Books and Movies

Hancock

2008-07-07T13:47:00.000-07:00

Hancock
6 out of 10

I've been wanting to see this movie, and so when in came to a theater near me, I went. I liked it, but it also made you wonder if they just combined two stories together. It had a weird plot twist.

It's about Hancock, who is a sloppy super hero who makes a mess as he tries to help people. Frankly he just is a alcoholic guy who wants to help people. So he helps this guy and decides to hear what he has to say about being a better hero. Hancock goes to jail for a bit, and comes back will everyone wanting his help. Around this time, the plot twist takes place, and I don't want to give it away.

I've seem many very different reviews on this movie, so I guesss it all depends on how well you like surprising plot twists.

Here's the trailer:

August Rush

2008-07-05T20:51:00.000-07:00

August Rush
8 out of 10

This as a really good movie. I, as a lover of music, could really relate to the whole thing. This movie is about love, hope, and determination.

It is about Evan Taylor (AKA August Rush) who has been in an orphinage all his life. One day he takes a chance and steps out into the world of New York City to find his parents. While looking, he meets a new friend, Arthur. Arhtur takes Evan to an old run down theater that has become the home of the children street musicians of New York City. evan is introduced to all types of music and soon gets his composed music in an orchestra that brings his family together.

Trailer:

And here are some clips of the music from the movie:

One Missed Call

2008-07-05T20:32:00.000-07:00

One Missed Call
5 out of 10

I finally got to watch this movie. I had posted a while back that I'd wanted to watch it. And I say it was OK, and only just. The story was good, but it was just average; it was just another scary movie. Actually, it reminded me a lot of The Ring in these ways:
1) They both have to do with a phone call
2) They both have a stupid girl who have to figure out some stupid mystery with all the little clues throughout the movie
3) The guy that hangs out with the main girl dies at the end
4) Everyone thinks the mother are evil when it really their satanic little girl

It did scare the crap out of my cousin. I happened to have to ring tone on my phone. So that night I stole his phone, sent the ring tone to him, and called him the next day. It scared the crap out of him! He he he!

In the movie, if your phone rang this certain ring tone, you would hear yourself die, and soon after, you would get so freaked out by it that somehow you would die. So this one girl sees two of her friends die that way and decides, "Hey, I don't want to die". So when she gets the call, she goes and figures out how to stop it. The End.

Typical Scary movie. But it was still worth watching. Here is the trailer:

The Host

2008-07-05T17:43:00.000-07:00

The Host

by Stephenie Meyer

10 out of 10

This book was fantstic! Stephenie Meyer took a big step out of her Twilight bubble and did a great job! I enjoyed this book completly through and through. It did take me a while to read. Not only is it a little over 600 pages long, but I have had a busy summer with softball and camp and stuff. Anyways...

In the story, an alien species has taken over the earth. The aliens are a form of parasite that is enjected into human bodies. Afterwards, the aliens would take over all the bodies, living inside them and using them as a host. The main character, Wanderer, is an alien that is living inside the body of human Melanie, who doesn't seem to just disapear like she is supost to. When Wanderer starts to see the things Melanie's past and soon cannot separate Melanie's feelings from her own, Wanderer decides to go on a journy to find one of the last remaining humans that the two of them both love.

This book is a nice mixture of a SciFi and Romance novel. Stephenie Meyer does a good job.

The Golden Compass

2008-07-02T13:06:00.000-07:00

The Golden Compass
7 out of 10

It's not the whole Anti-Christian thing that makes the rating lower than it could be, because, frankly, I would have never guessed until Philip Pullman said so himself. It's just a story. It was just hard, at parts, to follow the story line. Some things made you think, "What? Did I miss something? Where did that come from?" It was like they exspected the viewes to have read the book.

The movie is about a parallel universe where people's souls walk beside them as animals. The main character, Lyra dicovers the secrets the government is trying to hide and must travel to the icey north to save her friends along with all the children of her world.

Trailer:

First Five Minutes:

Semi-Pro

2008-07-02T12:53:00.000-07:00

Semi-Pro
6 out of 10

This movie was good, but aren't all movies with Will Ferrell? It just didn't stand out. It was just another funny movie. Well, it wasn't just funny, it was really funny, but still.

It's about the Tropics basketball team. They stink and Jackie Moon is there best player, coach, and sponsor. They get a new player who helps them win their liege, with a lot of laughs along to way.

Trailer:

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

2008-06-08T17:50:00.000-07:00

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

10 out of 10

This was a really good movie; a nice follow-up of the first movie. I enjoyed the whole movie, and the music was great too. I liked the fact that they didn't change it from the book by too much.

In this Chronicle of Narnia, Peter, Susan, Edmond, and Lucy are brought back to Narnia by Prince Caspian, who called them with Queen Susan's magical horn. 1,000 has past in Narnia since the children had last visited, and things have changed: Prince Caspian's evil uncle has taken over Narnia, preventing Caspian's rein over the land. It is up to the Pevensie children, Prince Caspian, and the remaining Narnias to defeat him.

Here is the trailer:

So Yesterday

2008-06-05T13:11:00.000-07:00

So Yesterday
by Scott Westerfeld
6 out of 10

I have finally read So Yesterday. I enjoyed reading about Scott's idea of "cool". It makes you think, just like all of his books. It is an easy-reader.

The novel is about Hunter, who is a "Cool Finder". One day meets Jen, and that is when things get weird. His boss disappears, these really cool shoes appear, and fake new-brand products start to show up, causing chaos. And then the Jammers show up and everything gets worse!

This is a good book, and the only reason it is rated so low is because the ending just kind of cuts off, leaving you hanging off of a way too tall cliff. Click here to read the first chapter!

P.S. I Love You

2008-06-05T12:41:00.000-07:00

P.S. I Love You
10 out of 10

My friend Ashlee has been begging me to watch this movie since it came out on DVD. I finally got the chance to. It was really good. It made me laugh. It made me cry. It was a wonderful experience. This a great movie, but totally a chick flick. I especially loved the music, but that;s just me. The story is really good.

It is a story about Holly Kennedy. Her husband, a cute Irish singer, dies of cancer and leaves Holly a devastated young widow, who is lost in her own world of grief and sorrow. She wants to stay in her apartment forever, even when her friends try to help her. Then, on her birthday, Holly receives a recorded message from the one person she least expects: her deceased husband. He tells her to follow the instructions that he leaves for her. These instructions are to help Holly move on in life and to stop grieving.

This is a really good movie. It reminded me alot of 13 Little Blue Envelopes, by Maureen Johnson. Here's the trailer for P.S. I Love You:

Iron Man

2008-05-12T17:08:00.000-07:00

Iron Man
10 out of 10

I really really liked this movie. I'm not really the super hero movie type, but this was great. It was a good mix of action, romance, and people getting blown up and shot. The very end was... well, it's not how I would end it, but it was still great!

It's about a guy who all his life has made the most technological weapons of mass destruction, and on one of his missile presentations, a group of terrorists, who force him to make them a very destructive weapon. Instead, he builds the Iron Man suit and fights his way out of there. When he returns home, he realises that he doesn't want to cause destruction, but rather, he wants to prevent it. And thus becomes Iron Man.

Juno

2008-05-12T16:20:00.000-07:00

Juno
8 out of 10

This was a good movie. I enjoyed it. It was very original and unique. I saw it with my friend, who brought it over and forced me to watch it with her.

It is about a teenager who gets pregnant and about all that pregnant teens go through. Juno, the teen, decides to give up her baby for adoption. She finds the perfect family for her unborn child and starts to think they are cool, yet also kind of not so cool. And her friend, Paulie (the one who got her pregnant) and her start to become a couple.

Here are two different previews. I put two because they are both only simi-good videos. So two simi-good videos equal and good one. Here they are:

21

2008-05-12T15:57:00.000-07:00

21
7 0ut of 10

This was a pretty good movie. It was the typical Vegas movie, but it was still good. I went and saw it with a group of friends. I thought it was good. Everyone seemed to be on about the same grading scale. Over all, it was a movie worth seeing. It's funny, romantic and exciting.

The film is about this guy named Ben who is an excellent student and thrives in math. He is trying to get into Harvard, but doesn't have the money to afford it, until he is asked to join this small group of card-counting black jack players. He joins he team and right at the top of his game, things starts to go downhill.

I don't want to give away anymore, because it's a movie worth seeing. Here's the trailer, though:

Maximum Ride: Final Warning

2008-04-18T20:52:00.000-07:00

Maximum Ride: Final Warning
3 out of 10

I went to Barns&Nobles the day this book came out, expecting it to end. I guess "Final Warning" is just not a good name for a book that doesn't end a series. It's was almost liked he tried too hard just to write another so he could make it a series. I mean, how many times does Max have to save the world for these books to be over?! She shouldn't be portrayed as a super hero. I barely wanted to finish it. It was like an environmentalist threw up and it became a book.

This one is about how the crew decides to be all against global warming and goes to Antarctica. There, they are kidnapped and managed to escape because of a hurricane. That is caused by global warming? Come on! That's the cheesiest 200 pages I've ever read.

Take my advice and don't waste your time or money! It's not worth it! And this book just reveals that he wants to make it a big long series. That makes it stupid. End of discussion!

10,000 B.C.

2008-04-18T20:37:00.000-07:00

10,000 B.C.
8 out of 10

I went to go see this movie with my sister and my dad, instead of going to some overly expensive horrible restaurant with my cousins. That was their loss. This was a good movie. Now, the graphics were nothing special and the acting was average. But it was just one of those movies you had to like. The plot was not historical in any means, but no one ever said this was a historical based film. It's just a movie.

The story is about a small prehistoric tribe that gets invaded by more civilized areas of the world. The main character's love of his life is taken from him and he has to venture across new lands to save her and a bunch of other people. Along the way, he joins up with other tribes who have had the same thing happen to them as he has. They all get together and take down Egypt.

Like I said: It's not supposed to be accurate, but a good story.

Bank Job

2008-04-07T16:41:00.000-07:00

Bank Job
7 out of 10

This was a movie with a good plot. It it a movie based on a 1971 true-life robbery of a bank in Baker Street, London, from which the money and valuables stolen were never recovered. There was a lot of nudity and a bunch of language. There was also some violence. Even though it was awkward, because I went to see with with my grandpa, my uncle, and my cousin. It was still pretty good. I loved the plot!

This movie is four different stories at once that all intertwine with each other. It keeps you at the edge of your seat. It's the true, 1970s version of Oceans 11.

I am Morgan le Fey

2008-04-07T16:27:00.000-07:00

I am Morgan le Fey
6 out of 10

I read this book on the flight to New York City and on the way home. I don't know if the lousy flight had anything to do with it, but I thought I'd like this book more than I did. I liked it how it gave the whole Morgan le Fey background story of how she became who she was with King Arthur and whoever. I guess I'm just not into that Camelot stuff. And towards the end, it was just like a big fart for an ending. Too over dramatic and over written.

It's about Morgan le Fey and how she learned magic and why she hates King Arthur. When she was just a little girl, her father died at war and her mother is forced to marry the king of the kingdom. Morgan and her sister go into hiding at their nurse's home, who teaches them to read and use their heads. There is love, adventure, and sorrow.

The Unspoken

2008-04-07T16:09:00.000-07:00

The Unspoken
7 out of 10

The Unspoken, by Thomas Fahy, is a book that I enjoyed reading. It is dull at some parts, and I am a person with a weak stomach that can't even watch shows like E.R. and House because of the little gore they show. I just can't deal with it. This book doesn't have any gore, really, but it goes into detail about the tortures Jacob, the cult leader, inflicted upon them.

One of the characters that I related to was Jade, who is a pianist and hides her fear by being rude and sarcastic. I love the piano and play it often. At the part where it talked about her being tortured makes my fingers weak. Even now, as I think back on it.

I had a friend read it who loves horror novels. She really liked it, and agreed with me that it would make a better movie.

The story is about 6 kids who survive a huge fire in a village of a cult that their parents were in. None of the kids liked it, or the leader of the cult, Jacob, who tortured them when they questioned his authority. In killing Jacob, he told the six that in five years, each one of them would die of their worse fears. And 5 years later, the first of the six dies from drowning; his worse fear seeing as he couldn't swim. The only weird thing about it is, he died well away from any body of water.

Fools Gold

2008-03-10T16:26:00.000-07:00

Fools Gold
8 out of 10

I went to see this on Friday with some friends. It's a pretty good romantic comedy, even if Kaitlyn, my friend who is into violent movies, didn't think so...

It is about this couple that have spent the past some many years of their marriage looking for this treasure off the coast of Florida. And right after their divorce, they start to find it. It's about how they find the treasure, get back together, and stop this mafia-type-guy from finding it.

Here's the trailer

Peter Pan

2008-03-10T16:04:00.000-07:00

Peter Pan
By. J. M. Barrie
8 out of 10

Most people have seen the Disney Movie Peter Pan (9 out of 10), and possibly the newer movie that is not animated (9 out of 10). I have recently read the book (Boarders addition with a few short stories in the back that give background on Peter Pan and such.)

It is about a young girl who, one night, meats Peter Pan. He takes Wendy and her brothers to Neverland where they have all kinds of adventures. It's really exciting and sort of cute in a way.

I like how Barrie made everything sound like how a little kid would think of things.

This was first a play. There is even a movie about how and why he wrote it. It is called Finding Neverland. That's a good movie. (8 out of 10).

A Raisin in the Sun

2008-02-29T15:49:00.000-08:00

A Raisin in the Sun
8 out of 10

This is a play by Lorraine Hansberry. This was the first play even preformed that was written by a African American woman. I recently read this in my English class and we are watching the movie, too.

Yes, it was recently made into a movie that aired on ABC this previous Monday. We have a copy of it that we are viewing in class. So far (we are about 3/4 done with it) I would give the movie about a 7 out of 10.

I would say to read to book before ever watching the movie on it.

Vantage Point

2008-02-29T15:39:00.000-08:00

Vantage Point
9 out of 10

This movie was also awesome! I loved how it kept you guessing throughout the whole movie!!! It also had a bunch of twists and turns. It was good!

The story is in 8 different points of view. It's about a president assassination which 5 terrorists blowing up stuff, killing people, and even a kidnapping.

Here's a trailer of the movie. I think I've already posted it before, but just so you don't have to go looking for it again. I just love previews that give you goosebumps:

Jumper

2008-02-29T15:21:00.000-08:00

Jumper
9.5 out of 10

I loved it! I loved it! It was a great movie. There was a lot of action. And even a little romance.

It's about a man named David who has a ability, to teleport, or "jump". As the years pass, David relizes there is an ongoing war between the "Jumpers" and those who believe all Jumpers must die with the reason of "God should be the only one who is everywhere at once."

And guess what? Jumper is also a book! Yeah. Written by Steven Gould. I havn't read it quite yet, but I have read about 9 pages and LOVE it! It's currently sitting at the top of my pile of books to read. I'll let you know how it turns out.

You know what I've noticed? All movies latly are either remakes, books that get turned into movies, or crappy because movie writters have nothing left to write about save those few exceptional movies such as Cloverfeld and Vantage Point. Oh. Here's the trailer:

___________________________________________________________________
*UPDATE! MAY 11, 2008*

Jumper
by Steven Gould
5 out of 10

So After I saw the movie, I went out and bought the book. It was horrible. At first, I thought it would be just like the movie, but it is nothing like the novie at all! The movie is so much better, and that is pretty rare. But, I'm sure if I was to read the book first, I would like it better and complain that they made the movie all wrong. But come on. This was pretty bad.

It is the story of David Rice, who figures out he can teliport. He has an abusive father and his mother left when he was 12. So woth his newly obtained power, he runs away to New York City and starts to search for his mother. When he finally finds her and they reunite, she must go on a business trip in Europe, where she is blown up by terorists. That's pretty much it. So for a whole 300 pages or so he is just talking about how depressed he is and how much he wants to kill the guy that blew up his mom.

*Sigh* So just save yourself the time and read something else.

The Spiderwick Chronicles

2008-02-29T15:02:00.000-08:00

Ok, yes, I promised to post more often, but... well, I've have to write a stupid essay... :(

The Spiderwick Chronicles
5 out of 10

So I went and saw this movie. I have read all the books, so that can be no excuse. I went and saw the movie last Friday, and I wasn't impressed. It was just a bad movie. Something about it. I'm sure it is a good little kid movie because every 7 year old (and younger) loved it. But I just wasn't pleased.

The movie's about these 3 siblings who find a book about this unknown world of magic around them. There is an evil oger who is trying to rule over all the magical creatures, and so the children are protecting the book from the oger.

While I'm talking about Spiderwick Chronicles, I'd like to say the books are pretty good. Again: they are more of a younger kid series, but they only take about a day to read one of the books.

Twilight Movie

2008-02-21T14:21:00.000-08:00

The Twilight movie has got half a cast. Even though it does not say so one the movie sight, you can find out about it here on Stephenie Meyeer's blog. It's not too much like I pictured them when I read the books, but the new Twight y might be able to pass if they were alot of makeup and use alot of special effects.
_________________________________________

*UPDATE!! May 12, 2008*

There is a new Twilight trailer. It's pretty sweet. I can't wait for the movie to come out in December.
The trailer is below and here is Stephenie Meyer's movie page on her blog: http://stepheniemeyer.com/twilight_movie.html

Scary Movies

2008-02-08T14:36:00.000-08:00

We are in a small scary movie time right now. There's One Missed Call, The Eye, Untraceable, ect. I've heard The Eye is really scary and that big though kids went and say it and screamed and got scared. So it must be pretty good.

This is the One Missed Call trailer:

This is The Eye trailer:

This is the Untraceable trailer.

I havn't heard too much from the other two. (That is, as in people I actually know say they like it or not. I don't know if I can trust the media with a good answer.) So if you've seen them, I'd like to know what you think of those.
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In other news, Justine Larbalastier has a new book coming out in September called How To Ditch Your Fairy. It looks good. (FYI, she'd Scott Westerfeld's wife. Cool, I know.) Here is her blog: http://justinelarbalestier.com/blog/. I think the book looks good. I can't wait for it to come out.

Banning Books

2008-02-02T14:06:00.001-08:00

There is a post on the blog of Scott Westerfeld. He said a school has to send home a slip that parents must sign so their kids can read a book. There are also people who read the book and feel it is inappropriate, even thought they don't even have kids that go to that school. It's like The Golden Compass dispute all over again. Here's a video of what the author of the book has to say:

Yeah. I don't think it is a big deal. Some people should be allowed to critique.

In other news, last night I went and saw Meet the Spartans. It was funny, but it wasn't the best movie ever or anything. It was one of those movies that if you see it with silly, fun people, it's funny and if you see it with more serious people it's way stupid. And I saw it with some of my Junior friends who are falarious. So it was funny for me. Here is a link to the trailer.

The Final Cut

2008-02-01T19:16:00.000-08:00

Yes, I know. It's the old movie all the way back from 2004. But what made me think about it was a recent post on Scott Westerfeld's blog. The post was about how they are starting to put mini cameras into blind people's eyeballs so that they can see.

The movie is about a future world where everyone is encouraged to get a microchip that records everything you hear and see for your whole life. After you die, the Cutters will take the chip and make a video for everyone to remeber you by. It was pretty good. Watch the trailer at least.

And in book news, I just finished reading Speak. It was really good. I recomend it to all teen girls. You guys wouldn't like stuff like this. It's like a chick-flick book. And as I get to looking, it also appears to be a movie, too. Go figure.

Star Trek

2008-01-27T11:41:00.000-08:00

I'm not a fan of Star Trek or Star Wars or any of those SciFi Epic Space series shows/movies, but the Star Trek movie does come out in December and me and by friends are going to go see it. (They're fans) so I just wanted to address the subject to those other fans out there who didn't know about the new movie. Here's a trailer:

And you can also watch it here for a better picture. I noticed the one I got from Youtube was a little blurry.

Vantage Point also looks like a good movie. I saw a trailer of it on TV, but the trailer link on this page gives more about the movie, I think.

P.S. Does anyone remember that movie called The Initiation of Sarah? There is the old one, and then ABC redid it a few years ago. For some reason that popped into my head and I want to see who all has seen it.

Cloverfield and Shakespeare?

2008-01-19T11:14:00.000-08:00

So last night me and my friend Ashlee went to the movies to see Cloverfield with Deana, my other friend. The movie was good. Here's some videos trailers and clips. And this one too:

*Warning: The rest of this post will spoil the movie for those who haven't seen it! Beware!*

So I won't give too much away for the reason of people have a tendency to be curious. But I will say the movie just ends. That reminds me of Shakespeare's work because in Shakespeare's plays, his doesn't give you all the details and you have to figure them out for yourself and guess your opinion on it. That is kind of how Cloverfield is. Except it is totally a Godzilla for America. At the end it seems like a horrible ending, but it is one of those movies that leaves you thinking days later. (Those are my favorite kind of movies) and I thinks that makes it good.

You also have to know the reason they filmed it they way they did: because they wanted it to seem like this had already happened and they were showing it later after they recovered the video.

It was good enough to go see. So go see it. Or rent it at least when it comes out on DVD.

Maximum Ride 4 and Hamlet

2008-01-13T13:28:00.000-08:00

There is s rumor that there is going to be a 4th Maximum Ride, though I went to the sight to see if it was true and it wasn't there. So can anyone tell me if it is true and where I can find it. Please and thank you!

And in other news: My English class just finished reading Hamlet. I found this sorta funny video. But it WONT be funny if you haven't read the play or if you don't quite understand it. Here's the trailer:

Here's the first half

And here's the second half. The end after the credits is pretty stupid though...

OK, this seems like a lot, but I have one more video. I first saw it on yahoo, and I found it and want to share. It's "American Toy Boy:Etch-A-Sketch Man. It's cool to see all the stuff people can do with an etch-a-sketch.

The Field Guide

2008-01-12T20:11:00.000-08:00

So Scott Westerfeld is now making a field guide for his Uglies series. On his blog you can post what all stuff you want him to put and answer in it; diagrams, maps, backgrounds. Here's the link: http://scottwesterfeld.com/blog/?p=385#comments

Twisted Wizard of Oz!

2008-01-06T10:31:00.000-08:00

OK, well, since youtube is the best place to watch stupid funny videos, I was there to check out some videos by my friends that she'd talked about at school. Upon my searching, I ran into this version of the Wizard of Oz. It's falarious! And a pretty good job for a home movie. So here they are:*

*Warning: These videos contain language and alcohol references.

Hope you guys like them!

Other Sights

2008-01-05T09:37:00.001-08:00

OK, so I just wanted to post some good sights:

scottwesterfeld.com This is a sight of a popular young adult book author. They are mostly sci fi, but they are very good. He's a very good writer.

http://stepheniemeyer.com This is the sight of the also famous young adult author of the Twilight series. Which by the way, is going to be a movie that will start filming in 2008!

And, um... I don't know any good movie sights. Well, I guess this one, but that's all, so if you know any good sights, I'll post them!

Oh! And one more thing! I thought this was kind of cool. It's human tetris!

First Post!

2008-01-04T20:46:00.000-08:00

First Post! Woo! This is going to be so cool: Just a bunch of people taking about how awesome books and movies and a whole bunch of other tings are!

So, yeah. This is a forum for the blog: http://booksandmoviesforteens.freeforums.org/