Review of Percy Jackson: the lightning thief

I was looking for a new series to get into and I happened to catch the trailer for the light ing thief so I thought I'd give the book a try while I wait for the DVD release. Also my wife said I'd be able to get through it without a whole lot of difficulty. I must say that I really enjoyed this book. I know that it is geared fir a much younger
audience, but the reading was fairly easy and the pace was never dull or slow. I felt the characters were developed well and I really enjoyed the story.
The only down note I can think of is that i've read numerous reviews that the movie is really nothing like the book. I know that should not be a mar on the book, but the author should keep tighter control over their property. The Harry potter books turned out amazing. I look forward to reading the next book and seeing the movie to see if it is all as bad as the critics say.

~Klint

Review of New Moon

With the DVD release of the twilight saga's second installment "New Moon" I felt inclined to review it. Now to preface this, I think if I even thought about giving this a bad review I may be staked in my bed by my wife who adores the books and the movies, but truthfully this is a well produced movie. I have not read the books, so I do not have that to compare the trueness to, but to compare the first movie to the second there is a marked improvement in acting, effects, and general polish. I have enjoyed fiction about vampires and werewolves since I was little, but this series brings the battle to the forefront and makes it the vogue thing all the cool kids are doing. Also one rather undesired effect this movie has had on the youth of America, it seems it has taken the what used to be small and unpopular depressive emo crowd and made them the norm and default emotion for teenagers. Looking back (to when dinosaurs roamed the earth) I don't remember that many kids being so depressed in high school. But I digress. The movie itself is very enjoyable, and I do recommend seeing it, if just to understand what all the pop culture fuss is about.

Review of the Road

 The road is a movie about a father and son as they try to survive a nuclear winter and all the death and decay it brings. Most movies of this type usually follow how the lead characters survive the actual event but this movie shows what is happening five years after and the collapse of mankind and how food has become scarce and the chief fear is cannibalism. This is a very depressing movie with very few and far between light moments, which fits the story and mood of the film. The movie is very long as well clocking in at nearly two hours. I honestly don't know if I'd recommend it, Viggo Mortensen delivers a great performance but I don't think it's enough to recommend the movie on. If you like apocalyptic movies then give it a whirl, but it may not be worth your time if you don't enjoy that genre.

Read Through the Looking Glass

I read through the looking glass in hopes to shed a little more light on the new Disney movie. While there were Some things mentioned in the book, it was not the book the movie was based off of. I wonder if the movie is based off a book at all or just the Alice universe. This book, like all the books in Wonderland, seems filled with udder nonsense. The version I had did not have any of the poems (it was the free version) so I may have missed out on a little. There were a few things in the movie that are mentioned here, like catching a bandersnatch, but this book seems to be about a romp through a chess game with strange Wonderland creatures on each different square that Alice must cross. It was a short read and if you are caught up in Alice in Wonderland fever then by all means pick it up.

Dual review of Time Machine

Similar to War of the Worlds, I read and watched the time machine. Once again the book and the movie differ , but this time it seems they vary greatly. The book once again takes place in London while the movie follows an American professor. One thing the book does that is very unique is that it never assigns a name to the main character, it just calls him the time traveler. The movie makes the traveler's goals of creating the machine a little less noble and more selfish, but many of the book's values remain intact. Questioning the industrial revolution and man's self destructive nature. I like how these classic books usually have a moral of some sorts, so we can better ourselves by reading them.
To cap it off, I would recommend the book highly, the movie could be missed without much detriment.

Review of Alice in Wonderland

I got to see the new Tim Burton Alice in Wonderland and really enjoyed it. I heard a few bad reviews, but I think most of them were really misinformed and were basing the review off the Disney cartoon. I am under the impression that this is based off the second book, "Through the Looking Glass". I have yet to read it but the movie is really well made. It follows an older Alice as she heads back into wonderland. Most of the wonderland characters are CG animations with the actors faces imposed on the body. The effect was executed beautifully and fit well within a Burton universe.
All in all I recommend this movie, the story was enjoyable and the imagery was amazing.

See Princess and the Frog

Disney's latest animated film got released on DVD this week and I was eager to see how it was. It seems like it has been a while since there has been a Disney animated movie, they have been computer graphics in the flavor of toy story and cars. This movie was also the first time Disney made the princess black and not dependent on a prince charming to swoop in and give her the happily ever after she dreams of. I really like the movie's message of wishing gets you part way there but hard work will carry you on through. Also I really have to give Disney credit for executing this film flawlessly. There were many racial pitfalls to dance around but they did an awesome job of it.
The story was good, a more modern take on a classic, and the music was very enjoyable.  All in all, it's exactly what you expect from Disney.