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-

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 Sorceress (The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel #3)

HAPPY WINTER SOLSTICE AND HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO SOPHIE AND JOSH NEWMAN!  You'll see who I'm talking about. It seems like its been way too long since I've last posted! About a whole month! Welcome back!

Title: The Sorceress
Author: Michael Scott
Genre: Fantasy, Mythology
Summary (Straight from the Publisher): Nicholas Flamel's heart almost broke as he watched his beloved Paris crumble before him. The city was destroyed by Dee and Machiavelli, but Flamel played his own role in the destruction. Sophie and Josh Newman show every sign of being the twins of prophecy, and Flamel had to protect them and the pages from the Dark Elders. But Nicholas grows weaker with each passing day. Perenelle is still trapped in Alcatraz, and now that Scatty has gone missing, the group is without protection. Except for Clarent—the sister sword to Excalibur. But Clarent’s power is unthinkable, its evil making it nearly impossible to use without its darkness seeping into the soul of whoever wields it. If he hopes to defeat Dee, Nicholas must find an Elder who can teach Josh and Sophie the third elemental magic—Water Magic. The problem? The only Elder who can do that is Gilgamesh, and he is quite, quite insane.
Review: I have semi-mixed feelings about The Sorceress.  There were some things I absolutly loved about it and other things that could've been better.  Let's start with the bad news.  If you've read the first two books in this series (which I highly recommend) you may find this quite similar with the second event wise.  Sophie and Josh find other immortal humans with Nicholas, sub-plots develop throughout, elemental magic learned, more sub-plot, confrontation with enemy / climax battle, very short yet shocking falling actions BOOM end of book leaving you waiting for so much more.  In a nutshell, the downfalls were the repetion of plot, too many rising actions, and lack of falling actions.  Okay now, out with the bad in with the good!  The main thing that drew me to the series which keeps me reading is how the author takes components of mythologies of Celtic, Egyptian, and Roman descent and combines them with the real world much as the Percy Jackson series (great series for tweens) did.  I also like the constant change of setting and fast pace of the series.  In the first book they were in San Fracisco, the second Paris, and now London and Stonehenge.  Another thing I enjoyed was the ending of one subplot which was half a book too long and the beginning of a new and very scary one.  Unfortunately, we only got a taste of this new one.  The very best thing about this book was the last paragraph which will leave you breathless. I know it did to me!
Grade: B+

The Twilight Saga: New Moon

Hello ladies and germs! Today I saw the highly anticipated sequal to Twilight which is New Moon.

Title: New Moon
Genre: Romance/Action
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Summary: New Moon is the highly anticipated sequal to the film Twilight.  If you are a girl who is 12 or over you probably know all about this film.  However, if you don't know about this franchise I'll tell you about it.  Basically, a girl named Bella falls in love with a sparkly vampire named Edward.  In New Moon Edward tells Bella he can't be with her anymore because he is too dangerous.  Bella then falls into a deep depression and eventually starts to like a mostly shirtless Native American boy named Jacob.  Then all of a sudden Edward thinks Bella is dead so he goes to Italy to see the Voltouri who have kill him.  He is a werewolf.  Next, Bella goes to Italy to save Edward and Jacob feels betrayed thus starting the Team Edward Team Jacob rivalry.
Review: I have two things to warn you about. The first being, if you read the book, you will not like this movie.  It was pretty much the same but not as detailed in some parts where it would've been better to see instead of some other stuff they put in the movie.  Second, If you hate cut-off shorts you will not like this movie (I'll get back to this later).  Anyway, one thing I did like about this movie was that you don't particularly have to think to much to watch it.  Another good thing about this sequal is that everything seems a little bit better on a few levels because of the larger budget.  All of the wolf scenes were beautifully done and all of the wolves had there own peronality.  Another good effect scene was the explanation of the Volturi scene in the painting at the cullens.  Another big budget feature of the film were the set designs and the costume designs.  Another thing about this film is that you cannot take this movie seriously.  If I did I would've given it a D or even an F but because I didn't take it seriously I liked it alot more.  Okay so about the cut-off shorts, that is all the werevolves wore. Cut-off shorts.  What a tradgedy! It was so annoying! Also all of the werewolves were shirtless the entire time.  No matter what weather.  I am a guy and this was very awkward for me (If you are a guy reading this you will know what I mean).  But also for the guys, there was alot more action in this film as opposed to the first.  I think guys will appreciate this alot more.  Another thing guys will like is ALICE CULLEN!! She is in it more than the other vampires (besides Edward that is) and Alice is my favorite so this worked out :) .  Overall, this was a movie for the Twi-hards and those who know going into it knowing not to take it so seriously.  You will have much more fun if you don't take it seriously.
Grade: B- (not so serious critic like myself) D (serious critic) OMG JACOB (team Jacob critic)

TEAM ALICE!!!

It's Been A While! Lots to review!

HI PEOPLE!!
I havent posted since school has started and I have three things I need to rewiew.  But first, I need to say my new guidelines.  I will only be reviewing new things.  This includes movies I see withing two weeks of its release, and books that are still available in hardcover only.  However if I read or see something that has to do with current events I will post about that too.  Also, I will be limiting the info I give before I review.  By the way todays reviews will be ultra short and get my point across.

MINI REVIEW #1
Title: Where the Wild Things Are
Genre: Fantasy
MPAA Rating: PG
Summary: 9-year old Max gets mad at his mom and sets off into the wilderness and finds a bunch of wild things whom he becomes friends with.
Review: A kids movie with great themes. However, this movie was designed more for adults than kids.  Great artistic and moral value in this film. Very mysterious as well. All in all, it was great! Very thought provoking.
Grade: A

MINI REVIEW #2
Title: Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea
Author: Chelsea Handler
Genre: Memoir
Summary: Comedian Chelsea Handler recolects on some funny events in her life.
Review: Chelsea is funny as ever in her second book and it's great to listen to her own experiences in her own words.  I really hear her presence and it's almost as funny as hearing her on TV.
Grade: B+

MINI REVIEW #3
Title: Leviathan
Author: Scott Westerfeld
Illustrator: Keith Thompson
Series: Leviathan
Genre: Steampunk, Alternate History
Summary: Son of the recently murdered Arch Duke Ferdinand, Aleksander tries to go into hiding.  Scottish 15-year old Deryn Sharp is a girl posing as a boy to serve in the British Navy.  Somehow their lives will cross paths and the world may never be the same in this alternate history of WWI. They are on opposite sides of the war. Alek is a clanker, the side that uses heavy machinery to fight.  Deryn is a Darwinist, the side that uses fabricated animals to fight.
Review:  It's by Scott Westerfeld.  Therefore, it is great.  The 50 illustrations in this book made it much more enjoyable.  It is great to see the beginning of another trilogy by Scott Westerfeld.  The characters were very developed and as always, this alternate world is very advanced.  A great read for young adults and keeps you anticipated for the second and third to come.
Grade: B+

Bart Got A Room

Hi Guys! It's currently 12:40AM and my mother and I just watched the hilarious and cute and independent film, Bart Got A Room. Please please please read this review.

Title: Bart Got A Room
Director: Brian Hecker
Starring: Steven Kaplan
Genre: Independent, Comedy
Length: 80 min
MPAA Rating: PG-13
IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0472050/

Summary: The film chronicles nerdy high school senior Danny Stein and his unsuccessful attempts to secure a prom date while his divorced mother (Cheryl Hines) and father (William H. Macy) are on their own quests to find love.  The film's name comes from the fact that the schools biggest dweeb, Bart Beeber not only secured a date for the prom, but got a hotel room after as well.  This is a source of tremendous anxiety for both Danny and his family.

My Review: This is one of the funniest independent films I have seen since Juno. It was so many wonderful things and such a great feel good movie even though you feel bad for the main character throughout the film.  The movie had many many awkward and sexual jokes but they were just to hilarious to try to not laugh unlike I Love You, Man which is a movie I hope no one ever sees because it is so raunchy and unfunny where as Bart Got A Room doesn't overdo the sex jokes one bit.

Throughout the couse of the film Danny tries to get a date with every girl from his sophmore carpool to anyone his best friend sets him up with.  This is one thing I did not like about the film. Danny tries to get every girl he possibly can when all along his best friend for 8 years has already asked him.  It helped the plot and ultimatley lead to the climax of the film but the main character was just too incredibly foolish.


Overall, this was a great for an independent comedy but not quite Oscar material.  I think most people will enjoy the movie because of its great themes and awkwardly funny and heartwarming comedy.

Final Note: It was a cute movie with raunchy jokes that werent over the top but still fun to watch.  Great because of the happy ending and qwirkiness of this independent comedy.
Do I Reccommend It: Sure, it was a great rainy day movie

Grade: B+