..read the book. (Running with Scissors review).

"The book was much better." These were the words of my gf on Sunday night. How many times will I hear that? Not necessarily from her, but from anyone that reads books. I can actually say that 3 times: Congo, Rising Sun and The Da Vinci Code. But, unless they start adapting some Kurt Vonnegut books, I may never say those words again.

I am forced to think that this phenomenon only exists because of the energy put towards reading the book. Has anyone ever tried reading a book AFTER watching the movie first? If you have, I'd like to know your thoughts. I thought the book, The Da Vinci Code, was the greatest thing ever--and then I thought the movie, The Da Vinci Code, was the worst thing ever. But whats weird, is that I know some people that like the movie, but never read the book.

Whatever, despite my feelings on those 3 books, I'll take the 2 hour movie over the book any day.

Anyways, Running With Scissors. Based on a book by Augusten Burroughs. This movie was a little out there. Its a movie about a disfuncitonal family that intertwines with another disfunctional family.

The good: It has some funny moments, but not laugh out loud funny. The fact that EVERYONE in this movie is literally crazy makes you wonder what will happen almost every scene.

The bad: The story doesn't really go anywhere. Just seems like a mass of crazy nothingness. I don't know if the book tied it together well, but the movie did not. Lots of plot holes. None of the characters really hold my attention.

I'm sad to say that I don't have much else to say about this movie. Don't watch it.

Rating: 4 out of 10

...recognize the dude that played the bad guy in Tombstone. (Frailty review)

Another lost bet...another movie watched that I probably never would've watched otherwise. At first I said "no," since I don't like scary movies and end up crying like a little girl--but he assured me that it wasn't really scary, just more of a thriller. We have a rule (Shmovies and I) that whenever we make one of these "movie wagers", the movie has to be at least a 7 rating or higher. I will give him the benefit of the doubt since I don't like thrillers that much.

Starring Bill Paxton, Matthew Macohnekahhehankshgayahay, and Wiley Bill from Tombstone, Powers Boothe.

The good: It was surprising to say the least. The story was pretty interesting: "God" asks a man to kill demons in the world. The man teaches his young children to kill these demons as well. Police search for this serial killer.

Seemed like the typical serial killer movie at first, but as the movie progressed, there were a lot of elements of the movie that stirred some intrigue.

SEMI-SPOILER: There are a couple twists at the end--my gf was able to call it before it happened. I didn't.

The bad: Yet another "Bill P." that I dislike. Although he directed this film fairly well, Bill Pullman's character in the movie is just not very believable. He made me want to punch him in the face every time he talked.

The way Wiley Bill's character acted throughout the movie seemed unbelievable. No one would ever blindly act the way he did.

Overall, it was a good experience. Lovers of the thriller movie would enjoy this.

Rating: 6.5 out of 10

...stop watching Heroes.

So I watched the season premiere of Heroes the Monday after the Superbowl...it was mediocre at best. I decided that I would give it a couple more weeks to draw me--bad idea. This week was possibly worse that the first. And how many times do we have to hear this story? Man hunts mutants. Sound familiar? I think this will again be a recurring theme in the Watchmen movie.

Anyways, the whole idea of gaining powers, losing powers, temporarily having powers is getting ridiculous. It leaves too much room for bad story telling, which, unfortunately is the problem with this show.

Do I give it one more week? How long does it take for one to decide that a show is bad. It took me SIX shows to decide that I didn't like the show Jekyll.

Halleluiah for 24! Still going strong.

...Documentary happy. (Man on Wire review)

I don't get it. I never WANT to watch a documentary...but, every time I start watching one, I always get involved and normally end up liking it. An Inconvenient Truth, Planet B-Boy, Sicko...all pretty good.

So I hear about this documentary on a podcast that I listen to, then it ends up being nominated for Best Documentary at the Oscars. And luckily, its on Netflix instant streaming (Netflix, are you reading this? Show me the money!)

Man on Wire is a true story of a French dude that decides that he wants to walk across the twin towers (r.i.p.) by way of a tight rope. It shows how he has done the same sort of thing at other famous buildings, like Notre Dame. This dude was crazy.

The Good: Its pretty amazing to see how confident this guy was. Whats funny is that he never gets permission to do any of these tight rope stunts on any of the famous buildings, so he always ends up getting arrested.

In a way, its like a caper movie because it shows how he plots his way to the top of the world trade center.

The Bad: A lot of the film is re-enactments. Since they had to sneak their way to the top, they didn't have any real documentation (mind you, this was in 1974). The only thing that there is documentation for is that he actually did walk on a tight rope across. How they actually get up there is just story telling.

Overall, I found this documentary to be entertaining enough. Not the best, but worth a watch. I'm surprised that I had never heard of this person before until this film came out. A man walking across the tallest buildings in the world seems like something I wouldve heard about. Maybe my brother heard about, since he's the only one that was alive back then...

Rating: 6 out of 10