Showing posts with label Movie Review. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Movie Review. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Freekanomics
Yesterday I watched freekanomics. Parts of it were pretty entertaining. Some parts though, they clearly spent too much time on (boring) and other parts seemed interesting that they simply glanced over. However, I enjoyed this part, thoroughly:
Friday, April 15, 2011
Music, Movies, and Books.
I'm totally obsessed with Aisling's Song right now, From The Secret of Kells. The cartoon was cute enough, a little odd at times, but worth watching once.
If you watch the movie, I thought it was interestingt that the cat's name is based on a 9th century poem about a monk's cat, named Pangur Ban/Ben... and that the Chi Rho Page they make a big deal about in the movie, is an actual illumination from a book referred to as the Book of Kells. Page looks pretty much the same, and all that makes me wonder if movies often reference history without me knowing it.
I also somewhat hooked on Healing Incantation song from Tangled. I think Mandy Moore did a great job... better than she does on her own music. As for the movie, I enjoyed it. Not in my top 5 Disney, but still fun, cute, and enjoyable. Prince Chuck Bartowski did bug me a little—not horribly, but it didn't seam to fit.
Whats with me lately and my obsession with songs from cartoons... I'm not 5.
Speaking of not being 5, I am having an incredible problem with capitols lately. I swear I've been capitalizing every 4-6th world arbitrarily. I have no idea why suddenly I am doing it more than normal, but it is driving me crazy. I look at things I've just written, and I have no recollection of doing it. I don't usually clean up my writing, but I feel like I have to at least get rid of excess capitols.
In other song news, I've been on a folkish music kick, listening to my 3 Nickel Creek songs a lot (When you come back down, I should've known better, and Anthony) Wish I liked more of their songs, but I kinda don't
Additionally, a modern dance type music kick, replaying my two Mirah songs ( http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/cold-cold-water/id259153920?i=259153933, and The Garden)
On a more mainstream (but still quirky) note, via Carissa, I have come to enjoy Florence = the Machine... which I thought I hated when she first showed me. I was wrong. I love maybe 80% of her stuff. My favorite, by far, is Howl.
Back to movies... if you care.
I liked Inception, Salt was decent, The Tourest was also decent, Tron was fun enough ( but nothing amazing), surprisingly I loved King of California, I want to see 127 hours... or maybe just read it, You Again was disappointing, Alpha & Omega was barely ok...for a kid..., Megamind was decent (but could have been funnier), Mean Girls @ was absolutely pathetic, Dinner for Shmucks was somewhat good—not as slow as the french version, I don't even remember The Other Guys (same thing goes for the Bounty Hunter ), Ramona & Bezus was ok, Sorcerer's Apprentice was a little better, Shrek#4? was neither horrible or good, Eclipse was the worst twilight movie yet (and I still have to watch the 4th one because Lee Pace is in it), . and I can't remember what else I've watched, Airbender wasn't up to it's potential but still good, Grown ups wasn't worth it (neither was Easy A), Toy Story 3 was good, Nany McPhee was a step below the first one (Pigs+synchronized swimming= time filler content), and that is everything I remember watching in the last year.
Neverwherewas an enjoyable audiobook. Would make the road trip list. Ending drug out a bit. The F word pops up every hour for the first few hours ... but other than that it's clean. I've started The Graveyard Book Audio book, also by Neil Gaiman, so far so good. I have Good Omens set aside by the same author.
I think I am liking these sci- fi fantasy things more than I usually think I will. I don't know why I avoid them, I often enjoy them... like Enders Game... Once upon a time I really liked that, but I never read much more or the serries.
Ta Ta for now.
If you watch the movie, I thought it was interestingt that the cat's name is based on a 9th century poem about a monk's cat, named Pangur Ban/Ben... and that the Chi Rho Page they make a big deal about in the movie, is an actual illumination from a book referred to as the Book of Kells. Page looks pretty much the same, and all that makes me wonder if movies often reference history without me knowing it.
I also somewhat hooked on Healing Incantation song from Tangled. I think Mandy Moore did a great job... better than she does on her own music. As for the movie, I enjoyed it. Not in my top 5 Disney, but still fun, cute, and enjoyable. Prince Chuck Bartowski did bug me a little—not horribly, but it didn't seam to fit.
Whats with me lately and my obsession with songs from cartoons... I'm not 5.
Speaking of not being 5, I am having an incredible problem with capitols lately. I swear I've been capitalizing every 4-6th world arbitrarily. I have no idea why suddenly I am doing it more than normal, but it is driving me crazy. I look at things I've just written, and I have no recollection of doing it. I don't usually clean up my writing, but I feel like I have to at least get rid of excess capitols.
In other song news, I've been on a folkish music kick, listening to my 3 Nickel Creek songs a lot (When you come back down, I should've known better, and Anthony) Wish I liked more of their songs, but I kinda don't
Additionally, a modern dance type music kick, replaying my two Mirah songs ( http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/cold-cold-water/id259153920?i=259153933, and The Garden)
On a more mainstream (but still quirky) note, via Carissa, I have come to enjoy Florence = the Machine... which I thought I hated when she first showed me. I was wrong. I love maybe 80% of her stuff. My favorite, by far, is Howl.
Back to movies... if you care.
I liked Inception, Salt was decent, The Tourest was also decent, Tron was fun enough ( but nothing amazing), surprisingly I loved King of California, I want to see 127 hours... or maybe just read it, You Again was disappointing, Alpha & Omega was barely ok...for a kid..., Megamind was decent (but could have been funnier), Mean Girls @ was absolutely pathetic, Dinner for Shmucks was somewhat good—not as slow as the french version, I don't even remember The Other Guys (same thing goes for the Bounty Hunter ), Ramona & Bezus was ok, Sorcerer's Apprentice was a little better, Shrek#4? was neither horrible or good, Eclipse was the worst twilight movie yet (and I still have to watch the 4th one because Lee Pace is in it), . and I can't remember what else I've watched, Airbender wasn't up to it's potential but still good, Grown ups wasn't worth it (neither was Easy A), Toy Story 3 was good, Nany McPhee was a step below the first one (Pigs+synchronized swimming= time filler content), and that is everything I remember watching in the last year.
Neverwherewas an enjoyable audiobook. Would make the road trip list. Ending drug out a bit. The F word pops up every hour for the first few hours ... but other than that it's clean. I've started The Graveyard Book Audio book, also by Neil Gaiman, so far so good. I have Good Omens set aside by the same author.
I think I am liking these sci- fi fantasy things more than I usually think I will. I don't know why I avoid them, I often enjoy them... like Enders Game... Once upon a time I really liked that, but I never read much more or the serries.
Ta Ta for now.
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Book 12 (of 12) ...and a movie (How to Train Your Dragon)
Another forgotten gift (so selfish) from my brother Corky. He sent me HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON, A movie that I really enjoyed and highly recommend, even though I had no interest in seeing it and only saw it because it was the less stereotypically "male"of the movies that Brett wanted to see (it's not that I hate "male" movies quite as much as it is that I find long battle scenes incredibly dull). HTTYD is not as funny the 4th time you see it, because you know where all the funny parts are, but if I take a year off, I will love it once again. Everyone I've gotten to watch it has cracked up during it.
It may be my favorite movie of the year. Definitely better than Avatar.
My Brother Also sent me the book, How to Train Your Dragon, which worked out nicely for me, because although I finished book 11 several months ago, I haven't read anything leisurely (or practical) since. I figured I could squeeze in a children's book before 2011, and the book was much longer than a picture book, so I didn't feel like I was cheating. I can justify one children's book out of 12 in a year, right?
Title: How to Train Your Dragon
Author: Cressida Cowell
Genre: Children's Fantasy
Synopsis:Time has come for young Hiccup and the other boys of his age to be initiated into their viking tribe. Step 1: Catch a Dragon. Step 2: Train the Dragon. Step 3: Demonstrate his mastery over the Dragon. Hiccup, however, is a wimpling of a viking, and in order to train his dragon, he must develop an alternative lesson plan. Though Hiccup continuously fails, he saves the day in the end.
Review: Neutral Fact: This book is completely different than the move. While they both tell the stories of vikings and dragons, the relationship between the dragons and vikings is so dramatically different, that I wonder at why they bothered using the same title... just change some of the character names, and it is 95% a different story. Problem 1: My synopsis is more exciting than the book. Problem 2: I cannot, for the life of me, figure out how some one read this and was inspired to write such a clever screen play. I am amazed at the talent of this writer, who was able to mix two imaginative subjects (vikings & dragons) and create such unimaginative story.
Bottom Line: Watch the movie, skip the book (gasp). 2 stars.
The forgotten gift
How rude of me, I open 3 gifts that and only mention 2. I'd opened the 1st a few days before I left, so it wasn't on my mind.
Austin & Tracie, knowing that B & I like to experiment with Julia Child's cook book (some recipes we love, some depends on which one of us makes it, a few that just aren't compatable to my palate), gave us a copy of Julie and Julia, the movie
This was one of those slow paced movies that managed not to drag. The previews didn't originally intrigue me, but watching it I found it more interesting than I expected. Not life changing, not a nonstop comedy, but still a good film. Plus, Meryl Streep is a fun actress, and I always like that he-actor who plays her husband, whoever he is.
Austin & Tracie, knowing that B & I like to experiment with Julia Child's cook book (some recipes we love, some depends on which one of us makes it, a few that just aren't compatable to my palate), gave us a copy of Julie and Julia, the movie
This was one of those slow paced movies that managed not to drag. The previews didn't originally intrigue me, but watching it I found it more interesting than I expected. Not life changing, not a nonstop comedy, but still a good film. Plus, Meryl Streep is a fun actress, and I always like that he-actor who plays her husband, whoever he is.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
penmanship
The re-occurring theme this weekend has been cursive.
First, I was watching the BBC mini-series "Bleak House" (with Gillian Anderson), based on Charles Dickens's book. I think Brett's sister might have recommended it? anyhow, it is absolutely fabulous! Like the pride and prejudice mini-series , I resisted watching it, but once I did I was so drawn in that I that I watched the first 5 hours strait (hence why I have not brought myself to start watching the rest of it, I am scared!) I
After reading Great expectations, I really had no interest in reading Dickens. This one might bug me as a book to though, because (so far) like great expectations, multiple totally unrelated characters are all so intertwined "that it is, like, ya right."
Now, to the cursive. Someone's handwritting is an important part of this plot, and I don't know who they hired to do the writting in the movie, but I am jelous. I have such horrible cursive. (snapshot from the movie)
I WANT TO LEARN TO WRITE LIKE THIS
Then, today in church, they did a combined RS/PH class, were they got out a projector (with bad resolution, hard to see) to show us how to index names for the temple.
It was here that Brett informed me THAT HE CANNOT READ CURSIVE. I think he may have said it before, but I thought he meant he had difficulty reading some people's cursive (doesn't everybody?), but in actuality HE NEVER LEARNED CURSIVE, at least not traditional cursive. he learned some other kind of cursive where the letters look more normal ( like r's and such) and not all the letters connect, so he really cannot read cursive (including most of the examples we saw from indexing).
First, I was watching the BBC mini-series "Bleak House" (with Gillian Anderson), based on Charles Dickens's book. I think Brett's sister might have recommended it? anyhow, it is absolutely fabulous! Like the pride and prejudice mini-series , I resisted watching it, but once I did I was so drawn in that I that I watched the first 5 hours strait (hence why I have not brought myself to start watching the rest of it, I am scared!) I
After reading Great expectations, I really had no interest in reading Dickens. This one might bug me as a book to though, because (so far) like great expectations, multiple totally unrelated characters are all so intertwined "that it is, like, ya right."
Now, to the cursive. Someone's handwritting is an important part of this plot, and I don't know who they hired to do the writting in the movie, but I am jelous. I have such horrible cursive. (snapshot from the movie)
I WANT TO LEARN TO WRITE LIKE THISThen, today in church, they did a combined RS/PH class, were they got out a projector (with bad resolution, hard to see) to show us how to index names for the temple.
It was here that Brett informed me THAT HE CANNOT READ CURSIVE. I think he may have said it before, but I thought he meant he had difficulty reading some people's cursive (doesn't everybody?), but in actuality HE NEVER LEARNED CURSIVE, at least not traditional cursive. he learned some other kind of cursive where the letters look more normal ( like r's and such) and not all the letters connect, so he really cannot read cursive (including most of the examples we saw from indexing).
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