• ‘Bourne’ again …

    11 Comments

    Saw The Bourne Ultimatum this weekend.

    And loved it. I’m a total sucker for spy movies, and I’ve enjoyed the first two Bourne movies. They’ll never replace my rabid, fangirl love of the James Bond franchise, but they’re darn good action movies. And, it’s rare that a movie series maintains such quality from film to film, without dissolving into a muddled mess. But Bourne manages to do it. Unlike, say, Pirates of the Caribbean.

    Matt Damon is back as Jason Bourne – a man of few words, but many punches, car chases, narrow escapes, and moody flashbacks. This time, he’s determined to get to the heart of the matter and find the guy who created the shady spy organization called Treadstone — and ultimately, Jason Bourne himself. The action picks up right where the second film left off, sometimes even jumping back in time to the second film. But those scenes were used seamlessly and actually added to the story, filling in the gaps, as they were.

    There’s a really intense cat-and-mouse scene where Bourne chases a bad guy who’s chasing Julia Stiles through the streets. Another great scene is Bourne giving a reporter instructions via a cell phone on how to avoid surveillance.

    I always enjoy little details, throwbacks to older movies that the audience can pick up on. There were plenty of those in Bourne. There are a couple of scenes that eerily mirror those in previous movies, like when Julia Stiles cuts and colors her hair in order to go on the run. She looks so much like Marie from the first movie, it’s scary. You wonder if Jason picked Marie in the first movie because she looked like Julia, or if he didn’t kill Julia before because she looked like Marie. Add that to the fact that Julia hints that she and Bourne had a relationship before he got amnesia, and things get really interesting regarding the Bourne-Marie-Julia love triangle.

    The only thing I had an issue with was the apparent ease at which Bourne breaks into CIA headquarters and steals classified documents. He basically uses a stairwell, and bada-bing, bada-boom, he’s inside. In real life, I imagine it would be a little more difficult than that. At least, I hope it would be.

    I also wanted one more scene at the end between Matt Damon and Julia Stiles — a reconciliation scene were they run off into the sunset together. Sadly, I did not get it, but given how much money the movie made this weekend, I’m hoping they’ll do a fourth one. Fingers crossed. 😎

    Bourne is definitely the best movie I’ve seen all year. Although, that’s not saying much, since I’ve only been to the theater three times so far. 🙄

    What about you? What’s the best thing you’ve watched this year? Inquiring minds want to know …

  • 816 and counting …

    Finished Full Throttle by Wendy Etherington. I met Wendy at RWA and sat next to her at the Literacy Signing. A very nice, funny lady. We talked about NASCAR for a while, since I live close to a town that has a track.

    This book focuses on car chief Lexie Mercer, who can’t figure out what’s wrong with her star driver, Kane Jackson. Turns out Kane has been distracted lately — by Lexie. The two have a history together, and Kane wants to pick up where they left off. Lexie isn’t so sure that’s a good idea, though, given how their NASCAR team is trying to make the Chase for the championship.

    This is one of a series of NASCAR romances that Harlequin is putting out. I read somewhere that the books weren’t allowed to have any sex scenes in them. Maybe no drinking, smoking, or cursing either. (Which doesn’t really reflect what NASCAR or even real life are like. C’mon. Who doesn’t cuss from time to time?).

    I don’t remember the exact details about the no-nos, but I can say if you’re looking for a sex scene, you’ll be disappointed. Most of the action happens behind closed doors. But if you want a behind-the-scenes look at the world of racing, you’ll probably enjoy it nonetheless.

    So, thumbs up.

    Up next: Not quite sure. Maybe another RWA book or I might tear into that Harry Potter package I finally got from Amazon …

  • 815 and counting …

    Finished Bad Girls Don’t by Cathie Linz. This is a book I got at the Berkley signing at RWA, and I met Cathie at my agency party. She was a really sweet lady. Very funny. Very friendly.

    Bad Girls Don’t focuses on Skye Wright, a free spirit and self-described “bad girl” who teaches yoga and belly-dancing classes to make ends meet. It’s not long before she butts heads with Nathan Thorton, a by-the-book sheriff who has his hands full keeping the kooky characters of Rock Cree, Pa. in line. Sparks fly between the two, and, well, you can imagine what happens next. 😉

    This book is classified as a romantic comedy, but it reminded me a lot of the old screwball comedy movies, like Bringing Up Baby or His Girl Friday, both with Cary Grant. Lots of funny, slightly absurd situations. Lots of rat-a-tat dialogue. Lots of folks who are little bit off their rockers.

    My only quibble is that the rapid-fire dialogue got a little hard to follow at times. I had to go back up and count down the lines to see who was saying what. But if you like eccentric characters driving each other crazy in a small town, you’ll like this book.

    So, thumbs up.

    Up next: Full Throttle by Wendy Etherington — A NASCAR romance.

  • ·

    A review from a reader …

    Liomas Thomas, a reader and writer, was nice enough to write me and tell me about a review he did of Karma Girl. He had some very nice things to say about the book.

    Here’s the link. Thanks, Liomas! 😎