John was in town again this past weekend, and we saw Aloha, Jurassic World, San Andreas, and Spy.  It was a slow weekend for us, but the times just didn’t line up well eough for us to see more. We did hang out in Furious 7 for an hour and a half while waiting for San Andreas to start alnd that was fun. Furious 7 is one of the best movies I’ve seen so far this year, so watching part of it again was a treat. Here are our reviews, I hope you like them.

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1) Aloha – This is a good film, please don’t think it wasn’t. It would have been a great romantic comedy, it also had the makings of a good political thriller, but because they combined the two genres it just seemed like they couldn’t really develop either. John and I both thought that the movie would have been better if they had chosen one of the two options instead of trying to combine the two. 3*

 2) San Andreas – Disaster movies have come so far from the days of The Poseidon Adventure and the Towering Inferno! The special effects were SO amazing in this film that even the completely predictable ending could not detract from them.  Dwayne Johnson was heroic, as expected, and was surrounded by some very good actors but for us, the star of the show was thirteen year old Art Parkinson, in the role of Ollie. Some of you may know him from Game Of Thrones, and he was an absolute delight in San Andreas. I would recommend this film to anyone who loves a great disaster film. 5*

 3) Spy – Jason Statham in a comedy role, and he was really good! Who knew? But actually, the entire cast of Spy could not have been better chosen. Melissa McCarthy was absolutely perfect in the lead role, while Jude Law, who did not have as much screen time as I would have liked, was a joy to watch simply because he was there. Rose Byrne captivated as bad girl Rayna Royanov, and Bobby Cannavale was wonderful as villain Sergio De Luca. All in all, we were in hysterics from beginning to end. As comedies go, this one will be hard to top. Oh, and if you go to Spy, you should wait around for the credits. They had us laughing too. A hilarious 5*.

 4) Jurassic World – I think I was so impressed by Jurassic Park because the special effects used to create the dinosaurs were unlike anything I’d seen before. The plot was good, the concept believable, and overall it was just a great film. I lost interest in the franchise because of the disappointing sequels, and pretty much figured that my days at the park were done. Welcome to Jurassic World! This movie revives the franchise I a big way, pun intended, and left us breathless in our seats. The special effects aren’t the new thing that they were when Jurassic Park was released, but they have improved over the years and so are just as impressive. The plot isn’t really any different from the others in the franchise, but it was well written and contained several subtle references to the original film, which I greatly enjoyed. The dinosaurs were terrifyingly realistic, and the T-Rex’s final scene could not have been done better. Long story short, you gotta see this movie! An absolute 5*!

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Thank you so much for stopping by my blog today and reading my movie reviews. I appreciate your support, and it totally makes my day when you leave a comment here. If you are interested in adding my novel, Shadow of the Drill, to your Kindle library, the Amazon link is below. I hope you all had a wonderful weekend, and I’ll see you on Wednesday when I post about…something fun. Lol I have no clue as of yet.

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Born of Crcumstance, Bred for Revenge.
Shadow of the Drill
http://t.co/AMzFy8uiSf

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Contact Information:

Twitter – @rhanidchae

                @rhanidchaebooks

 Email – rhanidchae@gmail.com

 Please join me on Facebook and

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Let’s Play A Game

 Today I thought I’d give you a little background on Decker, the main character in Shadow of the Drill, and in the novels that are lined up to follow it. Then, if you stay long enough to read the whole thing, I’ll ask you a question. If you know the answer, you could win either a signed paperback copy or an e-copy of Shadow of the Drill.

 Let me start by saying that while Decker, Rudy, and everyone else who inhabits the pages of the Drill Series are fictional characters, they, and the world that they live in, are composites of  people and places that I knew in my younger days. I was fourteen when I decided that I wanted to leave home and seek fame and fortune. I never found the fortune, but I did find fame, of sorts, in the world of adult entertainment. It was an exciting life, and I learned quickly how to survive on streets very similar to the ones that Decker calls his.

 During the wild years of my wayward youth I met several men who made their money as muscle for hire. Wave the right number of zeros in front of them and they could be hired to handle the various unpleasantries that someone else didn’t have the ability or the desire to do. While many of these men were simply bullies who liked getting paid to intimidate someone, they were seen for what they were and not taken too seriously. But the serious enforcers were a different breed entirely, and despite what you might think, they were not bad men. Granted, what they did was illegal on pretty much every level, but these men were governed by a moral code that was as strict as it was…unique. Crimes against the young, the old, or the impaired were dealt with harshly, as were crimes against women. These men held themselves to the highest standards of loyalty; standing by their family, their friends, and their territory no matter the cost. They were, for the most part, very honest men who knew the value of honor, and would never do anything to bring shame upon themselves, or upon the reputation that they had worked so hard to build. It was these men who gave me my boys.

 Like Rudy, Decker is a composite of two or three of the enforcers who made the biggest impression on me. From the moment of his “birth” I knew everything about him. I knew how tall he was, and that he was heavily muscled. I knew that he was half Italian, and what his voice sounded like. I knew that he was clean shaven, that his hair was black, and that he had the most incredible blue eyes I’d ever seen. Yes, I knew every inch of his body, with one exception: he had no face. And though I tried to combine the features of the men that I had based him on, the results were neer successful enough to actually use. It’s not that I couldn’t write him at a satisfactory level, because I could. But without a face, I couldn’t give him depth. I couldn’t give him life. I wanted him to be so much more than satisfactory. I wanted him to be good. I wanted to be proud that I’d written him. Because of this, I fell victim to writer’s block on a regular basis, and reluctantly considered shelving Shadow until I could come up with a workable face for Decker.

 And then it happened. I went to the movies to see a film that starred one of my favorite actors, and he was there. Second banana to the star, he was a good looking guy with strikingly beautiful blue eyes, but that was all. I don’t think Decker entered my mind until about a quarter of the way into the movie. It was one scene, about twenty seconds long, but there was something about his face that caught my attention. I can’t really to tell you what it was; maybe the lighting, or the angle of his head, but whatever it was, it reached out and locked me in a grip that I know I’ll never be free of. I finally had Decker’s face, and the minute I got back to my computer I could see the difference. Decker lived in my keyboard, and his essence guided my fingers to create a man that I am beyond proud to claim. On that day, the Drill was truly born.  

 Okay, for those of you who have been good enough to read this entire post, it’s time to play a game. Below is a picture of the actor who gave me Decker’s face. I don’t know if any of you will recognize him, but I’ll send a signed copy of Shadow of the Drill to the first person who correctly identifies him. (US residents only) And I’ll send an e-copy of Shadow to the first person outside of the states who recognizes him. And even if you’re not the first person to respond, if you have the right name and would like an e-copy of Shadow, please let me know. I’m happy to send a few more out to those who are interested in reading my work. 

 

Thank you so much for stopping by today and for sharing a few minutes of your time with me. I am so grateful for your interest and your support. Please join me on Sunday for my next round of movie reviews.

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Born of Crcumstance, Bred for Revenge.
Shadow of the Drill
http://t.co/AMzFy8uiSf

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Contact Information:

Twitter – @rhanidchae

                @rhanidchaebooks

 Email – rhanidchae@gmail.com

 Please join me on Facebook and

Google Plus