Chocolate is a delicious treat that may have been invented by the Aztecs. CHOCOLATE is a DVD coming out in the U.S. today that was invented in Thailand.

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Okay, I know this movie is old news in the rest of the world, but we finally got TAKEN starring asskicking Liam Neeson.

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I don’t care who you are, when you think “the five best pictures of 2008″ you will not think THE READER. Do you know what this movie is about? Holy shit. I’m gonna tell you. (warning: first sentence gives away every last thing that happens in the movie. This is not a test.)

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For my first set of reviews in the Obama era I carefully (okay – accidentally) chose three genre movies that show different aspects of where President Obama is coming from and what he’s up against:

SHAFT IN AFRICA represents the young Barry Obama who, while protesting South African apartheid, learned to respect his heritage and restore his given name.

APPALOOSA depicts the perverted justice system that Obama has set out to repair because “we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals.”

SOLDIER shows a futuristic example of a military force (in this case Kurt Russell) beginning to be used more wisely and ethically.

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You know I had to jot down some thoughts for my first Obama-era VERN TELLS IT LIKE IT IS column. Hopefully it’s not gibberish.

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I finally got a review of THE WRESTLER. Long overdue. In the less noteworthy department I also have a review of MAX PAYNE, which comes to DVD and Blue-DVD this week. Also I just added my take on MY BLOODY VALENTINE 3-D.

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I might be out in the wilderness on this one, but I was pleasantly surprised by DEATH RACE.

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I got more reviews in the works but right now I just want to give a heads up that I’m gonna be retiring 5 ON THE OUTSIDE pretty soon. It was my 5 year anniversary book and it’s coming up on its own 5 year anniversary, so I’m gonna take it out by the toolshed and sing it a lullaby. There should be a new and hopefully even better greatest hits collection coming along fairly soon but if you want to pick up my very first attempt at a book do it soon. Thanks everybody.

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To get the taste of Zucker out of your mouth, here’s a quick look at #2 in the John Shaft trilogy, SHAFT’S BIG SCORE.

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Well, I’d rather not call this a review, but I got a discussion of David Zucker’s right wing, uh, comedy AN AMERICAN CAROL.

By the way, the Rap Sheet blog has a nice tribute to Donald Westlake. Somehow I ended up one of the writers quoted in part 2 but ignore mine and check out what everybody else has to say.

The Rap Sheet: Nobody Runs Forever: A Last Good-bye to Donald E. Westlake, Part I

The Rap Sheet: Nobody Runs Forever: A Last Good-bye to Donald E. Westlake, Part II

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