Tumblr

Hey Guys, this post is via Tumblr and it’s me. Your beloved ameteur review columnist.
I have decided to make a Tumblr because of my friend Katie, whos Tumblr link is bassoonist.tumblr.com. Follow her. Shes pretty cool.
Anyways… I am going to try out tublr because it is supposed to be like the new “hip” thing on the internet. So, yea… I will be reposting all of my old entries and will be posting the same entry on my blogspot site and tumblr so it should be pretty easy to keep track of me.
Wish me luck!

THE HUNGER GAMES TRILOGY!

One of the largest trilogies of this decade came to a close on August 24th with the release of Mockingjay, the third and final installment of The Hunger Games Trilogy.  I only started to read this trilogy with the first title in the series (The Hunger Games) before my Australian Adventure. Then, I came back, read another book, and read Catching Fire (Book #2) just in time for Mockingjay.  So now, without further ado, my Hunger Games Trilogy review!

Title: The Hunger Games
Author: Suzanne Collins
Genre: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Summary (Copied from Barnes and Noble): Katniss is a 16-year-old girl living with her mother and younger sister in the poorest district of Panem, the remains of what used be the United States. Long ago the districts waged war on the Capitol and were defeated. As part of the surrender terms, each district agreed to send one boy and one girl to appear in an annual televised event called, "The Hunger Games." The terrain, rules, and level of audience participation may change but one thing is constant: kill or be killed. When Katniss' sister is chosen by lottery, Katniss steps up to go in her place.
Review: One of the times I met Scott Westerfeld, I asked him why he liked to write trilogies.  His answer was suprisingly simple, "It sets up the events in the series as beginning, middle, and end."  Now that I think about it, The Hunger Games served as a great opening to Katniss' world.  We learn all about Panem, Katniss' background, her family, and what the games are about.  Saying this, it was a basic novel with a suprising amount of gore (not nearly as much as Mockingjay, but we'll get back to that later) and your typicall teen romance with Katniss' District 12 opponent, Peeta.  However, this may sound boring and you may think "I want something more than good and basic," but The Hunger Games is fantastic and our heroine, Katniss is by far the most complex thing about this book.  Overall, The Hunger Games sets the stage for an action-packed trilogy which is as entertaining for male and female readers alike.
Grade: A-

Title: Catching Fire
Author: Suzanne Collins
Genre: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Summary (Without giving too much of The Hunger Games away): Katniss made it out of The Hunger Games alive but there was a twist involved in her escaping of the arena which has set the stage for a rebellion of Panem. 
Review: Again, sorry if I un-intentionally place any spoilers but I will try my best!  In Catching Fire, we see Katniss' world a little more clearly and get a little deeper into her mind while she tries to balance out what really matters.  The main points I noticed in Catching Fire was the setting of the stage of the rebellion of Panem and also learning a little more about the history of the Games themselves and learning even more about our characters.  Catching Fire was a little more slowly paced than The Hunger Games up to the last 13 or so of the book where things zoomed by so cleverly yet simply that I didn't even want to put the book down from then on.  A great sequel.
Grade: A

Title: Mockingjay
Author: Suzanne Collins
Genre: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Summary: The rebellion of Panem is in full swing and it is up to our heroine Katniss Everdeen to either destroy it or help it thrive.
Review: Mockingjay, I felt, went into some technical aspects that I didn't really care for.  However, once the action of the rebellion gets into the novel, things get exciting and quite gory.  In The Hunger Games, children faught to the death, of course it's going to be bloody but in Mockingjay, the rebellion is a full-on war.  There is blood and death at every turn once the true action begins.  This is all great and tastefully written during Katniss' special mission (about the last 1/2 or 1/3 or so) and things get intense and page-turning until the very last sentence. Mind-blowing.
Grade: A

High School + The Hard Times of RJ Berger Series Finale

It is currently 12:03 AM and I just finished watching the season finale of the new MTV sitcom The Hard Times of RJ Berger and it was perfect.

The Hard Times of RJ Berger describes my expectations of the high school experience perfectly.  RJ is a loveable nerd.  You know the type.  He wants to get his dream girl and blah blah blah.  But thing about The Hard Times is that it is really one of the best things to come out of MTV in ages.  First of all, it's a scripted show, unlike all but maybe 3 of MTV's typical programming.  Second, it is purely funny.  Every single episode has me laugh out loud at the jokes that we all tell in school about growing up and yes, sex.  Third, the show seems seamless.  The quirky characters and witty dialogue make for amazing TV but I think any viewer, old or young will have a connection to The Hard Times.

Going into high school in about 2 weeks makes me wonder if all of the movies and TV shows are right. The Hard Times finale really stuck a cord with me.  It wasn't like all of the other episodes that were purely about avoiding bullies or the need for girls and parties, it was about life and doing the right thing and showing that it's really about the people who you already have in your life that already like you for who you are that matter.  Forget about cliques and reputations because true friends is what high school is about. 

The Hard Times finale gave me hope for high school.  If you make friends that truely are your friends no matter what, high school will be the thrill of a lifetime.

WELL WASNT THAT AN INSPIRING ENTRY!?!

Inception

Are we just in a dream? A dream within a dream? A dream within a dream within a dream?

Those questions are a major part of the summer blockbuster, Inception.

Now, I know inception is several weeks old, but I just saw it, today and I know most of you have probably seen it already and have your own opinions already so I'm going to make this quick.

Title: Inception
Genre: Psychological Thriller
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Summary: Leonardo DiCaprio stars as Cobb, an agent who slips into people's dreams to get information on company secrets in order to change decisions for the better.  On his latest mission, he has to convince the heir to one of the world's most successful and important companies not to give up on his father's dream.
Review: If you cannot easily grasp a fast-paced movie (that means you Nanny) this movie is not for you.  Inception is one of the quickest movies I have ever seen.  In order to follow it, you must catch every cast member's line and definitly do not take a bathroom break.  The actual movie had a great, fast-paced storyline.  The ending of Inception will leave viewers stunned and making a decision.  One thing that Entertainment Weekly mentioned that I really liked was that a reason Inception was so good was because it wasn't in 3-D or a sequal. I agree because 3-D is just a way to get people to pay more at the box office and barely contributes to the movie and originals are always better than sequals. Suprisingly, I have no critiques of Inception.  There was nothing I noticed that didn't make sense or anything I really disliked.
Round-Up: Inception was a graphically awesome, fast-paced thriller, with an intracate plot and fantastic adventure.
Grade: A

I'm Baaaaaaaacccckkkkkk!!!!

Woah-M-G

I don't know if you know this but most of my readers probably do.  On July 10th I got on a plane at JFK and headed to the magical Land of Oz. No, not the one with the wizard and Glinda and the scarecrow.  I mean the real magical Land of Oz, Australia.

You also should know that this strictly was not a vacation, it was an educational experiece. Aw who the hell am I kidding it was pretty much a vacation with some learning involved.

Now you may be wondering "Of all places, why Australia?" Well the thing is, 3 years ago i got an invitation from an organization called People to People Student Ambassador programs to go to England and France.  I went to the information meetings and decided that this group was safe and responsible.  The program was started by Dwight Eisenhower, yes our president in the 50's, to promote world peace through learning and understanding.  Anyways, the point is, I went to England and France and had a ball.  In the fall of '09 I got my 4th invitation (I decided not to go on the two after England and France).  In a nutshell, I accepted this offer and had been looking foward to visiting this place ever since I started watching "The Crocodile Hunter" on Animal Planet.  I know this sounds cheesy, but this truely was a dream come true.

Oh and people always ask me the same two questions so I'm just going to answer them now.  Yes, my parents did not go. And no, it certainly is not free (but it's all-inclusive)

Also, I took 976 pictures and the ametuer photographer in me really wants to get on with deleting, sorting, and editing but the true procrastinator that I am is telling me to put it off and do things like write this blog entry.

Anyways, if you're still reading this, I saw Dispicable Me yesterday.  It was amazingly hilarious. Go see it. Grade A entertainment.

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse. Return of Glittertits and the New Teenwolf

OMGOMGOMG!!!!!

I SAW ECLIPSEEE!!!!

AAAHHHHH!!!!!

That was an example of a typical audience member of Eclipse.

I saw the movie on Friday and let me tell you something.  Something that may shcok you.

It wasn't terrible.

-GASP-

Suprised? Me too.

Anyway I read the book in preperation for the movie and so I am going to do a mash-up review. Enjoy!

Title: Eclipse (duh!)
Author of Novel: Stephenie Meyer
MPAA Rating of Movie: PG-13
Genre: Romance, "Action", Comedy (for people who don't take it seriously)
Summary: Bella is now being pressured more than ever to choose between a vampire, Glittertits aka Edward, and a modern teenwolf, Jacob in the third installment of the teenage phenomenon.
Mash-Up Review: Okay so, there are a few things I actually liked about Eclipse.  In general, I liked how we got to see ALOT of history in this installment.  For instance, we get a peek at Rosalie's human life and how she became a vampire.  We also see Jasper's story and the history of werewolves.  In the book I think that Rosalie's story is told in the perfect amount of details, Jasper's story made for great visuals in  my mind, and the werewolf story was told in far too much irrelavent detail such as names and characters that just end up dying anyway.  However, in the film adaptaion Rosalie's history scence could've been about 5 minutes longer.  I felt the movie gave just the right amount of detail for both Jasper and the wolves story.
The Team Edward/Team Jacob Debate - The Twihard Approach: Bella is so torn. She says she loves Edward and Jacob.  Edward says he would let Bella go to Jacob if it made her happy but he would want to kill himself (for good).  This makes Bella make him love him more and would make her feel worse if she really did leave him.  What a manipulative vampire. Letting Bella be happy shows how devoted he is. Jacob, on the other hand, seems to want Bella more.  Like he would do absolutley anything to get her.  This shows determination and strength of heart.  Jacob also would be able to grow old with Bella and Bella could live a human-like life.  If she becomes a vampire she has to leave everyone she loves (except the Cullens).  OMG WHO DO I PICK!?!?
The Team Edward/Team Jacob Debate - The Serious Approach:  Bella, shut up.  You give yourself a guilt trip about everything.  Just pick someone.  One of them will get hurt one way or another.  Deal with it.  Or as I would like to put it: "Life's a bitch because if it were a slut, it'd be easy".
Back to the Review: I think in the novel, Meyer's writing was at her best so far.  It wasn't great, but it was better. I think alot of people confuse Bella's personality with Meyer's personal style of writing.  If you go by Bella's personality, the book sucks but alot of people misjudge Stephenie's abilities.  Also, in the book, the storyline was kept pretty simple.
In the film adaptaion, alot was different from Twilight and New Moon. It was by far a better movie than Twilight and a huge improvement from New Moon. Moviemaking skill was exxistant.  This does not make up for Bella's whining.  The movie was awkward and that made it hard to take seriously.  I do not reccommend you read or see a Twilight book/movie with a serious mind.  You need to expect lots of awkward moments and ridiculous scenes.  These actually improve the experience by providing humor. Like when the Cullens are chasing Victoria (the antagonist) I couldn't help but laugh at the swoosh noise made when they ran.  Also the scenes of tension between Edward and Jacob are pretty hilarious.
One small scene in the book and movie that I'd like to point out is the scene in which Edward and Jacob kind of reconcile.  Firstly, it was oddly homoerotic.  Secondly, and more importantly, Bella is asleep.  For those of you unfamiliar with Twilight, the books and movies are told from Bella's point of view.  How is she telling us what is happening if she is asleep? It's mistakes like these that make me mad.  I also think that in both the movie and book versions, the inclusion of Bree Tanner is unneccessary.  She just gets her head ripped off anyway. Whatevs.
Round Up: Eclipse deserves the most improved award.  In the film and literature department.  Just remember not to take anything seriously (fangirl/boys are a different story entirely)
Book Grade: B-
Movie Grade: B

Museum Mile and Andromeda Klein

PART I: THE GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM/MUSEUM MILE

Don't you just love Museum Mile?

Always a beautiful springtime evening in New York City.

5th Avenue is closed from 84th to 104th street.

10 Museums are of free admission and include internationally renowned museums such as The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and The Neue Gallery.

There is live music, chalk drawings, and free activities all along the mile.

The main museum I wanted to visit was the Guggenheim.  However, I did not know what I would be getting myself into.  I knew that the main exhibit featured in the rotunda was called "haunted" but I thought it would be works that had to do with people who were haunted by something. For example, the pictures n the pamphlet featured an original Andy Warhol and a Princess Diana portrait.  However, I was very wrong.  Little did I realize that the Rotunda would have quite gruesome and disturbing images. Example #1: collages of photographs which each had an eerie/creepy theme. Example #2: An x-ray shot of the oral sodomization of a DOG! Example 3: There were some photographs of naked children. Nothing sexual, but the lighting of the exhibit and photos around made them seem a little out of place. Example 4: The top rotunda level featured about 5 or 6 different angles of one continuous shot of an old man sitting in the chair.  Nothing happened to him but they put the explanation of the film at the end of the exhibit. I did not like this because I thought something bad or disturbing was going to happen to the old man.

If you are interested in this "modern art" you still have the chance to see "Haunted" until the beginning of September.

On the other hand, the annex levels of the Guggenheim featured amazing original peices from the likes of Claude Monet and Pablo Picasso. Another special exhibit on one of the annex levels was artwork created by NYC elementry school children. I recommend these exhibits, but you should wait until the Haunted exhibit is gone so the general admission of $18 is worth it.
Other museums on the mile I recommend include The Museum of the City of New York and the Cooper–Hewitt, National Design Museum which is affiliated with the Smithsonain.

PART II: BOOK REVIEW: ANDROMEDA KLEIN
Title: Andromeda Klein
Author: Frank Portman
Genre: Dark Comedy
Summary: Andromeda Klein focuses on high school occultist, Andromeda, who simultaneously tries to save her beloved local library from modernization and solve the various mysteries surrounding: her missing much-older boyfriend; the strange signs seemingly being sent to her from her recently deceased best friend Daisy; and her ever more prophetic tarot readings. (From Wikipedia)
Review: Andromeda Klein is the second novel by Frank Portman (the first being King Dork, an excellent read, I might add.) and has a similar style of writing and themes.  I've noticed Portman tends to write about teenage misfits and let's face it, we've all been there.  He also tends to write in stereotypic high school figure. Ex: a geek, the hot popular girl, etc, etc. Even though in the grand scheme of things Portman's writing has sunken to a lower level since King Dork.  Maybe I feel this way because King Dork had a male lead and Andromeda just wasn't there for me.  In fact, Portman made me feel like I was there for Andromeda.  At least Tom from King Dork was loveable whereas, Andromeda was just weird and not developed enough.  Sure, Portman included daily rituals and specific things about Andi's life but they just kind of felt like minor details that were just there. But, I did like that Andromeda Klein was a quick and easy read that was, for the most part, entertaining.
Grade: B-

BRONX ZOO!!!!

HI GUYS!

Today, I went to the Bronx Zoo.
I saw baby lions.
What is not to love?
I took about 400 pictures
The best of the best will be on my Flickr.
The Bronx Zoo is a beautiful zoo, obviously, I had a great time.
Photos from the gallery walk are on my flickr now too.
I expect zoo pictures to be up later tonight or this week.
ENJOYING SPRINGTIME IN NYC!
Have a wonderful day! :)

http://www.flickr.com/robs320 --> my flickr account

2010 Madison Avenue Gallery Walk

HEY GUYS!

Wow, its been almost exactly a month since my last post.  Sorry! I haven't really been doing anything interesting lately.  However, I did do something pretty interesting today, because it was FREE and in MANHATTAN.  Today (May 15, 2010) was the 2nd annual Madison Avenue Gallery walk running from 57th and Madison all the way up to 83rd.  This event was alot of fun and it was for a good cause! First, let me give you a desciption of what the event was about.

The Madison Avenue Gallery Walk is an event where most of the high end galleries on Madison Avenue in the Upper East Side of Manhattan are open and any artwork bought from a partcipating gallery donates a portion of the proceeds to NYC Public Schools.  This event gives regular people a chance to go into high-end galleries and not feel so intimidated.  On the otherhand, the artwork is expensive.  For example, there was a gallery of photographs in the Hermes store and another that sold classic Tiffany jewlery and another that sold ORIGINAL PICASSO'S! Also, most of the galleries required that you rang a doorbell to enter which made me feel like I was entering a space where I didn't really belong.

Anyways, there were a lot of really beautiful galleries that were really interesting to look at.  This reminded me of the annual Museum Mile Festival (This event is coming up soon; I will be attending again this year.) where you could go into a museum-like space for absolutly no cost.

Overall, next year you might find some of the stuff interesting.  And besides that, there are plenty of luxury fashion retail stores you can peek into.   This event is also great for people watching.  Today, I saw the EXACT kind of people you think of when you think of the Upper East Side. It was really fun to watch. Today was a beautiful day and I hope you all got some fresh air!

Tomorrow, I'm going to the Bronx Zoo to see the three new lion cubs! I'll definitly be posting about that along with pictures on my Flickr.

http://www.flickr.com/RobS320

ENJOY SPRINGTIME IN NYC! ITS BEEN GREAT THIS YEAR!

Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang

Hola! Yesterday I finished reading the newest book by Chelsea Handler, Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang.

Title: Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang
Author: Chelsea Handler
Genre: Memoir, Humor
Summary (from dustjacket): Life doesn't get more hilarious than when Chelsea Handler takes aim with her irreverent wit. Who else would send all-staff emails to smoke out the dumbest people on her show? Now, in this new collection of original essays, the #1 bestselling author of Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea delivers one laugh-out-loud moment after another as she sets her sights on the ridiculous side of childhood, adulthood, and daughterhood. Family moments are fair game, whether it's writing a report on Reaganomics to earn a Cabbage Patch doll, or teaching her father social graces by ordering him to stay indoors. It's open season on her love life, from playing a prank on her boyfriend (using a ravioli, a fake autopsy, and the Santa Monica pier) to adopting a dog so she can snuggle with someone who doesn't talk. And everyone better duck for cover when her beach vacation turns into matchmaking gone wild. Outrageously funny and deliciously wicked, CHELSEA CHELSEA BANG BANG is good good good good!
Review: I felt that Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang was a little too similar to Vodka. I knew that it was the same formating of Vodka, but I guess I was just expecting a different experience.  I felt like there wasn't anything really different about the quality of writing.  Don't get me wrong, I did like the book.   Quite a few parts were laugh out loud funny.  I also think that Chelsea Handler is much funnier in person because she's talking and thinking of the top of her head.  Books don't really have the same sense of quick and cruel humor.  Sorry this review is so short but those are my feelings in a nutshell.  Also, I like Chelsea Handler so I am being very lenient with my grade.  Plus, the book is worth reading if you want a very non serious book to read.
Grade: B

P.S. I have a suprise to tell you! Stay tuned!

Date Night

Wow, it seems like a really long time since I posted.  Almost a month! Great to be back.  Whenecer I see a new movie or read a new book I think "Oh God when will I have time to update my blog?", but then I sign in and start typing and I feel like I could write for days! So happy to be back!

Title: Date Night

Genre: Comedy

MPAA Rating: PG-13

Summary: Steve Carell and Tina Fey play Phil and Claire Foster, a "boring couple from New Jersey" in their first and highly anticipated on-screen colaboration.  The night starts when they go out for a date night in Manhattan to an exclusive restaurant.  There are no tables available so they take another couples reservations.  Little did they know that the couple they stole a reservation from were on the run from the mafia.  During their meal two suspicious characters ask them for the flash drive which Phil and Claire know nothing about.  This leads to a comedy-filled, action-packed night in Manhattan that involves Will.I.Am, a strip club, and a car chase that will make you literally lol.
Review: I am a HUGE fan of Tina Fey and all of her work.  SNL, 30 Rock, Baby Mama, etc.  I had very high expectaitions for this movie and boy did it live up to them!  Date Night was one of the funniest movies I have ever seen.  Hands down.  Steve Carell and Tina Fey have an amazing on screen chemistry which really helps alot.  They are two naturally very funny people so there really wasn't any possible way this movie could've gone wrong.  Another thing I loved about this movie were the rediculous amount of stars.  These included Steve Carell and Tina Fey of course, Will.I.Am (Black Eyed Peas), Olivia Munn (G4TV), Kristen Wiig (SNL), Mark Whalberg (The Departed, Entourage), Ray Liotta (Goodfellas), John Franco (Spider-Man trilogy, Pineapple Express, Milk), Mila Kunis (That 70's Show, Family Guy), and SO MANY MORE!
Another thing about this movie is that I think alot of people think it's a romantic comedy but it really isn't!  Sure there are some "aww" moments but this movie is purley a COMEDY! Guys will enjoy this just as much as girls will.  There is an AMAZINGLY HILARIOUS AND ACTION-PACKED CAR CHASE and a pretty long scene at a strip club where Phil and Claire bust a move.  See this movie.  See it on a date, some friends, or even by yourself because this movie will make you leave the theater smiling.
Grade: A+ Tina, you've done it again.

Double Review ft. Going Bovine and Love is the Higher Law! Plus An Encounter With TWO Great Authors at the NYC TEEN BOOK FESTIVAL FINALE!

Can I get a moo, moo!?

Last saturday was a very exciting day as it was the finale of the 2nd annual NYC Teen Author Book Festival. The NYC Teen Author Book Festival (lets call it NYCTABF) is a week long event where some of the best YA authors gather throughout the five boroughs and do talks, meetings, and signings all of which are open to the public.  The NYCTABF is open to the public and the event that always gets the biggest crowd is the mass book signing at Books of Wonder ( http://www.booksofwonder.com/ ) where over 60 authors get to celebrate with cupcakes, sign books and meet the fans.  I hope this tradition will last until I have teens who will want to celebrate.  Last year I had the privilege to meet with Scott Westerfeld, author of the Uglies trilogy and Leviathan (picture above at right); Ned Vizzini, author of Be More Chill and It's Kind of a Funny Story (It's Kind of a Funny story is a book I highly recommend and don't judge it by the back cover summary; it's inaccurate); David Levithan, co-author of Nick and Norah's Infinate Playlist and author of Boy Meets Boy and Love is the Higher Law.  Robin Wasserman, author of the Skinned trilogy, Hacking Harvard, Chasing Yesterday, and less popular Seven Deadly Sins series also regularly makes an appearence although I've yet to meet with her. 

I just found out that the mass book signing was occuring about a week before the event through a tweet sent by Scott Westerfeld ( @ScottWesterfeld ).  I was reading through the list of authors and discovered I had two books from authors who were going to be there. I immediately started reading in preperation for this event.

Below is a pic of Libba Bray and I. It's a little blurry and I look horrible, then again, my mom took it :-P

FIRST REVIEW:
Title: Going Bovine
Author: Libba Bray
Genre: Dark Comedy, Adventure

Summary: 16-year old Cameron is a misfit diagnosed with Mad Cow Disease. When a punk-rock angel named Dulcie tells him there may be a cure he goes on a road trip with along with a video-game obsessed dwarf named Gonzo and yard gnome who just so happens to be Balder, a Norse god.

Review: When I saw this book in Barnes and Noble when it first came out in October, I was instantly drawn to it.  The cover art is great and when I looked at the summary that was even greater.  I got it for Christmas and it was on my very long list of books to read. Like I said earlier when I heard Libba would be at the signing, I just had to start reading it.  Going into this book I didn't expect it to be as non-realistic as it was. I did know however, that it was going to be pretty sarcastic, loony, and a pretty good read.  Going Bovine recently won the 2010 Michael L. Printz Award which is, along with the Caldecott and Newberry honors, like the Oscars of children and young adult literature.  Now on to the actual review.  Let me start off by saying that, even though at 480 pages, Going Bovine is a pretty quick read.  The story is straight-foward and at an easy reading level.  Don't let this fool you! There is reference to marijuana use, loss of virginity, and many F-bombs are dropped.  However, I feel this is realistic as part of a troubled teen's life and does not take away from the reading experience.  Some things I liked about Going Bovine were the sense of high school realism you get at the beginning of the story, the sarcastic humor, and the changes you see as Cameron goes on his adventure through a surreal yet not-so-surreal America.  I also liked the messages and morals of the true meaning of life that we all know deep, down inside.  My final thoughts: A pretty funny and real yet imaginary read that will leave readers with a bittersweet taste in their mouth.

Grade: A/A-

SECOND REVIEW:

Title: Love is the Higher Law

Author: David Levithan

Genre: Realistic Fiction, Historical Fiction, LGBT

Summary: Three New York City teens named Claire, Jasper, and Peter express their reactions to the terrorist attacks of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001 and it's impact on their lives.

Review: Like Going Bovine, Love is the Higher Law instantly caught my eye with its dark cover picture of the downtown NYC skyline highlighting the Ground Zero memorial lights.  I was also excited to see that David Levithan was the author.  I didn't expect David to write on such a serious topic based on reading Nick and Norah's Infinate Playlist which is more on the comedic side of the literature spectrum.

       As soon as I read the first page I instantly felt a strong sense of realism.  This remained true throughout the book and I even felt that parts of the book could be semi-autobiographical.  Another thing about the book is that it's not easy to read.  There aren't graphic descriptions of the actual attack but there are very detailed descriptions of what is happening in the streets below right after.  Most parts were difficult to read mainly because it was almost like I was experiencing the aftermath for the first time, being only in kindergarten when they happend in reality.   Two scenes that got me really emotional was one where Claire is out in Battery Park in the middle of the night helping a woman light candles in the rain.  The other was one where Claire and Jasper are walking around Ground Zero in the middle of the night having a conversation. The second one didn't really have any super-emotional feeling to it but I think it was the part in the book where everything really hit me.

       Overall, Love is the Higher Law is a thought provoking book for kids my age who aren't really old enough to remember everything that happend.  It also gives adult's at the time three new points of views from teenagers with different backgrounds and boroughs.  Love is the Higher Law gives an extreme sense of realism that is tuly touching to New Yorkers.  I was sure to let Levithan know how much this book means to me when I met with him last Sunday.

Grade: A+

                                                                               
                                                                                                                                 

Alice in Wonderland

Hello!  Welcome!

Before we begin, I would like to tell any parents reading this, not to take your sick kids to the movies.  There was a little boy sitting behind me coughing the entire time.  Also, please do not have a 5-minute phone conversation during and movie.  Please, be considerate of other people.  Thank you.

Today is the opening day of a film that I highly anticipated.  The name of the movie is Alice in Wonderland.  I was so excited to see it!  I love the work of Tim Burton and there were some very well known actors in it too.  Johnny Depp, Helena Bohnam Carter, and Anne Hathaway, to name a few.  I was also very excited to see how the new Alice (Mia Wasikowska) would turn out.  Anyways, time to review.

Title: Alice in Wonderland
Genre: Fantasy
MPAA Rating: PG

Summary: Alice Kingsley, now 19, attends a party at a Victorian estate shortly after the death of her beloved father.  Alice spots a white rabbit wearing a waistcoat and pocket watch.  In shock and confusion, she runs off into a maze and follows the White Rabbit through it.  She eventually tumbles down a rabbit hole into Underland, more commonly referred to as "Wonderland" by its inhabitants.  She had visited this place 10 years earlier, but had entirely forgotten about it.  She is also told that she is the only one who can slay the Jabberwocky, the dragon who terrorizes the inhabitants of Wonderland under the rule of the Red Queen.

Review: -sigh- Where do I begin?  I was pretty disappointed with the marvelous Tim Burton's rendition of Alice in Wonderland, a story that truly do enjoy.  I think the main reason I wasn't too happy with it is that it didn't have a very genuine Tim Burton feel.  Sure it had kooky characters and dark elements. but it just wasn't the same.  I think the reason being is that Burton nearly ALWAYS uses physical set and very few CGI effects.  "Alice" did not have that.  The backgrounds and such were most definitly green or blue screen and almost all the characters had to have a touch of CGI to them.  Example, Johnny Depp's eyes were increased in size 15% and Helena Bohnam Carters head was increased neary double its size!  Also, alot of the animal-like creatures (Cheshire Cat, White Rabbit, Jabberwocky, etc.) had to be done using CGI.  Also, you kind of forget you're watching it in 3-D, which was not worth the $16 admission at my local theatre.

       One of the elements I did enjoy was the costume design.  Mostly, the changing of Alice's dresses due to her changes in size.  I also liked the set of the White Queen's palace which was one set that did have a genuine feel to it.  Everything on the Red Queen's side of Underland seemed like nuclear wasteland.  I also liked most of the bits of humor throughout mostly coming from the Red Queen.  The Mad Hatter's humour was more intended for little kids.

       Overall, I feel like this was not Tim Burton's best piece of work.  I missed the genuine sets and disliked the usage of CGI which is fairly new to Buton's films.  Had the film been PG-13 he could've gotten away with something darker and wierder (which is what I was expecting).  Also, this movie is better for kids and tweens.  Don't really take it too seriously.  And any die-hard "Alice" fans out there, do not get your hopes up.

Grade:  C (unfortunatly)

QUINTUPLE REVIEW! FEATURING: Avatar, The Secret to Teen Power, Inglourious Basterds, Shutter Island, and The Hurt Locker.

Come one, come all to the Rob's Review Blog QUINTUPLE REVIEW!!!  A month or two back I saw Avatar and read The Secret to Teen Power.  On the very rare NYC snow day, I decided to cure my cabin fever and watch Inglourious Basterds. This week I saw Shutter Island and The Hurt Locker. And don't worry, I'll try to keep each review to a short paragraph. Also, ITS OSCAR SEASON so comment on what movies you've seen and think will win a few.

FIRST REVIEW:
Title: Avatar
Genre: Epic
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Summary: A crippled military man travels to a lush, tropical, moon, Pandora, on a mission to learn the native's way of life but shortly realizes how precious everything really is.
Review: This epic directed by James Cameron is his latest box office record breaker since Titanic.  There are so many wonderful things to say about this movie but I gotta keep it short.  I went in thinking "Yeah right, this movie is gonna be all hype." Well guess what. BELIEVE THE HYPE! This movie was phenominal and had a great story, message, visuals, and themes. Go out and enjoy it in theaters. The 3-D was pretty good. The Oscars are coming and I predict it WILL win Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Score, Best Film Editing, Best Visual Effects, Best Art Direction, and Best Sound Editing
Grade: A

SECOND REVIEW:
Title: The Secret to Teen Power
Author: Paul Harrington
Genre: Self-help
Summary: The Oprah-fueld self-help book for adults gets translated to a teen audience and teaches them the law of attraction.
Review: I was expecting The Secret to Teen Power to be as life-changing as everybody says it was. Unfortunately, it wasn't.  The book gave me some good life lessons but didn't really change my whole perspective on the world. Also, don't read the whole book cover-to-cover, just read the parts you think will come in handy for YOU.
Grade: C+

THIRD REVIEW:
Title: Inglourious Basterds
Genre: War
MPAA Rating: R
Summary: Set in Nazi-Occupied France, the story is about a girl named Shoshanna. her family was killed when a German officer found them hiding in a Frenchman's basement. She, luckily, escaped and is now hiding in a city in France.  Inglourious Basterds also follows the story of a group of Nazi-Scalpin' Jews in the U.S. Army known as the Basterds. Their plans intertwine with Shoshanna's at the climax of the film that will leave you at the edge of your seat.
Review: If you are familiar with Quentin Tarantino's previous works, you know that there is alot of blood.  This movie used a ton of it! It was super violent and may be disturbing to some.  However, the violence doesn't take away from the movie's authentic feel and marvelous story-line. I liked this movie ALOT.
Grade: B+

FOURTH REVIEW:
Title: Shutter Island
Genre: Mystery
MPAA Rating: R
Summary: In 1954, two U.S. marshals (Leonardo DiCaprio and Mark Ruffalo) investigate the disappearance of a patient from a hospital for the criminally insane on an island in Massachusetts. They run into trouble when they are deceived by the hospital's chief administrator (Ben Kingsley), a hurricane hits, and they uncover a series of sinister human experiments, reminiscent of Nazi human experimentation.
Review: Now, I know the summary seems to give away alot of the plot but believe me, it doesn't. There are numerous twists in turns in this suspense-filled Scorsese-directed movie.  The movie isn't considered "horror" or "scary" but there are a few scenes of intense violence and disturbing images of the dead.  Aside from that, the mysterious past surrounding DiCaprio's character, Teddy, unfolds and wil leave you schocked.  Does this movie scream Oscar? No. But if you're looking for a good, erie movie to watch go see Shutter Island.
Grade: B

Fifth Review:
Title: The Hurt Locker
Genre: War
MPAA Rating: R
Summary: The Hurt Locker follows one of the United States Army Explosive Ordinance Disposal teams during the war in Iraq.  That's all.
Review: 9 Oscar nominations. NINE! Nine, neuf, neun, nove, nueve! IT'S BLASHPEMY! This movie was not deserving of about 7 of these nominations.  The two I agree with are Best Film Editing, and Best Cinimatography.  The cinematography did happen to blow me away with all of the different angles and shots and perspectives etc.  What I didn't like was that it seemed like a boring "A day in the life of..." specials on the biography channel.  It did not grab my attention and was falling asleep.  If they made the main sub-plot a major plot point earlier then 15 minutes before the movie ended, maybe I would've been a little more interested.
Grade: A for effort, C- for movie-making

The Lovely Bones (film)

Wow, It has been WAY too long since I have reviewed anything.  If you read my last post you'll understand why.  Anyways, I plan on writing a book review in about 3 weeks (just if you're wondering).  I am constantly seeing new movies and I feel I haven't lived up to my url's name. After all it is robBOOKblog.blogspot.com.  Anyways, I got a bootleg copy of a movie that has sparked alot of controversy.  Teenage girl's love it, critics hate it.  I am talking of course about The Lovely Bones. Here's my review.

Title: The Lovely Bones
Genre: Fantasy/Suspense/SUPAH CREEPY
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Summary: Director Peter Jackson attempts to adapt Alice Sebold's best-selling novel concerning a murdered 14-year old who watches from the inbetween as her family attempts to cope with their devastating loss and tracks her killer as he stealthily covers his tracks.
Review: Like almost every film there is good and bad.  I'll flip a coin for what goes first. Heads bad tails good.  Heads it is! No joke, I seriously flipped a coin. Haha!  Okay where do I begin? Let's start with the creepy factor. This was officialy the creepiest movie I have ever seen.  Stanley Tucci's performance as the killer was impeccable.  Just looking at the character, you can tell he's a major creeper.  This was not pleasant considering he was in the majority of the movie.  Another thing I did not like was how dragged out some scenes were, especially the murder scene.  Nothing graphic was shown.  However, the scene was about 15 minutes long and every second was grueling.  Another creepy part was the scene immediately following the murder in which Susie (the girl who was murdered) watches as her killer cleans the blood of his body, shoes, and home.  I could not stand it.  One thing I thought was way too intense was when Susie sees all the bodies of her killer's past victims. Overall, I found the movie way too creepy.  I also didn't like how the movie didn't go into depth of a sub-plot involving Susie's love intrest and a mysterious girl whom we assume will play a larger role as advertised in trailers and the beggining of the feature. Quick note: the ending will leave you biting your nails wondering "OH NO!" but don't worry I was semi-satisfied.
       Don't worry though, there were about two things I happened to enjoy about the movie.  The first thing I enjoyed was the acting.  I really was super creeped out by Stanley Tucci as the killer (as mentioned previously) which means he did his job.  I also think that Susan Sarandon's role as the awesome grandma was phenominal.  The supporting roles played by two teenagers whos names I do not know as Ray and Ruth were pretty good even though they only got like 5 minutes of screen time.  I am typically not a huge fan of Mark Wahlberg although he did a great job as Susie's obsessed yet loving dad.  Also, the girl who played Susie's sister was pretty good.  The second thing I liked were the special effects.  Peter Jackson's movies always have great ones. The third thing I liked was the portrayal of life in the 1970's.  Everything from the clothes to the houses to Susie's opening lines.
       As you can see, I didn't particularly enjoy the movie because it was too creepy.  However, the acting, visuals, and pertraying of suburban life in the 1970's.
Grade: C+

A Very Short Message

HI EVERYONE! I know it's been quite a while so I just wanted to say a few things

First, there hasn't been many reviews lately because I've been VERY BUSY with the holidays and schoolwork and such. Just clearing that up.

Second, I saw Up in the Air over holiday break.  It's a movie getting alot of Oscar buzz staring George Cooney and up-and-coming film star Anna Kendrick (I enjoy her acting very much.  She was in a small film called Rocket Science which was excellent! Get it from Netflix or something!!).  Up in the Air was also directed by Jason Reitman who did Juno and Thank You For Smoking.  Anyway, what I'm saying is go see it. You will be heaing alot about this movie in the next few months

And third, I found a FANTASTIC little chocolate shop in Greenwich Village (west side) appropriately named The Chocolate Bar.  I could spend $500 dollars in there! Everything is made right there in Greenwich Village and they have some things that might not be available anywhere else.  Go check it out sometime! http://www.chocolatebarnyc.com/

Thank You for allof your support! I'll be reviewing sonn once everything gets back to normal in a week or two.  While you're waiting why not go see Up in the Air or take a trip to The Chocolate Bar! Have fun!

-Robert