Although I have no shortage of friends who always want to go to the movies, every so often I’ll go by myself because there are some films I know my pals just aren’t going to want to see. So I took me to the movies to celebrate my b-day and saw Max Payne, the new Mark Wahlberg flick, directed by John Moore. Okay, I knew there was going to be plenty to complain about when I went. It’s a cop story as cliched as they come. Wahlberg plays the tortured loner whose wife and kid were killed in a robbery attempt, and he has been searching for their killer ever since. Suddenly there is a new clue, his partner gets killed, and (huge surprise) a giant pharmaceutical company is behind all the shenanigans. The story and character are based on the Max Payne video game, but there isn’t a heck of a lot here to interest gamers or non-gamers. Still, the joy of going to a film by yourself is that you can sit close to the screen and let the picture and sound blow you away, which is exactly what I did. As long as your expectations are low, this can make up for a lot of flaws. The film offers plenty of action and some fairly cool special effects, including one hell of a drug trip. But honestly, the story was pretty dumb. The fake snow drove me nuts after awhile (someone really should have fixed that). Recommended for loners only.

On the flip side, I just finished reading a terrific book, Matt Ruff’s Bad Monkeys. I read Ruff’s Sewer, Gas and Electric many years ago and really enjoyed it, so I was excited to see this one at the local bookstore. It’s a truly odd story about a woman, Jane Charlotte, who is in the slammer for murder and yet claims to be a member of an organization called the Bad Monkeys, a hidden society, that exists for the sole purpose of fighting evil. As Jane tells her story, the reader learns more and more about the society and its many arms and legs and how widespread the organization and its clandestine operations are. Or maybe she’s lying. It’s a truly convoluted tale of intrigue and suspense and who the heck should I believe now? If you are at all paranoid, this book will put you over the edge. Ruff leans almost entirely on the dialogue/interview between Jane and the investigator to reveal the story. It reads very fast and is hard to put down. Great fun, especially if you are looking for something that is not the same old thing. Highly recommended.