Not a bad little film. It's a family movie based on a book of the same name. The main characters are 12 year-olds in a small town in Texas. They are thrilled to see that the "World's Fattest Boy" has come to visit their town and their adventure begins.
Everyone in this film loses someone close to them, but they all also gain each other while rising up to their greatest potential.
Hopefully this film will get better distribution soon.
RATING: 3/5
Not only did I enjoy seeing the film again but I enjoyed the special features. It had behind the scenes info on how they came up with the stories not just how they made the animation. I enjoyed the new short where it shows the baby attacking the babysitter and stuff. A super buy. Two disks in one set. A great value. Fun for the whole family!
My RATING: 3.5/5
I realize it is only March but I am declaring this the "Book of the Year." I was so excited about this book coming out and it didn't disappoint me. I liked it so much that I kept re-reading parts of the book because I didn't want to put it down, but I also didn't want it to be over. It is that good.
RATING: 5/5
SPOILERS FOLLOW
The hero of the story is a young boy whose father was killed on September 11. The child seems to have obsessive compulsive disorder. It also appears to be hereditary. He was having a lot of trouble dealing with his father's death and was having trouble mourning for him. When looking through his father's things he finds a key inside a vase and an envelope. He then becomes obsessed with finding the lock that the key opens. From there it's adventure.
HA HA HA HA HA! HA HA HA HA! Predictable, yet still very enjoyable. There should be more Danish dark comedy films shown in the US. I wish I had gotten to see it again. In the discussion after the film there was some question as to why it was "green" in the title. Was it a reference to environmentalism or organic products? How about a Soylent Green reference? Or was it just that these two guys were unlikely to be successful business owners? I don't think that "green" would necessarily hold those same figurative meanings in Danish so I'm going with the Soylent Green reference.
RATING: 4/5
This was a very fun read. It took twists and turns that I didn't expect. It was an interesting look at a classic story from a different point of view. The thing that did surprise me was that I thought the book would portray Dorothy as a villan. It didn't do that at all. She was just a regular girl.
I'm definitely looking forward to reading Maguire's other books.
RATING: 3/5
Like the first book in this series it was quite a fun read. Because of the unfortunate-ness of the story much of this was predictable but I still enjoyed it. I definitely understand why kids like this series so much. It's very comical how these children's lives are so messed up.
RATING: 3/5
Yeah, I know I've been a bit lazy about updating this lately. I promise some reviews soon. I've read and watched some good stuff.
This is definitely one of the most outstanding films I have ever seen. This film deserved to win a million Oscars. The cinematography was divine. The score was amazing. The dialogue was mesmerizing. I couldn't believe how well it was done. The whole time I felt like I was being drawn into the screen. Alejandro Amenábar is a fantastic director and Javier Bardem's acting couldn't have been better either. I can't imagine the difficulty in playing the role of a paralyzed man but he pulled it off. Bardem managed to convey emotion with his head face and neck in a way that seemed natural. I don't know how he will ever top this performance, but I'm sure he will. He's got many years of acting ahead of him.
My Rating: 5/5
This is a good book, but it took me a very long time to read it. Unlike many other books written for the layperson this one required me to wear a "thinking cap" the whole time. I must admit that I don't have a lot of knowledge in the biological sciences so I'm sure that impeded my progress a bit.
The book's premise is interesting and original. Dawkins traces the steps of evolution backwards beginning with homo sapiens and ending at the "dawn of life." The story is arranged in a sort of Canturbury Tales manner (Chaucer's masterpiece is mentioned several times). In each section a particular species (or two) tell their own tale about what special evolutionary "advance" they have made. Dawkins also includes little asides about current world politics and his opinions about religious institutions (something that was common in Canturbury Tales).
I put the word "advance" in quotes for a reason. Part of the point of this book is to explain how most laypeople have an unscientific view of evolution. Dawkins points out that if we could go back and restart "life" all over again, we probably wouldn't exist. There is no invisible evolutionary arrow pointing to homo sapiens or any other species for that matter. I highly recommend this book, though it is probably boring for those who have studied the life sciences in depth.
RATING: 5/5