Media Consumed: October 2010

Books Read
*Stephen King's The Dark Tower: Battle of Jericho Hill by Peter David, et al
*The Zombie Survival Guide: Recorded Attacks by Max Brooks
+50,000,000 Pearls Fans Can't Be Wrong Stephan Pastis
My Friends Call Me Monster (Goosebumps HorrorLand #7) by R.L. Stine
+When Pigs Fly by Stephan Pastis
+You're Making That Face Again by Jerry Scott & Jim Borgman
*Purple Smurfs by Peyo
*Wonder Woman: The Hiketeia by Greg Rucka
Power of Plentiful Wisdom by Julia Shpak
Revenge of the Living Dummy (Goosebumps HorrorLand #1) by R.L. Stine
*Tenken by Yumiko Shirai
Marx Toys Sampler by Michelle L. Smith
The Second Glass of Absinthe by Michelle Black
Catalog #439: Burlesque Paraphernalia by DeMoulin Bros., intro Charles Schneider

* = denotes a graphic novel
+ = denotes a collection of comic strips

I read a lot of graphic novels and comic strip collection in October. "Pearls Before Swine" is, in my opinion, the best comic strip in publication today and I read two collections of "Pearls". I enjoyed the concluding saga of the prequel of Dark Tower comics, The Battle of Jericho Hill. It's not often that a story that you know ends in death, tragedy, and chaos can actually move you with the grim determination of the heroes and the flicker of hope at the end. Beyond that, my only other recommendation is Catalog #439. It's a reprint of an old catalog from the DeMoulin Brothers Company and it will be unlike anything else you ever read.

Movies Viewed for the First Time
Frozen
The Social Network
The Wicksboro Incident
CSA: The Confederate States of America
Extract
Airplane!
Paranormal Activity 2
One Wish Too Many

Frozen was an interesting little suspense movie; you wouldn't think that a movie about three people stuck on a ski lift during a blizzard could be so engaging.

The Social Network is getting all kinds of Oscar buzz. It will win some awards and it is a good movie, but it's not a great movie. It is not the Citizen Kane of this generation. That movie was groundbreaking on so many levels. The Social Network is a rehash of a similar story, but with no originality of its own.

Extract is a movie by Mike Judge that has gotten a lot of negative criticism, but I enjoyed it. I found it to be a grown-up version of Office Space.

Airplane! is a movie I should have seen all the way through years ago, but I didn't. I'm glad I finally got around to seeing the whole thing, especially with the recent passing of Leslie Neilsen.

Lastly, Paranormal Activity 2 is a waste of celluoid. It's not scary at all, but I will grant I think it was better than the first movie.