Hot Fuzz (2007)

Hot Fuzz

Hot Fuzz (2007)

Director:

Edgar Wright

Starring:

Simon Pegg

Nick Frost

Martin Freeman

Plot:

Exceptional London cop Nicholas Angel is involuntarily transferred to a quaint English village and paired with a witless new partner. While on the beat, Nicholas suspects a sinister conspiracy is afoot with the residents.

Review:

I love this movie, definitely in my top favorites. I was lucky enough to get the bluray for Christmas and was finally able to watch it. There are so many great quotes, so many great scenes, this is my favorite of the Nick Frost and Simon Pegg movies.

“You ain’t seen Bad Boys 2?”

The movie perfectly makes fun of all the over the top, adrenaline packed, action movies out there, but it respects them at the same time. It’s a fine line and doesn’t really tip over into over the top spoof territory, but I still find myself laughing throughout.

“Ever fired your gun in the air and yelled, ‘Aaaaaaah?”

Seriously love this movie and if you haven’t seen it I highly recommend it.

5/5

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn By: Mark Twain
Sadly not the edition I read

Sadly not the edition I read

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn By: Mark Twain

Plot:

Of all the contenders for the title of The Great American Novel, none has a better claim than The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Intended at first as a simple story of a boy’s adventures in the Mississippi Valley – a sequel to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer – the book grew and matured under Twain’s hand into a work of immeasurable richness and complexity. More than a century after its publication, the critical debate over the symbolic significance of Huck’s and Jim’s voyage is still fresh, and it remains a major work that can be enjoyed at many levels: as an incomparable adventure story and as a classic of American humor.

Review:

This is the first book in my list of Classics I Should Read, as well as the oldest books on my to read pile. This year I’ve been trying to read more classics, non-fiction, and whittle down my to read pile. It’s taken a while but I’m finally getting there. There are just so many books!

The next time I hear someone say kids today are violent I’m going to point them in the direction of Huckleberry Finn. The very beginning of the book is Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn along with several other boys deciding they were going to be bandits and kill and steal from people. And if anyone was a rat their whole family would be killed.

The language was great, though at time hard to keep up with. It added another stop on my time travel vacation (the vacation I’ll take when I gain access to a time machine), I would love to hear Mark Twain read one of his stories. I bet it’s amazing.

I loved the first third or so, when it was just Huck and Jim. They got into scrapes and Huck had an interesting point of view on things. When the duke and the king joined them I didn’t find it as fun. They were conmen, to an extent so was Huck, but they were greedy. I was glad when he was finally free of them but what they did to Jim sucked. Then Tom Sawyer had to show up and cock things up again.

Everything was tied up by the end, which I always enjoy, but ultimately I only really liked reading the first third of the book. That’s not fair, I did laugh a couple times at the end with Tom Sawyer and his hijacks.

3.5/5

Side note: Symbolism is lost on me so I’m sure I missed some stuff.

 

Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb (2014)

night-at-the-museum-3

Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb (2014)

Director:

Shawn Levy

Starring:

Ben Stiller

Robin Williams

Owen Wilson

Steve Coogan

Dan Stevens

Rebel Wilson

Plot:

Larry spans the globe, uniting favorite and new characters while embarking on an epic quest to save the magic before it is gone forever.

Review:

Movie ended on a sad note and not just because watching it I remembered how much I miss Robin Williams. What if I don’t want Larry, Ben Stiller, to move on with his life? What if I want him to be a night security guard for the rest of his days? Sure, I guess, they could do another with Rebel Wilson, but, no offense to her, it would not be the same.

Not sure why I reacted to the ending like I did because I’ve never been a huge fan of the movies. They’re cute and a nice little way to spend some time, which is all you need sometimes.

Anyway, the story was fine, a little contrived, they jumped forward on some things quickly. Mainly the relationship between Larry and his son, but it was a lot to cram into one movie. Lancelot actually made a joke about that and how it’s not how quests are done.

I liked the movie and if you’re looking for something on in the background it would be a good choice.

3/5

 

Please Don’t Tell My Parents I’m a Supervillain By: Richard Roberts

Please Dont Tell My Paren'ts I'm a Supervillain

Please Don’t Tell My Parents I’m a Supervillain (Please Don’t Tell My Parents #1) By: Richard Roberts

Plot:

Penelope Akk wants to be a superhero. She’s got superhero parents. She’s got the ultimate mad science power, filling her life with crazy gadgets even she doesn’t understand. She has two super powered best friends. In middle school, the line between good and evil looks clear. In real life, nothing is that clear. All it takes is one hero’s sidekick picking a fight, and Penny and her friends are labeled supervillains. In the process, Penny learns a hard lesson about villainy: She’s good at it. Criminal masterminds, heroes in power armor, bottles of dragon blood, alien war drones, shape shifters and ghosts, no matter what the super powered world throws at her, Penny and her friends come out on top. They have to. If she can keep winning, maybe she can clear her name before her mom and dad find out.

Review:

With a title like that I had to at least read the sample. After a sample like that I had to at least read the book. After a book like that I have to read the next. Notice a theme?

I was nicely surprised by PDTMPIASV, it could have very easily been over the top cheesy with no plot or character development in sight, but it didn’t take the easy way out. There was certainly cheese and it was set over a couple of weeks so there wasn’t much character development, but it was still there and combined with the plot and world it made a great book.

The book was very long for a juvenile fiction book, possibly even for a YA. There were times when it did drag a little, because Roberts wanted to show you that Penny was a normal middle school girl, who just happened to find out that she made a good supervilian. Normal middle school girls are pretty boring.

I did wish that she had found a way to cement herself as a superhero and not just someone who worked both sides. If Roberts was trying to say something more there he didn’t do it clearly enough for me. I did however see why Penny would enjoy being a villain.

I thought her parents were very stupid, especially for supposedly being two of the smartest people on the planet, because of that I doubted everything they said. Obviously this would appeal to kids, she’s pulling something over her parents so easily. As a parent I’m annoyed, though.

If you happen to have a child in the YA/ juvenile fiction age bracket that loves to read I would highly recommend. Because of the length I’m not sure I would recommend for all readers in that age group, though.

4/5

Tangled (2010)

tangled-203

Tangled (2010)

Director:

Nathan Greno

Byron Howard

Starring:

Mandy Moore

Zachary Levi

Donna Murphy

Plot:

The magically long-haired Rapunzel has spent her entire life in a tower, but now that a runaway thief has stumbled upon her, she is about to discover the world for the first time, and who she really is.

Review:

This may cause some outrage, but, I think I like the story in Tangled better than Frozen. The songs are undeniably better in Frozen, but I think the character development is better in Tangled and makes the story that much better.

The songs are fine in this movie, they just aren’t as catchy as the ones in Frozen. I’ve seen Tangled a few times, but I couldn’t sing any of the songs or even really tell you what they’re about.

I cried a couple times, which is normal for a Disney movie, and each time my daughter would give me a hug, which was awesome.

4.5/5