Book and Movie Reports by Ed

Movie Report: My Super Ex-Girlfriend [SPOILER WARNING] In my never-ending quest to find interesting super-powered characters and stories, I watched My Super Ex-Girlfriend on Netflix. Matt (Luke Wilson) is an extremely ordinary but sweet guy who asks out Jenny Johnson (Uma Thurman), a deliberately nondescript total stranger. They hit it off pretty well, and after a few dates she reveals her big secret to him: she is, in reality, G-Girl the superheroine. G-Girl's powers include flight, super-speed, super-strength, and laser vision, and she routinely saves the citizens of New York from calamity. Matt really likes the idea of dating Jenny/G-Girl, but the reality isn't so great: she's jealous, insecure, and controlling. He breaks up with her. Bad move. Hell hath no fury like a superheroine with laser vision scorned, and Jenny/G-Girl proceeds to make Matt's life unbearable. Hijinks ensue. What is one to do when one has pissed off the most powerful being on earth? Als

Book Report: Tales of the South Pacific, by James A. Michener It's the "Tales" part of the title that throws me. When you read these chapters, you don't feel like you're reading tales. They sound like the reminiscences of a US Navy Commander stationed near Guadalcanal during 1942-1943, which wouldn't be surprising, because Michener did serve there then. But they are stories, works of fiction. I'd hate to tell you how many of the people, places, and events I've tried to look up online, only to find that they're not real. I have no doubt that they're based on real people, places, and events, but they've been carefully shaped to be extremely realistic stories. It's an amazing effect. (Aside: Michener is probably responsible for naming more Asian restaurants in the US than anyone in history, by inventing the name Bali Hai for an imaginary island.) Each of these tales is a little gem that captures the essence of humanity. If a Martian