Priest (on DVD) - Vampires That Are NOT Cute!

Last night my husband and I watched Priest on DVD. Wow. (take a breath...) Exclamation mark!

The nitty-gritty details first:

Priest (2011), PG-13, 87 min - Action, Horror, Sci-Fi, Released in theaters on May 13, 2011 (USA), DVD Release date August 16, 2011.
Stars: Paul Bettany, Cam Gigandet and Maggie Q

Brief Synopsis: A priest disobeys church law to track down the vampires who kidnapped his niece.
Full-blown Storyline: A post-apocalyptic sci-fi thriller, is set in an alternate world -- one ravaged by centuries of war between man and vampires. The story revolves around a legendary Warrior Priest from the last Vampire War who now lives in obscurity among the other downtrodden human inhabitants in walled-in dystopian cities ruled by the Church. When his niece is abducted by a murderous pack of vampires, Priest breaks his sacred vows to venture out on a quest to find her before they turn her into one of them. He is joined on his crusade by his niece's boyfriend, a trigger-fingered young wasteland sheriff, and a former Warrior Priestess who possesses otherworldly fighting skills. Written by Screen Gems

My Opinion: With the large number of vampire, werewolf, demon-type movies, etc. that have been and will continue to be created, we tend to feel like we've "seen it all" and nothing new will cross our paths pertaining to storylines and characters and action sequences. Well. Priest impressed me, kept my full undivided attention and my husband never drifted off to sleep (that in itself means the movie was decent).

When we find ourselves pausing the dvd player, having discussions about the storyline, replaying some scenes and looking at the movie from a broader perspective to fully understand what the hell is going down...that's awesome! Discussions were had, man!

By the way, these vampires are NOT cute and lovable. You wouldn't want to touch them with a ten-foot pole. In fact, you'd take that pole and defend yourself with it...and likely not survive your encounter with these vampires afterwards. Unless they turned you into what's called a "familiar"....or something else! And I'm not sure that's called surviving. It depends on whose point of view, I suppose.

The higher-ups in the movie - the authorities, the ones that rule - of course have no clue what is REALLY happening out in the big, bad world. (And the landscape is totally post-apocalyptic in nature.) They want to ignore/deny/sweep under the rug the fact that vampires are creating havoc outside their precious city walls...even up to the very end of the movie!! So frustrating that you want to ring their necks!! ...I won't elaborate-don't want to spoil it for people.

The kick-butt action was supreme including the special effects which seemed flawless to the point of beautiful! Some surprises were tossed in, which I won't mention, but definitely add to the tension of the movie and give more purpose to some of the character's actions. The movie wraps up nicely but also dangles the carrot in your face...leaving it open to a sequel because of unfinished business. I hope a Part 2 is made. There is MUCH that could be told in a second movie.

Stephen Moyer from True Blood even had a small part in it! What a surprise!

For those people like me that love this genre of movie - go rent it! It's something a little different than what we're used to seeing!!! And I still LOVE what I AM used to seeing, too!!! Bring it!

I miss the "Torchwood" from the past

I am continuing to follow 'Torchwood: Miracle Day' on Starz but it's just not the same as the 'Torchwood' I remember from BBC that dealt more with aliens and supernatural catastrophes. I will watch all of the episodes faithfully to the end. I believe the storyline is interesting although a bit slow and repetitive at times (my husband falls asleep during it - I'm constantly yelling, "Wake up!"). But when I think of 'Torchwood' TV seasons/episodes from the past, what I'm currently watching is NOT 'Torchwood'. For me, this is a completely different show. As I said, it's caught my attention...barely, though. And Captain Jack Harkness definitely doesn't have near as much screen time as one expects him to have! Everyone's acting is acceptable to very good...that's not the problem...but the plot should've been structured with familiar Torchwood themes. I realize viewers need something new and exciting and not the same old crap, but at least keep within the genre, theme, etc. Give us "toys that we want to play with"; not objects that we sit and blankly stare at, wondering what the heck to do with them. Does that make sense?!

'Rise of the Planet of the Apes' Weekend Success-Apes Rock - latest article

Rise of the Planet of the Apes premiered in the Number One spot at the box office this weekend with $54 Million (August 5-7, 2011). That was about $15 million to $20 million more than analysts expected. It was still below the $68.5 million opening of Tim Burton's Planet of the Apes remake 10 years ago. Read full article:

http://www.examiner.com/speculative-fiction-in-st-louis/rise-of-the-planet-of-the-apes-weekend-success-apes-rock

Yes, I wrote a different article about this film a few months ago. But since it just released & is having so much awesome success (and I LOVE the original Planet of the Apes) I wanted to write another article. So exciting!

My latest movie article on '11-11-11'

'11-11-11' (2011)

Horror | Thriller   - To be released in theaters on November 11, 2011 (USA).

A horror-thriller set on 11:11 on the 11th day of the 11th month and concerning an entity from another world that enters the earthly realm through Heaven's 11th gate.

There is internet chatter about the meaning of that date, stirring up much curiosity. Read full article...
http://www.examiner.com/speculative-fiction-in-st-louis/11-11-11-2011

INTERVIEW WITH AN ASPIRING 16 YEAR OLD WRITER

INTERVIEW WITH AN ASPIRING 16 YEAR OLD WRITER

Let's welcome to the blog my guest, Alex Kuhn. He's a young writer bursting with creativity and who displays a talent meshing ideas and words into stories. Alex is currently working on a new project that will become his debut novel. So keep his name in mind for future reading. I hope you enjoy the Q & A session below!

GINA: Alex, can you tell us a little about yourself?

ALEX: I am a 16 year old male. I would call myself a "guy", not an "author" at this point, since I haven't finished a book, yet... I live in the southern Illinois area in a small town about 28 Miles from St. Louis, Missouri. I LOVE to play video games such as: Legend of Zelda, Mario, and my personal favorite, POKEMON!! I have been known as the "Video Game King" to some of my friends! I honestly wouldn't consider that a great thing to be called, seeing as I have over 3000 hours on the Pokemon series since about 2004! I think that's enough time to write a book. Something I absolutely HATE is when people use the word retard – it is a disease that many people laugh at, rather than care about. Also, I usually write with no idea of what I'm going to write about. I just sit there, staring blankly at the screen and eventually something comes to my mind and gets me going!!

GINA: Do you have any links or methods for people to contact you that you'd like to share?

ALEX: http://alexmkuhn.webs.com

GINA: And I'd like to note that this is a new site recently created, so it's under construction.

GINA: When did you realize you wanted to write a book? Even when you were little, were you making up stories then?

ALEX: I was usually told I was good at either poetry or writing stories since I was little and I don't mean to suck up, but...it was Gina Marie Long that inspired me! I read on the back of her book that she was from the same area as me. I thought,"Hey! If I'm good at writing, maybe I could type up a story and see if it was possibly "publishing" material!" Later, I found that my mother went to school with her, too! That helped me become her friend!

GINA: What genre/category do you write about?

ALEX: I like to write about the supernatural and paranormal. But I keep switching around which story I'm writing because I'm getting so many ideas. It will probably be similar to Gina's books which would fall under the urban fantasy, paranormal, young adult genre.

GINA: Can you give us a little hint on what you're currently writing about?

ALEX: I can't really choose yet what I'm going to focus on. I keep switching between different stories and ideas to see which seems the best. I have typed up notes, brief outlines and even partial chapters on stories with vampires, werewolves and other paranormal subjects.

GINA: Do you have any favorite authors or favorite books?

ALEX: I'm pretty sure almost everybody has heard of my favorite book series: Harry Potter. I also enjoy the books Gina Long's writing. And I hope to aid Gina in her fight against boring books!!

GINA: Awesome!

GINA: Any favorite TV shows?

ALEX: I don't really watch TV much other than the news. But I'd have to say the Full-Metal Alchemist series. It's a pretty interesting show. I'd recommend it to people who may watch shows that use a few cuss words!

GINA: Did you create an outline and notes for the book you're writing or do you just dive in writing, wing it and not have a clue what happens next?

ALEX: I type up a bit of an outline for a chapter or two, write from that outline, then create another outline for the next few chapters and write from there.

GINA: What part of writing DON'T you like?

ALEX: Well, I don't like WRITING but I do like to TYPE the stories! And I really don't like how my computer "suggests" words for me to use. I prefer to do things MY way!

GINA: What's your FAVORITE part of writing?

ALEX: I think I like creating stories because it is a productive way to kill time.

GINA: When reading another author's book, is there anything a writer does that drives you crazy? Or something that might make you completely give up reading a book?

ALEX: The book can't be boring. It's hard for me to explain what I consider to be boring about a book...but I won't really give up on reading a book unless it's my Algebra book! Most books are boring at some point, but as you keep reading, they usually get better.

GINA: When is your best time to write? Day, night, weekdays, weekends?

ALEX: Anytime that is considered my free time.

GINA: What are your thoughts on the e-reader/e-book explosion?

ALEX: I think it's ok to have an e-reader and e-book collection but if you aren't careful with it, you might lose all of your books. I think it's better to have the real books because of what I just mentioned and also the physical books can be reused by giving them away and recycled.

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GINA: Five Flash QUESTIONS – ALEX, ONLY ANSWER WITH: YES, NO or SOMETIMES for the next 5 questions:

1) Do you read book reviews?

ALEX: No

2) Do you think a book's title helps to sell a book?

ALEX: Yes

3) Can a book's cover alone capture your attention enough to make you consider picking it up or seeing what it's about?

ALEX: Yes

4) Do you watch book trailers?

ALEX: No

5) Do you or do you know if your friends go to book signings?

ALEX: No

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GINA: What is your favorite food? Favorite drink? (Gotta have something off-the-wall here!!)

ALEX: Food: Pizza and my favorite drink? I LOVE soda, just about any kind!

And now a big round of applause for Alex Kuhn! [*clapping, cheers!!*] Thanks again Alex for taking the time to be "interrogated" and providing great answers and insight that come from the mind of a young writer. I wish you the very best of luck with your writing adventures!!