Movie:Tucker and Dale vs Evil

Director: Eli Craig
Actors: Tyler Labine, Alan Tudyk and Katrina Bowden
MPAA rating: R
Running time: 89mins
Tagline: The perfect love story... with a high body count

Two lovable West Virginian hillbillies, are headed to their "fixer-upper" vacation cabin to drink some beer, do some fishin', and have a good time. But when they run into a group of preppy college kids who assume from their looks that they must be in-bred, chainsaw wielding killers, Tucker & Dale's vacation takes a bloody & hilarious turn for the worse.

I picked this movie because I liked Alan Tudyk in Serenity

What I liked the Most? I laughed so freaking hard

What I liked the Least? Nothing really

Review: This is a really entertaining twist on 'teens in the woods' horror flicks and I don’t mean in a Scary Movie kinda way. This movie takes an awesome idea and knocks it totally out of the park. It’s inventive and fresh with a beautiful heart. The casting is superb. Tyler Labine and Alan Tudyk are the "Hillbillies" in this hilarious tale of prejudice and paranoia. They delivered performances that are grounded, authentic, and interesting. They are never in jeopardy of becoming stereotypical ignorant rednecks. Instead they have a great deal of wit.

Recommended to: EVERYONE because it is freaking HI-larious!

Best Quote: Oh hidy ho officer, we've had a doozy of a day. There we were minding our own business, just doing chores around the house, when kids started killing themselves all over my property.

Bento : Chicken & Veggies

Pretty much the same lunch for BF and myself - mine just has much less rice and more veggies

Contagion

Director: Steven Soderbrgh
Actors: Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Jude Law
MPAA rating: PG 13
Running time: 106 mins
Tagline: Nothing spreads like fear

Soon after her return from a business trip to Hong Kong, Beth Emhoff dies from what is a flu or some other type of infection. Her young son dies later the same day. Her husband Mitch however seems immune. Thus begins the spread of a deadly infection. For doctors and administrators at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, several days pass before anyone realizes the extent or gravity of this new infection. They must first identify the type of virus in question and then find a means of combating it, a process that will likely take several months. As the contagion spreads to millions of people worldwide, societal order begins to break down as people panic.

I picked this movie because Tony recommended it

What I liked the Most? The concept of the movie

What I liked the Least? The concept of the movie – it scared the crap out of me

Review: It was an excellent concept and mostly delivered, it was just slow. Really slow. This is one of those I would have preferred to read the book & let my imagination take over ones. It was a good movie, but a little cluttered and not it the good way of say Stephen King’s The Stand.

Recommended to: Eh – watch it or not – your choice

Best Quote: Blogging is not writing, it is graffiti with punctuation

Storm Cycle

Iris Johansen
Thriller
St Martin’s Press / 2009
Hard Back / 416 Pages

Rachel Kirby is a computer genius whose personal life is hell. While she continues to climb the corporate ranks, her beloved twin sister is plagued by a chronic illness that will eventually kill her, leaving Rachel all alone. Serendipity in the form of a mysterious email lands in Rachel’s lap one day, but not without a price. Thousands of miles away, archeologist John Tanek sits trapped inside a collapsed Egyptian tomb with a functioning laptop. He knows that Rachel is the only person who can help him, but time is quickly running out. It turns out the collapse was no accident. John has discovered something very valuable in that tomb, something that humankind has been searching for throughout history, something that Rachel could use as it may hold the key to her sister’s cure. While Rachel orchestrates his rescue, she soon finds herself trapped in a dangerous web of deceit and murder. Can she put her trust in John Tanek? She’d do anything to save her sister. Will they both live long enough to unravel the ancient mystery they’ve found inside the tomb?

I picked this book up because I enjoy reading her books

What I liked the Most? The details of the computer

What I liked the Least? Predictability

Review: Ok, I give the detractors their due – this is a totally predictable book, down to who dies, who’s fucking who, and where the mystery is headed, but the trip was worth the “I knew it” moment for me.

A sick girl overcoming the odds, sniper attacks, a computer named Jonesy, a search for the cure of a very rare disease, government agents, foreign travel, sisterly love, romantic interests, and a couple of bombs going off – this would make an excellent movie, how come none of her books make it that far.

Recommended to: Fans of her work

Best Quote: “Let me live my life while I can”

Hugo

Director: Martin Scorsese
Actors: Asa Butterfield, Chloë Grace Moretz and Christopher Lee
MPAA rating: PG
Running time: 126 mins
Tagline:

Hugo is an orphan boy living in the walls of a train station in the 1930s in Paris. He fixes clocks and other gadgets as he learned to from his father and uncle. The only thing that he has left that connects him to his father is an automaton that doesn't work; Hugo has to find its heart-shaped key. On his adventures, he meets with a cranky old man who works in the train station and his adventure-seeking god-daughter. Hugo finds that they have a surprising connection to his father and the automaton, and as he discovers it, the old man starts remembering his past and his significance to the world of film-making.

I picked this movie because The previews looked stunning but I didn’t get a chance to see it on the big screen.

What I liked the Most? The layers of romance

What I liked the Least? The anger

Review: Hugo is a movie that you will either love or hate. I personally loved it. I laughed, I cried, I cheered. I was sucked into this magical train station and it’s daily inhabitants. I really enjoyed the romances that carried on in the background of the “real” tale. After all, this is a place your dreams can come true.

I think what makes this movie is the constant sound track, even when there is something else going on. The score guy made this movie unforgettable.

Recommended to: Anyone with imagination

Best Quote: This might be an adventure, and I've never had one before - outside of books, at least.

Lunatic Cafe

Laurell K Hamilton
Urban Fantasy
Ace / 1996
Paper Back / 352 Pages
Series Anita Blake #4

Vampire hunter and zombie animator Anita Blake is an expert at sniffing out the bad from the good. But in The Lunatic Café, she's about to learn that nothing is ever as it seems, especially in matters of the not-so-human heart

I picked this book up because Series/reread

What I liked the Most?

What I liked the Least? Anita’s view on women

Review:

“I wanted to see Richard in a suit and let him see me in something frillier than jeans. I was after all a girl, whether I liked to admit it or not.” ~ This line bugs the shit out of me, just get over it you were written as a girl.

Recommended to: Fans of the series

Best Quote: “I loved him, but love isn't enough. All the fairy tales, the romance novels, the soap operas; they're all lies. Love does not conquer all.”

Halfway Hexed

Kimberly Frost
Paranormal Romance
Berkley / 2011
Mass Market / 324 Pages
Series Southern Witch #3

First, there are the local residents who form a scripture-spouting posse and kidnap Tammy to "defend" Duvall, Texas, against witchcraft. Next, someone saddles her with a secret package chock full of dangerous visions, just as the president of WAM-the World Association of Magic- arrives with his entourage to investigate her. And who worse to examine Tammy's entanglement with off-limits and drop-dead gorgeous wizard Bryn Lyons than his ex-girlfriend? Not to mention that the clash between the locals and the magical visitors leads to a series of unnatural disasters that may doom them all.

While the fate of the town hangs in the balance, one thing's certain: this would-be witch is ready to rumble, Texas style.

I picked this book up because Series

What I liked the Most? Tammy Jo is coming into her own

What I liked the Least? Family divided

Review:Ready, Set, Action! From the opening gambit until the final chapters of this installment it is one big roller coaster ride – fast paced & fun. The wicked bitch of the town Jenna is getting everyone all riled up about the witch in town, a lone scared gunman comes to town to terrorize, and WAM has landed. With curses of biblical proportion this book rocks.

Now I want an ocelot, oh, and I really miss Zach.

Recommended to: Fans of the series

Best Quote: Merc, remember how you’re an ocelot, not a tiger? He’s too big for you to eat. Except for maybe a foot or hand or something.