Seven

For my 7th post, I'm choosing to review my favorite movie: Seven.

Seven is a psychological thriller that is so well plotted there are hardly any films that compare to it. I often refer to it as my #1 favorite movie. I've even heard that the word 'Seven' is spoken seven times in the script of the movie, but every time I try to count the 'sevens' I end up getting sucked into the plot again and lose count by the 4th or 5th 'seven'. I can talk about this film endlessly, but I'll try to just give a quick review, offer some of my thoughts and leave it at that.

(Caution: spoilers may follow.)
Seven tells the story of 2 New York detectives (Mills & Somerset) investigating a series of homicides with a common theme; the seven deadly sins: gluttony, greed, lust, sloth, pride, envy and wrath. The crime scenes are quite gruesome as the serial killer uses the victim's own "sin" as the method of their "punishment".

Just when it seems that Mills & Somerset will run out of time to save any of the presumed 7 victims, the killer hands himself in. And his name is John Doe.

The most memorable part of the movie is, of course, the killer twist that comes when John Doe reveals his final victims. I've heard reviewers say it left them feeling like they had just been run over by a train. I couldn't agree more.

The thing that fascinates me most about Seven, and keeps me watching it every so-often is how the 3 main characters all seem to be dealing with the same struggle: to get by in the chaotic, dangerous environment that is New York. Drugs & violence seem to permeate society from every angle here. The way I see the characters' psyches is pretty much the same: in some way or another, they all give up this struggle at some point in the film. They only differ in how they deal with this feeling of futility. At one point in the movie John Doe even brings this to detective Mills' attention, stating how they may be more similar than Mills might believe.

John Doe (played by Kevin Spacey): John Doe gas given up in his struggle to live a normal life in the sin-infested environment of New York long before the story has even begun. We get a small glimpse into his mind when Somerset reads a couple passages from John Doe's library of journals while searching the suspect's home. He's chosen to deal with his frustration with the commonplace acceptance of the 7 deadly sins by committing atrocious acts of "forced attrition" against those he sees as sinners. The police see the results as a senseless killing spree until our detectives come along and start to put the pieces together.

Detective Somerset (played by Morgan Freeman): This man is a veteran detective on the brink of retirement who is asked to mentor newbie David Mills before he hangs up his badge & gun for good. His retirement represents his point of giving up in the struggle to fight crime he sees as more futile by the day. In the course of the film we discover how this pessimistic environment has affected Somerset's personal life, resulting in his inability to remain close to any of the people he may have once loved. When it came down to being dedicated to either a family or his job, he chose his job, in hopes that he could still make a difference. Throughout the film this belief of his is in constant doubt.

Detective David Mills (played by Brad Pitt): Mills is a young & 'green' detective with a drive to make a difference & prove himself a worthy detective. He embarks on this case with a perspective that reminds Somerset of how he used to think when he was younger. His ambition also reveals an underlying impatience that often gets the best of him. Once Doe hands himself in, while the police are still making sense of his crimes, he tells the detectives (through his lawyer) he'll confess if he can reveal the last 2 bodies to Mills & Somerset alone. The legal obstacles to a death penalty for Doe are so frustrating to Mills its almost more than he can stand. He jumps at the chance to get Doe's confession, and at the same time falls into Doe's trap.

As John Doe reveals the crowning piece of his series of 7 murders, the results are so personally devastating to Mills that he loses his mind and gives up on the legal system he works to support. He becomes a vigilante (and I can't blame him, you'll see what I mean if you watch this film), taking John Doe's life in dramatic fashion...

Don't be surprised if this movie leaves you asking yourself, "What's the point of life anyway?" Don't say I didn't warn you.

Death Note

A new phenomenon popular among teens these days is the reading of manga (Japanese comics). Many of these comics are developed into animated series (called Anime). I happen to enjoy watching Anime a great deal, but for the most part I haven't read much manga.

The one manga series that has really grabbed me is Death Note.


Please don't be deterred by the fact that this story is a "Comic". Manga is a completely different style from your stereotypical "Super-Hero" comics. It is simply another form of creative story-telling, and the better titles are incredibly well-plotted. Death Note is one of them.

(Caution: possible spoilers)
Death Note follows the story of a brilliant & bored-to-death high school student (Light Yagami) who happens to find a notebook that was dropped by a Shinigami (or God of Death). Light finds instructions in the front of the notebook, one of which is: "The human who's name is written in this note shall die."

Now, of course Light thinks its some kind of practical joke at first. However, when he sees a live hostage situation on a breaking news story, he figures it wouldn't hurt to write the gunman's name in the notebook- just for wishful thinking right? Imagine his surprise when a couple minutes later the hostages walk out of the building saying their captor had just collapsed dead.

Interested in this story yet? Maybe you're thinking what you might do if you had this mysterious death note? Whould you write some one's name in it? A couple someones' names? Maybe a few thousand? Curious to know how many names get written in Light's death note? Well, you'll just have to find out for yourself! Read Death Note. Remember that Japanese manga reads right-to-left, so it might feel like you're starting at the back of the book. Don't worry, you're not.

Death Note is a fantastic story, with a myriad of plot twists that keep coming at you. The rules of the death note are seamless. The plot is very intense, and philosophically challenging. All throughout the story it keeps you captivated-there are no slow points in this story. It becomes a detective/cat-&-mouse hunt. The events of the story reach a global scale before its over. And the ending does not disappoint, so you're not left hanging with major unanswered questions. So do yourself a favor: Read this story! Don't pre-judge it because its in graphic novel format. You will not be let down...

PS- If you are a fan of Anime, then you should watch the series as well. I've been collecting the DVDs as they come out, and they stick to the story like glue. Great voice-cast, and well produced.

The Romanov Prophecy

The Romanov Prophecy, by Steve Berry
Here's another book recommendation!
As part of my part-time job at a bookstore, I'm asked to recommend titles I enjoy to our customers. Its great! The author I've been recommending lately is Steve Berry.

Although I've collected all his books, the only one I've found time to read so far is The Romanov Prophecy. Nonetheless, this was a great book. A modern-day fiction, based on historical circumstances surrounding the Romanovs. The story builds upon the possibility that 2 of the children escaped the massacre. (I think they have identified the real remains of these children w/ DNA testing after the publication of this story).

This is a fast-paced action/mystery, told from the point of view of an American lawyer (Miles Lord), who is researching the backgrounds of various candidates nominated to become the new Tsar of Russia. His research leads him into the mysterious history of the Romanov assassinations, and he soon finds himself narrowly escaping several attempts on his own life.

The scope of the conspiracy grows throughout the book. Excellent plot twists are perfectly planted in this edge-of-you-seat page-turner.

I've been recommending this, and other books by this author by saying he writes a very similar style to Dan Brown, author of the DaVinci Code. If you liked any of Brown's books, try readign Steve Berry!

It's a Dirty Job

This post is actually a book recommendation! I recently read Dirty Job, by Christopher Moore, and thuroughly enjoyed it. I'm making it my first book recommendation on this blog.


About Christopher Moore. His style of writing is comedic fiction. His books are literally a laugh-fest. I usually find I laugh out loud on more than half the pages throughout the entire book, and Dirty Job was no exception.


(caution: some small spoilers...)
Charlie Archer, an average guy (and a self-proclaimed Beta-Male) who owns a 2nd-hand clothing & collectibles shop, tragically loses his wife following the birth of thier 1st child. Unbeknownst to Charlie, his newborn daughter is fated to become the next "Great Death" (or Grim Reaper if you prefer), while he himself has become a "death merchant". Further complicating matters, the instruction book on how to be a death merchant is intercepted by Charlie's slacker of an employee, a high school goth-chick who thinks its the coolest book ever.

Dirty Job quickly becomes a laugh-fest inspite of the frequently recurring themes of death & greiving. So pick up this book and follow Charlie as he plunders about trying to get a grasp of his new charge that he's unaware of, and trying to raise a daughter whose pivotal destiny is likewise kept in the dark from him for the majority of this quirky yet touching story.

Heath Ledger & 10 Things I Hate About You

Heath Ledger, the actor from the movies 10 Things I Hate About You & Brokeback Mountain, passed away earlier this week. His death is an unexpected tragedy, and he will be missed. As an actor I thougth Ledger had the potential to become as popular as Tom Cruise (but not as crazy), or Russell Crowe (but not as arrogant). He seemed to have the world ahead of him...

Of the films he made in his all-too-soon ended career, 10 Things I Hate About You is my personal favorite. In this re-telling of Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew, Ledger plays the Bad-ass high school bad-boy, who's initially bribed to date the older of 2 sisters, so another boy can date the younger sister. The older sister has long since sworn to never date, and has gained a less than pleasant reputation. In Ledger's character's efforts to win her trust and take her to the prom, he finds he really does like her, and after all the typical teen drama plays out, everybody who's nice gets a happy ending.

As far as comedies go, this is always in my top 5 favorites (I also count the original Blues Bros., and The Princess Bride in the top 5). In many ways its a typical teen comedy. The things that set it apart for me are the fact that the toilet humor is very minimal, and the overall story is well developed. The sountrack is pretty good. The dialog is fast, which often makes for a good comedy, because sometimes you're laughing pretty hard at one joke, and maybe miss the next one, which means you'll catch it the 2nd time you watch the movie.

Anyway, this was the movie that broke Ledger into the big-time for films. He might not have made another comdy like this one, but his talent as an actor was hard to miss with the films he went on to make after this one.

Gene Simmons is Fired?!?!

Up until last week, Gene Simmons of Kiss has been a contestant on Donald Trump's Celebrity Apprentice reality TV show. Being a long-time Kiss fan, Gene was of course my somewhat biased favorite celebrity on this show. In the 1st 2 weeks he seemed to be one of the strongest business minds (leading the men's team, Hydra, to 2 consecutive victories). The Donald thought to shake things up and asked Gene (on the heels of his previous victory as project manager) if he'd like to be project manager for the women's team. Gene, being the omnipresent ladie's man (if you ask him), agreed.

As the 3rd week's competition unraveled, Gene once again appeared to be on top of things; taking swift control of the direction of the project. He continued diligently in his pre-ordained direction with limited input from the rest of the "team" (here was his mistake, he sent only 2 team members to meet with this episode's client-Kodak, and that meeting didn't go as well as team Hydra's did). Had their meeting gone more smoothly, and the client gotten thier point through to the 2 women representing the team, I bet Gene would still be among the celebs.

I work a 2nd job part-time in retail myself, so I know a good strategy to make a sale is always to let the customer know when & how they'll get more bang for their buck. In the case with the Kodak printers, the most bang for the buck came with their new ink (if the stacks of paper were to be believed, the same amount of the new ink could print more than double the amount of pages). Team Empresario's representatives from the client meeting did not convey this message to the project manager-Gene...

In the end, the client preferred the men's team's "Mobile Experience" for Kodak's new 'revolutionary' ink & printers, and the women's team, along with Gene, won another trip to the board room.

As the board room drama unfolded, Donald seemed determined to lay the fault on the overly talkative team member who gave the Kodak rep a bad impression in the initial meeting. Gene, being Gene, refused to bow to the Donald's implications & turned the blame on Kodak itself for making the "wrong decision". He repeatedly said that he trusted the team member that Donald & Kodak were witch-hunting, and vowed to stand by that person. In the end he brought the last 2 people Donald would consider firing back to the board room with him.

Gene seemed to dare Trump to fire him, and in the end he did. Did you think Donald would fire his favorite ratings-getter Omarosa? Think again, farewell Gene...

So this week's episode is no longer a must-see event for me. Too bad Trump, you almost had faithful viewer in me, until last week. At least it wans't a total loss for Gene, since he'd won the previous week's challenge as project manager, his chosen charity (pediatric AIDS) received a hefty donation.

Ode To Bubba-Gump

It's funny sometimes how much the little things in life can mean to you. I recently lost a little thing in my life and was surprised how down I felt about it for days. It was Bubba-Gump, the last remaining goldfish in my aquarium.

Bubba had outlived his original tank-mate, Goldie, both of whom we have had in our home since before we were married (almost 6 years ago). Bubba was the longest lived pet I've owned since my childhood dog. He had even been nick-named "The Fish That Won't Die". Bubba was older than 2 of our 3 cats in actual years, and was always there, swimming around, waiting to greet us when we came home from work (or maybe he was just waiting to be fed).

He may have lived a number of years more, if it weren't for a mysterious infection he seemed to catch after I decided to add a couple friends to his tank. As it happens, after I bought 2 more fish from a local petstore, all 3 of them soon developed a white filmy layer on their fins & scales. The 2 new fish were belly-up within days, and Bubba was looking worse for wear. I switched him to a fish bowl of fresh water and put some anti-fungal treatment in the water. In the end it was too little too late, as he succumbed to the sickness another couple days later.

Either way, the now vacant fish tank is a constant reminder of his abscence. Someday soon, I'll drain, clean & refill the tank & all it's accessories. Then I'll fill it with an all-new group of aquatic little friends. Then we'll have a happy home of pets, both dry & wet again. I know they'll not be the same as good ol' Bubba, but maybe they'll grow to mean as much to us.

Fare well Bubba Gump!