Terminator Salvation

I got Terminator Salvation for Christmas because I have the first 3 and need to keep the series going. (Doesn't everyone do that?)

It picks up long after the events of Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines where we see John Connor (Christian Bale) as a soldier in the human resistance against the Skynet.

Before the first battle scene, we're privy to Sam Worthington's character, Marcus - in prison, offer his body for a "good cause".

Marcus wakes up amid the battles and finds a young Kyle Reese (Anton Yelchin). Together, they make their way towards Skynet and bump into Connor. Reese is captured by the terminators. Marcus infiltrates the machine compound and Connor invades to destroy them once and for all.

Terminator Salvation is a nice addition to the franchise. It gives you a look at some of the things hinted at in the earlier films. It also touts some of the fiercest explosions I have seen in movies.

However it lacks humanity. Which is pretty much the basis of the film. You don't connect with any of the characters and you really don't care who lives and who dies. Obviously you know Connor and Reese will survive this first film (of which the director would like to make 3). But you don't mind watching the other survivors bite it because you really don't care about them.

The movie is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action, and language.

The Gospel According to Lost by Chris Seay

The title is misleading. Chris Seay gives us his ideas behind a few of the major and minor characters from the TV show Lost. Then he adds some connection to biblical teachings.

Known for his use of pop culture to address spiritual truths, Seay gives us a quick look at our favorite Losties through the biblical lenses.

Inside you will find chapters devoted to:

Hurley: Patron Saint of Blessed Losers
Sayid Jarrah: Patron Saint of Tormented Humanitarians
Kate Austen: Patron Saint of Beautiful Killers
James "Sawyer" Ford: Patron Saint of Kindhearted Con Men

Jack Shephard: Patron Saint of Wounded Healers
Eko: Patron Saint of Warlord Priests
John Locke: Patron Saint of the Fatherless
Sun and Jin: Patron Saints of Discontented Fishermen

Ben Linus: Patron Saint of Dutiful Tyrants
Jacob: Patron Saint of Fathers

and Daniel Faraday: Patron Saint of Mystic Scientists

There are other chapters dealing with ideas of the show, so don't think this book is only a character study.

Overall The Gospel According to Lost is a fun book for any fan of Lost.

This book was provided for review by Thomas Nelson Publishing

The Phantom from 10,000 Leagues

The Phantom from 10,000 Leagues. The name alone strikes fear into, well, not many people. Especially when you get a look at that phantom.

This was when special effects were "special".

There's a creature in the water and he burns his victims. He likes to tip over your boat and give a nice big bear hug.

This is because the poor man in the rubber suit can't do anything else.

There's the scientist who's conducting strange experiments, his daughter who is none the wiser, a couple detectives trying to solve the murders and an envious secretary with a thing for harpoon guns.

This movie ranks up there with the rankest of B movies.

The Bat

I'm watching a collection of classic horror movies and next up is The Bat starring Vincent Price.

There's a million dollars hidden somewhere in a large mansion and there's a killer on the hunt. He claws at your throat and sends bats to bite you.

Vincent Price is the good doctor who tries to help the innocent women in this big house. But is he really the killer?

You have a number of suspects including the doctor, the detective, the butler, and perhaps even one of the girls.

The evidence begins to mount against Vincent Price from the very beginning as he kills the bank man who tells him about the money.

The clues stack up but you won't know until the very end.

The Last Man on Earth

The Last Man on Earth is the original I am Legend.

Starring Vincent Price as Dr Robert Morgan, this film shows what happens when an airborne disease turns everyone into vampires.

Like every other early zombie movie, these vampires are very slow and can be defeated by shoving them aside.

Dr Morgan locks himself in his house at night, covering his doors with garlic and mirrors. He carves wooden stakes to drive into the vampires whenever he comes across one.

Every night, there is one particular vampire who calls for Morgan again and again. This is his lab partner.

After being alone for many months, Dr Morgan stumbles across a woman who seems to be fine. He brings her into his house to discover there is a clan of humans who have discovered a way to keep the vampire disease from taking them over.

This movie ends with these vampire/human hybrids chasing Dr Morgan down and killing him.

Avatar

James Cameron returns to the theaters with Avatar. Despite the promotion as an original film, Avatar resounds with comparisons to Pocahontas.

On the planet Pandora, there is a valuable mineral that The Company desires. They send in the military and scientists to retrieve it.

However, there are humanoid natives on Pandora called the Na'vi who do not wish their world to be plundered.

The humans create an empty shell that is part human/part na'vi in which certain people can upload their mind to. These are called avatars.

The avatars are used to infiltrate the na'vi population and, after being accepted as one of their own, convince them to relocate.

This world is mind-blowing. The details to the creatures, the scenery, and atmosphere is astounding. You should see this film in 3D to get the full effect. James Cameron is a great creator of worlds. He created the look of the Terminator and the fuller look of the Alien. It stands to reason that, after so many years, he would create the ultimate new world for us to enjoy.

Avatar stars Sam Worthington as Jake Sully whose job is to convince the na'vi to leave. Zoe Saldana is Neytiri - the na'vi who befriends and trains Jake. Sigourney Weaver is scientiest Dr Grace Augustine who does everything she can to be the diplomat to the na'vi.

Rated PG-13 for intense epic battle sequences, you may also want to be mindful that the female na'vi do not wear shirts. They get away with this because they are aliens I suppose.

Going Rouge by Richard Kim and Betsy Reed

This is the prime example of what is wrong with our politics. Richard Kim and Betsy Reed should be ashamed of themselves for the compilation they have published in Going Rouge.

Following Sarah Palin's book release, Going Rouge is the response from the Left and those who despise her.

This is why nothing gets done: page after page is filled with character assassination of Governor Palin.

I have no problem with others disagreeing with policy or political views. It's when you attack who the person is - when you call them horrible names and go after their families - that's when we've stooped to a new low.

Both sides of the political debate do it. But since I picked this book up, I decided to criticize those responsible.

Mr Kim and Ms Reed (and all the contributors). It is perfectly fine to disagree with Governor Palin's views. It is perfectly fine to point out the flaws in those views.

It is not perfectly fine to attack her as a person. Many of the writers in this book complained about Sarah Palin not being about substance. It was shocking to see that those who complained the longest wrote not one sentence about policy substance.

Attack the view - not the person.

Whirlwind by Robert Liparulo

Robert Liparulo continues his excellence in Young Adult novels with his fifth book of the Dreamhouse Kings series. Whirlwind picks up immediately after Timescape and never lets up.

Xander and David continue their portal jumping into other worlds and times. Their younger sister, Toria, goes on a mission with her father to discover the origin of the hulk of a being who kidnapped her mother. (this happened back in the first book)

Visiting times like the Civil War, almost getting trampled by war elephants, and ending up in a mythic land are all part of the quest for Xander and David.

Liparulo has created an incredible world with the King family and their house. It is to be comparable to the Lost tv show - with the great character development along with small questions that are answered in each segment, followed by more questions to be answered.

And let's not forget the mind-blowing cliff hangers.

If you're a fan of Lost, you have to get these books.

This book was provided for review by Thomas Nelson Publishing

Primal by Mark Batterson

Primal is Mark Batterson's third book. Inside, you will embark on a quest for the lost soul of Christianity.

Batterson takes the key commandment from Christ, to love God with all of our heart, mind, soul and strength, and pulls us deeper to the basic, simple, primal truths of our faith.

For those of you who enjoy mixing spirituality with scientific research, Primal will tug on your joy-boxes.

I especially enjoyed the thought that our eyes are only able to see a fraction of truth around us: that if we had a huge stack of playing cards before us, our eyes could only see one card.

And sound - the idea behind ultra sound and intra sound - was fascinating.

This is Mark's third of four books he has planned. It's small enough to be enjoyed anywhere and deep enough to keep you thinking long after you've put it down.

This book was provided for review by WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group

2012

Director Roland Emmerich's supposed final disaster movie, 2012, follows the mythical belief that the Mayan's predicted that the world will end on December 21, 2012.

Before we get to the film, it should be noted that the Mayan's did not believe the end of the world would happen on this date at all. The fear/prediction came from freaked out Westerners.

2012 stars John Cusack as author Jackson Curtis (get this, he is named after 50 Cent whose real name is Curtis Jackson). Jackson and his wife, Kate (Amanda Peet) are divorced with two kids.

Jackson takes their kids on a camping trip to Yellowstone National Park.

Meanwhile, back in 2009, scientist Adrien Helmsley (Chiwetel Ejiofor) informs the President (Danny Glover) of the impending doom. This gives the nations of the world 3 years to build ships to survive the coming end of the world.

Jackson and his family flee the destruction of California, and hitch a ride with a Russian billionaire and his sons.

Flash to scenes with the President and the destruction, flash to another story about two old men on a cruise ship, flash back to Jackson and his family.

This is Emmerich's way of giving us an intimate/emotional connection amongst the global end.

Jackson learns that the leaders of the countries have been building Arks in the mountains of China, so it's a race to the big boats before the big waves crash into them.

The moral of this movie is: if you want to survive the end of the world you need to have 1 Billion Euros or be closely attached to the leader of a country. Everyone else is doomed. So sorry. And it's not even the end of the world; the planet survives. I was hoping to see ultimate extinction ala Vulcan on the new Star Trek movie.

2012 is a heart-racing thriller. It's a fun, popcorn flick. Don't expect any Oscars though. While it's global destruction is on a new level, I found the special effects to be lacking. When an aircraft carrier tumbles into the White House, you can totally tell it's a miniature.

3 1/2 stars out of 5 for 2012.

The Evolution of God by Robert Wright

Robert Wright has written a tome of information dealing with the idea of God in The Evolution of God.

Wright takes us back to the earliest ideas and conceptions of gods for the hunter/gatherers and walks us up to Biblical times through Islam.

Before tackling El and Yahweh, Wright explains how god's functioned in the different ancient cultures.

The information given in these early sections is worth the price.

The real ride comes when he begins discussing Israel and the gods of the Middle East.

Wright doesn't believe certain biblical characters & stories are real (i.e. Moses and Elijah's battle with the Baal worshippers).

Then, to add more TNT to the explosive assertions, Wright decides that, based on evidence and speculation, Jesus was not a promoter of "Love your enemies", Jesus did not care about those outside of Israel.

I can see how many people would want to write nasty things about this guy. Which is a shame.

If you claim to be a Christian, the value of this book may come from Wright's different perspective of The Bible.

Believe in God, don't know if you can know God, or just flatly deny His existence, The Evolution of God is well worth a couple weeks of your time for exploration.

Star Trek: Avenger by William Shatner

Concluding William Shatner's first Star Trek trilogy is Avenger.

Following the adventures in Ashes of Eden and The Return as well as the movie Star Trek Generations, The Federation is being decimated by a mysterious virogen.

Captain Picard and the crew of the Enterprise E are tasked with keeping the infected at bay.

Meanwhile, Spock has learned that his father may have been partly responsible for the outbreak.

And Captain Kirk reappears to mess up both Picard's and Spock's plans.

With the two captains teaming up once again, which one will save the Federation? And is Spock destined to follow in his father's footsteps?


Avenger does not have the same fun storyline as the earlier novels. The plotline of an infectious disease doesn't carry much weight in a space opera.

This has been the weakest Shatner Star Trek novel so far.

Star Trek: The Return by William Shatner

Following the success of Ashes of Eden, publishers asked if William Shatner could write additional books for the Star Trek line. The answer was The Return.

Taking place immediately following the events of Star Trek: Generations, Captain Kirk's body is stolen by Romulans who have allied themselves with the Borg.

They insert nanite technology into Kirk's body, resurrect him and program him to destroy Captain Picard.

Picard happens to be on a top-secret spy mission deep into the heart of enemy territory. He is used to undermine the Borg.

Shatner brings both crew together as he did with Ashes with Spock, McCoy, Riker, Data and the rest of the Next Generation characters.

I'm not pleased with how this book developed. I wasn't happy with the idea of Kirk being brainwashed to kill Picard.

What was interesting was the explanation of of V'ger (from The Motion Picture) as originating from early Borg technology.

They seem to truly kill Kirk on the Borg home planet in this story, however he returns for another adventure in Avenger.

Star Trek: Ashes of Eden by William Shatner

Ashes of Eden takes place before the events of the Star Trek: Generations movie.

Kirk is wallowing in his self-pity over not being in command of a starship. His arch nemesis from the academy has just been promoted to Chief of Operations which leads Kirk to quit Starfleet.

At the announcement ceremony, Kirk notices a mysterious woman who is part Klingon, part Romulan. Their paths connect again during a daring attack in Kirk's apartment.

The woman, Teilani, begs Kirk to help her protect her planet from attack. Her planet which boasts eternal youth needs protection from a 65 year old man?

Shatner had help in writing this book - as he does in the following Trek books - from Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens. They know how to write popcorn novels.

While these books fit in as a sort of apocryphal storyline, they are quite enjoyable for the Trek fans.

You get to see some of the original crew back in action as old fellas and teaming up with The Next Generation crew.

You also see how Shatner used this book to reach out to fellow Trekian, Jimmy Doohan (Scotty) and ask for forgiveness for the way their relationship fell apart.

This book did so well commercially that Shatner and his team were asked to write additional Kirk/Picard novels.