by Jason Joyner | Jun 29, 2007 | Blog, movies, reviews
I’m a big superhero fan. I’ve always daydreamed of doing something extraordinary to help people. So I have been a long time fan of comics and superheroes. I had the Super Powers series as a kid. Basically I’m a sucker for the resurgence of superhero movies over the last several years.
I will admit to liking the first Fantastic Four movie. It wasn’t high art, but a fun enough popcorn flick. I think the fun was seeing them discover how to use their powers and to work together as a team. Some comic movies aim for dark and brooding. Some carry a powerful theme, like the Spiderman movies. Others are meant like FF, just fun summer fare.
Unfortunately, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, can’t seem to find a groove and stick with it. It tries to be light at times. It tries to show the importance of relationships and the value of self-sacrifice. It tries to entertain. It fails on all counts.
I like Ioan Gruffudd and Jessica Alba as actors, but they really don’t have chemistry and don’t show much interest in this movie. Alba in particular shows up to look pretty, but the acting is mailed in. The actors playing the Thing and Johnny Storm don’t take things as serious and they are the main parts worth watching through the film. Because the film tries to focus on the wedding of Reed Richards and Sue Storm, it falls flat.
The Silver Surfer as the titular bad guy is amazing from a CGI aspect. Doug Jones does a great job with the movements of the Surfer, but the voice of Lawrence Fishburne only goes for gravitas without much else going for it. The action is fairly limited, and the payoff at the end of the movie with the arrival of Galactus is wasted, as we don’t really see the main baddie who threatens the Earth.
Doctor Doom wasn’t very popular in the last movie, but I thought he worked well until he started throwing one-liners. His return this time is pretty much limited to the one-liners, so he becomes a big disappointment in my opinion.
Overall, FF: Rise of the Silver Surfer will make an okay rental movie sometime this winter on a cold fall day (if there’s no football on, that is), but isn’t worthwhile as a summer movie experience.
by Jason Joyner | Jun 19, 2007 | Blog, CSFF, fantasy, fiction, reviews
The Christian Sci-Fi and Fantasy blog tour is highlighting The Restorer by Sharon Hinck this month. You can see yesterday’s post for an introduction of the book, as well as the links for my fellow tourmates. I promised that I would post my review today.
Becky commented yesterday that a slight trend was developing that the guys of the CSFF tour may be less enamoured by this book. Certainly Sharon has some good endorsements from true-blue guys like Robin Parrish, T.L. Hines, and Randy Ingermanson.
Unfortunately, my opinion is that this may be more of a ladies read.
As I said yesterday, and the author freely admits, it is hard to categorize this book. This can create problems, because people like their comfortable descriptions (“You like reading Lori Wick? Try Deeanne Gist.”) Like I posted recently, what would you think if Ted Dekker wrote a prairie romance (depends if it is written in true Dekker style, I suppose)?
I applaud Sharon’s creativity to do something new. Inherent in this are the risks that something may not work across the board.
The premise is intriguing: a discouraged soccer mom gets pulled into an alternate realm and finds her calling to help the people. The book is written in the classic “lit” style (mom-lit, chick-lit), which fits with Sharon’s two previous books. The mom-lit style tends to be a little light-hearted, which undermines the seriousness of the situation in the alternate realm in danger of being overwhelmed by enemies.
A couple of reviewers have noted that the main character spends a lot of time whining about her situation both in the real world and in her new locale. Some of this is to be expected in such a situation, but it does get grating after a while.
I’ve seen a lot of praise for her world-building, but honestly I felt quite disjointed by it all. It is a bit of “science fantasy”, where there are some things that are futuristic like the transports mentioned, but other aspects of life are standard fantasy (swords and such). I wasn’t able to picture the world very well-it seemed the description of different areas was either sparse or not very memorable. However, the preferred drink in the alternate world, clavo? I could almost taste it, as much as it is mentioned!
To be fair, there are some nice twists in the story. The major twist I didn’t see coming, and was pleasantly surprised by that development. In the middle of the story the heroine has an epiphany of a spiritual experience, and I thought it was very touching and well-written. That is one point where I really felt drawn into the whole experience of the book, and it was very enjoyable.
But overall, it was more of a chore to read this book for the review. I think the idea was clever and had a lot of potential, but in my opinion it falls apart in the voice and world-building aspects and never really gets me to a point of investing in the book or characters. This is just my opinion-many of the reviewers this time site what I’ve just said as strengths of the book. So tomorrow I’ll pull together a few of the reviews from the tour to give y’all a fair picture of The Restorer.
by Jason Joyner | Jun 19, 2007 | Blog, CSFF, fantasy, fiction, reviews
The Christian Sci-Fi and Fantasy blog tour is highlighting The Restorer by Sharon Hinck this month. You can see yesterday’s post for an introduction of the book, as well as the links for my fellow tourmates. I promised that I would post my review today.
Becky commented yesterday that a slight trend was developing that the guys of the CSFF tour may be less enamoured by this book. Certainly Sharon has some good endorsements from true-blue guys like Robin Parrish, T.L. Hines, and Randy Ingermanson.
Unfortunately, my opinion is that this may be more of a ladies read.
As I said yesterday, and the author freely admits, it is hard to categorize this book. This can create problems, because people like their comfortable descriptions (“You like reading Lori Wick? Try Deeanne Gist.”) Like I posted recently, what would you think if Ted Dekker wrote a prairie romance (depends if it is written in true Dekker style, I suppose)?
I applaud Sharon’s creativity to do something new. Inherent in this are the risks that something may not work across the board.
The premise is intriguing: a discouraged soccer mom gets pulled into an alternate realm and finds her calling to help the people. The book is written in the classic “lit” style (mom-lit, chick-lit), which fits with Sharon’s two previous books. The mom-lit style tends to be a little light-hearted, which undermines the seriousness of the situation in the alternate realm in danger of being overwhelmed by enemies.
A couple of reviewers have noted that the main character spends a lot of time whining about her situation both in the real world and in her new locale. Some of this is to be expected in such a situation, but it does get grating after a while.
I’ve seen a lot of praise for her world-building, but honestly I felt quite disjointed by it all. It is a bit of “science fantasy”, where there are some things that are futuristic like the transports mentioned, but other aspects of life are standard fantasy (swords and such). I wasn’t able to picture the world very well-it seemed the description of different areas was either sparse or not very memorable. However, the preferred drink in the alternate world, clavo? I could almost taste it, as much as it is mentioned!
To be fair, there are some nice twists in the story. The major twist I didn’t see coming, and was pleasantly surprised by that development. In the middle of the story the heroine has an epiphany of a spiritual experience, and I thought it was very touching and well-written. That is one point where I really felt drawn into the whole experience of the book, and it was very enjoyable.
But overall, it was more of a chore to read this book for the review. I think the idea was clever and had a lot of potential, but in my opinion it falls apart in the voice and world-building aspects and never really gets me to a point of investing in the book or characters. This is just my opinion-many of the reviewers this time site what I’ve just said as strengths of the book. So tomorrow I’ll pull together a few of the reviews from the tour to give y’all a fair picture of The Restorer.
by Jason Joyner | May 28, 2007 | Blog, CFBA, fiction, reviews
Okay, I missed my review post when I said – holiday weekends with family can kind of clobber the best blogging plans. But don’t take my tardiness for disinterest, for if you like a laugh at all, you don’t want to miss Snitch.
This is the second of the Occupational Hazards series, following the kids from a homeschooled family who leave the family clown business when their parents died in a tragic hot-tubbing accident. This book focuses on Mackenzie “Mack” Hazard, a police officer from Las Vegas who had an appearance in the first book, Scoop.
She is chosen for a special undercover task force involving stolen vehicles, though this decision is questioned by the aging head of the task force, Ron Yeager.
His task is to train this rag-tag bunch of officers into a unit able to bring down this crime ring. He may have lots of experience, but nothing prepared him for Jesse, his hotshot maverick; Dozer, the loveable narcoleptic; Wiz, who likes to visit the bathroom; Mack, who wears her faith like “an ever-present badge”; and the mysterious Kyle. The stakes get higher as the team must learn to trust one another to even survive.
This sounds like your typical crime/suspense novel. It is, but then again it is anything but. Gutteridge is perhaps the funniest author currently writing Christian novels. The story moves along and draws you in, but it is the zany cast of characters and the zig-zag journey the author takes you on that makes this book sparkle. I have an hour bus commute to work one-way, and I had to stifle many laughs so I wouldn’t draw the stares of my fellow passengers. The book was a great read – my only complaint is that I was drawn in so much that I am already finished! I’m not ready for it to be over. Gutteridge has an original voice and talent with keeping you guessing that you don’t feel like you’re reading – you feel like you’re along for the ride of a real-life sitcom.
Basically, Rene is one of my favorite authors now, and her books are worthwhile for great humor and stellar writing. Be sure to check out both books from the series!
by Jason Joyner | May 28, 2007 | Blog, CFBA, fiction, reviews
Okay, I missed my review post when I said – holiday weekends with family can kind of clobber the best blogging plans. But don’t take my tardiness for disinterest, for if you like a laugh at all, you don’t want to miss Snitch.
This is the second of the Occupational Hazards series, following the kids from a homeschooled family who leave the family clown business when their parents died in a tragic hot-tubbing accident. This book focuses on Mackenzie “Mack” Hazard, a police officer from Las Vegas who had an appearance in the first book, Scoop.
She is chosen for a special undercover task force involving stolen vehicles, though this decision is questioned by the aging head of the task force, Ron Yeager.
His task is to train this rag-tag bunch of officers into a unit able to bring down this crime ring. He may have lots of experience, but nothing prepared him for Jesse, his hotshot maverick; Dozer, the loveable narcoleptic; Wiz, who likes to visit the bathroom; Mack, who wears her faith like “an ever-present badge”; and the mysterious Kyle. The stakes get higher as the team must learn to trust one another to even survive.
This sounds like your typical crime/suspense novel. It is, but then again it is anything but. Gutteridge is perhaps the funniest author currently writing Christian novels. The story moves along and draws you in, but it is the zany cast of characters and the zig-zag journey the author takes you on that makes this book sparkle. I have an hour bus commute to work one-way, and I had to stifle many laughs so I wouldn’t draw the stares of my fellow passengers. The book was a great read – my only complaint is that I was drawn in so much that I am already finished! I’m not ready for it to be over. Gutteridge has an original voice and talent with keeping you guessing that you don’t feel like you’re reading – you feel like you’re along for the ride of a real-life sitcom.
Basically, Rene is one of my favorite authors now, and her books are worthwhile for great humor and stellar writing. Be sure to check out both books from the series!
by Jason Joyner | Dec 16, 2006 | Blog, fiction, reviews
Most of the books I review are through the two blogging groups I belong to. I keep busy enough with those books, but I do venture out to the library for other stories. One I read this fall that I enjoyed very much was Hood, by Stephen Lawhead.
He seems to be a streaky writer. He’ll have a very strong story followed by one that loses my interest quickly. I was very interested in his new King Raven trilogy, but would it catch my attention and hold it?
Thankfully, yes.
Hood is a re-imaging of the Robin Hood legend. And not of the Kevin Costner variety. I am sure there are many aficianados on this subject out there who might begin to argue with Lawhead’s premise, but I think he will quickly short-circuit any criticism. He sets the story in Wales instead of England, during the time when the French (Ffreinc) control England and are encroaching into Welsh territory. As a point of interest, he gives an appendix that discusses his research and choice of scenery.
Bran ap Brychan is a spoiled lout of a prince when his harsh father is cut down by the troops of a Norman count. As a fugitive he is almost killed, but is saved by a withered old woman whose mysteries both repulse and intrigue the young lord. As he is nursed to health, he catches a vision of what he could become.
Meanwhile, political intrigue is stirring in the land, which may include a young woman named Merian. Will Rhi Bran follow his destiny and free his lands and people from their cruel masters? How will he overcome the invading forces of the Ffreinc?
The book will appeal to fans of historical fiction, action tales, and fantasy alike. Lawhead has a gift for tales of British folklore, and Hood is the perfect subject for him to tackle. He catches your attention quickly with tragedy and discovery. You will come across familiar faces set in new ways – and in this prepare to be enchanted! He does a fun turn with some of the famous Robin Hood supporting cast.
The turning of Bran’s character is thoughtful and inspiring. The wickedness he is up against is a good foil – you’re ready to root against the enemy. But you don’t always know who the enemy is either. The book does slow a little in the middle, but it does not disappoint. The ending leaves you hanging and anxious for book 2 (Scarlet) due next year.
