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• Director: Jon Favreau
• Genre: Action/Adventure/Drama/Sci-fi/Thriller
• Year: 2008

The way I see this, its like what Transformers was supposed to be. A better Transformers, yes. You got the big, bad ass robots, you got the excitement and the explosions and all the good stuff people go see in action movies and then you add to it what Transformers did not have, namely a good plot and good acting. That is not to say this movie was perfect, in fact I had a couple of problems with it, but in the large scale of things, when looking at films like this one, those are factors that matter little. The bottom line is that Iron Man is a hell of an enjoyable movie to watch and this is coming from a person that never was an Iron Man fan.

Essentially, in one big film, you get the progression that leads to Iron Man the hero, starting with an event that sees to the kidnapping of Tony Starks, weapons-builder extraordinaire, by what amounts to a rogue band of terrorists (as opposed to the none rogue type). Some may balk at the thought that Mark I and Mark II are breezed right past in favor of the Mark III suit. In my opinion, it was probably the best thing that they could have done for the movie. Yes, there is something exciting about the progression of the suite, but in a blockbuster, you just want to get to the part where the armor is kick ass.

At the helm of this in the acting area is the great Robert Downey Jr, who has made one hell of a comeback after the controversies of the nineties and whom I must say is quickly becoming one of my favorite all time actors. He brings to the personality of Tony Starks a certain confidence and wittiness that frankly most other films are lacking. This makes me wonder, if they ever make a Deadpool film, they are going to have a hard time topping Downey Jr’s character here.

As I said before, this movie is not perfect and not to be dissected by a critical eye. In the end, it is still a comic book based film meant to entertain more than it is meant to change your life…or at least your point of view. However, it must be said that in that vein of things, Iron man is well ahead of the class!

Rating: 4 out of 5
Notes: Some violence, nothing too crazy but still…
Quote: Tony Stark: Is it better to be feared or respected? I say, is it too much to ask for both?

• Author: Vladimir Nabokov
• Category: Fiction

A classic and one that I had placed in my list for a long while now and just never dared to buy. I did not realize just how bad it must look for me to go and read Lolita after reading Oryx and Crake, which as I mentioned dealt with some issues of child pornography. Bad freaking timing…I swear that is all it was. But anyway, as Nabokov explains through his fictional introduction, this book is not pornographic and so, if that is what you are expecting, you better put the book down and go read something else. This is in fact…a love story. Not to say it is not a messed up love story, because it is about a fully adult male and a twelve year old girl, which…regardless of how you look at it, is all sorts of wrong.

The interesting thing here, is that if you replace pedophilia with just about any other taboo romance, it becomes one hell of a romantic concept. What Nabokov has done is gone for the jugular and touched on the most unacceptable of taboos and in turn given it one of the most beautifully worded romance stories. But…I do underscore the romance, which, initially was beginning to wear on me. While this looked to be a happy story, I actually considered putting the book down, mostly because I do not do romance so well. This too, Nabokov seems to have planned nicely, because just as I though this book may be too much of a love story for me, the author throws in the wrench into everything he has methodically built up. And in my opinion, that saves the story, where the happy ending seems forever ruined and the mystery begins.

Having now finished and being able to contemplate it from afar, the book rounds up nicely. It does some things with language which are just absolutely stunning and while I could do with a little bit less of romance and a bit more of the mystery, I do think this is a very good book and recognize it as such.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 (I am sure this is 5 out of 5 for most people, but for my taste? I docked half a point)
Notes: Umm…taboo romance, but you already know the deal.

• Author: Margaret Atwood
• Category: Fiction

In what is probably described as a Sci-fi/post apocalyptic novel, Atwood gives us a frighteningly realistic bleak vision of the future, in which we follow the last of the humans, a bearded, naked man who clothes himself with a sheet, and who goes by the name of Snowman.

As we meet him, the world is a hell of a mess and though he is the last human, we soon learn he is not the last…humanoid creature. Innocent, naive, friendly people referred to by Snowman as Crakers live in the same area, walking around shamelessly naked and living in complete harmony in their territory. The animals, are familiar, but they are not the animals you and I would know and within a small amount of time we realize just how much of the world has changed.

Thankfully, we have Snowman, who once used to be known as Jimmy and who is haunted enough by his memories for us to see, little by little, how this future came to be, brought upon by ourselves and in a manner that is so realistic, it actually becomes frightening. Often, in the news, I will hear something that sounds like it came out of this book and it sends a chill up my spine. Basically, Atwood has made an effort to create a vision of the future that is entirely attainable if the right pieces fell into place. And when you see the results? It is scary as hell.

Rating: 5 out of 5
Notes: The topic of pornography comes up, specifically the topic of child pornography, which is likely to make most normal people cringe. Worry not, she does not dwell in the details, but it is something that comes on early in Jimmy’s life which turns out to be something significant by the end.

• Author: Miguel García Márquez
• Category: Fiction - Magical Realism/Drama

Not the first time I read the book, to be honest. My dad had actually recommended it to me back in High School and I had indeed picked it up and read it cover to cover, mostly during one long swim meet weekend, between heats. However, reading it now, almost fifteen years later, I wonder if I really read it the first time, or if I really knew what exactly it was that I was reading. Though certain concepts remained the same, there was a lot here I did not remember and which struck me as brand new. Certainly one can chuck it up to a forgetful memory, a lot of ish does happen in over a decade, but I was still struck by how this book took me by surprise all over again.

As the title implies, this book is about Solitude, one hundred years of it, in fact and all of it centered around the Buendia family, starting with Jose Aureliano Buendia and his wife, Ursula, who are part of the group of people that founded a tiny town named Macondo in the middle of the bog. Largely untouched by the outside world, Macondo develops under it’s own self imposed structure and law and the families grow. However, our point of view is always kept through the eyes of the Buendia’s.

Ironically enough the very concept of Solitude was entirely lost to me as a high school student. Probably because I was still submerged in an environment where the idea had not taken root. Reading it now, the entire story is soaked in it, solitude suffocates every character in a way that even with the humor, the tenderness, the beauty that this story encompasses, it is not enough to get past that melancholy feeling.

The book takes us over a whole century of the Buendia family, with Ursula Buendia being the only character that manages to tie it all together until close to the end. Me meet all the Jose’s and all the Arcadios that are born and are introduced to some very interesting women as well like Remedios, Rebeca and Amaranta, all characters fully fleshed out and quirky in their own way to help make of this story an epic.

I highly recommend this one, though be aware for some magical realism, which I guess is what they call this type of story which is set in a real world but where magical reasons for things are often taken as logical explanations for how things actually happen. It is a touch of spice that takes this story to a whole other level of enjoyment.

Rating: 5 out of 5
Notes: There is some adult content here, so be aware that there will be language infused here along with some ideas that are not exactly puritanical.