Review: SUCKER PUNCH

SUCKER PUNCH (2011)
Starring Emily Browning, Abbie Cornish, Jena Malone, Vanessa Hudgens, Jamie Chung, and Carla Gugino, among others. Directed by Zack Snyder. Produced by Warner Bros. Pictures, Legendary Pictures, Cruel & Unusual Films, and Lennox House Films.

Genre: urban fantasy
Format: DVD

About SUCKER PUNCH (2011):

A young girl is institutionalized by her abusive stepfather. Retreating to an alternative reality as a coping strategy, she envisions a plan which will help her escape from the mental facility.

Source: Info in the About SUCKER PUNCH (2011) was taken from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0978764/ on 17/01/2013.

Movie Trailer:

Movie Links:
Official site
Sucker Punch at Wikipedia
imdb

Review:

The best thing I can say about this film is that the cinematography is brilliant! From the outset though, I can tell that this is a frilly little fantasy with a blonde instant-ninja chick and I didn't want to waste money and time going to the cinema to see that. And I was right. However they had this dvd on sale and it was so cheap that I recon then that it would probably be worth it with that cheap a price so it got bought. Because I went into it with such low expectations, there wasn't much to disappoint, so I wasn't. Besides, for something that cheap, I can't really complain about value for money, now can I? For that price it can be considered good entertainment with all my expectations realized. Silly. Check. Non-believable fantasy. Check. Nonsense weird plot. Check. Sword-weilding, gun-toting pretty blonde. Check. Good entertainment filler in a pinch for fantasy fanatics who likes blondes with no other source of entertainment. That was the upside. The down side, and I guess was the contributing factor why I resisted watching it to begin with, was the movie's smexing schoolgirls. Look at Sweet Pea, for christ sakes!! It smacks too much of pedophilesm to me. WTF!! And that brought the rating of this movie down to the boots.

Empirical Evaluation:
Cinematography = 4.5
Script/Story Itself = 1.5
Ending = 3
World building = 2
Attention To Detail = 2
Plot = 1.5
Acting = 4

Overall Rating: 2 out of 5 cherries

Movies To Look Forward To In October!

Movie(s) Looking Forward To Watching This Month:
Ender's Game (2013):

Ender's Game (2013) Synopsis:

Sometime in the near future, humanity began to explore the solar system and master interplanetary spaceflight. In doing so, they encountered an alien race known as the Formics, derogatorily dubbed "buggers" due to their insect-like appearance, scouting the system and establishing a forward base in the asteroid Eros. The Formics attacked the humans and the two races entered into two drawn-out wars. Despite political conflict on Earth between three ruling parties, the Hegemon, Polemarch, and Strategos, a peace was established and an International Fleet (IF) formed to combat the Formics. In preparation for the Formics' inevitable return (dubbed the "third invasion") the IF created the Battle School, a program designed to find children of the best and brightest tactical minds and to subject them to rigorous training so as to defeat the Formic threat once and for all.

Six-year old Andrew "Ender" Wiggin is the youngest child in the Wiggin family, and part of an Earth program to produce brilliant officers; despite this, Ender is teased as a "third" under Earth's two-child policy. He has a close bond with his sister Valentine, but fears his brother Peter, a highly intelligent sociopath who delights in manipulating and tormenting him. After the IF removes Ender's monitoring device, presumably ending his chances of getting into Command School, he gets into a fight with a fellow student, Stilson. Though the smaller and weaker of the two, Ender manages to fatally wound Stilson (though Ender is unaware of this and believes he merely injured the other boy). When explaining his actions to IF Colonel Hyrum Graff, Ender states his belief that, by showing superiority now, he will have prevented further fights in the future.

Graff, on hearing of this, promptly offers Ender a place in the Battle School, situated in Earth's orbit. Ender initially believes Graff is a friend and ally, but Graff quickly isolates Ender from the other cadets by highlighting his intelligence. Between being ostracized by his fellow cadets and having troubling dreams about Formics, Ender is soon ready to quit the school, but Graff encourages him to continue through communications sent from Valentine.

The cadets participate in competitive small unit based war simulations in zero-gravity arenas. Ender quickly devises new tactics that disrupt the current ways these games are played, often involving sacrificing himself. Graff promotes Ender to a new army composed of the newest and youngest cadets, but Ender is able to gain their trust, and against more ruthless competition, continues to invent new strategies to lead his army to the top of the school. Ender is forced to fight Bonzo Madrid, a jealous commander of another army; Ender manages to gain the upper hand and injure him, but is unaware Bonzo had actually died. As a result of Ender's leadership and bravery, several of his current and former squad members form Ender's Jeesh that remain loyal to him.

Back on Earth, Peter has used a global communication system to post political essays under the pseudonym "Locke", hoping to establish himself as a respected orator (which he believes will shortly lead him to political power despite his youth). Valentine, while not trusting Peter, believes that his methods are sound for affecting world politics in a positive manner. She becomes complicit in Peter's actions by posting works alongside his as "Demosthenes". Their essays which they initially develop in tandem are soon taken seriously by people at the highest positions of power in the government. Though Graff is told their true identities, he recommends that it be kept a secret believing the knowledge might one day prove useful and because their writings are politically useful.

Source: Synopsis was taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ender%27s_Game on 13/09/2013.

Starring Harrison Ford and Asa Butterfield. Directed by Gavin Hood. A Summit Entertainment production.

Movie Link(s):
imdb
wiki
Official Blog
Facebook

Movie Release Date: 25 October 2013

The book from which the movie was based from:

Thor: The Dark World (2013) movie trailer:

About Thor: The Dark World (2013):

Thor battles to save all the Nine Realms from a mysterious enemy older than the universe itself. However, a shadowy race led by Malekith, who is out for revenge, intends to descend the universe into darkness. Confronted by an enemy that even Odin and Asgard cannot overcome, Thor must reunite with Jane Foster and set out on a dangerous journey that will force him to make the ultimate sacrifice.

Source: Info in the About Thor: The Dark World (2013) was taken from http://on.fb.me/UPuuki on 26/11/2012.

Starring Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Kat Dennings, Tom Hiddleston, Idris Elba, Ray Stevenson, Anthony Hopkins, and Jaimie Alexander. Directed by Alan Taylor. Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures.

Movie Link(s):
www.facebook.com/Thor2.TheDarkWorldMovie
imdb
wiki
Movie Release Date: 30 October 2013 (UK)

Movie Review: MORTAL INSTRUMENTS

Mortal Instruments: City Of Bones (2013)
Starring Lily Collins, Jamie Campbell Bower, Kevin Zegers, Jemima West, Robert Sheehan, Godfrey Gao, and Jonathan Rhys Meyers. Directed by Harald Zwart.

Genre: urban fantasy YA

About Mortal Instruments: City Of Bones (2013):

Set in contemporary New York City, a seemingly ordinary teenager, Clary Fray (Lily Collins), discovers she is the descendant of a line of Shadowhunters, a secret cadre of young half-angel warriors locked in an ancient battle to protect our world from demons. After the disappearance of her mother (Lena Headey), Clary must join forces with a group of Shadowhunters, who introduce her to a dangerous alternate New York called Downworld, filled with demons, warlocks, vampires, werewolves and other deadly creatures. Based on the worldwide best-selling book series. Written by Sony Pictures Entertainment

Source: Info in the About Mortal Instruments: City Of Bones (2013) was taken from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1538403/ on 24/08/2013.

Movie Trailer:

Movie Links:
www.themortalinstrumentsmovie.com
Wiki
imdb
official facebook

Review:

I love the world building in the story! Sure, it is recycled, still fantastic though. But the plot depended loosely on the characters acting stupid to give the story a bit more drama. Not the most sturdy of plots. Clary Fray and Jocelyn Fray are just this side of stupid and quite annoying to watch. It makes me wanna shake them and scream for them to use the brains they were born with. Not having read the book yet, it made me wonder if they are even more stupid in the book than they are in the movie... it does not encourage me to read the book after that thought... And then as if that is not enough, the scenes just looked too contrived. It wasn't very convincing. So you have big, scary demons bearing down on you, so everybody takes 5 minutes to look at each other and look dreamy??? WTF?! If it was in "slow motion" to give a scene emphasis, yes, that I could buy. But the actors to act in slow motion? What was that all about?!? Brought the suspension of disbelief down to the boots! It makes me hope that the next Mortal Instruments movie would NOT be directed by Harald Zwart again because this obviously shows that he does not pay that much attention to detail. Or it could be a lack in the talent department. Either way, he ruins what should have been a good movie. I don't even blame Lily Collins for not giving her character a very convincing performance seeing that she is suppose to be stupid and Harald Zwart for a director. She is beautiful though. Her acting is just not as good as her looks. Now, Jonathan Rhys Meyers... he makes a very good villain! The movie makers got that one right! Another thing this movie aced is the cinematography. They have the most talented CGI (computer generated imagery) team ever! The mixing of the CGI effects and live actors/physical set was seamless! The paranormal elements of the story was brought to life in fantastic ways on the silver screen! And I think that was the best feature of this film.

Empirical Evaluation:
Cinematography = 5
Script/Story Itself = 2
Ending = 3
World building = 4.5
Attention To Detail = 1.5
Plot = 2
Acting = 3

Overall Rating: 3 out of 5 cherries

The book from which the movie was based from:

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
Book 1 of the Mortal Instruments series
Genre: urban fantasy YA

About City of Bones:

Don’t miss The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, soon to be a major motion picture in theaters August 2013!

When fifteen-year-old Clary Fray heads out to the Pandemonium Club in New York City, she hardly expects to witness a murder -- much less a murder committed by three teenagers covered with strange tattoos and brandishing bizarre weapons. Then the body disappears into thin air. It's hard to call the police when the murderers are invisible to everyone else and when there is nothing -- not even a smear of blood -- to show that a boy has died. Or was he a boy?

This is Clary's first meeting with the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the earth of demons. It's also her first encounter with Jace, a Shadowhunter who looks a little like an angel and acts a lot like a jerk. Within twenty-four hours Clary is pulled into Jace's world with a vengeance, when her mother disappears and Clary herself is attacked by a demon. But why would demons be interested in ordinary mundanes like Clary and her mother? And how did Clary suddenly get the Sight? The Shadowhunters would like to know. . . .

Exotic and gritty, exhilarating and utterly gripping, Cassandra Clare's ferociously entertaining fantasy takes readers on a wild ride that they will never want to end.

Source: Info in the About City of Bones was taken from GoodReads at http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/256683.City_of_Bones on 24/08/2013.

Movies To Look Forward To In June!

Movies this June:
Movie To Look Forward To: After Earth (2013)

About After Earth (2013):

After a crash landing, a father and son explore a planet that was evacuated by humans 1,000 years earlier.

Source: Info in the About After Earth (2013) was taken from http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt1815862/ on 12/12/12.

Starring Will Smith and Jaden Smith. Directed by M. Night Shyamalan. Produced by Blinding Edge Pictures and Overbrook Entertainment.

Movie Link(s):
www.facebook.com/AfterEarth
afterearth.com

Movie Release Date: 7 June 2013 (UK)

Man Of Steel (2013) movie trailer:

About Man Of Steel (2013):

An alien infant is raised on Earth, and grows up with superhuman abilities. He sets out to use these abilities to guard his adopted world.

Source: Info in the About Man Of Steel (2013) was taken from http://imdb.to/VBWeV on 26/11/2012.

Starring Henry Cavill, Russell Crowe, Amy Adams, and Kevin Costner. Directed by Zack Snyder. Produced by Warner Bros. Pictures.

Movie Link(s):
Official Site
www.facebook.com/manofsteel
imdb

Movie Release Date: 14 June 2013 (UK)

World War Z (2013)

About World War Z (2013):

A U.N. employee is racing against time and fate, as he travels the world trying to stop the outbreak of a deadly Zombie pandemic.

Source: Info in the About World War Z (2013) was taken from http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0816711/ on 12/12/12.

Starring Brad Pitt and Eric West. Directed by Marc Forster. Produced by Plan B Entertainment, Apparatus Productions, GK Films, Hemisphere Media Capital, Latina Pictures, Paramount Pictures, and Skydance Productions.

Movie Link(s):
www.facebook.com/WorldWarZ.UK
twitter.com/WorldWarZMovie
Official Site

Movie Release Date: 21 June 2013 (UK)

Book-To-Movies this February 2013

Great Movies To Look Forward To this Month:

• WARM BODIES
• BEAUTIFUL CREATURES

WARM BODIES (2013) movie trailer:

About Warm Bodies (2013):

Warm Bodies is a 2013 American romantic zombie comedy film based on Isaac Marion's popular novel of the same name. Directed and written by Jonathan Levine, the film stars Nicholas Hoult and Teresa Palmer. This film focuses on the development of the relationship between Julie (a teenage girl) and R (a zombie) and how their romance sets in motion a sequence of events that might transform the entire lifeless world.

Source: Info in the About Warm Bodies (2013) was taken from http://bit.ly/OMVilB on 26/11/2012.

Starring Nicholas Hoult and Teresa Palmer. Directed by Jonathan Levine. Produced by Summit Entertainment.

Movie Link(s):
Official Site
imdb

Movie Release Date: 8 February 2013 (UK)

The book from which the movie was adopted from:

Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion
Book 1 of Warm Bodies series
Genre: urban fantasy | YA

About Warm Bodies:

A zombie who yearns for a better life ends up falling in love — with a human — in this astonishingly original debut novel.

R is a zombie. He has no memories, no identity, and no pulse, but he has dreams. He doesn’t enjoy killing people; he enjoys riding escalators and listening to Frank Sinatra. He is a little different from his fellow Dead.

Not just another zombie novel, Warm Bodies is funny, scary, and deeply moving.

Source: Info in the About Warm Bodies was taken from http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7619057-warm-bodies on 26/11/2012.

BEAUTIFUL CREATURES (2013) movie trailer:

About Beautiful Creatures (2013):

Ethan longs to escape his small Southern town. He meets a mysterious new girl, Lena. Together, they uncover dark secrets about their respective families, their history and their town.

Source: Info in the About Beautiful Creatures (2013) was taken from http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt1559547 on 19/11/2012.

Starring Jeremy Irons, Alice Englert, Alden Ehrenreich, and Thomas Mann. Directed by Richard LaGravenese. Produced by Alcon Entertainment and Warner Bros. Entertainment.

Movie Link(s):
www.facebook.com/BeautifulCreaturesMovie
@RavenwoodManor
beautifulcreaturesmovie.tumblr.com
google+
imdb

Movie Release Date: 13 February 2013

The book from which the movie was adopted from:

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl
Book 1 of Caster Chronicles series
Genre: urban fantasy | YA

About Beautiful Creatures:

There were no surprises in Gatlin County.
We were pretty much the epicenter of the middle of nowhere.
At least, that's what I thought.
Turns out, I couldn't have been more wrong.
There was a curse.
There was a girl.
And in the end, there was a grave.

Lena Duchannes is unlike anyone the small Southern town of Gatlin has ever seen, and she's struggling to conceal her power and a curse that has haunted her family for generations. But even within the overgrown gardens, murky swamps and crumbling graveyards of the forgotten South, a secret cannot stay hidden forever.

Ethan Wate, who has been counting the months until he can escape from Gatlin, is haunted by dreams of a beautiful girl he has never met. When Lena moves into the town's oldest and most infamous plantation, Ethan is inexplicably drawn to her and determined to uncover the connection between them.

In a town with no surprises, one secret could change everything.

Source: Info in the About Beautiful Creatures was taken from http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6304335-beautiful-creatures on 19/11/2012.

Review: THREE TO GET DEADLY

Three To Get Deadly by Janet Evanovich
Book 3 of the Stephanie Plum series
Narrated by CJ Critt
Format: audiobook
Genre: crime fiction chicklit

About Three To Get Deadly:

A "saintly" old candy-store owner is on the lam - and bounty hunter extraordinaire Stephanie Plum is on the case. As the body count rises, Stephanie finds herself dealing with dead drug dealers and slippery fugitives on the chase of her life. And with the help of eccentric friends and family, Steph must see to it that this case doesn't end up being her last...

Source: Info in the About Three To Get Deadly was taken from at http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6854.Three_to_Get_Deadly on 15/07/2012.

Narrative Evaluation:

I actually had to re-borrow this audiobook because I got irritated when I first listened to it and stopped listening about three quarters into the book. I know that Stephanie's stupidity is suppose to be part of her character and part of her charm, but its starting to get on my nerves. Then after a few months, I forgot my annoyance and re-borrowed this book. And I enjoyed listening to it again! I don't know whether I was just being cranky the first time around and being mellow the second time around that resulted in me enjoying it now, but, I laughed out loud at Stephanie's and Lola's antics again. Not once, not twice, but many times as I listened along. That considerably increased the rating for this book. I think the humour between the pages is this book's best feature. While the worst is the cover art. If I hadn't read this series before I would never in a million years pick this book up based on the cover alone! But at the end of it, I enjoyed this book and would continue to read more books in this series. I think I am on my way to becoming a die hard fan of Stephanie Plum!

Empirical Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 3.5
Character development = 4.5
Story itself = 3.5
Ending = 4
World building = 4.5
Cover art = 1
Pace = N/A (9 discs)
Plot = 3.5
Narrator = 4

Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5 cherries


Thank you to RCT Library for letting me borrow this audiobook!!

FTC Disclosure:
This audiobook was borrowed from the library. No money received for this review.

Review: ONE FOR THE MONEY

One For The Money by Janet Evanovich
Book 1 of the Stephanie Plum series
Narrated by CJ Critt
Format: audiobook
Genre: ?investigative suspense

About One For The Money:

Read the Dynamite Blockbuster that Started It All!

Welcome to Trenton, New Jersey, home to wiseguys, average Joes, and Stephanie Plum, who sports a big attitude and even bigger money problems (since losing her job as a lingerie buyer for a department store). Stephanie needs cash--fast--but times are tough, and soon she's forced to turn to the last resort of the truly desperate: family.

Stephanie lands a gig at her sleazy cousin Vinnie's bail bonding company. She's got no experience. But that doesn't matter. Neither does the fact that the bail jumper in question is local vice cop Joe Morelli. From the time he first looked up her dress to the time he first got into her pants to the time Steph hit him with her father's Buick, M-o-r-e-l-l-i has spelled t-r-o-u-b-l-e. And now the hot guy is in hot water--wanted for murder.

Abject poverty is a great motivator for learning new skills, but being trained in the school of hard knocks by people like psycho prizefighter Benito Ramirez isn't. Still, if Stephanie can nab Morelli in a week, she'll make a cool ten grand. All she has to do is become an expert bounty hunter overnight--and keep herself from getting killed before she gets her man.

Source: Info in the About One For The Money was taken from at http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6853.One_for_the_Money on 04/03/2012.

Review:

The main protagonist, Stephanie Plum, is too stupid to live (TSTL)... but, this time around it's in keeping with her character. This way it's just slightly less irritating because you sorta expect her to have a "blonde moment" and her stupid escapades are kinda funny. Stephanie is too stupid to live and survived only by sheer dumb luck. And that's the beauty of her character! Still annoying, but tolerable and at the same time adorable. So I think I am still going to go watch the movie adaptation of this book and see if they've editted Stephanie's TSTL or made it worse. Plus I think Katherine Heigl fits Stephanie. Trailer of the movie is at the bottom of this post. What I do like about this book is that the story did not depend on Stephanie to act stupid to give the story some drama. The plot is nicely done that it isn't so straight forward after all. After reading the Aurora Teagarden mysteries, I do appreciate a plot that is not so thin with holes and depended on the main protagonist acting stupid to give the story a bit of drama. That probably brought the standard bar quite low but I still enjoyed the not-so-straightforward plot of this book.

I also like the narrator's interpretation of the book. She brought her own flavour in her reading and I think it made the book more interesting. Though the quality of her voice is not as easy to the ears as Alyssa Bresnahan or Johanna Parker but her reading is perfect. Good diction. Good voice modulation. Excellent interpretation. Offsets the mere quality of voice. If she reads more books in my genre, I would listen to her again.

Overall I enjoyed this book very much and looking forward to reading/listening more books in this series!

Empirical Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 4.5
Character development = 4.5
Story itself = 4.5
Ending = 4
World building = 4.5
Cover art = 1
Pace = (8.5 hours long)
Plot = 4.5
Narrator = 4.5

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 cherries


The trailer of the movie adaptation of this book:

Thank you to RCT Library for letting me borrow this audiobook!!

FTC Disclosure:
This audiobook was borrowed from the library. No money received for this review.