Tom's WEB Blog

Richard Matheson's "I AM LEGEND" is my all time favorite book. If your not familiar with it, the book takes place between 1976 and 1979. The novel opens with the monotony and horror of the daily life of the protagonist, Robert Neville. Neville is apparently the only survivor of an apocalypse caused by a pandemic of a bacterium, the symptoms of which are very similar to vampirism. Every day he makes repairs to his house, boarding up windows, stringing and hanging garlic, disposing of vampires' corpses on his lawn and going out to gather any additional supplies needed for hunting and killing more vampires.
Neville's psychological disposition is a significant element in the novel, and his struggles with despair imbue the character with intensity and gravitas. The author emphasizes that he is an ordinary, flawed man trying to deal with an extraordinary catastrophe. It also explores the loneliness of being by himself, excitement and hope of finding others, and disappointment over still finding himself alone. During the evenings, Neville drinks whiskey and listens to records. The records referenced by name are sometimes puns on what's happening and sometimes they simply reflect Neville's mood. Much of the story is devoted to Neville's struggles to understand the plague that has infected everyone around him, and the novel details the progress of his discoveries. Instead of asking the reader to accept a supernatural explanation for vampire phenomena, the author strives to offer scientific basis for such symptoms as aversion to garlic, craving of fresh blood, and resistance to bullets but vulnerability to stakes and sunlight. The aversion to mirrors and crosses is classified as psychological. Neville hypothesizes that he is immune to the bacteria because he was bitten by a vampire bat when he was stationed in Panama. One day, a dog appears in the neighborhood. Neville spends weeks trying to win its trust and domesticate it. He eventually traps the terrified dog and wins it over, but it dies from the vampire infection. This is the point I cry every time I read it! As the story progresses, it is revealed that some infected people have discovered a means to hold the disease at bay. However, the "still living" people appear no different than the true vampire during the day while both are immobilized in sleep. Thus, along with the vampires, Neville kills the still living people. He becomes a source of terror to the still living, since he can go around in daylight (which they can only do for a short length of time) and kill them while they sleep. The still living send a girl named Ruth to spy on Neville, and they cleverly replicate Neville's relationship to the dog. Ruth pretends to be terrified of Neville at first sight, and rather than spend weeks trying to win her over, he attacks her and drags her back to his house. Though Neville is suspicious of her true nature and much of their interaction focuses on Neville's internal struggle between his deep seated paranoia and his hope, it is clear by his seizure of Ruth that the scales have tipped in favor of the irrational. Eventually Neville performs a blood test on her, revealing her true nature to him before she knocks him out. Ruth leaves a note telling him about the group of people like her, explaining that she was sent to spy and how monstrous he appears to them. Months later, the still living people attack, shooting Neville but taking him alive so that he can be executed in front of everyone in the new society. Before he can be executed, Ruth provides him with a means of suicide. Neville chooses to take his own life because he finally realizes why the new vampire society regards him as a monster. Just as vampires were regarded as legendary monsters that preyed on the vulnerable humans in their beds, Neville has become the last of a dead breed: a mythical figure that kills both vampires and the infected living while they are sleeping. He becomes a legend as the vampires once were, hence the title. Fansatic book! This blows away anything Steven King has done. He also wrote a number of episodes for the original TV series The Twilight Zone and a bunch of movie screen plays. Some of his other books, including a western series are very good reads as well. But "Legend" is the one that I can read over and over. This book has so far been adapted to film four times. The more prominent of the two 2007 adaptations, now set for release on December 14, 2007, features Will Smith as Robert Neville and looks to be the first good adaption. There are quite a few changes to the story, but it still looks great! I look forward to seeing it opening day.

Daniel Craig might make a good Bond after all! Check out the trailer...

http://www.filmwad.com/out.phtml?u=http%3A%2F%2Fmovies.aol.com%2Fcasino-royale-james-bond%2Fexclusive-video-features

If a movie featuring vampires and werewolves fighting with guns, claws, swords and teeth doesn't sound like engaging fun to you, stop reading… you aren't going to like Underworld Evolution. For those of you who are into this, then this is the film for you! A worthy sequel to its predecessor and one of my favorite films, "Underworld", and a slightly better film on several levels if you've seen the first flick. Where the original spent a good deal of time setting up the plot for the battle between vampires and Lycans (werewolves), this one lets the movie simply play out. There are cool flashbacks, giving the audience a first-hand glimpse at the proceedings. Kate Beckinsale reprises her role, a vampire named Selene, from the first film. She is known as a "Death Dealer". A armed killer charged with the task of ridding the world of Lycans. At the end of Underworld, she learns of a betrayal by the members of her vampire coven that changed her path, and this film explores the repercussions of that. The biggest of these is her relationship with Michael (Scott Speedman), a hybrid vampire/Lycan who she rescued in the first film. Since vampires and Lycans have literally been at each others' throats throughout history, their affair does not go down well on either side, and in the beginning of this film, which picks up right after the events of the original following a flash back scene that sets up the film, Selene and Michael are on the run. At the same time, the blood that made its way to Marcus (played by Tony Curran), the last remaining vampire Elder, has resurected him, and he is out to exact revenge on everyone who has wronged him. In fact, bloodletting is one of the true joys of the film. For fans of the genre, there are some slick kills. Jaws are dismantled, heads disintegrated, and scores of folks are shot up in the tech-heavy war. It all looks a lot better than in the first outing; the effects have been upgraded considerably. The werewolves transformation sequences and their movements, especially, are better than "Underworld". The whole movie seems to have gotten an upgrade. Director Len Wiseman (Kate Beckinsale's husband) is very comfortable mixing genres, and the result is something that feels a lot like a combination of the Blade trilogy mixed with The Matrix trilogy, but "Evolution" gets more creative, carving out its own style in the action sequences. The cast does a fantastic job. Kate Beckinsale is great in her role again, and Bill Nighy, in his appearance as the vampire Viktor, steals the show with his gloriously evil line delivery. The supporting cast is round out well with Shakespearean acting great Derek Jacobi as Alexander Corvinus (the first imortal and father of both Lycan and Vampire), and Steven Mackintosh as Tanis (the exciled historian of the vampires). In the end, Evolution follows all sequel rules, more action, more villains, and better effects, and manages to be as good as the original by keeping the action coming. Overall this is a solid genre picture with killer action and a satisfying story. I look forward to the third movie to complete the trilogy sometime in 2007. I give it 4 out of 5 stars.

The movie industry is running out of new ideas, so that keep remaking old films and TV shows into new big budget flicks! The latest film to get the remake treatment is the classic "Poseidon Adventure". Cast looks good, hope they don't screw it up. check out the trailer, requires Apple Quick Time to play.

http://www.apple.com/trailers/wb/poseidon/

Steven Speilberg has directed some of my favorite movies. When you hear his name associated with a film you figure it's going to be great. This film however is not one of those flicks! The film starts out with a 10 min warm up to introduce the characters then takes off for an hour of non-stop action that has you thinking this film is going to be great. It has great acting and effects and you find yourself really getting into it. Then, with the introduction of Tim Robbins character it all falls apart. After enduring 20 min of that you have pretty much given up on the film and the ending fails to redeem. I really wanted to like this film. Tom Cruise does fine in the leading role and the rest of the supporting cast minus Robbins are fine. This movie is nothing like the original and is very loosely based on the novel by HG Wells. I'm sorry to say, I don't expect this to be the block buster of the summer that was expected. I'm sure it will do great over opening weekend, but word of mouth will prevent it from exploding like previous films. On a scale of 4 stars I give it 2 stars. :( For another opinion, Gregohry Weinkauf's review pretty much sums it up http://www.ubercine.com/WaroftheWorlds-GW.html Guess we have to wait for the next "Raiders" movie now. I'm sure with George's help Steven will get back on track. :)

Here we go with the next 10...

21. "Blade Runner" - Ridley Scot's Directors cut is the only way to watch this.

22. "The Terminator II" - James Cameron out did himself with this one.

23. "Alien" - Ridley Scot made SciFi what it is today. Sigourney Weaver is the best female action lead ever!

24. "Casablanca" - 1942, Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman. Just fantastic. Bogart was the Harrison Ford of the day.

25. "The Terminator" - James Cameron's cult classic. "I'll be back"

26. "The African Queen" - 1951 by John Huston. Another Bogart masterpiece with great chemistry between him and Katharine Hepburn.

27. "Pulp Fiction" - Quentin Tarantino's best film to date. Great come back film for John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson at his finest.

28. "Finding Nemo" - First Animated film to make the list. Ellen DeGeneres steals the movie with her character Dory. Pixar's best film.

29. "Good Fellas" - Martin Scorsese at his best. Best Mob movie period. Beats out "The Godfather" trilogy.

30. "Apocalypse Now" - Francis Ford Coppola went thru hell to make this Vietnam saga. I prefer it in the original cut, not the "redux". Based on Joseph Conrad's "Heart Of Darkness", a fantastic novel if you haven't read it. Martin Sheen leads the cast, but Robert Duvall has a great part. And yes, that's a very young Laurence Fishburne. Also has Marlon Brando, Dennis Hopper and Harrison Ford in bit parts. You either love or hate this film, there is no in between.

More coming...

“Batman Begins” is the long awaited return of the Batman franchise. When last we saw Batman, he was sporting stretch Lycra and showing off his nipples :) with George Clooney spectacularly miscast as the caped crusader. This darker prequel, featuring Christian Bale, explores how Bruce Wayne became Batman. Returning for its inspiration to some of the earliest stories of the comic books, to show us how Bruce Wayne came to create his alter-ego. After his parents are killed, young Wayne attributes their deaths to his inability to deal with his own fear of bats. When he is old enough, and has realized that revenge will not be the tool that helps him cope, he disappears from Gotham for seven years on a journey to discover a way to fight injustice by turning his own fears against those who prey on the fearful. When he reemerges it is with two faces, the billionaire playboy Bruce Wayne and the Dark Night Batman. The Gotham he returns to is overrun by corruption, and to save it Wayne must destroy mafia crime boss Carmine Falcone, “The Scarecrow”, and a force from his own past he thought dead, looking to destroy the city of Gotham.
The Batman movies have gone to hell since they left the hands of Tim Burton for Joel Schumacher. It’s not that Schumacher is a bad director, but under his watch the series lost the scope of what makes Batman what it is. That explains why it’s been eight years since the last Batman movie was made. Under the direction of Christopher Nolan, Batman gets back on track. Known mainly for the films “Memento” and ‘Insomnia”, Nolan is able to transfer some of the same darkness of those films to Batman. While the most recent Batman films have seemed too comic bookish or childish, Batman Begins is mature and dark. “The Scarecrow” is a scary character compared to “The Riddler,” or Mr. Freeze, and Nolan delves into Wayne’s fears in a way that none of the other movies have. The audience is offered a peek into the construction of Batman’s underworld, from the erection of the Bat Cave, to the acquisition of the bat suit and “Batmobile” (never actually called that in the movie). Christian Bale brings the good looks of a James Bond character to the role of Bruce Wayne. He would actually be a great choice to play Bond in the future. Bale looks great as Bruce Wayne. Compared with George Clooney’s flashiness as Wayne, Bale’s performance presents the clouded, tortured nature of the Dark Knight. Bale is surrounded by an equally talented supporting cast. Michael Caine plays Alfred, the Wayne family butler (replacing Michael Gough of the previous four movies), and Liam Neeson plays Henri Ducard, representing "the League of Shadows". Tom Wilkinson does a surprisingly good job as a mafia crime boss and Cillian Murphy plays an incredibly creepy Dr. Jonathan Crane, aka “The Scarecrow” to perfection. Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox, a super smart inventor who furnishes many of the technological materials for Bruce Wayne's transformation is great, but in a limited role, and Gary Oldman is cast well against type as the only honest cop in Gotham City, Sgt. James Gordan. Katie Holmes plays Rachel Dawes, an assistant district attorney in an unnessasary “love interest” role. It was also great to see Rutger Hauer as Richard Earle, the corporate snake trying to steal Wayne Industries, who you’ll love to hate by the end. Bale proves to be the best Bruce Wayne of the series. While Michael Keaton certainly did a great job, the new Bruce offers moments of light-hearted sarcasm, coupled with moments of fear and internal doubt, taking on a raspy, menacing voice as the Caped Crusader that makes for the perfect fit.
In the end, the film is left open for a sequel. With the Character of Gordon firming a partnership with Batman and the Jokers calling card showing up. It’s refreshing to know the audience will again begin to take this franchise seriously and that it’s in good hands. I give the film 4 and ½ stars out of 5. :)