The weekend:

• Saw the new Jackie Chan movie, The Spy Next Door, at 10 o’clock in the morning on Saturday. Meh. It was all right. Nothing to really write home about. Mostly, the movie was for kids, although I’m not sure how many kids will actually be entertained by it.
• Also went and saw Daybreakers, which I’ve waited for ever since seeing its preview a few months ago. I don’t think this movie has been very widely promoted, but it stars Ethan Hawke and Willem Dafoe. In a nutshell, save your $8 (or $10, if you don’t make a matinee) and wait for it on DVD. The movie had great ideas, but poor execution.
• Went out for brunch on Sunday, to a place called Urban Pl8 close to GT downtown. It was in what looked to be a converted warehouse and was sparsely decorated and chilly.  I ordered the crabcake served on their own biscuits with a slice of fried zucchini. Then there’s another biscuit and polenta with cheese and green onion. The food, frankly, was superb, and we walk away full and content.

These are the books I’ve been reading so far this January, carried over from last month:

• Circus of the Damned – Laurell K. Hamilton
• The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
• The Lunatic Cafe - Laurell K. Hamilton
• The Road - Cormac McCarthy

I’m seeing The Lovely Bones tonight with some people from work and a boy, so hopefully we’ll get in. I can’t wait to see what they’re going to do with the movie, since the book was heartbreaking at its best and absolutely soul-crushing at its worst. It had beautiful language and a transfixing premise. I’d highly recommend at least the book to someone who doesn’t mind reading about difficult subjects, and I’ll let you know tomorrow whether or not the movie is worth seeing. I’m hoping it will be.

Categories : adventures, books, lists, movies