This is a fantastic film. It has what so many movies lack: multi-faceted characters and believable plotlines. It seems like so many revenge plots get so outlandish and unbelievably intense that they are no longer relateable (i.e. Kill Bill, Mad Max, etc.). But Mathilda's need to avenge her family and her somewhat poorly planned attempt retains a lot how real life is- messy but gratifying. A must see for people that don't mind a little violence in their movies. Also, I want to rant about something that's been bothering me for about a decade. Gary Oldman's performance in this movie was completely ripped off by Willem Dafoe (or his director) in The Boondock Saints. People love how Dafoe played his character and seem to always point out one scene in particular that really impressed them: when Dafoe wears a listens to classical music and pretends to be conducting the song while investigating a crime scene. But Gary Oldman performed something almost identical to that five years earlier while acting as a DEA investigator in The Professional: he is wearing a light colored suit, listening to classical music, and pretending to conduct the music while he investigates the scene. And it drives me nuts that someone else stole the idea and told Dafoe to do it. Plus, Oldman did it better.

My original review was all wrong. This is great.

Bridget Jones's Diary is great. It's well written and funny, but still silly enough to count as a guilty pleasure. Bridget is as relateable character as you can get, at least for a lot of us. If you are one of those rare types with self-control and a constantly stable life, you may not like this book at all. But for the rest of us it is entertaining. Also, if you got a kick out of the movie, try out the book. It's even better.

Holy cow, this book was absolutely terrible. I am always on the lookout for new authors to try out, and heard several rave reviews for Robin Cook. Maybe Cook's books have improved over the years since the publication of Brain, because something has to explain why people are recommending these books. Brain had an extremely unbelievable premise, and it illustrated a cold world devoid of human connections. Of course, that was part of the point Cook was trying to make: that the medical field often depersonalizes interactions to an extreme. However, the desolation in the storyline proved pointless as the end of the book was such an unlikely and needlessly disturbing result. If you are going to try out Robin Cook for the first time, avoid this book.

This is possibly the most beautiful book you will ever read. The writing constantly satirizes every topic it touches, while simultaneously pointing out what is beautiful about it. From the first page it draws you in, and it's a constant battle not to fall into the book's sympathetic trap. Everyone that enjoys reading should give this book a try.