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"My name is Chev Chelios and today's the day that I die

I knew it was gonna be good when I walked into a 12:05PM showing and noticed the packed crowd. Yeah, I was a bit worried when the cheesy movie title popped up on the screen, but no worries. Crank is unashamedly violent, unapologetically un-PC, wickedly funny, and yes, a bit cheesy, which in a way, just adds to the unique flavor of the film. The synopsis: When professional hit man Chev Chelios (Jason Statham), who sometimes works for a big time West Coast mob, purposely botches an assignment and lets the vic get away, he wakes up the next morning in a drugged state, confused and groggy, with a lethargically beating heart. While Chelios was sleeping, small-time scumbag Ricky Verona (Jose Pablo Cantillo) had injected him with a lethal Chinese synthetic drug (called the Beijing Cocktail) which will kill him in one hour. Now, fighting for each further second of life, Chelios must be constantly on the move and must keep his adrenalin pumping or his heart will stop. With nothing to lose and running out of time, the frantic Chev goes on a rampage as he gets his revenge on, prevents his lady love Eve (Amy Smart) from falling into the syndicate's hands, and, against all odds, tries to find an antidote. The stylish, hyper-kinetic filmmaking is right up the alley of the easily-bored MTV generation (like me). Having said that, I couldn't help but point out that the more than a few elder viewers in the theater were also having a rollicking good time. Directors/writers Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor apply frenetic camera techniques (dizzying pans, zooms, color washes, camera switches...) to ensure that Crank is a wild rollercoaster experience for the audience. You know how, more often than not, trailers lie to you? Well, Crank more than lived up to the promise of the trailer. The stunts and action sequences are totally banging. I was a bit surprised when Statham didn't use any martial arts moves, relying instead on bone-thudding physicality and gunplay to beat up on the bad guys. I was curious to see how creative the film was gonna be in finding ways to keep Chelios's heartrate elevated, and, man, they came up with some doozies: from snorting coke and nasal spray, ingesting power-ades and pop blasters candies, to resorting to resuscitation paddles and head-banging to "Achy Breaky Heart," to one hilariously outrageous scene in Chinatown in front of aghast and then cheering spectators. The Italian Job, Cellular, The Transporter series...British ex world-ranked diver Jason Statham is coming hard and fast as the new face of American action cinema. He is intense and no-nonsense, with a certain rugged physicality that makes his he-man roles utterly believable. He's not blessed with Brad Pitt looks (although he is called "Handsome Rob" in The Italian Job); he's more of a regular bloke than anything else, though there's a certain glint in his eyes that would make a guy think twice before effing with him, even when he's clad in a patient's backless hospital garb. And here's the thing that differentiates him from the other action stars - Statham, unlike the Rock and Seagal and Van Damme, has natural acting chops. And now on to Amy Smart. In my eyes, Amy Smart can do no wrong. Here, she plays Eve, the slightly ditzy, carefree love of Chelios's life and the reason he wanted out of the killing biz. Eve is clueless when it comes to setting the microwave clock, but she is SO smoking hot! Efren Ramirez, on the other hand, is not so smoking hot. Ramirez (Napoleon

"Do you intend to tell me the truth?"

Vida Winter, England's most famous and reclusive writer, is nearing the end, and before she goes she wants her amazing life story to be recorded for posterity. For this, she engages a lonely young biographer, Margaret Lea, who has a few secrets of her own. When these two forceful women meet, the stage is set for an ever-mounting series of shocking surprises. I've always been a fan of the Gothic style of romantic mystery, and some of my favorite authors are the Brontës, Daphne du Maurier, Mary Stewart, and Robert Goddard. If you share my love of windswept moors, bleak houses and strange families, you're in for a real treat. THE THIRTEENTH TALE is a masterful, deliberately old-fashioned story of secrets, ghosts, sexual obsession, murder, madness--you name it, and it's here. This is a beautiful book. I'm going to give copies to a few friends, and I plan to read it again. The only other books I've actually read twice are GREAT EXPECTATIONS, WUTHERING HEIGHTS, and REBECCA. What else can I say? Enjoy.

welcome to literati NY!

Often trumped as a "9/11 novel", "The Emperor's Children" clearly deserves a different label. TEC does indeed take place in NY around the time 9/11 happened but the event itself is far from being its main concern (besides, the book's characters are too self-absorbed to really care). Claire Messud's brilliant novel is in fact about the NY literati/intellectual clique. It cleverly portrays its pretentions, insecurities, idiosincrasies, contradictions and a few clichés, no doubt thrown in for added comic effect. The novel effectively serves as a sometimes hilarious, sometimes grave(but always clever) portray of a very special social class. The "Emperor" of the title is Murray Thwaite, a pompous journalist widely seen as the arbiter of the NY intelligentsia. The "children" are a group of close friends nearing 30 y.o. and trying to make their way in the same world that Murray embodies. The novel delves into their personal lives and relationships, exposing classic themes of love, shattered ambitions, and idealism. Stylistically impeccable, TEC also makes for a great read, thanks to a cleverly constructed plot and a good dose of "suspense" around the end. It is true that "Booty", one of the characters, is absolutely non-believable and that Ludo's overly ambitious character comes off a bit caricatural, but those are minor criticisms and they won't prevent you from enjoying the novel throughout.