25/50: That's Right, I Finished A Book!

It's the (very) little things, really:

Wanderlust (2012) (17/50 Movies)

Hey, here we go, my first time seeing a movie that was actually released in 2012! Considering this movie's pedigree: directed by David Wain (I really liked Role Models-to the point where I will watch it to the end if I happen to stumble upon it on TV0, it was written by David Wain and Ken Marino, and has all but maybe 4 members of The State in it, plus Paul Rudd, ( oh and Todd Barry)  but I was a little disappointed. I think they were going for a Lost In America-type satire and I am not sure they quite got there, and then there were some weird tonal shifts. I am open to the possibility that it might be a grower, because it wasn't like I didn't laugh, I definitely did, maybe I will get more out of it after a few more viewings. I will say though Paul Rudd, Ken Marino, and Joe Lo Truglio are reliably great. And I hope there is an outtake somewhere, maybe of the DVD, where we can see more of the fake Atlanta morning show with Michael Ian Black, David Wain, and Michael Showalter because they were amazing. Spoiler: this has the most full frontal nudity I've seen since, well, actually Shame. That's either a plus or a minus for you.

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins (1/25 books)

That's right, I finally read a book that was geared towards teens. It's interesting that basically a young adult book could be this raw, I mean it continues from The Hunger Games, but we have an interested, conflicted heroine, being messed with by an all-powerful state, and people being straight-up shot in the face. I think Robert Cormier would be proud. At any rate, it isn't poetry, but it is a page turner, and although it gets sort of derivative of the first book towards the end, it sets up the last book nicely. So nicely, that I immediately started reading that last right after I had finished reading this one. That last line, continuing into the third book (sort of SPOILERS here) also reminded me of the last five minutes of one of the most gut wrenching reveals I have seen on a television show, the last 5-10 minutes of the fourth season Battlestar Galactica episode, "Revelations".  If you read the books and know the show, you know what I am talking about.

-Kevin