29 days and counting...

MOVIE REVIEW - Fair Game

A drama that deals with America manufacturing the war in Iraq. While I do agree that America does this sort of thing from time to time and would have no qualms about blowing up the rest of the world to protect 'the American way of life', I honestly found the movie dull. I made it half way through before giving it up. This rates it a 3/10 on my scale. If you have a lot of patience in watching slow build movies and would like to see the point of view of America screwing over yet another country, check the movie out. If you are like me and want instant entertainment, avoid this movie.

Yes - I'm sure someone will say "Oh, but right after that, it picks up and is awesome!" Sorry - if a movie (any movie) gets to the point where I'm thinking "Screw this, I'm bored." I don't care how wonderful it gets later. I can watch the really neat scenes on youtube or something. To quote a better film, "You can rob me, you can starve me...and you can beat me and you can kill me. Just don't bore me."



MOVIE REVIEW - THE LOSERS

It was OK- not the best ever but not really memorable or collectible for me. I remember seeing it but not so much what it was about. Hence, not a memorable movie. 5/10.



MOVIE REVIEW - THE MECHANIC

6/10. Some decent explosions and killing. I think the biggest plus of this movie is that I do enjoy having Jason Statham in action movies. This was OK, certainly better than the second and third 'Transporter' movies. They should have gotten better writers - only the first one was really decent. Don't click on the links following if you don't want spoilers! One disturbing thing I noticed in this movie was again, a certain actor gets killed off early in the flick. I've seen that in other movies as well. I'm starting to wonder if he just doesn't feel like making a full movie or the writers hate him. Getting back to 'The Mechanic' (2011), I think it was a bit faster pace than the 1972 version yes. Everything was slower then. Would I see this version again? No, probably not. Was it mildly entertaining while it was on? Sure.



MOVIE REVIEW - HUDSON HAWK

10/10. Such great lines in it as:

George Kaplan: "Yes, I have always had a soft spot in my heart for Rome. I did my first bare-handed strangulation here. Communist politician."
Hudson Hawk: "Why George, you big softie."
George Kaplan: "God, I miss Communisim. The Red Threat, people were scared... the agency had some respect, and I got laid every night."

Although a lot of folks have seen this movie, there are a lot of people who think movies made during the 90's are 'ancient history'. This is one that you might want to check out. Bruce Willis back when he had hair! It's got some strange stuff in it but the excellent bad guys (and girls) as well as the dialog and lots of action make it a win in my book. I have no idea why it cost three times as much to make as it made.



MOVIE REVIEW - REIGN OF ASSASSINS

This is a weird movie. The big downside is that you have to pay extra attention to read all of the subtitles as it's in Chinese. Well, I suppose unless you speak Chinese. I don't. They have some good fight scenes and such in it but I think the reason I prefer the other Chinese movie that comes to mind (Mr. Vampire) is because it has humor as well as fight scenes. I'm a simple creature - I like funny and violent.

Anyway, I endured this movie for only 35 minutes thus giving it a 3/10 - the three out of 10 shows "I didn't finish it". I saw the direction the movie was headed and got bored.



TURKEY

More information on Turkey. I was talking to two gentlemen from Turkey - Alpur and Dennis. From what I gathered from them, it seems to be a pretty 'cosmopolitan' place. Not a lot of strange customs to worry about or anything like that.

I did find out that it's not really 'in custom' to have someone rent you a room in their house. It's all about hotels, hostels and such.

From what they were saying, I was concerned about the cost in Istanbul. A quick look at one of the pages for hostels in the area allayed my concerns. If I can stay for 10-20 euros a night there, I should be fine. Alpur made a list of different places that he recommended I should see. I decided to plot these out on a map so that I can make a generalized route to go from west to east.

The full list of places Alpur listed includes:

In Istanbul: Dolmubahce Palace, Topkapi Palice, Princes' Islands, Beyoytu (Pera), Galata Tower, Hagia Sophia Church.

Aegean side: Ephesus.

Black Sea region: Artvin. This one looks like the last place I'll be visiting before I hit Georgia.

Central Nevsehir: Cappadocia. Interesting due to the Fairy Chimneys they have there.

Konya (central): Dervish stuff.


Here is my current map of Turkey with some strategic points marked on it:


Notes on the map: These are only ideas based on what I've read on the internet. Obviously, I'm going to have my ear to the ground - everything could change when I get in country.
Key: Cities with boxes around them are ones that (from the internet readings) have some interesting stuff in them. Crossed out cities have less interesting stuff in them. The blue line is one possible route that hits a couple of the main things that Alpur told me about and gets me to Georgia. The dashed orange line is the 'going below this line may not be safe due to the presence of countries that the country I am from has been waging war on/in'. The ones with question marks may or may not have something I'd be interested in seeing. DISCLAIMER: If you live in one of the cities I've crossed out and are thinking 'But there IS good stuff to see here!', I apologize - tell Wiki. And me, actually.

Normally, I wouldn't be all that thrilled to visit the Dervish area (neat but is it worth going that far out of the way?) but the Cappadocia 'fairy chimney' things look cool.

I'm not sure what Alpur is wanting me to see in Artvin but it is right next to Georgia, so I will be seeing it. In the description, it says "The surrounding countryside offers many places for climbing, trekking and rafting." My initial thought is 'I'll probably go anyway."

There is a town in Turkey called 'Batman'. I can't tell you how odd it would feel to be dressed as Batman there.

In my reading up on Istanbul, it seems there are a LOT of different scams (see under word 'scams' in the article) currently going on there. Extra caution is advised but the city seems like it is worth it.

I would like to thank Alpur and Denis for the additional information on Turkey. I like talking to people who live in the countries I'm wanting to visit before heading to them.