Marlene Dotterrer was kind enough to nominate me on her blog for either the Sunshine Award or the Versatile Blogger.

I’m not much for sunshine, except if it’s lighting up the battlefield or glinting off a blade, so I’ll choose the Versatile Blogger. After all, I also blog about food, cycling, and writing at NewGuyDave and it’s not easy to blog about movies, comics, and games. Especially when moving from one country to another and starting a new job. Of course, that explains why I haven’t posted in a while (at either site). But have no fear, I’m on it. And though I have no TV yet, I have Netflix and a few graphic novels that made the trip.

Now, I’m supposed to tell you things you don’t know about me. For most of you, this should be new.

1) For all the cool “foody-guy” recipes I post on LiveJournal, I love sandwiches. Rye bread, tomatoes, cheese, lunchmeat, mustard and a bit of mayo.

2) By the time I was five years old I’d gone to the hospital for stitches three times (or maybe four). Between the age 34 and 36 I went twice more.

3) The first time I fought in an SCA open field battle, I rushed out of the shield wall and was the first to die. It really is safer in numbers.

4) I’m not all action and adventure. I used to write bleeding-heart romantic poetry while listening to rock ballads.

5) I drink out of a skull mug most days.

That should be enough.

Now, there are some great blogs out there, like Magical Words and Fantasy Faction but I know some others you might not know. Therefore, I nominate…

Scott Oden – Who blogs about some great historical stuff, literature, and other cool things at The Wine-Dark Seas.

Lauren Harris – Over at Ink-Stained Scribe, Lauren hits on a lot of great writing-related posts. Of particular note, planning time to write, something I’ve had trouble with now that I’ve a day job.

Joshua Palmatier – I know, I know, he’s my mentor and a friend. But seriously, over at his LiveJournal he reviews a ton of books, he offers great advice on writing, and there’s pictures of gardens and guinea pigs. What’s not to like?

Well, there you have it. Thanks to whomever started this, it was fun.

Mirrored from Action Adventure Fantasy.

Limitless knows no bounds. And not in a good way. Not only is this movie basically a long wish-fulfillment fantasy with little or no reason to invest in the main character, but the MC makes the stupidest decisions for a guy with limitless brain power.

Synopsis:

With his writing career dragging and his girlfriend casting him off, Eddie Morra’s life turns around when he takes a drug that provides astonishing mental focus — but its deadly side effects threaten his future. – Netflix
(Staring Bradley coooper and Robert De Niro.)

(SPOILERS follow)

Despicable He

The first problem is that down-on-his-luck writer Eddie Morra is hard to relate to because he’s doing nothing to help his situation. He’s not even a struggling writer because he doesn’t spend any time writing. And he’s not written one word. Sorry, bouncing a basketball off the wall isn’t writing. He’s a wannabe, but I digress. No empathy here for his girlfriend leaving.

Later in the film, when he has incredible intellectual capacity, he’s also not somebody you can connect to because now he has it all. He’s a Garry Stu or Larry Stu, or whatever, because he has fame and fortune, screws hot women at parties, and flies off to exotic locals with is new social life.

Sure he faces side effects, headaches and blackouts, and learns he could die if he keeps taking the drug. But given that the drug is a form of cheating to win, who cares. Also, he’s given the information and told he needs to stop, but he doesn’t. So why worry about the side effects. Worse, there’s not even any internal conflict with whether he should stop or not. He goes straight back to the drugs after hearing the bad news. But he scales back… right.

Pot Holes or Plot Holes

When on the “magic drug” Eddie has the world at his mercy, he’s able to recall anything and everything he’s ever read, watched, or heard. With amazing clarity of mind, he’s able to recall things most people couldn’t remember. So why then does he go home to review important business material when there isn’t any drugs left at his place? This has huge ramifications on the story and completely conflicts with the effects of the drug. Seriously, on the drug he’s a genius, but can’t count. Better yet he can’t remember that he left his magic stash elsewhere? I’m not limitless, and I know when I’ve run out of bananas.

Also, later when his precious stash of drugs are hidden in his jacket, he takes the jacket off and gives to, of all people, his new lawyer, who also works for his competition. Really? He can figure out with precision that his competition has bribed their way into an industry because but somehow he has not read, heard, or watched anything which shows the competition’s lawyer? Hard to believe.

Humility, Honor, or Even Remotely Redeemable? Nope.

After a laughable (but not in a good way) final confrontation with some thugs, Eddie overcomes the threat from the Robert De Niro’s character with such arrogance that I actually wanted to hit him. It’s not clear if he’s on the drug without side effects or if has had permanent improvements to his brain from the drug. But he wins because he’s “50 steps ahead of you and everybody else.”

There’s nothing good, honorable, or redeemable about this character. He gets rich and powerful from taking drugs and does nothing good with his power or wealth.

Cheat and take short cuts to win. Good message.

Now, if only the writers had taken some of this drug to keep the story facts straight, make this plot believable, and come up with a character that’s worthy of watching.

What have you watched lately? Anything of note, good or bad?

Cheers,
Dave

Mirrored from Action Adventure Fantasy.