Movie Reviews - February 2011

Paranormal Activity 2

A-

OMG scared the living daylights outta me. I watched maybe 95% of the first movie and only 60% of this one. I jumped clear out of my skin twice and gave up watching after the second time. If you like scary movies then this is a good one for you.

Megamind

B-

Cute and funny. Not as hilarious the whole way through as say Despicable Me but Im not entirely sure its supposed to be. I got the impression this was aimed more at teens/adults then kids as there is a strong love story through out. So there is touch of drama/seriousness in the story. Still a good movie which I enjoyed.

Going the Distance

C+

Had some good laughs but I wouldn't be rushing to watch this again. Christina Applegate is really good in her supporting role.

127 Hours

C

Was an interesting story. I couldnt imagine what the guy went through. But as a movie it was a bit to slow and smidgen boring for me. Its not normally my kind of thing the more introspective movie.

Life As We Know It

B

Standard romantic comedy fair. Had a number of good laughs as you would expect having a baby thrust onto a babyless couple (who aren't in a relationship either). No surprises with the storyline.

The Killing Hands (Sophie Anderson Book 4) by PD Martin

Rating: 4 out of 5

ISBN 13: 9781405039024
ISBN 10: 1405039027
Binding: Paperback
Pages: 394
Dimensions: 234 x 153mm
Released: 26/07/2010

First Sentence: "He took another long drag of the cigarette and then flicked the butt, mesmerised by its perfect arc and fall"

This is the fourth book in the Sophie Anderson series. Sophie Anderson is an FBI profiler, she also has "visions". In this book Sophie is still in LA. This time her case is to do with the gangs of LA.

This time round the story focus is not serial killers but the gangs of LA. This makes for a different feel to the previous books that focused on serial killers. It also means there is a little more explanation in this book as Martin introduces all the different government branches that deal with crime (which there are a lot of if it is accurate, which I am sure it is).

The reader gets to learn more about Sophie's personal life in this book with her parents making an appearance. There is some development with Sophie's personal life. Which I think is a good thing because she was getting borderline crazy with all her exercising and keeping people at a distance.

The pacing is quite good considering this book has a lot of character development for Sophie. Martin has a good balance of information, story development, and action.

One thing I really like about PD Martins books are the topics she picks. She manages to deal with some really interesting ones that make her crime series just that little bit different. She also has clearly done a lot of research which also shines through in her writing.

One gripe I had which is not the authors fault was the character of Joe DeLuca. I actually work with a Joe Deluca and I found it hard not to super-impose the DeLuca I knew onto the DeLuca in the book. Unfortunately the DeLuca I know could never be an FBI agent, so this made it hard for me to find the character in the book convincing.

Another good book in the Sophie Anderson series. I will definitely be getting hold of the next book.

Fire Burn and Cauldron Bubble by HP Mallory

Rating: 2.5 out of 5

Format: Kindle Edition
File Size: 545 KB
Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1453812954
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
Language: English
ASIN: B003UNL8OG

First Sentence: "It's not every day you see a ghost"

Jolie is your regular psychic trying to make a living in LA. She has her best friend and a cat, and is happy. Then in walks Rand who says he is a warlock and Jolie is actually a witch. Her life is further thrown into chaos when she learns she can reanimate the dead. Suddenly she is the most popular witch going and everyone wants a piece of her. A war among the supernatural beings in brewing and Jolie has to decide which side she is really on.

All in all not a bad book. It didn't wow me, but I didn't hate it. There were some funny light hearted moments. But not enough to have me laughing hard, perhaps a smile or a snort but nothing else.

The story was an interesting one and there were some fascinating takes on the supernatural beings. I will be interested to see the concept of the Lurkers, that seem to be half human/supernatural being be explored further.

There was a pretty good action sequence right at the end which was interesting as Jolie battles a dragon. There was not much other then that scene for action. The story was a little slow going, spending more time on developing the characters. Which was good, the characters were well fleshed out for a paranormal romance.

I did get tired of every supernatural male she met wanting to have sex with her. Like wise Jolie also being attracted to every supernatural male she met while at the same time professing her love for Rand. But as I have previously mentioned I am not a huge fan of romance so for me this romance element didn't entertain me.

Not a bad book, but for me there are better ones out there.

Never Smile at a Crocodile by Jack Lawrence

Rating 5 out of 5
Category: Children's Books / Children's Hardback Picturebooks
ISBN: 9781741696943
Format: HardCover
Publisher: Scholastic
Publication Date: 01/11/2010
Pages:24

Age Group: 0-8 (ok and probably most adults)

Never Smile at a Crocodile is a beautifully illustrated book about the childhood favorite song. When I bought this book I didn't realise it was an Australian author. I got it mostly because where we live there are plenty of crocodiles so I thought the topic appropriate for my son.

You can’t help but not like this book. It is certainly a favorite for us.

The story is the lyrics from the song. Words wise they have kept it exactly the same. There are no surprises. If you know the song you know the story.

The art work by Shane Devries is delightful and detailed. The backgrounds are well imagined as he takes the reader from swamps, to jungles, to the circus and then the city. Lots of colours used but they are more earthy in colour and shade. The animals depicted are full of character and life.

http://www.shanedevries.com/

The main characters are a cheeky monkey (who defies the advice and smiles at said crocodile), a rabbit, and a guinea pig interacting with a very large crocodile. The images are fun and the characters are cartoon in nature. By that I mean they have the big round eyes, round bodies, and big toothy smiles.

This book is so much fun to read. As you know the song it’s very easy to slip into the rhythm of the song. My only quibble is the line “You may very well be well bred”, it can be a little hard to wrap your tongue around if you’re not paying attention. I wish they had updated the line a little but never mind. It's still charming to read and will give you a chance to explain the meaning of the term and later the word etiquette.

This book comes with a CD that adds a whole different level to the book. It is sung by Play School favorite Jay Laga'aia. His version is fun and playful and great to have playing along as you look at the book.

If you can get your hands on a copy of this book, you wont be disappointed.

Interesting Fact:
The song Never smile at a crocodile was originally written for Disney’s Peter Pan, although the lyrics were never used in the film but the tune was.

Ten Little Fingers Ten Little Toes by Mem Fox

Rating: 5 out of 5

• Reading level: Ages 0-2
  
• Board book: 38 pages
• Language: English
• ISBN-13: 9780143503583

First Sentence: "There was one little baby who was born far away. And another who was born on the very next day. And both of these babies, as everyone knows, had ten little fingers and ten little toes."

Another delightful book from Mem Fox for babies and toddlers.

Using a rhyming, repetitive, lyrical style. Fox takes the reader on a journey about babies. She is very good with this style of writing and certainly the books I have are wonderful. It makes them easy to read, and your child can follow the story easily as well.

The author also teaches about diversity and tolerance. That even though the babies in the book have different back grounds they are all the same having ten little fingers and ten little toes.

The illustrations are sweet and simple. Helen Oxenbury gives the babies so much character on the pages. The colours are simple and lean more towards pastels in shades, but very nice all the same.

Anecdotally I have heard this is a very popular book amongst toddlers. My son certainly enjoys it. In fact when I showed him the video which I have added below (which doesn't have pictures from the book unfortunately) he sat there riveted.

So here is something a little different. This is a video of the author "singing" the book. It doesn't have any images it is just the story, but it is still an interesting way to present the book.