Novel Notes: a review of The Sociopath Next Door

The Sociopath Next Door by Martha Stout

The main idea behind the book is that one out of twenty five people is a sociopath.  Your dick head boss or you ass hole ex-boyfriend or a possessive girlfriend all could be a sociopath.  Part of the book is to identify those around you that can be sociopath and that you should be avoiding them.  To me the idea of this book was pretty interesting, which is why I choose to read this.

After reading the book I can say that I believe the claim that one out of twenty five is a sociopath.  One of the things that the author says is that there is different types of sociopaths.  The serial killer sociopath is the extreme version while the dick head boss is the type of sociopath that is more common.   If you can imagine a scale with one side being the killer and the opposite side being that of the lazy do nothing bum.  Those two are the ends of being a sociopath, which means if you don’t want to be a sociopath be somewhere in the middle (granted if you are a sociopath you really can’t help being a killer or a moocher).  The book is insightful, but it is far from being a go to know how book.

What is really interesting about the book is who these sociopath are and what makes them tick.  Anything that give me a better idea on the human condition is always welcomed in my book.  It isn’t that one out of twenty five people are killers, but that one out of twenty five has zero conscience. With no morals, they can step on toes and back stab in the blink of an eye without any remorse.  It is a strange concept for those who are descent and have feelings and wouldn’t want to hurt anyone without proper cause, let alone a loved one (I guess technically speaking, sociopaths don’t have love ones they are just possession in their mind).

My one nag about the book is how author ends the book.  The idea that the writer is telling at end is a tad bit too feel good.  While I don’t discredit her ideas it just isn’t as what I think you should be thinking after all the ideas she puts out there.  The book is an easy read and I enjoyed my time reading it.  If you do read this book, I say don’t be that person that “believes everything you read” but, a person that takes what they read and takes what is given to you and process it.  You may or may not have come out reading this book thinking different or at least a bit smarter on how you choose who is close to you and who isn’t.

you can find my review of Money Ball HERE you can find the book I read in 09 HERE

Novel Notes: A review of Money Ball

Let me let you in on a the basic idea of  Novel Notes.  Part of my goals as a human being is to read more.  Like my dad told me before and my teachers told me before “reading is good for you”.  I knew was reading good for you, but laziness got the better of me for a better part of my life.  Up until last year I only read one to two books a year at the best.  I figured if I have time to do the things I like to do, I should have time to add reading part of my list of things I like to do.  So this year and the years to come I am going to read books of all types and flavors.

on a side note

I will be posting a few reviews of books I have read so far this years.  So please don’t think I am a fast reader because I am far from it.

To Buy or to Rent That is the Question

Here with the first worthwhile release in the past couple weeks.    That is not saying it is a great week for DVD/Blu Ray releases, I am just saying there is flicks worth checking out this week.   Since it has been awhile I will inform the one that may be new to this.  I post each week the DVD/Blu Ray releases and give you a heads up on the buys or the rents and even which ones to stay clear of.  Now off to letting you great people out there on whats out.

Ip Man

This is a semi-biographical film about Ip Man, who was a grandmaster in the martial art Wing Chun and was Bruce Lee’s master.  Ip Man was also the first to openly teach Wing Chun.  Donnie Yen of Iron Monkey fame stars as the title character.  The film won best fight choreography at the Hong Kong Film awards and has had great buzz ever since its release.

Verdict: Rent (a must for any martial art fan though)

Batman: Under the Red Hood

Don’t really want to spoil this for you guys who are intrested because it is a story that you can read in the comic.  All I really want to say is that it is a good direct to DVD movie.

Verdict: Rent (Must see for comic book people)

Repo Men

Didn’t get a chance to check out in the theaters so I don’t have a real opinion yet about the film.  I hear it is a decent flick that could have been better

Verdict: Rent

Clash of the Titans

I grew up watching the original with my Dad so I have a fondness for this particular story.  That said I was quite disappointed with this film.  Besides the production values and the general look of the film, I think the film fells flat.  It felt flat in both  story and character wise.  Given the fact I can’t give this a fare shake I say if you never seen the original (because it is dated now if you can’t marvel at how it “use to be done”), you can enjoy this film as a straight action film.

you can find my original review HERE

Verdict: Rent/Skip

Inception

I tweeted on Thursday right before I watched Inception in IMAX and I said that Inception is the one movie you should pay to watch and take your time out.  After seeing it I totally stand behind that statement.  Even though this year has been one of the most lackluster years for movie releases go, I think Inception would stand strong as one of the best films of any year.  While I thought the film does require at least two viewings I don’t think the film was as mind melting as I thought it would be.

Being a long time fan of everything that Christopher Nolan from Memento to The Dark Knight (which happen to be two of my favs), I thought this would be his mind melting masterpiece that would be in the same form as Memento or The Prestige.  What he made was the best film he could with all of the skills he has acquired.  He has brought us and original film that combines flavors that will fill your action appetite and the intellectual in you.

Inception in it’s basic sense is that it is a heist film, in which Leonardo DiCaprio’s Cobb gathers a team to break into the mind (through dreams) of a the future head of an energy company Robert Fischer who is played by Cillian Murphy of 28 Days Later.  That team consists of “Point Man” Arthur who is played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt (who is by the way my pick for a break out career since his turn the film Brick) who is Cobbs right hand man and who is also responsible for one of the best action sequences in recent memory.  Then there is Tom Hardy (who was my pick to play Captain America after I saw him in Bronson which he was pure charisma like no ones business, consolation prize he is the new Mad Max) who plays the teams “Forger” Eames who is the basically the disguise man.  Tom Hardy’s Eames is also the source of the film humor and has some nice 007 like action scenes. Ellen Page of Juno fame plays Ariadne the “Architect”, the person responsible for creating the dream and its landscapes.  Ellen’s Ariadne is the audience stand in informing us how this world works.  Pretty much the first third/act of the film is just that, an explanation of the inner working of the dream.  Dileep Rao character Yusuf the teams “Chemist”, the one who is in charge of concocting a sedative that put our characters to sleep and allow them to dream uninterrupted.  Last but not least the great Ken Watanabe who plays Saito the business man that hires the team in the first palace.

What gives the film more depth is the relationship between Cobb and his wife who is the in charge of being the antagonist/love interest Mal played Marion Cotillard.  She haunts Cobbs mind and it is his own fault for letting this happen to him.  He is a broken man that is trying to fix what needs to be fixed without actually really knowing how to do that.  I never really been a fan of Leonardo DiCaprio but his the films he has been choosing as of late has quickly starting to change my mind.  With Inception, I think it is for certain that I must pay more respect to the man.

Even though I said that the first third of the film is all explanation, there are seeds planted through out the film that by the end of the film pay off.  It is also hard not to get enthralled into this world for the sheer fact of how interesting it is.  That said, the films has a action sequences that jumps from set piece to set piece that encompasses about 45 mins of the film, in which it continually amps the thrills at each turn.  The action scene that I mentioned earlier with Joseph Gordon-Levitt is just one amazing segment in a action sequence that will go down as one of the best ever staged.

The scope of the film is utterly epic in all facet of the movie.  It is all shot by Wally Pfister who approach to photography is nothing short of breathtaking and he puts the film into perspective, which is nothing short of huge.  Standing quite nicely also is Hans Zimmer score who provides the right amount of epicness to what was epic on its own (by the way I’m listen to the score as I write this review).  Pretty much everyone in this film is pulling their weight.

The film is ripe to be analyzed and/or just plain and simply enjoyed as a actioneer that we rarely get anymore.  When they say that Inception is like Matrix and James Bond mixed together, I would like to add into the mix Shutter Island and The Sting.  I must watch it again to solidify my thoughts of it’s legacy as being a landmark in the current movie biz.  Even if I find my self thinking less then epic after a second viewing I doubt it fall any lower then amazing in my book.

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

Oh man where to start on the massively popular series? How about some positives first then on to the negative sprinkled with some improvement along the way.  Stephanie Meyer the author of the Twilight saga is responsible for getting people who don’t usually read, read at least four books.  Which is a really great thing where most people no longer read books.  Another positive is the fan base who are compromised from teens to middle aged moms (sometimes grandmas).  I would rather take blind adoration then fan boy venom that gets spit between each other for not liking the right geeky thing.

Predators

Predators isn’t a great movie but it is a film that is good enough to restore some respect to these movie monsters.  Having seen the original and the second one with Danny Glover, it’s hard to see how badly they messed up this formula even though the second was a dip in quality.  I do have to say that I have never seen any of the Alien vs Predator flix so I have no idea just how far they have deviated from greatness.  To put in simply, the original Predator with Arnold is what you call a classic and the question is how does this one live up to it?

What this movie gets right is the tone. It hits all the notes that made the original so memorable.  Given the fact that this particular type of sequel has been along time coming make this that much more sweeter for the thought alone that this franchise is past the point of no return.  The film has basic premise as the first one except it has a couple of twist to the formula to keep it from being a total rehash. Which would be a problem if it wasn’t for the long drawt from this one and the original

The main twist to the original plot is that this time the group of bad asses who come from all types of bad ass backgrounds don’t know each other and that they laterally get dropped on a alien jungle.  This time we Adrien Brody (who is pretty cut if you didn’t know) instead of big ol’ muscle mass Arnie.  Pretty much the hunters become the hunted by a group of predators.

While it isn’t quite back to form as most fans of the original hoped it does give some hope if they do continue to make more.  Even though the film had some stuff I could have gone with out (like some not up to par CGI) I was entertained enough. I definitely do not need to watch this again but, I would like to see another one if they do make another one, I just hope the amp it up a bit while keeping what they got right with this one.

Knight and Day

Going into this movie I was expecting to be entertained, nothing more nothing less.  While the film isn’t a great one I left the theater more entertained then I thought I would be.  The reason is Tom Cruise performance that pokes fun at his action persona and director James Mangold (3:10 to Yuma) handling of the action comedy genre.  What also helped was the tone down performance of Cameron Diaz by a few notches compared to her borderline annoy takes in the trailers.  One big reason I enjoyed this film a lot more then I expected was the fact that Cameron Diaz was really not that annoying.

The Karate Kid

Having heard all the hype behind the remake of The Karate Kid, Irene and I went out to go watch it.  Maybe it was the hype that I was hearing or maybe it wasn’t but, I left the theater a bit disappointed.  The thing about movie is that it chooses formula in some scenes and other scenes it is surprisingly real.  I actually think in a different writers hands this could have been a really good film.