How I Spent My April Vacation

I've been neglecting this blog for a while now. My apologies to any of you who missed it. All three of you.

This past week was our school district's April vacation break. I had full intentions of being productive. Instead, I created a Buzzfeed account in order to submit a joke quiz, purely for the purpose of making my sister laugh. The quiz succeeded in making her laugh. It also managed to piss off about 50% of the Anne of Green Gables fans in the world. Maybe 75%.

You can take the quiz for yourself here: www.buzzfeed.com/fids12/which-anne-of-green-gables-character-are-you.

You're probably not an Anne with an "E".

Sorry.

It's a bit late in 2015 to try and do the fifty-fifty challenge right...but we'll see. I'll have to try and remember what I've read and seen over the past five months. Wish me luck.

The Specialist: The Costa Rica Job Book 4/50

A disclaimer: This book was a gift. Thank you, Hoffmenn. Thank you.

And now, on to the review...

First of all, if you are not familiar with Phillip Sheppard, this book's existence will make little sense to you. He was a contestent on Survivor: Redemption Island and Survivor: Caramoan where his "performance" cannot be easily put into words. So instead, I give to you this YouTube video collection summing up Phillip in roughly four and a half minutes. Trust me. It's important to know these things about him before reading this book or this review.

And for those of you who do know Phillip but were unaware of this book, here is another video where Phillip and his brother explain how this book was conceived. It also provides important insight necessary for this book's "enjoyment?".

Yes. The question mark was intentional.

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Note: I just discovered this draft sitting in Blogger-Limbo. I've lost track of my intentions for the review, but I'm sure it could be summed up with "It sucked." My apologies for the delay in posting. With this post or any post. It's been a long school year.

Some More Movies and a Book

So...I've seen a few more movies since I last checked in, including films #20? Maleficent, #21? Despicable Me, #22? Despicable Me 2, #23? The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, and book #4 The Specialist: The Costa Rica Job. I have opinions to share for all of these but am lacking in the time to write them down at the moment.

I promise to get on that as soon as I can.

I hope before the end of the month.

Of July.

Maybe.

(Reminder to self: also need to review The Grand Budapest Hotel, Divergent, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, About Time, JCVD, The Fifth Estate, Iron Man 2, White House Down, and Austenland.)

Sunshine (2007) Film 19?/20

So I had never heard of this film until just recently when I was prompted to do a Google search for the score used in one of the X-Men: Days of Future Past movie trailers. Because that's a thing I do. Don't you?

Anywhoo...a quick search led me to John Murphy's score to Sunshine (I had already recognized the second piece from Hans Zimmer's score from The Thin Red Line...because again, that's a thing I do) which got me thinking...Hey, I've never heard of this movie called Sunshine. This in turn led me to do a quick search on IMDB.com...because thank you, Internet. Once I saw that it starred Cillian Murphy's cheekbones and Chris Evans' abs, I immediately added it to my Netflix queue. And the rest is history.

X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014) Film 18?/50

This movie was better than X-Men: First Class (which, if you read my review, you know I enjoyed with the exception of the horrible objectification of the female characters). My only problem with this film is that Anna Paquin received higher billing than Ellen Page. If I were Page, I'd sue. Or use my time-traveling powers to go back and renegotiate my contract.

If you haven't seen it yet, what's stopping you? If it was January Jones in the first film, don't let that worry you. And the supersonic stuff is gone, too. So...yay. 

Now get to a theatre.

Doctor Sleep and Friends Books 1 & 2/50 and Movies 9 to ?/50

I've been neglecting this site...AND I'VE BEEN READING BOOKS! Okay. Not a large number of books. But I finally got around to finishing two of the four I started back in January.

Book #1: The Design Method
I will write a proper review of this book to post to goodreads.com (in accordance with the agreement I made with the kind lady who messaged me and offered me a free copy in exchange for reviewing it). I will link to it here once it is finished.

Book #2: Doctor Sleep
The sequel to The Shining. If you haven't read The Shining, read that one first. And watching the Stanley Kubrick film doesn't count. He took some serious liberties with the book. Both the original book and the film are worthwhile for your time. And Doctor Sleep ain't too shabby either.

Movies #9-?
I have to admit that I've lost track of all the movies I have seen since last posting about Monsters University. There have been numerous. Not enough to complete the film portion of the 50/50 challenge. But a decent amount. A few that I can recall off the top of my head: Anchorman 2 (although I wish I hadn't), Captain America: The Winter Soldier (mmm....abs), Thor: The Dark World (I'm rooting from Loki from now on), Man of Steel (or did I post that one already?), Frozen (only 3000 times with my nieces since the end of March), Upside Down (aka, 107 minutes of my life that I'll never have back), and Olympus Has Fallen (because why not, Gerard Butler?). So that brings me to at least 16. I'm sure there are more though. I'll post them as they come to me.

So there's the update. Hope it was worth it. Olympus Has Fallen definitely wasn't.

Monsters University Film 8/50

Just call me Late To The Game. Yep.

But enjoyable, nonetheless.

Films 5, 6, and 7/50

Dallas Buyers Club (2013)
Film 5/50

I just want to buy Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto some cheeseburgers. Lots and lots of cheeseburgers. And, oh...the FDA is evil.

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All is Lost Film 4/50

Rule #1: Don't sail alone.
Rule #2: See Rule #1

In Castaway 2: The Search for Wilson, we join Robert Redford as he wakes up to discover his yacht is taking on water. He manages to patch a hole in side of the vessel (a hole caused by a freight container that had fallen into the ocean) just in time for a whopper of a storm to undo all of his hard epoxy work. He is forced to abandon ship, and we are forced to watch him continue his adventure in making bad decisions from the comfort of a rubber lifeboat.

Beautiful Creatures Film 3/50

I recently woke from a nap to discover this movie. It was about 30 minutes in (which would normally be an incentive for changing the channel) but this dining room scene was just playing out, and it turned out to be enough to hook me.

In fact, it had hooked me so well that I found it On Demand so I could start it from the beginning. Like a proper film.

Perks and Penguins Films 1/50 and 2/50

Film 1/50: The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012)
This movie should have been nominated instead of Les Misérables for best picture. That's not to say that it should have won, necessarily, but it was a far better production than Les Misérables.

There. I said it.

Hermione Granger was good. Percy Jackson was better. Ezra Miller was phenomenal. A combination of fabulous performances plus a sad but interesting story, Perks was a solid film. I haven't read the novel, but it's certainly being added to my "to read" list now.

Film 2/50: Penguin Pool Murder (1932)
With a title like that, you would stop and watch a few minutes, too. Right?

I didn't think it (especially after the first few moments gave off the impression that this would be an amazingly boring film), but this movie was hysterical to watch. A hijinx-filled romp around an aquarium. The characters are absurd. The plot even more so. But every moment is worth the laughs. And there are many.

Billed as a comedy/mystery, the Penguin Pool Murder delivers on both. Whether the laughs I had at its expense were intended on the part of the filmmakers, that is debatable. But if I ever see it's on again or for sale on DVD, I'll be sure to watch it again. I suggest you give it a shot, too.

And never trust a penguin-enthusiast.

Fifty-Fifty 2014

Since I failed MISERABLY this past year (heck, I didn't even make 50 new movies!), I figured...sign me up again! Third time's the charm, right? Wish me luck!

Happy New Year!

My Reichenbach Theory

As 2013 winds down and the BBC taunts us with teaser trailers for the third season of Sherlock, I thought I'd post my theory on how (or more so, why) Sherlock came to survive his fall. If you have not been watching this show, I strongly suggest that you immediately stop reading this post and get to Netflix or the BBC site and watch the six 90-minute episodes.

Now.

This very second.

Last chance.

Okay, then. On with my theory...

Snowmageddon (2011)

I don't know how I've went two years without coming across this movie. It has all the things that draw me to a SyFy movie. Except sharks. Sharks would have made this movie EPIC.

Allow me to break it down for you...

Fifty-Fifty 2013...

42/50 Films :: 08/50 Books

List as of 20 December 2013...

• F1. Les Misérables (2012)
• F2. Zero Dark Thirty (2012)
• F3. Argo (2012)
• F4. Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2001)
• F5. Striking Distance (1993)
• F6. Men in Black 3 (2012)
• F7. Flight (2012)
• B1.* 11/22/63 by Stephen King
• F8. Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012)
• F9. Lincoln (2012)
• F10. People Like Us (2012)

Sharknado (2013)

Pretty sure this movie was the result of some SyFy intern saying, "You know that saying 'when pigs fly'? What if it were sharks instead?"

I know I'm a bit late to the game with this review, but anyone who has read my Shark Night review knows that I love me a good shark movie. And the bad shark movies, too. This made-for-SyFy original is no exception to the rule.

As I gather from the Twitterverse (#sharknado), most of 'Merica has already seen this film. But if you haven't had the pleasure, allow me to tell you why you should.

Dan Brown's Inferno a.k.a. The DaVinci Code 4

Instead of reading any more Dan Brown books, I'm just going to complete the following "Mad Lib" with my sister. Feel free to play along.

UNTITLED DAN BROWN BOOK MAD LIB

1) a number ______
2) month that has at least 28 days __________________
3) adverb that denotes stress ____________________
4) pick a European city...any European city _______________________
5) title given to a respected educator or professional _________________
6) first name ______________________________
7) pretentious last name (bonus points if synonym for "Brown") _________________________________________________________
8) prestigious museum or institute located in city chosen for #4 _________________________________________________________
9) famous work of an artistic or religious nature _____________________
10) any old secret organization or cult you feel like picking on this week _________________________________________________________

Four Movies and a Book (2012) Films 71-74 and Book 15/50

Because I hate leaving things unfinished...here are the extremely abridged reviews for the remaining films and book that I watched/read in 2012.

The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)
I love Denis Leary. Even if he isn't allowed to swear up a blue streak.

2013: The Challenge

I am determined to succeed this year.

That being said, I am off to a VERY slow start.

Happy New Year!

End of Year Review

And so concludes 2012. Final tally:
74* movies
21** books

That's 95/100 in my mind.

And I did manage to earn a second Master's degree this year, so I think that should count for something. Let's count it as 5 books and call it even.

So I didn't do 50/50. But that's okay! Because now it gives me something to strive for in 2013, right?