Reviews: A DVD, a Movie, and a Book

As stated in my last post, last weekend I saw two movies (rented and theater) and finished a book I was reading. So I like to keep my fans out there informed of my opinion on these things and advise them on whether things are worth doing or not. So, I'll start in the order listed in the title.

Monster House: I rented this because my brother said it was pretty good, and I like cartoons. I had some reservations about it. I had not read anything that said it had much word humor or adult humor (some not slap stick stuff that only adults get). But I rented it and watched it, and it is frickin' funny. I definitely laughed out loud numerous times. Particularly funny is watching the two boy characters act like idiots around the girl character...ah, young boy akwardness. Not as funny as the Toy Story or Shrek movies, but still worth renting. My grade: B +

The Prestige: If you want a purely entertaining, don't think, just enjoy movie, do NOT see this one. If you want a thinking movie that will stick with you for awhile, then this is your cup of tea. It is a decent movie, a little confusing at first (it jumps around chronologically), but you catch on pretty quick. It gives several twists without falling into the trap of too many twists. I figured one twist out, one over time (ie shortly before it was revealed), and the ending twist I never saw coming. But after thinking about it, there were hints, but it just never crossed my mind (in the same way that the Sixth Sense surprises you, but does give some hints...not as cool as the Sixth Sense twist though). The movie has a good point/moral, but is tough to enjoy because the characters are not overly likeable. Recommendation: Worth renting, NOT theater prices (unless at cheapies or $5 club). My grade: B -

And the Book:

Inklings of God by Kurt Bruner: Rarely do I buy and read spiritual books without some sort of recommendation from a trusted source (ie my dad or other minister I trust), but this one I did. Primarily because Barnes and Nobles had a buy 2 get 1 free sale. After picking 2 fiction books and no others that tempted me, I selected this one. The dust jacket sounded decent enough. After reading the introduction and finding out the author was raised Baptist I was worried. No offense, but Baptist theology is NOT for me. However, the book turned out to be really pretty good. In it, Bruner related his experiences and how they brought him to 3 main themes and many "inklings" to the character of God and life. I was pleased and was not annoyed at his logic. It was very non-preachy. It reminded me a little of Philip Yancey's style (present experiences, but let the reader make up their own mind). Recommendation: Not a bad library book or if you find it cheap its ok.

Ok, hope you enjoyed and might make use of this information. If not, that's cool too.