Slumdog Millionaire 4.5/5 (Movie)

As I look back on the movies I saw in 2008, this is clearly my favorite. For an American entertainment, I thought it did a good job of showing how rough it was growing up as a Muslim orphan in India--some of the poverty is graphic--all three of the central characters are shaped by their attempts to escape it. And yes there's torture and violence and cruelty--but the movie presents an uplifting story. Think Regis Philbin meets Mumbai slums. Ultimately unrealistic, but very entertaining. And I loved the Bollywood dance number during the credits! If you've not seen it, go see it: reminds us of the poverty and cruelty in the world, yet reminds us that there is hope to triumph..... My nieces agreed with me when I described it as "Mama Mia with a conscience".... Lotta fun! 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Cadillac Records 3.5/5 (Movie)

Finally! A good movie! One of my students at the Y is a blues pianist, so he left his wife at home and joined me for a trip to see Cadillac Records. The music was terrific. The plot was a bit predictable, but enjoyable enough. But the music was very good--with one performance by Beyonce channelling Etta James that was phenomenal. Jeffrey Wright was solid as Muddy Waters, and Columbus Short really got into the part of Little Walter. Yeah, stick with Leonard Chess, and you get your Cadillac.... Very enjoyable! I thought Eamonn Walker about stole the show playing Howlin' Wolf--but then, of all the artists portrayed, he's the only one I ever saw live. Lotta fun. 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Christopher Moore: The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove 3.5/5 (Book)

When it's late at night and the brain needs flushing without the need to follow the number of characters in a Neil Stephenson novel, Christopher Moore's novels rank up there with Carl Hiaasen's, Donald Westlake's, and other "comic" novelists. With a healthy dose of surreal silliness, without the political overtone's of Hiassen or the sort of dreary acceptance of fate in Westlake's, most of Moore's novels are entertaining. I found this one in a remainder bin and am glad I invested $3.89 in it. It's just good fun...... Basically, a small radioactive leak at a power plant wakes up an ancient seas beast, whose coming to Pine Cove changes everyone. There's a little bit of cartoon violence and a fair amount of bawdy (well, PG-13 bawdy) language and action--but the overall mood is one of silliness. As usual, the good and the repentant are rewarded, the unrepentant are either eaten by the large lizard or otherwise punished. Looking for an absorbing read? This ain't it. Looking for Deep Inner Meaning? Skip this book. Need a light entertainment? Then this, like most of Christopher Moore's books, would be a very good choice.

Bottom line: Good, silly fun. 3.5/5 stars

p.s. My favorite Moore novels are A Dirty Job and Bloodsucking Fiends. I've not yet read Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff. Fluke, Coyote Blue, You Suck, and Island of the Sequined Love Nun are also amusing. But not as good as Lizard, Job, and Fiends--in my opinion....

Flash of Genius 2.5/5 (Movie)

Not a bad movie. Acting was fine. Story was plausible. But, ultimately, it came across as a made-for-TV movie that needed some editing.

Bottom line: A passable mindflush. Don't put it on your netflix list, but watch it when it comes to a small screen near you. 2.5 stars out of 5.

John Grisham: Playing for Pizza 3.0/5 (Book)

This was a good little mind-flusher. It was not one of Grisham's churning, purple courtroom dramas. It was a pleasant and mindless little amusement about a quarterback--a 3rd string quarterback--who manages to lose a key play-off game for the Browns, and, therefore, gets ridden out of town--all the way to Parma--as in Parma, Italy--not Parma, Ohio. The central character is a likable-enough rogue with a weak character.... And, of course, he "grows up" playing football americano in Italy.

Bottom line: Completely Predictable, a couple of minor twists in the plot, but enjoyably written. Will make a cute made-for-TV movie some day. In the mood for a serious read? Not the book. Need something pleasant to flush the stock market out of your mind at bed time? This might do the trick. Well executed. 3.0 starts out of 5.

Ken Follett (aka Zachary Stone): The Modigliani Scandal 2.0/5 (Book)

I just finished reading this 1976 "early Follett" book.

On the plus side: It's short--a light entertainment. It has intrigue but no murder or death (YAY!!). It has some attractive characters and some stock bad guys.

On the negative side: It uses a lot of adjectives--that is, a lot of weight lands on the adjectives rather than on the characters or the action. It calls attention to its "writer's tricks" and its prose more than to the story--well, some of the time. In fact, one character is known by 2 sets of characters--when he's written about with one set, he's written about using his first name; when he's in action with another group of characters, he's shown to us with his last name. We learn that this character that these 2 sets of characters know is the same character at the end of the book--the first time his first and last name are used together.

Bottom line: It reads like a treatment for a 90-minute TV comedrama. Not so bad that I tossed it across the room, but not very good. Two stars out of five.

Ghost Town 3.5/5 (Movie)

Ricky Gervais does a wonderful job creating the character of an unpleasant dentist who, we can tell, is such a jerk because he's put up a shell of selfishness to protect his bruised soul. The woman he falls for is lovely, his stupidity is charming and offensive at the same time, the ghosts who beg him to help them range from very funny to stock characters. All in all, a sweet movie, that is pretty standard fare--but not 100% predictable. With enough laughs to carry one through the time in the theater. Caution: A couple of funny, but explicit, close-up shots of dental equipment. Dentist-phobia? Skip this one and rent Little Shop of Horrors. (KIDDING--don't rent that one either if you don't like dentists!)

Overall judgement? Cute date movie, but this one will play well on the small screen once it's available for rent or purchase.