Life As We Knew It ★★

Life As We Knew It is written in a journal entry format from the perspective of a teenage girl named Miranda. In the beginning she's just a normal teenage girl but her life gets turned upside down when an asteroid hits the moon and knocks it closer to the Earth.

From that point everything is thrown into chaos; there's tsunamis, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, viruses, power outages, etc. After the initial shock of the moons change in orbit Miranda's mom makes her and her brothers go to the store and they stock up on as much nonperishable foods as possible.

The story follows Miranda as her and her family struggle to survive. It's an interesting story however there's not much of an actual plot beyond the moon getting hit into a closer orbit with the Earth and a bunch of natural disasters occur.

Beyond that, there's some confusing inconsistencies that don't quite add up. For one, it is stressed how dangerous the streets are and Miranda even encounters a few people raiding an abandoned house, yet she herself is never once attacked. Secondly it is made out to be like there is very little food yet at the end of the book Miranda finds out that the city hall is giving out food.

Another big issue is the science behind the book. The moon controls the tides but it is not explained nor likely that the moon could create earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Also it is stated that the scientists didn't know that the asteroid would hit the moon yet the power and trajectory needed to hit the moon into a closer orbit would be glaringly obvious to any competent scientist.

A smaller issue that bothered me was Miranda's friend, Megan, who is religious; however, she twists religion into something that it isn't. Megan stops eating because she believes that God will provide for her and most people who know anything about religion know that God will provide what you need, but food will not just fall from the sky and Megan would not suddenly need to stop eating. She eventually dies of starvation and her mother hangs herself due to the loss.

The idea behind the story sounds interesting, but it does not sound like there was any research or realism to the book. The concept itself could be very real, but everything afterwards is far fetched and unlikely.

Putting all the logistics aside, it was an enjoyable book with some interesting events (that don't really lead anywhere).

Distant Waves: A Novel of the Titanic ★★★★

Distant waves incorporates a lot of different ideas - psychics and mediums, ghosts and spirits, an earthquake machine and time travel - into a famous historical event.

Suzanne Weyn writes about Jane and her four sisters who grew up in a small town based around spiritualism and psychic workings. When Jane and Mimi go to meet a scientist they once encountered when they were younger, their worlds turn upside down. They both fall in love, meet famous people, and Mimi goes on the trip of a lifetime.

Eventually, as fate would have it, Mimi and Jane meet up again on the Titanic along with Tesla, the famous scientist, Thad, Jane's boyfriend, and Jane's other sisters.

As Tesla prepares to test his invention something goes horribly wrong which leads to the sinking of the ship, so in order to help prevent their deaths, Tesla sends everyone forward in time; however, Mimi and Thad end up much farther into the future than he sent them.

The title is a little misleading saying as the Titanic only comes into the story towards the end of it however a lot also happens on it. Much of the book is used to lead up to the bigger events towards the end and thus the story seems to be a bit slow; however, a lot happens in the last hundred or so pages: a wedding, a proposal, a sabotage, and the most historical sinking of a cruise liner in history.

The plot of the book is a little scattered and a bit slow, but overall I enjoyed the book quite a bit. It had some science fiction, historical fiction, and romance in it as well as some paranormal aspects to it that made it different from some of the other books I've read.

The Mockingjay Part 1 ★★★

Finally! Mockingjay Part 1! We've been waiting for what a year and a half? So I saw this the day after it came out (sorry for the long wait! Been super busy!) Anyways Mockingjay Part 1 is a continuation of the Hunger Games trilogy which is being extended into four movies, which didn't turn out to be a very good idea.

Big Propaganda Quote

The movie starts out slow and stays slow for, well, the entire movie. The movie consists mostly of Katniss being depressed and worried about Peeta as well as making propaganda to broadcast to the other districts in order to keep the fire of revolution going.

I will say that the propaganda was powerful and I especially enjoyed the portrayal of the district uprisings, but the movie became too political and honestly could have probably been combined with the second movie instead of being drawn out like it was.

The Rescue Mission

They also made the rescue mission a long and drawn out process which in fact, was not. If you didn't read the book then it's quite interesting and isn't a big deal but still feels a bit more drawn out and dramatic than it needed to be.

The length of the movie aside, it wasn't that bad of a movie. The visual and sound effects were quite impressive and the costumes were incredible.

For those of you who don't know Jennifer Lawrence stars in the movie as Katniss Everdeen while Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth play as Peeta Mellark and Gale Hawthorn respectively. Let's not forget Woody Harrelson as Haymitch Abernathy. They all did a wonderful job but unfortunately it wasn't enough to make the movie great.

Gale and Katniss

Haymitch

Peeta

The acting, effects, and costumes were all wonderfully done, but unfortunately the length and just the overall slowness of it made the movie not all that exciting to watch. To be honest it was a bit of a let down after Catching Fire but I do think that Mockingjay Part 2 will be something to watch so looking forward to it!

The Little Black Schoolhouse ★★★★

Sylvia Griffin

      The Little Black Schoolhouse by Sylvia Griffin takes an interesting folk tale and weaves it into the corruption of society, a little bit of religion, and especially the public school system.

       Linda is a new fifth grade teacher at Northside Elementary school. There she faces prejudices against her race, her gender, and her social status.

       The book opens up with Linda first hearing about the story of La Llorona who she learns to fear. It then skips ahead to her heading to a meeting for her teaching job at a new district that is all about reputation not at all about education or the children (though they make it seem that way).

La Llorona

     Linda is "stuck" with all of the students who are struggling academically and many of which come from some pretty shoddy home lives. As she struggles with the ridiculous rules of the school district, such as the playground and lunchroom duties, meetings, and the dress code for female teachers, she finds her premonition like dreams turn into reality.

      The book sometimes jumps to the point of view of a child just as he or she is about to die as well as the events leading up to the untimely death. In doing so the reader learns about "the others", a mysterious supernatural force that manipulates the children and eventually leads them to committing suicide.

      The children in contact with the "others" all come from what is considered a broken home with divorced parents that may or may not want them and parents who work all the time.

      To protect herself from her pervert of a principal, Linda couples with Leonardo who is sweet, kind, and generous, everything a gentleman should be and in the end they are set to be engaged.

     The ending of the book is abrupt with an interesting, if not far fetched, twist that explains some but not all of the events that occur throughout the book.

     I enjoyed the book due to its idea and themes of corruption and hypocrisy, but the whole book seemed to be one giant hyperbole (exaggeration) from the expectation of the teachers to the "others" and the cult that followed behind them.

    The characters were also interesting but weren't developed a whole lot. The children were given a small back story to explain their reasoning behind being easily manipulated to commit suicide and few adults had a back story at all to explain their actions. Greg, Ted, and Frieda disgusted me and made me want to smack them all across the face for prejudices.

Overall it was a great book, but the ending was too abrupt with a far fetched twist. 


    

If I Stay ★★★

If I Stay is based on the book by Gayle Forman. The movie does a pretty good job of following the book with only a few differences that might annoy you, but if you're just watching the movie, it's a great movie.

Chloe Grace Moretz as Mia Hall

The movie featured Chloe Grace Moretz who did a fabulous job portraying Mia Hall in all her experiences: her love sickness over Adam Wilde, her devastation about the wreck, and her hopelessness when she finds out her little brother has died.

Chloe has been featured in Hugo as Isabelle and Kick Ass as  Mindy Macready a.k.a. Hit-Girl.

Chloe Grace Moretz

All of the characters were portrayed beautifully and added to the dynamics of the movie, but I think the best scenes were the more intimate and personal ones. Such scenes did well to develop the characters and add to the intensity of the movie.

As someone who read the book first and has owned it since like 2008, there were a few scenes that annoyed me.

For one, her father is supposed to be announced dead on site but in the movie he is rushed to the hospital. I feel like by having Mia discover that her father had died on the operating table, it makes Mia's story seem that much more tragic, which it didn't need.

Secondly, they cut out the few scenes that were rather funny, like when Adam tries to break into the ICU. In the book he has Brooke Vega, a superstar, help stir up attention so that he can sneak past. This doesn't happen in the movie.

Thirdly, I felt like some of the characters, such as Kim, could have been developed a lot more. There's a part in the book where the reader gets to see a different side of her, where she goes to the hospital's synagogue and prays for Mia. 

Mia Hall and Adam Wilde

I do however, love the connection that Mia and Adam create on screen. It's the kind of love story a lot of girls fantasize about, the cute and sensitive rocker boy falling for the quiet classical cellist. Well maybe not exactly that, but along the same lines.

Overall it was a great movie, but I feel like they tried to make Mia's story so much more tragic than it already is and it lacks the humor that came with the book. I loved how the book could make me laugh and cry all in one chapter, but the movie just left me in tears.

So if you haven't read the book, then this is a wonderful movie and I would recommend it, and even if you have read the book, I would still recommend it. The plot shows how in a split second, everything can change and it teaches you to see what you have to live for, not what you've lost. It shows how hard it can be to make decisions: whether to pursue your dream or the love of your life, whether to stay or leave, whether to live or die. Though sometimes we make decisions, and other times, decisions make us.

21 ★★★

Ben Campbell

21 is about the journey of a poor, genius MIT student, Ben Campbell, who aspires to go to Harvard. His only problem is the college tuition. Although his SAT scores and 4.0 GPA are impressive, it's not enough to get him the Robinson Scholarship which would pay for all of his schooling expenses. Though he is eligible the recruiter tells him that he needs to have something special, some life experience, that sets him apart from everyone else that wants the scholarship. 

MIT Blackjck Team

This experience practically falls into his lap when his college professor, Micky Rosa (played by Kevin Spacey) invites him to enjoy his "club" of students who spend every weekend in Las Vegas gambling, and making a lot of money. Ben agrees to join but only until he makes enough money to pay for Harvard.

Even after he has made the money for tuition, Ben continues to gamble. However he starts getting full of himself and greedy and breaks the rules of the deal. After losing thousands of dollars Micky kicks him out of the club as well as takes all of the money that Ben had been saving for college.

Ben being confronted by Cole

What the club is doing, counting cards, isn't exactly legal and they end up with the security of the casinos after them. Ben makes a deal with the chief of the security Cole Williams, who has had it out for Micky Rosa for a long time, in order to get himself out of the mess and get everything he lost back.

The movie ends well with the last scene is of Ben telling the recruiter about his experience. The recruiter is scene to be astonished and the audience can surmise that Ben got the scholarship. 

Kevin Spacey did well to play the part of the sly can conniving professor Mickey Rosa. he is also known for his parts as Hopper in The Bug's Life, Lex Luthor in Superman Returns, and Dave Harken in Horrible Bosses.

Kevin Spacey

The plot line itself is interesting but they could have done more to make the movie better. For one thing, they hardly develop the other characters. You know little about even the main character, Jill, any of the other club members, or Micky Rosa. You're given a few glimpses here and there but nothing really substantial. 

There's a little bit of romance between Jill and Ben but overall, not much romance. The only action occurs when Cole Williams is beating people up so not much action either. The movie does have some incredible scenes of the highlights of Las Vegas and does well to capture the energy of it all.

It was overall enjoyable to watch but isn't a must see and it definitely could have been better. 

Twilight Series ★★

So everyone knows Twilight, some love it, some hate it. I didn't mind it but it wasn't the best either. I will say that the movies were a lot better than the books which is something that I will rarely ever say, because books in my opinion, always have more detail and something about them that can't be captured on screen. 

Anyways the story follows the small town girl named Bella living in boring old Forks, Washington. She captures the eye of a mysterious boy, Edward Cullen, from school who turns out to be a vampire.

Edward Cullen

Being a vampire Edward has a few enemies who try to get to Bella in order to hurt Edward for whatever reason. Book one the vampire is just out to hunt Bella 'cause it's fun. Book two the mate of the vampire from book one comes back to kill Bella as revenge for Edward killing her mate. Book three Bella and Edward get married and oh look they're having a child. Book Four they're trying to protect their child from getting killed by the Volturi.

Jacob Black

Then of course there's the hot werewolf (not actually a werewolf just a shape shifter) boy, Jacob, who completes the love triangle.  Jacob believes that Bella should be with him because she wouldn't have to change for him. He's also alive and therefore will grow old with Bella, like a normal human. However he does what he can to protect Bella even if that means asking for the aid of his pack.

Bella Swan

Bella loves both Edward and Jacob but is more attracted to Edward and the world he lives in. She feels that it's more normal to her than her own human life. When Edward leaves she turns to Jacob for support and tries to do life jeopardizing activities, because she finds that Edward appears to her when she's in danger.





So throughout the second books she's pretty much completely depressed and does some, well, pretty stupid things. Though as a teenager in love her actions are more justified since as a teenager, things appear on a higher scale. Such as when a teenager wrecks a car, he/she is pretty panicked and thinks his/her life is over even though it's not.

The books are rather long and drawn out and I think it would have been better in three books but it was okay. The plot seemed a bit repetitive with nothing really very new in any of them. It does seem a bit over dramatic as well, but hey vampires and werewolves, why not? 

Anyways the movies make the story seem more entertaining and the actors fit their roles well: Robert Pattinson as Edward Cullen, Taylor Lautner as Jacob Black, and Kristin Stewart as Bella Swan.

Robert Pattinson acted as Art from How To Be, Tyler Hawkins from Remember Me, and Cedric Diggory from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

Robert Pattinson

Taylor Lautner was Sharkboy from Sharkboy and Lavagirl, Frat Boy Andy from Grown Ups 2, and Nathan from Abduction.

Taylor Lautner

Kristin Stewart

Kristin Stewart has been Snow White from Snow White and the Huntsman, Lisa from Zathura, Maddy from Catch That Kid, and Melinda Sordino from Speak.

 Breaking Dawn Part 2 was probably the best in terms of visual effects due to the giant battle scene as well as even just the little training scenes. Bella as a vampire gets to show off her new strength and speed which makes for fantastic visuals.

The music in the movies are alright, most notably is Bella's song that Edward plays for her. The best scene is probably when Edward takes Bella up into the trees. The scenery is just breathtaking.

Overall the story was okay. Bella was rather pathetic in my opinion and Edward and Jacob had the capability of being so much more developed than they really were. The storyline itself was a bit cliche such as the werewolves vs. vampire thing, but at least they didn't have the vampire vampire hunter. The books were a bit boring and the movies were okay. I wouldn't exactly recommend the series but to a specific few I might.
 

Hotel For Dogs ★★★★

Hotel for Dogs is a little sad, funny, and honestly, quite an adorable movie. 

Andi, Bruce, and Friday

It's centered around two orphaned siblings - you never find out how they were orphaned - by the names of Andi and Bruce. 
 

Andi is the older sister who tries her hardest to keep the two of them together and Bruce is the younger brother who absolutely loves his dog, Friday, and has a knack for inventing things. 

Emma Roberts

Together with a few other dog lovers they run into, turn an old run down hotel into a home for a lot of dogs that they rescue before the pound can get them.

Andi is played by Emma Roberts, the daughter of the famous Julia Roberts. Emma has been in Aquamarine, Nancy Drew, and It's Kind of a Funny Story.

 

Jake T. Austin

Bruce is played by Jake T. Austin who is probably best known for his role as Max Russo on Disney Channel's Wizards of Waverly Place.

 Jake has also voiced several characters such as Diego in Go Diego Go, Fernando in Rio, and Nicky in The Ant Bully.

Carl and Lois Scuddle

As Andi and Bruce struggle to take care of the dogs, they run into trouble with the police and the pound. Their foster parents, Carl and Lois Scudder, find out that they have been stealing parts so that Bruce can make his gadgets to help entertain, feed, clean, and just take care of the dogs in general.

Andi and Bruce's social worker, Bernie, and his wife end up adopting them and the hotel is officially up and running as a doggy day care.

The movie is cute and entertaining to watch as a family movie or a kids movie. There are a few scenes that are rather awkward, like when one of the characters tries to hit on another and she's clearly not liking him.

Carl and Lois are "musicians" that are tone deaf and don't exactly have the best voices, so if you're musically inclined or even like music, it's kind of hard to listen when they are "performing". I suppose that's supposed to be funny, but I found it more painful than anything.

The one thing I hated the most was how heartless and cruel the people at the pound were. Yeah I get that they're just trying to do their job, and I know that they're supposed to be the antagonist, but really? Do they have to be that cruel? 

All of the characters are unique, the dogs are adorable, the inventions are amazing, and the story is different. Honestly, my favorite part is when Bernie gives his little speech at the end to everyone in the hotel.

Bernie Wilkins Calling all the Dogs