So I just got back from seeing “The Happening,” which honestly I went to out of boredom mostly. After seeing it, I’m pretty sure this is what was going through M. Night’s head when he came up with the idea for the movie . . . .

Okay first this thing is going to happen, and it will make everyone on screen and in the audience be like “What’s happening?” Then everyone will be like “OMG I can’t believe this is happening.” About thirty minutes in I’m going to have the character played by Otis from ‘Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman’ say “I think this is what is happening!” Then about thirty minutes later Marky Mark’s character will be like “I think that crazy guy was right about what is happening!” Then when you get to the end of the film the shock will be no characteristic M. Night movie twist and the audience will be like “So you mean that really is what happened?” Then after the credits roll everyone will leave the theater thinking about the movie and saying “You know there have always been those stories that one day something like that could happen.”

Of course if you see the movie with the people I saw it with then you’ll probably hear people saying things like “That movie sucked,” “That was the worst movie ever” and “I’m tired of going to see shitty movies.”

Tonight I watched the US remake of “The Eye,” which is the third or fourth remake of this popular horror film, which originated in Hong Kong. I’ve seen the original as well as a Bollywood remake called “Naina.”

The story in each film is the same. A female violinist lost her eyesight at a young age due to an accident (which varies in each film). As an adult she undergoes a cornea transplant to try and restore her vision. However when she opens her eyes and sees again for the first time, she begins to see spirits and dark shadows, as well as has odd visions and dreams she doesn’t understand. She eventually comes to realize she’s inherited the abilities of her donor to see the dead and visions of things to come.

The story in the the American version is almost identical to the original save for a few small details. I loved the original and thought the remake was done well enough. One issue with watching the remake is the scare factor was for the most part lost on me because I knew the story and I knew what to expect. Neither version was really scary, just creepy. I have to give the original the overall better creep factor to be honest. There is something about these Asian to American remakes that doesn’t work all that well, it loses a bit of the creepiness especially with the ghosts. The ironic part is that the American versions have the special effects where as the Asian ones usually relied on a girl with stringy hair and white face make-up as well as a speed up or slowed down camera and creepy sounds. Sometimes the big special effects aren’t always better I guess?

Another thing missing in the remake is the explanation of the ghosts the main character sees in her building. There is a man in an elevator and a little boy ghost in the hall. The boy ghost story one can figure out, but the man in the elevator is just never explained (I can’t remember what his story is from the original either). I just remember these were two freaky ghosts in the original, and in the remake the scare factor is lost a little with them.

Again, I think the story is brilliant, so you can’t go wrong with either. I would say if you can stand subtitles, go for the original only because it is scarier. It often plays on cable and last month was on FearNet for those who have comcast (this is the Horror Movie on Demand channel, and it’s free). If you watch the American remake and enjoy it, definitely pick up the original. Yes the story will not surprise you, but I think you’ll come away with a new appreciation for the Asian originals of a lot of these movies which are getting American remakes (like the recently remade “One Missed Call,” which in fact was TERRIBLE compared to the original).

So I finally dragged my arse to see “Prince Caspian” today. Having just refreshed myself with the book, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Leaving the theater I wasn’t sure what to think! If you haven’t read the book and enjoyed the first movie, you’ll enjoy this one for sure. If you read the book, but it’s been years, you’ll probably enjoy it. If you are like me, just having went back to read it before seeing the movie, you might end up not knowing what to think.

If you plan on seeing the movie and haven’t yet, I’d stop reading here. What follows are my thoughts on the movie as well as the major changes made from the book. If you’ve read the book and remember it well enough, this will only spoil the changes made in the movie really. If you’ve seen the movie but not read the book, you might find it interesting to learn what was changed.

Honestly one of the biggest challenges I’m sure they faced in making this movie is the fact that the book material itself is not the most compelling of the books. When the BBC made movie/TV versions of the first four books, “Caspian” was basically a 30 minute preface to “Voyage of the Dawn Treader” and it’s easy to understand why the BBC did it that way if you’ve read the book. The fact of the matter is, it’s more like reading someone telling you a story for most of the book. A good third of the book involves Trumpkin explaining to the foursome what has been going on in Narnia since they’ve been gone.

Let’s tackle the biggest problem, the fact that the book really has a boring villain in King Miraz. He’s a usurper to the throne and a coward. He’s not magical or fantastical in any way like the White Witch was. In the book he doesn’t even have that big of a role to be honest, he’s talked about more than he’s present, and clearly they had to change that for the movie.

The second major problem is the book was filled with chapters which were, well boring. At least to make them into a movie would have been boring. Thankfully these were omitted from the movie. I mean there is no need to watch 10-20 minutes of the kids playing on the beach, fishing, and discussing how and what in fact they should do for food. The same goes for the chapter in which Edmund realizes thousands of years have passed in Narnia and explains it all to the others. Likewise there is no need for 10-20 minutes of Badger, Trumpkin and Nickerbrack dragging Caspian all over the woods and introducing him to the bears, the squirrels, the centaurs and every bloody Narnian who was hiding out in the woods in order to recruit them into the arm. All that stuff from the book is gone gone gone.

Of course this leads to problem three, they cut out probably half of the book, so naturally they had to add in. I wasn’t exactly thrilled with some of these changes, and I wasn’t thrilled with a few things actually omitted or glossed over from the book.

The biggest change was with Miraz, who does not start off as King as in the book but as one of the many lords controlling the kingdom while Caspian comes of age. Through the movie he basically frames Caspian as a Narnian co-conspirator and eventually appoints himself King. In the book he was already King in place of Caspian, until he came of age, and he most certainly didn’t believe in Narnians or any magical creatures. This wasn’t a complete 180 with his character, but it worked and served to make him more of a villain than he was in the book.

The second biggest character change was in Peter, and this was NOT welcomed. They made Peter into a jerk in this movie with a huge chip on his shoulder. He was sour that it took so long to go back to Narnia. He was sour that he was considered a boy by all when in fact he had been a man. He didn’t want to listen to anyone, he was the High King and he saw himself better (or more experienced) than Caspian, who he had a lot of conflict with. This was a huge deviation from the book, where Peter from the start knew and assured Caspian that they were here to help him take the throne and put Narnia back to right, not to take over the kingdom again. Ironically Susan is likable in this movie, in the books she’s the frump and the sourpuss.

Aslan is not a large part of this movie at all. While he wasn’t a large part of the book either, he returned in the book so much earlier than he did in the movie, which is basically near the very end.

The way Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy were brought into Narnia was also changed time wise, but this was probably done to facilitate the story and I can see why. In the book Capsian blew the horn during the midst of the first battle with Miraz’ men during which they got walloped. In the movie he blew it when he first saw Nickerbrack, Trumpkin and badger. Again the reason being the book jumped around a lot with chapters going back and forth in time. It wouldn’t have worked in the movie to have all the jumping about and scenes like “meanwhile as this was happening . . . over here . . . ”

Trumpkin’s character was changed a bit and this was another big disappointment for me. He actually met and spent time with Caspian in the book (along with Nickerbrack and Badger) before he was captured by Miraz’ men and then rescued by the foursome. He fled during the first big battle where the horn was blown, being sent to try and find help for Caspian. Through all this we learn that Trumpkin doesn’t believe in the old stories or in Aslan. This is shown as a blurb at the end of the movie when Aslan insists on meeting the DLF, and Trumpkin seems ashamed to be in front of Aslan. It didn’t come off in the movie the way it was explained in the book. Additionally in the movie Trumpkin almost immediately accepts the kids for who they are, instead of being extremely skeptical as in the book. Of course by biggest issue was with the DLF (Dear Little Friend) bit. The kids name him this and continuously call him it over and over in the book, while in the movie it’s said all but twice I believe and they just sort of name him it in one scene with no explanation as to why.

Completely thrown into the movie, nowhere to be found in the book, is a major attack scene on Miraz’ castle. This seemed to take the place of the first battle between Caspian and Miraz’ men at Aslan’s How (the big mountain built over the stone table, also not really explained in the movie). This made up battle also serves to facilitate the tension between Peter and Caspian for the movie, as well as some faux and not entirely developed love story between Susan and Caspian. Again, they cut so much out of the book that they had to add some stuff in!

Another over-site is the explanation of the Telemarines and just who the heck they actually are. In the book we are told they are not native to Narnia, but came from a distant country known as TelMar. They invaded Narnia and took over, with Caspian the X being descended from the original Caspian who was the Telemarine conquerer. They were a race of apparent humans, not native to Narnia, and seemed to be more at peace on the water and were petrified of the woods. Tales were told among them that the woods were haunted and the trees were alive, thus they feared them. This back story was omitted from the movie, you just have to accept that for some reason the Telemarine soldiers were afraid of the woods and never told why really. Fortunately they do keep Aslan’s explanation at the end of the movie as to where they really came from and how they arrived in Narnia.

Also left out was the fact that many of the old Narnians had interbred with the Telemarines and were in hiding throughout the land as humans, but welcomed Aslan back at the end. Many others had completely forgotten that Narnia was in fact a magical land full of talking creatures and what not. In the movie it was just as if everyone in the kingdom suddenly accepted Aslan and all these “monsters” who came out of nowhere! They give you a slight hint of this in the movie with Caspian’s professor explaining he was a half-dwarf and had waited a long time for Caspian to arrive and return Narnia to what it should have been (which is correct from the book, but the professor also had a much larger role in the book).

In the end, it was a good movie, but like any book to movie, it’s hard not to fault it for the translation. In the case of “Caspian” the book wasn’t the best material from which to turn into a movie, so I understand why they deviated so much as they did in this one. I do wonder how they will tackle the rest of the movies?

Also sadly, there are murmurings that Disney is planning to make the next book/movie the last one. I’m not sure I want to even know how they will pull that one off! The only reason I see them cutting it off there is the next book is the last one for Lucy and Edmund. Their annoying cousin Eustace takes over from there.

So today was the day, the Wii Fit came out! I headed out this morning to pick mine up, brought the sucker home and got on it. Not only did it tell me I’m fat, but I’m old! My Wii Fit age is way older than me! This s based on your weight, BMI as well as your sense of balance. All of mine suck, therefore I am old.

I found myself a tad shocked at how hard some of the exercises are! Now granted I had gone to the gym this morning and done some cardio, so I could have been a little pooped. But nevertheless, the exercises aren’t all a piece of cake so it will give you a workout. The balance games that come with it are cute and a tad tough as well.

One thing I can recommend is that you are getting or planning to get this, and you have hardwood floors, spend the money to get the exercise mat or any non-slip yoga mat from an exercise store. My feet are sore as is!

Switching gears, tomorrow is the day that “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” comes out. I’m so excited! I bought my ticket for the 11am show tomorrow. I actually for a split second considered going tonight at midnight, but figured it might be insane. They are showing it on 5 screens, so clearly they are expecting people!

After the movie gets out tomorrow I’m considering going to see “Prince Caspian right” after. I am not sure, it will depend if the weather is crummy or not. Otherwise I plan to do Caspian on Friday I hope. There is a big holiday weekend coming up, so I don’t want to try and even go to the movies then!

When I find a horror film I like, I like to recommend them, mainly because I find so few new ones worthy of doing so. This weekend I watched “Seance” and loved it!

The film takes place in an old university dorm building, which was once an old apartment building. Five kids stay in the dorm over Thanksgiving break. The dorm is said to be haunted by a little girl who died there years ago. One of the girls staying in the dorms over the break can see her, so her friends who don’t believe her get the idea to hold a seance. Unfortunately they accidentally bring back the spirit of someone they shouldn’t have. Let the terror, and the killings, begin!

The movie is a straight to DVD flick, so don’t expect a huge budget and Hollywood production values. Nevertheless it’s well done, well enough to make it to TV unlike many of the “made at home on a Sony digital cameral” horror movies that end up at my movie store nowadays. The acting is good enough, not stellar, not horrible. The story is pretty predictable, and there is only one cringe worthy gore scene. There aren’t any real “boo” moments either.

At this point you’re probably wondering why I’m even bothering to recommend this apparently mediocre flick. Because it was creepy! This is one of those movies that is great to watch in the dark late at night because it will give you the heebie-jeebies. The characters/ghosts are creepy and that’s what makes it work. Also if you rent it, make sure you don’t turn it off when it hits the credits as there is a little bonus scene in the credits!

So this Friday “Prince Caspian” hits theaters. I had hoped to start reading “The Golden Compass” this weekend, but instead I pulled out “Prince Caspian” to read. I want to remember the story and see how the movie compares to the book. I’m not sure when we’ll actually see it because the BF will be working late Friday and Saturday, and Sunday is the season finale of “Desperate Housewives.” Oy! I guess it gives me a bit more time to finish it, but I’m already 1/3 through the book. I forgot these are essentially kids books and quick reads.

In other news, I’ve become a cooking monster lately. Yes I have in fact been using that GT Xpress I bought. I’ve made cakes, eggs, calzones and even chicken cordon bleu in it! I love it. I’ve also been cooking up a mess of meat lately, as I’ve been trying to limit the carbs I eat. It’s definately helped me lose some weight, and with the Wii Fit coming next week, I expect to be a lean mean sex machine soon I’ve been cooking steaks (which I’ve never done before and have gotten better at) and even ribs! I have however been bad and started cooking cheesecakes, which the BF seems to be eatting more than I do.

Last night the BF and I went to see Eddie Izzard’s new stand-up show “Stripped.” No he wasn’t naked, but he wasn’t in drag hence the name. I think he’s a funny man, but some of his humor I just don’t get, and he rambles on a bit. Plus it didn’t help that his new show surrounds the topic of whether there is or isn’t a God. He basically goes through time and the history of man and civilization deconstructing things and making it humorous. However I couldn’t help but pick things apart because some of his “facts” were in fact wrong or exagerated for humour.

Today I ended up playing hookie from school work and went to the movies to see “Iron Man.” I knew I had to go during the day when the kids were in school and most people were at work. Otherwise I would have had to deal with babies crying, rude kids being rowdy and their rude parents talking to each other, the screen or their buddies over the phone. There was about 10 people in the whole theater, which was perfect. The movie was absolutely amazing. Yes the story was pretty predictable, but it was great and worth seeing. Everyone should take a trip to see it, you won’t be disappointed, even if you don’t like superhero movies.

With the day pretty much shot and 2 hours till “Betty” and “Grey’s,” I’m gunna clean up the house and bit then settle in for some TV time. I’ll resume school tomorrow.

This week the BF and I finally sat down to watch the much hyped “Cloverfield.” I had read several blog posts from people who saw this movie and thought it was the most amazing thing ever. Unfortunately neither of us liked it. The BF didn’t think it was too bad, he just didn’t like the ending, but was hoping for a sequel to tie up lose ends. I just thought it was aggravating all around.

For those who don’t know, “Cloverfield” is basically “The Blair Witch Project” but with a Godzilla like monster attacking New York. It made news first with it’s very odd trailer last year and then when it was released because the shaky hand-held camera angles and movement were making people sick in the theater. Had I seen this in the theater I so would have had a monster migraine for sure! It was worse than “The Blair Witch,” which did make me ill watching on the big screen. That’s one reason I waited for the small screen.

Unlike “The Blair Witch” though, I don’t feel “Cloverfield” delivered. First, there literally is no real story to the movie. There kind of is, but not enough of one. Most of the story is about the people and their relationships rather than the monster. Maybe this is what they were going for, but if I have to see a giant monster destroying New York then I’d like to know something about IT. The relationships in the movie were also aggravating, because aside from one couple, there really weren’t relationships. The guy who does the camera lusts after a girl in the group he hardly knows, while our “hero” decides rather than flee New York he’s going to ground zero to rescue his girlfriend. Oh and by girlfriend, I really mean the girl he’s been in love with for years who has treated him only as a friend, blew him off at his own going away party and is dating someone else. So of course all his friends risk their lives to help him! Yeah you know this isn’t going to end well. Finally the ending was aggravating. I won’t give it away, but even the BF yelled out “What the #$%#$ that’s it!”

Two thumbs down as far as I’m concerned!

Last night however I finally watched “Aliens Versus Predator: Requiem” which I’ve had sitting around for about a month. All I can say is redemption! Now THIS is a monster movie! It’s the sequel to the ill received original “Aliens Versus Predator” which I actually rather enjoyed myself. You don’t have to have seen the original really to enjoy this one, but it does provide a back story.

The original took place at an excavation somewhere in the arctic circle. A large pyramid structure was found deep underground. As it turned out it was a temple built by humans for the Predators, an alien race engaged in a hunt across space of the Aliens race. Every so many years earth hosted the hunt and well, I won’t spoil any more in case anyone wants to see the original then the sequel.

The sequel takes place right after the original, once again on earth. However instead of being confided to an underground pyramid, this one takes place in some town in somewhere USA. This is a classic no hold barred, no one is safe from death monster movie. Almost everyone, and I mean everyone is slaughtered in this movie. What’s great is the gore doesn’t get to the point of “Saw” or “Hostel” levels where the gore takes over and is the movie. This is much like a classic slasher movie, just with the Aliens and a Predator as the killers.

Two thumbs way up!

First up, I know it’s been a few days since I posted. After Vegas I needed some down time, plus I got hit with kidney stones . . . always fun! Anyway I’m back to normal and getting back to work and the daily grind. Just a few updates on what other stuff has been going on.

Madonna’s “Hard Candy” album dropped this week. Unlike “Confessions,” which I instantly fell in love with, this is more of a “have to listen to it a few times” to get the feel for it. There are definitely some great songs on it with an 80s electro-pop dance feel as well as a 70s disco-soul groove. “Give It 2 Me, ” “Incredible,” “She’s Not Me” and “Devil Wouldn’t Recognize You” are my favorites on the album. Other songs are okay, some I could have done without. Some just don’t feel like Madonna should be singing them to me, and she really needs to stay away from rapping.

Last night I watched “The Orphanage.” Watching this around 3am was a mistake, because it was a subtly creepy movie. Nothing overwhelming, jump out of your seat scary. Just creepy. It’s from producer Guillermo del Toro, who is probably best known for writing/directing “The Devil’s Backbone” and “Pan’s Labyrinth.” Both of these are set during the Spanish Civil War, but “The Orphanage” (which he just produced) is in modern times. It’s the story of a woman who buys the home/orphanage she grew up in to return to with her husband and son. However it seems the children she played with as a child might still be around! Very good movie, very creepy. One of the better in the horror genre to come out these past few years in my opinion. Warning though, it’s subtitled for those who don’t like reading during a movie

Also out this week is “GTAIV” better known as “Grand Theft Auto 4.” Yes this is the controversial game said to warp children’s minds and make them go out and shoot up people and stuff. It’s rated M for mature, there is a reason, kids shouldn’t be playing it! If you wouldn’t let your kids go to an ultra-violent movie, don’t let them play these types of games either, it’s that simple. I picked it up because it’s a fun stress reliever honestly. I know the difference between right and wrong and real and imaginary, so I’m pretty confident I won’t be carjacking anyone tonight or running people over on the street

Finally I ordered the “His Dark Materials” trilogy, the first book being “The Golden Compass.” It’s been awhile, since the last Harry Potter, since I read something for fun. I decided I liked the movie enough to give the books ago. Plus I want to see what the “controversy” is about.

On our very delayed flight home last night they showed “The Golden Compass” which I rather enjoyed, but felt I was left hanging at the end. Grrr! I’m not sure if they are making more or not, so I feel the need to read the books the movie was based on. I know of course the big secret at the end because it was a controversy when the movie came out. The other movie they started showing was “P.S. I Love You” which we never finished! Grrr! Talk about really being left hanging. So I have to wait two weeks for that on DVD.

Anyway, today is my one and only rest day. I slept way too late because of travel and can feel this stone moving in me, so I’m parking my butt on the couch for the day and resting up. I plan to catch up on all the TV I missed while gone. Oh and unfortunately aside from those dam photos, I didn’t take too much in Vegas. I took a lot of digital movies so I’ll be using some time to see what I can string together in my editing software.