"Even a man who is pure at heart . . ."

The Wolfman Anthony Hopkins

As I sat in my movie seat willfully ignoring the four other people, I imagined I had the whole theater to myself. I was looking forward to seeing a movie that was based on my Dad's favorite monster, the Wolfman. I had no idea what to expect and then The Wolfman started and once the howling and screaming began, this movie didn't let up until the end.
I loved the gothic setting with the beautiful gloomy and dreary atmosphere of the funeral that invoke feelings of past Hammer Horror greatness. The classic movie monsters will always be my favorite films of childhood. To get this out in the open, I hate remakes and the idea that Universal was going to bring The Wolfman back to life filled me with dread. Once again, Hollywood would be taking wonderful past memories and stomping the life out of them. Not in this case and I am glad I was wrong.
The original Wolfman had fine performances from Lon Chaney Jr. and Bela Lugosi. Curt Siodmak's screenplay brought the Wolfman to life. Siodmak injected a several good ideas into his screenplay such as silver bullets. Past Universal Horror movies was based on great literature as in the cases of Frankenstein and Dracula. I applaud Siodmak for tackling a film without a novel to work from.
Then came Hammer who rejected the classic movie monsters with British blood and a lot gore, which was extreme for that time.
Now Universal comes full circle and updates all the gore, violence, and suspense that made the original so much fun.
Rick Baker's makeup is just fantastic and I was glad that CGI didn't ruin the new Wolfman. The CGI that was used was fine and I didn't really realize it until I saw the bear which I forgave the filmmakers for because a real bear would have up the costs and some actor would have probably lost a much needed limp.
Danny Elfman's score is haunting and builds up suspenseful scenes almost to the point of discomfort. I love the scenes where Lawrence Talbot is sneaking around his father's house and you hear a little uneasy music and then silence. Silence in Horror movies is the worst time because it is a lot like being at the top of a rollarcoaster, its just going to stop your heart once you get over the hump. Then the silence is invaded by Elfman's intense score. Also, seeing The Wolfman in a theater with a good loud sound system helps out a lot too.
The real star of The Wolfman is Benicio Del Toro who does a great job portraying Lawrence Talbot. Equally good is Sir Anthony Hopkins as Talbot's father and the always lovely Emily Blunt as Lawrence's love interest, and Hugo Weaving as Detective Francis Aberline. Weaving is great as the detective driven to save the village from werewolves and all the resulting deaths that werewolves accomplish during a rage.
I don't think any fan who grew up on the classic movie monsters will have any problems seeing The Wolfman. This movie gives Horror films a much needed revamp with Horror is at an all time low. This is the way to take a classic movie and update it with modern tricks. Director Joe Johnston does a great job with the material.
I hope the Universal with revamp Frankentein, Dracula, The Creature from the Black Lagoon, and the Invisible Man in a similar vein.
Other Werewolves movies that have gave me countless, wonderful sleepless nights are The Wolfman (1941), Werewolf of London (1935), Curse of the Werewolf (1961), The Howling (1981), The Company of Wolves (1984), Wolfen (1981), Frankenstein meets the Wolfman (1943), An American Werewolf in London (1981), Silver Bullet (1985), and Ginger Snaps (2000). There was also an execellent short live series on TV called Werewolf that aired on Fox in the 80's. Also a nod to Marvel's Werewolf by Night. Stephen King gave us Cycle of the Werewolf (1985, see Silver Bullet for the film based on the book.) And last but not least Warren Zevon singing Werewolves of London.

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It's not about the plot

Conjugal Love Alberto Moravia

imho the entire plot, as well as the characters of Leda (the wife) and Antonio (the cuckolding barber), are nothing more than a framework that Moravia constructs on which to hang a portrait of a completely failed man. A man who, in existentialist terms (and it's completely an existentialist novel) has no authenticity, who merely exists but does not live his life. In this case, he examines his life (or better his behavior, not exactly the same thing since behavior is just the observable manifestation of what's going on inside a person) incessantly, 24/7. Instead of living he thinks about living, makes up stories -- excuses -- about his behavior, thinks incessantly about himself but uses all these thoughts and stories in order to avoid ever connecting with himself. Instead of being and living, he tells stories about what he does. In the end, faced with the crisis of his wife's betrayal, he cowardly retreats from any emotion, doesn't even talk about it with his wife (much less the barber), and just continues his inauthentic, empty, meaningless life.

A great novel, wonderfully written, can be read in one evening, and should be enough to scare any reader into abandoning whatever phony acts the reader may be using to fool himself and/or those around him, and instead dive into and thus create a real life for him/herself.

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Great read

The View Here Deborah Mckinlay

In England, Frances and Phillip have been married for two decades. They have no children of their own, but they raised his daughter Chloe, whose mother abandoned her. In her forties, Frances learns she suffers from a malignant tumor. Stunned Phillip leaves London where he worked on his latest marketing book to return to their rural home to help his beloved wife.

However Frances feels betrayed as she has found a romantic letter that ties her husband to his book editor Josee, the London-based editor of his books. Instead of confronting Phillip, Frances follows him to London where she sees him say goodbye to Josee. As she knows she is dying, she looks back to herself in 1976 as a twentyish woman in Mexico eking out a living by teaching English. There she met three wealthy selfish American couples (Patsy and Richard, Bee Bee and Ned, and Sally and Mason) who she initially cannot distinguish between the extender Severance family members. However, she and Mason have an affair; which she rationalized by blaming Sally until she realizes her lover was having sex with Patsy too. As her death looms, Frances relooks at her relationship with Phillip who she knows loved her though he betrayed her.

The View from Here is that this is an engaging insightful character study. The story line contrasts Frances as twenty-two years old who believed she could do anything and selfishly went after whatever or whoever she desires without a care for others; vs. the forty something dying Frances who is no long shallow as she has cared for others like Chloe and forgives her beloved Phillip for his indiscretions. The protagonist will have readers ponder whether the sums of a person's good deeds and bad deeds can be accrued like debits and credits on an accounting journal.

Harriet Klausner

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A welcomed Christmas Gift.

Invicta Womens Diver Collection Gold Tone

Reef McKenna, the prodigal brother, has returned home. However, his family's joy is short-lived. A young woman is murdered nearby and two witnesses place Reef at the scene of the crime, covered in the victim's blood. The Sheriff is up for re-election and wants nothing more than a swift proceeding. With all the evidence pointing to Reef, they immediately arrest him and place him on trial, in spite of his adamant claims of innocence.

Piper McKenna knows her brother. Despite his flaws, he could never kill anyone and she is determined to prove it, with or without Detective Landon Grainger's help. Her investigation uncovers a much bigger plot -- a dangerous motorcycle club and cover-up are just the beginning. Her search for answers places Piper in the crosshairs of a killer who has no qualms of murdering again if it means keeping the truth from surfacing.

Intrigue and danger lurk within the pages of Dani Pettrey's novel, Shattered, as readers return to Yancey, Alaska for another spellbinding adventure. The author creates some of the most enjoyable and engaging characters I've ever come across. I love Landon and Piper's relationship as they discover that they don't just care about each other like a brother and sister as they always believed. As the series progresses, I'm more and more drawn in by Jake, the mysterious stranger the McKenna family has taken in as one of their own. I hope we learn some of his secrets in future books. There's also Gage and his struggles to face his demons and come to terms with the loss of his son. These are just a few of the fascinating people we meet throughout the Alaskan Courage Series.

Pettrey builds a world that captures the reader with vivid and compelling descriptions. She has a way of making frigid, snowy Alaska sound cool (no pun intended!). I wanted to throw on my heaviest, winter coat and thick boots to jump right into the adventure. I'm now anxiously awaiting the next installment that, in my opinion, won't come fast enough. I strongly recommend this novel to romantic suspense fans. While Shattered can stand alone, you won't want to miss Submerged, the first book in the series.

Review copy provided by publisher. Thank you!

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Ready for Book Two!

The Lightness Dust Meronymy ebook

Reef McKenna, the prodigal brother, has returned home. However, his family's joy is short-lived. A young woman is murdered nearby and two witnesses place Reef at the scene of the crime, covered in the victim's blood. The Sheriff is up for re-election and wants nothing more than a swift proceeding. With all the evidence pointing to Reef, they immediately arrest him and place him on trial, in spite of his adamant claims of innocence.

Piper McKenna knows her brother. Despite his flaws, he could never kill anyone and she is determined to prove it, with or without Detective Landon Grainger's help. Her investigation uncovers a much bigger plot -- a dangerous motorcycle club and cover-up are just the beginning. Her search for answers places Piper in the crosshairs of a killer who has no qualms of murdering again if it means keeping the truth from surfacing.

Intrigue and danger lurk within the pages of Dani Pettrey's novel, Shattered, as readers return to Yancey, Alaska for another spellbinding adventure. The author creates some of the most enjoyable and engaging characters I've ever come across. I love Landon and Piper's relationship as they discover that they don't just care about each other like a brother and sister as they always believed. As the series progresses, I'm more and more drawn in by Jake, the mysterious stranger the McKenna family has taken in as one of their own. I hope we learn some of his secrets in future books. There's also Gage and his struggles to face his demons and come to terms with the loss of his son. These are just a few of the fascinating people we meet throughout the Alaskan Courage Series.

Pettrey builds a world that captures the reader with vivid and compelling descriptions. She has a way of making frigid, snowy Alaska sound cool (no pun intended!). I wanted to throw on my heaviest, winter coat and thick boots to jump right into the adventure. I'm now anxiously awaiting the next installment that, in my opinion, won't come fast enough. I strongly recommend this novel to romantic suspense fans. While Shattered can stand alone, you won't want to miss Submerged, the first book in the series.

Review copy provided by publisher. Thank you!

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Well Worth The Wait!!

Shattered Alaskan Courage Dani Pettrey

Reef McKenna, the prodigal brother, has returned home. However, his family's joy is short-lived. A young woman is murdered nearby and two witnesses place Reef at the scene of the crime, covered in the victim's blood. The Sheriff is up for re-election and wants nothing more than a swift proceeding. With all the evidence pointing to Reef, they immediately arrest him and place him on trial, in spite of his adamant claims of innocence.

Piper McKenna knows her brother. Despite his flaws, he could never kill anyone and she is determined to prove it, with or without Detective Landon Grainger's help. Her investigation uncovers a much bigger plot -- a dangerous motorcycle club and cover-up are just the beginning. Her search for answers places Piper in the crosshairs of a killer who has no qualms of murdering again if it means keeping the truth from surfacing.

Intrigue and danger lurk within the pages of Dani Pettrey's novel, Shattered, as readers return to Yancey, Alaska for another spellbinding adventure. The author creates some of the most enjoyable and engaging characters I've ever come across. I love Landon and Piper's relationship as they discover that they don't just care about each other like a brother and sister as they always believed. As the series progresses, I'm more and more drawn in by Jake, the mysterious stranger the McKenna family has taken in as one of their own. I hope we learn some of his secrets in future books. There's also Gage and his struggles to face his demons and come to terms with the loss of his son. These are just a few of the fascinating people we meet throughout the Alaskan Courage Series.

Pettrey builds a world that captures the reader with vivid and compelling descriptions. She has a way of making frigid, snowy Alaska sound cool (no pun intended!). I wanted to throw on my heaviest, winter coat and thick boots to jump right into the adventure. I'm now anxiously awaiting the next installment that, in my opinion, won't come fast enough. I strongly recommend this novel to romantic suspense fans. While Shattered can stand alone, you won't want to miss Submerged, the first book in the series.

Review copy provided by publisher. Thank you!

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A serious look

Thirty Blu ray Combo UltraViolet Digital

Zero Dark Thirty (2012) is the best movie that I've seen in 2013. The story is gripping, the acting is outstanding, and you walk away feeling that you've witnessed something significant and moving.

Jessica Chastain plays Maya, an intelligence officer obsessed with finding Usama Bin Laden ("UBL"). Maya spends about ten years of her life chasing various meandering leads, pressing her superiors to follow her research and hunches, and finally, as we know, all the zealous effort results in a monumental and historical raid and kill. Chastain is great as Maya; you won't recognize her in comparison to her performance as the ditzy, blond stay-at-home wife in The Help. The access that the filmmakers must have had to CIA and other intelligence personnel to create Maya's character made the story and character true to form, even if some of it turns out to be false.

The torture scenes during the first � of the film are over-hyped. I was expecting much worse. By today's movie violence standards, the torture was tame and not gruesome. The unwarranted controversy that Zero Dark Thirty has created stems from the implication that torture led to information, which led to UBL's comeuppance. That implication is clear, but I did not walk away thinking that this film condones torture or "enhanced interrogation techniques." On the contrary, later in the film it becomes clear that the intelligence community's use of such tactics has been criticized publicly and politically, actually jeopardizing the license to conduct an all-out manhunt by any means. To say that a message of this film is that "torture works" is incorrect.

UBL is only in a few minutes of this film, but Maya's obsession with finding him makes him a of pot of gold or trophy. We learn a lot about how Al Qaeda ran its operations in the 2000s, relying upon some very primitive means of communication (basically person-to-person) to spread messages between key operatives and their underlings. UBL was at the top, but he was in deep hiding for years after 9/11. The interspersing of scenes of other terrorist acts linked to or credited to Al Qaeda builds the drama and importance of bagging the trophy, UBL.

The portrayal of the raid of UBL's fortress in Pakistan is brilliantly executed. It is believable. It is terrifying. It is, ultimately, gratifying. Knowing that things went wrong during the raid (a helicopter crash, for instance), leaving the top folks in U.S. government on pins and needles for dozens of harrowing, nail-biting minutes, this portion of the film has a tinge of dread throughout. You are just waiting for a Navy Seal to get shot, stabbed, or maimed. When they "get their man," the reactions of relief, disbelief, pride, and a continued focus on completing the mission are great acting and filmmaking.

See this film. It may not be a History Channel documentary and, therefore, its accuracy is not beyond question, but as entertainment it is top notch. You can't ask much more of your movie than to build human drama, create procedural suspense, and execute fast-moving action in a carefully constructed package.

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