Get Hard (2015)

Get-Hard-2015-3

Get Hard (2015)

Director:

Etan Cohen

Starring:

Will Ferrell

Kevin Hart

Alison Brie

Plot:

When millionaire James King is jailed for fraud and bound for San Quentin, he turns to Darnell Lewis to prep him to go behind bars.

Review:

Was not expecting to laugh as much as I did for this movie. I mean, I went in hoping to laugh, but anticipating a mediocre comedy. When in fact it was slightly more than that.

I appreciated the fact that there was not an over abundance of short jokes like there normally are with Kevin Hart movies. There didn’t need to be because of how well the movie was shot. All they had to do was show Ferrell and Hart standing beside each other.

Ferrell’s character was the best part of the movie, though possibly the weakest too. He was supposed to be so smart and make so much money on the stock market but he was too trusting. Not really a trait people in his position tend to have, but oh well. His interactions with Hart and the gang bangers were hilarious, though.

Hart was fine, though a little flat character wise, it’s not a huge deal in a comedy movie. However, that’s actually something that’s starting to bug me. Certain comedies I don’t expect too much realistic behavior, for example Stepbrothers, but others I feel like the story should still be plausible. Maybe I’m starting to expect too much?

Oh well, it was a funny movie and if you’ve got nothing better to watch why not?

3.5/5

When an Alpha Purrs (A Lion’s Pride #1) By: Eve Langalis

When an Alpha Purrs

When an Alpha Purrs (A Lion’s Pride #1) By: Eve Langalis

Plot:

A lion’s pride isn’t defined only by those he commands but also resides with his hair, so when a human dares to butcher Arik’s mane, he gets his revenge—and claims her as his mate. A billionaire CEO and leader of the largest East Coast pride, Arik is a ladies man and a lion. Used to commanding others, and obedience, he can’t believe it when a hairdresser with tempting curves chops off a hunk of his precious mane. But her biggest mistake is in running from him. Run as fast as you can, little mouse, because this cat loves to chase—and pounce. Oh, and he also likes to nibble on tender bits. What he doesn’t expect is to fall for a human woman, a woman who can make the impossible happen because everyone knows lions can’t purr…until now.

Review:

As soon as I finished the last Kodiak Point book I pre-ordered this one. I was definitely in the mood for a funny shifter book and this filled that need.

I liked how arrogant Arik was, normally it could have irked me but he was just so funny and ridiculous I couldn’t help it. Kira was fine, but was the weakest part of the story. Well, honestly, I think the length of the story was the weakest part. It needed to be longer and I’m not just saying that as someone who never wants these stories to end.

Kira was a human and not familiar with the whole shifter society and her introduction to it was very violent. I didn’t buy her accepting it so quickly, she really fought against it and then abruptly changed her mind. It seemed rushed and not the full story.

I look forward to the next book, I just hope it’s more complete.

3.5/5

Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation (2015)

mission-impossible-rogue-nation-1

Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation (2015)

Director:

Christopher McQuarrie

Starring:

Tom Cruise

Simon Pegg

Rebecca Ferguson

Jeremy Renner

Plot:

Ethan and team take on their most impossible mission yet, eradicating the Syndicate – an International rogue organization as highly skilled as they are, committed to destroying the IMF.

Review:

This was such a pleasant surprise. I’d honestly completely forgotten they were releasing a new Mission Impossible movie until my husband brought it up. Since our daughter is having her first sleepover with the grandparents I thought this was a great movie to keep me distracted.

The IMF is experiencing some backlash from their previous less than covert operations. Blowing up the Kremlin tends to piss off some people. Because of that this entire operation was spent with the agents dodging the bad guys and the good.

Simon Pegg was great, Tom Cruise was great, Rebecca Ferguson was great, you get the picture? The actors were perfect, the story was entertaining, and there were masks. I actually think the movie will end up looking better when I see it on a smaller screen, so much was going on that it was sometimes difficult to focus on everything.

Watching this made me want to re-watch the previous ones and I think once I’ve finished the Matrix Trilogy I will move on to the Mission Impossible series.

4/5

 

Lois Lane: Fallout (Lois Lane #1) By: Gwenda Bond
Lois Lane

This cover is freaking awesome and I love it!

 

Lois Lane: Fallout (Lois Lane #1) By: Gwenda Bond

Plot:

Lois Lane is starting a new life in Metropolis. An Army brat, Lois has lived all over—and seen all kinds of things. (Some of them defy explanation, like the near-disaster she witnessed in Kansas in the middle of one night.) But now her family is putting down roots in the big city, and Lois is determined to fit in. Stay quiet. Fly straight. As soon as she steps into her new high school, though, she can see it won’t be that easy. A group known as the Warheads is making life miserable for another girl at school. They’re messing with her mind, somehow, via the high-tech immersive videogame they all play. Not cool. Armed with her wit and her new snazzy job as a reporter, Lois has her sights set on solving this mystery. But sometimes it’s all a bit much. Thank goodness for her maybe-more-than-a friend, a guy she knows only by his screenname, SmallvilleGuy.

Review:

I’m not a huge fan of Lois Lane, but I love superman and I read a blog by the author, Bond, over on Chuck Wendig’s website and I thought it sounded interesting. I fell in love with the cover, I read half of the kindle sample, and then I decided I had to own this book in hardback.

First off, the quality of the actual book is great. The slipcover is cool and the cover under that looks just as good. The paper is white, not the normal cream color, and because of that the words just pop off of the page.

Next, the book itself is really good. I’m always wary of YA books because you never know when you’re going to have to deal with the stupid emotions of teenagers and all their “issues.” Thankfully there was almost none of that in this book and what little there was, was completely acceptable and actually went with the story. There was no made up issues with boys or adults treating them unfairly just because they’re adults. The book was about real issues, involving bullying in hologames. Err.. Real issues with a cool twist.

I want a hologame now! Give it to me. I must wage war!!!!!

Anyway, halfway through the book I was dreading finishing it and wishing I had started the series when a couple more were already written. Goodreads has it listed as a series, but a quick internet search gave me nothing on the publishers website or the authors. My hope is that Bond is already locked in a room somewhere writing the sequel and that DC is telling her she can have whatever she wants. That’s the dream, we’ll see what happens.

Fallout was one of those books that while reading I told myself this is a solid four star, I really like it, but it’s missing something extra to push it to love. However, as I wrote my review and started to really think about the book my love grew for it. I’m still withholding the full five stars, but it is definitely more than a four.

4.5/5

Ant-Man (2015)

Ant-Man

Ant-Man (2015)

Director:

Peyton Reed

Starring:

Paul Rudd

Michael Douglas

Corey Stoll

Evangeline Lilly

Plot:

Armed with a super-suit with the astonishing ability to shrink in scale but increase in strength, cat burglar Scott Lang must embrace his inner hero and help his mentor, Dr. Hank Pym, plan and pull off a heist that will save the world.

Review:

The movie had some pacing issues and was nowhere near as funny as I thought it was going to be. I was actually pretty disappointed in everything. I feel like this keeps happening with the most recent additions to the Marvel franchise. It was an introduction to the character but they were hamstrung by the universe that’s been built. The issue facing Ant-Man couldn’t be too big because they didn’t want to call in the Avengers and it ended up having problems because of it.

The action was lacking and there was a lot of downtime. There were a few funny moments but the dialog that was supposed to be funny felt forced.

There’s been a lot of buildup in the last two movies toward, I guess, Captain America: Civil War, and because of that the story for movies like Ant-Man and Avengers: Age of Ultron felt like they were filler.

I’m being a little unfair, Ant-Man wasn’t that bad, but it certainly didn’t live up to my expectations.

3/5