I don't normally post reviews of DVDs that I've watched, but on occasion something cool comes by, and I watched one such movie last night.
Iron Sky. This is not a great movie, but it is kind of a fun B movie. The story is very basic: in 2018, an American manned moon landing discovers that Nazis escaped from Germany in 1945 and established a base on the moon. One astronaut is killed, the other is captured. Hijinks ensue as the Germans attack the Earth while the second astronaut, an African-American who was turned in to a Caucasian by the German's mad scientist, and Addler's designated wife, try to stop them. The United States, helmed by a Sarah Palin-ish President, has secretly built an armed spaceship and attacks the German space fleet. Some surprisingly good special effects and decent action sequences, I only wish the Germans had actually gotten some troops on the ground so we could see them getting totally outclassed by modern weapons: the Germans didn't seem to have progressed much beyond their gunpowder technology of the 1940's, though they did figure out that throwing giant rocks from orbit are a pretty darn effective weapon. Hey! I get to say 'Rocks fall from the sky, everybody dies!' The special effects actually won an award in Australia.
Like I said, not a great movie, but a nice guilty pleasure. I stumbled upon a used copy at one of my fav used book stores and snagged it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Sky
On to books. I was looking for a book at a new book store as I wasn't finding a used copy, and came across Amber Benson. She played Tara in three seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer as Willow's love interest, and most recently came to my attention in a Kickstarter project for making a vampire noir movie starring Benson and Neil Gaimen (Blood Kiss). The project succeeded in its funding, though sadly not at a very high level.
ANYWAY, turns out that in addition to other projects, Amber has also been writing books. She did a series known as the Devil's Daughter, which is the name of the first book. I'm a bit over half way through it and am really enjoying it. It, too, falls under a guilty pleasure category, only this time in literature. It's a bit campy, a basic fun read. And for that matter, since it's summer, I'll officially declare it a good summer read.
Iron Sky. This is not a great movie, but it is kind of a fun B movie. The story is very basic: in 2018, an American manned moon landing discovers that Nazis escaped from Germany in 1945 and established a base on the moon. One astronaut is killed, the other is captured. Hijinks ensue as the Germans attack the Earth while the second astronaut, an African-American who was turned in to a Caucasian by the German's mad scientist, and Addler's designated wife, try to stop them. The United States, helmed by a Sarah Palin-ish President, has secretly built an armed spaceship and attacks the German space fleet. Some surprisingly good special effects and decent action sequences, I only wish the Germans had actually gotten some troops on the ground so we could see them getting totally outclassed by modern weapons: the Germans didn't seem to have progressed much beyond their gunpowder technology of the 1940's, though they did figure out that throwing giant rocks from orbit are a pretty darn effective weapon. Hey! I get to say 'Rocks fall from the sky, everybody dies!' The special effects actually won an award in Australia.
Like I said, not a great movie, but a nice guilty pleasure. I stumbled upon a used copy at one of my fav used book stores and snagged it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Sky
On to books. I was looking for a book at a new book store as I wasn't finding a used copy, and came across Amber Benson. She played Tara in three seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer as Willow's love interest, and most recently came to my attention in a Kickstarter project for making a vampire noir movie starring Benson and Neil Gaimen (Blood Kiss). The project succeeded in its funding, though sadly not at a very high level.
ANYWAY, turns out that in addition to other projects, Amber has also been writing books. She did a series known as the Devil's Daughter, which is the name of the first book. I'm a bit over half way through it and am really enjoying it. It, too, falls under a guilty pleasure category, only this time in literature. It's a bit campy, a basic fun read. And for that matter, since it's summer, I'll officially declare it a good summer read.