Tomorrowland (2015)

tomorrowland

Tomorrowland (2015)

Director:

Brad Bird

Starring:

George Clooney

Britt Robertson

Hugh Laurie

Raffey Cassidy

Plot:

Bound by a shared destiny, a teen bursting with scientific curiosity and a former boy-genius inventor embark on a mission to unearth the secrets of a place somewhere in time and space that exists in their collective memory.

Review:

It makes me sad that this movie bombed and no more will be made. It has such a ridiculously positive message and I loved it so much.

I read that critics felt it had pacing issues, but I honestly don’t know what I’d change. One minute it was balls to the wall action, the next it was lots of talking, but that’s what the story called for and I don’t think it made it bad. I never got bored, I never wondered when it was going to be over, I just wanted more.

My favorite part was near the beginning when Britt Robertson’s character was being told by the cast of Stargate: Atlantis (not really they were her teachers) that the world was basically fucked in every possible way and she asked how do we fix it. I loved that.

It’s silly to say but the movie resonated with me and it could very well be my favorite movie of the year. Definite buy and re-watch and hopefully indoctrinate my daughter.

5/5

Heart of Obsidian (Psy-Changeling #12) By: Nalini Singh

HeartofObsid_Medium

Heart of Obsidian (Psy-Changeling #12) By: Nalini Singh

Plot:

A dangerous, volatile rebel, hands stained bloodred.
A woman whose very existence has been erased.
A love story so dark, it may shatter the world itself.
A deadly price that must be paid.
The day of reckoning is here.

From “the alpha author of paranormal romance” (Booklist) comes the most highly anticipated novel of her career—one that blurs the line between madness and genius, between subjugation and liberation, between the living and the dead.

Review:

Now that I’m sort of refreshed on the world I picked up where I left off. Heart of Obsidian had a few things I’d forgotten about, but I quickly got back up to speed. I liked the fact that the story was about Psy, they’re interesting and different from other books I’ve read.

Kaleb was a very dark, tormented character. Sahara was surprisingly strong and recovered from her ordeal fairly quickly. Honestly, I didn’t really like these two. They were super powerful and seemed to do and recover from setbacks quickly. Actually, there weren’t many setbacks. They were just so freaking powerful.

What was done to the world in this book was more interesting than the characters. What happened in the end changes the entire Psy community, so I look forward to reading what happens next because of that.

3.5/5

Pitch Perfect 2 (2015)

Pitch Perfect 2

Pitch Perfect 2 (2015)

Director:

Elizabeth Banks

Starring:

Anna Kendrick

Rebel Wilson

Hailee Steinfeld

Plot:

After a humiliating command performance at The Kennedy Center, the Barden Bellas enter an international competition that no American group has ever won in order to regain their status and right to perform.

Review:

I watched the first movie, I know I did, but apparently it was before the website. I vaguely remember liking it and that’s probably how I’m going to remember this one as well.

It was cute. It seemed to have some pacing issues where it was too slow at a couple parts and then sped through others. It’s a lot of people to follow so it’s going to move fast.

Favorite part was the underground acapella competition. Was not expecting to see all those comedians and the Packers, it was a strange combo, and hilarious.

I don’t really think this series needs any more movies, but it looks like they’re making another sequel, so we’ll see what happens.

3/5

The Tao of Martha: My Year LIVING; Or, Why I’m Never Getting All That Glitter Off of the Dog By: Jen Lancaster

The Tao of Martha

The Tao of Martha: My Year LIVING; Or, Why I’m Never Getting All That Glitter Off of the Dog By: Jen Lancaster

Synopsis:

One would think that with Jen Lancaster’s impressive list of bestselling self-improvement memoirs—Bitter Is the New Black; Bright Lights, Big Ass; Such a Pretty Fat; Pretty in Plaid; My Fair Lazy; and Jeneration X—that she would have it all together by now. One would be wrong. Jen’s still a little rough around the edges. Suffice it to say, she’s no Martha Stewart. And that is exactly why Jen is going to Martha up and live her life according to the advice of America’s overachieving older sister—the woman who turns lemons into lavender-infused lemonade. By immersing herself in Martha’s media empire, Jen will embark on a yearlong quest to take herself, her house, her husband (and maybe even her pets) to the next level—from closet organization to craft making, from party planning to kitchen prep. Maybe Jen can go four days without giving herself food poisoning if she follows Martha’s dictates on proper storage….Maybe she can grow closer to her girlfriends by taking up their boring-ass hobbies like knitting and sewing.…Maybe she can finally rid her workout clothes of meatball stains by using Martha’s laundry tips.… Maybe she can create a more meaningful anniversary celebration than just getting drunk in the pool with her husband….again. And maybe, just maybe, she’ll discover that the key to happiness does, in fact, lie in Martha’s perfectly arranged cupboards and artfully displayed charcuterie platters. Or maybe not.

Review:

Jen is at a point in her life where if I try and compare myself to her or put myself in her shoes I feel like my life is lacking. I’m twenty-nine it’s completely normal for me not to have the nice brick house in the suburbs or the dinner parties or all the other little superpowers she has. Sometimes it’s hard to remember that though.

It’s like when you get your first “real” job and you’re out of your parents house and you can’t understand why you still have a dinky bed while your parents have a nice bedroom suit. So you either accumulate a huge amount of debt or hoard money like it’s precious and don’t live your life. I’m in the middle (right now closer to the debt part, babies are expensive and I spend too much time on entertainment to have any real skills).

Anyway, this book made me want to get all crafty. She almost had me wanting to throw dinner parties, but it takes a lot more to get me to forget how awkward and horrible a host I am.

I actually started to wonder why I don’t do more craft projects. I’ve certainly got enough ideas pinned and I’m not a complete newb, I’ve crocheted stuff, and baked stuff, and painted stuff. I could totally get all crafty.

Then I remember the two year old permanently attached to my hip that doesn’t let me do anything fun without wanting to try it herself. It’s like I’m the most amazing thing in her world and if I’m doing it she has to do it because it must be the coolest things ever. It’s hard being someone’s world.

Since crafts are put on hold for a few more years I thought, well I could decorate the house for Christmas. I went so far as to image surprising my husband with a completely decorated house when he comes home from work and that’s where the fantasy ended. My husband is a perfectionist when it comes to Christmas decorations and anything I did he would have to go back around and fix. It’s annoying and totally defeats the purpose of me decorating the house.

Sorry for the rabbit trail, however, it does convey nicely what reading a Jen Lancaster book is like, to an extent. Liked the book, made me want to be crafty. Cried when Maisy died and I’m not even one of those animal loving weird-o’s. (I feel like I need to clarify that I was being sarcastic with this line)

4/5

Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles #1) By: Marissa Meyer

Cinder

Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles #1) By: Marissa Meyer

Plot:

Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl.

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.

Review:

This book has been on my to read pile for a while but I honestly kept forgetting about it. However, lately a few blogs I follow reminded me of it and I’m so glad they did.

I like a good fairy tale retelling, but there have been a lot of them recently so the market kind of feels over saturated. This book could have easily been just like every other one, but the futuristic setting, the android and cyborgs, the moon people, really set it apart.

I really enjoyed the world that was created, there was a lot of detail and it was clearly well thought out. There was a history and based on the author’s websites she had reasons for what she did and the way she termed things.

The important aspects of the Cinderella story were included as well. The step-mother was wicked, a “shoe” was left behind, and a few other important things. What I’m curious to see, though, is what will be done in the next books. The series clearly started as a Cinderella re-telling, but it didn’t end that way. There is no Happily Ever After and the girl doesn’t have the Prince/Emperor. Instead there was a twist that wasn’t really a huge surprise.

The book is YA and there were a few very YA moments where Cinder was more worried about silly teenage things and not the big issues. Still it was not overwhelmingly so and never reached annoying.

I’m really curious to see how this series develops and I look forward to reading the next book.

4.5/5