memoirs of a SAHM: Storyland a disappointment

Friday, August 15, 2008

Storyland a disappointment

Storyland was a total bust. Even though my kids had an alright time, mostly due to the part they had a bunch of friends there with them, I was VERY disappointed.

Storyland was slated to close last year, when someone bought it out and decided to update and reopen it for this summer. I had been years and years ago when C was just a baby and K was about 2 years old and wasn't all that impressed with it, but since it had new owners and they forked out some money to do a bit of updating, I decided it was worth checking out again.

We arrived, and I had great expectations that this visit would be worth the $40 for the three of us to visit. But it wasn't. We started the tour, and noticed nothing new, the playgrounds were still old, the story's were still old and everything was still old.. The new things we noticed was a little boat ride, and I mean little, they added a jeep rally, which my kids couldn't ride, because it was more for the smaller kids, and a new place to eat, which is just a little hut in the middle of the woods offering burgers and dogs. Everything was still so old and unchanged. I thought maybe the paddle boats had been updated, but nope, you are still on the same small swampy pond, paddling around in a little circle, I was just unimpressed. I was so unimpressed and won't go back again, but there are people that go there time and time again. I just can't imagine why.

We head over to the splash pad and that wasn't anything special either. The local parks around here offer a better splash pad for free. They also had mini putt, which was rather old and needed a lot of work.

In the end, I feel the whole place still needs a MAJOR upgrade. They have to sink money into the place and come up with some new stories, new characters and new fun things geared towards kids of all ages. They have a great spot where they are, they just need to make some changes and a little ride and some jeeps geared towards little kids, just aren't cutting it.

I hope to hear about big changes in the future. Storyland hasn't changed in the last 45 years and Ottawa needs a fun place to bring our kids year after year, with new things added yearly, as I like change and change is what brings people back.

1 comment:

anji said...: We went there also this summer and our niece had a great time. I was actually happy someone bought it and it takes a lot of work to revitalise something like that. Rome wasn't built in a day and neither was Storyland! My grandpa helped build it and I'm 30 years old now, so my dad had a part in building it too. However, I'm not wanting to sound bad or anything but I think it is also what you are used to, that can determine what your satisfaction level is for it. It isn't meant to be a Canada's Wonderland or Disney-type park. For the kids in the area who don't have anything else, this is their *big* thing... either they can't travel far due to farm committments, or they just can't afford it.

Please give them another two or three years to get things up and running, and to add some of the features they still want to... and try it again!

Hope you aren't offended by this but - I just wanted to put my two cents in...

Thanks!

Farm girl at heart :); September 19, 2008 at 5:29 PM

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Funny Things kids say

Heading home in the car after swimming last night, C was feeling rather tired, he says to us, my head is dizzy, my arms are tired and my legs are burnt out..

Burnt out, not sure where he got that one from, but he gave us a laugh.

Telling a story to my sister, with C in the room, of the time when C had tried to climb into a cart, and pulled it down on top of him. She asked, did he get hurt? I said No, but I gave him S***! C asks, What is S***? I had to laugh.
I did explain it is a bad word, that sometimes grown ups say, and kids should not use it. He did give me a laugh though.

C received a pajama set for Christmas which included a robe and slippers in this greyish green color. C puts it all on, and I help tie his belt, and when he starts walking away, he turns around and says I look like Yoda. Too funny.

I am cutting K's hair, and she is freaking out because hair is getting in her face. It is a ordeal to cut her hair. When I think I am done, I send her up and tell her to look in the mirror and her hair will look the same, she is still crying and upset, so she looks and yells down to me, I hate it and it looks like one side is longer than the other. In which it is, because she is always moving her head, I can't even it out. It was a good laugh.

Today when I picked up C from Mom's house, I was in the kitchen and he was in the living room when I heard something crash to the floor. I asked what happened, and he replied "Oh, it's a long story" To cute

My 5 star Movie ratings

Angels and Demons **** - This movie was great. It was just like the book and was portrayed wonderfully. I would recommend reading the book before watching the movie as it has more details, just like any other book.
Robert Lang don is asked by the Vatican for help. 4 Cardinals have been kidnapped by the Illuminati and will start to be killed at 8pm. The kidnapper has also stolen a highly destructive weapon that will go explode by midnight if the battery is not changed.
Robert works hard to find the path of the Illuminati to save the Cardinals. In the end, the last Cardinal is saved and the weapon found and destroyed. I don't want to give away the mastermind behind the whole thing, so you will have to watch the movie to find out.

Knowing *** - This was a movie I really didnt' know what it was all about before watching. A disturbed girl in 1959 seals a letter written by her in a time capsule. A letter full of numbers that when unsealed 50 years later, a father of the boy that was given the letter, figures out the numbers are all times, dates and places of major disasters. The last disaster would mean the end of the world. His boy is hearing and seeing strange beings, these beings are here to take each species 2x2 and rescue them from the earths annihilation, and then return them after wards. The world ends. It was not what I was expecting.

Sunshine Cleaning ***- I liked this movie. About 2 sisters, 1 who loses their job and another who is a maid. The sister Rose, who is the maid, decides she needs to make more money and her and her sister get into the business of cleaning up after deaths. Things are going well and Rose is really liking her job, until her sister ends up at a job alone and burns down the house she is cleaning. Since they do not have insurance, Rose is now responsible for the $40K home. She goes back to her maid job, and her sister goes on a road trip. Her dad, however has other plans. He comes to live with Rose and she and him get together and start up the business again.

Push ***- This was an interesting movie. About people with special abilities and the gov't trying to catch them and make them even more powerful to create a super army. Unfortunatly the drug they are using to make them more powerful is killing them. Until 1 person survives the injection but then flees. Into the hands of her old boyfriend and a young girl who fight the gov't and bring them down to change the way things are. Not a bad movie.

The International ***- This movie was OK. An agent is looking into a bank buying weapons and the reasons. They are limited in their jurisdiction because they are US citizens and the bank is in Europe. The bank takes care of anyone that is getting too close to uncovering what they are doing. Finally the agent takes action into his own hands, but someone else(a hit man) takes them all out, because they killed one of the weapon makers and his sons hire someone to kill them all.

Nothing but the Truth ** - I don't know about this movie. I was upset at the reporter for protecting her source and letting her life crumble around her. She lost her husband and child all to protect a source. This is about freedom of press and principals. She is standing up for a principal at a very high cost. Kate Beckinsale plays reporter Rachael Armstrong, who reveals a CIA operative in a story. The govt is after her to name her source, and she refuses. The process which sends her to jail for contempt of court, keeps her in jail for almost a year. The judge decides to let her go, and she gets arrested for criminal contempt and sent to prison for 2 years, It seems wrong for her to keep this secret as the cost of losing everything she has, and it seems wrong that the gov't can send her to jail. In the end her source is revealed as the child of the CIA operative. It was a movie I was unsatisfied with. I was angry with. If you watch it, let me know what you think.

Rock n' Rolla * This was a bizarre movie. I did not enjoy this movie at all. The movie had a lot of characters, some good guys some bad guys.. Not a movie worth watching in my opinion.

New In Town *** - I love a good funny movie. This one had it's fair share of funny moments. A city girl from Miami,Lucy, moves to Minnesota to head up the switch over of the factory there, and terminate 50% of the workforce. Over the months she is there, she meets the wonderful people that work there and doesn't want to lay off any of them and ruin their lives. She tries to save the factory, until the top guys decide to shut it down. She comes up with a plan that saves the factory. She becomes the newest VP and heads back to Miami. She misses the people there, and decides to buy the company with the workers and she heads it up becoming CEO.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button **** - This was a very sad movie. The mother of Benjamin dies after giving birth to him. His father after seeing him, delivers him to a safe place to be raised. Queenie finds him and raises him. Benjamin is different from other people. Benjamin was born old and grows younger. This movie is told through Daisy, his true love, who is in a hospital dying with her daughter by her side. Her daughter, the only daughter of Benjamin, reads his diary, about his life, and finds out that Benjamin was her father. The ups and downs of his life, and all the time he spent away from them. Benjamin eventually is found a child, and Daisy takes care of him, as he dies in her arms a baby. It was a very good movie, and worth watching.

The Punisher * - Can you say gore, gore and more gore. Wow, this movie was full of blood and guts. It had an OK story line, but I did not enjoy it very much. If you are into this kind of thing, you will like the movie, if not, don't bother. You won't be missing much.

Underworld: Rise of the Lycans ** - The third movie, or really it should be the first. The movie was OK, following a vampire and a Lycan who are in love. When the ruler of the vampire world finds out his daughter is in love with a Lycan he has her killed, and tries to kill the Lycan but not before he summons the rest of the werewolves to take down their kingdom. The lycan thinks he has killed the ruler but in the end he is some how rescued. Interesting. Not a bad watch if you are into the vampire/werewolf stuff like I am right now.

Paul Blart: Mall Cop *** - I liked this movie, I love a good comedy. Paul Blart is a lonely mall cop who is in love with Amy who works at the mall. Paul tries to get her to notice him, but he is such a clutz and everyone disregards him. While closing up one of the shops for a store owner, Paul closes up and finds the mall is being held up, and the leader is a mall cop trainee. They are stealing the codes to credit cards to make off with money. Paul's antics and funny stunts save the day. Cute movie.

The Wrestler * - What can I say about this movie. I have only one word. BORING.... I can't believe I sat through this one. I am giving it one star only because it did have a sort of decent story line. Old wrestler has heart attack, retires, tries to fix his life, to realize his life is wrestling and his fans are his family. Comes back from retirement to fight again, because this is his life. A movie I would never watch again.

Inkheart *** - I like a good fantasy movie. This one was well done. Mortimer and his daughter Meggie have been traveling around looking for a book titled Inkheart. When he finally finds it, Dustfinger confronts him and wants to be read back in his story. Turns out Mort is a silver tongue and when he reads aloud characters or events from the book are brought to this world, but someone must go back in the book. His wife disappeared one day before he knew what he could do, into the book Inkheart. Now he has to save his wife Resa, get Dustfinger back in his story and return all the other characters, back to their books. It is an interesting fantasy.

Surfer Dude * - There wasn't a lot of surfing in this movie. Steve Addington is back home ready to surf with his buddies. But their is no surf. Turns out Steve's old sponsors are gone and the new guy in town wants Steve to surf for reality TV on a virtual surfing game. He doesn't want to, he just wants to surf. Time is tough without being able to surf, but he pulls through and finally gets to surf without signing his life away for reality TV.

Slumdog Millionaire **** - A truly inspiring movie. Jamal Malik (A slumdog who grew up in Mumbai) is on the show, Who Wants to be a Millionaire and is doing exceptionally well. So well, that the show decides he must be cheating and has him arrested. He is interrogated by the police and through flashbacks of his life experiences, explains how he knows the answers to the questions. An excellent movie. A must see.

Rachel getting Married ** - This movie was OK. About a girl Kim, who is a recovering addict and has been in and out of rehab for many years, comes home for her sister's wedding. The ups and downs of her relationship with her family and still trying to deal with the fact that when she was high on drugs, she had an accident that killed her little brother. Not one I would watch again, I found it a little depressing.

The day the Earth Stood still ** - Well this was another alien movie. A glass sphere lands on earth and someone is born human into earth. He is hear to save the earth, because the human race is killing it. One woman and her son, try to convince him that they can change and eventually they do, and the destruction of the human race stops. I guess they will be watching to make sure they really do change.

Seven Pounds ** - I was confused for most of the movie, until I figured out what was happening. Ben is an IRS agent watching people. He meets up with them and is trying to help them. All the while there is something going on with him, he has flashes of his old life. When I finally realized what was going on, when I understood better, I quite liked it, but for the first hour, I thought forget this, and was about to turn it off, but I gave it a bit more time. Ben is actually Tim and it turns out Tim was responsible for an accident that killed 7 people including the love of his life. Tim decides he was going to save 7 people to make it up, and has a friend arrange everything for him, before he dies, he donates part of his lung to his brother, a kidney to another woman, he rescues a mother and her children from an abusive relationship and gives her his beach house to start a fresh life in. When he finally kills himself, his eyes are given to a good man, his heart to a woman he started to fall in love with, and his kidney to an older man who deserved to have a longer life. I believe his brother got his other lung too. So seven lives for seven lives. A very sad movie.

Twilight **** - Great book, great movie. This movie was very well done and one I could watch over and over again. Bella Swan moves to the town of Forks with her dad where she meets Edward. At first she is shocked by his reaction towards her and decides to confront him, but he disappears for a few days. When he finally returns, he decides to talk to her and they become fast friends and more. She finds out that he is a vampire, she is not afraid and has fallen in love with him. During a family baseball game, Bella is seen by James another Vampire who hunts humans. He starts to track her and gets to her and bites her before Edward sucks the venom out of her and saves her life. A great movie to see especially if you are hooked on the book like I am.

City Of Ember ****- This was a very well done movie. The City of Ember was made underground and was suppose to sustain life for 200 years hoping earth and whatever was wrong with it would have time to recover. The box containing instructions on how to leave the city was suppose to be handed down from mayor to mayor for 200 years until it was time to leave, but on the 7th mayor of Ember, the box was lost. Time has passed and Ember is starting to fail. Lights are flickering and the generator is dying. Lina who is a messenger in the city, finds a box in her grandmother's house. This is the house of the 7th mayor. Lina finds this box and opens it to find instructions, she is not sure what it means, but she finds her friend Doon and he helps her. They soon discover that this box holds the clue to getting out of Ember. They follow the clues that eventually lead them out of Ember to the earth above. Well done movie.

Role Models ** - This movie had a few funny moments, but not as funny as I it would be. Danny who hates his life at the moment and feels stuck, has a mental break down and does something stupid. He ends up having to do 150 community service with his co-worker/friend wheeler who was an accessory to the crime( ruining a statue). They are sent to sturdy wings, where adults(bigs) and children(littles) work together and do fun things. Danny is assigned to the teenage boy Auggie who is obsessed with the fantasy world of Laire, and Wheeler is assigned to Ronnie, who is a foul mouthed child. They both hate it and are counting down the hours. As the hours add up though, they get to know the kids, and really like them. The story had a good moral. Not a bad movie.

Kit Kittredge *** - This movie was very well done. About a little girl growing up in the depression. Her father loses his job and he goes to Chicago to try to find work. Her mother and her stay behind taking in boarders, selling eggs and doing anything they can to keep their home. Kit wants to be a reporter, and writes stories for the local paper, but never gets published. The story revolves around many boarders living in her home, and the hobo's that work at her home for food. A theft is reported and William (hobo) is blamed, Kit does some investigating and it turns out some of the boarders are the real theifs. She finds them and catches them and they go to jail. There home is saved, her father returns home, without a job, but he will search for one where he lives and one of Kit's stories finally does get published. A nice story. If we think the economic times here are bad, watching this movie, will shed light on how much harder they had it.

Zak and Miri make a Porno ** - It wasn't that funny, to me anyways, but it was not that bad of a movie. High school friends, Zak and Miri have been friends forever. They live together and are broke together. When they lose power and water, they become desperate for money. Zak gets an idea to make a porno and Miri agrees, and they go full swing into things. They hire a crew and fellow actors. When Zak and Miri have sex though, it complicates their relationship. They love each other. Miri thinks Zak slept with someone else though after her and she is mad. They split up and go there seperate ways until Zak finds out Miri does love him and they live happily ever after..

Shopaholic **** - Not quite as good as the book and not set in England, but very well done. I had some good laughs at this movie. Rebecca Bloomwood is a shopaholic. She ends up drowning herself in debt, meeting a fantastic guy, excelling at her new job, but it all gets ruined by a debt collector. She manages to pull herself out of debt, turn down her dream job and gets back her fantastic man. Great story.

Pride and Glory *** - A good cop, bad cop movie. In this movie, a father(Francis) and his two sons(Franny and Ray) are police officers. Francis's daughter has also married a police officer(Jimmy). They are all one big happy family, until 4 police men are killed. Ray starts an investigation and finds out cops are involved, all leading back to Jimmy, his brother in law. In the end, he goes to arrest him, when they are attacked by a mob of angry guys that Jimmy has hurt. They hold Ray back while Jimmy gives himself up, and is beaten to death. A good movie, but a little slow and long for my liking.

Lakeview Terrace *** - Glad my neighbors are pretty nice people. In this movie, a new couple move next door to Abel Turner, a police officer and a single dad of 2. He has many rules and wants his kids to grow up in a nice neighborhood and be respected and respectful. He doesn't like the new neighbors because they are a interracial couple and says many nasty things. His neighbors try to get along with him, but he cuts them down each step fo the way. Turner wants them out and sets up a informant he uses to break into their house, when the wife shows up early, presses the house alarm and is attacked. Turner and the husband show up, and Turner shoots the guy. The cell phone the informant uses is lost, only for the husband to find, and dial the last number, Turner.. Turner shows up at their house, gun in hand, and attacks. In the end the police show up, and shoot Turner for shooting the neighbor. Like I said, I am glad I have nice neighbors.

How to Lose friends and alienate people *- Not a great movie. I did watch it from start to finish, but it wasn't that great of a movie. A magazine writer from Britain, gets hired by Sharps magazine in New york. His ways differ from there, and many people do not like him. He manages to meet a girl and they become close, but she is dating her married boss. They are off again, on again. He decides that he will never make it in new your unless he becomes just like them, and so he does. Then he decides after finding out the girl he loves, has broken up with her boss, because she is in love with someone else. Turns out to be him. He decides, he wants his old life back, and ruins his chances in the magazine industry by having it out with the girl who wins at an awards ceremony. There were a few funny parts, but overall this movie sucked.

Traitor *- I fell asleep half way through this movie and then awakened at the end. What I know is I wasn't that interested in this movie. About a man Samir, who as a young boy witnessed his father's death in a car bombing outside his home. He ends up in prison, caught for making bombs and selling them to the middle east. He ends up in a Yemenese prison where he meets someone and escapes with him and gets caught up in a plot to have suicide bombers bomb buses all over the US. But he is a traitor, and he is setting it all up so they will be caught, and the US will be safe. In the end, he kills those that were involved, and he sends all 30 bombers on the same bus, so they are killed together. He ends up a free man, after the FBI realize he was on their side all along.

88 Minutes *** - I liked this movie. It had enough action, suspense and drama to keep me interested. This movie focuses on Jack Gramm, a FBI forensic psychiatrist and professor who has recieved a threatning phone call saying he has only 88 minutes to live. A series of events happens, murders take place, car vandalised, home set on fire, car blown up. He thinks the man he put on death row is responsible. In the end it turns out one of his students, a lawyer for the man on death row, was being brainwashed for him, to get him a stay of execution and set up Gramm so it looked like he was the killer all along and he would get a new trial. Luckily for Gramm, he wins, and the man responsible is executed. His lawyer had an unfortunate accident. It was a good movie. Worth watching.

Vicky, Cristina, Barcelona **- 2 American girls spend the summer in Spain. They both meet a handsome artist who wants to sleep with both of them. Vicky is about to be married and this encounter with him has made her think about her life, Cristina is more of a free spirit, go with the flow kind of girl and eventually moves in with him for the summer, and when his crazy ex wife comes to live with them the relationship gets entangled and more screwed up. Interesting film.

Max Payne *- This movie was weird. About a cop Max Payne, whose wife and baby is murdered. He doesn't stop looking for the one who got away and finds out that his father's best friend was the one behind the killings, because of some drug that makes you see angels and demons. Weird, weird, weird.

Gran Torino *** - I wasn't sure about this movie at first. It starts off, with a grumpy old man, Walt (Clint Eastwood) who has lost his wife. He does not have a good relationship with his two sons, and is just a miserable racist person. He refuses to leave his neighborhood that he has lived in, because of changing demographics. His neighbor, a hmong teenage boy named Tao, tries to steal his car one day as a gang initiation he doesn't even know if he wants to be part of. But is caught by Walt. His family is upset and offers Tao to work for Walt to pay him back for what he has done. Walt and Tao grow close and become friends. The gang though, still wants Tao to have an initiation. Tao gets beaten up, and Walt pays the gang a visit and threatens them to leave him alone. Then Tao's house is gunned down and his sister beaten and raped. Tao and Walt both want revenge. Walt does not let Tao come, and he ends the war, by having himself gunned down in front of eye witnesses and the gang goes to jail. It was a sad story, and probably very real issues of the going ons in neighborhoods around the country today. I did like the movie and recommend people watching it.

Mamma Mia **** - This musical reminds me of Grease. I loved that movie growing up and watched it many many times. I really enjoyed this movie. It was very light and happy feeling. About a mother and daughter running a villa in Greece. Sophie never knew her father, and stumbles upon her mothers diary and finds out she has 3 possible fathers. She invites them to her wedding, which stresses her mother, as she tries to figure out which one of the three could be her dad. It is a well told story, and a happy ending for all. A must see if you are into musicals.

Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging *** - This movie was based on the book with a similar title(Angus, Thongs and Full Frontal Snogging). About a 14 year old girl Georgia Nicholson, and getting the boy of her dreams, Robbie. Angus her cat, stole the movie, he was the cutest cat with such attitude. Georgia needs to win, Robbie from Slaggy Lindsay(wet Lindsay in the book) and she does in the end with many ups and downs in between. It was sometimes hard to catch all their words due to the British accents. A movie worth watching. Not as good as the book though.

Quantum of Solace *** - Another good Bond movie. This time bond is out for revenge on the person(s) who killed Vesper. He uncovers a secret organization called Quantum and he thinks they might be responsible for Vesper's death. Of course, he gets them. A movie worth watching more than once.

While she was out ** - A mother in an abusive relationship, leaves to pick up wrapping paper on Christmas Eve. The parking lot is full, and some ass has taken up two parking spots. She leaves a note on the car, saying how insensitive he is, and does her shopping. When she gets back to her car and tries to back up, the car pulls up behind her and blocks her. Four teenage boys, one with a gun, come out and are harassing her, and threaten to hurt her, when a security officer pulls up. He gets shot, and killed and she gets away with the boys in hot pursuit going to kill the only witness to the crime they just committed. She ends up in a new subdivision in early construction and no one around (how convenient) - she runs and hides, bringing along a tool box that was in her trunk. They find her and she gets away, one guy breaking his neck in the process. The second guy finds her and she kills him with a tire iron. (Really it is her or them). The third guy gets stabbed in the neck with a screwdriver and the last guy gets shot by her with his own gun. An abused mother gone Rambo. She leaves with the gun in hand, goes home, kisses her kids, and then puts the gun to her husbands head. The end.

Transporter 3 **** - Another great movie, with lots of action. Frank Martin is back, against his will. He is knocked out and wakes up with funny bracelet on his wrist. He is too drive some merchandise, no questions asked, to the destination they call in, and if he strays too far from his car his bracelet will detonate. The movie is full of action stunts and fight scenes. His passenger from the beginning, a girl named Valentina won't talk. Eventually she opens up and Frank finds out a little more.
Nearing the end of the movie, Valentina was taken to force her father to sign a contract allowing toxic material to enter a harbor. Of course, Frank Wins.. Like always, and this time he even gets the girl.

Eagle Eye **** - I really enjoyed this movie. Starts out with Jerry Shaw having no money and going nowhere in life. His twin brother Ethan is in a car accident and dies. After coming home from his funeral, he finds guns, and bomb making chemicals in his apartment, he then receives a call from a woman saying the FBI are coming, and to leave. He is caught. Rachael a divorced mom, sets her son off on a train to a music concert with his class to play for the president. She gets the call from this same woman who will derail her sons train if she doesn't do as she is told. Both of them meet up in a car and have to do exactly what she says or their will be unfortunate events for them and their families. Turns out this woman is the Eagle Eye working for the defense department. A computer who through phones, cameras can see everything. She sets a series of events in motion to have Jerry come to her, as Ethan put a stop on some of her functions so she cannot carry out her plan to kill the president of US and 11 other high members for killing innocent civilians accidentally. It is a great movie, with lots of action and drama and a great ending.

Death Race ***- Framed for his wife's murders, Jenson Ames finds himself behind bars on Terminal island with the jail Warden Hennessy promising him freedom if he becomes her star driver, Frankenstein, to increase her ratings. The real Frankenstein died at the last race, and only a select few know this bit of information. Frankenstein wears a mask due to many disfiguring injuries, so anyone can become Frankenstein. Ames with years of driving experience from the past, becomes the new driver, with hopes of being released to raise his baby girl. He finds out he will not be released and in fact he will die on the track, and replaced over and over again. He decides to work with the final driver and hatches a plan to escape. And Escape they due. Henessy is killed, and Ames has his freedom and his daughter back. I liked the movie, it was a little over the top, but had some good action scenes.

The Sisterhood of the traveling pants 2 **- I liked this movie. About 4 friends who grew up together and have gone their seperate ways for school, but keep in touch through phone calls, emails and the magic pair of jeans that all of them pass along to each other. When Carmen wanted nothing but to spend the summer with her friends, everyone decided to go on other adventures. It is a story of how friends even though apart can be together. It is a nice story with a nice ending.

Taken **** - A CIA operative(Liam Neeson) retires to try to get closer to his daughter. His daughter wants to go to Paris, and because she is under 18 needs his consent. He finally gives consent with conditions. She goes to Paris with her best friend and her dad calls to make sure she arrives. While she is in the other side of the apartment, she sees her best friend Amanda being Taken by men, she hides under a bed and her dad gives her instructions of what to do before she is taken. He ends up in Paris with 96 hours to find the people who have taken her or she will be gone forever, without a trace. There is lots of action and he does get to his daughter just in time. It was a well made movie and worth watching.

House Bunny ** - This movie had a few funny moments, but for the most part it was just OK. Nothing really special. About a girl who was raised in an orphanage and then when she came of age moved into the playboy mansion. The night after her 27th birthday, she finds out she is kicked out of the mansion and ends up at a university as a house mother of a failing sorority. She makes some changes to draw in pledges and save the Zeta house and in the end she does.

Burn after reading *- Considering some of the great actors in this movie like George Clooney and Brad Pitt, I found this movie terrible. The story revolves around Clooney who is sleeping with his friends wife, as well as a bunch of other women, his friend quitting his agency job and writing his memoirs about the agency, his memoirs being copied by his wife and lost and picked up by two trainers at hard bodies. The trainers wanting money for the information to given back. The friend who is being divorced by his wife, to be with Clooney who is still sleeping around. Clooney finding out his wife is about to divorce him, and clooney accidentally killing some guy hiding in the closet(Pitt) and the story goes on and on.. Not worth watching in my opinion.

Batman: The Dark Knight **** - The joker, Heath Ledger stole the show. The new DA in town Harvey Dent and his girlfriend Rachael are bringing justice to criminals and the Joker is trying to unite the criminals to Kill batman. The Joker is killing people and since Batman can't get to them fast enough, the citizens of Gotham city want batman caught. Dent turns himself him to try to get the Joker to come after him and the real Batman to rescue him, which happens. Then Rachael and Harvey are taken hostage by the Joker and tied to bombs at 2 seperate locations, only Harvey is rescued, and heis face gets badly burned in the explosion. Harvey is mad that his life is destroyed, Rachael is dead, and Harvey(now two face Harvey) goes after the police commisioners family. Batman comes to the rescue just in time, after catching the joker. It was a great movie and definitely sets it up for another movie to follow, hopefully soon.

Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian ****- An excellent movie. The 4 children, Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy are whisked back to Narnia again, only to discover the world they once new has disappeared. Narnia is 1300 years older and a lot different. The narnians are in hiding because they fear the Talmarines, who have taken over the land and think they are extinct. Young prince Caspian is on the run, hiding from his Uncle who is trying to kill him, so his newborn son will be the next heir to the thrown. Caspian discovers the exiled Narnians and with the help of Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy, fight for their right to live free. Great movie, just as good as the first movie. I have read all the books and enjoyed them all, I can't wait till the third movie comes out, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.

Bangkok Dangerous ** - This movie is about a hit man, suffering through a burnout. He is hired out, does the job, and then erases all traces. He keeps to himself, doesn't make friends or really talks to people. He ends up in Bangkok, where he hires a runner to do his pick up and drop offs. Instead of killing him like he does everyone else, he trains him, teaches him all he knows, takes him on against his professional rules. He also meets a woman, that he ends up disappointing by killing two thugs while out on a date with her. Life starts getting more confusing because he has let people get close to him. He ends up, taking on those that hired him out to kill a political man, because it was a) not in his contract and b) they have captured his apprentice. In the end he takes the bad guy down, along with himself.

Tropic Thunder - This is one of the worst movies of all time.. Not even worth talking about it. It was just plain stupid

Journey to the Center of the Earth *** - I enjoyed this movie. Starring Brendan Fraser as Trevor, he and his nephew seek out a volcano because his brother has reported the same numbers his research is showing before his death. A mountain guide is willing to take them there. When the reach the top a storm is brewing and lightning is striking. They become trapped in a cave that turns out to be an old mine shaft. The find rubies, diamonds and emeralds, that the nephew loads his bags with, then they fall through the floor, and end up in the center of the earth. There are creatures, and water etc. It is a world within another world. They do get home, with the volcanic tube and steam after some adventures in this world, and continue researching all that his brother had researched before him. It was a enjoyable movie. Great for adults and kids alike.

War Inc*- Starring John Cusack as a hired assassin who is sent to the middle east to kill Omar Sharif covering as the producer of brand USA Trade show, where the big story is singing star yanica will be getting married there. Turns out this strange girl yanica, ends up being the daughter that was kidnapped so many years ago. It is truly a strange movie, with interesting storyline.

Get Smart ***- Here is another movie I enjoyed. Steve Carell plays Maxwell Smart in this light comedy. He is a Analyst for the Spy agency Control with dreams of becoming an agent one day. When there is a break in to control, agents identities are compromised and Smart is chosen to go in and take down the KAOS teaming up with agent 99 played by Anne Hathaway. Max is hilarious and reminds me a little of inspector gadget. It is a movie worth a few laughs.

Deception***- I enjoyed this movie, about a a guy, Johnathan who is stuck in his work, unhappy in his life. He meets a guy Wyatt and they quickly hit it off. He starts feeling better about life and himself. One day, they accidentally pick up each others phones and Johnathan gets drawn into a a different world. He is part of a sex club. A few weeks later, he meets one girl and falls for her and she disappears and he thinks foul play. Then Wyatt shows up and wants him to steal money from his next job, in return for the girl he has fallen for. He transfers the money and then Wyatt kills Johnathan. Or so he thinks.
Wyatt ends up in Spain to collect his money as Johnathon, but the real Johnathan sets up a co-signer to release the money. Then Johnathan shows up as Wyatt and they split the money and when Wyatt(akaJohnathan) tries to kill Johnathan(aka Wyatt) the girl shoots Wyatt and they run and meet up later to start a new life together. I didn't really like the ending that much, but the movie was well done.

The Incredible Hulk ****- I enjoyed this movie. Bruce Banner is on the run and in hiding, and has been taking classes to help him control his anger. Unfortunately the army finds him and is after him. He manages to escape but one of the army men decides to try to be like him. He takes some drugs, and then gets a dose of Banner's blood and he turns into a different kind of Hulk. The fight is on, and the army stands down, while the real Hulk brings down the new bad Hulk. It definitely sets it up for another movie. It was a good movie and worth watching.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull *** - I really liked this movie, except for the ending and the aliens. It was pretty much the same as the other movies, but with less booby traps. It was well done and I enjoyed it. It starts out with Henry getting kidnapped by the KGB. He gets away, and then is hunted down by this kid, MUD and gets drawn into finding his friend OX and Mud's mom Mary and the crystal skull that has brought them all in this. With KGB after them to find the crystal skull, he uncovers the lost kingdom and replaces the skull where it belongs on these alien like beings, which fly away in their spaceship taking some of the KGB with them. It wasn't the ending I would have liked to have seen, but it was still a good movie.

The Promotion **- Well this movie was OK. About 2 men working in the same store vying for a new manager job at a store opening up. They both try to make the other look bad in front of the big wigs and in the end, the guy who was a shoe in, go the job.

Ironman ****- Another really good movie. I really liked this movie, it was very well done. One of the biggest supplier of weapons, Tony Stark, gets abducted in Afghanistan and is forced to build them a weapon. Working with another captive man, they build the first iron man as a way of escape. He makes it back home, where he tells the world his business will close until he figures out which direction to take. Making weapons that end up in the wrong hands is just not where he wants to leave his mark. He starts making another iron man and succeeds and uses it to stop some of the war and cruelty in Afghanistan. His co-worker finds out and makes one of his own. He was the one who had him ambushed in Afghanistan to be killed so he can run Stark industries the way he wants to. It is a really good movie, with an ending that sets it up for a sequel. I hope it is as good as the first.

Sex and the City: The Movie **** - This is a movie I really enjoyed. It had some hilarious moments, some sad moments, and some sweet moments. I really enjoyed the look at the lives of 4 women, all going through different issues. We have Miranda, whose husband slept with another woman, Carrie, whose boyfriend stood her up at the alter, Charlotte, who adopted a child with her husband, ends up pregnant after they stop trying and are very happy, and Samantha, who loves Sex and feels stuck in a relationship. She is not one to stay in a relationship for as long as she has.
The movie was really good. I have never seen the series, but could easily follow the movie. A must see!

Miss Pettigrew lives for a day ***- I enjoyed this movie. It was about a lady, Miss Pettigrew, who gets fired from her job and the work agency doesn't want to give her another becuase she seems to not be able to hold one for long. She sneaks a card from the work agency's desk and heads to the house of Delysia Lafosse, and ends up as her social assistant. Delysia is managing 3 boyfriends and Miss Pettigrew helps her clean and hide things. Miss Pettigrew ends up in a very different world such as her own, she ends up with a spa makeover, and new clothes and she is very uncertain about the world she is in. She is concerned over the lack of LOVE. In the end she helps Delysia pick the right guy for her, and she ends up with a man of her own. It was a nice story.

Redbelt ***- This wasn't something I picked to watch, but it was pretty good. It starts out with a guy Mike Terry who runs a Jujitsu place that is failing and not making any money. Then one day he saves a actor in a bar from a big fight and is invited to dinner, where his wife's business interestes them and he is asked to take on a producer role in the movie using some of his training. Looks like what was too good to be true is, when all of his ideas are being used without his permission. With debt piling up, he decides to fight in a competition only to win the money to pay off his debts. Once in there he finds out how corrupt this business is. He heads out to the ring to let everyone know, when he runs into the current belt holder. They end up fighting in the isle, and he brings him down. He is given the belt and the one and only red belt from one of the men he admires most. It was a pretty good watch.

The Mummy: Tomb of The Dragon Emperor ***- I liked this movie, as with all the other Mummy movies before it. It starts out with the history about how the Dragon emperor was cursed, so we all know what is going on. Rick and Evelyn are back fighting evil once again with their son Alex and Evelyn's brother Jonathan. Alex uncovers the tomb of the Dragon Emperor, and when the are held up at gun point the emperor is resurrected. The battle then continues with the O'Connels trying to stop the emperor from getting to the pool of eternal life and awakening his army. Unfortunatly all fails when he does reach the pool of life and becomes immortal, but because the woman who put the curse on him is immortal herself she has the only weapon to put an end to his life. By stabbing him in the heart with a special knife. The emporer raises his army, and the immortal woman gives up her immortality by raising those he killed. The war continues outside while inside the O'Connels work as a team and kill the emperor with the knife.
I liked the movie and it was a pretty good sequel to the others.

Made of Honor ***- Cute movie. A real chick flick. I loved it. I love a good chick flick. This movie started out with a guy Tom who accidentally hops in bed with the wrong person, Hannah. They get to talking and soon became fast friends. 10 years later, and Tom is very rich as he created the paper sleeve that covers hot coffee cups and him and Hannah are still best friends, and Tom is still jumping in bed with all the girls but he lives by his rules, never call a date until after 24 hours, never date the same person back to back and so on. Hannah has to go away for work for 6 weeks, and Tom soon realizes how much he misses her and realizes he loves her and they should be together, but when Hannah returns, she brings back her fiance, a Scottish Duke and asks Tom to be her MOH.. (Maid of Honor). He accepts and tries hard to impress her and also put down the fiance so she realizes they should be together. When they arrive in Scotland for the wedding, Tom kisses her, and she realizes he loves her, but is still going on with the wedding. The day of the wedding, Tom steps down from being the MOH and heads home, but the realizes he is making a big mistake and he just has to admit to Hannah he loves her. He does so in the church just before they are announced man and wife. They head home to America where they are finally married.

In Bruges * - Well this movie was far too long. It starts out with 2 people touring Bruges, 1 who loves it and one who hates it. It turns out they are there hiding out, because one of the guy killed a priest and in the process accidentally killed a little boy. He is very upset and is suicidal. The other guy is ordered to kill him, but doesn't go through with it. In the end, the boss comes to Bruges, kills the guy who didn't do his job, and then shoots the guy that killed the kid accidentally, which shoots a dwarf, that he thinks is a kid and then shoots himself.. This was a movie I would not watch again.

What happens in Vegas ****- This was a really good movie. It has hilarious moments and touching moments. I really enjoyed this. About Joy who headed to Vegas because she got dumped and Jack who headed to Vegas because he got fired by his dad who some how managed to get together and ended up married. The morning after they have a fight about getting an annulment and Jack puts Joys quarter in a slot machine and wins 3 million dollars. The courts decide to make them try for 6 months to make the marriage work. Of course, neither of them try really hard at it, they try hard at trying to make the other one fail so they win all the money. In the end Jack and Joy fall for each other, and she leaves not wanting any of the money. Jack finds her and they live happily ever after.

You don't mess with the Zohan *- Lame, Lame, Lame... That's putting it mildly. This movie was terrible.. OK, so it did have a few funny moments, but it was terrible. The story line, the fighing, the everything.. It isn't worth the brain energy to watch. Don't waste your time.

The Bucket List ***- I thought this was a great story. Starring Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson. About 2 strangers meeting in the hospital, both fighting for their lives. Carter(Freeman) found out he is fighting lung cancer from years of smoking, Edward Cole(Nicholson)fighting cancer as well. The two become fast friends in the hospital both going through the same thing. Carter starts a list, the bucket list, of things he wants to do before he dies. Edward steps up and says I have the money lets do some fun things. They both go off, and sky dive, and see the world. After 3 months of fun things, Carter decides it is time to go home to his family. He has a nice family dinner, and then ends up having a seizure. He is back in hospital where the cancer has moved into his brain, he is prepped for surgery and dies on the table. Edward finishes the bucket list and finds joy in his life. It was a really nice story.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall **- This movie had it's moments. About a guy who is dating the star of a popular TV show. She dumps him and he is broken hearted. He decides to take a trip to Hawaii and try to forget about her, but she ends up there with her new boyfriend, a very popular singer. He tries hard to move on, but is having a hard time. He and the front desk person go out one night and have a terrific time and then when his ex girlfriend is dumped by her new boyfriend, she wants her old boyfriend back. But he decides, Nope, he has found something elsewhere. He tells his new girl he fooled around a bit with his ex, but nothing happened. She sends him away, and says not to contact her in any way. He does send her a invitation to a play she helped him get motivating in finishing and they get together in the end. A nice little love story.

Hancock **** - This was a really good movie. About a hero, Hancock, who is heroic but doesn't really care about anyone or anything. He rescues people and catches bad guys taking down everything in his path. He rescues one man from being hit by a train, and he wants to help Hancock by helping him change his ways. He helps him be the hero he can be. Hancock doesn't know where he came from, or who he is, or why he is the way he is. The wife of the man who Hancock rescues, shows Hancock she is just like him. They were built in two's and he use to be her husband, but them being near each other, weaken each other to immortals, so they can live out their lives as humans. She has found happiness with her current husband, and wants to continue this way. Hancock has to move on, and still be the hero, and live a life on his own. It was a really good movie. Had a lot of funny moments. I enjoyed this movie.

Wanted ***- I liked this movie. I like a good action movie. This movie starts out with Wesley Gibson, a very anxious and unhappy man. He hates his job, his bf and his life. He ends up in the store to pick up his RX and is almost killed by some guy. A woman, Fox, (Angelina Jolie) rescues him and tells him about his father, one of the best assassins in the world, that just died and was killed by this other guy, Cross. He starts to train, with the group, and then goes after Cross. Funny thing is, he kills him, but finds out the Cross was his dad, and that he was trying to rescue him from the group. Wesley goes after the group, and succeeds. It is a good movie.

Never back down **- This movie is about a tough high school kid, Jake Tyler, who gets into a lot of fights. He is a star football player where he lives, but is uprooted when he and his family move for his brother to become the tennis player he wants to be. Being the new kid in school, he gets invited to a party, where he ends up in a fight with a popular kid who fights all the time. He loses and is humiliated. A friend he meets, introduces Jake to his mentor, who teaches MMA. Jake quickly is interested and takes it up. Jake is angry. Angry all the time because his dad died a year before in a car crash, and he is angry that he didn't stop his dad from driving in the first place. He starts working hard and learning quickly the art of MMA and ends up fighting the guy who started it all and beating him down to end the fighting once and for all.

The Nines *- This is a very weird movie. I don't think I fully understand it yet. I believe the main character was god, who shifted into many different characters and different jobs and different lives, until he finally realized he could no longer do this anymore and on his way out, he set everything right. That is my take on this strange movie. I wouldn't watch this one again.

Harold and Kumar : Escape from Guantanamo Bay **- It's worth a one time watch only. This movie had it's funny moments, but I wouldn't watch it again. Harold and Kumar are heading to Amsterdam as Harold wants to see Maria. They run into Kumar's ex at the airport and find out she is engaged to Colten. On the plane ride there, Kumar decides to light his bong he sneaked on and he gets mistaken as a terrorist on the flight. Both of them are arrested and sent to Guantanamo Bay. They escape and are on the lam, with many interesting road blocks along the way. In the end the President, who they are smoking weed with, gives them a pardon and Kumar goes after his lady and gets her, and then Harold goes after his lady and he gets her.. It is a happy ending.

Nim's Island ****- I loved this movie. About a little girl and her dad living on some remote island. Her friends are a bearded dragon, a sea lion and a pelican. Her dad heads out to sea to obtain a algae sample and Nim, insists she can handle being home alone for 2 nights. A big storm hits, and her dads boat is ruined and she is stuck there, with no sattelite signal to reach her dad. She ends up replying to an email from her favorite writer, emailing her father about volcano's as they live on the island with one. Once the writer, who is played by Jodi Foster realizes this girl is alone, she sets out to help her. The only problem is Alex(Jodi Foster) is afraid of everything. I lover her part in this movie and she gave me alot of laughs. In the end she makes it, with lots of bumps along the way and with the help of his daughters pelican friend, the father makes it home. Safe and sound. A great movie for kids and adults.

21***- I liked this movie. About a kid trying to get into Harvard medical school. The only thing standing in his way is money. He has devoted most of his life to studying and working hard. One of his professors offers him a new job, playing black jack. A group of kids and this professor go to Las Vegas every weekend and play with a certain set of rules to win. Then they split the money. At first he doesn't want to join, but then decides to, only to get the money needed for school.
He changes overnight and enjoys doing this. One night he gets caught, with the help of his professor after he gets mad at him for losing money. He gets a beating, and a deal to bring the professor to the security guard. In which he does. In the end, he ends up with nothing, no money, but he finishes school and with this story as his essay ends up winning a full scholarship to Harvard for him to become a doctor.

The game plan **- I thought this was a pretty cute movie. About a quarter back football player played by the Rock, who is all about himself. Everything is about him and that is all he cares about. Suddenly a little girl lands on his doorstep who says she is his daughter. He finds this to be true and is stuck with her for a month. He thinks her mom is in Africa and she thinks the daughter is at ballet school for a month.
He starts to figure out this kid thing and really enjoys being a dad. He stars in the ballet with his daughter and in the end finds out her mother died 6 months ago and she is being raised by his aunt. He wants her to live with him and he can be a father to her since he lost 8 years of her life. She agrees and so does her aunt and he wins the big football game and everything now is all about her.

Vantage Point ***- This was a good movie. It was about an assassination attempt and kidnapping of the President of the US. It showed 8 different views of what they saw happening, leading up to the rescue of the president and the bad guys down and out.
It was quite a good movie. Definitely worth a watch. This movie stars Dennis Quaid and Michael Fox.

Jumper ** - This was another movie that was just OK. It is about a boy who can jump (teleport) from point to point. He finds out when he is drowning and ends up in the library. He runs away from home and robs a bank so he has money. 8 years later he is doing well and goes back home to find the people he once knew after a run in with a man and his electric devices that stop him from being able to jump. He finds out there are others like him, and then there are people who are hunting the jumpers because they think they should not be able to have this power. The story goes from there, the war is on and the jumpers win. This time..

Definitely, Maybe **- This movie was just OK. I didn't find it that great. About a guy who is getting divorced, he picks up his daughter from school and finds out she learned all about the birds and the bees. After they get home, she wants to know how he met her mother. So he goes into his whole life story about how he met her, along with other girls in his life, and now they are getting divorced, but he ends up in the end with one of the other girls in his life. Same old stuff.

Fool's Gold *** - This movie stars Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey. It starts out as two friends diving for treasure and the boat catches fire and sinks. McConaughey's character, Finnigan owes money to big Bunny, and since he has none they take him and try to throw him overboard. Skip to Kate Hudson as Tess who after 8 years of marriage to Finn is divorcing him and she is working aboard a yacht. They end up getting involved in the treasure hunt again, and they find it. Of course, during the course of them finding the treasure, the bad guys try to kill them and there is some action, but in the end they discover the treasure and get remarried.

My Mothers New boyfriend * - This movie starring Meg Ryan, Antonio Bandaras and Colin Hanks was not to good. It starts off with Meg Ryan(Martha) and her son Henry(Colin Hanks) getting ready for him to leave for a top secret FBI assignment, and Martha upset, smoking, and depressed and overweight. He leaves and 3 years later, returns home with his fiance and finds his mom a changed woman. She lost weight and dropped her bad habits. Along comes Antonia Bandaras as Tommy, her moms new fling, but the FBI finds out he is an art theif. They are set up to watch him without letting on to his mom what is going on. In the end, they find out he is CIA, and helps them catch the real art thieves. I wouldn't bother watching this movie, as you won't miss much

The Spiderwick Chronicles ** - This was a weird movie. It started out with creatures and this man, Arthur Spiderwick creating this book. Then he is taken away and his daughter left behind. Then in to the present where a family with relation to the Arthur Spiderwick, move in to the house. One of the son's finds the book and reads it, releasing the Ogre. The rest of the time is spent protecting the book and the house. In the end they win and beat the Ogres and protect the book. I wouldn't watch it again.

Rambo * - I wasn't impressed with this movie at all. Rambo takes a bunch of church people over to Burma to help a village. Their village ends up attacked and the church people taken prisoner. Mercenaries are hired to go in and rescue them. Rambo goes in with them. They end up rescuing 2 out of the 5 as the rest were killed either before or during the rescue. This movie had a lot of blood and guts and wasn't that great. I would not watch this one again.

Street Kings ** - Starring Keanu Reeves, who is a not so good cop. He does what he thinks is right to bring justice to the bad guys. Sometimes it is almost a good thing, because some of these bad guys deserve what they have coming to them. It's a movie of cover up after cover up within the police unit. Keanu's character is being investigated by IRS, which pisses him off to say the least. After working with another cop trying to find the killers of a cop who he use to work with, he uncovers that the killers are the cops in his own unit, who have everyone in their pocket and can do what they want and when they want. In the end Keanu, kills them all, and the IRS comes in and it starts with another cover up.

Cleaner **- Starring Samuel L. Jackson as a ex cop working as a crime scene cleaner. He goes to do a job one day, and forgets to return the key. When he returns to return the key, the woman there has no idea of what has happened. Samuels Character starts digging around wondering what is going on. He hooks up with an old time friend, and former partner and he starts helping him investigate. It turns out Samuel is smarter than he and figures out that his partner is with the woman whose husband was killed by him because he thought he made her abort his child. He ends up getting killed by Samuels daughter because he was going to kill her dad. A dramatic story.

Juno ***- A coming of age story of a teenage girl whose boredom gets her pregnant. She sleeps with her best friend and ends up pregnant. Not willing to go through with an abortion she quickly finds adoptive parents willing to adopt her baby. She tells her parents, which they respond with and help her with, even though they are disappointed at first. They help her through the pregnancy. In the end, she finds the adoptive parents she wants for her baby are getting a divorce. She decides to let the woman still adopt her baby if she wants too. She gives birth to a beautiful baby boy, which she only sees for a quick second and then the adoptive mom gets to take him home and she and her best friend, and now boyfriend keep on living their lives as teenagers.

The Golden Compass ** - This was an interesting movie. About a little girl growing up in a magical world. She is the chosen one, the child who can change the fate of the world. She is given a golden compass, which tells her the truth. She is on a mission to rescue the children taken away. She ends up with a whole army of people to fight with her including an armored polar bear. The end was not the end, but the beginning of the golden compass 2.

Untraceable *** - This movie was a little sick and twisted to me. It's about a young man, who kills people on the internet, and the more people that watch the faster they are killed. It started out with a cat, that the FBI watched as they got a tip on the site killwithme.com. Then a week later a man was being killed, slowly being bled to death. The FBI agent in charge played by actress Diane Lane tries to track down this person, but with no luck. Within another week, another killing on the internet. The killer starts getting personal by accessing her computer through her daughter downloading what she thought was a game from her friend. In the end, her friend and partner agent is caught and killed, and then she is caught but manages to get loose and kill the person who is just revenging people involved in the suicide of his father. A movie worth watching once only.. Now I got to try to get it out of my mind

National Treasure : Book of Secrets ****- I loved this movie. It was a great second movie to the first. It almost left off where the first movie did. I really enjoyed the suspense and the clue finding. I enjoy Nicholas Cage's character, Ben Gates. He is smart, funny and great at figuring out clues. He finds the lost city of gold inside Mount Rushmore. He has to break into the Oval office, and the Queen's study. He has to kidnap the president of the US. It is a great movie. I will definitely watch that one again

27 dresses *** - A chic flick for sure. A nice story about a girl who can't say no. She is always a bridesmaid and never a bride. The story starts off, with the main character Jane, a bridesmaid in 2 weddings on the same night. A journalist she meets, who writes about weddings. He writes about her, and starts hanging out with her and falling for her and before he can tell her about the story, it is published. Meanwhile, her sister, is about to marry the man she is in love with, but no one knows she is. In the end, she ends up falling for the journalist, and her sister and the man she use to be in love with, part ways because they didn't know each other. It was a very sweet movie.

Lions for Lambs **- The war on terror, is pretty much what this movie is about. I was not too thrilled with it. Starring Tom Cruise as a US senator explaining for a whole hour the new plan of Attack to journalist (meryl streep). Then we have Robert Redford a university professor trying to convince a student to stay with the political sciences because he is good at it. All the while two of his previous students had gone and joined the war, and are in enemy territory as they are speaking initiating the Senators new plan of attack.

Water horse *** - This movie is set in Scotland during World War 2. Angus, a young boy whose father was killed in the war, finds an egg at Loch Ness and brings it home where it hatches into a tiny little creature. Angus is not sure what it is until a new worker at his house, sees him, and guesses it is a rare water horse. Angus names him Crusoe, and they fast become friends. But Crusoe is growing very fast and has to be set free in the Loch because of his size. He becomes scared and confused when the army men stationed at Angus's home, start shooting bombs in the water. Not at him, as they do not know about him. Angus hops on Crusoe, and sets him free. It is a story about belief, and hope and love. Very good sweet movie.

Beowulf ** - The computer graphics in this movie, were really well done, it almost seems real life. The movie itself was just OK. About a King, being terrorized by this monster Grendel, when Beowulf arrives to kill the beast. He succeeds, but now he has to kill the mother. The old king has killed himself and Beowulf is now the new king. He sets out to kill Grendel's mother, and what he finds is a beautiful woman demon, promising riches and a kingdom if he bears her a son. He does, and like Grendel to the king before he bears a dragon son. It is years later, before the dragon comes to attack, and Beowulf succeeds in killing him but brings down himself as well. The story could continue more when the mother sees another man. Will she have another son?? Who knows.

The Bank Job **** - I just went and saw this movie last night at the theaters, and I loved it. Starring Jason Statham as a owner of a used car lot and owing money to some nasty loan sharks. His long time friend and maybe old flame turns up and asks him to help her rob the bank. (He doesn't realize she is working with MI5/6 to uncover some damaging photos)He agrees with some friends and the put the robbery into motion. They lease a store a few doors down from the bank and tunnel underground to the vault floor and rob the banks safety deposit boxes. They uncover some photos and ledgers of some political persons and police officers. Statham's character, quickly devises a plan, to get what he wants, and new identity while turning in the bad guys. A movie that is definitely worth watching.

Raising Arizona - The worse movie of all time. Not even worth a star on my rating scale. This movie was terrible. Husband said it was rated as one of the 10 funniest movies. This movie was not funny, it was stupid. Starring Nicolas Cage, a convicted felon who upon his release for the millionth time, ends up marrying a police officer, who eventually turns in her badge. She wants a baby and cannot have one on her own. A wealthy business man and his wife just had quintuplets and they decide to kidnap one, and then the story gets worse from here. It was a waste of 1.5 hours of my life.. Do not watch this movie as it is a waste of time.

Enchanted **** - I loved this movie. It starts out as an animated show of a girl (Giselle) singing for her prince and her prince finding her. They are about to married when the princes wicked stepmother played by Susan Sarandon pushes her into a well and she lands in Manhattan and non animated. She starts looking all over for her prince and meets Robert played by Patrick Dempsey and his daughter Morgan, who try to help her. One thing leads to another and they fall in love with each other, but before they can live happily ever after, the wicked stepmother comes to Manhattan and poisons her with an apple. Roberts kiss awakens her and the wicked stepmother turns into a dragon and takes Robert up to the top of the building, where Giselle must fight her to get Robert back. The wicked Stepmother dies, and the prince finds another girl to be his wife, and Giselle lives happily ever after with her Prince Robert and Morgan. A very good movie.

Dan in real life***- I liked this movie. It had it's funny moments. Starring Steve Carell playing Dan Burns a single father of 3 girls who writes an advice column for a local newspaper. On a trip home to visit his family, Dan heads out for a day on his own and meets a lady friend, who he thinks is the woman for him. When he arrives back home, his brother introduces his new girlfriend to the family, the lady friend Marie that Dan just met. They try to do their separate things, and not lead on that they know each other, but Dan is infatuated with her, and the family notices his weird behavior. The movie continues until Marie finally can't take it anymore, and leaves Dan's brother, because she too, is in love with Dan. Dan follows her and they bowl together until the family catches them at the bowling alley. They are upset and Dan apologizes and explains, but with no luck. IN the end, Marie and Dan get together and end up Married. It is a nice movie.

No Reservations ** - I thought this was a nice movie. It was about a chef(Catherine zeta Jones) who plays Kate, she is a perfectionist and defines herself by the food she makes, and her job at the upscale restaurant she works at. Her sister was coming to visit with her niece, when the inevitable happens, and there is an accident and the only survivor is her niece, who comes to live with Kate. So while she is grieving the death of her sister, trying to cope with her 9 year old niece, Zoe living with her, the owner of the restaurant hires a new Sous Chef(Aaron Eckhart)who plays Nick. He is so different from Kate, and she doesn't like him. Eventually they connect though, and he helps Kate with Zoe, gets her to eat, and makes her laugh. They eventually connect outside of work, and in the end open their own bistro Kate, Nick and Zoe's. It was a nice movie.

Mr. Magorium's wonder Emporium *- This movie was a disappointment, I thought it would have been better. It is about Mr. Magorium(Dustin Hoffman) who is ready to leave this world at 243 years of age. He wants to pass his magical store over to Molly(Natalie Portman) who has doubts about taking this on. She tries to show Mr. Magorium the little things he would miss when he is gone, but he is ready to leave. The store is upset, and turns all gray and black with his passing. It is up to Molly to bring the store back. In the end, she learns to believe in herself and brings the magical store back to life.

I am Legend -**** I really enjoyed this movie, starring Will Smith. The movie is about a virus jumping and infecting the world, starting in NYC. Smith's character, Robert Neville is a scientist working with the US Army. The movie starts out with the City being shut down. Then it jumps 3 years into the future, where Robert Neville,(Smith) is the only survivor with his dog. He is lonely and roams the streets in the day and then hides in his home before sun down, where those that didn't die of the infection, transformed into rabid monsters, that cannot go out in the day light or they die. Neville's dog ends up dying and he himself goes after the dark seekers in an attempt to kill himself in the end, taking as many with him as he can. Along comes 2 other survivors who rescue him and bring him home. When night hits the following day, the dark seekers know where they are and come after them. Neville and the survivors hide in the lab where he finds the dark seeker he was trying to find a cure for, has worked and she is getting better, but he ends up blowing up his lab, him and the dark seekers with it, but not before taking blood from the healing dark seeker as it holds the cure, giving it to the other survivors, and hiding them where they would be safe from the bomb. In the end, the survivors get to a safe zone in Vermont and pass on the cure to the other survivors, hopefully ending the disease. It's a movie worth watching.

The hunting party *- A movie about a journalist in the prime of his career (Richard Gere) who loses it in the Bosnian Civil war. He shows up years later, and reunites with his old camera man, and end up getting together and go hunting for a war criminal that no one can find, but they do in 2 days. The CIA, UN and other agencies cannot find this man or maybe they do not want to find him. It's an interesting movie, one that is worth a first time watch.

Body Heat -* This was an older movie and it was not to bad. It was about a man who falls for this rich woman who is married. She mentions how she wishes her husband was dead, and finally the guy who falls for her, plans to kill the husband with the woman's help. He kills the husband and then ends up finding out, the woman gets all the money from the husband's will and she tries to kill him. Her plan did not work and he ends up in jail and she ends up on some nice island somewhere where no one will ever find her. Not a movie worth watching.

Good Luck Chuck ** - This movie starring Jessica Alba and Dane Cook was OK. Jessica Alba's character is very clumsy, and it made for quite a few laughs. The sexual content in it was somewhat funny and then a little disturbing at the same time. There is a lot of sexual content in this movie.

The Brave One ** - This movie starring Jodie Foster is about her and her boyfriend being beaten and robbed by 3 young men, that also steal their dog. She awakens from a coma 3 weeks later and finds out her boyfriend has died, and she is grieving and living in fear. She ends up buying and illegal gun, and walking the streets at night as she cannot sleep. The only problem is she is prone to bad luck, she shoots a man in a convienence store as he was seen by her shooting his wife, and is looking for her in the store, she shoots two thugs on a subway who had a knife at her throat and she doesn't stop there. She finds the 3 men responsible for her beating and her boyfriends death and shoots them all and gets her dog back. The story is both realistic and unrealistic.

Stardust ***** - An excellent movie. A fairytale, with witches, princes and princesses, pirates, a Hero and love. I loved it and thought it was one of the best movies I have seen in a long time. Charlie Cox plays Tristan, a nobody from the town of Wall who will do anything for the pretty girl in town. He offers to cross the wall which is guarded and find a fallen star for her in exchange for her hand in marriage. On the other side of the Wall is another world. He manages to find the star(Gwenyth Paltrow) and tries to bring her back to Wall, but ends up falling in love with her along their way. It is full of many adventures. A movie worth watching.

The Invasion *** - Another movie I liked. This movie starring Nicole Kidman was about an alien invasion. A shuttle crashed, and brought back a virus, which was transmitted by the infected, spitting or vomiting on you. When you enter REM sleep this is when the bacteria takes over and you wake up an emotionless infected person. Nicole Kidman's son was immune as he went through some childhood illness that rendered him immune. He was brought to a lab and a cure found and people returned to normal. I liked it. It had action and suspense. It was good. One you don't want to miss.

The Kingdom***- This is a good movie about terrorism. It is a real life today movie. It was a well made movie, with good intentions of showing people what the war on terrorism is all about. It was about an FBI team sent to Saudi Arabia, to find clues as to who was behind the latest terrorist attack. I thought the actors, Jamie Foxx, Chris Cooper, Jeniffer Garner and Jason Bateman, did a terrific job in their roles in this movie. Definitely a movie worth watching.

Shoot Em' Up *** - I liked the movie, because it was fast paced, and very crazy. The things that Smith can do, just wouldn't happen in real life. I don't think. It was a movie where in the beginning, this guy Smith is sitting on a bench, when a pregnant lady runs by and a guy runs after her trying to kill her. Smith intervenes, delivers the baby, kills all the bad guy(s), and ends up running with the baby they are now trying to kill. The story keeps on going, with Smith running with the baby and then a woman he gets to feed the baby. They find out the truth, and Smith puts and end to it for good. I thought it was a good action movie.

Rush Hour 3 ***- Better then the second rush hour, this movie had it's funny moments. I enjoyed it from beginning to end. Chris Tucker was hilarious, he made me laugh the most. Jackie Chan had a few moments too. I thought this movie was good, and worth watching, at least once. About the two cops who end up in Paris fighting against the Triad, and Lees brother. In the end of course, the good prevail. I thought it was pretty well done.

Hairspray***- What a Movie. Just brings me back to my youth growing up with movies like Annie, and grease. This was a musical based in the 60's about an overweight girl, getting on a popular dance show, and shaking things up a bit. The manager wanted her off, but the owner sees the numbers, and wants her to stay. She does shake things up a bit and changes the show in more ways then one. You'll have to watch to find out. It was a pretty good movie. I liked it.

War *** - This movie was a good action movie about 2 FBI agents. In the beginning there is a big shootout, and one bad guy gets shot and ends up in the river. That person ends up not dead and goes after one of the cops and his family. He kills them all and sets fire to the place(or so it seems). The other cop is on the hunt for this person. 3 years pass by and the person he thinks did it is back. Lots of action in between, and finally in the end, the other cop was working for the bad guys, and the one that was killed, wasn't really killed, it was the original bad guy. This guy since he was shot in the face, takes over the bad guys life, and has reconstructive surgery and goes after all involved in the killing of his family.

Ben 10 (non animated)** - We watched this to see if was appropriate for our son. It was a good movie, about a boy who found a watch(the Omnitrix) and with it can change into 10 different alien creatures (stink fly, ghost freak, four arms, gray matter, upgrade, wild mutt, diamond head, heat blast, XLR8, and rip jaws). There was one part that was not approriate for him to see, but other than that I think he will love it. I liked it and thought it was well done. I guess the acting could have been a bit better. But still a pretty good movie.

The Santa Clause 3: The escape Clause *** - I liked all three of the Santa clause movies. I am a sucker for Christmas movies. I like most of them, if not all. This one was another good movie, worth a watch at Christmas time. In this movie, Santa (Scott) gets set up by Jack Frost and ends up not being Santa and his life gets changed to where his life would be if he had not been Santa. What he saw he did not like. He went back to the North Pole to fix things right, to see what Jack Frost has done to the Pole. In the end, Santa becomes Santa again, and Jack Frost gets warmed up.

One Magic Christmas **** - One of my favorite Christmas movies. I really enjoy this story about a women who has no Christmas spirit, and how life can change in an instant. In the end, she believed in the magic of Christmas and realized family was more important than money. A great movie.

The Bourne Ultimatum *****- I liked the movie. I thought it was good. I liked all 3 of the Bourne movies. This ended well, of course, with Bourne finding out who he really was, and what happened to him, and of course, the bad guys paying for what they did.. How it ended could bring him back for another adventure, but maybe not. Time will tell. This movie is worth seeing. Actually I could watch it again. First I will watch the first 2 again and then this one.

License to Wed * - This movie was just OK. It had a few funny moments, but I thought it would have been better. I didn't like the character Robin Williams played, and the little mini me priest figure I didn't like this characters part either.
I would not watch this one again..

The Nanny Diaries ** - I read the book and the movie was almost the same as the book. A few minor tweaks, and some missing parts. It is a pretty good movie, about a family with a child who are very well off. The mother stays home, but has no time with her child. She hires the nanny to pretty much be this child's mother. The father travels alot, and shows he cares very little about his family. In the end, the nanny flips out, and loses it and leaves a message on the nanny cam, pretty much saying their son is great, and don't miss out on the opportunity to raise him.

I now pronounce you Chuck and Larry **** - This movie was great. I loved it. It was about 2 men who are fire fighters. One of the men had lost his wife earlier and he wanted to transfer his pension to his kids, but he couldn't unless he was married. He doesn't have any woman he could trust with this but his best friend. So he asks him to marry him on paper, and this is where the lie gets turned into more. They get investigated, and have to move in together, live together, do everything together. They even get a lawyer to help them.
In the end there lie was found out, but in the course of this fake relationship they helped out a lot of people. The city lets them off with a slap on the wrist, in exchange for a fake gay calendar of the fire fighters as they are heroes in the gay community. This movie had so many hilarious moments. It is one of those movies you can watch again and again.. Worth watching.

Perfect Stranger *** - This was a good movie, I do like movies that end like you don't expect them to. It was about a women journalist(Halle Berry) who's friend ends up murdered, and she suspects a man she was dating. So she starts working as a temp in his office to find out about him but he catches her trying to get on to his computer. In the end, she gets fired, and can't get on to his computer to find out what happened. SHe goes to her friends house who she works with, and finds a hidden room where he has images plastered of her and her friend and other sexual things. She runs out, and in the end we find out she kills her friend, because she was being raped by her father when she was younger and the mother killed him, and the friend sees her and her mother bury him. So she was being blackmailed by her. Then her friend with all the sexual images tries to blackmail her, and she stabs him, and calls the police saying it was him that was the killer. Yet someone across the street saw the whole thing. Interesting movie. I really enjoyed it. I like a movie that shocks you in the end. I should have caught on, because she would think back in time to her childhood. But I didn't. Good movie

Meet the Robinson's **- This Disney movie, I was a bit disappointed in. It wasn't that great at all. I think it was missing something. Not sure what, but really needed something else. I wasn't impressed. The kids enjoyed though, and that is all that matters.

We Own the Night **** - This was a good drama about a family, a dad, and two sons. One son follows his fathers footprints, and becomes a police officer. The other brother lives free and runs a night club. No one knows his family are cops. The two collide, when a drug dealer who goes to the night club all the time and the shoots the cop brother, for busting them. The night club brother(Joaquin Phoenix) gets involved to avenge his brothers shooting and then his fathers death later in the movie. A definite guy flick, but it was good.

Ocean's 13 *** -I liked this movie. I don't think this could happen in real life, but you never know. It was good. It had it's moments. I would recommend it, and if you haven't seen the others, watch the others first and then this one.

Evan Almighty ** - This had some good laughs. It was a good movie with a nice ending to it. I liked it. Not sure if I would watch it again, I think once is plenty. But worth a first watch.

Transformers ****- OK, this one was a good movie. The ending set it up for a part two. This movie could definitely have a part two. There is so much you could do. I really liked it. The special effects I thought were pretty good. I liked that the good guys won, and the humans fought with the transformers. It was well done. I really enjoyed. A movie I could watch again.

My 5 star book ratings

City of Glass ***** - Another great book. This series is a great mix between Harry Potter and Twilight. Harry Potter because of the world created and Twilight for the love story.
Clary is off to Idris, to find Ragnor Fell a warlock who can help her mother awaken from whatever spell she is under. Jace does not want her to come because it would be dangerous. He tells everyone Clary has decided to stay in New York, before leaving Jace asks Simon to come over so he can explain to Clary, but they end up being attacked by demons and Jace ends up pulling Simon through the portal over to Idris. When Clary finds out, she is furious. She uses her power to create runes, to make herself a portal. Luke sees her as she is entering and goes to pull her back but ends up being pulled in with her.
They end up in Lake Lyn, a lake poisonous to shadow hunters if the water is drunk. Clary almost drowns but Luke pulls her out, and has to get her help fast, before the poison kills her. He makes it to his sister's house. Amatis and Luke help Clary and let her sleep.
Clary awakes to find Luke gone to meet up with a werewolf pack and Clary needs to help her mother by finding Ragnor Fell. She sneaks out of the house and ends up at the place Jace and the family are staying. Jace is furious at her for coming and lashes out at her. Clary is upset and storms off. She meets Sebastian, the Penhallows nephew and he helps her home, and then helps her find Ragnor Fell as well. When she finds Ragnor, he isnt there, but instead Magnus Bane is there. Ragnor has been killed, but the book of White will help her mother. Clary agrees to find it and bring it back to Magnus who will help her mother.
When Clary gets home, Jace has come to visit her. Jace is sorry for hurting her. She tells Jace everything that Magnus has told her about the book of white. Both of them work together to find it. It is in the house where Jace was brought up. They find a secret door and inside the door, is where their father did experiments. Jace believes he is the one who has deomon blood in him and Clary the one with angel blood. The angel is there and bound up and has been for years, she shows them things she has seen and then they let her loose and she takes her life.

All the while the Clave is falling apart. The new inquisitor has Simon thrown in Jail for being a vampire. Alec finds out after, and Jace goes to break him out, but Simon does not want him too. When Idris is attacked by Demons all hell breaks loose and it is Luke's pack that saves the day. The clave needs to make a decision to either work with downworlders to bring Valentine down or go at it alone. Valentine shows up and offers them an ultimatum. Join him, or die. Luke fights for them to join forces with down worlders. The clave refuses, until Clary shows them what she can do. The angel had shown her a rune, but she did not know what it meant at first. It was a binding rune, to bind a shadow hunter with a down worlder each given them each others power. The clave finally agrees and joins the fight together.

Meanwhile, Jace has decided to fight his father on his own and find Sebastian who has turned out to be the bad guy. Jace overhears that Sebastian is Jonathan and is Valentines son, but so is Jace. Sebastian is Clary's brother, Jocelyn's son, and Jace was Stephens son, the Valentine took out of his dead mothers body. He raised both sons. Sebastian was the one with the demon blood and Jace had angel blood in him.

Clary goes to find Jace and ends up finding Valentine, and then Jace finds Clary and Valentine ends up killing Jace. When he raises the angel out of Lake Lyn, Clary musters enough strength to change the rune so she becomes the master of the angel. The angel kills valentine and Clary gets one wish, and her wish is to save Jace.

The end of the book, is great, with down worlders and shadow hunters combined as one. To fight together side by side as it should be.

This is a great story. I think I summed it up pretty well, but there is a lot happening in this story, as all the truths come out. It is a great series and definitely one worth reading.

City of Ashes ***** - I loved this book. The demons are back and hunting down downworlders. A warlock and a faerie have been killed and drained of all their blood. At first the Clave thinks it is vampires, but is not. Valentine is back and has stolen the soul sword and needs the blood of the 4 downworlders(warlock, faerie, werewolf and vampire) so he can summon the demons and control them. Valentine is hidden on a ship surrounded by demons and is slowly getting control of the demons. He still requires a werewolf and vampire child(under 18) to complete the ritual.

Clary and the gang are trying to figure out what is going. They visit the queen of the faeiries, and she ends up making Clary and Jace kiss to prove something. Simon of course is there, watching and storms off after wards, after they leave.
Simon is brought to the institution by Raphael(vampire leader). Simon has been attacked by his clan of vampires for breaking into the hotel they live in. He dies. He went to the hotel because back in book 1 when they escaped the vampires, and he was turned to a rat, he had bit one of the vampires and took in some of the blood and wanted to see if he was becoming a vampire. To bring him back, they need to bury him so he can completely change, which they do. He is born a vampire.

Simon and one of Luke's pack have been taken(by Valentine) for their blood. Jace and Clary go to save them, and Jace finds Simon(drained of almost all his blood and thought dead) but Simon was still somewhat alive, and Jace offers Simon to drink his blood to save him. There are bits and pieces in the story making you believe that Valentine is not really Jace's father after all. I believe he is the inquisitors grand son, but will know more in Book 3, hopefully. Jace and Simon, find Clary who is squaring off with Valentine, but Clary who can write powerful runes, does this and brings down the whole ship. They escape and get out. The sun is coming up and Simon doesn't have time to get home, thinking he will die as soon as the sun hits him, says goodbye to Clary but he doesn't die. He doesn't burn and turn to ash, he is fine and can now somehow go into the sunlight and be fine but is still a vampire. The end of the story has Jace saying he will only try to be a brother to Clary(even though they still have feelings for each other) and Clary meeting someone her mother knew who can help wake her... I can't wait now to get to book 3.

City of Bones **** - I have started another series, called the mortal instruments. City of Bones is the first of three books. This books started off introducing one of the main characters, Clary(Clarissa) and her friend Simon. Clary Fray can see Demons. When her mother calls her and tells her something is wrong, and not to come home, Clary doesn't listen and goes home, to find her mother gone and her house torn to bits. She is attacked by a Ravener demon, but kills it before Jace rescues her. Jace is a shadow hunter. Clary is brought to the institute where other shadow hunters live. She is told all about what they do and the demon world full of werewolves, vampires and other demons. Clary finds out, her mother was a shadow hunter and married Valentine, who has found Clary's mother, and is now looking for what she has hidden, the mortal cup to build an army of shadow hunters of his own.
Clary and Jace try to find the mortal cup first, and succeed, but Valentine catches up to them, and takes it back along with Jace. When Clary finds where they are, she goes to rescue her mother and Jace, to find out Valentine is her father and Jace is her brother. Valentine gets away, and her mother remains in a comatose state in a hospital not waking up from whatever spell has hold of her. Continuation in book 2...

Night world Book 3 ****- Another great story. My favorite story in this third book was called Black Dawn. All the stories are good, but this story I really liked and could not put the book down at all until I finished this story. I was very disappointed when I came to the end of the book, thinking this was the end of the series, just to find out that this isn't the end of the series. The 4th book is due to come out in April 2010.. I hate waiting, I prefer to read them all at the same time, but I guess I will have to wait. These are great books if you are into fantasy reading.

Night world Book 2 **** - Another great read. Still a mix of stories about werewolves, vampires and witches. My favorite story in this book was the last story called Soul mate. In the end of this story it gives you a glimpse of characters from book 1 and where they are now. These are great books so far and I look forward to jumping into Book #3 tonight.

Night world Book 1 **** - This was a great book. A mix of stories about vampires, werewolves and witches and the night world, a gathering of all beings of night. There are 3 stories in the book. The first one, being a vampire story. A vampire, turns his human friend into a vampire to save her life, as she was dying of cancer. Second story, 3 witches move into their grandmothers home to find her murdered. Turns out the neighborhood werewolf did not want them living here and the drama unfolds. The third story, which was one of my favorite revolved around 2 witches who get into a bit of trouble and how they fix it. I really enjoyed this story the most. I would recommend this book to anyone addicted to the vampires after reading Twilight. Nothing compares to Twilight but it is still a good read. Now onto book 2.

Breaking Dawn *****- I loved this book, the last in the series. Edward and Bella get married and set off on their honeymoon. Bella wants to have sex with Edward who said he would try, as he is afraid of hurting her, but this is something she wants to do before she is turned into a vampire. While on their honeymoon Bella gets pregnant, which has never happened before between a vampire and a human. The child grows fast and makes Bella sick. The baby is born, killing Bella in the process. Edward turns Bella by injecting his venom into her heart. She is now a vampire, but not like any other newborn. She can control her thirst. She finally meets her baby, Renesmee who is still growing rapidly. She can show images of things she has seen through touch. She is part immortal and part mortal. The Volturi have found out, and looks like they are set to kill the Cullen family because they think they have turned a child into a vampire. Renesmee is smart and can control herself too. In the end, the Volturi walk away and leave them be. Renesmee will be full grown within 6.5 years and they will all live together happily ever after. What am I going to read next. I am in love with these books. Hmmmm. Maybe I will read it again.

Eclipse ***** - Another great book in the series. Loved the ending and can't wait to start the next book. Bella loves Edward and Jacob loves Bella. Edward is still hesitant about Bella becoming a vampire before experiencing more events as a human. He asks her to marry him before she is turned, and she is hesitant. Victoria is back and with a new clan of newborn vampires fighting with her, she thinks she is going to take Bella out, this time for good. Bella figures it all out that the vampires are after her, and the the Cullens set the treaty aside and team up with the Werewolves to fight them off, saving Bella from Victoria. In the end Bella realizes she too loves Jacob, but more like a brother. Bella agrees to marry Edward as she knows she is ready to start her life with him.

New Moon ***** - I found this book better than the first. I loved it. Edward and the Cullen family are gone, and Bella is barely getting by. She is depressed and finds herself in a zombie like state of living. She notices when she is in danger or doing something stupid she hears Edwards voice. To continue to hear his voice she sets a plan in action, buy bringing two old motorcycles to her friend Jacob's so he can help fix them up and teach her to ride so she can hear Edwards voice again. Jacob and Bella become great friends. Jacob is Bella's best friend. Then Jacob gets sick and and stays away from Bella. A while passes and Bella finds out the truth about Jacob and his illness. He really isn't sick, he is a werewolf protecting people from vampires. The werewolves have a treaty with the Cullens, to not hunt them unless they bite a human.
Victoria, James' mate who was killed by Edward in the first book is hunting for Bella to kill her just like Edward killed James. The werewolves are hunting Victoria. Bella decides to go cliff diving as her and Jacob were going to go, but Jacob was running patrol. Alice sees Bella jump in her visions and the Cullens think she is dead. Edward decides to go to Italy, to see the Volturri so he can die too. The Volturri keep order in the vampire world and vampires who break the rules are punished. Since they choose not to kill Edward, he decides he is going to show himself in front of a mass of people in sunlight, so they will kill him, and he can be with Bella forever. Alice goes to see Bella and finds out she is not dead. Alice and Bella race to Italy to save Edward. They end up with the Volturri again and make a deal to let them go free by one day changing Bella to a vampire in order for her to survive.. I think I did a good job summing up, there was so much happening in this book. It was a great book and now I am on to Book 3, Eclipse..

Twilight****- What a great book. I was totally into this book especially after watching the TV series True Blood. This book was really good. This book is based on vampires living in the town of Forks. Bella a new comer to forks, meets Edward Cullen, a vampire. The become friends and fall for each other. Bella finds out Edward is a vampire. It doesn't change her feelings for him. Another group of vampires meets the Cullens, and one of them James decides to hunt Bella. The Cullens quickly protect Bella until she has to save her mother and leave the Cullens. James almost kills her when the Cullens arrive and save her. I can't wait to get into the next book of the series New Moon.

Spring Collection * - I don't know how I finished this book. It wasn't that great, but I kept reading it, hoping it would get better. It is pretty much about a girl who runs a model management company and her finding out about her dad on her mothers death bed. Her dad finding out she exists, for the first time tries to get in touch with her, but she doesn't respond. He also runs a modeling company and sets up a contest and picks 3 girls from her agency, hoping to meet his daughter. Life happens to the 3 models, and the daughter each a different storyline. The ending ended well, but it is not a really good story. I found it confusing at times, and I wasn't sure what was happening. Somehow I managed to finish it.

Perfect Match *** - Another great story, but can be disturbing for those that have kids. This story about a woman who is a lawyer defending children who have been sexually abused finds out her own son has been sexually abused. She knows the system and how it works, so instead of waiting around for the system to fail her son, she takes matters into her own hands, and kills the priest in front of the court during his arraignment. She tries to make it seem like she is insane at the moment. Her husband is shocked and doesn't know what to do. He takes their son and leaves for a while. She finds out it was actually another priest that abused her son, and not the one she killed. He ends up dying of a heart attack. Later she is convicted of Manslaughter but allowed on parole for 20 years. She is free to go. Weeks later she finds her husbands bag from when he was away and figures out what happened. Her husband killed the priest that really abused their son. Morale of the story, you never know how far you will go, when one of your loved ones has been hurt.

My Sister's keeper ***** - I had trouble putting this book down. A great read. This story reflects on a family Brian and Sara with a son Jesse and a daughter, Kate who has a rare form of cancer. To keep her alive, the family conceives another child that is genetically specific to help Kate. At first it is just cord blood that is needed, and over the years it becomes more and more until the day her parents want Anna to donate a kidney to her sister Kate. She draws up a lawsuit to sue her parents for herself to make her own medical decisions. The book brings you back in time to things that happened with each character as well as the current situation. Jesse is a rebel, he sets fires, and is just downright a bad ass kid. But why, is it because he is neglected because life always revolves around making Kate better. Kate who is sick loves her best friend in the whole world, her sister Anna. Anna doesn't tell anyone the reason for the lawsuit is because this is what Kate wants.
The court hearing, finally brings this bit of information to lights, when Anna finally says that it was Kate, Kate who asked Anna to kill her. This was Anna's only way to give Kate what she wanted. Anna won, she won medical emancipation from her parents and her lawyer is given the right to help Anna with any medical decisions. Her lawyer and Anna are heading back to the hospital to meet with her sister, when a accident car occurs. Brian(the dad) who is a paramedic is the one who rescues his daughter from the wreckage. She has major head trauma and is totally brain dead. The lawyer agrees to have her kidney's donated to Kate, to help her and they shut down the machines that are keeping her alive. In the future, Kate survived the transplant and is in remission thanks to the donation of Anna's Kidney, Jesse, the trouble maker, becomes a highly ranked police officer. This was a great story, and a very sad story. A must read.

It had to be You***- This was an enjoyable read. About a girl who was not loved by her father and runs away after she is raped by a football player and her father didn't believe her. She starts a new life elsewhere, dressing as a bimbo, but not like that on the inside at all. She is afraid on the inside, but covers it up on the outside. Her fathers dies, and she becomes the owner of the Stars Football team for a time. If they win the AFC championship the team will be hers, if she does not, she will hand it down to her bully cousin Reed. She meets the coach and something between them sets off fireworks in both of them. They become some what of an item until she finds out that he is dating someone else. She thinks he is using her for a romp in the sack, her first sexual experience since the Rape, but he is not, he thought he wanted to settle down with someone else until he met her, and now he just wants to be with her. It was a good read. At first I didn't think I would enjoy it, but I did and during the later part of the story I had trouble putting the book down.

Not a girl Detective **- This book was OK. I found it dragged on a bit, but that is my opinion. It is about a woman who gets involved in a murder mystery and uncovers the truth and the killer. Is worth a read if you are into murder mysteries.

Olivia Joules and the overactive imagination ***- This was a great story and right in with the times of terrorism and Bin Laden. About journalist Joules, who is after stories, and runs into a man named Feramo, who says he is French film maker. But Olivia over hears him talking in Arabic, and knows something is up and moves in closer to find out more. Eventually this leads her into more trouble and led right into the arms of the CIA. She starts working for them and uncovers the plot to blow up bridges all over the US, but she knows something else is going to happen and figures out it will be at the Academy Awards.. Bombs are inside the awards and they have to figure out how to get them outside away from people before someone in the audience sets them off. It was a great story and the suspense keeps you reading and wanting more. I would definitely recommend this book for your reading pleasure.

The Tender hours ***- This book was good too. It starts off with a woman who rushed into a marriage with her current husband, a psychiatrist. She moves out with him to Emerald Cove, where her husband came a few days before. He ends up in a car accident and is in a coma. She shows up and has to handle everything, when one night this odd woman shows up at her house, looking for a doctor because her and her friend were in a accident. Sarah(the main character) drives her to town and drops her off.
This is the start of strange things to happen, her garage catches fire, noises outside, things are disappearing, her house is ransacked, her step daughter and grandmother are kidnapped, but she has nothing to prove any of this stuff is happening because of the woman Mae. Finally her husband is murdered and she is at the top of the list of suspects. She needs to prove this woman is the woman they are after, and after some research on her part, finds out this woman is a someone her husband had an affair with many years before her and she is totally insane. She wants him back and since she can't have him, she is out for revenge. In the end, after a brave rescue from a fire, Sarah who worked with the neighbor are happily living together, they adopted her step daughter and the grandmother moves back out east happy to be home. It was a good book.

Trust me once ****- Another one I could not put down. It starts off with a murder of a wrong woman, and the real woman these guys were trying to kill returning from a trip and the cops pulling her over and trying to kill her. She hides her car in the woods and walks to another road. A famous actor ends up picking her up on the side of the road and they end up working together to try to piece together information on why people were trying to kill her. She can't turn herself into the police because they were the ones that tried to kill her. She has many attempts on her life, trying to find out a reason why people are trying to kill her and she and the actor start falling in love. In the end, the FBI gets involved and they bring down the people involved in the murder of her friend, friends of the actor, and people beforehand. It was a great book right to the end.

Step Mom ***- I couldn't put this one day. This book was made into a movie starring Susan Sarandon and Julia Roberts. Idid see the movie before reading the book, many years ago. About a couple, Jackie and Luke who divorced and have two children Anna abd Ben that they share custody with. Luke finds another woman to spend his life with, Isabel and are now engaged to be married. Jackie hates Isabel and doesn't want her to have anything to do with her kids. Jackie ends up one day at the doctors and finds out she has breast cancer again. She had it the year previous and they removed the lump and she thought they got it all. Turns out they didn't and now it had gone into her lymph nodes. She starts chemo and doesn't tell her family for a while. Finally the day comes when she has to tell her family. Jackie and Isabel finally start treating each other like humans. Jackie tries chemo and it doesn't work, she has one last option and she goes away and tries it, but it does not work either. She is now counting the days down to spend with her family. It is a really good story, very real and very sad. It was a good read.

Water For Elephants ****- This was a great book. I really enjoyed it. About a boy finishing up his veterinarian schooling when his parents die in a car accident. The bank takes everything and he is left with nothing. He ends up leaving town and hopping a train. The train is a traveling circus. When the boss finds out he is a vet, well almost, he couldn't finish the exams, he finds himself a job. He meets different people and lives the life of a circus worker. It is a great story that goes from the present, where Jacob is an old man to the past where is the boy on the Circus Train. An excellent read.

The Friday Night Knitting Club **** - I loved this book. It was a very sad and unfair ending though. One of those, where life is just getting good and then it is taken away. I don't want to give away the whole story. This book is about a single mom, Georgia Walker who ends up running her own knitting shop called Walker and Daughter. Her daughter is 12 years old, her business is doing well and she has some close friends. The knitting club starts up on it's own from a bunch of regulars who come into the shop on Friday nights. The book goes through life with all the regulars and what is going on in there lives. It is a great book about life, love and parenting and there is a few knitting tips in there as well.

Baby Proof ** - A story about a happy couple in a great marriage, ending up in a divorce because the husband Ben decides he wants a baby and Claudia(the wife) does not.
Life changes for them when the divorce happens, Claudia starts dating a man from work, and she thinks Ben is dating his running partner. She realizes in time, that the man she has been dating, is just not making her happy, that the love of her life she divorced and wants him back. She realizes if making a baby with Ben gets him back in her life, she will do that, she will do anything to get the love of her life back. In the end they meet up and both have the same feelings and want to be back together. So they are back together now. Will they end up having a baby after all?

Remember Me***** - Loved this book. I couldn't put it down. Another great book in the Sophie Kinsella series. This book is about a girl Lexi who is having a rough time at life. Everything just seems to be going wrong. She has a fall and wakes up in the hospital, but it is 3 years later and she doesn't remember the last 3 years of her life. She has a great job, she's married to a great guy and they have plenty of money. But what seems great on the outside isn't that way on the inside. As Lexi starts piecing together the missing 3 years of her life, she realizes her husband and her job are not what she envisioned. She has met her lover, that she has been having an affair with, but just doesn't believe she would be unfaithful. She found out why she got to where she was in the company. The day after her fall, her father's funeral is the turning point in her life. Her mother tells her that her father took all their money and re mortgaged the house, and Lexi took it all on herself to pay it off. In the end, she is fired from her job, but starts a business of her own with a deal she landed beforehand that the company had no interest in. She leaves her husband and has a memory flashback of her lover Jon, and rushes to him believing they did have something together. Her business is slowly taking off, and she feels at home and where she wants to be in life.

The Devil wears Prada*** - A very good read, about a girl Andrea, who ends up working at a top notch fashion magazine, Runway, for the editor and chief, Miranda Priestly in order to skip a few years and get her dream job with the New Yorker. It is a known fact, that if you work for Miranda for a year, she will give a very good recommendation and you get to work where you want to. Andrea hates her job, every little bit of it. She works all day and into the night, but she suffers through it, ending a relationship with her boyfriend and almost losing her best friend in order to get her dream job. In the end, she ends up quitting almost a year in, and it is the best decision she has made. She goes home, and gets her life back in order, her friendship back with her friend, and finally starting to get work the old fashion way, to earn your way to the top. A great story to read.

The curious incident of the dog in the night **- This book was very interesting it is written about a boy who is autistic writing this book about the neighbours dog being murdered. His mom died and he lives with his dad and attends school. He loves math and does alot of math in his head when in uncomfortable situations. He does not like being touched or being in a room with to many people or just being in a strange place. In this book he finds out his mother has not died because he found letters addressed to him from her that his father hid because she had had an affair with the neighbors husband and that his father murdered the neighbors dog. He goes to London on his own to find his mother and does. His mother brings him back to his house and stays their alone for a while as he is scared to be with his father as he lied and killed the dog. It ends with him learning to trust his father again. It is a interesting book. It was hard for me to get into it at first, but I continued and it got interesting. An OK read.

Love is a many Trousered Thing ***- I love this series. I can't wait for Louise Rennison to release the next book in this series so I can find out what is happening. The sex god returns, but says he will be leaving again, and Masimo leaves for Italy and will be coming back in a month, but invites Georgia to come up to visit. What will she do. In the meantime on a school camping trip, she runs into Dave the Laugh, who she has snogged in the past and considers him the best snog, end up snogging in the end. I think these two should end up together, but who knows what the author has in mind.

Startled by his furry shorts*** - More confessions of Georgia Nicholson. I really am enjoying this series. In this book, Georgia is torn between Dave the laugh, whom she secretly likes, but won't admit, Masimo, the new Italian stud, who told her he would not be her boyfriend, but they could be mates. In the end, Masimo says he will be her boyfriend, but then the ex sex god returns from being away. What will she do. In between it was full of lots of other funny tid bits. I will have to wait for the next book. I have reserved it from the library but it isn't in yet. What will I do in the meantime.

Then he ate my boy entrancers ***- Another great book in the series. It was good, where Georgia is on the rebound and discovers she likes the new guy in town. He is Italian and she calls him the Italian Stallion. She likes him a lot, but he does not know this, and is also seeing a girl Georgia dislikes. They continue this way through the book, until the end, with the advice of her mother, which she did not want to take, asks him in more words then needed(will you be my boyfriend?)
He comes to her home, and tells her he will let her know in a week and this is where the book ends. The cat in the end, who was nibbling on what she thought was a spider, ending up being her boy entrancers(false eyelashes) too cute.

Away laughing on a fast camel *** - The 5th in the series of Georgia Nicholson confessions. They are truly light funny reads. I love Georgia she is hilarious. The funniest part of this book was when she wore her false eyelashes(she calls them her boy entrancers) and as she looks down while talking to the new hot gorgeous boy, they stick together. Instead of telling him, her eyelashes were stuck together, she starts dancing with her eyes closed, and making her way to the loos, until she runs into her friends, who bring her there in a conga line. Very funny read.

Dancing in my Nuddy Pants *** - I am still in love with this series. Georgia's boyfriend is leaving for a year, and she is sad about this, but then is happy because she seems to have this thing for another boy, who she ends up snogging all the time, by accident. The things she goes through is truly funny. Her parents are weirdo's to her, of course, the average teenager, who is embarrased by everything they do and say. Great story. On to the next one.

Knocked out by my Nunga Nunga's *** -I do love a good laugh. This book gave me some good laughs. It is the third in the series, and as a mother of a daughter, I am enjoying seeing how the mother deals with the Georgia, her 14 year old daughter. Then it is nice to see how the daughter acts and reacts with her parents. It is giving me some insight as to how my daughter will think and act as a teenager. I am enjoying the series so far. Next Dancing in my Nuddy Pants...

On the bright side, I am now the girlfriend of a sexgod*** - This is a good book. These stories, this is the second of the series, the first one angus, thongs and full frontal snogging, I read quite a while ago, but I did enjoy it. This book goes through the life of a 14 year old girl, Georgia Nicholson and all her life moments. It is quite a good laugh.

Bridget Jones : Edge of Reason *****- I loved this book. I love Bridget. What a great kooky character. Funny. I love fluff books, and this book is pretty much all fluff.

Death by Deep Dish pie - Another one I could not read. I read about a chapter and Had to put it down. It was just a gossip book, a book about a small town, everyone knows everyone and everything. It was to much information all at once. I just wasn't interested.. On to better things. Hopefully

Harry Potter and the deathly hollows *****- Of course, I loved it. I think the whole story line was great, and the book answers alot of questions. I can't wait to see it in the movies. Lots of action, twists and turns. Great read if you are into Harry potter.

Bridget Jones Diary ****-loved it. I have seen the movie before and the book is just as funny. Now onto the edge of reason. I am sure it will be just as good

memoirs of a SAHM

Friday, August 15, 2008

Storyland a disappointment

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