HOT: Da Vinci Code

I can remember back in 2003 (possibly 2004) when this book came out and it was all of the rage. Everyone I knew was reading it and they kept telling me that I would love it - it would be right up my ally.

As you can expect I never read the book. The last non-biography, sports book I even tried to read was the first Harry Potter book and that was on my honeymoon. As I've said in the past - if the book is good enough it will eventually be a movie - and I was right.

Tom Hanks stars as Robert Langdon in Da Vinci Code. Langdon is a symbologist who is summoned to a murder. Hidden at the murder scene are clues as to the murderer and the reason for the murder.

He is overseen by Capt. Bezu Fache (Jean Reno) and is helped by French cryptologist Sophie Neveu (Audrey Tatou).

To say this is a hard film (book) to explain is an understatement. In essence Langdon and Neveu pretty much find and follow clues that show that the bible and most of what the Catholic church follows turns out to be a lie - with examples of Jesus marrying Mary Magdalene and a female writing one of the gospels.

Bishop Manuel Aringarosa (Alfred Molina) and his albino monk Silas (Paul Bettany) will do anything - including murder - to protect the teachings of the Catholic church and track down the 'keystone' which is a clue to the final resting place of Magdalene.

So, as if Neveu and Langdon don't have enough to worry about - they are out searching for clues that are hundreds of years old, and hoping to figure those clues out, being followed and hounded by Fache and the French police, and a murderous albino monk is also chasing them down.

However, Langdon reaches out to an old friend Leigh Teabing (Ian McKellen), who has spent most of his life studying the 'lost' pieces of the bible and the life of Jesus. He helps them capture the albino monk - and elude the police in order to complete their mission ... for long enough.

Would I have liked this book? Absolutely. I really enjoyed this movie, especially the first time I saw it. And, I am glad I waited to watch the movie - they even got my favorite actor for the lead role.

I love this sort of thing - symbols, clues, etc. and to do it with a subject matter as off-limits as religion and the Catholic church in general has been is outstanding.

I am not as 'educated' as Hanks' character or Teabing's character to even know what the name of many of the paintings or books they are speaking about. But showing the clues that are in these work - whether real or perceived - I found absolutely interesting.

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7/50: Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

I wasn't sure what to think about this film heading in. I really hadn't heard too much about it, which for a film of this nature isn't a good sign. Plus, I really had no background about the film because I had never played the video game for which it was based on.

That being said, I sort of enjoyed Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. No it wasn't epic or anything of that nature, but it was a fun and exciting film.

Dastan (Jake Gyllenhaal) is adopted by the king, and he and his two brothers take on another kingdom after finding out they are supplying illegal weapons to their enemies.

Upon overtaking the kingdom, Dastan finds a special dagger on one of his enemies - a dagger that proves very special. They also come across Princess Tamina (Gemma Aterton), whom his father agrees should become Dastan's first wife.

As the king and his subjects begin to celebrate, Dastan gives his father a gift that he received from his brother, which ends up killing his father and Dastan is blamed - but escapes with Tamina and the special dagger.

I won't give anything away, but the rest of the film really has a lot to do with the dagger and what it can do. Dastan obviously must prove to his brothers and the rest of the kingdom that he didn't kill his father.

It was actually a very fun film, which had a lot of action and some great comedic scenes as well, especially from Sheik Amar (Alfred Molina), who runs a gambling establishment based on ostrich racing.

Sure, it wasn't Oscar worthy, not many of these blockbusters are. But, it held my interest throughout and Gyllenhaal actually did a decent job as an action hero.

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