The Mousehunter – By Alex Milay
A book review by Darcy Low

From the cover: ” Across seventeen seas, there is no mousehunting pirate as feared as the legendary Captain Mousebeard. He seeks out the rarest and most precious breeds of mice to collect and trade, his fearsome reputation preceding him wherever he goes. Emiline, mousekeeper to one of Old Town’s wealthiest citizens; is anything but feared. So when her master puts a bounty on Mousebeard’s head, she sees it as the chance of a lifetime. Her journey takes her on a high seas adventure, filled with swords and sea monsters, betrayal, lies, and the chance to capture the most dangerous man in mousing history.”

This book really surprised me, like i said; I thought this was just going to be another kid’s book. But it really turned out to be a great adventure book, one that really pulled me in and kept me interested.

The mousehunter is set in a world where there are many, many species of mice, from Sharpclaws who have long razor sharp claws that can cut though anything including metal in seconds. To Powdermice, which are small mice used to run powder for cannons back and forth on ships. When the book first starts out, we find Emiline trying frantically to get a Sharpclaw mice back in in his cage. She is all padded up, and I got the impression of a little girl dressed as a hockey goalie. (Pretty cute.) Emiline is a orphaned girl living in the house of the richest mouse collector in all of Old Town, Isiah Lovelock. He has been collecting mice for years and is always looking for more, including some of the rarest mice. He has even written, Mousehunter’s Almanac; which deals with hunting, collecting and raising mice. This has become Emiline’s bible, and she has really gotten good at doing everything the book says. But she feels that she is not where she needs to be, she wants with all her heart to be a mousehunter.

One night late at night, a dead pirate is washed ashore bearing a wooden box tied around his neck. Inside the box, there is a warning to Isiah Lovelock. We learn that the feared pirate Mousebeard has found something incredibly rare, something that Lovelock will stop at nothing to get. He hires the pirate mercenary, Captain Devlin Drewshank. (He reminded me a lot of Indiana Jones in a way, a bit more egotistical). He is given the job of finding Mousebeard, and stopping him by any means, Locklock tells him that he is the only person that is skilled enough to bring him finally to justice. Drewshanks agrees but with reluctance, even though he has ego about him, he still; deep down has some personal doubts that come out later. Emiline over hears all of this, and sees this as her chance to get out into the world and finally become a Mousehunter. She packs what little she has, and goes to the docks to sneak on board Drewshank’s ship, she is also very upset that she was not able to find the Sharpclaw. It is such a dangerous mouse, that if it should get out into the world; it could be very bad. Her fears are soon realized when she gets to the boat and finds it in utter chaos, the Sharpclaw has made it on board the ship and a a young boy Emiline’s age is trying he best to get it caught. Eiline, feeling guilty; helps the boy capture the mouse and wins the admiration of Drewshanks and her way on board the ship. Scabbers, the young boy; feels put out by Emiline taking over, but later the two become good friends. I really liked his character, he does really want to be a mousecatcher it seems he is more at home as a pirate. Lovelock comes down and Emiline hides so not to be caught by her former employer, but the butler sees her and she tells him where she is going and why. At first he tells her this is far to dangerous for a young girl, but seeing how determined she is; he tells her to be careful and watchful. He also gives her a dagger, telling her there is a lot more going on than what appears. The ship sets out and Emiline’s adventure really begins. As the journey continues, she becomes better at catching mice and also helps Scabbers with his job. He also teaches her a lot about being a pirate and everything to expect while at sea. While Emiline is up in the crow’s nest, the ship is attacked by a sea monster, and is badly damaged.

Let me paused there a minute, and tell you about the creature itself. The creature is man made, by that I mean that it was once a breed of mouse that when thrown into the sea, becomes a giant sea monster. Now that has to be the most original monster I ever read about.  And it really got me going.

Emiline is thrown overboard, but is rescued by Scabbers and the first mate. While  in port making repairs, we learn that the butler was correct, there is far more going on here than just hunting down a dangerous pirate. This just adds to Drewshanks doubts and fears, but he has been hired to find Mousebeard and he decides to press on. While out to sea again, a mysterious fog comes up, so thick that you can hardly see your hand in front of your face. And it is FOLLOWING Drewshank’s ship. When the fog catches up to them and engulfs them, they see Mousebeard’s ship, The Sea Shark. A battle starts, but Drewshank’s cannon balls are of no use. The Sea Shark is a made of heavy metal armour, the cannon balls have little effect. The battle is very short and Drewshank and the crew are captured. Mousebeard comes on deck, as fearsome as all the legends say; and tells them they are all his prisoners. They found Mousebeard, but they are now his prisoners.

How will they escape? How will Emiline ever become a Mousehunter now? And what has Mousebeard found that is so important to Lovelock?

I loved this book, it was filled with action, plot twits and humor as well. The only thing that I had a problem with was the characters. I like them, but I really think the writer could have fleshed them out a lot more than he did. Emiline, herself we have no idea of her past, why she is a orphan, how she became a mousecather in the house of the richest man in town or really much about her at all. We are just thrown in to her story at the present date. I am hoping that her back story will come out later on. I don’t want to give the impression that this took me out of the story any, it didn’t. The writer kept the pace going fast, and the plot thickened a lot as well as the story went along. I liked how there would be a fight or a battle, then after the scene would go to someone else or something else that was happening in the story to fill us in on all the plot twists. And boy, are there ever twists in this story.

I can’t say much more, without giving away stuff. If you like adventure stories, stories of pirates; or even stories of mice you are going to like this one. It was really good and surprising as well.

This is Mr. Alex Milway’s first novel, he has written a lot of short stories and written for magazines before this. according to the back cover, he lives in England and had “Run in with a particularly deadly Sharpclaw, but lived to tell the tale”. hehe.

There is a web site for the books, this is the first one of a trilogy. But I will warn you; DON’T GO HERE UNTIL YOU READ THE FIRST BOOK! The title of the second will spoil the first book for you. But the web site is really fun, there is a lot of information on the books and the author, along with a short video on some of the mice in the books.

http://www.themousehunter.com/

You can also follow Mr. Milaway on hos blog here, see what he is up to and what he is working on.

http://www.themousehunter.com/blog/

And…

I managed to find for you guys the artist who did the cover’s blog page as well.

http://cbcangaart.blogspot.com/2008/10/mousehunter.html

So check these out and go check the book out, I think you will like this series

Darcy

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Oh boy, finally the kids are back to school! In honor of this “most wonderful time of the year,” I talk about some of our mini-vacation outings to the water park and the Tellus Museum planetarium. Then I discuss back-to-school shopping and the benefits of our school’s uniform policy. Then I gush about the Parsec awards coming up at Dragon*Con -I urge everyone to visit the Parsec Awards site to check our our newly posted list of finalists! These are some of the best offerings out there in speculative fiction podcasting! And finally, I highlight the pertussis outbreak and encourage us all to get our booster vaccines, and give info about the free pertussis vaccine clinic at Dragon*Con, thanks to the Skepchicks!

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Hey Guys,
Well my summer is almost over, I start a new school year next monday. I will be studying a lot of new things, chemistry, computer science and drama classes. I am looking forward to it.

this past summer, I choose to read smaller books, and a lot of graphic novels. They are just easier for busy days when you really don’t want be sitting around indoors. So I thought I would share the best ones out of the bunch.

Marvel’s Wonderful world of Oz graphic novel – By Eric Shanower and Skottie Young
Reviewed by Darcy Low

Growing up, my mom loved this movie. We watched it every time it came on. I am sure everyone has seen it, so nothing I will say here should be a spoiler to anyone.

The story is about Dorothy, a young farm girl from Kansas. Her parents are gone and she is being raised by her Aunt and Uncle. She seems like she loves it there and has fun with her cute little dog named Toto. One day when she is out, a big storm comes up. Her Uncle, who is sitting on the front porch see far off that the storm clouds are getting intense. He calls out, that everyone should take cover in the cellar. There is a huge tornado coming their way! Dorothy, who is outside playing; scoops up her dog and runs for cover. But just as she is at the door to the cellar, Toto becomes frightened and bolts from her arms. He runs under the front porch and Dorothy has to crawl in after him. The tornado is almost there, and time is running out for getting to safety. She finally gets him out, just when the storm is right on top of them both. Having no time to get to the cellar, Dorothy runs inside the house.
As the storm reaches it’s full strength, sounding like a train rushing by. The old farm house is lifted up and carried away inside the heart of the tornado.

Waking up hours later, Dorothy opens the front door. But instead of seeing the dusty old farm that she grew up on. She finds herself looking at green fields, blue skies, a group of funny dressed little people who are all cheering her. To quote the movie, “I don’t think we are in Kansas anymore.” Boy, was she ever right.

The little people of course are the Munkins, and the reason they are so happy is because Dorothy’s old farm house landed on the wicked witch of the east, killing her. She had been enslaving and terrorizing them for a long time.  They explain to Dorothy that she is in the land of Oz, and seeing how she is dressed as a good witch; (White.) and she is also wearing colors that the munkins wear themselves, they want to make her their new ruler.

The real good witch of the north shows up, and explains more to Dorothy, telling her there used to be evil witches from the east and west, and now with this one dead the witch of the west is all that remains. With the death of her sister, she is more powerful that ever and will come seeking out the person who killed her sister. Dorothy, a very small and innocent young girl, is very hurt that she has killed anyone. And says it was just a mistake, all she wants to do is to return home to her Aunt and Uncle’s farm. The good witch and the munkins have never heard of Kansas, but tell Dorothy there maybe one man in all of Oz wide enough to help her find her way home. The wonderful Wizard of Oz.

They tell her in order to find him, she must stay on the yellow brick road, which will lead her straight to him. But the road is full of danger, and she has to be very careful. Plus the witch will have minions about looking for her. Before setting out alone, Dorothy is given the silver shoes worn but the wicked witch, because the shoes she has on will not last the long journey. (They is no way I’d wear shoes off some dead body, gross.) She is also given a kiss by the good witch, who tells her this will protect her somewhat upon her journey.

Now we all know how Dorthy met her friends along the way, the Scarecrow, the Coward;y Lion and the Tin  Woodsman. This book though, goes into more detail of their backgrounds. The Tin Woodsman story really stands out at being very sad and tragic. As they journey on, they meet other munkins and have to get pass a lot of dangers. But as they do, each character becomes stronger in himself and as a team working together.

When they finally reach the wizard and his city, they find it and him not at all what they were expecting. When asked what they want from him, they each tell what they are seeking. He agrees to help them all get what they are , but instead of just giving them each item; he sends them out on a series of quests. Each one harder than the last. Can they all gain what they want? Will they find courage, gain a heart and gain knowledge? will Dorothy ever make it back home?

I loved this book. The drawings in it really brought the characters to life for me. Dorothy looked just how she should have to me, more of a young innocent girl than Judy Garlin’s character in the movie. I have never read any of the Oz books, but really want to now. Dad said they are what this book is based on and not the movie so much. There are a lot of differences here, as I said; there is more detail into each character’s life and why they are seeking what they are from the wizard. The Emerald city is that color for a very good reason, and Dorothy has a lot more power than she realizes.

The book also tells the story of the flying monkeys, and how the witch came to gain control over them.

This graphic novel is perfect for anyone that has seen the movie or read the books, and wants to  remember this great story. But more than that, this would be perfect if you have young kids that would be bored with the movie, but you want to share this with them. They would love this book and could act as a gateway to get them to read the novels.

The graphic novel is put out by Marvel, and comes in a hard bound edition. In the back you will find a sketch book  and various covers they were thinking of when they came up with the book. Also you see the next graphic novel which continues in the Land of Oz. “Jack the Punkinhead.” I will be looking for that one myself.

Seek this one out guys, i think everyone will enjoy it.

Darcy

Hey guys!
Yep even on a trip to Wisconsin Dells, I still manage to do reviews for you all.

I thought I would stick with the adventure thing and this time do a dvd review of a old old pulp fiction hero. Back in the day there was Buck Rodgers, Flash Gordon, Sargent rock and one more…Doc Savage.

I had heard of him a long time now, never read any of the books; but sounded a lot like Indiana Jones to me. So when I came across this in dad’s dvds I was like cool! Dad said I may not like it, but I……well lets just see.

Doc Savage. Man of Bronze  – A dvd review by Darcy Low

From the dvd case: “Clark Savage Jr. aka Doc Savage was at his Fortress of Solitude when his empathic abilities sense something is wrong. So he returns to New York and is informed by his confidants, The Fabulous Five that his father, a missionary died somewhere in South America of a tropical disease. He is also told that his father sent him something before he died, and his associates locked it in his safe. He was about to open it when someone takes a shot at him but misses. Doc chases him down and he falls to his death. He appears to be some kind of native, quite possibly from South America. Someone blows up the safe destroying the papers his father sent him, and Doc’s empathic ability goes off again, telling him that his father was murdered. Doc decides to go to the country where his father died to see if he can find out what happened. But after their plane takes off someone tries to shoot it down but Doc had the foresight to send a drone. When he gets there someone tries to kill him, in a peculiar manner.”

Peculiar indeed!

When the movie first starts out, we see snow everywhere; like we are way up north. Over a crest of snow we see the american flag waving waving, moving like a shark fin while the sounds a of a snow mobile can be heard. Then over the rise we see a golden snow mobile make its way down to a igloo. Once the rider gets there, he shuts off the engine and gets off; removing his hood we see…Doc Savage!
Announcer comes over and even lets us know, hehe. (The voice is from the same guy that did all those voice overs in Bullwinkle cartoons.) When he says, “This is Doc Savage. The man of bronze.” the camera zooms in and there is a twinkle in his eye. It is then you know, okay this is going to be silly. And wow was it ever.

Doc is a blond haired, body builder type of guy. We are told he is a scholar, a scientist, skilled in all forms of martial arts, builds inventions and does all he can to benefit all of mankind. He is a hero the world over, and everyone knows when trouble comes, just call on Doc to save the day. He has a group of guys that help him too, they are called the fabulous five; think of the fantastic four plus one.

Ham is a Harvard educated lawyer, one of the sharpest legal minds the university ever turned out. He holds the military rank of Brigadier General. He is known for his love of fancy clothes, and is often ranked as one of the best dressed men in New York City. He always carries a black sword cane, the blade of which is coated with a knock-out chemical.

Here are the guys, thanks go to dad for this. Having read the books he remembered a lot.

Ham loves to fight with his friend “Monk” Mayfair, another of Doc Savage’s associates. This began during World War I, when a practical joke of Ham’s landed Monk in a military jail. Ham had taught Monk some insulting French words, telling him they were compliments. Monk used them while speaking to a French general and got locked in the guard house. Shortly after that, Ham was framed for stealing a truckload of hams, which is how he got his insulting nickname. Ham was able to beat the rap, but the fact that he never was able to prove that Monk was behind this has always been a source of irritation for the lawyer.

Monk is a peerless industrial chemist and, as are all of Savage’s associates, a good man in a fight. His physical characteristics are undeniably simian, hence his nickname. Monk loves a good brawl, beautiful women, and needling his companion, the lawyer ‘Ham’ Brooks. It was Monk, in fact, who framed Brooks for stealing hams during World War I, and the insulting nickname stuck. In spite of their constant bickering, Monk and Ham are great friends and have risked their lives for each other on several occasions.

Monk purchased an ugly pig in Arabia during the novel The Phantom City. He named it Habeas Corpus in order to further infuriate his lawyer friend. The pig accompanies Monk on most of his adventures. (I think that’s the only reason keeps the pig to be honest. hehe)

Littlejohn first met Doc in a prisoner of war camp during World War I. He was the only one of Savage’s five associates who did not have a military rank. Littlejohn is an expert in geology and archaeology. He is described as being tall and extremely thin, with black hair and a large nose. He is referred to as “Professor”, though we are never told which (if any) university he is associated with.  Littlejohn loved to use big words, almost to the point of being incomprehensible (he never did this around Savage, knowing he would be instantly understood by his genius leader). His favorite expression was “I’ll be superamalgamated!”

Littlejohn did not appear in many adventures, as his work would take him all over the globe.

A little Wiki trivia on him. ” In Doc Savage: His Apocalyptic Life, Philip Jose Farmer speculates on Littlejohn being a professor at Miskatonic University, and further claims H.P. Lovecraft’s novel At the Mountains of Madness is Littlejohn’s report of the M.U. expedition to Antarctica.”

Colonel John “Renny” Renwick. Renny was a civil engineer who first met Doc Savage during World War I. A physically massive man, Renny was almost as big as Doc himself, which would make him over six and a half feet tall. Renny had enormous fists, and his favorite hobby was punching through thick wooden doors. He always looked miserable when he was happiest. His favorite expression was “Holy Cow”!

Major Thomas J. “Long Tom” Roberts. (more on the actor playing him in a second.) Long Tom was an electrical engineer whose inventions helped Doc in his fight against crime. He and Doc met during World War I. According to information in the novel The Dust of Death, Long Tom was a pilot during at least some of his service. In one memorable adventure, Roberts helped defend a city with an ancient cannon known as a ‘Long Tom,’ hence his nickname. He is played in the movie by actor Paul Gleason. Geeks will know him from a lot of his films. Mainly as the teacher stuck with the kids in The Breakfast Club. He did a lot of things in his life, from soap operas to a part in the battle of Endor. Very sadly he died in 2006 of lung cancer. They said it was from working with his father as a teenager.

As you can see they were all in the war together, and are very close friends.

When the move starts out, the guys tell Doc his father recently died in a jungle of some unknown tropical disease, and that his father left him some important documents they put in the wall safe. No one read them out of respect. When he goes to the safe, a Indian; who has climbed up a skyscraper across the street takes a shot at him with a elephant gun. The guys and doc rush across the street and doc has a fight with on the top of the building. The guy even shoots doc, but to no effect. (Which i didn’t get. What is he Superman? this happens again later with no explanation how guns don’t kill doc.) The Indian decides to run away, totally forgetting where they are and falls off. (Okay, keep in mind, they are like 20 stories or more up.) When he lands, there is just a little blood on his mouth when they turn him over.
On his body is a a marking of a green snake, no one has ever seen or heard of a tribe with this kind of a marking. Doc tells the group he is going to the jungle where his father died, saying he feels he was killed and didn’t die of a disease at all. The team will not let dock go it alone, so they all head out.

Once they get there, they meet the mysterious Captain Seas; who claims to be just a man looking of money making opportunities. But the guys are not that easily fooled, there is much more to him than it seems.

Doc is attacked by floating green snakes that fly thought the air like green smoke, the slightest touch kills a person. Could this be what really killed Doc’s father? And if so who is controlling them and how?

Okay this has to be one of the silliest movie I ever watched, and I watch a lot of Godzilla movies. Acting? all over the top. Plot: pretty thin. And special effects are pretty bad.

But know what? this was fun to watch hehe. It’s one of those so bad it’s good movies. The whole thing had me rolling.

The fight at the first on top of the skyscraper had Doc faces the Indian who armed with the elephant rifle alone. Doc is unarmed and stand less than three feet away. One of Doc’s team down on the ground sees the indian raise the rifle to take aim and yells up, “Watch out doc!” Right as the rifle goes off, Doc steps aside, dodging the bullet. ( would have run too. hehe.)
Doc also manages to either rip or completely lose his shirt though out the whole movie. The man went though some shirts.
EVERYTHING they have to drive, fly or use in someway has the Doc Savage log on it in big bold letters.
And the final fight scene has to be seen to be believed. Both Doc and the evil mastermind fight in different styles. From Sumo wrestling, (yeah, not kidding.) To Karate and Gung Fu, they both stop at each new style and it is flashed on the screen the name of each one. OMG i was laughing so hard. For having know all of them, the villain is one of the worst fighters you will EVER see.

Sounds like I hated this huh? No like i say I laughed though the whole thing. so if you’re looking for something silly, to laugh at for a hour and a half; well here you go. Dad tells me the books were a lot better. Wow lets hope so hehe.

I can safely recommend this anyone, it is family friendly. Nothing in here kids can’t see. I am pretty sure it is G rated. The characters are pretty funny, and the over acting is a riot,

This one is available anywhere, and has a anniversary edition now. Not a good movie by any means, but it sure is fun.

Darcy

Hi Guys,
I got a rare one for you this time. It is out on dvd, just not sure how easy it to get anymore. It is one dad had on the shelf I pulled down.
Way back before Indy, and long before Captain Jack. There was a Pirate by the name of Bully Hayes.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bully_Hayes

A real life pirate, that roamed the South Sea. This is his story.

Nate and Hayes – A dvd review by Darcy Low.

“Nate and Hayes. After wiping out half a village of native South Pacific tribesmen, Captain Bully Hayes (Tommy Lee Jones) is eventually captured, put in prison, and the rest of this swashbuckling action film is told in a series of flashbacks as he remembers the recent past. The lead-in scene may be off-putting, but its larger context is soon revealed. Hayes had just left a young couple, Nate (Michael O’Keefe) and Sophie (Jennie Seagrove) on an island so they could set up housekeeping and follow in the missionary footsteps of an uncle, when the villain Ben Pease (Max Phipps) shows up, kidnaps Sophie and leaves her husband for dead. Pease runs into a German naval officer who feels it would be advantageous to join up with him — so when Captain Hayes saves Nate and, the two go looking for Sophie, their enemies are formidable villains indeed. Laced with humor and acting in the grand pirate-movie tradition.”  – From the All Movie Guide.

I really liked this one. Dad said when it first came out, it was a flop at the box office. Which is weird to me, because it is really good. It has action, a great plot and Tommy Lee Jones as a pirate with a beard! I mean what more could you want?

When the movie starts, we see Captain Hayes (Played by a very young, long haired and bearded Tommy Lee Jones) with his crew carrying boxes of guns though a jungle. They come upon a native village where a woman is the chieftain. They are selling the guns to them for gold, but the woman refuses to give them money and attacks the crew instead. They flee back though the jungle with the natives hot on their trail! In what will remind you a lot of Indy in Raiders, including a fight scene on a rope bridge far over a river. (Think Temple of Doom.) In A  fight on the same bridge, we learn Captain Bully does not shy away from hitting women, well crazy women with spears trying to kill him that is. : )

After the fight, having made it across the gorge and having cut the rope bridge; Bully thinks he is safe and sound. But the evil pirate Captain Pease, who is working with the Spanish army. They find out that Bully has been selling guns to the natives. They throw him in jail, getting ready to hang him for treason the next morning.

He is sitting in the jail cell with a man who is taking down his confession. Bully, while being nice and answering the man’s question. The man describes how others see Bully, as a cold blooded killer, a rapist and a pillager. Bully tells him, yes he kills when he has to; but as for the other he has never done any such thing. He asked the man if he wants to know the full story of how he wound up here.  And this is where our story begins.

Long before, Bully and his crew were in a sea port; taking on supplies. He is approached by a young couple. The man is a young priest who is going to his parents home, where they have a parish. Teaching the natives Christianity and helping them. They both ask if they can book passage aboard the ship. Bully, always liking money; and who is taken by the girl. Readily agrees. During the voyage, the young man becomes more and more jealous. But Bully is a real gentleman and really gives no reason for him to be worried.

After they drop them off, wishing them both well. Bully and his crew go into town. Meanwhile the couple go to his parents home. They are all excited about the wedding and agree to be married the next day. All during the dinner, the young priest is grumbling about the crew and Captain. When the parents learn he was Bully, they are shocked and tell them both they are lucky to be alive. Further advancing the wild pirate story.

The next day, right as the wedding is starting. The wedding party is attacked by pirates and slavers, who kill both parents, take some of the natives; and leave the young priest for dead. Taking his wife! When he awakens hours later, he is helped by the only surviving native who tells him all that happened. He feels it is Captain Bully that has done this, and the young priest sets to work to find him to take out his revenge. He takes off in a home made raft, but winds up wrecking it and is left stranded on a rock sticking out in the middle of the ocean. (A funny scene after happens when he is spotted standing on it.)
He is finally rescued and picked up by…….yeah you got it, Bully and his crew. (didn’t see that coming did you? hehe.) The young priest, (Nate from the title; I should have said earlier.) attacks Bully blaming him for everything that has happened. Shouting it was him and his “Blackbirds that did this!”
Bully and his crew clam him down and explains to him that it wasn’t them at all. And Blackbird is what Captain Pease calls his crew, often leaving the sign of a crow behind to scare people. They return to his parent’s home, pointing out the signs and saying this looks like the evil Captains work. The crew and Bully all agree to help find the girl and bring Pease to justice.

Meanwhile……

Aboard Pease’s ship, the young bride is locked up in a cabin; trying everything to escape. She manages to get one of the crews knife from him and when Pease busts in, holds the blade to the frightened man;s throat; saying she will kill him if she is not let go. Pease smiles evily, pulls out a dagger and kills the crew member himself! He then explains that she can never escape and that he has plains for her.

Later, he and his crew land in a port and Pease meets with a German office, who agrees to buy the captured slaves. He is down in the islands looking for some where to set up a naval base for the Germans. He says thy have a secret weapon that has to be hidden somewhere down here. Pease agrees to help and takes him to head hunter’s camp. They offer the FAT chief various shrunken heads, (gross) but the chief only says, “Not enough!” At a lost, and wanting the hide out badly, the German turns to Pease asking what can we give him? Pease smiles evilly and replies,    “Oh we have something else, it really depends on how bad you really want this.” They return to the ship and bring to the chief the young girl. The chief readily agrees then. And calls for the girl to be sacrificed to their god!

Now it is a race against time! Can Nate and Bully find her? Will they arrive in time? What about Pease, can they stop him and his evil ways? And what of the German officer? Just what is this “Secret weapon” and why does it have to be so well hidden? As the young girl is slowly lowered into waiting flames, time is running out for our heroes!

Wow guys, this is really a great movie. It is full of action, sword play and also some humor. The chemistry between the two main characters is really good and gets pretty funny as they both get drunk at one point and moan over the lost girl. The acting is pretty good for this type of film, wasn’t really any over acting. And seeing Tommy Lee Jones as a full on action hero is really cool.

This one might be hard to find. We have a copy from a old laser disk, so we don’t even have a case I could take a quote from. (And yes, dad had bought the disk, so nothing illegal in making his own copy.) I would try to find this on Netflix first, then maybe amazon and ebay. Dad thinks it did come out on dvd at some point.

Anyway here is a trailer I found for you, plus a bit of trivia as well.

First is the scene in the jail cell as Bully begins his story. It is on Amazon, so I am think this is your best bet to find this great movie.

http://www.amazon.com/Nate-And-Hayes/dp/B001KLZ6YI/ref=pd_vodsm_B001KLZ6YI

This is the only you video I could find. It is of various scenes in the movie. Still you can get an idea bout it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hm7fW3I0jkc

So seek this one out guys, and if you have seen it, please feel free to add comments. That’s why I do these. To get parents to remember, and new people to seek out good movies.

And here is a couple things to look for in the movies. A couple funny goofs.

As Hayes and his crew stop Ben Pease in the streets of Samoa we see he is clearly surrounded. In fact people and Hayes’ remaining crew cut off the escape route. However when Pease makes his escape away from Hayes, the crew and everyone that cut him off are standing to the sides of the road giving him a clear path.

When Nate is sailing away on the raft, the surviving native is shown topless as he waves goodbye. No injuries can be seen from either the front or behind, despite the character recently having been shot in the shoulder when the island was attacked.

Darcy

*SPOILER ALERT*

The kids and I present a review/summary of the movie “Despicable Me,” and encourage you all to go see it! It was a thoroughly enjoyable movie for kids and adults, and well worth a visit to the theater – which is saying a lot, considering our family usually waits for everything on Netflix!

Then, we have a few voicemails from Lizzie, Tim and Wyatt, and then I urge everyone to visit the Parsec Awards site to check our our newly posted list of finalists! These are some of the best offerings out there in speculative fiction podcasting!

Please email me with your own comments at howtogrowyourgeek-at-gmail-dot-com, or call my voicemail number at 206-202-7309   and leave your thoughts. You can also visit our forum at the Farpoint Forums. And last but not least, you can follow me on Twitter at SusietheGeek or the show at HowToGrowGeek!

Theme music courtesy of Jonathan Coulton

Promos: Parsec Finalists: Variant Frequencies and The Babylon Podcast

A lot of things happened in the eighties. Pac man was big, as was rubik’s cube. Walter Cronkite retired after nineteen years doing the news and Harrison Ford stared in Raiders. Meryl Streep took home…..well everything. My dad cast his first vote and Ronald Regan was president. (Please note, dad says he is not to be held responsible for that last one.)
And a young college student set out writing one really cool and funny comic strip, then went on to write screen plays, novels, ect. His characters have become American icons, say one of their names and people all over the world know who you are talking about.

This time around I thought I would review a book collection of one of dad and Jenny’s favorite strips.

Bloom County The complete collection volume one. By Berkeley Breathed.
Review by Darcy Low

The book has comic strips from Mr Breathed very first comics that he did in his college paper, up to 1982. His first drawings were funny, but doesn’t look at all like they do later on. But you can still see his humor and a few of his characters that he stuck with.
The book starts out with even more of a treat after, we get to see for the first time anywhere; six comic strips he did “For emergencies” ; which means these are one papers can use when they need one quick. I guess cartoonist have to do that, i mean think about it; they must have to do a lot and turn them in at once? Just to keep up.

Then we get into the beggingins of Bloom County itself and it characters. First we meet are two older folks. One is a old man at a Burger King.  Now back in the day, you could order a hambuger anyway you want and back then you got it. It was Burger King’s motto. So he goes in and ask for a burger with out a bun. (Which we can get now.) After arguing with the guy behind the counter he gets what he wants. Then the guys asks if there will be anything else? “Milkshake, no cup.” Hehehe

Turns out that is Milo Bloom’s Grandpa that everyone calls the general. The general is like a lot older people I know from here. Still living the war, not trusting people and looking for “Darn Ruskies” under every rock and behind every tree. He is a big supporter of any war types in office and congress and feels the best answer to any troubles is to nuke em!
Milo Bloom is a heavy set young boy, maybe my age or so. He has glasses and is not at all afraid to speak his mind. He has a lot of views and points out things that people miss.
Later on we see him take on a role at the local small town paper as a reporter. He has dreams of being the next Walter Kronkite, but really comes off as one of those writers for the tabloids. Oftend making up wild stories about a crocked senitor that lives in town. Half the stuff he prints is made up, but turns out some are pretty close to being true too. One Funny strip shows Milo sitting at the obituary desk of the newspaper looking bored. He reaches over to a large telephone book and dials a number. “Hello? Mrs Johnson? Okay just checking.” HEHEHE!
Yeah okay bad taste I know, still funny.
Milo lives in a old boarding house. Most of the tennats are older people, but the nerby meadow is full of talking animals. Bunnies, bears, beavers, ect. All of them act like humans. With issues and concerns the same as ours. They love going to movies, protesting anything that will treaten them, and aren’t afraid to bring tomatoes to the senitor’s speaches.

Other peolpe of note are Steve Dallas, the local lawyer. He feels he is quite the ladies man, always hitting on women and always single. Bobbi Harlow, Bloom County’s first women liber; she becomes the new school teacher, ready to enlighten the girls and teach the men in the town a thing or two. Cutter John, a geeky guy in a wheel chair; loves Star Trek and Bobbi, also talks to the animals but more on that in a bit.
Then there is Milo’s friend and classmate Blinkey. Blinkey is a very shy very skinny kid. He likes reading, hanging out with Milo, and waking up his father at 3am with shocking celebrity news updates. His father, who recently got laid off; is not amused and thinks Blinkey is a dork. He keeps trying to get he to be more “manly” by getting into football and stuff. But he is not cut out for that, and would rather parley than tackle. (or get tackled.)
Then there is Bill the cat. Bill is a stray that some one let into the boarding house. Has seen better days and spends most of his time eating, sleeping and coughing up fur balls. He somehow manages to get his own toy and tshirt line though.

Lastly there is Opus. EVERYONE knows him, so what can you say? He starts out life in Bloom County as a Blinkey’s pet. Still learning words with the help of Mr Rodgers and tv, he later becomes everything from a cow in the christmas school play, Meadow party vice president canidant, to Mr Spock.

The whole book is full of comics, each one as funny as the last. You get to see the character progress and react to what is really going on in the real world at the time. Also, along each comic is the story behind it, or something that was happening in history at the time.Which is really cool to me. A lot of the people in politics I had no idea who they were, those little notes helped me get the jokes. Also made me research as well.

History lessons from a comic strip, hehe; who would have thought huh?

The book is a hard bound, coffee table size book from the libray of American comics. and comes with it’s own ribbon book mark. Volume two has just come out as well so make sure to check out both. Oh and parents, younger kids may not get the jokes; but there is nothing offensive that i saw here. I might recommend it for like 12 and up. That way they understand a little more.

Mr Breathed has gone on to write novels, one of my farovite movie screen plays; “Second hand Lions” And is working on a new movie called, “Mars needs moms.” How can you pass that up??

You can find more over on his web site at:
http://www.berkeleybreathed.com/

Go check it out and enjoy the books, this one is a keeper and I look forward to reading volume two.

Darcy

Back twenty five years ago, a lot of things were different. Music kinda sucked, clothes were different, man dad had actual hair, and video games were just getting started. In fact, back then if you wanted to play the lasted one out there, you had to go to a arcade or a bowling alley. Wow how things have changed huh? Back then, a kid playing a video game had dreams; some of getting the high score and others a much larger dream. Something on the verge of becoming a hero, rising above their drab and boring lives, and gaining something epic. Such is the dream of Alex, but I am getting a head of myself….

The Last Starfighter – A dvd review by Darcy Low

From the back of the dvd: ” Greeting Starfighter! You have been recruited by the Star League to defend the frontier against Xur and the Kodan armada.
So begins a adventure of galactic proportions in The Last Starfighter. After earthling, Alex (Played by Lance Guest) conquers the Starfighter video game, he is recruited by alien Centauri (Played by the late Robert Preston) to be part of an elite legion fighters. Leaving behind his trailer park home for the outer regions of space. Alex becomes the last hope for the beleaguered Star League and hundreds of worlds, including earth.

I love this movie! We got the twenty five year anniversary one, and it is full of extras.

Alex is boy who has just graduated from high school, and has big dreams of getting into a good college. He lives in a small trailer park, where he is spending most of his summer fixing things for the people there, electrical problems; and a little of everything. Seems like everyone needs him for one thing or another. He doesn’t mind too much; but it is really not how he wants to spend his summer. He is in love with Maggie, who will be heading off to the local community college at the end of this summer. Alex is wanting to go somewhere away from where he lives, he feels tied down and wants to see what’s out there beyond the trailer park. But as I said everyone there needs him to do something for him, and sometimes he can’t even get away to go swimming. His one form of escape is a video game up at the small store at the entrance to the park. It is The Last Starfighter, of course and Alex plays it so much he is close to beating the record on it. On the night of a very bad day for Alex. (He got a rejection letter from a school, his girl went off with some friends to a beach; and Alex spent the whole day in the park fixing other peoples problems.) He starts playing the game, taking out all of his dashed hopes and frustration on it, he is barely paying attention when it is pointed out to him that his score is VERY close to beating the high score. He is up past 900 million! And he is still going. In what is a very exciting and funny scene, where the entire trailer park crowds around him, he finally beats the all time record. That when the fun really begins for Alex.
The next night, he is up by the little store again, when the video game starts acting funny, flashing lights and giving off all these weird sounds. Just as he is going to investigate, a strange, futuristic car pulls up. The door opens, and a voice inside asks for the name of the person whole beat the high score. Alex says it was him, and the voice invites him to step inside the car, that he has a prostitution for Alex. Alex, I guess thinking he is going on some tour for being the kid that broke the record, climbs in. Now let’s stop there a second, NEVER, EVER get into a strange with anyone you don’t know, this could very well be why Alex gets all those rejection notes from colleges. Getting into a car like that is just asking for trouble. The owner of the car and the voice, tells Alex his name is Centaruri, and that he invented that game. He explains to Alex how that game wasn’t even supposed to be delivered there but to Vegas instead, which must mean that it was Alex’s destiny to be the high scorer on it. (Basically he gives Alex the same kind of fast salesman’s type talk he did in The Music Man years before. Which was really cool to see he still had it going on. More on this gifted actor later.) He introduces his assistant, Beta who is is sitting in the darkened backseat as Alex gets in, they shake hands and there is a blinding flash of light before the person steps out of the car. Centaruri then closes the doors and locks in Alex, taking him on a high speed ride. Explaining to him how that video game was supposed to go to Vegas, not some trailer park. And how it must have been fate that Alex would be the one to break the record. (Basically he is doing the fast talking salesman routine he did in The Music Man so many years before, it was really fun to see it again and he had some very funny lines.) They finally arrive at a hidden space station, where Alex learns that everything that was in the video game was real, and how there is a actual war for survival going on out in space. He then learns that he has been tricked by Centaruri, and that he has been “Recruited” into the group of hot shot pilots that are to help stop Xur and save the countless worlds. Alex, of course thinks this is all crazy and refuses; telling Centaruri to take him home. NOW!
While they get back to earth, the hidden space station comes under attack by Xur, killing almost everyone and destroying everything….almost.

When Alex arrives back at the trailer park, he learns that Beta is actually a robot who has been pretending to be him this whole time. Alex is really mad now and uses a device to call Centaruri back to get his robot. The group comes under fire from a hired alien killer and Centaruri is badly hurt, Alex goes back to the space station with him, knowing now that his family and friends are in danger, and that he has become a target in this space war.

They find station in ruins, and Centaruri is critically hurt. Alex goes with a alien navigator and launches into space to do his part to help in the war effort. It is then that Alex realizes the truth. He alone is the only Starfigher left alive. Can he put his video game skills to good use? In a war he is not supposed to be a part of, in a Star Fighter that is still so new that a lot of it’s systems have never been tried before? Can one lone teenager face a army of a mad man set on taking over the galaxy?

This movie rocked! The plot was good,the actors were great and you really got behind Alex and his growth though out the movie. The special effects, which were all computer generated of course; were a little dated. But you were able to look past that and it did not take you away from the great plot. There was more than a few laughs as well, most supplied by Alex’s younger brother. And I felt the part about Alex having no choice in killing another being was well acted out. I loved the ending, which i wont spoil here. I would like to find maybe a book on this if one is out there. One thing too, Hollywood is always making remakes, yet here with this movie you can easily do more stories. Three people in it at least could go on to do more.

If you have not seen this, get it. If you are an adult, get this and watch with you kids. There were only two words in it that parents might find bad for younger viewers. But honestly, if it was me and I saw that, I would say the same thing. When you see the scene I am sure you will agree. This is a good one guys!

Darcy

Darcy’s fun fact:

Robert Preston was such a great actor. Everyone knows of his Harold Hill character in The Music Man. He won a Tony Award for it when he was in the broadway play version. He got his start in acting in westerns, and was also a intelligence officer in world war two. Yep he was a spy, makes you wonder if he did his fast talking back then, hehe. Sadly he died of lung cancer in 1986 at the age of 62.
OH! Dad gave me this trivia, back in 1961, year dad was born; Mr Preston made a recording called “Chicken Fat” which schools then went on to use in gym classes. I found a link for it, with a online mp3 file of it. I it is pretty funny, maybe some of you parents will remember it.

http://www.clubcourtyard.com/ChickenFat.html

This week, I join the celebration of the Summer of SciFi at Slice of SciFi with my review of the 1978 original theatrical release of Battlestar Galactica. You can find my review of the movie over there, and listen to my casual commentary of the movie, the series, my comparison of it and Star Wars, and other general bits of me babbling here! I also remind you all to be looking for the finalists of the Parsec Awards to be announced here soon – as we are finishing up semifinalist judging right now!

Please email me with your own comments at howtogrowyourgeek-at-gmail-dot-com, or call my voicemail number at 206-202-7309   and leave your thoughts. You can also visit our forum at the Farpoint Forums. And last but not least, you can follow me on Twitter at SusietheGeek or the show at HowToGrowGeek!

Theme music courtesy of Jonathan Coulton

Photos from the Battlestar Wiki

Promos: Slice of SciFi and The Dragon Page: Cover to Cover

Hey guys,
Well I am finally back online after being with out the internet. Longest two weeks of my life!  This time I thought I would go back to the very beginning. To the movie that started me on the road to geekness. When I first got here and got to looking at all of dad’s old dvd’s  I saw a lot of cool covers and names, but I had no idea where to start. What was good, what was bad, what was worth watching? So dad pulled down this one and said if I wanted a good Sci Fi movie, one that is a classic in every sense of the word; I should start with this. It has spaceships, a mad scientist, a robot, ray guns and monsters.
Now Slice has a thing going of the best memories of Sci Fi that got us all started, I already sent in one of mine, but this one got dad started and then me later on. It is one of the best out there and I just know if it is new to any of you; you will love it too.

This time around we go way back again, back to the beginnings, when Sci Fi and space travel was something of fiction, back in the days of pulp fiction, full of bug eyed monsters; pretty woman in distress and human beings exploring what is out there. I give you guys a real treat, this time I review the classic;

Forbidden Planet – A dvd review by Darcy Low.

From the back of the dvd: “ One of the most  ambitious and intelligent films of its genre. A startling science fiction story conceived on a positively intellectual level. Forbidden Planet is innovative, intriguing,  and one of the most celebrated and imitated films of it’s kind. Featuring riveting performances, astonishing Oscar nominated special effects and the first  ever all electronic musical score. Forbidden Planet is the best of the science fiction interstellar productions of the 1950’s and a landmark masterpiece. In the year 2257, a spaceship ventures to the planet Altair VI; where a earth colony has mysteriously vanished years earlier.  There, commander Adams (Leslie Nelson) and his crew discover colony survivors; Dr. Morbius (Walter Pidgeon) , his daughter Altaira (Anne Francis) and their mechanized servant, Robbie the robot. But to their horror,  they also discover a invisible but massively destructive force which savagely attacks their ship. And threatens to destroy their lives!”

I tell you what, this is one of the coolest old movies ever! The sounds, the music, the acting, everything about this film is just too cool! When the movie starts out, the spaceship is just coming out of hyperspace and enters orbit around the planet Altair IV.  Years ago a colony of scientists were sent there to explore and colonize the planet. They found ruins of a ancient culture, a race that was much more advanced than our own. Dr Morbius is the type of scientist that studies languages, so he went to work trying to figure out their writings and what happened to the race. As they all work, the scientists are struck down with a mysterious plague. Each one dies, leaving only Dr. Morbious and his young daughter alive. He has no idea what killed them, only that his wife died as well and he buried each person himself.

The crew of the spaceship is met by Robbie. Which is the coolest robot in a movie ever! (Dad even has a model of him sitting next to his computer.) He is far advanced by anything humans could build at the time. He takes the Captain, the Doctor and another crew member to see Morbius. Morbius nearly begged them not to land, that he was fine and needed no help at all. telling them almost to turn back and just leave him be. Which is very curious, given everything that has happened. He shows them around his home, and explains what he is doing. He also shows them a lot of gadgets that the home has, which like Robbie; is far beyond anything the crew has seen before and  is more advanced than we could ever build. (A lot of the stuff you see here, comes up later in Sci Fi, a lot of it is in Star Trek. So that should tell you how good this movie is, seeing how people have been influenced by it.) He tells them that he himself built all of this, including Robbie! It was all thing the race of the planet built themselves, he just followed the blueprints. He tells them all of this to prove to them just how safe he is, how he and his daughter have everything they need and how they do not need any rescue. As he says this though, two things seem clear. One he is very egotistic and aggorgant.  But there is fear there as well, almost panic.

When his daughter shows up, we see that she is very pretty and very innocent. Having lived her entire life there with her father, she doesn’t know anything but what he has told her. Dr. Morbius becomes angry with her, having forbid her to come around while the Captain and his crew were there. (This was always curious to me, being protective of her is one thing. But this just seemed extreme to me the way he acted.) The crew, all of them men who have been locked up traveling in space for a long time, fall for her looks. Which doesn’t help with their trying gain her father’s trust.

The Captain tells Morbius that he still has his orders, but that he will contact earth and let them know what is going on, to see what they want him to do. But in order to even send a message, they have to build a transformer out of parts from the ship in order to send a message that far. Which will take days, even with Robbie’s help. So they are stuck there, where the Doctor likes it or not. Morbious blows up and says that he is not responsible for anything that “might” happen, and that he and his daughter were not effected by the sickness that killed off the other scientist, but that’s not to say the Captain and crew might not get it.

As the crew begins to build the transformer, a series of mysterious deaths and mishaps happen. Destroying parts they need to contact earth, which forces them to stay longer than expected. With only the crew, Morbius and his daughter on the planet, the list of suspects is not very long. It couldn’t be Robbie, although he is strong enough to push over the over two tons of lead in one hand, he has programing that will no allow him to harm a human being unless it is to save the doctor and his daughter, or to save himself. He is even given the Captain’s blaster, told to take aim at his head and to pull the trigger. He was not able to do so, in fact all his circuits well blow if he tries long enough. So he can’t be the one. And the daughter is much too sweet and innocent. Morbius himself is far too interested in his research, and only wishes to be left alone. The Captain has the guarded and sets up a fence and automatic guns. And a cast is made from the giant footprints left around the ship, it seems the killer is a large alien creature, but one that should not exist. It has a claw on the foot for climbing trees like a monkey, but has the foot of a creature that would walk on all fours like a elephant. None of it makes any sense. As they are testing the fence and guns, the ship and crew is attacked! The creature is invisible! Having chased it off, with the lost of more men. The Captain and the doctor race back to warn Morbius and his daughter, that they know what killed the colony and why they are in danger. The mystery has been solved……or has it?

If you can’t tell by now, this is my all time favorite old sci fi movie. When dad sat me down the first time, he said if I really wanted to see how good a science fiction movie can be; then this is the place to start. And he was so right. I said this was a murder mystery, and it is. But there are other mysteries to the plot as well. Like what happened to the original people of the planet and why if they were so advanced, did they cease to be now? And why is it Dr Morbius and his daughter where the only ones to survive after all this time?

What is really cool about this movie for me is the story. Oh sure you got some really cool special effects, and the music and sound effects are the best; but it’s the whole story that I just love. I heard it is a lot like a Shakespere play called Tempest? I don’t know about that, not ever read that.

The other thing that sets this movie apart is the actors themselves. This was Leslie Nelson’s first staring role, he went on to do comedy in Airplane and Naked Gun. (Should have stuck with sci fi, but that’s just me. )
Walter Pidgeon who started out as a banker but grew tired of that and decided to be come a actor. He got his first staring role back in the thirties, and you can tell by his proformance here; he made a wise choice.
Anne Francis, who started her career at age five as a child model, she was also in the old film Blackboard Jungle, which dad says is a good one. She is also known to geeks from episodes of the old Twilight Zone.
Robbie was voiced by a local St Louis legend here, Marvin Miller. Who got his start in radio here, and when he passed away in 1985 got his star on the walk of fame in University City.

So there you go guys. My all time favorite old Sci Fi movie, the one that got me started on this geeky road. If you have seen it, watch it again. And if your kid’s have never seen it, you owe it to them to sit and watch it together. The creature might be scary to young kids, but it is only on for a few seconds. The movie is rated G, so there is really nothing for parents to be concerned about.

Find it, get it, own it. It’s the best out there!

Darcy

Happy Independence Day to the U.S.! I hope folks had a great holiday weekend! We have a number of great voicemails from Tim, highlighting Darcy’s awesome reviews here on the blog, and reinforcing my discussion on recycling and reusing stuff! Then Lizzie calls in to tell us about her babysitting gig and how the parents are cool Brits who let their kids watch old Dr. Who! Then Tim gets me going again on role-playing online, so I gush about DDO again.  Finally, I pipe up about our love of Steam for downloading PC games, and Wyatt calls in about GameStop for console games. I hope you guys love the mailbag stuff! I’ll be back next week with another topic after my week at my folks’ home down on the farm.

Please email me with your own comments at howtogrowyourgeek-at-gmail-dot-com, or call my voicemail number at 206-202-7309   and leave your thoughts. You can also visit our forum at the Farpoint Forums. And last but not least, you can follow me on Twitter at SusietheGeek or the show at HowToGrowGeek!

Theme music courtesy of Jonathan Coulton

Promos: The Jesus Geeks (Now Twisted Geeks!)and What The Cast

Back again for another dvd review. This one really surprised me, with a lot of well named actors, a good story and a few other surprises. What I thought was going to be a all out comedy, turned out to be something else. Just goes to show you can’t judge a dvd by the cover. So this time around I am going take you back in time. Back to the days of Knights and Ladies, Heroes and Villains, Swords and of course; Dragons!

George and the Dragon – A dvd review by Darcy Low

From the back of the case. ” A dragon, a princess and a knight to remember. George, a handsome English knight, tired from battle; desires to hang up his sword and settle down to a quiet, peaceful life. Upon returning to England, George heads north where the land is good and ruled by a kindly king Edgar. Unfortunately he finds King Edgar in a terrible state. His beautiful daughter, Luna recently disappeared. In return for a small plot of land, George agrees to search for princess Luna and immediately setting out with King Edgar’s faithful servant, Elmendorf. After finding the princess, George discovers she has found a dragon’s egg, which they both believe holds the last dragon on earth. But protecting the egg unfolds more than George ever imagined.”

Wow, this movie really surprised me. I really thought when we popped it in that it would be a comedy. The picture on the cover makes you think it will be. And there is some really funny parts to it, a lot happens in the background of shots too! You have to look closely, and the out takes are as good as a Jackie Chan film!

The movie starts off with George and his Moorish friend from the crusades arriving by boat back to England and George’s home. (His friend is played by Michael Clark Duncan, if you don’t remember him; he is the huge black man from Mission Impossible. The one with the deep voice.) They both talk about what they will do next, George say he wants to settle down now, his days as Knight are over. All he wants is a small farm, a couple of cows and peace and quite. But his friend laughs, knowing full well that’s not going to happen. He says he is off on another adventure, looking for a bandit that is rumored to be a great fighter. He is determined that he will be the one to best him.
Meanwhile in a city close by, we see a friar being run out of town. Seems he and the magistrate had a disagreement. this was pretty funny as you see him racing down the street, winding up on a small board with wheels on it. (The world’s first skateboard?) By the time he reaches the beach where George and his friend are, he has what looks like the entire city guard after him. hehe. After they all manage to escape, George and the friar head off on their own. When the arrive at George’s childhood village, he rushes to see his father and tells him of his wishes to settle down. His father thinks this is foolishness, once being a knight himself. He would still be fighting if not for the fact he had a run in with a dragon that took both his legs. But he sees that his son has decided what he wants to do, and sees him off the next day, wishing him good luck and giving him a special gift. It is a claw from the dragon he fought with, hollowed out into a small horn. When blown, only dragons can here it and will come. Yeah you guessed it, he wants George to find the dragon and seek revenge for him.

While traveling, George meets up with a group of the king’s knights, lead by……wait for it…..Patrick Swayze! Yep. He tells George that he and his men have been out searching the countryside for the king’s daughter who they believe to have been kidnapped. He asks for George’s help, but of course George says no, he just wants to settle down. The knight agrees to take him to the king and introduce him himself. Once there though, even before George can say a word, the king recognizes him to be the son of his once dear friend. George takes pity on the old king and agrees to help in the search for his daughter, asking in return his bit of land that he has always wanted. The king readily agrees and our hero sets out with king’s men.

However, things aren’t all that it seems. It’s true the Princess was kidnapped, but not by men and certainly not by the Picts as the leader of the king’s guard think. What actually happened was, the princess was out wading in a quite lake one day and got snatch up by…….Yep, a dragon. This dragon however is very hurt has been for a while now. Having been stabbed by a large lance that it was unable to remove. (Putting things together yet?) The dragon is a female that has been given birth to a large green egg. It is also the last of it’s kind and the princess takes pity on it. Staying in the cave and protecting the egg from the roaming picts. She is pretty good in a fight and does not seem to need to be needing any rescue attempts.

When George finally finds her, and tells her he is here to take her back to her father and to the captain of the king’s guard, who has told George he wishes to marry her. She would like to go home to her father, but she in no way wishes to marry the captain. In fact she refuses to go at all, because the egg is almost ready to hatch. George is quickly seeing his plans will never come to be with this head strong girl. So they agree she will go back to her father, BUT the egg has to come along as well.

Now George finds himself saddled with a headstrong, snarky, bratty princess. A Dragon egg the size of a cow that is ready to hatch and must remain hidden at all costs, a roaming band of of picts lead by a mysterious black Knight, and a jealous Captain of the guard, that will stop at nothing to gain the princesses hand in marriage. George, by now; is wishing he never left the crusades.

This is a really great movie, it was one I found in the Walmart bargain bins. It is serious, but also has a lot of humor in it as well. The sword play is very good and really looks like they know what they are doing, the characters, while seeming familiar are still well thought out and the actors are really good in this.

I think this might also have been Patrick Swayze’s last movie. If so he had a blast making this. You can tell he is really enjoying it all. Also look for other actors in cameo roles as well. And you will never guess what happened to our Moorish friend or who he the person is that he has been seeking all this time. Also, there is a three way fight scene involving George, the Captain of the guard and the leader of the picts that is just too funny! Think Princess Bride.

Over all I loved this movie and I think you will too. It is of course a telling of Sir George and the Dragon, but with a few different spins.

Look for this one guys, everyone will like it. OH! And make sure to watch the closing credits, they put in the outtakes like Jackie Chan does in his films. YOU WILL BE ROLLING!

That’s it or now, I’ll have more coming soon. Give you a hint, it will be a movie where a doctor and a bald guy share a danish. hehehe, I am so bad.

Darcy

This episode, I try to tackle the complicated subject of how to talk to our kids about the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Doug from Alaska calls in at the beginning – I thought his voicemail spoke for itself. This subject is pretty hard, so I mostly discuss what we can do to help our kids learn how not to make the same mistakes in the future.  Please let me know your comments and suggestions!

Please email me with your own comments at howtogrowyourgeek-at-gmail-dot-com, or call my voicemail number at 206-202-7309   and leave your thoughts. You can also visit our forum at the Farpoint Forums. And last but not least, you can follow me on Twitter at SusietheGeek or the show at HowToGrowGeek!

Theme music courtesy of Jonathan Coulton

Promos: Dragon Page Cover-to-Cover and The Chronic Rift