Review

Charmed: Let Gorgons be Gorgons By: Paul Ruditis

Charmed: Let Gorgons be Gorgons By: Paul Ruditis

Plot:

When Piper, Phoebe, and Paige undo a spell that turned a local politician to stone, they little realize the powerful magic behind the hex. As attacks on innocents mount, The Charmed Ones enlist the help of their sister, Prue, confined on the magical Nexus, only to learn that the most heinous of mythical creatures—a gorgon—is to blame.

Freed from her underground tomb, Medusa joins her sisters in a crusade to avenge womankind, turning those who cross her to stone forever. At the same time, dark magic seems to be undoing all of Phoebe’s good works, distracting her from the impending battle with the gorgons. With time running out, will the sisters be able to defeat Medusa and restore their innocents to life?

Review:

I liked this book, more for the world building than the descriptions of the sister’s magic. I loved that it expanded on Coop and what being a cupid is, I always felt like he just sort of showed up at the end of the series and was just there, so it was really nice to find out more. Reading a magic fight, though, with the sister’s usual go to moves is kind of eh.

There were lots of call backs to older episodes, including the one where they turned into goddesses, not exactly a Charmed high point, but I enjoyed the addition of Medusa and her sisters. They were a villain that you could understand their side of, it wasn’t just an over the top demon.

The side plot had a rushed ending that mainly happened behind the scenes. Coop and Cole worked together and we saw them for brief periods, but they seemed kind of forgotten.

The book was a bit short, but it was a lot like an episode of Charmed, so while I would have enjoyed more it was pretty good.

3/5

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017)

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017)

Director:

Luc Besson

Starring:

Dane DeHaan

Cara Delevingne

Clive Owen

Plot:

A dark force threatens Alpha, a vast metropolis and home to species from a thousand planets. Special operatives Valerian and Laureline must race to identify the marauding menace and safeguard not just Alpha, but the future of the universe.

Review:

I wanted so bad to love this movie. I thought it looked so amazing, the world was super interesting, and I liked that one of the main characters was a woman. No matter how hard I try to love it, though, I can’t. After the ending I can’t even give it three stars.

First, and possibly the biggest problem, was the pacing. Oh my word it dragged in so many places and was just way too long.

I did not like the two leads. We were basically dropped into the middle of an ongoing relationship and just had to figure things out. Was Valerian being gross by continually asking Laureline to marry him? Were they in a point in their relationship where he was being cute? I have no idea and for me it came off as super annoying and I just wish she’d tell him to stfu.

I liked that she saved him and that he saved her, but he was the higher ranking officer so he was more capable than her? The power balance between the two was confusing, because, again we were just dropped into the middle of something that had been going on for a while with no explanation.

I wonder if Besson knew that this wasn’t going to get a sequel and just decided to do whatever the fuck he wanted whether it made sense for the viewer or not.

I enjoyed how it was shot and that everything wasn’t through a filter. Visually, it was really nice. The aliens were interesting and Alpha was a cool idea, but that’s all the positives I can think of.

Rhianna randomly being an alien shapeshifting stripper was weird and then she just dies. Dane DeHaan seemed to be trying a whole Keanu Reeves imitation with his voice that was also weird.

The ending made me bring it down a full star because it was just so ugh. Valerian saves the day and he and Lauraline are in an old Earth space ship and she agrees to marry him and they have sex. Seriously? It was just so stupid, especially, since I still had no idea what their relationship was supposed to be. She was forever telling him no and to focus on the job and he would just smile and ask again later.

I get that some people don’t like origin stories, but maybe this would have been better done that way. Or maybe they should have done a better job explaining the relationship. Or maybe there shouldn’t have been one at all. I know it’s based on a comic book, but it’s such an old obscure one that maybe they should have eased off the fan service and focused on people who just really want to see a good Sci-Fi story that has a happy ending. After this and Jupiter Ascending I’m never going to get an epic Sci-Fi movie series that isn’t Star Wars.

2/5

Montana Secret Santa

Montana Secret Santa (Love at the Chocolate Shop #3) By: Debra Salonen

Plot:

Ad exec Krista Martin, while feeling more Grinch than elf, still jumps at the chance to co-chair Marietta’s Secret Santa Society. Why not? Especially since brilliant, attractive, and innovative tech wunderkind Jonah Andrews has agreed to help. He’s well connected and Krista’s hoping for some advice on rebooting her career.

Jonah knows Krista has a not-so-hidden agenda, but sparring with her over cocoa at their Secret Santa meetings is the most fun he’s had since returning to his old hometown. Krista may come across as all business, but Jonah’s positive he’s glimpsed a little girl inside her who wants to believe in Santa… and in love.

Review:

Krista is a confusing protagonist. She starts off prepared to tell her partner that she needs to step up because she’s not carrying her weight and their business is going to fail if she doesn’t pick up the slack. She ends up doing a complete one eighty when she finds out her partner is pregnant. All of a sudden none of that matters and an intern will solve everything. An intern that doesn’t start until the next year.

Jonah is a tech genius and says he’s socially inept but doesn’t seem to be at all. He takes over Secret Santa with no issues. He does have some issues with Krista, but that’s mainly because they don’t communicate.

One of my least favorite tropes, lack of communication leading to misunderstandings and in this case a flight from Montana to LA. It’s lazy writing and there were lots of bits like that, characters were inconsistent in things that weren’t romance related. One minute Krista was concerned about her business, the next it wasn’t a big deal and they were going to be alright. Jonah is supposed to be humble, but he talks about his staff and drops around the fact that he’s a millionaire and gives people hundred dollar bills for Christmas. It’s weird.

It was an alright Christmas book and I’m giving it an extra Christmas star, but I’m not a huge fan.

3/5

 

Merry Christmas, Baby (2016)

Merry Christmas, Baby (2016)

Director:

Rhonda Baraka

Starring:

Malinda Williams

Victoria Rowell

Karon Riley

Plot:

Marci throws herself into preparing for Christmas and building her new event-planning business. But when the business gets off to a rocky start and members of her family face their own hardships, Marci steps up to help everyone have a good holiday.

Review:

So in the first movie Marci, Malinda Williams, comes home because her favorite cousin is going to be a missionary in Haiti and she’ll be gone for five years. I mention this because, they have continued this plotline. They mention her in every movie and in this one they even do a video chat. I like that she didn’t just disappear.

Blair, Karon Riley, is still struggling with his law firm. Marcie is now trying to run an event business with her aunt Elizabeth, Chrystale Wilson, and Myra, Deetta West, wants to adopt the young girl from the last movie. Again all the same actors which is nice, but they’ve stopped growing. They’re more giving but apart from that they’re still the same people.

I was really hoping that Marcie would be back on top and that Blair would be a stay at home dad, but I guess that’s not the direction they want to go in which is a bummer. It also kind of ended abruptly it felt.

Once again, poorly sung Christmas carols, check.

Picking out the perfect Christmas tree, check.

Learning to give to those in need, check.

It’s interesting to see an entire arc with this type of movie. I thought it was very real to life, which is probably the major negative for me. I wanted something more fanciful, I wanted perfect, and super happy endings. It’s Christmas, I want everything to work our beautifully in the end, not be stuck working with someone you can’t stand. Still, I will be very interested to see if there are more of these movies.

4/5

A Baby For Christmas (2015)

A Baby For Christmas (2015)

Director:

Rhonda Baraka

Starring:

Malinda Williams

Karon Riley

Deetta West

Chrystale Wilson

Plot:

It’s Christmas with the Chandlers but no one seems to have the Christmas spirit – except for Stephanie, that is. Marci and Blair are obsessing over being the perfect parents, Myra and Donald have retired and suddenly feel useless and Elizabeth is bending over backwards to get a promotion at work. Add to that Stephanie’s blooming romance with Lawrence – who is torn between being with her and continuing his mission work – and Christmas seems to be taking a back seat. That is, until a group of kids at an orphanage helps the family to realize that there’s more to Christmas than wrapping gifts and baking cookies.

Review:

Alright, movie number three and we’ve still got the same actors. I wasn’t as big a fan of this one, mainly because Marcie, Malinda Williams, who loves her job decides that she’s going to give it up so that she can be a stay at home mom. Even though she’s about to land a huge contract and her husband, Karon Riley, is still struggling with his law firm. It doesn’t make sense to me why he doesn’t just become a stay at home dad.

Outside of the main couple we got more focus on the other Chandler sisters this movie. Elizabeth, Chrystale Wilson, is trying to get a big promotion and Myra, Deetta West, is coping with her husband’s new retirement. It was nice to learn more about them. Elizabeth didn’t really make much progress, though, she did realize she didn’t want to be cut throat and is now thinking about starting her own business.

Poorly sung Christmas songs, check.

False labor and a rush to the hospital, check.

Christmas baby, of course check.

Oh well, one more movie to go in this franchise and I’m curious to see what happens.

4/5 (Still giving a star for being a Christmas movie)