Reading and discussions today.

I saw the movie "Sucker Punch" a few weeks ago. I liked it, but it was nothing great. I wrote a review in the IMDB about it:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0978764/usercomments-261

Since then I've been drawn into discussions about the movie on IMDB, my latest comment being here:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0978764/board/reply/181179075

I'm frankly puzzled by people who hate the movie and are watching its commercial failure with glee, even if it isn't really failing commercially. It will probably make a marginal profit within the next few years. I'm surprised at how many people post that it was the worst movie ever. No, far from it.

The movie isn't succeeding enough to spawn a sequel, though. I would call it the kind of movie that was fantastic when it was good but was too flawed to be anything but a fair movie. It reminds me of what I always used to think of Ralph Bakshi's movies in the '70s. I'm glad I saw them even if I would never own them. The plots were shapeless and even careless, but there were scenes in them I couldn't forget. The same is true of "Sucker Punch."

From here on out, I'm going to use my blog to link to my other posts around the web, since all of my writing is scattered around at various sites. I know I still haven't gotten to atheist morality. That will be for later today.

Here's another post on the IMDB just made now:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0978764/board/thread/181453367?d=181543920&p=1#181543920


Here are a few others, this one on whether SP sexualized the girls in it:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0978764/board/thread/180954575?d=181421243&p=6#181421243

And this one following up in answer to that:

By posting I've wasted a lot of time today. Need to get to things. Here's a list of what I'm reading:

"Hitler's Pope: The Secret History of Pius XII," by John Cornwell

I will follow up with another book on Pope Pius XII that takes the apologist view. I was prompted to do so by an argument on youtube over whether he collaborated with Hitler's Reich in the persecution of the Jews. I was informed in a discussion that I had Pius all wrong in WW2, and it was possible that I did read atheist sources that misinformed me, so I'm checking.

"Walsh's Plain English Handbook," to improve my craft.

"The Savage Detectives," a novel by Roberto Bolano, recommended by my niece. Who btw, has a full Ph. D. scholarship to Northwestern University. In other words, I very much respect her opinion.

"On Being a Writer," by Will Blythe. Interviews with various writers on how they handled their craft. Loaned to me by my cousin, also a writer.

"The Drunkard's Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives," by Leonard Mlodinow. I picked it up one day "at random" and I've been reading it more than any of the others.

Now I have to get important work out of the way: getting my car up to spec so I could move out, or at least finding out if I have to sell the damn thing, and then look for a new place to live.