N.P.H.

Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle (Danny Leiner)
Sometimes, it takes a strange night to put everything into focus. That's what happens to Harold (John Cho), a Korean-American banker, and his roommate, Kumar (Kal Penn), an Indian-American med school student. Both men are at a crossroads in life, about to make major decisions that will affect the course of their future. They arrive at wisdom by accident as they drive around their New Jersey city to find the best stoner fix: White Castle burgers.

Been a while since I've seen this. Good movie to drink and laugh to. Christopher Melonie and Neil Patrick Harris steal the movie.

7/10

Waking Life (Richard Linklater)
Director Richard Linklater's mesmerizing animated film follows a young man (Wiley Wiggins) as he floats in and out of philosophical discussions with a succession of eccentrics and passionate thinkers, all the while uncertain whether he's conscious or dreaming. Thanks to each character's oddball charm, the ethereal conversation is as dynamic as the animation, resulting in an innovative film that is by turns droll, disturbing and provocative.

Nothing can really be said about this film that hasn't already been. A few years have passed since I first saw it and the one difference I noticed is that some of the ideas have become a bit dated, but I still think this is a fantastic movie that I will never tire of watching.

9/10

Fast Food Nation (Richard Linklater)
Richard Linklater's fictional tale (inspired by Eric Schlosser's 2001 book of the same name) critiques the junk-food juggernaut that's arguably responsible for America's alarming obesity rates. Don Henderson (Greg Kinnear), a corporate exec of a national fast-food chain, follows beef's journey from the corrals to the slaughterhouses and ultimately to your stomach. The power cast includes Ethan Hawke, Patricia Arquette and Bruce Willis.

It was interesting to see a non-fiction book adapted into a feature film. I empathized with the illegal immigrants and slaughtered cattle, completely opposite of my evangelical, Christian right views. Ethan Hawke showed up for a few minutes as a hippie, and Willis played an asshole. I was into it. I also thought Linklater did a great job of portraying a group of college environmentalist kids - I also kind of wanted to punch them the whole time.

7/10

movie count
7 of 156

The Irrational Atheist: Dissecting the Unholy Trinity of Dawkins, Harris and Hitchens (Vox Day)
A perceptive examination of modern day atheism, this book challenges the argument that religion and reason are fundamentally at odds—a contention made by three prominent scholars on atheism: Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, and Sam Harris. While other religious apologetics have challenged atheism on theological or biblical grounds, this book fights fire with fire, disproving the scholars' logic through modern, secular reason. Rigorously documented and supported by hard factual data, this careful analysis is critical reading for any religious person seeking to rebut the assertions of new atheists and essential information for any open-minded atheist who wants his beliefs to stand on firm ground.

I try to be well rounded in my reading so I was stoked to finally find a book that claimed to rebut the work of the above popular atheists by using scientific research and facts instead of falling back on religion and faith. Unfortunately, at times the author has the tendency to do exactly what the dust jacket says the he doesn't do. But whatever. He won points with me for saying "an atheist circle jerk" and comparing the quest to eliminate religion with a "campus crusade for Cthulhu."

Either way I am tired of religion/atheism debate shit and really never cared in the first place. The only reason I read the book was because I always disliked the tone of God Delusion, Gods not great, etc. because the new wave hippie scientists dudes just come off as arrogant pricks.

5.5/10

Y: The Last Man (Brian K. Vaughan)
Yorick Brown is an escape artist; has a fabulous girlfriend who's traveling in Australia; and possesses a genetic make-up that's allowed him to survive a plague that killed every male being on the planet except for him and his pet monkey. Yorick is the last man on earth, and in the resulting chaos, he must find a way to help save the human race.

I flew through the first six volumes last week at work. This is one of the best graphic novels I have ever read and I have been waiting all week for the next volume to arrive. It's written by one of the writers from LOST. There is actually a lot of depth to the main character, Yorick, I understand why he does what he does, even when he fucks up, and I feel for him.

10/10

book count
6 of 104