Jonah Hex

Jonah Hex wasn't a horrible movie but it wasn't awesome. It was just... eh. Some parts of the movie were just so weird. I was expecting some major bad-ass-ness, but was totally let down. 

What makes it worse is that Megan Fox was in it. I put up with Transformers because it's a good movie, despite Fox's sad acting abilities. However, once again, like Transformers, she's just eye candy. I don't understand why they even give her lines. (Don't think I'm saying this because she's beautiful and I'm a hater. I honestly think she's a bad actress (however, I did enjoy Jennifer's Body). And if you disagree, you're probably a male and blinded by her hotness--Also, she even admits to not being a good actress. Props to her for owning up.)

When I wasn't distracted by the fact that Megan Fox looks like she has botox in her face and massive lip injections, I was being disappointed with the action scenes. They seemed forced and lacked creativity. Josh Brolin and John Malkovich are way too old to fight the way they did and  actually look hardcore. This is not anything against old people, because there are some older men who totally pull off action movies. Like Forest Whitaker. He is one total bad-ass!

The best parts were when Will Arnett was on the screen. He was hilarious. But, uh, he actually wasn't supposed to be. His character was serious and didn't crack jokes. But if you've watched comedies with Arnett in it, you know he's funny by delivering his lines very seriously. So him acting a serious part that's not supposed to be funny was just that. Funny.

The parts that were comic book-ish (I'm really not sure how to word that?) were pretty sweet. And there's a brief appearance by Jeffery Dean Morgan which was nice (love him!) and surprisingly he plays a dead man. Oh wait, that's not surprising at all (more on that in a later posting.) 

Overall I enjoyed it. Not the first movie I'd want to re-watch, but it was entertaining. I wouldn't mind seeing a sequel if Megan Fox's character is either not in it or dies a painful death in the first few minutes. :)

Love You, Hate You, Miss You/Leftovers

Love You, Hate You, Miss You is about a high school girl who's best friend died on the last day of the school year. Amy comes home from a psychiatric hospital at the end of summer,three months after the accident, and the story begins. Parts of the book are letters Amy writes to Julia, her friend who died in a car accident. When she gets to school she feels alone with no friends and feeling like everyone blames her for Julia's death, and of course, she blames herself. 

Though sad and well written, it's almost a little far fetched. It just seems like Elizabeth Scott was trying too hard to make this story as emotional as possible but almost seems insincere. 

It's also predictable which is weird for this kind of book. There should be twists, but the reveal of what little twists there were was lacking shock value. I give a lot of credit to writers of YA Fiction because a lot of them realize that kids are growing up fast and can deal with issues like death and other subjects that can be controversial. Love You, Hate You, Miss You could have been another fantastic novel showing a great insight of teenagers dealing with loss, but unfortunately it fell short.

It is a short book, however, and an easy read. It may not have been my cup of tea (wow, I really said my cup of tea... how OLD am I?), but some may like the subtleness of the book. If you're looking for a darker story that is a fast read and well written (besides the whole reveal of plots lacking shock) then you won't want to miss this story written by Scott. 

Yet another darker novel with even worse shock value. By time I got to the end I realized what a waste the story was. All the things that go on between best friends Ardeth and Blair are intense and very real. I believe that these girls are out there somewhere and it's sad to think girls really go things like this. It deals with sex, abuse, and bullying. But when the story wraps up and the big part of the plot is revealed, what they do doesn't seem that bad. I mean, what they do is messed up, but it's not as crazy as the other things that happen in the book. 

Also, it's hard to believe how close they are to the cop they're telling the story to, because there aren't many interactions between the three of them. I wouldn't recommend this book to people who can't deal with tough subjects. I wouldn't suggest it for other reasons too, mainly for the fact  that the ending was really stupid. That may not be the most eloquent description of an ending to a book, but really--- it was just stupid. Had Leftovers had a different/better ending, this book would have been pretty great.

It's so FLUFFY!!!!

Loved it! Great comedic cast. I had fun figuring out who was who by their voices. It was also really friggin' cute! The minions and the three little girls were too adorable. Seriously, I wish they were real. I'd want those girls as my kids (and I don't even want kids!) and I'd love to have a bunch of loyal and cute minions!

 

Though predictable (duh, most animated films are!) it was still very entertaining and the 3D effects were sweet! At the end of the film the minions try to see who can reach out further over an edge which was fun with 3D.  All the characters were equally funny and there were hardly moments when I wasn't laughing or at least giggling... or saying/thinking "awww... that's sooo cute!!!"

Also, the score was by Pharrell, and it was definitely different- in a good way. It had a hip-hop feel (another duh, it is Pharrell) and he did a perfect job making it suspenseful, funny, and interesting.

Despicable Me is a must see 3D film for any age!