Tag: Alethea

Elysium is a nice place to visit, but not the best film this summer

If I go to sleep before writing this review I might not remember to do it.  So I apologize if I’m not coherent now.  I don’t have an excuse for the other times I’m incoherent.  Saw Elysium tonight and while I enjoyed the film, it could have been better.  It’s not because I don’t support tales where poverty-class protagonists raise themselves out of the dirt to become heroes.  No, it’s because I feel like Elysium could have been epic and instead I feel like the story suffered from either uninspired writing or a desire to shape the movie to message.

Matt Damon is Max and he’s a guy raised by nuns who likes a girl who is a nurse and one of his coping strategies in a world of poverty is crime.  So he’s got a history as a car thief.  But he’s trying to do good now.  He’s got a job…but it all goes wrong and he ends up a hippopotamus.  Luckily a cute girl is a meerkat. Continue reading “Elysium is a nice place to visit, but not the best film this summer”

Summer of YA: Allen Zadoff, author of Boy Nobody @allenzadoff

I may not post as much about the Summer of YA event that was held today at the Barnes & Noble in beautiful Glendale California.  Basically it was a great opportunity to spend some time talking with a bunch of YA authors and I don’t know why you didn’t attend … assuming you didn’t of course.  Some of you did attend like me, Alethea and Andrew Smith.

In preparation for today I finished Boy Nobody by Allen Zadoff.  Our protagonist is a teenage assassin who infiltrates lives and murders parents.  I remember hearing about it when it first came out and I was intrigued by the premise, so I downloaded the sample in iBooks and I was pretty hooked.
Continue reading “Summer of YA: Allen Zadoff, author of Boy Nobody @allenzadoff”

Quicky 3am Film Review: Now You See Me

Hey I know it’s not a new release so this review probably isn’t going to help people because if you were interested in seeing Now You See Me, you probably have already gone.  Or maybe you forgot it exists and HEY READ MY REVIEW!

Now You See Me is a fun engaging film that draws you into a world of slight of hand.  I swear I was sober and I enjoyed it. Continue reading “Quicky 3am Film Review: Now You See Me”

The Perks of Being at the Ontario Teen Book Festival 2013 #tbf @StephenChbosky @marburyjack @LexThomasAuthor @LBardugo

Woke up super early this morning (before 7).  Well … didn’t finish getting up until after 7.  Then I drove Alethea and myself out to … BFE (Ontario).  Bought books.  Sat through Author panels.  Came home.  Was very tired.  Wrote a post.  Wait.  Not even a whole post.  Wrote a few fragmented sentences filling in for a post.  And then wrote some more.  Then I deleted that and wrote some more.  Why am I telling you about my writing process?  Probably because I’m tired and semi coherent.  But after listening today’s authors I have decided that the best way to write is to write and a lot of authors don’t outline before writing so … here we go.

THE ONTARIO TEEN BOOK FESTIVAL WAS FUN, FREE, INFORMATIVE AND A GREAT WAY TO LISTEN TO AUTHORS TALK ABOUT THE CRAFT.

Continue reading “The Perks of Being at the Ontario Teen Book Festival 2013 #tbf @StephenChbosky @marburyjack @LexThomasAuthor @LBardugo”

A Horrible Host: Beware of Shiny Aliens Who Want You to Live like Canadians

Last night I went to the Arclight Pasadena with Alethea to see a midnight screening of the Host.  I believe we both went in knowing that Rotten Tomatoes was currently listing it as 10% (update: now 12%) but we both have higher than average tolerance for bad content.  (My opinion. I also like to complain about inferior content so that could have increased my desire to go.)

After waiting in line for hours to see Stephenie Meyers and the cast of the Host at the Grove, how could I not see the movie?  And it took me several days to finish the book which I did.  I was somehow dedicated to the idea that I was going to endure this … movie.  And so with the help of Frank, the best Arclight Pasadena greeter and a manhattan made with jack, I tried to sit through the invasion of shiny aliens who want you to live like Canadians. Continue reading “A Horrible Host: Beware of Shiny Aliens Who Want You to Live like Canadians”