Book Review: Cycle of the Werewolf

Stephen King published Cycle of the Werewolf in 1983, the same year Christine and Pet Sematary were released. Cycle of the Werewolf was a little over shadowed that year, but its a solid story nonetheless.

I'm a big fan of the layout of this book. Each chapter is one month of the year and follows a year where the werewolf exists. Each month is pretty much its own short story. The coolest part of this book are the illustrations. They appear every other page or so, and Bernie Wrightson did a great job of making the wolf look terrifying. I like this format so much, I might have to steal it, I mean borrow it and credit the author of course........

Cycle of the Werewolf starts in January is Tarker's Mill, Maine where the moon is full and a vicious murder occurs. This happens each month when the moon is full, and the people of Tarker's Mill start hearing things, and spreading rumors of a serial killer. Eventually the story changes to a werewolf because of evidence of foot prints and fur at the scene of the crimes. As the body count heightens, a smart teen-aged boy in a wheel chair discovers the secret of the wolf and is determined to stop him.

If you're looking for a quick scare, this is the book for you. The illustrations really make the werewolf creature come to life.

I give Cycle of the Werewolf by Stephen King 4 out of 5 Burning Lariats.

Movie Review: End of Watch

End of Watch gives a new, and much needed, definition of buddy cop movie. It's not a goofy pairing of opposites, forced to be partners against their will. No one is paired with a dog, child or orangutan. End of Watch provides a positive, strong bond between two policemen who are more than friends. They look after each other as if they were family.

End of Watch is shot in a first person, documentary style which is usually preserved for horror films, but its nice to see it used in another genre. Brian Taylor ( played by Jake Gyllenhaal) and Mike Savala (Michael Pena) are street cops working in the L.A.P.D. They are shining examples in their department and are regarded as heroes to some and seen as show offs by others. The patrol the tough southern neighborhoods of L.A. and deal with a lot of drug and gang related crimes. The neighborhood they patrol is engaged in change of population. It was highly populated by African Americans, but a lot of  people of Hispanic heritage are moving in. This causes a lot of tension between the two, causing crime to go up. On a routine pullover, Savala is shot at, but they subdue the shooter and arrest him. They find a jewel encrusted handgun, loads of money hidden in a pot of soup, and a golden AK-47. Savala and Taylor tie these items to a string of incidents and stumble upon some disturbing findings and get entangled in crime that is way above their heads. They take it on together, diving head first, because its the right thing to do. It's good to see that both characters are completely genuine. There is no double cross, there isn't even a hint at it. It's two real, honest human beings that have each other's backs no matter what.

End of Watch has a good amount of humor, heart-warming and intense scenes. It's really easy to get invested in both characters. It's a solid story that constantly builds to the crescendo at the end of the movie.

This was one of my Netflix requests. I usually check out the special features if I liked the movie enough. I was excited to see that there were 20 deleted scenes and two alternate endings. I pressed Play All and was presented with a message stating that Netflix only distributes discs for rental and doesn't include the special features. You will have to buy the DVD to watch them. Weak sauce.

Rated: R
Run Time: 109 Minutes

I give End of Watch 4.5 out of 5 Burning Lariats.

Book Review: City of the Dead by Brian Keene

**Spoiler - If you haven't read The Rising, don't read this review**

If you follow me on Goodreads.com, I've been reading this book the entire year of 2013. And for the most part, that is the case. Something has always come up or some other book or movie distracted me from finishing this book. Well I finally finished it, and I am glad I had.

Brian Keene is described as the next Stephen King. Quite the bold statement, but Keene has quite the resume. He isn't known in the huge circles of the writing community but is well respected in the horror community. He has won two Bram Stoker Awards, which is the highest award you can receive as a horror writer. Keene has over 100 original works including novels, comics and short story collections.

City of the Dead is the sequel to The Rising. In The Rising, Jim Thurmond starts his journey in a bomb shelter, built for the Y2K scare. Zombies are inhabiting the Earth. These zombies aren't the typical zombies, they are creatures from another dimension, that take over any formerly living organism with a brain. They can take over humans, birds, lions, etc. They are extremely intelligent as well. They are only limited by the decaying bodies they inhibit. Jim's mission is to find his son who is at his ex-wife's house in New Jersey. Along the way he befriends a minister named Martin and a former stripper named Frankie. After some crazy roadblocks and insane enemies, they meet throughout their adventure, they find Danny. Keene left a major cliffhanger at the end of The Rising, so you have to read the City of the Dead to really find out what happens. A genius move by Keene.

City of the Dead picks up at Jim's ex-wife's house with them trying to escape with Danny. They hear rumors that there are a safe haven in a skyscraper in downtown New York, so they set theirs sets to the Big Apple. The building that is supposedly indestructible is Ramsey Towers. Ramsey has holed himself up in the tower and has "saved" the rest of humanity. The tower contains a community of survivors and is heavily armored. In the wake of 9/11, Ramsey didn't spare any expense to make his building impenetrable. Jim and his group eventually make it to the tower and blend in with everyone pretty well. Eventually people start losing their minds, and find the end inevitable. Ramsey himself watches Ob and the army of the dead start to amass a gigantic army.

The Rising was a great start for this two book series, setting the tone and developing the characters perfectly. The massiveness of City of the Dead was unexpected but highly favorable. Keene knows what scares people, and what scared people would do in these extraordinary circumstances. I own 5 other books by Keene and I am excited to see what he can do outside the zombie genre. He has the potential to be the "next" Stephen King, but he has some stiff competition from Joe Hill.

I give City of the Dead 4 out of 5 Burning Lariats.

Album Review: Negativity by Deer Tick

My first experience with Deer Tick was an interesting one. I was sitting in a Chicago bar with a close friend of mine, playing hooky from work of course. The bartender was an interesting cat. Big dude, big beard, big flannel. You get the picture. There was no one in the bar since it was early afternoon so we got to chatting with the bar keep. He played a ton of folk and indie rock for us. A lot of it I wasn't too familiar with. The last band he played was Deer Tick. At first they had a generic indie sound, but unexpectedly they started integrated folk and blues into their repertoire and made for a cool mix. The bartender noticed that our interest in Deer Tick had been peaked so he offered to give us the CD. Of course we couldn't take his copy, so we declined. Then Grizzly Adams pulls out a plastic shopping bag overflowing with burned CDs, paws through them and gives us a copy of Deer Tick. This guy was really into music and sharing it, which I'm a big advocate of. I hope he still is handing out CD-R's to anyone who listens.

Negativity is a pretty cool album. The opening track, The Rock, is a solid opener displaying some soft, subtle vocals ripping into an emotional bridge. I was really excited to hear the rest of this album, considering how much I liked The Rock. I was disappointed by the next few songs. They were ok, but nothing really popped out at me. Just sounded like some generic indie stuff. What was really weird is that his voice reminded me of Weird Al Yankovic's. That's not an insult, I'm a huge Weird Al fan, but it can get a little whiny when hitting those higher notes. Luckily the streak of mediocrity ended when track 5, Mirror Walls, started with some sweet piano. My favorite song on the album is In Our Time. It's an old fashioned country sounding duet, speaking of the trials and tribulations of a relationship. The female voice was provided by Vanessa Carlton of A Thousand Miles fame. Throughout the album, they insert some violin, cello, and some horns which brings some uniqueness to Negativity. I remember there being a piano solo and saxophone solo, so that gets them some bonus points. There are definitely some gems on Negativity and definitely some snoozers, but all and all its some good music.

I give Negativity by Deer Tick 3.25 out of 5 Burning Lariats.

Podcast Review: Stone Cold Steve Austin Show w/ Samoa Joe

The 39th episode featured one of my favorite pro-wrestlers of all time, Samoa Joe. I've only listened to a hand full of Stone Cold's pod-casts and he's really progressed as a conversationalist and doesn't really follow a script or guideline when interviewing. Steve Austin was one of the greatest talkers in wrestling history so it makes sense that he can carry an interview well.

If you aren't familiar with Samoa Joe, you have some catching up to do. If you are familiar with his work in TNA, you still have some catching up to do. Joe's matches with Kenta Kobashi and CM Punk in Ring of Honor are absolutely legendary. I bet Joe felt like a million bucks when Stone Cold claimed to be a huge fan of his work and especially his work with Kobashi. Joe vs Kobashi was the very first Ring of Honor DVD I bought and I was instantly hooked. Joe's size makes him unique and his strength and endurance make him look unstoppable. They discuss where his name comes from, which is a pretty funny story. They also discuss Joe's journey through wrestling to television and the current state of wrestling.

The interview is a good hour and two minutes including commercials and an intro, but its completely worth getting through. It's definitely for fans who consider themselves insiders and gives an insight on how cool Samoa Joe really is. Austin brings up a good point where he asks Joe why TNA isn't 100%  behind him, and push him to his full potential. I wish Stone Cold Steve Austin, Jim Ross, William Regal and Jake the Snake Roberts pooled their money together and started a wrestling organization of their own. They know real talent, and they all absolutely love the business and would put together something special. I know these are only dreams, but a man can dream right? Anyways, download this pod-cast onto your phone, iPod or whatever and give it a listen. If you like what you hear, check out Joe's work on youtube or ask me to borrow some DVDs.

I give this pod-cast 3.98 out of 5 Burning Lariats.

Here is the link to Austin's show http://podcastone.com/Steve-Austin-Show?showAllEpisodes=true

Album Review: Vessel by Twenty One Pilots

When people describe something as "different," and it relates to music, its usually met with a negative connotation. It's a nice way to say, "Yeah I don't really like that, but I'm not going to tell you straight up." When I say its different, I mean just how I said it, it sounds different. Nothing is really comparable to it. Like nothing I've heard before. And that is how I describe Vessel by Twenty One Pilots.

Twenty One Pilots are a two piece band from Columbus, OH. Their sound is a mixture of hip-hop, indie rock and alternative rock. Vessel is their first major release and has done pretty well on the charts. As I mentioned before, I love this album because of how different it is. Different in a great way. It's a perfect blend of the aforementioned genres mixed with emotion and great song writing. Unpredictability is a major factor of the success of this album as well. The first time I heard it, I remember thinking, "that was a left turn out of nowhere" and "where are they going with this?" I find that very exciting when listening to new music. Not knowing where you're going to end up really heightens your senses and makes you listen.

I have a couple favorite tunes from Vessel. First off being Car Radio, track number 5. Car Radio is about how terrifying it could be to be alone. "Sometimes quiet is violent" portrays that point quite well. When you sit in silence and get a chance to think, sometimes the results can be pretty devastating. You can run a gamut of emotions and never find a resolve. This is some pretty powerful stuff and I'm glad they're getting some radio play. Its a lot deeper than a lot of pop out there. I'm also a big fan of The Run and Go which is track number 8. It is one of the least complex songs on the album, in regards to arrangement, but very complex lyrically.

If you are looking for something different and good, give Vessel by Twenty One Pilots a try.

I give it 4.25 out of 5 Burning Lariats.

Movie Review: Robot and Frank

I'm a sucker for cute, sad movies. Maybe I'm just a sucker in general. Who knows? Robot and Frank was a nice surprise and of course, was cute and sad. I recently received a free month's trial for Netflix's DVD service and this was the first one my queue. Thank goodness for free stuff. I could have checked it out at my local library, which has plenty of movies to choose from as well. (Cheap plug)

Usually when I pop in a movie late on a weekday, I'm snoring within ten minutes. Fortunately for me, I was able rip through my weariness and was able to finish this movie in one sitting.

Robot and Frank is set in the very near future. Robotics have become a part of everyday life. They work at the library shelving, gardening, and even providing therapeutic care to the elderly. Frank is played by Frank Langella, legendary actor known for his roles as Richard Nixon, William Paley, Dracula, John Wilkes Booth and my personal favorite Skeletor. Yes, Frank Langella played Skeletor in the 1987 release of Masters of the Universe and I own it on DVD. In Robot and Frank he plays an ex-con, known in his community as a cat burglar. Frank, now in his 70's, suffers from dementia and according to his son, needs someone around to ensure his safety. Instead of putting Frank in a home, he purchases a helper robot. The robot helps with chores and with some cognitive enhancing activities.

Frank is reluctant at first to accept the robot's help, but quickly builds a relationship with the robot. He figures a way to manipulate the robot and make him do tasks that he wouldn't normally do. This is due to the robot's function to build trust between the two. Frank plans a heist at the local library in hopes to impress the librarian that he is very fond of. After successfully stealing a rare, copy of Don Quixote, he has the intention of one more big heist. With the help of robot, they plan to steal some diamonds from some yuppies down the street. His children get tangled in the plan and complicate the situation.

I loved the relationship between robot and Frank. He didn't want anything to do with robot at first, but then he saw the potential in front of him. Eventually they became great friends. When his daughter came and shut down the robot. He truly missed him. This movie also shows how robotic technology is advancing so quickly, that I can actually see this happening in the near future. Even though the robot is so human like, they make sure that you know that he is still a robot. He can't feel, but has the ability to lie and manipulate just like humans. It's a little creepy in some parts of the movie, but it adds the perfect amount of sympathy for Frank. His best friend is now a robot and he knows it.

Rated: PG-13
Run Time: 89 Minutes

I give Robot and Frank 4.5 out of 5 Burning Lariats.