Kevin Smith burns down house with 'Tough Sh*t'

You either know Kevin Smith, love Kevin Smith or both. But no one truly hates Kevin Smith.

Critics hate his honesty. Some movie-goers hate his films. Some people in Hollywood hate the way he goes against the grain.

But you can't hate the man. Why? It's all mapped out in "Tough Sh*t," the brutally open, honest and entertaining pseudo-autobiography of Smith's rise to cult movie fame.

In a creepy way, reading this book is almost something you'd expect from a dying Hollywood god, spewing the shrouded truths of the mountain before he breathes his final breath. But the color and entertainment value of the book comes from the fact the Smith is very healthy. Very healthy and very stoned.

The book may begin with a simple premise: Smith's childhood, rise to fame, and how it all happened. Standard fare for anyone who has read a book penned by a writer/director/actor.

But Smith is a self-proclaimed sexual degenerate. Bruce Willis is lazy and insufferable. The movie industry is collapsing on itself like a dying star. These are intimate truths Smith lays out for us without any fear; it's things he has seen and horrors he has lived.

Through a rather poignant meta-arc, Smith documents his career from making Clerks to Red State, from his days as a New Jersey hood to the present founder and mogul of SmodCo, Smith details the intricacies and coincidentals of making it in Hollywood as an outcast, chasing the approval of a corrupted honcho (the infamous Harvey Weinstein) and eventually learning that you aren't a cog in the machine if you decide to run the damn thing.

Smith, being the exceptional writer and conversationalist he is, makes the book easy to delve into and relate to: it's a series of life lessons of a normal kid who decides to not share the same fate as his father, and bets everything on the movies.

One of the best highlights comes from one of Smith's many doses of harsh reality. Smith documents dealing with an intensely lackluster Willis in "Cop Out" and losing all respect for an actor he once loved through a series of increasingly uncomfortable days on set.

The book continually gets in depth into the process of not only filmmaking, but sex, the politics of business, religious extremists, and dealing with failure. While it's truly just a gathering of stories told by a relatable guy who has lived his dreams for better or worse, when you finish reading you feel inspired to fulfill your own dreams, obstacles be damned.

Sure, it means that it will come with a heaping helping of bullshit, but that's why Smith is here, to teach you to want the bullshit, too!

"Tough Sh*t" isn't a book just for film buffs or Smith fans. It's for anyone who has a dream that they have been putting off. Smith finds a fun way to tell us all that your failures lead somewhere, and sometimes they lead to your own personal Red State.

Mini-review: Chris Jericho's 'Undisputed'

It's no secret that I used to be a big wrestling fan.

I'm talking '80s WWF through '90s Monday Night Wars stuff.

One wrestler was, and is, my favorite: Chris Jericho.

What made Jericho stand out from the rest was not only could be wrestle, but he was extremely good on the mic. That is a rare thing in wrestling, it's usually either or.

When his first book, "A Lion's Tale," came out in 2007 I bought it right away and devoured it in just a few days. Not an easy feet for me at 432 pages.

I could not wait for this new one to be released. Somehow I had lost track of the release date and was surprised to find out it was in bookstores this past week.

I almost ran to Borders, yes ours is still open, and bought it.

At 448 pages it seemed like I would be doing nothing but reading "Undisputed."

It's technically true. I spent all day Saturday reading it and finished it in two sittings.

And it's great.

While "A Lion's Tale" chronicled Jericho's journey to the WWF, this book starts out with his debut facing off against the Rock to the death of Chris Benoit.

One thing stands out from the start, not only is he a great wrestler, but also a great storyteller. Inter cut with stories about wrestling are stories about his music career with the metal band Fozzy.

It's funny how I remembered all of these moments, like his fantastic debut to winning his first World Title. But, the actual stories behind them shocked me. It was basically a cluster-you-know-what. It wasn't an easy walk in the park for him.

The best parts of the book are when he gets into the personal aspects of wrestling. His interactions with Vince McMahon and the Rock are the highlights. He states numerous times that he had his best matches with the Rock and considers him to be his best opponent.

Talking about wrestling other people also can be the low lights of the book too. He mentions numerous people like Chyna and Kevin Nash (the stories about them are good) and when he looks back on the matches with them, he almost annoyingly states that his matches with them were probably the best of "their" careers. Kind of a-hole-ish. Probably true, but still.

The chapter about getting arrested for drunk driving also shocked me. He was 100% in the wrong, but writes the chapter like we should feel sorry for him being in that situation. Sorry, you did the crime you can do the one day in jail.

That is not to say all the book is bad, just about 10-15 percent.

The chapters about the deaths of his mother, Eddie Guerrero and Benoit are poetic and engrossing. I burned through those pages like crazy.

The most heart wrenching part of the Benoit chapter is when Jericho calls Benoit's teenage son and gets this exchange:

"I was trying my hardest to be comforting, but my words felt hollow. I sounded just like the cop who talked me out of killing Danny after my mom's accident seventeen years earlier, and I wonder if that guy felt as much of an asshole as I did right then.

When I was finished David responded with one question.

'Can I still go to the wrestling matches?'

It completely broke my heart to think that David's whole life was his father and wrestling and in one night he lost them both. Quite honestly, that's the reason that I'll never be able to forgive Chris for what he did. As horrible as it was that he killed Daniel, it's even worse that he forced David and his daughter, Megan, to deal with his unexplained crimes for the rest of their lives."

Fans of wrestling should pick this one as soon as possible.

New sneak peek to HBO's "Game of Thrones"

"Invitation to Westeros"

Okay, I know for a fact I am not the only one that fangirled over this video. I am getting more and more excited for this series with every passing day. This is going to be HBO's new power house.

Invitation to Westeros

Taking a Bite out of 'The Vampire Diaries'

I have officially become the vampire expert for this wonderful blog. With that...let's begin.

Well, as I finally succumbed to reading "Twilight" a couple years ago, I have now done the same with "The Vampire Diaries." I came out of Borders not only with the "New Moon" DVD, but also the first four books of the first series in "The Vampire Diaries." I'm full of vampires this week.

Wow, was I glad that someone finally convinced me to read this series. I may be crossing a line onto sacred ground that millions of teenage girls will want to murder me for, but I think it's official: "The Vampire Diaries" is better than "Twilight."

Written by L. J. Smith, not only was I impressed with the originality of the story, but where "Twilight" can leave you flat, "Vampire Diaries" lifts you up with intensity, great characters, and shocking reveals. The story of two brothers who were turned to vampires during the Italian Renaissance by the one woman that they both loved, and 5oo years later, find another woman to fight over. Elena is caught in the middle of a supernatural war in her small rural hometown when Stefan Salvatore arrives, searching for a new start.

Only, that never happens.

Followed to Fell's Church by Damon, his older brother searching for revenge, he plans to torture Stefan every way he can. When they are once again caught in the middle of a love triangle with Elena, they find that they are not the only powerful beings in Fell's Church.

The best thing that "The Vampire Diaries" has over "Twilight," other than not making their vampires sparkle, is the change that we see in all the characters, where as the main characters in "Twilight," never change across the entire series.

The best visible character arc is that of the main protagonist, Elena Gilbert. I'm sure I'm not the only reader that began really hating her. There were very few good qualities about her. However, with the arrival of Stefan and Damon, and being pulled into a very adult and mature situation, the 17-year-old is forced to grow up fast.

Even Damon and Stefan, who seeming unchanged for 500 years, have their own character arcs. The part of the story that captured me the most was the relationship between the two vampire brothers. How decayed and destroyed it was in the beginning, from 500 years of hatred between them, and how it changed and eventually began to grow being forced together in dire circumstances against powers greater than themselves. And having Elena between them is a big part of that.

There are no "cookie cutter" characters like we find in many young adult fantasy series today. Each has their own voice and story to progress. And unlike "Twilight," it has the formula of true fantasy with a tragic romance. And where I thought "Twilight" was an original story just written poorly, the further I got into the "Vampire Diaries" series, the more I believe Meyer was inspired by it's brilliance.

Frankly, I could talk for hours on the great things about this series. But I'll wrap up with a few words on the TV series, and let you discover the mystery and magnificence of the books on your own.

Now, even though the story of the CW TV series "The Vampire Diaries" is greatly deviated from the books, it has a great story all it's own. Once again, the best part of its story being the relationship between Damon and Stefan, played by Ian Somerhalder and Paul Wesley.

In tonight's episode, "A Few Good Men", after Damon discovers his search for Katherine (the vampire that turned the brothers and they fought over) has been in vain for the last 140 years, he begins a path of self destruction. Elena digs deeper into the past of her birth mother, Isobel, and discovers some devastating news. Not only, did she later become the wife of Alaric, a new history teacher at the high school, but was murdered by none other than Damon, whom Elena was finally warming up to.

Not only will this completely deter the progress of his relationships with Stefan and Elena, but his path to redemption is halted when he murders again. Stefan, helpless about his brother's situation once more, is at loss at how to help him. Damon is obsessed, and it seems, nothing will stop him. More mystery and surprise tonight, leading into a new story arch that could very well continue until the end of the season. Another great acting performance for Ian Somerhalder, who channels Damon's emotions better than anyone. I have no doubt that this show will be renewed.

Oh, as for the cliffhanger, which this show has been so great at over the last 14 episodes...you will have to find out for yourself.

I always hated reading spoilers.