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

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+