In Brief

Watched True Blood episodes 5 & 6 last night - it's getting better and better! Stephen Moyer greatly impresses - they should put him in every scene.

Have already added a link to the fansite on the right. Really love this series.

Funny thing is, at least 3 of the lead actors aren't even American. Stephen Moyer is British, Anna Paquin is a New Zealander, and the guy who plays Sookie's brother ( Ryan Kwanten ) is Australian.

Well, doesn't matter as long as they pick the right people to play the right parts. Twilight's Robert Pattinson's British too - definitely better-looking than Moyer but nowhere as intense or sexy. But then, I prefer older men, so I'm biased. :)

Another favourite, Damages, has returned ( finally! ). Season 2 is proving to be quite a mind-bender, and get a load of the star power: William Hurt, Marcia Gay Harden, and Timothy Olyphant ( the villain in Die Hard 4.0, and the romantic lead in Catch & Release ). I just love brainy legal dramas.

Rented Eagle Eye recently ( from the Tanglin Club library, so it costs next to nothing ): agree that it's essentially quite a dumb movie, but I thought Shia LaBeouf and Michelle Monaghan were very watchable in a nice, non-irritating way.
Shia's the only reason I even bothered to sit through the whole thing. You can't deny his talent.

Jumper, on the other hand, is PAINFUL, man. I've never liked Hayden Christensen, and Star Wars Episodes I-III had some major casting boo-boo's ( Samuel L. Jackson does not make a good Jedi, hello! ), among them the wooden Christensen.
So here he is, wooden as ever, aided by his partner-in-crime, the ditzy Rachel Bilson from The O.C., doing her California-chick-rolls-eyes-and-bats-eyelashes routine. It isn't so bad in a 1-hour TV series with a variety of ditzes ( Mischa Barton, for example ), but enduring her for 90 minutes is like having my fingernails avulsed. Her attempts at emoting are compounded by Christensen's own failure at any form of decent acting. Now that they're engaged in real life, I couldn't be happier 'cos they're truly perfect for each other. :)

One flick I can recommend is Grace Is Gone, starring the always reliable John Cusack.
Finally got my hands on it, and he's almost unrecognizable as the bespectacled, mousy husband of a soldier ( i.e. Grace ) who dies in Iraq.
He slouches and has a shuffling gait. He speaks barely above a whisper, and looks absolutely miserable in every scene. But his rapport with the 2 young female co-stars who play his oblivious daughters is wonderful to behold.
Don't like this as much as I do Martian Child, but it's a must for any Cusack fan.


In other news, my blog is apparently ruffling a few feathers - again. I'm always open to direct feedback, so send me an email or call. It's better than hearing about it in a roundabout way.

Anyway, am joining friends for a nice buffet dinner at a posh hotel this evening. Reward for planning the recent local emergency medicine conference. Can't wait to get my hands on the seafood and desserts! :)