mr. Cheeks	-	Lights, Camera, Action
04.	Philly's Most Wanted	-	Cross the Border
05.	Cam'Ron	-	Hey Ma
06.	Trick Daddy	-	I'm a Thug
07.	Ali ft Murphy Lee	-	Boughetto
08.	Benzino	-	Rock the Party
09.	B Rich	-	Whoa Now
10.	Shyne	-	Bonnie & Shyne
11.	Ruff Ryders	-	Down Bottom
12.	504 Boyz	-	I Can Tell
13.	Nas	-	You Know My Style
14.	N.O.R.E.	-	Nothin'
15.	Ghostface Killah	-	Cherchez LaGhost
16.	Silk	-	Freak Me
17.	Trina	-	Pull Over
18.	Big Tymers	-	Still Fly
19.	Alkaline Trio	-	My Friend Peter

In 2005 John Legend won 3 Grammy Awards. He won for Best New Artist, Best Male R&B Vocal Performance on his song "Ordinary People" and Best R&B Album for Get Lifted. Both of Legend's albums have been released under Kanye West's G.O.O.D. Music label. Get Lifted was a great album, but I think Once Again is better.

01. Save Room As the music starts, don't be startled. You are still sitting on your couch, or driving your car. You have not been physically transported to inside an elevator, it is just the song and it will pass. But before you know it you'll want to be sure you have someone in your life into whose eyes you may gaze while you sing along.

02. Heaven There is comfort in John Legend's voice and it comes through in this song. I am not a huge fan of the hollow, tin sounding female support singing "Heaven only knows," but it works well enough.

03. Stereo My guess is that you will be hard-pressed to find a song where you can feel the singer's passion like you can in this song. Listening to this song and this album you, too, will fall in love with your stereo.

04. Show Me While pleading for someone to show him that they love him, Legend shows us how comfortable he is in his upper vocal range.

05. Each Day Gets Better This is the track you will want to take not of on this album. This should be the new relationship anthem. Guys, if you don't get a copy of the album, at least get this song. If your girl has out grown the legend Barry White, try this Legend's "Each Day Gets Better."

06. P.D.A. (We Just Don't Care) This is really the first track on the album where we see the rusty sound in Legend's voice that delighted so many in the Grammy winning "Ordinary People," though it is in short supply. It comes out more later in the album. Gents, this is another track with which to woo your special lady friend.

07. Slow Dance Smooth. Let's drop everything so our arms are free for each other. It's a great message and a great song.

08. Again This song slows the album; it changes the pace and the tone. The first song with conflict in the lyrics is just another way for John Legend to show his versatility on the album.

09. Maxine The jazzier sound here could make this a song you would hear in a more up-scale bar/club/restaurant. It's a good song with a slower tempo.

10. Where Did My Baby Go This is probably my favorite song on the album. It is not the most up-beat subject matter, but it is one of the higher-energy songs. Probably the highest compliment I could pay John Legend is saying that this song is reminiscent of Sam Cooke. It also brings back that rusty, off-key singing that Legend does so well. I love this song.

11. Maxine's Interlude I am not sure why this was added to the album, except for dramatic feel to this story-told-in-an-album. At under 2 minutes, it is not too obtrusive, but I still usually skip this track when I listen to the album.

12. Another Again This is a good song. It is a shame that is on this album because it is overshadowed by so many of the other songs. And maybe if you haven't heard "Prototype," from OutKast's Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, you won't mind how similar the music is.

13. Coming Home This is a beautiful song with which to end this story. There is more emotion here than in most of the other tracks, which makes sense as the album/story comes to its grand conclusion.

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Far, far away, jutting out into the emptiness beyond, lies the Edge. Filled with strange peoples and terrifying creatures, this is a world unlike any other, where action -- and danger -- await at every turn. Abandoned at birth in the dangerous Deepwoods, young Twig has been brought up by a family of woodtrolls. He has always thought he was one of them, until, one cold night, he finds out he's not. Soon he sets off to find out who he really is, and he does the unthinkable -- he strays from the path.

So begins the heart-stopping adventure that will take Twig through a nightmarish world of goblins and trogs, bloodthirsty beasts and flesh-eating trees. Only two things keep Twig going: the hopes of discovering his true identity and finding his destiny.

I have often seen The Edge Chronicles at the top of "What to read between Harry Potter books" lists. I love the Harry Potter series and with its inevitable demise, I too have found myself looking for alternatives. After only one book, I would probably suggest the Edge Chronicles for a younger reading-audience than the Harry Potter series, but that is not to say that I, as a 25 year old (child), could not have fun with them. Again, with only one book done, I am already looking forward to the second book.

For the first installment of the series, poor Twig (the main character) has a very rough go at it. He is basically pushed out of the proverbial nest and finds himself in a situation where he must find his own way. Beyond the Deepwoods follows Twig as he continuously finds himself face-to-face with danger. At every turn he encounters creatures, many animal...some vegetable, that try to do him great harm. Twig spends more time in trouble than he does getting out of it. From my "adult" perspective, I would have liked to see a little more development in the escape, but I cannot imagine that it would be an issue for a younger reader.

The story is wildly imaginative and fun to read. A huge bonus to these books is the artwork by Chris Riddell. He is a wonderfully talented artist and his beautiful drawings bring the story to life. What I liked most was how the text was wrapped around the pictures. The pictures are not separate from the text; they are just as important as the words and the two are presented together.

If Beyond the Deepwoods is representative of the series, the books are short and simple, quick reads. And if you are sucker for a gimmick like I am, these books all come in a fun, hard-cover binding that will look great on my bookshelf as I add them to my collection.

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Hate me so you can finally see what's good for you.

Jigsaw is back. The brilliant, disturbed mastermind returns for another round of horrifying life-or-death games. When a new murder victim is discovered with all the signs of Jigsaw's hand, Detective Eric Matthews begins a full investigation and apprehends Jigsaw with little effort. But for Jigsaw, getting caught is just another part of his plan. Eight more of his victims are already fighting for their lives and now it's time for Matthews to join the game...

Aside from the unimportant innacuracy in the synopsis provided with the DVD (Matthews did not actually begin a full investigation, he merely tagged along on the raid), I have no gripes with Saw II.

I will try to avoid being too impressed with the death and torture devices used in the movie for fear of sounding too morbid (especially since I can be so squeemish). What I will shoot for, instead, is showing my admiration with how well they were used within the script. And while I am on the subject, I thought Saw II was very well written.

Neither the acting, nor the dialogue was the focus of the movie. Our attention is directed at the "game." We needn't focus on feelings of "Hey that guy was in Showgirls" or "Hey that kid reminds me way too much of Malcolm in the Middle." We are free to enjoy the plot without reservation. What will happen next? What is around that corner? What is on the other side of that door? How will it all end?!

Saw II was not the horror film that Saw was. The sequel would be better described as a (relatively) gory suspense movie. Nothing from part 2 made me apprehensive about my own daily routine as part 1 was able to do. And that is a sign of a good scary movie: one from which you are changed, for even a moment. Even if it is a few days later and you are getting into your car at night and you have a sudden panic that just maybe there is someone laying down, hidden in your back seat, THAT was a good scary movie. Saw I had that, Saw II did not. I did not love either movie. I liked them both, just for different reasons.

You don't HAVE to see Saw first to enjoy Saw II, though I recommend it. And if you like what you read above, I recommend you see them both.

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Thomas Harris has given us only a few books, though each is worth reading. He is the author who brought us Hannibal Lecter. Hannibal Rising, to be released on December 5, 2006, will be the fourth book about Dr. Lecter and appears to be a prequel to Red Dragon, Silence of the Lambs and Hannibal.

HE IS ONE OF THE MOST HAUNTING CHARACTERS IN ALL OF LITERATURE.

AT LAST THE EVOLUTION OF HIS EVIL IS REVEALED.

Hannibal Lecter emerges from the nightmare of the Eastern Front, a boy in the snow, mute, with a chain around his neck.

He seems utterly alone, but he has brought his demons with him.

Hannibal's uncle, a noted painter, finds him in a Soviet orphanage and brings him to France, where Hannibal will live with his uncle and his uncle's beautiful and exotic wife, Lady Murasaki.

Lady Murasaki helps Hannibal to heal. With her help he flourishes, becoming the youngest