tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-79819979223350095892024-03-13T05:12:39.505-07:00Jen & Kel: The Pop TartsJennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16361432373530562552noreply@blogger.comBlogger343125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7981997922335009589.post-58112440324059050062018-10-07T16:35:00.000-07:002018-10-07T16:35:45.708-07:00'A Star is Born' remake exceeds previous attempts<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #cccccc;">By Source: Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=57620360</span></td></tr>
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Everybody loves to complain about how remakes never live up to the originals movies.<br />
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I'd say that a solid 90% of the time, that's true. However, the latest incarnation of the classic film "A Star Is Born" is a very big exception to that rule.<br />
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The story is the same, and should come as little surprise to anybody who has seen one of the three previous versions - 1937, starring Janet Gaynor and Fredric March; 1954, starring Judy Garland and James Mason; and 1976, starring Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson.<br />
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This time, the film follows hard-drinking musician Jackson Maine (Bradley Cooper), who discovers a talented performer, Ally (Lady Gaga), when he stumbles into a drag bar looking for another drink. Ally is a waitress with dreams of being a singer-songwriter, but who has been rejected by record labels because of her look - specifically, her big nose. Jackson, though, loves her look, her music, and - soon - falls in love with her. But Ally's ascent into superstardom is mirrored in reverse with Jackson's alcohol- and drug-fueled descent.<br />
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"A Star Is Born" is a remarkable film, made even more remarkable by the fact that it's Bradley Cooper's directorial debut and Lady Gaga's first starring turn on the big screen. But even if they'd been veterans, I would be amazed by this film. There's an intimacy to it that previous versions of the film - at least the most famous, starring Garland and Streisand - never pulled off. There are a lot of big moments, particularly the scenes of huge stadium concerts, but Cooper never lets the audience forget that the film is, at its essence, about these two people.<br />
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The excellent direction of the film is incredibly important, but what really makes "A Star is Born" great is the two leads. Cooper and Lady Gaga both have amazing screen presence, and they have incredibly chemistry together. But what is really refreshing is that the film focuses on them and their relationship, rather than the stars playing in the lead. In particular, the 1954 and 1976 versions of the film became vehicles for the leading ladies. It's not that I don't love Garland and Streisand, because I do. In fact, Lady Gaga is, in many ways, very much in their mold - women with enormous talent who don't quite fit that Hollywood look. But, both because of Cooper's excellent direction and the stunning performance by Lady Gaga, you don't watch this movie going, "Oh wow, Lady Gaga!" She allows herself to disappear into the role and <i>become </i>Ally. She moved me to tears several times, both with her powerful singing and with her raw performance.<br />
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While "A Star Is Born" hinges on the performances of Cooper and Lady Gaga, I would be remiss if I didn't mention some of the excellent costars who help the film along. I was delighted to see Anthony Ramos, of "Hamilton" fame, as Ally's best friend, not to mention famous drag queens Shangela and Willam. The real supporting star, though, is Sam Elliott in a dramatic and heart-wrenching turn as Jackson's brother Bobby. He put a lot of soul into his nuanced performance, and while he really isn't in the film for long, every appearance is perfection.<br />
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If you've seen a previous version of "A Star Is Born," none of the story beats will surprise you, but that doesn't mean that this film isn't well-worth seeing. The Oscar buzz is well-deserved, and even those who love the previous versions of the film will be pleased by this gut-wrenching, soul-stirring take on this well-known story. It is about as close to perfection as you can get on the big screen.<br />
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Jenny's Take: See it tonight.<br />
(Rated R for language throughout, some sexuality/nudity and substance abuse. Runs 2 hours, 15 minutes.)Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16361432373530562552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7981997922335009589.post-13805335733019832552018-05-29T15:42:00.000-07:002018-05-29T15:42:09.521-07:00Book Review: "Too Wilde to Wed" by Eloisa James<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #990099; font-family: Georgia, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;">Eloisa James is a powerhouse of the historical romance genre, and reading "Too Wilde to Wed," I was reminded why. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #990099; font-family: Georgia, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13.2px;">"Too Wilde to Wed" is a fantastic example of what can be done with a historical romance; it fits perfectly into the genre while also feeling new and exciting. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #990099; font-family: Georgia, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13.2px;">The book follows North, heir to a dukedom, who is shocked when he returns from war to find his ex-fiance, Diana, who jilted him, working as a governess in North's home, Lindow Castle. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #990099; font-family: Georgia, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13.2px;">I am really enjoying the continuing saga of the Wildes - I am currently reading an ARC of the next book, Born to be Wilde. Readers who are fans of quirky families, like Lisa Kleypas' Hathaways and Julia Quinn's Bridgertons, will likely find a lot to love with the Wildes, too. I'm a particular fan of Fitzy, Lindow Castle's resident peacock. I also greatly enjoy the drama that comes with the Wilde family being though of as, well, wild by the press and the people of Britain, and the consequences of that. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #990099; font-family: Georgia, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13.2px;">I found "Too Wilde to Wed" particularly delightful, even though our hero and heroine suffer from a bad case of Not-Talking-About-It-itis that plagues so many couples that could otherwise be happy. Still, James' smart writing and a whole group of colorful characters makes this one well worth reading! </span></span>Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16361432373530562552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7981997922335009589.post-70486072883882200752018-03-26T18:42:00.003-07:002018-03-26T18:42:54.743-07:00Book Review: "Unmasked by the Marquess" by Cat Sebastian<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i>Full disclosure: I received a free advance reader copy of this book in my work as a librarian and in exchange for an honest review.</i></div>
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I have been following Cat Sebastian's career with interest since her first book, "The Soldier's Scoundrel," was published. I had been DYING to read "Unmasked by the Marquess," the first book in the Regency Imposters series, and also her first romance novel that isn't M/M. However, this is far from a traditional romance.</div>
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One of the things I love about Sebastian is that she takes romance tropes and makes them fit into LGBTQ stories, and it's on display particularly well here. "Unmasked by the Marquess" follows the grumpy, bisexual Alistair de Lacey, Marquess of Pembroke, who finds himself intrigued by - and maybe falling in love with - a young country squire named Mr. Robert Selby, in London for the Season to see his sister, Louisa, make an adventageous match. However, Selby is actually a former maid named Charity Church, who has been dressing as Robert so long that she really doesn't identify as a woman anymore. It takes the trope of the woman-dressed-as-a-man and makes it far more interesting - and a realistic experience of a non-binary person. </div>
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Because it's Cat Sebastian, it's also funny, sexy, and sweet. Sebastian always has some comedy and a good amount of sexytimes in her books, but there's always an underlying sweetness that leaves me swooning. And, there are also several mysteries to discover as Alistair and Robin (Alistair's pet name for Robert/Charity) slowly reveal themselves to each other throughout the book. It's really an almost perfectly written book, and as much as I've loved all of Sebastian's books (especially "It Takes Two to Tumble," which featured a lot of my particular romance catnips), I think "Unmasked by the Marquess" might be my favorite. </div>
Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16361432373530562552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7981997922335009589.post-25798735171919232232015-01-27T17:39:00.000-08:002015-01-27T17:39:19.570-08:00Remakes/Reboots/Rehashes Galore: Ghostbusters, Fantastic Four, and Indiana Jones RebootSeveral big remake-type things going on in the pop culture world today. As much as I love truly creative, new projects, we're in a total '80s nostalgia cycle right now. <br />
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So rather than complain, let's just break it down, y'all.<br />
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<a name='more'></a><b>Ghostbusters: </b>The cast for the remake of Ghostbusters is here, and it is glorious.<br />
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Here's the picture from <a href="https://twitter.com/paulfeig/status/560178147954421760/photo/1" target="_blank">Paul Feig's tweet</a>:<br />
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The more well-known are Kirsten Wiig and Melissa McCarthy, both of whom have made me laugh in so many movies, especially "Bridesmaids." The bottom two are Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones, both known from "Saturday Night Live," if you watch SNL (which I don't currently). </div>
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The most exciting thing about this, of course, is that they are doing a new "Ghostbusters!" And it's starring four really funny women! Other exciting things include the fact that the cast includes two plus-sized women, one of whom is a woman of color, and a lesbian! Jokes! Diversity! Representation! This movie has it!</div>
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If this movie isn't wonderful, I am going to cry.</div>
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<b>Fantastic Four: </b>There's a new trailer for the rebooted "Fantastic Four."</div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/e-BVs-KCSiA" width="560"></iframe>
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So, yeah, I'm not totally convinced by this trailer. I tend to like my superhero movies a bit less ponderous and self-important, and I think this movie could end up trying to be a Very Important Film instead of a solid sci-fi-tinged superhero movie. I get that they're trying to get away from the super campy version from last time, which is probably good (even though I have great memories of seeing those movies with Kel and enjoying Chris Evans immensely), but this may be too far on the "Dark Knight" and, dare I say it, "Man of Steel" side of things. (If this movie is like "Man of Steel," I will be uber-ticked. Because "Man of Steel" sucked.)<br />
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I will say this: Love the cast. Miles Teller, Michael B. Jordan, Kate Mara, and Jamie Bell in a movie together? Yes, please!<br />
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<b>Indiana Jones: </b>Disney is talking about an Indiana Jones reboot. Does it really need to be rebooted? No, probably not. But it will make money, and Disney is currently in the money-printing business, so this very well may happen whether you like it or not. (PSA: Rather than just complaining on the Internet and then going to the movie and pouting through it, if you strenuously object to this remake, vote with your wallet and <i>don't go see the movie</i>.)<br />
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The current scuttlebutt is that Disney is eyeing Chris Pratt for the titular role.<br />
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(Source: <a href="https://twitter.com/annehelen/status/497393362052603906/photo/1" target="_blank">Anne Helen Petersen on Twitter</a>)</div>
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Which, of course they are. Disney took him from lovable schlub TV actor to hot, hilarious, adorable movie star. He's <i>just</i> everyman enough to be approachable, but he's also charismatic, funny, and easy on the eyes.<br />
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I can't be mad. I really like Chris Pratt and I'm pumped to see him getting leading man roles. The only concern is whether we're all going to hit Chris Pratt Overload at some point. (I can't imagine it happening, but, I mean, it could.)<br />
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I'm a little worried, though, about whether the pulpy fun of "Indiana Jones" can be harnessed like it was in the 1980s. I mean, they tried and failed miserably with the Indiana Jones Movie That Shall Not Be Named, but this movie has two things going for it: Disney (who is rocking the Marvel Cinematic Universe and, hopefully, "Star Wars" too) and No Shia LaBeaouf. I'm willing to give it a shot.<br />
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What do you think of today's Remake/Reboot/Rehash news?Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16361432373530562552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7981997922335009589.post-92143760729608246202015-01-19T07:02:00.000-08:002015-01-19T07:02:01.140-08:00PBS Sunday Night Reaction: "Great British Baking Show," "Downton Abbey," and "Grantchester"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">("PBSident2009" by Source. Licensed under Fair use via Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:PBSident2009.png#mediaviewer/File:PBSident2009.png)</span></div>
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Lately on Sunday nights, I've had my butt parked on the couch, watching PBS. Last night, I watched <i>three hours</i> of PBS programming! </div>
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I have to laugh at myself, because that is exactly what my grandmother, in her 80s, is also doing on Sunday nights, but I can't help it if PBS is playing some really delightful British programming! Also, the fact that they don't have commercials during their shows makes me much more likely to just turn it on at 8 p.m. and know I'll be solidly entertained for three hours.</div>
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So, let's take a little look at what was on last night: "The Great British Baking Show," "Downton Abbey," and "Grantchester."</div>
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(Mild spoilers ahead.)</div>
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Last night, when everyone else apparently was watching the Indianapolis Colts getting annihilated by the New England Patriots, something much more dramatic was brewing: Bingate! </div>
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(<a href="http://www.pbs.org/food/features/explaining-bingate-controversy-america/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=pbsofficial&utm_campaign=pbsbakingshow" target="_blank">Source</a>)</div>
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I had heard that there was a controversy on this show (called The Great British Bake-Off in the U.K. - I have no clue why they changed the title in the U.S.).</div>
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Anyway, their showshopper dessert was supposed to be Baked Alaska, and, <i>of course</i>, it was really hot out that day, and since the baking takes place in a tent that caused huge issues. Everybody's desserts were melting, causing a surprising amount of tension for a baking competition. And then, when it turned out that his ice cream was melted, Iain <i>pitched it in the bin!</i> (American translation: <i>threw it in the trash!</i>). </div>
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Drama, I tell you!</div>
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I turned on "The Great British Baking Show" as kind of background noise the first week it was on because I like reality competitions like that and it was on before "Downton Abbey," and now I am <i>totally hooked</i>. I finally relented and put it on my DVR in case I decide to have a life on a Sunday night (unlikely) and miss turning it on at 8 p.m.</div>
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I really like the bakers, who have a great mix of backgrounds and stories; the hosts, who are, I think, genuinely rooting for the contestants; and the judges, who are critical but also supportive. And the baked goods all look so good! </div>
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<b>Downton Abbey</b></div>
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Then it was time for "Downton Abbey," which is so delightfully soapy so far this season. </div>
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As usual, there were some storylines that weren't as exciting, like the continuing Bates drama, but the nice thing about "Downton Abbey" is that it almost always moves quickly enough from plotline to plotline that a few dull plotlines doesn't detract from the overall delight of the show.</div>
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I am enjoying Lady Mary's exploits quite a bit, because I kind of love Lady Mary. She's like the British aristocrat version of Scarlett O'Hara - spoiled and actually pretty horrible most of the time, but with an independent streak and a survival instinct that I have to love. Also, fabulous bitchface. She may be my favorite character, other than <i>maybe</i> the Dowager Countess, who is so fabulously cutting all the time. Also, she has a past with a Russian prince. Yay!</div>
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My favorite moment, though, was a swoony-worthy moment between Mary & Tom. I have been kind-of shipping them since pretty much the moment Matthew kicked the bucket, and the show really made that relationship seem truly plausible last night. </div>
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I was like</div>
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(<a href="http://reactiongifs.com/?p=483" target="_blank">Source</a>)</div>
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<b>Grantchester</b></div>
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I decided to stay tuned after "Downton Abbey" for the new Masterpiece Mystery! show, "Grantchester." It had been getting good reviews, and then I saw the main actor, James Norton, who plays Sidney Chambers, aka the world's hottest vicar.</div>
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(<a href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/programs/series/grantchester-s1/" target="_blank">Source</a>)</div>
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*swoon*</div>
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He also solves crimes, bicycles around the British countryside, and, by the end of the episode, owns an adorable puppy. It's kind of perfect, really.</div>
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And "Grantchester" turned out to be good other than these elements, too! The mystery was satisfying, there's a romantic subplot, and the police officer Sidney's working with is wonderfully grumpy, plus they have a great rapport. I <i>highly</i> suggest catching up with the first episode this week and watching it next week. </div>
Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16361432373530562552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7981997922335009589.post-13472218653999314392015-01-11T11:09:00.002-08:002015-01-11T11:09:21.088-08:00The *You-Know-What* is Back!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ARQ1oEmujZg/VLLGVWlQ0sI/AAAAAAAAA8E/VHcAQZa3k8E/s1600/Elton_John_-_TBIB.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ARQ1oEmujZg/VLLGVWlQ0sI/AAAAAAAAA8E/VHcAQZa3k8E/s1600/Elton_John_-_TBIB.jpg" /></a></div>
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(<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bitch_Is_Back#mediaviewer/File:Elton_John_-_TBIB.jpg" target="_blank">Image Link</a>)</div>
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(<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A42SkxHo-x4" target="_blank">The Song</a>)</div>
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It's been a horrifically long time since I've blogged, and I have a great excuse! I've been working on my Master's Degree! But I have really missed blogging, and so I've decided to give it another go. You know, because I have so much free time on my hands.<br />
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I don't know what Kel's excuse is. She's just lazy, I guess.<br />
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Anyway, expect commentary on movies, TV shows, books, and other pop culture to-dos, and a healthy serving of silly crap with a cherry on top.<br />
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For starters, here are links to some of my favorite movie reviews since April, when I took my little blogging hiatus:<br />
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<a href="http://www.kpcnews.com/columnists/jenny_kobiela/kpcnews/article_8a65aaf4-bc65-11e3-a509-0017a43b2370.html" target="_blank">'Winter Soldier' a step forward in Marvel Universe</a> - I'm not even uncomfortable saying that it's the best Marvel Cinematic Universe adventure since the Avengers suited up together in 2012.<br />
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<a href="http://www.kpcnews.com/columnists/jenny_kobiela/kpcnews/article_c3add120-dd11-11e3-a239-001a4bcf6878.html" target="_blank">‘Godzilla’ update captures spirit of original</a> - I am sure that part of my enthusiasm for “Godzilla” comes from my unwavering appreciation of giant monster movies (after all, one of favorite movies from last summer was “Pacific Rim,” which also features giant monsters), but even through the haze of love for all things kaiju, I can see that “Godzilla” is a really good movie.<br />
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<a href="http://www.kpcnews.com/columnists/jenny_kobiela/kpcnews/article_73d408ea-f29c-11e3-850c-0017a43b2370.html" target="_blank">'Edge of Tomorrow' top-notch summer spectacle</a> - But sometimes, especially in the middle of summer, what you need is a big ol' blockbuster spectacle. It may not be particularly deep or artistic, but if you're itching for wham-bam action and fun, "Edge of Tomorrow" will scratch that itch.<br />
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<a href="http://www.kpcnews.com/columnists/jenny_kobiela/kpcnews/article_a88d14ea-fe5a-11e3-8b26-0017a43b2370.html" target="_blank">'Transformers' sequel stunningly stupid</a> - I have a high threshold for stupid movies. I happily watched "Sharknado" last summer, after all, and I'm looking forward to the sequel (which premieres July 30!).<br />
But there's stupid, and then there's "Transformers: Age of Extinction" stupid.<br />
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<a href="http://www.kpcnews.com/columnists/jenny_kobiela/kpcnews/article_ec733c8a-19bb-11e4-b364-0017a43b2370.html" target="_blank">‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ a dizzying, fun romp</a> - The “Guardians of the Galaxy” team, when they finally team up, are like the scuzzy misfit version of Marvel’s other big-screen team, the Avengers. There’s some of that same great chemistry, but without the honor and prestige of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. That also means that “Guardians of the Galaxy” has a sillier, wilder, naughtier edge than previous Marvel movies. If the “Thor” movies are the romantic adventures and “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” is the ‘70s spy thriller, “Guardians of the Galaxy” is the space fantasy romp.<br />
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<a href="http://www.kpcnews.com/columnists/jenny_kobiela/kpcnews/article_710dbc96-1f33-11e4-94aa-0017a43b2370.html" target="_blank">‘Into the Storm’ lacks commitment in post-‘Sharknado’ world</a> - But in a pop culture landscape where “Sharknado” movies are beamed into living rooms in all of their campy glory, something as generic and half-baked as “Into the Storm” just feels flat. Sure, it features the Biggest Tornado Ever and plenty more scary twisters to boot, but, even so, it doesn’t really do anything new.<br />
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<a href="http://www.kpcnews.com/columnists/jenny_kobiela/kpcnews/article_b69894b4-3af1-11e4-aec5-0017a43b2370.html" target="_blank">Stark, understated nature packs a punch in ‘The Drop’</a> - The best thing about “The Drop” is star Tom Hardy, who plays Bob. If there were any doubts that Hardy is one of the best actors working in Hollywood right now, they will be squashed after seeing his performance. Hardy gives a quirky, understated performance that helps build a very complex, very interesting character. At times, Bob seems almost stupid. At other times, he seems exceptionally compassionate and sweet. Still other times, he is ruthlessly efficient. All of this is accomplished with an economy of words.<br />
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<a href="http://www.kpcnews.com/columnists/jenny_kobiela/kpcnews/article_b7bbbaac-5b25-11e4-b039-0017a43b2370.html" target="_blank">‘The Best of Me’ is the worst of Sparksian schlock</a> - Once again, as with every other Nicholas Sparks movie I’ve ever seen, “The Best of Me” relentlessly beats the audience with tragedy and drama over and over and over again. Does Nicholas Sparks need the tears of readers and movie viewers to keep his skin soft or something? He could cool it with the doom and gloom already. I especially dislike how every terrible situation is trussed up in such a gauzy, sun-dappled package. Every catastrophe has some higher noble purpose that teaches the characters, and by extension the audience, a Very Noble Lesson about life and love. It gets old really quick, especially when there are at least a dozen tragedies per movie.<br />
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<a href="http://www.kpcnews.com/columnists/jenny_kobiela/kpcnews/article_1b13f640-53b8-5dce-8ec6-cd3fb9a731bd.html" target="_blank">Ambitious, artistic ‘Birdman’ deserving of Oscar buzz</a> - “Birdman” is a sharp, darkly funny commentary on the nature of celebrity, art, and relevance in the modern age. It takes a layered approach with riffs and messages that I’ll be parsing days and even weeks afterward. This is a movie with a lot to say on a lot of different levels, from the deep and dark to the wonderfully meta - after all, it could be said that Keaton as Batman sowed the seeds for the big-budget superhero blockbuster crop that we’re harvesting multiple times a year.<br />
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<a href="http://www.kpcnews.com/columnists/jenny_kobiela/kpcnews/article_f081d854-921a-11e4-93f6-076bf86d5c8e.html" target="_blank">'The Interview' not worth kerfluffle, but still amusing farce</a> - "The Interview," had it not been thrust into the international spotlight by the Sony hack and subsequent canceled release, would probably be remembered, correctly, as a dumb-but-funny, gross, foul comedy. I was actually kind of impressed by the array of scatalogical humor in this movie. There was a lot of bad language, a fair amount of sex-related gags and a surprising amount of gross-out gore, especially in the final act, but it was old-fashioned poo-centric humor that "The Interview" really kept coming back to.<br />
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You can read all of my movie reviews by <a href="http://www.kpcnews.com/columnists/jenny_kobiela/" target="_blank">clicking here</a>.Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16361432373530562552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7981997922335009589.post-13453610648581535192014-04-01T14:53:00.001-07:002014-04-01T14:53:27.094-07:00'Dancing With the Stars' recap: A 'Most Memorable' Evening<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tonight it's week three of "Dancing With the Stars," and it's the week when the dancers pick a song and dance that represents the most memorable time in their life. This is always the week when I'm super cynical going in, and then I end up crying like eight times throughout the night at the touching stories the stars tell. I am such a sap.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(<a href="https://scontent-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/v/t1.0-9/1240036_10152283199006740_599240035_n.jpg?oh=d23e27deb40b3e1222c8ed292e16d459&oe=53AFC645" target="_blank">Photo Credit</a>)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">First, a few housekeeping notes: Robin Roberts is a guest judge this week, which is kind of awesome. She looks fabulous, and I like her! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Another note: Billy Dee Williams isn't dancing tonight! Very sad! He has a chronic back problem, and his doctor said that he can't dance. They had hoped to do a dance dedicated to his grandchildren, and though he couldn't dance, his grandkids did come out to see him! It was all very cute, but I'm sad that he wasn't able to dance and so has to withdraw from the competition.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Let's have a moment of silence for Lando. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And now, away we go!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">First up is James Maslow and Peta Murgatroyd. 2007, when James booked "Big Time Rush," is his most memorable year, and they're dancing a jive to "The Middle" by Jimmy Eat World. It was slightly messy at the very beginning, but when they got into the dance, it was really pretty sharp and very, very cute. James put a lot of personality into his jive, though I thought Peta overshadowed him a little bit. Still, James did a lot of very cool tricks and danced very well. Len thought they "rocked this place," and said it was their best dance. Robin liked the way they attacked the dance, and also enjoyed the story, both in his dance and behind it. Bruno thought it had "explosive energy," and thought the jive was great. Carrie Ann thought it was vibrant, though she thought he had a little claw problem going on that was really minor compared to the great dance. Score: 36. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Next up is NeNe Leakes and Tony Dovolani with a rhumba dedicated to her second marriage to her first husband in 2013. She danced to "I Believe In You and Me," to which she walked down the aisle. It was a very sexy dance, and not just because Tony was shirtless (though that helped quite a bit!). NeNe is sexy, and she also has wonderful presence on the dance floor. I'm not sure that her steps were all there, but she really knows how to perform well. I liked her dance quite a bit. Robin said that NeNe is the "life of the party." She liked that she showed us a different part of her personality. Bruno liked the way she kept the flow of movement, but he didn't think she had enough basics. Carrie Ann really liked the sensuality in her movement, and she thought they did a "beautiful job." Len was pleasantly surprised and liked the sensuality and flow. Score: 31.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cody Simpson and Witney Carson were next, with the year 2010, when Cody moved to the U.S. and signed his record contract. He danced jazz to "Surfboard," one of his songs. It was a really hypnotizing dance, and I really liked the way Cody moved. He really has a loose, easy way of moving, which served him very, very well in this dance. They did a great job working together, too - many of their movements were side-by-side, and they were very together. It had a lot of cool personality to it, and I felt like it had a lot of Cody's cool Aussie style in it. It was a lot of fun to watch, and I was very impressed. Bruno thought the dance was perfect for right now. Carrie Ann thought it was "so good," with great movements. Len thought it was a tight dance. Robin loved his style, and how he owned it. Score: 35.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Danica McKellar and Val Chmerkovskiy danced next, a contemporary to Billy Joel's "Lullaby." It's remembering the year 2010, when Danica's son Draco was born, as well as when her grandmother died. Danica danced really well. It can be easy to just get thrown around by a strong dancer like Val, but I felt like Danica really had control of the dance the whole time. I could tell that she really felt strongly about the dance, too. It wasn't anything too insanely thrilling, steps-wise, but the emotional undercurrent more than made up for that fact. I loved this dance! Carrie Ann thought the dance was sincere and delicate, as well as very graceful. Len praised her for her smooth movements, and said the dance was beautiful. Robin loved her emotion. Bruno thought the dance was enchanting, and loved the intent and truth in the dance. Score: 36. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Drew Carey and Cheryl Burke were up next with the year 2005, when Drew's son was born, which was part of what sparked him to lose weight and get healthy. He danced a waltz to "Fade Into You." It was a really lovely, well-executed dance. Drew has a really classy style to him, which was a real surprise to me when he started dancing. His steps were really good, and I really loved the emotion behind the dance, but I was also just struck by what a classy, classic dance it was. Len thought the dance was charming, even though it got "muddled" a bit through part of it. Robin said Drew has been a wonderful surprise, and she thinks he is a beautiful dancer. Bruno liked the classic waltz content and thought it was an elegant dance. Carrie Ann could tell how much the dance meant to him, but thought his face was a little bit stressed and the vibe wasn't as relaxed as it could be. Score: 30.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Next was Meryl Davis and Maks Chmerkovskiy, representing her 17-year journey as a skater with her partner, Charlie - from shy young skaters to Olympic gold medalists. She danced a foxtrot to "All of Me" by John Legend. Meryl is a wonderful performer, and I really enjoy seeing her dance to something with so much emotion. But what makes their dance even better is the way that she connects with Maks. They really have fantastic chemistry, and their dance was really, really sexy. It was a hot dance, and they have some real passion between them. Robin liked how the dance showed her journey, and thought the dance was beautiful. Bruno thought it was like watching a love story (Bruno's right!), and he was also very impressed with the technical aspects. Carrie Ann thought it was "so beautiful," and praised their chemistry and partnership. Len loved it, especially the light and shade in the dance. Score: 39. (First 10s of the season, and well-deserved!)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Amy Purdy and Derek Hough were up next, remembering the year 1999, when Amy contracted bacterial meningitis and lost her legs, as well as got a kidney donated by her dad. She danced a contemporary to "I'm Only Human." It was a beautiful and really interesting dance, because Amy was using different feet with pointed toes. I really liked the story that the dance showed, having somebody there to catch her when she needed someone. Yes, it was a little bit literal at times, but I thought that the flow and the emotion of the dance, coupled by the strong emotions on both dancers' faces, really brought the dance home and made it so that it was inspiring rather than cheesy. This was a dance that could have been corny, but they made it really beautiful instead. And seeing her parents so proud of her in the audience was just even better. Bruno thought it was heart-wrenching, inspirational, and life-affirming, and he called it "borderline miraculous." Carrie Ann said the dance was inspiring, and she loved being able to see her physicality. Len said the dance was technically sound, but that it also touched his heart. Robin was also very inspired by her performance. Score: 36. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Charlie White and Sharna Burgess were next with a jive to "Happy." The</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> dance remembered the year 2010, when they won the silver medal at the Olympics, and the journey for the next four years to the gold medal. Charlie has a great personality, and is very light on his feet. He just brought such joy to the dance floor this week. And yet, as laid back as his dancing looked, he really attacked the dance well. He and Sharna really were together the whole dance. It was just sort of an adorably fun dance! I loved watching it. Carrie Ann loved that they were in sync and lots of fun, although she thought they were a little ahead of the music in a couple of small places. Len was happy with the dance, and thought it was terrific. Robin thought it was a celebration of a dance and said it was "marvelous." Bruno thought it was cheerful and uplifting, and loved how light on his feet he was. Score: 36. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The final dance was Candace Cameron Bure and Mark Ballas, celebrating the year 1995 when "Full House" ended and she got engaged. They danced the jive to "Blue Suede Shoes." Cameron's dancing was a little bit ploddy and her steps felt just a little bit small for a big ol' jive. She had her moments of really great personality that I loved, but she was just a little bit stiff for most of the dance. I wish she would loosen up a bit and just chill, because she felt too tightly wound when she danced. Len loved the energy and thought it was sharp, though he thought she needed some bounce. Robin thought she was snazzy and wonderful. Bruno thought she went wild, though thought she needed some work on the footwork. Carrie Ann can't believe she's not a dancer because she dances so well, but said that she needs to work on her weight distribution and the way she holds her body. Score: 32.</span>Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16361432373530562552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7981997922335009589.post-88073342101363003212014-03-25T04:42:00.000-07:002014-03-25T04:42:01.703-07:00'Dancing With the Stars' - March Madness<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">First things first - surprise! Double elimination! Evil, "Dancing With the Stars." EVIL. Also, the double elimination could happen AT ANY TIME - they're sharing results throughout the show! Also, they are going to switch up the partners at some point.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(<a href="https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn2/t1.0-9/1653406_10152267193686740_102164434_n.jpg" target="_blank">Photo Credit</a>)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">They're really trying to change the format this season, which is not a bad thing. It kind of keeps us on our toes, even though it's a little weird. It worked tonight, but I hope they don't do anything too crazy later in the season.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anyway ... on to the recaps!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Drew Carey & Cheryl Burke were immediately declared safe. Then they performed a jive to some kind of late-50s jive sort of song. The thing that Drew really has going for him is that he is really energetic and has a great personality and stage presence. He really uses his cool-dork persona to its full advantage. He wasn't perfect on his dancing - he was a little ploddy and just a tinge stiff - but overall he was just a lot of fun to watch. Len liked his mix of steps and fun, as well as the entertainment. He did encourage him to work on his footwork and posture. Bruno also loved the way he plays to the crowd, and that he covered his mistakes well. Carrie Ann thought it was a big risk, but really loved his vitality, even though he had some mistakes. Score: 21.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then, Billy Dee Williams and Emma Slater were declared safe, along with Meryl Davis and Maks Chmerkovskiy and Danica McKellar and Val Chmerkovskiy. I approve! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Next to dance were Danica & Val with a samba to "All Nite." Danica was probably a little too chipper and smiley for a super sexy samba with Val Chmerkovskiy (though I'd be smiling too, if I were dancing with an open-shirt Chmerkovskiy!), but she did a really wonderful job. Her steps seemed very good, although a few times she looked a little out of her depth. It wasn't the absolute most insanely compelling dance, but it was very good and quite sexy. Bruno said that she is doing well, but needs to get the details right. Carrie Ann thought it was very sexy and that she had some solid samba movements and techniques, even though she got lost. Len told her to keep going, and that it was "fantastico." Score: 24. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Next was Billy Dee and Emma with a tango to the Peter Gunn theme. Billy Dee was more comfortable this week, and he definitely knew his steps better. He's never going to dance super fast, but he was having more fun (especially because he was dancing with not one, but three pretty young girls). I know he's never going to get great scores, but he was much improved! Carrie Ann thought Billy Dee handled the choreography well, but that he needs some more content in his dances. Len thought it didn't have enough attack, but he told Billy Dee to keep having fun. Bruno also enjoyed the dance. Score: 15. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Meryl Davis and Maks Chmerkovskiy were up next with a swing dance to "Big and Bad" by Big Bad Voodoo Daddy. It was super high-energy and very, very fun. They did a lot of throws and lifts, but I never felt like they were resting on that. There was a LOT of content in the dance, and all of their side-by-side dancing was pretty darn flawless. It was a really wonderful, fun dance, and I loved it! Len thought the dance was really great, and he also complimented the music (which was great!). Bruno thought it was an "extravaganza," though he saw some mistakes. Carrie Ann liked seeing Maks working so hard, as well as Meryl's athleticism. Score: 25. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then it was time for some more results! Amy Purdy and Derek Hough and Candace Cameron Bure and Mark Ballas were safe. But Diana Nyad and Henry Byalikov were sent packing! But first, they got to dance their cha-cha-cha to "Move Your Feet." It was really cute, and I'm sorry to see her go home. Diana isn't a great dancer, but she has personality, and I would have liked to have seen her get a few more weeks of dancing! Still it was not a big surprise - she just didn't have the fan base she needed!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Candace and Mark were up next with a rhumba to "Say Something." They're trying to manufacture drama with the fact that she doesn't want to do anything too sexy, which is fine even though it means no shirtless Mark Ballas (thank goodness she's not with a Chmerkovskiy). Still, I must say her dance got across what she wanted it to - sexy but not raunchy. It was a very, very passionate dance, and she did a wonderful job with her steps and with getting the emotions across. Carrie Ann thought it was too contemporary in styling, with less rhumba than she wanted in the dance - though she did love to watch her. Len did not like her arms, and thought it was a bit aggressive. He thought she did well overall. Bruno loved the fact that she danced from her heart, but thought there wasn't the continual motion that rhumba needs. Score: 21.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Next up were Amy and Derek with a swing dance to something very quick and kind of modern. Her biggest drama is that her legs could fly off when she dances, which has to be a new one on the Dancing With the Stars stage! I like that she has a sense of humor about it. Their dance was fantastic in its theatrics, as Derek's dances always are. She messed up once on an arm pass, but her footwork was great and her personality is nothing short of fantastic. It was a really fun dance! And her legs didn't fly off - bonus!!! Len thought it was amazing and well-choreographed. Bruno loved the dance, and Carrie Ann thought their synchronized movement was fantastic. Score: 24. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">More results were up next! Charlie White and Sharna Burgess and James Maslow and Peta Murgatroyd were both declared safe. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">James and Peta danced next, with a salsa to "Follow The Leader." The dance was really good, and James had a great personality. He is also incredibly good-looking, which doesn't hurt either. Their dance was very cool and super sexy. It didn't have any big elements that were crazy-awesome, except a flip at the end, but it was solid and fun to watch. They're solidly in the middle of the pack, but it was really fun. Bruno said he "came out of his shell," and complimented his dancing as well as his abs. Carrie Ann really liked the salsa, and thought he joined the Sexy Dancer Hall of Fame. Len thought it was "full-on" and "full of attack," even though he lost some hip action. Score: 25.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Charlie & Sharna danced next with a tango to "Addicted to You." Charlie learned some arrogance from Maks, although he was still a little bit too much of a prim nerd. I'm liking Charlie though - he moves well, he's a good dancer, and he works really, really hard. His tango was another dance that wasn't too crazy memorable, but it was super solid and fun to watch. I really enjoyed it! Carrie Ann liked his command of the dance, and his power. Len thought it was a terrific number, but dinged him for breaking hold and, therefore, breaking the rules of the dance. Bruno loves Charlie when he's bad, and loved his killer instinct. Score: 25. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">NeNe Leakes and Tony Dovolani were up next with a jive to "Do My Thing." It was a really, really fun dance. NeNe was super lost on the actual jive content, though, esepcially at the beginning. She has the sass, and on the clubbier moves she gets it, but she was on her heels way too much and didn't get bouncy enough for a jive. It's not entirely her fault - she's a tall woman with a short partner, and she needs a better bra so she feels like she can jump up and down more - but I wish I would have seen a better jive from her. Len thought it was a cute routine, and said he hoped she's back next week. Bruno loved her sass, but said she needs to be sharper on the footwork. Carrie Ann thought it was fun, but that she needs bigger arms. Score: 21.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Next up was Sean Avery and Karina Smirnoff with a salsa to something salsa-y and Latin. I felt like Sean was still kind of awkward and weird, but he is more comfortable this week with his moves. He did impress later in the dance, when he got some fancy footwork going. He's kind of inconsistent, because sometimes Sean is kind of ploddy and looks bored, but then suddenly he'll do something super light on his feet and get this happy little grin on his face. I am intrigued by Sean, and I hope he comes back next week. Bruno liked a lot of things, but said he needs to get his hips going. Carrie Ann thought his dance was very authentic, and liked his rhythm. Len thought it was a fun, good dance. Score: 21.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Finally was Cody Simpson and Witney Carson with a tango to "Yeah 3x." It was a very cool, traditional tango to a modern dancy song. I liked the interpretation of the dance a lot, and I love Cody's very loose, too-cool-for-school style. He moves very effortlessly - maybe too effortlessly at times - but he projected strength and arrogance along with his coolness in this dance. It was really, really solid in my eyes. Carrie Ann loved the way that he stylized things, and that the dance came together well, even though his frame wasn't perfect. Len thought it could have been tighter, but he was impressed by his fitting a moonwalk into the tango. Bruno thought it was hypnotic at points, and really liked the content. He did think the frame was a problem, but overall really liked the dance. Score: 22. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So that was the end of the dancing ... time for another elimination! The only people in danger were NeNe and tony, Sean and Karina, and Cody and Witney, and as much as I liked all of them, I could see any of them going home. But the unlucky couple is Sean and Karina, which is disappointing. Sean had a lot of potential and is very, very intriguing. I wish I could have seen more of his dancing! I think he had a ton of potential. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Overall, though, I think it was a night of great dancing and an unsurprising, un-upsetting pair of eliminations. I can hardly wait until next week!!</span>Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16361432373530562552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7981997922335009589.post-7079545924499717972014-03-18T05:35:00.001-07:002014-03-18T05:35:17.694-07:00Dancing With the Stars: Back Again!<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I almost didn't want to watch "Dancing With the Stars" this season. As much as I enjoy the craziness of watching D-List celebrities ballroom dance, I just wasn't sure I had time this year.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But, in the end, I couldn’t resist the siren song of glitter, sequins and pseudo-celebs. And so, Monday night, there I was, in front of the TV, watching “Dancing With the Stars.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(<a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152243215311740&set=a.10152243215131740.1073741836.8214706739&type=3&src=https%3A%2F%2Ffbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net%2Fhphotos-ak-prn2%2Ft1.0-9%2F1900108_10152243215311740_2098024207_n.jpg&size=640%2C960" target="_blank">Photo Credit</a>)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This season we have a new cohost with Tom Bergeron, and a new band and musical director. And there are going to be guest judges later in the season. Who cares, though! But what draws me to DWTS is what draws everyone: the spectacle.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And so we begin with "Real Housewife" NeNe Leakes, partnered with Tony Dovolani, dancing a cha-cha-cha to "Give It 2 U." NeNe is a little stiff and doesn't really have the technique, like, at all. She looks like she's dancing at a club or a wedding reception. However, she has quite the personality and she looks like she's having an absolute blash. There are definitely worse ways to start out a season of DWTS! Len thought the dance was "the way to get the party started." He thought it was fun, though he thought she flung her arms a bit. Bruno called her "sassy," and said he loves her energy. Carrie Ann complimented her personality too, and told her she needs to give it her all because she's such a big woman (taller than Tony!). Score: 21. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">James Maslow, of "Big Time Rush," & Peta Murgatroyd were next up. There was some initial drama, because apparently James and Peta went out on a date! DRAMA. But they danced a foxtrot to "Story of My Life," and it was good! Part of it is probably that they went into the dance with some chemistry already established, but James also is just a very graceful guy. Bruno really liked the effort he put into the dance, although he said it needed to be more effortless, with more precise footwork. Carrie Ann has a "big time crush" on James. (Oh, Carrie Ann.) She liked his natural elegance, too. Len thought it was a good dance, although his footwork and his frame was a little messy. Score: 21. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Next was Danica McKellar, Winnie Cooper from "The Wonder Years," and Val Chmerkovskiy. I immediately loved Danica, because she is giggly and dorky, but also super smart. They danced a foxtrot to "Walk Away." She has tons of personality, and she really kept up well with Val, which is impressive. I can already tell that Danica is going to be one of my favorites. She's just plain adorable and fun! Carrie Ann thinks she's adorable and enthusiastic, even though she got dinged for her shoulders and her overexpressive face. Len's first impression was "terrific." And Bruno called her "saucy," partially because she kissed Bruno at the end of her dance! Bruno was also glad she played well off of Val. Score: 24. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bad-boy hockey player Sean Avery and Karina Smirnoff danced a contemporary dance next, to "Somewhere Only We Know." It was a pretty good dance, though I thought they depended too much on cool lifts that Sean could do because he's a big strong hockey player. However, there were definitely some moments in there that showed how Sean could emote a bit while he dances, even though he's kind of stoic most of the time. Len thought the dance was full of intensity, though he thought it needed more finesse. Bruno thought he was powerful, focused and connected, but needed more continuity. Carrie Ann thought it was fascinating. Score: 20.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">BILLY DEE WILLIAMS!!!!!!!!!! and Emma Slater were up next!! Billy Dee was one of the major reasons I wanted to watch this season, and so I was absolutely THRILLED when it was his turn!!!! He did a cha-cha-cha to "Star Wars Disco." It was predictably horrible and fantastic. Billy Dee doesn't dance terribly well (mostly because he's 77 and has problems with his back and hips), but he clearly had fun, and he was just happy to dance! Frankly, he could have stood out there and posed, and I would have been perfectly happy, because I love Billy Dee! Bruno thought he was too dainty, and that he needs to dance more powerfully. Carrie Ann thought he was "relaxed," but she wanted a little more from him. Len thought it was entertaining, and thought he did a good job despite everything. Score: 15. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ice dancer Meryl Davis and Maks Chmerkovskiy were up next. They danced a cha-cha-cha to "All Night." It was really good, and not just because Maks had his shirt open (though that helped). Meryl is adorable and moves really well, of course ... she's an ice dancer! They had a nice connection, though, and that also helped their dance. Still, Meryl seemed just a teeny bit too posed and poised, with a bit too much of a plastered-on smile. She'll need to get out of the "happy ice-dancer" thing just a bit in order to connect with the ballroom and make her connection feel authentic. Carrie Ann was extremely impressed with her technique. Len called her "terrific," and Bruno was happy with her spins and the lyricism of her arms. Score: 24.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Full House" star Candace Cameron Bure and Mark Ballas danced next, with a contemporary to "Burn." It was a super, super cool dance, with a lot of really neat moves that had to be done right in sync, and they did a great job at it. I wasn't sure what to expect from Candace, because she felt a little perky and fake in her pre-dance package, but she really had a lot of great emotion going on the floor. It was a wonderful dance, and very well-executed! Len said it was "well done." Bruno called it "dynamic." Carrie Ann called her an "incredible dancer." Score: 25.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Next up was Australian singer Cody Simpson and Whitney Carson, a new pro, danced a cha-cha-cha to "Timber." Cody really knows how to move, but he was a little too clubby and not ballroomy enough. Still, he definitely understands rhythym and he can really move his hips. Plus, he's adorable! Bruno thought they were the "poster couple for the energy of youth." He warned them to watch their basics, though. Carrie Ann thought the upper body was great, but the feet were all over the place. Len liked the confidence and attack, but said the technique needed work. He liked it, though. Score: 22. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Comedian/"Price Is Right" host Drew Carey and Cheryl Burke danced a fun Monopoly-themed foxtrot to "Money (That's What I Want)." Drew has a lot of personality, and is just a very likeable guy. He actually did a very good job with his moves, too, though. He was a little ploddy on some of his moves, but he really did a pretty good job dancing in additional to his charm. Carrie Ann liked his classic approach. Len thought it was "very watchable." Bruno liked the style and the content, and his special personal touch too. Score: 21.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Paralympic snowboarder Amy Purdy and Derek Hough danced a cha-cha-cha to "Counting Stars." She did an excellent job, and even though she couldn't entirely do the things with her feet that someone who has legs can do, she made up for any issues with really great body movement and a wonderful personality. I thought she did an excellent job dancing. Len thought she deserved a gold medal. Bruno loved her timing, shapes, and performance level. Carrie Ann cried, of course. She said she is a "beacon of light in this world." Score: 24.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Swimmer Diana Nyad and Henry Byalikov, a new pro, danced the foxtrot to "Beyond the Sea." It wasn't the toughest or most impressive dance, but it was a very classic foxtrot that she did very well. It had some nice style to it, and Diana was very pretty and classic, but also fun and funny. She is just an OK dancer, but she seems like a fantastically fun person. It was an elegant dance. Bruno said she needs to be a bit lighter and smoother, but said she is going in the right direction. Carrie Ann enjoyed watching her get more comfortable as she danced. Len wanted some more finesse, but thought it was a good dance. Score: 18. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ice dancer (and partner to Meryl Davis) Charlie White and Sharna Burgess finished off the show with a contemporary to "Let Her Go." It was a very pretty, passionate dance, and I was very impressed with Charlie's strength. Just like the dance with Sean Avery, though, I thought they depended just a bit too much on the man's strength and ability to do lifts. It was still a pretty great dance, though. Carrie Ann called it "poetry in motion." Len thought it was a good dance for Charlie, but he is interested in seeing his ballroom and Latin. Bruno liked the attention to detail and the story arc in the choreography. Score: 27.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Final thought? I'm glad I watched. This is a good cast! </span>Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16361432373530562552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7981997922335009589.post-88245842130635069062014-03-14T19:51:00.000-07:002014-03-14T19:51:11.068-07:00Violence Vs. Sex On TV ... WTF, NBC? I was watching last week's episode of "Hannibal," called "Sakizuki," this week, and I noticed something odd.<br />
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Despite the fact that the episode was disturbingly violent, it only garnered a TV-14 rating.<br />
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That got me thinking about TV ratings, and just how out-of-whack our priorities really are when it comes to violence vs. sex and bad language on TV.<br />
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<a name='more'></a>Now, first of all, I could argue all day that rating systems are stupid and arbitrary. They are really based on what a certain group of people find acceptable, which is very dicey. I might be offended by completely different things than the people who are rating the shows, and things that they find shocking might be no big deal to me. There's also a shocking lack of context when determining ratings. For example, I always sadly laugh at the fact that the movie "The King's Speech" got an R rating because it had some "F-words" (in a very funny, turning-point scene). I think it stinks that a 16-year-old nerd who wanted to see "The King's Speech" would have to have a parent come with them, while the same year they could go see people get blown away in "Iron Man 2," "Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World," "True Grit," "Salt" and "The A-Team" without parental permission, because those movies were only rated PG-13.<br /><br /><br />
I also think that ratings systems have a chilling effect on artistic expression, because filmmakers and TV writers concerned with commercial success have to be very careful not to run afoul of the MPAA and the TV Parental Guidelines Monitoring Board and get a rating on their movie or show that doesn't jibe with the demographics you're trying to reach with your piece.<br />
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(I'm not saying that kids should be able to watch anything that's on TV or in a movie, because they <i>definitely</i> shouldn't. But parents should be choosing what their kids watch based on their personal morals and ethics. That's why I got to watch movies and TV shows with naughty humor, like "Blazing Saddles" and "South Park," when I was in middle school, but couldn't watch scary, violent movies like "Jurassic Park" until I was much older. My parents valued satire and humor, and thought they were important for me to experience while I was growing up, but they didn't want me to experience violence onscreen at a young age.)<br />
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Anyway, I digress. The ratings systems aren't going away anytime soon. So, if they're not, they should at least be concentrating on making sure that ratings make sense.<br />
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"Hannibal" is a perfect example to me.<br />
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<i>(Mild spoilers ahead)</i><br />
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In last week's episode, there were dead bodies galore, killed by a serial killer and stitched together. Hannibal killed a man and ate his leg as veal ossobucco. It was creepy and gross. There's also a lot of psychological torture going on with the character of Will Graham, which is quite disturbing. And this garnered a TV-14 rating! But had they shown a bare butt, or a breast, or said the f-word, they would have gotten a TV-MA rating, if the show even would have been shown on a network channel. But by all means, show some good ol' fashioned serial killing and cannibalism!<br />
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Another good example was "American Horror Story: Asylum." All of the episodes of that show were rated, if I remember right, TV-MA, and rightly show. "AHS" is a creepy, disturbing show. However, in one episode, they showed Evan Peters' bare butt. After <i>every single commercial break</i>, there was a warning about nudity. This, in a show that featured a character getting her arms and legs chopped off, Nazi experiments, alien abductions, torture porn, and a demon-possessed nun (dubbed Sister Mary Satan by the wonderful <a href="http://tomandlorenzo.com/" target="_blank">Tom & Lorenzo</a>). BUT HEAVEN FORBID THE PEOPLE WATCHING THIS SHOW SEE A NAKED ASS.<br />
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Lest you all think I'm crazy, studies say I'm not. (Well, not on this issue, anyway.) <a href="http://www.opposingviews.com/i/society/guns/study-violence-levels-movies-have-skyrocketed-over-last-30-years" target="_blank">A recent study shows</a> that violence levels in movies have skyrocketed in the last 30 years, and that "since 2009, PG-13–rated films have contained as much or more violence as R-rated films (age 17+) films." It's not the same with sexuality and drug use. (The study doesn't mention dirty words.)<br />
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There is something seriously wrong with this figure, and it disturbs me greatly. I don't mind violence in movies - in fact, I am a big fan of several filmmakers who make very violent movies, including Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez. I don't mind violence on TV, which is clear because I watch "Hannibal" and "American Horror Story." And I don't think that people should blindly watch movies and TV shows without considering whether they have content that they don't wish to see - and that goes double for taking their kids to the movies.<br />
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But if we're going to have rating systems, they need to be consistent and they need to give the proper weight to violence. Yes, you don't want your little kids to say a bunch of bad words, but a bad word never did anything worse than made someone sound stupid or got a kid detention. Sexuality in movies is more concerning - <a href="http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/real-healing/201208/overexposed-and-under-prepared-the-effects-early-exposure-sexual-content" target="_blank">studies show</a> that movies affect teens' thoughts about sex, and seeing more sexuality explicit content leads teens to have sex more often, engage in riskier behaviors when they have sex, become more likely to have sexual addictions, and increase the risk of sexual violence. Still, a quick bit of nudity that's not directly related to having sex is not going permanently scar a child. But violence ... "exposure to gratuitous violence in the media reduces the aid offered to people in pain," <a href="http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/am-i-right/201303/the-numbing-effect-media-violence" target="_blank">one study says</a>. Being numbed to violence is incredibly disturbing to me. I don't understand why people seem to freak out at a bad word or a bare breast, but don't blink an eye at the constant murder on network TV. A cop on CSI would never say the f-word or moon the camera, but CSI is basically, as one friend put it, "a 45-minute slasher movie that millions of people who eschew horror allow into their homes every week."<br />
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I'm going to end by recommending two extremely foul but very funny items to watch and really consider when thinking about violence vs. nudity and bad language. One is "South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut," which contains the fantastic line, "Remember what the MPAA says: Horrific, deplorable violence is okay, as long as people don't say any naughty words!"<br />
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The second is the "South Park" episode "Good Times With Weapons," which ends with the townspeople being incredibly upset about Cartman being nude in public despite the fact that poor Butters has a ninja star in his eye for most of the episode.Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16361432373530562552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7981997922335009589.post-49978974048372054812014-02-21T13:28:00.000-08:002014-02-21T13:28:15.045-08:00'Guardians of the Galaxy' looks like lots of fun<p>So, admission time - I know next to nothing about the Guardians of the Galaxy.</p>
<p>But, the trailer for the new <I>Guardians of the Galaxy</I> movie, set to come out August 1, makes me want to get to know them better.</p>
<p>Seriously, check out this trailer and tell me that it doesn't look like it's going to be an incredibly, hilariously fun movie.</p>
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<p><b>I KNOW, RIGHT?</b></p>
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<p>One of my biggest problems with superhero movies right now is the propensity for gritty remakes. Marvel has done a decent job of keeping things relatively light, especially with the <i>Thor</i> movies, and compared to the super-gritty <i>Dark Knight</i> trilogy, they're downright sunny.</p>
<p>But I have a love for crazy goofball movies, and that hasn't been the way that superhero/comic book movies have been in the last 10 years or so.</p>
<p><i>Guardians of the Galaxy</i>, though, looks like it will be a movie after my own heart. The main characters are, for lack of a better word, weird. The "Guardians" are a cute slacker-looking dude, a big hulking alien guy, a green alien woman, a talking tree and a genetically enhanced raccoon. (They get called "a bunch of a-holes" in the trailer.) The trailer features the song "Hooked on a Feeling." The list of bad guys includes Benecio del Toro with crazy blond hair and a fuzzy jacket, swishing around. And did I mention that <i>one of the main characters is a genetically enhanced raccoon?</i> Oh, and he's voiced by <i>Bradley Cooper</i>. That fact amuses me to no end.</p>
<p>There are also gun fights and spaceship dogfights galore, and a whole bunch of other short clips of scenes where I don't even know what's happening. All I know is ... I like what I see!</p>
<p><i>Guardians of the Galaxy</i> is going to be a romp, plain and simple. It's exactly what I want out of a movie. <b>Exactly</b> what I want out of a movie. Seriously, can it be August 1 yet?</p>Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16361432373530562552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7981997922335009589.post-83941275584595602852014-02-12T10:22:00.002-08:002014-02-12T10:22:57.021-08:00Goodreads Review: "The Fault in Our Stars"<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11870085-the-fault-in-our-stars" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="The Fault in Our Stars" border="0" src="https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1360206420m/11870085.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11870085-the-fault-in-our-stars">The Fault in Our Stars</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1406384.John_Green">John Green</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/845748125">5 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
"The Fault in Our Stars" really is a remarkable book - a book about a person with cancer that manages to be almost completely down-to-earth and actively avoids being obnoxiously sappy. (It's pretty much the antithesis of the Nicholas Sparks book I read recently.) <br><br>Just for that, John Green deserves major accolades. The fact that it's also compelling, entertaining, and funny, and features some really genuinely interesting characters, means that "The Fault in Our Stars" is really one of the most fantastic books I've read in a while.<br><br>"The Fault in Our Stars" follows Hazel, a 16-year-old girl living with terminal cancer. She is happy - or as happy as she can be - watching "America's Next Top Model" with her parents and rereading her favorite book over and over again, until she meets Augustus Waters, a 17-year-old boy whose cancer is in remission. Hazel and Augustus strike up a friendship that soon becomes a full-blown, deep, intense romance. <br><br>Hazel is a wonderfully likeable main character. Her cancer doesn't change the fact that she's a snarky 16-year-old girl - she's just a snarky 16-year-old girl with cancer. Green did a wonderful job crafting her, and it's easy to completely dive into Hazel's life and instantly fall in love with her. I absolutely love her spunk and the fact that she's snotty and annoyed a lot. She can also be very loving and is very conscious of the feelings of the people she loves - her parents and Augustus - but she really feels like a real person, not a noble caricature of a person with cancer. Just because someone has cancer doesn't mean that they lose their personality, and Hazel has a personality outside of being a Girl with Cancer. It's wonderful and, really, shockingly rare in books. <br><br>Augustus is, to be honest, kind of a douche, but I really mean that in the most loving way, too. He's one of those hilariously pretentious, "deep" teenagers, just a little bit more pretentious and "deep" because he had cancer. (I feel like he was probably pretentious before he had cancer, too.) I rolled my eyes at him a lot, but Augustus had just enough moments of warmth and genuine emotion that his douchiness really just ended up being endearing teenager stuff. I kind of wanted to not like him, but I really did. And his deep love for Hazel always came through the facade.<br><br>"The Fault in Our Stars" is not a perfect book, so why did I give it five stars? Because despite the fact that I knocked off a star for being a little bit pretentious at times, it gets at least one star, if not more, tacked back on for being such a superb, different, enjoyable, wonderful book about cancer and dying. Normally if a character has terminal cancer in a book, my eyeballs are rolling out of my head at the sappiness of it all (horrible, perhaps, but true!), but "The Fault in Our Stars" is down-to-earth and straightforward about what happens. Cancer sucks and dying of it is horrible, and "The Fault in Our Stars" doesn't shy away from showing that. There are some really, really sad moments, and some really, really horrible, gross moments in this book, and I'm glad that John Green wrote honestly about it. But also, in the midst of such a horrible situation as cancer, whether it's terminal or not, there are moments of light and moments of humor, and John Green wrote so well about those, too. People with cancer are still the people they were before they had cancer and I'm glad that John Green understands that. It's a wonderfully balanced, realistic, honest and entertaining book. <br><br>Seriously, though, grab the tissues - this book is a tearjerker if ever I read one.
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/1242561-jenny">View all my reviews</a>
Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16361432373530562552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7981997922335009589.post-87722856136330848422014-01-27T06:48:00.000-08:002014-01-27T06:48:19.220-08:00'I, Frankenstein' continues tradition of January stinkers<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>This review was originally published on the KPC Media Group website. Read the original review <a href="http://www.kpcnews.com/columnists/jenny_kobiela/kpcnews/article_a37344c4-8570-11e3-bedc-001a4bcf6878.html" target="_blank">here</a>. </i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's so nice that movie studios let audiences stay home during the cold winter months.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That has to be the reason that they released "I, Frankenstein" during January, right? Anybody who ventures out in the cold and snow to see this stinker is crazy. You'd be better off staying home and watching Netflix. Or a DVD. Or the snow fall, or melt, depending on the weather report. It's not worth getting up off the couch to see this movie.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"I, Frankenstein" follows Victor Frankenstein's monster (Aaron Eckhart). After killing his master, he is attacked by demons. But before the demons can get him, he's saved by a group of gargoyles, led by the queen gargoyle, Leonore (Miranda Otto). The gargoyles, who can switch from flying stone beasts to a human appearance with a swish of a cape, try to get the monster, who Leonore names Adam, to help them kill demons, but he refuses. Fast-forward 200 years, and a big, bad demon (Bill Nighy) is trying to figure out the secret of reanimating corpses - just like Frankenstein did to Adam.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">No, I am not making any of this up, despite the fact it sounds like a goth kid's fever dream, right down to the part where the story doesn't make a whole lot of sense.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's sad that such a bad movie came from a relatively cool concept. Frankenstein's monster in the modern world, fighting demons alongside gargoyles sent from heaven by the archangel Michael. Yes, it's still a goofy concept, but in the hands of an excellent writer and director it could be a super hip supernatural thriller.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sadly, "I, Frankenstein" just plods along with about as much life as Frankenstein's monster before it was zapped with electricity. The plot is nearly incoherent, with characters' motivations changing every 10 minutes. The city where the movie takes place (it's never explained where it's supposed to be) doesn't have a strong vision and just feels bland.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Aaron Eckhart is a dull leading man for "I, Frankenstein," too. The most exciting thing in his boring performance is when he pulls off his shirt, revealing an artfully scarred, totally ripped chest. But, it isn't worth the price of admission. Other than that brief interlude, Eckhart delivers his lines in a completely wooden fashion, without a hint of irony or enjoyment or even interest in what's going on. Bill Nighy, at least, is more fun to watch. He chews the scenery as the bad guy, complete with delightful dramatic pauses. I think he's at least trying.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are a few laughs to be had when watching "I, Frankenstein." I certainly enjoyed whispering snide comments to my husband when the plot took yet another inexplicable turn, but that's also no reason to bother with seeing a movie like this in the theaters.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Despite a concept that could have worked, nearly everybody involved with "I, Frankenstein" just seemed to phone it in. The result is a big, sloppy mess, otherwise known as "just another January at the movies."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jenny's Take: See it on DVD.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(Rated PG-13 for sequences of intense fantasy action and violence throughout. Runs 92 minutes.)</span>Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16361432373530562552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7981997922335009589.post-14780163989068873802014-01-26T13:13:00.001-08:002014-01-26T13:16:12.547-08:00Goodreads Review: "The Last Song" by Nicholas Sparks<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7150991-the-last-song" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="The Last Song" border="0" src="https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1337431706m/7150991.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7150991-the-last-song">The Last Song</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2345.Nicholas_Sparks">Nicholas Sparks</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/831112909">1 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
I absolutely hated "The Last Song." There are ways that this general plotline could have worked, but in the hands of Nicholas Sparks, it was an overwrought, contrived, schlocky mess.<br><br>"The Last Song" follows 17-year-old Ronnie, forced to spend the summer away from her home in New York City with her estranged father and her little brother, Jonah, in a small North Carolina town. On the surface, Ronnie is a troubled teen, not only because she occasionally shoplifts, but also because she *gasp* has a streak of purple in her hair and wears black, which Sparks is clear to point out about a dozen times or more in the course of the book.<br><br>Anyway, Ronnie's father, Steve, is a pianist, and Ronnie is a great piano player, too, but she has refused to play since her dad left. But soon she begins to soften, as she watches her dad and brother work on the stained glass window for the church up the beach that had burned down; as she guards a sea-turtle nest near the house; and as she slowly but surely falls in love with hot rich-guy Will. However, Ronnie has issues with some of the "bad kids" in town - the first friend she makes, Blaze, is dating a complete psychopath named Marcus, who takes a liking to Ronnie almost immediately. <br><br>I have a lot of issues with "The Last Song." <br><br>First of all, the main characters, Ronnie and Will, are bland. Ronnie is supposed to be this super troubled teen, which, as a concept, is both interesting and understandable in the context of her life, but Sparks cannot just let her be a bratty, bad kid who slowly learns a valuable lesson about life and love. Almost immediately, he has to let the audience know that she's not <em>really</em> such a bad person. She doesn't drink or take drugs like her friends back in New York, she's a vegetarian, and she loves puppies. Will, meanwhile, is obnoxiously perfect. His biggest fault in the whole book is that he cares too much about his friend, Scott. Gag.<br><br>The rest of the characters are complete caricatures. There is no shading, no quirks and nothing remotely interesting about them. They're just stock characters, and I felt absolutely no emotional attachment to them, nor was I remotely surprised by anything they did. <br><br>I also really resented the way that "The Last Song" seemed absolutely contrived to make the reader cry. I love to cry at good books, but reading a Nicholas Sparks book is like being beat over the head with a 2x4 while Sparks screeches, "CRY! You WILL cry! CRY AT THE TRAGEDY OF IT ALL!" It's disgusting.<br><br>The "big twists" at the end of the book were all atrociously transparent and easy to guess, and I'm terrible at guessing what a "twist" is going to be. The big tragedy was contrived and totally obvious, and the way that the characters in the book handled it was criminal. <br><br>(Spoiler Alert) The fact that Steve never told his children that he had terminal cancer for the three months they were staying with him, even though he had known his diagnosis for four months before they came, is just irresponsible, and no amount of explaining that he "wanted to get to know his children" makes that better. I didn't find it endearing - I couldn't help but think that it would be horrific to do that to someone, especially to your children. I had assumed through the book that he didn't know that he was terminally ill, and that he would find out when his children did, leading to some soul-searching together. Keeping that information from his children until he was hospitalized for it is selfish and cruel. I almost threw the book across the room at that point, and I had to stop reading it until the next day. If I hadn't been committed to finishing the book (I was reading it on what boiled down to a dare from my sister), I would have stopped right there and refused to pick it up again. (End Spoiler Alert) <br><br>I also didn't like the way that the religious references were shoehorned into the book in the most schlocky and awkward way ever. I like the idea of tackling the religious and spiritual implications of the things that happened in the book, but they were crammed in the book in the absolute most corny way possible. Gag.<br><br>"The Last Song" is a schlocky, corny, annoying mess that is insulting to the reader and incredibly annoying and infuriating to read. The story is contrived and it was obviously callously calculated to wrench the most tears from the readers. It's just plain gross. This book is absolutely terrible.</["br"]></["br"]></["br"]></["br"]></["br"]></["br"]></["br"]></["br"]></["br"]></["br"]></["br"]></["br"]></["br"]></["br"]></["br"]></["br"]></["br"]></["br"]></["br"]></["br"]>
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/1242561-jenny">View all my reviews</a>Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16361432373530562552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7981997922335009589.post-27263728248664201842014-01-22T05:48:00.000-08:002014-01-22T05:48:28.391-08:00"Hunger Games" vs. "Divergent" - A YA Dystopian Faceoff<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I just finished reading the "Divergent" series, and since it's basically trying to be the next "Hunger Games," I thought I'd compare and contrast the two series.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Divergent," by Veronica Roth, is a series about a girl in dystopian future Chicago who discovers that she may be in danger because she's divergent, which means that she has an aptitude for more than one trait in a strict faction-based society. "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins is about a girl in dystopian future America who is sent into an arena in an annual contest where teenagers fight to the death.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(Mild spoilers for "The Hunger Games" and "Divergent" series ahead. No major plot twists are revealed.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Main Character</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Katniss in "The Hunger Games" and Tris is "Divergent" are both brave, self-sufficient women. I like the way Tris comes out of her shell in "Divergent." She starts very quiet, because she's from the Abnegation faction, which values selflessness, but really comes into her own when she joins the Dauntless faction, which values bravery. Katniss really retreats into herself and is very calculated about her personality in order to impress the people watching the Hunger Games, in hopes that she will survive. Both Tris and Katniss have a strong survival instinct, and they are both strong both physically and mentally.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The thing that is notable about "The Hunger Games" is that Katniss is not inherently special, while Tris proves to be to an almost ridiculous degree. I like that Katniss cannot call on anything other than her own inner strength and the desire to save the people she loves to survive the games. Tris, meanwhile, has her divergence to save her, and it does several times throughout the books. As an adult, I much prefer Katniss for this reason, because she must do what we all do (most of us to a lesser degree) - dig deep and keep going. However, I can see why teenagers might like Tris better, because teenagers want to think that they are special like Tris.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>The Guy</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In "Divergent," the main male character is Four, a fellow Dauntless and love interest for Tris. Four is incredibly strong and very brave - he's called Four because he only has four fears. He is pretty damaged - we find out later in the series that his home life was pretty rotten - which makes him a more compelling character. I love his confidence, and the way he has overcome a very tough life. Four is definitely a traditional guy character.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The main guy in "The Hunger Games" is Peeta, who enters the game with Katniss as a fellow tribute from her district. I love Peeta, because he is not a traditional guy character. He is romantic, artistic and emotional. He is also an incredibly sweet guy with a great soul. Peeta is physically strong too, but I think his defining characteristics are more about his emotional strength.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>The Romance</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In "Divergent," Tris and Four have a pretty traditional romance. They fall in love and slowly work their way into being more physical with their love (it's slow going due to their upbringings, but worth the wait). They have trouble being honest with each other and their romance is frequently interrupted by the goings-on in their world, but it's a well-done traditional romance. I am glad that there are no real romantic triangles, which is quickly becoming a YA trope - Tris and Four have plenty of other threats to their relationships without another person coming into the equation. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"The Hunger Games" has a romantic triangle of sorts, with Peeta somewhat competing with Gale, Katniss' best friend, for Katniss' heart and loyalty. However, what makes "The Hunger Games" interesting in its romantic plotline is that Katniss largely rejects any notion of romance because she is too concerned with staying alive. She does (very, very slowly) fall for Peeta, and she also feels a lot of love for Gale, which causes her some angst, but Katniss really doesn't have time for romance. I also love the role-reversal of the female, Katniss, as the strong and silent type, and the male, Peeta, as the emotional romantic</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>The World</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Both worlds are very interesting. I like the way that the city in "Divergent" is recognizably Chicago, giving a great frame of reference and making the dystopian world more vivid. Roth used some of Chicago's landmarks, like the El trains, Navy Pier and the Hancock Building to great effect. However, the world is not very big and so the book sometimes feels a bit constrained. This works in a lot of ways, because the people of Tris' city don't know that there is anything outside Dystopian Future Chicago, but later in the book I would have liked to see some more of the world to get a better picture of it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The world of "The Hunger Games" is incredibly vivid. The first book only takes place in three main places - District 12, the training facility in the Capitol, and the arena (with a few scenes in transit between these places) - but by the end of the book we have visited a huge chunk of the world. It's easy to picture the world of "The Hunger Games." </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Both books have interesting ideas for how their worlds came about, and I really appreciate both visions. "The Hunger Games" executes that vision better, though.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Summary</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"The Hunger Games" is just a better book than "Divergent," both for Collins' better writing and for the way it rejects and reverses a lot of tropes. However, "Divergent" is a pretty solid series with an interesting point of view. It's definitely more traditional and, therefore, feels more formulaic, but Roth still adds a lot of very interesting pieces to her book. I would definitely read both, but while I'm glad I own the "Hunger Games" books so I can pull them off my shelf and read them again and again, I'm fine with the fact that I don't own the "Divergent" books. </span>Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16361432373530562552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7981997922335009589.post-27802146695138005012014-01-21T20:19:00.000-08:002014-01-21T20:19:22.703-08:00Goodreads Review: "Allegiant"<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17383918-allegiant" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="Allegiant (Divergent, #3)" border="0" src="https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1368111284m/17383918.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17383918-allegiant">Allegiant</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4039811.Veronica_Roth">Veronica Roth</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/826306609">3 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
While there were definitely some things I liked about "Allegiant," the final chapter of the "Divergent" trilogy by Veronica Roth, this book just didn't quite work for me.<br><br>"Allegiant" finishes the story of Tris Prior, who, with the help of her boyfriend, Tobias, tries to save the people of dystopian future Chicago from the people who want to tear it apart with war.<br><br>When I read "Divergent" and "Insurgent," I really liked the world but I feel like it suffered quite a bit when everything was explained. Part of it was that Roth likes to info-dump. I understand the temptation, especially when there is a lot of information to try to jam into a book, but it led to some pretty dry passages, and made the overall flow of the book uneven. I still like the idea of the world, but the execution left something to be desired.<br><br>The whole feel of "Allegiant" was just kind of off. Part of the big problem was that this book had chapters from Tobias' point of view, rather than telling the whole book from Tris' point of view. I see why Roth structured the book that way, because Tobias and Tris were separated and doing a lot of important things away from each other, but it made the book kind of confusing. It was hard to tell who was talking in what chapter, because there wasn't much of a stylistic change between Tris and Tobias. I would find myself saying, "Why is Tris ... oh, this is Tobias' chapter!" <br><br>I also felt like there was a lot of rehashing in "Allegiant," while other parts (specifically the ending) were really rushed. I could have done without Tris and Tobias talking in circles about things, and instead given a little more time for the book to wrap up properly. <br><br>I didn't hate "Allegiant" though - in fact, I read several hundred pages in one sitting. The plot was still exciting, when it moved forward (which it did in fits and starts sometimes), and I like the relationship between Tobias and Tris. I felt like their romance was very natural for older teens, and it was a bit steamy besides. I also have to give props to Roth for a brave plot decision near the end of the book that I wasn't expecting. It was a bit contrived, I thought, but it was not something that every author would do. <br><br>I'm not sorry that I read "Allegiant," or the other "Divergent" books, but I have definitely read YA dystopian novels that were much better (*cough*HungerGames*cough*). However, there were some spots where "Allegiant" really held its own, and it's definitely worth a quick read sometime.
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/1242561-jenny">View all my reviews</a>
Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16361432373530562552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7981997922335009589.post-36450412691584378342014-01-21T05:40:00.002-08:002014-01-21T05:40:32.149-08:00Look At This: 'Hannibal' Season 2 trailerOne of my favorite shows of Summer 2013 was "Hannibal." And, thankfully, it's coming back!<br />
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<a name='more'></a>"Hannibal" is a retooling of the origin story of famed fictional serial killer/cannibal Hannibal Lecter, and it is a fantastic show. And there's a trailer for season two (watch out for season one spoilers):<br />
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The show follows criminal profiler Will Graham (Hugh Dancy), who, when the series opens, is consulting with the FBI on several murders of young women. Will has the unfortunate but helpful talent of being able to empathize completely with murderers, especially serial killers, but, of course, this makes him a little unstable. So, the agent in charge, Jack Crawford (Lawrence Fishburne), puts Will under the watchful eye of a brilliant psychiatrist who, of course, turns out to be Hannibal Lecter (Mads Mikkelsen). </div>
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"Hannibal" is a thrilling, twisty crime/horror drama, with a wonderful dash of black humor (the cannibal puns are nothing short of fantastic). It is beautifully shot, with a unique visual style that gives it a haunting, almost dreamlike feel. It's a gorgeous, exciting show, disturbing though it is (not everyone will be able to watch this one), and I'm thrilled to get to see it.</div>
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If you missed season one, well, hurry up and watch it - season 2 premieres February 28 on NBC.</div>
Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16361432373530562552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7981997922335009589.post-39578533042337632402014-01-20T09:04:00.001-08:002014-01-20T09:04:31.511-08:00'Jack Ryan' solid, despite treading little new ground<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>This review originally appeared on the KPC Media Group website and in its three daily newspapers on Sunday. Read the original review <a href="http://www.kpcnews.com/columnists/jenny_kobiela/kpcnews/article_2a77963e-7fed-11e3-91e9-001a4bcf6878.html" target="_blank">here</a>. Reprinted with permission. </i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I suppose there is some way to reinvent the action-thriller, but until some genius comes up with a new twist on the old standby, Hollywood will probably keep churning them out.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But if they're as zippy and fun as "Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit," you won't hear me complaining.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The movie follows Jack Ryan (Chris Pine), a brilliant young former Marine turned CIA analyst who is thrust into the field to try to stop evil Russian banker Viktor Cherevin (Kenneth Branagh) from ruining the U.S. economy with a terror attack timed perfectly with some economic mumbo-jumbo. Adding an additional wrinkle - but also an additional asset, as it turns out - Jack must also protect his fiance, Cathy (Kiera Knightley).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jack is a little different from your basic action-thriller hero, in the sense that he is not immediately good at field work. Even though he is a former Marine, he is an egghead at heart, with a Ph.D. in economics and very little training in field work. But like every good action hero, he soon finds his footing and is sneaking into heavily guarded buildings, beating bad guys to a pulp and generally being awesome by about halfway through the movie.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Also a little bit refreshing is Cathy, who, thank goodness, breaks out of the suspicious, shrewish girlfriend role partway through the movie and proves herself to be a brave, capable sidekick for Jack for a big chunk of the middle of the movie before being relegated to the background for the final showdown. Still, she's also incredibly smart - I mean, she's a doctor - and she's brave, too. I would actually love to see Cathy and Jack put their brains together to bring down terrorists on a regular basis in movies. Get on that, Hollywood!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Still, these notable aspects are really just slight tweaks on extremely common tropes. During the movie, even though I enjoyed it, "Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit" all seemed pretty familiar. And, let's face it, that's not a surprise. In addition to being in more than a dozen novels penned by Tom Clancy, this is far from the first time Jack has been on the big screen. Although he's played by different actors, Jack Ryan is the main character of "The Hunt for Red October," "Patriot Games," "Clear and Present Danger" and "The Sum of All Fears."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Despite the fact that it's not exactly fresh, though, "Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit" is not a waste of time at the movies. Chris Pine does an excellent job putting his own stamp on the character, which can't be easy when Jack Ryan has also been played by Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford and Ben Affleck. Pine does an excellent job of making Jack's motiviations clear. He's tough, but that's because he's determined to do his job and save the country. He's not an action hero robot, though - it's nice to see the main character in a thriller visably shaken after killing somebody. There's an underlying humanity that is always there, and it gives "Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit" just a little more depth.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This movie doesn't reinvent the wheel, and it doesn't even really tread much new ground. What it does do, though, is deliver a solid, watchable story with a lead character that's relatable (and good-looking, if you're into that sort of thing). Some days, there's nothing I'd rather watch more.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jenny's Take: See it before it leaves theaters.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(Rated PG-13 for sequences of violence and intense action, and brief strong language. Runs 105 minutes.)</span>Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16361432373530562552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7981997922335009589.post-82722366741888885332014-01-17T19:41:00.002-08:002014-01-17T19:41:50.421-08:00Goodreads Review: "Beyond the Highland Mist"<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/815163.Beyond_the_Highland_Mist" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="Beyond the Highland Mist (Highlander, #1)" border="0" src="https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1348924350m/815163.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/815163.Beyond_the_Highland_Mist">Beyond the Highland Mist</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/48206.Karen_Marie_Moning">Karen Marie Moning</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/815502248">5 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
I have soft spots in my heart for romance novels, time travel and Scottish hotties, so of course I thoroughly enjoyed "Beyond the Highland Mist." <br><br>The book follows Adrienne, a woman with a scary past she'd love to escape, who is magically zapped back to 16th-century Scotland and almost immediately wed to the strong, sexy alpha male Sidheach, a Scottish laird better known as the Hawk. She, of course, immediately hates him, because she hates beautiful men and he is GORGEOUS, and the Hawk immediately falls madly in love with her.<br><br>What follows is a lovely tale of seduction and romance made more exciting (and difficult) with the addition of fairies stirring up trouble between the couple - as they do. <br><br>OK, so it's not a perfect book. The Hawk is a little bit overly alpha and acts decidedly un-modern in a few places (he is a 16th-century Scottish alpha male, after all!), although Karen Marie Moning does a pretty good job of tempering his nasty tendencies with some softness, too. Adrienne is a strong heroine most of the time, too, although she is a bit too passive for my taste at times (I prefer my heroines to be at least 95% sassy all the time). <br><br>The characters I really, really like in "Beyond the Highland Mist" are the secondary characters - The Hawk's mother, the Roma, the fairies. Even if I didn't know that there are several more Highlander books and the related Fever series, I would know that Moning was attempting, and succeeding, at world-building with this book. I'm tantalized, and not just by the steamy scenes (although they were tantalizing - my sister, a romance novel expert, was not lying when she said Moning's books are deliciously naughty!). <br><br>I thoroughly enjoyed "Beyond the Highland Mist," and I will certainly be continuing to read this delightful series!
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/1242561-jenny">View all my reviews</a>
Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16361432373530562552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7981997922335009589.post-71665454888294921542014-01-14T15:06:00.001-08:002014-01-14T15:06:35.739-08:00'Sherlock' season 3 premiere worth the long wait <span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Note: This review is spoiler-free, so don't be afraid to read it!</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I feel like I've been waiting years for the third season of BBC's "Sherlock" to premiere in the U.S.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hello, boys! I've missed you!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(<a href="http://insidetv.ew.com/2013/10/23/sherlock-season-3-premiere-date-revealed/" target="_blank">Photo credit</a>)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's actually only been a little less than a year and a half, but season 2 ended with such a dynamic, surprising, exciting and soul-wrenching finale that it was torture to wait for the story to continue.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So when the episode started (I was lucky enough to see the episode a week early thanks to a screening by my local PBS station), I was incredibly excited.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was also nervous though - nervous that the premiere episode, "The Empty Hearse," would fall far short of "The Reichenbach Fall."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It doesn't beat season 2's finale, but it was still a great, enjoyable, exciting episode that was worth the wait.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"The Empty Hearse" opens about two years after the events of "The Reichenbach Fall." John Watson, hit hardest by Sherlock's apparent suicide and the subsquent smearing of his good name and reputation, has finally been able to move forward with his life. But, of course, it's not meant to be. Sherlock comes back to London to work on a case, and he wants things to be exactly as they were. Specifically, he wants John back by his side. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"The Empty Hearse" has a lot that it needs to accomplish in its hour-and-a-half run-time. Not only does it have to effectively wrap-up the events of the season 2 cliffhanger, but it also gets in a mystery to solve and an overarching plot development. Oh, and it must fill us in on our favorite characters - not only Sherlock and John, but also Mycroft, Mrs. Hudson, Molly and Lestrade - and introduce a new major player. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Even though the episode has a longer runtime than most shows, that's still a lot to do. I never felt, though, like "The Empty Hearse" was frantically cramming plot points into the episode. It's a pretty jam-packed episode, but it slows down enough to have several truly wonderful moments - the hilarious yet heartbreaking reunion between John and Sherlock, Sherlock's interactions with Molly, a couple of particularly great scenes with Sherlock and Mycroft, and on and on.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What really makes "Sherlock" wonderful for me, though, is Sherlock, John and their relationship with each other. Benedict Cumberbatch gets a lot of props for his portrayal of Sherlock Holmes, and he deserves every one - he truly owns the character and, I believe, his work will go down in history along with Basil Rathbone as one of the definitive Sherlock Holmes portrayals. However, the real star of the show for me is Martin Freeman as John Watson. He shoulders the burden of being the emotional center of the show almost singlehandedly (although Cumberbatch has his own affecting moments), and he has the ability to break my heart in a way that few actors can. Once again, Freeman hits it out of the park in "The Empty Hearse." </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And, of course, the scenes they have together - fewer than in most episodes, necessary thanks to the nature of their relationship at the beginning of the show - are magical. The two of them are wonderful together, and their antagonistic yet close relationship is both fun to watch and very sweet. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was very happy with "The Empty Hearse." It balances very well a lot of fun (the audience I was watching it with roared with laughter at many points), a lot of drama and a lot of intrigue to make for an hour-and-a-half of pure enjoyable television. I can hardly wait for the next episode!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>"Sherlock: The Empty Hearse" airs in the United States on PBS on Sunday, January 19, as part of "Masterpiece Mystery!"</i></span>Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16361432373530562552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7981997922335009589.post-72022162120131307062014-01-07T15:13:00.000-08:002014-01-07T15:13:15.653-08:00Goodreads Review: "Dragonfly in Amber"<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5364.Dragonfly_in_Amber" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="Dragonfly in Amber (Outlander, #2)" border="0" src="https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1388201664m/5364.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5364.Dragonfly_in_Amber">Dragonfly in Amber</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3617.Diana_Gabaldon">Diana Gabaldon</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/790601312">4 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
I'm really enjoying my slow but sure trek through the "Outlander" series. I read the first book last spring, and while I wasn't so enthralled that I had to read "Dragonfly in Amber" immediately, but when I was looking for a book to read, I decided I wanted to know what happened next to Claire & Jamie. <br><br>"Dragonfly in Amber" is a delightful, fun read. It, like "Outlander," is a guilty pleasure romance read for the historical fiction set or, alternately, an especially richly plotted, relatively historically accurate book that the historical romance set can feel all classy reading. Since I don't like to categorize my reads like that, though, I will just say this - it has a great story, good characters, stomach-fluttering romance, fun historical plotlines and a good dose of time-travel fun.<br><br>"Dragonfly in Amber" doesn't quite start where "Outlander" leaves off. Rather, it starts with our heroine, Claire, and her daughter, Brianna, in Scotland in 1968, shortly after the death of Claire's 20th-century husband, Frank, 20-some years after Claire returned to the 20th century disoriented and pregnant. While Frank was alive, Claire never told Brianna about her true parentage, or about Claire's adventure in the 18th century. But in "Dragonfly in Amber," Claire tells Brianna about her work with her 18th century husband, Jamie, to stop the Jacobite rebellion and save Jamie's clan from the bloody Battle of Culloden. <br><br>"Dragonfly in Amber" is a lot of fun to read, and I really loved revisiting the characters from "Outlander." I thought I would have trouble remembering the secondary characters and plot threads, since I finished "Outlander" nine months before I started "Dragonfly in Amber," but with a few exceptions, characters and plotlines were reintroduced in wonderful way that made it easy for me to recall what happened. <br><br>But more than that, I felt like "Dragonfly in Amber" gave me a chance to reconnect with some characters I really like, and deepen my love for them. Claire is a wonderful, strong heroine, and Jamie, while distinctly and sometimes annoyingly old-fashioned, is also sweet, tough and easy to love. With the addition of some strong new characters and more scenes with old favorites (and great old villains, too), "Dragonfly in Amber" is a blast to read. I'm looking forward to reading the next one sometime soon!
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/1242561-jenny">View all my reviews</a>Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16361432373530562552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7981997922335009589.post-44710249369178369932014-01-07T09:19:00.000-08:002014-01-07T09:19:01.761-08:00Legend and laughs continue with 'Anchorman 2'<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>This movie review was originally posted at KPC Media Group's website. You can read the review <a href="http://www.kpcnews.com/columnists/jenny_kobiela/kpcnews/article_a2a05c26-74ef-11e3-848a-001a4bcf6878.html" target="_blank">here</a>. Reprinted with permission.</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When I told my husband I was planning to review 'Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues' this week, he gave me a wary look and told me, "You don't need to review that!"</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Why not?" I asked.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Because, from the previews, it looks like all you'll need to say is, 'If you liked the first 'Anchorman,' you'll like this movie," he replied.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And, as much as I hate to admit it, he was pretty much right. "Anchorman 2" does not quite live up to the screamingly hilarious, intensely quoteable "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy," but it still delivers enough laughs to make it well worth the time and money.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Anchorman 2" picks up in 1980, several years after the original "Anchorman." Newsman Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell) and his now-wife, Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate), are an anchor team in New York City. But after Veronica is promoted to nightly news anchor and Ron is fired, Ron leaves for a disasterous new life alone in San Diego.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lucky for Ron, though, he is soon tapped to work at a new news venture - GNN, the first 24-hour news network. He gets his news team - Champ Kind (David Koechner), Brian Fantana (Paul Rudd) and Brick Tamland (Steve Carrell) - out of retirement and they jet off to New York to work under tough producer Linda Jackson (Meagan Good). Unfortunately, they have to contend with the likes of stuck-up newsman Jack Lime (James Marsden), and Ron has the added complication of Veronica's new lover, Gary (Greg Kinnear).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Anchorman 2" has a couple of things going for it. One is the incredible chemistry and comedic timing of the actors. Many of the scenes with Ferrell, Koechner, Rudd and Carrell all together are magic. Their characters are all totally weird and sometimes just too much when they have scenes apart from each other, but when they mesh, that's when the belly-laughs start. Applegate, unfortunately, gets relagated to the background for most of "Anchorman 2," but when she is on screen, she's solid. However, Kristen Wiig does a great job with a super strange character, a GNN secretary named Chani. In another actress' hands, Chani might not have worked, but Wiig is talented and unself-concious enough to make the character a welcome addition.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ferrell is also, once again, a wonderful star for the center of this crazy circus they call "Anchorman." Ron Burgundy is clearly a character that Ferrell loves to play, and it shows throughout the movie. He has fleshed out the character so completely, and he inhabits him so fully, that it's actually kind of amazing to watch. Ferrell's comedic characters can sometimes cross the line into being obnoxious, but with Burgundy, Ferrell walks that line between hilarious and annoying perfectly.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The other thing that makes "Anchorman 2" great is the way it critiques 24-hour cable news. There is a lot about those channels to mock, and "Anchorman 2" hits them just right. When Ron comes up with the brilliant (and ratings-friendly) idea to give people what they want to watch - funny videos of animals, car chases and good old-fashioned patriotism - it's funny because it's so true-to-life. But it goes deeper than that. The commentary gets biting at times, like when an investigative story gets cut because it messes with the "synergy" of the parent company. I think writers Ferrell and Adam McKay have been paying attention!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But despite some solid satire, "Anchorman 2" is really just another super-silly, ridiculously goofy comedy that exists to make a whole lot of jokes, most of which are funny. "Anchorman 2" does have some low spots, but the hilarious highs more than make up for slow moments. Ferrell and McKay employed the "throw it all at the wall and see what sticks" method of comedy, full of rapid-fire jokes that are sometimes hit-and-miss, but a smattering of hysterical scenes throughout the movie and an enjoyably ridiculous last half-hour featuring no less than a dozen celebrity cameos make it a lot of fun to watch.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Anchorman 2" is exactly what I'm looking for in an "Anchorman" sequel - a couple of hours of laughing really hard at stupid jokes. The fact that it made a bit of a satirical point about something that actually needs to be mocked now and then - 24-hour cable TV news - is just a little added bonus to an already enjoyable couple of hours.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Jenny's Take: See it before it leaves theaters.</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>(Rated PG-13 for crude and sexual content, drug use, language and comedic violence. Runs 120 minutes.)</i></span>Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16361432373530562552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7981997922335009589.post-54770114738590761562014-01-02T17:32:00.001-08:002014-01-02T17:35:58.359-08:00Goodreads Review: "The Bride Wore Size 12" by Meg Cabot<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17349002-the-bride-wore-size-12" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="The Bride Wore Size 12 (Heather Wells #5)" border="0" src="https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1380504141m/17349002.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17349002-the-bride-wore-size-12">The Bride Wore Size 12</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/11654.Meg_Cabot">Meg Cabot</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/778077841">5 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
I am a huge fan of every <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/11654.Meg_Cabot" title="Meg Cabot">Meg Cabot</a> book I've read - and I've read quite a few! - but I have a special place in my heart for Heather Wells.<br><br>Heather is a former teen pop star who, after a run of bad luck, ends up with no record deal and no money. Instead of whining and having a meltdown, the industrious Heather gets a job at a college dorm. <br><br>In "The Bride Wore Size 12," Heather must, once again, solve a murder mystery at Death Dorm. This time, an RA is found dead, and Heather suspects that it has something to do with a Very Important Resident in the dorm this semester. But she can't devote all of her time to solving another murder, because she's also in the last weeks of planning her wedding to her true love (and pop star ex-boyfriend's brother), private investigator Cooper Cartwright. <br><br>"The Bride Wore Size 12," like all of the previous Heather Wells books, is silly and fun to read. If you're looking for a thickly plotted mystery full of twists and turns, this ain't it. While the murder is interesting and the solution is not TOTALLY obvious, it's not super shocking, either. While "The Bride Wore Size 12" does not quite fit the strictest definition of a cozy mystery, it's basically a cozy with a dash of chick-lit sass. <br><br>The thing that really makes this series sparkle is the lead character, Heather. She is a smart, resourceful woman making her way in the world after getting screwed over by her recording label, her ex-boyfriend, her mother, her father and her manager. But far from being bitter (well, she's not TOO bitter, anyway), Heather makes the best of her situation by finding a job, starting school and writing songs in her spare time. <br><br>Heather feels like a real, realistic, likeable person, and that's one of the things that really makes "The Bride Wore Size 12" a fun book to read. Heather ranks up there with Sookie Stackhouse and Stephanie Plum as my favorite chick-lit characters. (In fact, if I were ever to write fan-fic, it would involve Heather, Sookie and Stephanie getting together to solve a mystery.) She's the kind of character I just want to meet, hug, and hang out with while eating chocolate chip cookies, drinking wine and watching crappy reality TV. <br><br>There are fun side characters, too. In addition to Cooper, who is dreamy and wonderful, there are also the workers and students in the dorm, Cooper's hilariously horrible family and several other friends of Heather and Cooper. They round out the book nicely.<br><br>I absolutely loved "The Bride Wore Size 12." It's a fluffy, fun little mystery that is a quick, easy and delightful read. While this would be a perfectly acceptable ending to the series - things were wrapped up nicely - I hope that Meg Cabot decides to write some more of these fun, tasty morsels!!!
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/1242561-jenny">View all my reviews</a>
Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16361432373530562552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7981997922335009589.post-65733133875862651782014-01-01T19:30:00.002-08:002014-01-01T19:30:34.422-08:00Best Movies of 2013It's hard to put together a list of the best movies of 2013, but I did it, in a recent article I wrote for KPC Media Group. You can check it out <a href="http://www.kpcnews.com/features/life/kpcnews/article_7d84119b-72a7-5e9c-a151-53f213a4ef32.html" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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One of my New Years Resolutions is to post more on the blog, since I've been slacking for, oh, a few months ... so expect to hear more from me soon!Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16361432373530562552noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7981997922335009589.post-52305847986977637122013-12-30T06:10:00.001-08:002013-12-30T06:10:29.049-08:00'American Hustle' sparkly bit of '70s fun - and a great film to boot<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>This review was originally posted at KPC Media Group's website. You can read the original review <a href="http://www.kpcnews.com/columnists/jenny_kobiela/kpcnews/article_26a16ba0-6e97-11e3-b3d8-001a4bcf6878.html" target="_blank">here</a>. It was also published in KPC's three daily papers. Reprinted with permission.</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Conventional wisdom says that a movie that features nothing but deplorable characters with very few redeeming qualities won't work.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But conventional wisdom flies out the window in the face of a crime film as delightful as "American Hustle." While it does indeed feature some pretty terrible people in the leading roles, everything is just so glittery, funny and so darn likeable that there isn't anything to do except love this film.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The movie, based loosely on the FBI's ABSCAM operation, follows con man Irving Rosenfeld (Christian Bale) and his beautiful partner-in-crime, Sydney Prosser (Amy Adams). The pair is doing well for themselves, embezzling and selling fake art, until they're caught by FBI agent Richie DiMaso (Bradley Cooper). DiMaso is looking to make a name for himself in the FBI, and in exchange for letting them avoid a long stint in jail, he has them help him take down Camden, New Jersey, mayor Carmine Polito (Jeremy Renner), who is trying to raise money to open casinos in Atlantic City. Unfortunately, they almost immediately get in way over their heads, especially when Irving's nutty wife, Rosalyn (Jennifer Lawrence), gets involved.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The people in this movie are all pretty awful people, when you really think about their behavior. Irving and Sydney are conning people left and right, with Sydney especially adept at using her feminine wiles to play Irving and Richie against each other. Irving is, of course, a cheater and a terrible husband to Rosalyn, who is unstable and goofy, but also smart enough to be excessively manipulative. Richie is an incredibly angry, unstable person himself. The nicest person in the movie is Carmine Polito, the guy that our "heroes" are trying desperately to catch bribing government officials.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And yet, they're all so likeable and sympathetic in their own ways. Their motivations, while morally questionable at best, are also incredibly understandable. They are ambitious and desire to climb the ladder of life by any means necessary. Who hasn't had a moment of that ambition? They only really get into trouble when they try to climb too high, too quickly. And as they do get into trouble, it's a blast to watch - the situations are so ridiculous, and they just keep piling up and causing more and more crazy problems.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"American Hustle" is a dynamic, energetic movie that is absolutely irresistable. It's the same talent that was on display in director David O. Russell's Oscar-nominated "Silver Linings Playbook" last year. I didn't find "American Hustle" as cozy or as compelling as "Silver Linings," which is one of my favorite movies I've seen in years, but "Hustle" has the same snappy dialogue, quick editing and dark humor that makes a movie like this so fun to watch.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It helps that the lead actors are perfectly cast. I was thrilled to see such a high-caliber cast in a movie, and they didn't disappoint. There is sleaze all over the screen - Christian Bale and Bradley Cooper made my skin crawl at times, and Amy Adams can turn from icy to sexy on a dime and make it completely believable - but there also is charisma and chemistry everywhere. Especially delightful is Jennifer Lawrence in a rather small but completely memorable role as Rosalyn. She's deliciously daffy in the role, and the screen lights up even brighter every time she's on it. It just reiterates my opinion that Lawrence is one of the most talented people in Hollywood right now.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"American Hustle" is rounded out with the perfect tone of the costumes and sets. The movie has a wonderful sense of time and place, in the overblown, scuzzy late 70s. The outfits, the hair, the decor - it all just screams 1978. That's the cherry on top of this wild sundae. It's already a treat to watch because of the story and characters and acting, and then the movie is just that much better because it's also an eye-searing spectacle.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"American Hustle" is clearly gunning for an Oscar, and it definitely deserves the buzz its receiving. It's an energetic, entertaining, darkly funny, well-told story with an all-star cast that elevates the movie into the stratosphere. It's definitely not a feel-good movie, but it sure does feel good to watch it anyway.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jenny's Take: See it tonight.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(Rated R for pervasive language, some sexual content and brief violence. Runs 138 minutes.)</span>Jennyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16361432373530562552noreply@blogger.com0