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Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Task 30 – Ziti’s Italian Trattoria, Natick, MA

(30) Eat in 10 New Restaurants (15/20)

Restaurant: Ziti’s Italian Trattoria

Website:     http://www.zitisofnatick.com/  

Rating: 4-Stars
Dan and I decided to meet up for dinner in Natick. I was craving Italian food and wanted to try someplace new so I looked on Yelp for ideas. I settled on a place called Ziti’s Italian Trattoria.
It isn’t much to look at from the outside or the inside but was neat and clean. We were offered the option to be seated inside or on their outdoor deck. With the weather so beautiful it wasn’t a hard choice and we picked a quiet table in the corner of the deck.
There was only one other family outside and one inside but that changed quickly and the deck was at full capacity within 25 minutes. I knew we must be on to something great. Our waiter while nervous was very attentive.
While we waited for our meals we nibbled on the freshly baked bread and enjoyed the summer sun and cooler temperatures. I watched the meals of the other table come out and it smelled incredible. In a short time out came our meals too and I was equally pleased with what we had ordered.
I ordered the Veal Saltimbocca. Not only did it look amazing but the veal was cooked perfectly and melted in my mouth. The ziti was cooked al dente just as I like it. The ingredients were clearly fresh and perfectly cooked and left nothing to critique. I couldn’t have been happier with my selection and would choose it again if there wasn’t a whole menu of things I’d like to try.
Dan choose a simple chicken parmesan. The portion size was immense and I couldn’t resist a bite when offered. It was moist and tasty and cooked to perfection. The crisp crust was light and flakey and had just the right amount of cheese and marinara. It came with a side of ziti and was definitely a feast.






Monday, August 29, 2011

Task 99: Boston University Corporate Education Center Project Management Certification.

(99) Take Professional Development Classes (0/10)
Today I signed up for the Boston University Corporate Education Center's project management certificate program. 
This program will fulfill all the educational requirements I need to sit for the Project Management Professional (PMP) exam. This program is a self-paced style online curriculum of 10 courses that include all areas of project management and detailed in the PMI PMBOK. When completed I will have earned 198PDU’s, 19.8 CEU’s and 10 ACE Credits. I must complete this program within two years of enrollment or less.
The 10 courses are separated into three sections with three courses each and one courses for Preparing for the PMP Exam.  Those three sections are the Foundations of Project Management, Principles of Project Management, and the Comprehensive Project Management.
The Foundations of Project Management is comprised of Project Framework and Integration Management, Project Scope Management, Project Communications Management.
The Principles of Project Management is comprised of Project Time Management, Project Risk Management, and Project Cost Management.
The Comprehensive Project Management section is comprised of Project Quality Management, Project Procurement Management and Human Resource Management.
Wish me luck as I begin this program. Hopefully by its completion I will be PMP Certified by the PMI Institute and will have a Certificate in Project Management by Boston University’s Corporate Education Center.
I will review each course as I take them. Keep an eye out for each review.

The Boston University Corporate Education Center is run and operated by the College Nework: education inspired by life.

Sunday, August 28, 2011

Movie Review – 127 Hours

Movie: 127 Hours
Rating: 3-Stars
127 Hours is the true story of engineer/mountain climber named Aron Ralston's (James Franco) and his remarkable adventure to save his own life after a fallen boulder traps him in an isolated canyon in Utah.
As an experienced hiker and climber, Ralston is very much in his element when he parks his truck by a mountain near Moab, UT, hops on his mountain bike, and peddles to the middle of nowhere all by himself. Ralston pauses his adventure when he encounters a pair of young female hikers named Kirsti (Kate Mara) and Megan (Amber Tamblyn) who have gotten lost while searching for a local landmark; he jovially shows them a sight that most casual hikers miss before bidding them farewell and continuing on his way.
Drifting through the canyons alone, deep in thought, however, the explorer who presumed he was ready for anything quickly discovers just how fast things can go wrong when a rock gives way as he shimmies down a crevice. He suddenly finds himself pinned to the unforgiving wall of stone. Over the course of the next 127 hours, Ralston tries everything he can think of to free himself unsuccessfully.
He hallucinates and has flash backs to small but memorable events in his life -- as well as forward to the future that he might enjoy should he manage to wiggle free. As his body begins the slow process of shutting down he realizes that the only way out is to leave part of himself behind. Exhausted and delirious the adventurer draws his cheap made-in-China multi-tool, and does what it takes to survive.
After cutting off part of his arm he scales a 65 foot wall and hikes over eight miles before he can be rescued.

Movie Review – Fast Five

Movie: Fast Five
Rating: êêê

Former cop Brian O'Conner partners with ex-con Dom Toretto on the opposite side of the law. Since Brian and Mia Toretto broke Dom out of custody, they've blown across many borders to elude authorities. Now backed into a corner in Rio de Janeiro, they must pull one last job in order to gain their freedom. As they assemble their elite team of top racers, the unlikely allies know their only shot of getting out for good means confronting the corrupt businessman who wants them dead. But he's not the only one on their tail. Hard-nosed federal agent Luke Hobbs never misses his target. When he is assigned to track down Dom and Brian, he and his strike team launch an all-out assault to capture them. But as his men tear through Brazil, Hobbs learns he can't separate the good guys from the bad. Now, he must rely on his instincts to corner his prey... before someone else runs them down first

When Dominic "Dom" Toretto (Vin Diesel) is being transported to Lompoc prison by bus, his sister Mia Toretto (Jordana Brewster) and friend Brian O'Conner (Paul Walker) lead an assault on the bus, causing it to crash, freeing Dom. While authorities search for them, the trio escape separately from Dom to Rio de Janeiro for a better life.

Awaiting Dom's arrival and short on cash, Mia and Brian join their friend Vince (Matt Schulze) and other participants on a job to steal three cars from a train. While aboard the train, Brian and Mia discover the train is carrying DEA agents and that the cars are seized property. When Dom arrives with the rest of the participants, he realizes that one of them, Zizi (Michael Irby), is only interested in stealing one car a Ford GT40. Dom has Mia steal the car herself while Dom and Brian fight Zizi and his henchmen. The DEA agenst realizing they are being robbed rush to the back of the train only to be killed by Zizi. Dom and Brian narrowly escape death on the train and are captured by the local crime lord and owner of the cars and Zizi’s boss Hernan Reyes (Joaquim de Almeida). He orders the pair be interrogated to discover the location of the car and again they escape and retreat to their safehouse.

While Brian, Dom, and Mia examine the car by taking it appart to discover its importance, Vince arrives and is caught trying to remove a computer chip from the car. He admits that he was planning to sell it to Reyes on his own and is forced to leave empty handed. Dom and Brian investigate the chip and discover it contains details of Reyes' criminal empire including the locations of $100 million in cash.

Following the murder of the DEA agents aboard the train which was blamed on Dom and his team, U.S. Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) agent Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) and his team arrive in Rio to capture Dom and Brian. They travel to Dom's safehouse with assistance from local officer Elena Neves (Elsa Pataky), but find it under assault by Reyes' men. Brian, Dom and Mia escape with Dom suggesting they split up and leave Rio, but Mia announces she is pregnant with Brian's child. Dom agrees to stick together and suggests they steal Reyes' money to start a new life.

The trio organizes a team to perform the heist, recruiting Han Lue (Sung Kang), Roman Pearce (Tyrese Gibson), Tej Parker (Ludacris), Gisele Yashar (Gal Gadot), Tego Leo (Tego Calderón) and Rico Santos (Don Omar). Vince later joins the team after saving Mia from being captured by Reyes' men, earning Dom's trust once more.

While they plan their attack they inadvertently complicate things. Thinking that scaring Kerman Reyes he would pool all his money in a single place and make it easier to steal they found that he instead uses police headquarters as his personal vault. Back at the safe house they prep their attach practicing and hunting for cars quick enough to evade the cameras.  Hoping to keep Hobbs out of their way they attach a tracking device on his truck to keep tabs on him.

In an elaborate trick Hobbs and his team eventually find and arrest Dom, Mia, Brian and Vince moments before they leave to attack their target.

While transporting them to the airport for extradition to the United States, the convoy is attacked by Reyes' men, killing Hobbs' team and Vince. Hobbs is saved by Dom, Brian and Mia as they fight back against Reyes' men and escape. Wanting revenge for his murdered team, Hobbs and Elena agree to help with the heist. The gang breaks into the police station where Reyes' money is kept and tear the vault from the building using their cars. They drag it through the city with police in pursuit. Believing they cannot outrun the police, Dom makes Brian continue without him while he attacks the police and the pursuing Reyes, using the vault attached to his car to smash their vehicles. Brian returns to kill Zizi, while Reyes is badly injured by Dom's assault. Hobbs arrives on the scene and executes Reyes as revenge.

Hobbs refuses to let the pair go free, but unwilling to arrest them, agrees to give them a 24-hour head start to escape but they have to leave the vault behind.

After the duo leave Hobbs realizes that they has swapped the vault at some point and are no gone with $100 Million dollars. The gang split Reyes' money, with Dom leaving Vince's share to his family, before the members go their separate ways.

In the South Pacific, Brian and Mia, now visibly pregnant, relax on a beach, where they are met by Dom and Elena. Brian challenges Dom to a final, no-stakes race to prove who is the better driver.

In a post-credits scene, Hobbs is given a file by US Customs agent Monica Fuentes (Eva Mendes) concerning the hijack of a military convoy in Berlin. In the file, Hobbs discovers a recent photo of Letty Ortiz (Michelle Rodriguez), Dom's presumed-deceased girlfriend, implying that she survived the events of Fast & Furious.

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Task 96 - Mountain Bike 10 Times

(96) Go mountain biking 10 times (4/10)
Location:     The Charles River Reservation (Newton,MA / Watertown, MA)
Distance:     5.93 Miles
Time:           52 minutes 26 Seconds
Pace:            8:51 min/mi
Tonight Dan and I revisited the Charles River Reservation for a leisurely bike ride. We entered at the Blue Heron Bridge and followed the trail along the Charles River to Bridge Street where we crossed into Watertown and picked the path up again. We passed the Dealtry Pool and carefully navigated the roundabout in Watertown. We continued along the river until we reached the Watertown Yacht Club before turning back. The stretch of path from the roundabout to the yacht club was in poor condition. The roots of the trees were causing the pavement to buckle and bulge and made for a very bumpy ride.
The paths were much more heavily used tonight then what we had experienced last time. Most people were very friendly and polite. Some clearly thought that the path was theirs to use exclusively and didn’t/wouldn’t allow others to pass them by without obnoxious comments. The trails however were much cleaner this time then the past visit and all the previous debris/trash I mentioned had been cleaned up. I also think I might have located a perfect place to launch a kayak and I might just have to explore the Charles River by boat sometime soon.
This is a great resource for the people of Newton and Watertown to enjoy the beautiful river views. The trails seem to extend much farther in both directions I will have to investigate how far they go and explore them even more.








Monday, August 22, 2011

Task 37 – “The Priest” Movie Review

(37) Watch 26 Movies (14/26)
Movie: Priest
Rating: 2-Stars

In this Post-apocalyptic sci-fi thriller the Church assigns warrior-priests to vanquish the vampires after centuries of war between men and vampires. The vampire survivors are kept in reserves and hives and the humans live in chaotic walled dystopian cities ruled by the Church. The priests become outcast by the Church who are afraid of the power of their fighting skill.
Shannon (Mädchen Amick) and Owen (Stephen Moyer) Pace, who live in an outpost, are slaughtered in a vampires attach and their daughter Lucy (Lily Collins) is abducted. The local sheriff Hicks (Cam Gigandet) seeks out Owen's brother, the Priest (Paul Bettany), to search for Lucy who he is in love with. The Priest asks permission of Monsignor Orelas (Christopher Plummer) who rules the church to hunt the vampires and rescue Lucy but he is denied. He is reminded to go against the church is to go against God. The Priest breaks his vows and travels with Hicks to track down the vampires and rescue his niece Lucy before they turn her into a familiar.
The church angered by the Priest send other Priests to capture and bring him back for punishment. Sooner the warrior Priestess (Maggie Q) joins the Priest and Hicks in their quest. The other two priest’s are killed in another vampire attach on a larger outpost town.  They discover that attack was by train which is shielding them from the sun and allowing them to travel by day. The tracks lead directly to the city and that no one but them is capable of stopping the vampires from killing everyone.
They devise a plan to rescue the girl and stop the vampires. During the battle we learn that Lucy isn’t his niece but his daughter and that she was raised by her aunt and uncle when her father was called to duty as a warrior priest. We also learn that the captor is none other than a past friend and priest captured in battle who now wears a black hat (Karl Urban) given life by the vampire queen.

Movie Review – Limitless

Movie: Limitless               
Rating: êêê

Eddie Morra’s (Bradley Cooper) life is falling apart as everyone around him seems to be moving forward and he finds himself single after his girlfriend Lindy (Abbie Cornish) get a promotion. After her rejection he feels its confirmation that he has zero future.  He has a chance encounter with his ex brother-in-law Vernon (Johnny Whitworth) whom he confides his struggles with. Vernon offers him a new experimental designer pharmaceutical called NZT that promises to unlock that 80% of the brain we never use. Initially Morra refuses but relents when assured that it has FDA approval and is coming to the market soon.
As he evolves into the perfect version of himself while on NZT he completes his book and sees the potential locked inside him and must have more. He visits Vernon to get his next fix but finds that he has been beaten up and in reality the drug is very much illegal. Vernon sends him on an errand for breakfast and dry cleaning but when he returns he finds Vernon’s apartment ransacked and Vernon very dead.
He calls the police but as he waits he realizes that maybe they didn’t find what they were looking for and begins searching for the stash of NZT. Exhausting his options of where to look he realizes that Vernon doesn’t and can’t cook so what better place to hide the drugs then in the stove.
He discovers the stash only moments before the police arrive. Narrowly escaping the murder of his friend and questioning by the police he decides this is his chance to get his life on track. He pops the clear tiny pill and begins his journey.
Now on an NZT-fueled odyssey, everything Eddie's read, heard or seen is instantly organized and available to him. With success doubling his money he goes to Gennady (Andrew Howard) a Russian mobster for a loan. To make more money faster.
As the former nobody rises to the top of the financial world, he draws the attention many people including business mogul Carl Van Loon (De Niro), who sees this enhanced version of Eddie as the tool to make billions. He also reunites with Lindy when she sees he has cleaned up his life.
Just before a big meeting with Van Loon he parties hard the night before and enjoys the good life only to forget what happened and awakes to find the socialite he was with the night before is dead and he is suffering from withdrawal.
After a conversation with his ex, Vernon’s sister tells him about the side effects of not taking NZT he begins to try to figure out where NZT comes from and realizes that he is being chased for the stash he stole.
He has an unfortunate encounter with Gennady who roughs him up and takes the one pill he has with him. He is then forced to withdraw the money he owes Gennady.
Suffering from withdrawal he is forced to confide in Lindy that he is on NZT and sends her to her house to retrieve his stash. She is followed and chased by by the same man chasing Morra and she narrowly escapes after taking a pill.
The following morning Lindy awakes sober and leaves Morra wanting nothing to do with him or NZT.
Gennady returns for more pills and threatens Morra if he doesn’t provide them. To avoid trouble he relents and gives him more pills.
He hires a chemist to reverse engineer the NZT pills in 6 months
To keep the drugs safe he has custom suits made with a hidden pocket to keep them with him at all times. For protection from thieves and Gennady he purchases a fortified penthouse and hires two body guards.
He narrowly escapes the grip of the police when he is accused of being seen with the dead socialite and must submit to a line-up. He leaves his custom made jacket with his lawyer only to discover that the pills are missing and had been taken by his lawyer who is really working for the sick business man.
While watching TV in his apartment Morra discovers that the person chasing him is none other than the limo driver of the business man Carl Van Loon is in the middle of a huge deal with but has fallen ill. Morra realizes that the sickness is a result of his lack of NZT.
Gennady returns again looking for more drugs but Morra doesn’t have any and narrowly escapes being killed by the Russian mobster’s who he is forced to kill in the apartment.
Hearing that the business man is dead he realizes that the drugs never made it to him or he would be recovering. He reaches out to the driver for help getting to the lawyer. The driver kills the lawyer and he recovers his stash and begins taking the pills again.
The deal is completed for Van Loon and Morra decides it’s time to work for himself. 12 months go by and we find Morra is now running for Governor and Van Loon visits him in his campaign office. Van Loon tells Morra he knows how he has done it all. Van Loon thinks he has him in his pocket when he shares that he purchased the company that produced NZT and has closed down his chemist supplier. He offers him an unlimited supply in return for some future inside information. Morra reveals that he doesn’t need the drug anymore and wouldn’t be his puppet. He shares that he modified NZT to eliminate the side effects and cause permanent access to his higher brain function. Frustrated Van Loon drives off but not without promising to return.

Saturday, August 20, 2011

Task 38 – Fisherman’s Feast Boston, MA

(38) Visit 10 Festivals of Fairs (02/20)

Festival:      Fisherman’s Feast
Location:     North End
                    Boston, MA


When:         August 20, 2011

Rating: 3-Stars
In keeping with my goal of checking out at least 20 festivals or town fairs I explored the North End of Boston for the Annual Fisherman’s Feast. According to their website the Fisherman’s Fest is an event that began in Boston in 1910 but is based on tradition that goes back to the 16th century in Sciacca Sicily. The feast is to show the devotion of the fisherman to the Madonna del Soccoroso (Our Lady of Help). The feast lasts 4 days and starts on a Monday and ends on a Sunday.
The feast begins with a procession of the Madonna through the streets of the North End and culminates with the spectacular “Flight of the Angel”. The streets are adorned with lights and filled with vendors selling all kinds of food and goods.
We decided to visit early in the day and enjoy lunch at the festival. When we arrived it was not yet underway and we wandered for an hour around Hanover Street. We stopped by the St Leonard’s Peace Garden and church to light a candle. This church is magnificent. Its ornate ceiling is really impressive.
By this time the feast was beginning and the smell of good Italian food was in the air. After a quick loop to see what was being offered Dan and I both settled on a homemade meat filled rice ball and freshly made lemonade. The rice balls were lined up and ready to be served. We had an option of meat or spinach but of course the suggestion was meat.  After picking up our food we managed to find a quiet spot on a side road to sit down and enjoy the tasty treat.  The rice ball was amazing and the sauce was superb. This is what good old fashion Italian cooking should taste like. The lemonade could have been better. It was really only juice from 1 lemon and a whole lot of sugar water. It wasn’t sweet or sour but more watery.
After eating end exploring the vendor’s offerings we wandered down to Pilots House Park to enjoy the view of Boston Harbor and relax for a moment and let our stomachs settle down from the quickly eaten food. The weather couldn’t have been better and the view was amazing.

Never one to go to the North End without stopping at Modern Pastry we made our way to Hanover St once again to pick up a couple canolli's for the road. On our way back to the car at about 1:30 we could hear singer Linda Veccharillo being singing. We decided to check it out but didn’t stay very long. She sang Smile but after hearing it sung by Steven Tyler not to many people could match his skill and it left me feeling a little disappointed. She was also clearly extremely nervous and not used to performing for a large crowd.
On our way out we walked by Boston Glider’s who runs segway tours of Boston’s North End. This looked like a lot of fun. This is something I am absolutely going to give a try. Keep an eye out for that review.












Sunday, August 14, 2011

Movie Review – Chaos

Movie: Chaos
Rating: êêê

In Seattle, detective Quentin Conners (Jason Statham) is a rogue cop who's been unfairly suspended for his part in the accidental shooting of a woman in a hostage situation on Pearl Street Bridge. The accidental shooting of this woman was a result of his partner Jason York’s (Wesley Snipes) aggressive nature and resulted in him leaving the police force. During a bank heist with a hostage situation, Conners is assigned in charge of the operation when the thieves request him. He is forced to work with the rookie Shane Dekker (Ryan Philippe) as his partner by his captain.

They head off to the bank where there is a standoff and you guessed it- a hostage situation! Things end badly and a few hostages die but more importantly Snipes and Company get away. As they try to figure out what might have been taken Conners and Dekker go after the thieves who seems virtually impossible to catch.

The thieves, lead by Lorenz(Wesley Snipes), apparently do not steal a penny from the bank but make it seem as though they have robbed a Saudi prince’s safe deposit box as a rouse.

While chasing the bandits, Dekker discovers that they actually planted a virus in the system, stealing one billion dollars from the different accounts, using the principle of the Chaos Theory and staged the robbery as a rouse for the real crime.

He also realizes that Lorenz is actually Jason York and that the two partners are in on an intricate plot to get rich and flee the country. Conners fakes his own death and while Philippe is able to foil Lorenz’s plans but he can't stop Conners. In the end, he gets away leaving detective Dekker stunned and dumfounded.

This action packed thriller keeps you guessing. It isn’t till the end when all the pieces fall together that the audience discovers the truth at the same time as Dekker. I liked this role for Jason Statham. While it isn’t a huge leap from his usual character of the hero he does a great job becoming the villain. After all only a great villain gets away with the loot.

Movie Review – Season of the Witch

Movie: Season of the Witch
Rating: ê
The movie starts on a bridge with three women accused of which craft and sentenced to death. It is unclear whether or not they are actually witches. They are given the opportunity to admit their sins and be saved. The oldest of the three women tells the priest he will be punished while the youngest admits her sins in attempt to save her life. The priest tells her it isn’t her physical life she saved but her soul. Then the guards throw them each over the bridge to hang and then lowers them into the river to drown if they aren’t already dead.

The priest insists they aren’t done and that a religious prayer must be read to rid the women of the evil inside. The guard turns and looks back and says “they’re dead, aren’t they? Isn’t that good enough?” and then he walks away.

The priest returns later that night and pulls the out one by one to say the prayer. He finishes with the first one and she is dead.  The second woman he pulls up is a little heavy, but he prays over her and she vomits on his face a little and convulses, but when he finishes, she is still. As he pulls the third up he is pulled over the edge and falls in the water.  He is grabbed at by something under the water but manages to scramble out. He gets back to his book and begins reading the prayer but the witch lights the book on fire and the next thing we see is the priest hung from the bridge.

The movie changes location to follow two crusading knights Behmen( Nicholas Cage) and Felson (Ron Perlman)  on the cusp of battle. They banter back and forth about how many infidels each will kill today and wager for drinks that night to the winner. That night we see them laughing and drinking, surrounded by bar wenches.

 They continue to fight through the years which are made clear to us by the subtitles and the weather and environment changes. During one final battle Behman and Felson break into a castle with the other crusaders and Behamn accidentally kills a woman. He stabs her in the stomach and she dies on his sword while looking into his eyes. Suddenly he has an epiphany and realizes that he “came to fight for God, but I will not kill innocent women and children” for the church. He and Felson then desert the crusades and return home.

They return to find their country side decimated by the Black Plague. They seek refuge in the nearby Palace of Marburg to eat and replenish their supplies. They are discovered when Behman’s sword is seen and they are imprisoned.  They are offered a pardon for desertion by the Cardinal if they deliver the suspected cause of the plague, a pretty young girl, to a particular monastery where the last book of prayers can be found.

Behman refuses to help transport the witch. He tells the cardinal that he works for God but no longer works for the chuch. He and Felson are returned to the dungeon. They banter back and forth about the cardinals reaction. They then realize that across from them is the suspected witch.

To Behman, she just looks like a poor girl wrongly accused of mastering the dark arts. She turns around and we see that she has been brutally whipped and this reminds him of the injustice he did to others in the name of the church. They relent and agree to bring her to the monastery but only promise to turn her over if she is infact a witch and is provided a fair trial. The journey will take them through treacherous places.

Unsure of the path they recruit a travelling salesman who promises to know the way and they set out on their dark and dangerous journey. They bring another kngith and a preist. We later find that an alterboy has been following and is allowed tagged along after proving he might be useful.

They have to go through Wormwood forest. This place has known to take men. It is easy to get lost and never find your way out. While in the forest they take turns watching the witch as they rest.  She asks that they preist not watch her since he is the one that beat her. The knight watches over the witch first. She overhears that his daughter’s name was Mila. Then she has the priest come closer and closer to her and then she stabs him in the hand with his own cross and takes his keys and escapes into the night.

They all run after the witch in a hot pursuit and into a small town where she lures them into a dirt maze-like mass grave and gets them to separate to find her. She pretends to be Mila and the knight runs after who he thinks is his daughter. But then he runs and startles the young altar boy, who stabs him in the stomach and kills him accidently.They manage to  catch the witch again and continue on their journey.  The altar boy feels terrible about this accidental stabbing, even though it wasn’t his fault. “It was as if he didn’t even see me,” says the Altar Boy.

They then reach the next obstacle, a tired old rickety bridge. They struggle to get the caged witches wagon across and the altar boy is saved by the witch when he nearly fall to his death. During the scuffle the priest hurts his wound and Behamn pours alcohol on it. They get lost in the fog and find they are being hunted by wolves. The witch howls and lures all these evil, hungry wolves to eat them.

The swindler salesman gets attacked and eaten and the others are narrowly able to flee.
Finally they arrive at the monastery. Inside they find all the monks are dead and that they were at their desks trying to copy the book. They find the original they were copying and begin the incantations. At this point you realize she isn’t a witch but has been possessed by the devil himself.  The monk realizes she is no witch and turns the pages to read an incantation for daemons. She melts her cage in a spectacular escape. They retreat to inside the monastery.

Suddenly the monks are alive but possessed by the devil and fighting them. The zombie monks scale the walls and attach them and ultimately the monk is killed. Who can read the incantations now? Then we realize that the altar boy can.

Then all the monks become possessed and there is a fight scene with Ron and the Altar Boy and Nicolas and the monk. They fight the demon and they fight all these zombie monks. It seems like the ropes that tied them to their desks did not prevent the monks from climbing up the walls and being totally nuts. Behman and Felson try to keep the daemon back while he completes the incantation and they are both stabbed repeatedly.  Behman hold on though and the altar boy finishes the incantation just before Behman can’t hold the daemon back anymore.

The daemon sort of evaporates and the sky clears leaving the girl naked on the floor. She looks up at Behman who is slumped against some wall and bleeding to death. He looks back at her in a nurturing way. You can see he feels redeemed for his past sins by saving the girl.  Before he dies he tells the altar boy to “keep her safe.” The next scene is the girl (now clothed) and the Altar boy standing at the graves of Behman, Felson and the monk. She then says, “It’s strange to owe your life to someone you’ve never even met.” Then they ride off into the distance, the book safe in the Altar Boy’s saddlebag and the daemon is gone.

This movie for Nicholas Cage’s career is indicative of his finances. Both have gone down in flames and should just be put to rest. The movie had promise but the cheesy banter and Nicholas’s monotone and dull personality left you wanting for so much more.  This movie was sadly a total failure in my opinion but could have been so much more.