Super 8

"Production value!"

Directed by J.J. Abrams

2011

Viewed July 2011

There is only one good way to describe this movie and that is: Steven Spielberg alien movie (like E.T. or Close Encounters) with a very J.J. Abrams twist (like Cloverfield or Star Trek)... Basically a group of hilarious kids are trying to film a zombie movie. They sneak out for a night shoot and witness a huge train wreck. Then weird things start happening around town and the kids try and figure out what is going on. It definitely has that nostalgia for the late 70s/early 80s, it was definitely a simpler time where you couldn't just look up a bunch of stuff on the internet and parents weren't afraid to let their kids play unsupervised. It's also very exciting and sometimes has a Goonies like feel within the group of kids. The kids are all so fun to watch and have some very hilarious and witty moments. I definitely love love LOVED this movie! A

P.S. Stay during the credits for a little treat!

Battle: Los Angeles

Directed by Jonathan Liebesman

2011

Viewed June, 2011

I loved the preview for this movie with its slow motion and haunting music. So when this film came out I wanted to see it, but didn't have the money. I snatched it up from Redbox the day that it was released just to make sure that I got a chance to finally see it. Wow. Was it worth it! Battle: L.A. is about aliens landing and starting a war here on earth. The focus of the movie is obviously Los Angeles, where a squad (I don't know the technical marine lingo...) of marines are sent in to save some civilians who are trapped behind enemy lines. It's shot like a legit war movie and it really works well. I love the shaky camera and the feel of imminent destruction by unknown forces.A

The Hunger Games (book)

"Happy Hunger Games! And may the odds be ever in your favor!"

Written by Suzanne Collins

I've decided to start writing about books as well... I've read 7 books since January since I have way too much down time at work.... So here it goes...

The Hunger Games takes place in the dystopian country of Panem. Panem is split into districts (there were 13, now only 12) that each serve the Capitol. The Capitol is rich and it's people are extravagant. District 2 is a little less so. Each district is poorer and more impoverished than the one before it. Every district is basically enslaved and provides the Capitol with a natural resource. Before this book begins, District 13 staged an uprising and rallied the districts to revolt against the Capitol. They failed and the Capitol retaliated by first destroying District 13 and then creating The Hunger Games to remind them of their disobedience and how powerless they are against the Capitol. The hunger Games is a fight to the death that takes plae every year and is televised throughout the country. One boy and one girl
(called tributes) from each district between the ages of 12 and 18 are randomly chosen to participate. The last one standing at the end of the Games is the victor.

Katniss Everdeen is the main character. She is 16 years old, lives in District 12 and takes care of her frail mother and her younger sister Prim. During The Reaping (the ceremony where the tributes are chosen) Prim's name is pulled and Katniss rushes in to take her place in the Games. Katniss is brought to the Capitol along with Peeta (the boy tribute) and Haymitch (District 12's only past victor who serves as a mentor) for training and then the Games. Katniss must survive many horrors and must kill or be killed in order to survive.

I loved this book, actually I loved this entire series. I think this is my favorite young adult series. I might get beat up for saying this, but I loved The Hunger Games more than Harry Potter. This book is super intense, so definitely not for those who don't like suspense. Katniss is sometimes a frustrating character, and a little dense as well. She has a fiery temer and over reacts/over analyzes frequently. She makes up for it by being a really strong female character though. There were a few plot points that I had figured out, but Katniss took longer to realize, but I also remembered that Katniss was 16 and not 27, so maybe that was ok. What I liked the most was the attention to details. For example in the arena Katniss is searching for water and gets dehydrated and her lips get dry and her tongue swells and she gets a headache and sluggish. Its details like that that make the whole story seem more real. It's also told from Katniss' perspective so you really seem to feel what she's feeling. This is definitely a must read. A

Tron: Legacy

"The Grid. A digital frontier. I tried to picture clusters of information as they traveled through the computer. Ships, motorcycles. With the circuits like freeways. I kept dreaming of a world I thought I'd never see. And then, one day... i got in."

Directed by Joseph Kosinski

2010

Date Viewed: Thursday December 23, 2010

Tron: Legacy starts off with a young Kevin Flynn telling his 7 year old son, Sam all about The Grid and his adventures there. He tells him about Tron and Clu (from the original Tron movie) and about the discoveries he's making while inside. Then he promises Sam that he'll be by to see him in a few days and then off he goes... never to return... Fast forward 20 years and Sam is a super hacker who ends up getting transported to The Grid by accident. There he ends up being forced to play in the games and has an awesome light cycle battle and then ends up finding his father. Together, with the help of Kevin's apprentice Quorra, they race Clu to the portal to get back home. I highly enjoyed the Imax 3D experience of this movie. The games and the light cycle battles were super cool to watch and The Grid was neat to look at. This movie also used a mixture of 2D and 3D which I thought was kind of cool, and the 3D was actually pretty good (it wasn't cut outs walking around over a background). The story was a little predictable at times, but it kept a pretty good pace and was exciting. The only thing I really didn't like was the digitization used on Jeff Bridges' face to make him look younger. It just looked way fake and I felt like they could have done a way better job using make up. B+