Mini Movie Reviews #5

Theater

Mission Impossible Rouge Nation
Typical MI movie. I enjoyed Simon Pegg's contribution. He's always been a favorite of mine and was great at keeping the, otherwise wild and tense, movie a little easier to breath through. I also, surprise, surprise, liked the girl. I usually can't stand the girls in these movies but this one was likable. The Villain was a little too "comic book/evil genius" for me but all in all, the movie was enjoyable. If only the theater had turned the AC down. Seriously 85/90 degrees with about 150 people in the theater is just too damn hot!









                                                                                                                              Redbox

Ex Machina
Honestly, I only watched this one on the recommendation of my brother-in-law. I'm pretty sure I had a permanent expression of confusion on my face for the duration of the movie. It went right over my pretty little head. After talking to my BIL and hearing what he thought the message behind the movie was it made a little more sense...but I'm still not sure I agree with his assessment and I still wouldn't recommend this one.









Netflix

If I Stay
I saw this one on Netflix and thought, "well, I hated the book but what the hell." I'm actually glad I watched the movie. It made me really appreciate the book better. Something about seeing these characters go through what they did and seeing their emotions helped. I even teared up a bit. I will warn you it jumped around so much that it felt longer than it was, which is never a good thing, but I think it's worth the watch.

Review: Bone Gap

Title Bone Gap
By Laura Ruby
Genre NA Magic realism
Pages 373


First Sentence 
The corn was talking to him again.



Synopsis
Finn and Sean O'Sullivan are used to losing things in their small town of Bone Gap. Their mother left them to fend for themselves and Sean gave up on his dreams to raise Finn. When the beautiful Roza joins their lives it seems things might be getting better but just as quickly as Roza appeared she's disappeared and the only witness to her kidnapping is Finn. Finn the boy they call Moonface, Sidetrack and Spaceman.

What is has going for it
I could just tell you that this was my first five star book of the year and leave it at that but  I loved this book too much to not talk about it. First of all, how did I not know about this amazing author? Laura Ruby's writing...,guys, it's so beautiful and poetic. And then comes this wonderful story. It's mysterious and heart wrenching. The feels! This has it all, a hint of magic, with a side of romance topped with suspense. Argh! I guess I'm not going to talk about it too much after all. I don't want to give anything away. You just need to read this book!

What's lacking
Nothing is lacking but I will warn you this is more of an NA than a YA so there was a scene that was for more mature readers.

Yea or Nay?
Seriously? You're still on the fence? Read. This. Book!

Utah Author Highlight

This week for Utah Book Month the theme is Utah Author's as I mentioned here, there are a lot of them. I thought about all of them and was trying to decide which one to highlight. I know there're some people out there who's jaw is going to hit the floor but here goes.

Brandon "McSmug" Sanderson

The reason my highlight choice is so shocking is because I really, REALLY do not like this man. Still, he has quite the nerdy following and is probably one of the biggest known Utah authors. So in traditional Jenny style I thought I'd list all the reasons I really just can't stand the guy. Ready?

1 I don't speak THAT dialect of nerd.

Look at them! Every book signing or author event that this guy is at is just filled with these nerdy nerds. Now, I consider myself a huge nerd. I like X-men and can probably tell you more about each of the X-Men's backgrounds than you'd ever want to know. I religiously watched Batman and Spiderman cartoons when I was a teenager. I've seen all the DC and Marvel movies and, yes, I can tell you which heroes are from which universe. I know what Stan Lee looks like etc etc. Seriously, guys, I'm a nerd. Just not THAT kind of nerd.

2 I don't like his books

Pretty good reason, right? Well, not really but let me explain. Sanderson seems like a nice guy but he has this self satisfied, arrogant, pat himself on the back personality and it's so out of control it shows up in his writing. Like this: "Look at me! Look at my books! Look at this world I built! Oh wait, I'm supposed to have likable characters? I could cut my books in half by leaving out all the flashy, attention seeking details? But...my world building is so awesome! Not to mention my magical system! LOOK AT IT!!!"

3 He actually knows enough about these books to have been chosen to finish the series

Need I say more? Sheesh! He's probably got them memorized. *cough cough* geek *cough"

I'll stop now before a nerdy lynch mob with greasy hair shows up in their flooder pants, waving their pointy elbows around like a chicken and threatening to use D&D like powers on me. ;) I've seen Sanderson's house, people. It's huge. Obviously the man is talented and earns lots of money. Making anything I have to say about him moot.

So there you have it, folks, my weird highlight on that "smug" SOB Sanderson. :)

Review: Ruby Oliver Books 1 & 2

Title The Boy Book (Ruby Oliver 2)
By E. Lockhart
Genre YA, Contemporary
Pages 208



First Sentence The Care and Ownership of Boobs.

Synopsis
Ruby is back. Still not talking to her former best friends Kim or Cricket but Nora is still talking to her and Noel and her are becoming better friends. The panic attacks still are in full swing. Thankfully Dr Z is helping. If only Ruby can get over Jackson, make new friends and survive Junior year at Tate prep.


What is has going for it
I'm so glad I picked this series back up. I adored the first book but just hadn't managed to get to the rest of the series. My reading slump was killing me and these were the cure. I read this one in a day. Ruby is all kinds of awesome. It always makes a good book that much greater when you relate to the MC and I totally relate to Ruby. No, I don't have panic attacks. Nor am I a sexy nerd girl with boys chasing me and ex best friends, but I get Ruby. She just cares a little too much about what everyone thinks. Huge fault of mine. I could see myself getting panic attacks if I didn't get it under control. Anywho, these books are just too awesome. Funny and heart string pulling. I can't wait to read the last book in the series.

What's lacking?
Still not a huge fan of the weird footnotes but I have no other complaints.

Yea or Nay?
Yes! Read this book. Read the series!

Title The Treasure Map of Boys (Ruby Oliver 3)
By E. Lockhart
Genre YA, Contemporary
Pages 248


First Sentence I'm not always a good friend.



Synopsis
Junior year at Tate prep is half over. Ruby is still having panic attacks. She's in charge of the school's bake sale and fighting feelings for Noel, but she's piecing her life back into control....hopefully.


What is has going for it
Oh, man, guys. I love these books. This one was my favorite so far. Ruby is getting her life under control. OK, she has a few set backs but who doesn't? I thoroughly enjoyed watching Ruby get it together. And I laughed way too hard in this one. The dog, the marshmallow Jesus'. Too funny! And then that ending. Wow! I can't wait to see what happens in the final installment.

What's lacking
Nothing. Nothing to hate is this one. Hey, I'm even getting used to the footnotes.

Yea or Nay?
Yep! Read it and laugh and cry and then thank me for recommending them. I'll wait. :)

Utah Book Month Read Along

As part of Utah Book Month I've been reading Not in the Script by Amy Finnegan. I'm also reading it for my book club and the author herself will be coming to our book club meeting. Exiting right?! I thought so. We're reading this book in two sections as it's a fast read. Here's my thoughts for the first half.

1. What's your overall impression of this story so far? Are you liking it? If so, what do you like? Are you not liking it? If so, what do you not like?

This one is definitely a romance. I wish more was going on than just a romance but, it's OK. I'm not hating it anyway.

2. Do you like the cover? What does it suggest about the book?

Nope, sorry, the cover is just not my thing.

3. What do you think about the dynamics of Rachel and Emma's relationship? How would you feel if you were Emma? If you were Rachel?

Honestly I feel like we didn't get that great of a look at Rachel and I'm nearly done with the book. She just seems like a plot device not a real person. 

4. Let's talk about the slow build up between Jake and Emma. Which part was your favorite?

Slow build? What slow build? This was major instalove. No they didn't quite act on it right away but close enough.

5. Brett has a playboy persona with a tidbit of actual humanity hiding underneath. What do you think he's really like? What are his motivations?

The verdict is still out on Brett. I think his character could be used in a more creative way but that's just me.

6. What real celebrities would you cast for these pretend celebrity characters?

I suck at this.

Selena Gomez as Emma

Jared Padalecki as Jake

Alex Pettyfer as Brett

Taylor Swift as Kimmi, even though she can't act

7. What do you think about the behind the scene particulars of filming a TV show? Does it sound fun? Hard? Exciting? Boring?

This is another thing that's bugging me. What is this TV show? It sounds boring as sin! The scenes we do see are like two lines long and I really don't get it. Oh well. I guess it's not about the TV show but still.

8. What do you think about Emma's vow to never date a guy she works with? Do you think real life celebrities have this same policy?

Emma, Emma, what vow? All you date are costars and you don't seem to be changing that anytime soon. Yes, we all know costars date. No real surprise there. 

9. If you were Emma, would you have told Rachel what's going down with Jake WAY before now? Or do you think Emma is justified in keeping things secret?

Emma's "secret" is like the only drama/plot in the whole book. So, yeah, I'm fine with it. I need something to keep me reading, you know? 

10. What's your evaluation of Jake's character so far?

He's a little too nice for my taste. Too perfect.