The Road by Cormac McCarthy

What a bummer apocalypse.  Cormac McCarthy's The Road forces us to look at what it will really be like when civilization collapses; cold, dark, lonely, frightening.  There will be no sweet clubs of vigilantes to join (unless you enjoy eating people), there will be no new dystopian society to rage against, there will be no knowledge of what disaster caused the end, there will be nothing but endless, empty darkness.  Well great, thanks a lot Cormac. 
But you know what, the guy has a point.  Imagining that the post apocalyptic world will be all cool weapons and star crossed lovers searching for each other is like watching Girl, Interrupted and thinking the psych ward will be chock full of dramatic meltdowns with Angelina Jolie and sneaking off to have awesome bowling parties when the most excitement you really get is hoping your schizophrenic roommate doesn't kill you in your sleep because you changed the channel from Wheel of Fortune. But I digress.



One of the more cheerful backdrops in the movie adaptation of The Road

The Road is depressing yet uplifting, horrific yet oddly beautiful.  It is a hero's journey of sorts that would make Joseph Campbell proud and celebrates the love of a father and son who are battling the odds that can never be in their favor.  The movie follows the book well considering that the novel is written like a stream of consciousness with no quotation marks to keep track of who's speaking.  And Viggo Mortensen as the downtrodden father, trying to carry the agonizing burden of fruitless survival sells it in this adaptation.  So if you don't mind feeling really, really hopeless for awhile, check it out.  You will find some small hope again for humanity by the end I promise you.

Game of Thrones Season 3 Trailer

Yes! Yes! Give me it to me! I want! I need!

Desperation by Stephen King

Tak! Stephen King's Desperation tells a fantastic tale of good vs evil, possessed desert creatures, and vengeful Chinese miners to start. Not interested yet?  Did I mention Ron Perlmen plays a murderous, psycho cop? Believe it! If I've learned anything from the great Stephen King, it's that if you think you can enjoy a cross country road trip with your loved ones, you're gonna have a bad time.  Especially if it's on a two lane highway in the middle of the desert with no reception.  And these poor travelers are no exception, as they have no earthly idea what they are in for.

As if things weren't bad enough, now you've got a decomposing cop mocking you with air quotes

OK, so Rotten Tomatoes didn't care for this movie, but these are the same people who also thought My Week With Marilyn was a delight, so take THAT how you will.  Of course, the movie adaptation of Desperation can't possibly rank up there with masterpieces such as IT, Pet Sematary, The Shining, and the first three minutes of The Stand, but it's still worth watching.  Who else but King can seriously creep me out while reaffirming my faith in God at the same time?  Any other movie with a soft spoken kid sharing words of wisdom from the Lord to down trodden adults would have me checking the channel to make sure I hadn't accidentally ended up on Lifetime, but I'm telling you: it works.  Especially when all the classic horror elements are there.  Animals acting freaky (think Hitchcock's The Birds, but replace it with wild canines), a ghost town with a fricking tumbleweed, grainy film footage, rotting corpses, dolls laying in the sand, this movie has it all!  Now I understand why my boyfriend tells me it would be a bad idea to stalk Stephen King outside his home, this man is a genius and needs his space to write!  Besides the bushes outside his house are uncomfortable.  I'm kidding Stephen King, but seriously I love you. Just saying. OK, I'll leave now.

Savages by Don Winslow

Savages by Don Winslow was a really fun read.  The characters were hilarious, the writing was quick and witty, and there was always something about to go down on the next page. 

Oh, Oliver Stone, I love you but the movie adaptation, while fun to watch, was missing a couple of elements.  Firstly, I was hoping that O would be a little less hippy and a little more dippy.  Because actress Blake Lively had put away her gossiping, traveling pants and played such a phenomenal (though small) part in The Town, I was actually pretty excited when I saw she was cast as Ophelia, the lovable derp who ate too much, shopped too much, and whose most pressing issue was typically whether or not there were batteries in her vibrator.  For example,one of my favorite parts in the book, that they ended up not including in the film, was when she and Esteban spend time bonding over reality TV while she's being held hostage.  Oh and O was supposed to have mermaids tattooed on her arm.  Just saying.

Secondly, I cannot stand this guy so everyone please stop putting him in movies.  What, is it in his contract that he has to wear that stupid hat all the time?

Thirdly, the ending ruined what was overall a decent adaptation and I wish I could have just chopped off the last ten minutes or so and left them in the desert to die like they were supposed to.

Some great moments in the movie:

• Benicio Del Toro as Lado taking a sip of his Starbucks iced latte while dead people lay strewn around him
• Benicio Del Toro's hair
• Salma Hayek as Elena.  She did a fantastic job in my opinion and really sold it as the matriarch trying to prove herself as jefe in a man's game
• Salma Hayek's hair
• John Travolta as Dennis.  I couldn't believe how much I loved his acting skills in this movie.  Say what you will about Travolta, this guy can really play a douchebag.  Favorite quote: "You stabbed a federal agent!" 

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Like one who, on a lonely road,

Doth walk in fear and dread,

And, having once turned round, walks on,

And turns no more his head;

Because he knows a frightful fiend

Doth close behind him tread.

-Coleridge's "Ancient Mariner"

I faced a plethora of choices when selecting the movie to watch for Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. After reviewing some of the adaptations, I decided to go with Kenneth Branagh's 1994 version, as it seemed to be the most consistent with the actual book and featured Helena Bonham Carter and Robert De Niro which peaked my curiosity.  Furthermore,  I wanted a film that would capture Frankenstein's monster as the philosophical, heart wrenching, misunderstood creature Shelley portrayed, instead of the grunting (though still lovable) freak of nature popularized in early cinema.
The movie got off to a good start with the setting of the ship trapped in the freezing Arctic, as this was essential to the narrative of the entire novel.  I could have done without the musical score and half of the scenes of Frankenstein frolicking around with Elizabeth through various fields and parlor rooms, but these were minor annoyances, which would be done with soon enough.
Branagh, being king of the Shakespeare movies in the 90s, did a fantastic job in my opinion, really demonstrating the madness of Frankenstein's scientific obsessions in the moment and then his disgusting cowardice as he was quick to reanimate it and quit it shortly afterwards.  Plus, as Shelley didn't go into much detail as to the workings of Frankenstein's laboratory, I enjoyed the cinematic vision of water, electric eels, levers and pulleys, electricity, and fire as his experiments were created. 
But on to the real victory of this movie: De Niro as Frankenstein's monster.  I know, I know, I was skeptical at first, but this man nearly had me in tears as he portrayed this sensitive, misunderstood misfit who's only want in life was to have a friend.  Even when I tried to brace myself for the scene when he was brutally cast out from the family's cottage in the woods, my heart practically broke in two as I watched him sob alone in despair afterwards.  While reading the book, I wanted nothing more than to tear anyone limb from limb who was hurtful to this creature, although I still have a soft spot in my heart for Justine, whose low status and innocence could only end in tragedy.
All in all, I was very pleased with this adaptation.  I even loved the added twist when Frankenstein reanimates Elizabeth and I am one of THOSE people who hates when screenplays divert from the book (seriously I am probably the most annoying person to see a movie with if I've read it).  Plus I have to say Helena Bonham Carter plays a mean dancing corpse.  While other versions have succeeded in bringing the campiness or the horror of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein to the screen, I will always lean towards those that choose to bring to light one of the greatest cautionary tales of all time.