Scream 4

☞ Trailer

I feel the need to say that I watched this movie at 9pm in a smallish movie theater at college. Playing this movie to a room full of college students was actually really hilarious. While half of me was scared because a random masked figure was popping out and stabbing people to death, half of me was cracking up because of all the people who would scream when that happened. The funniest thing was when the movie leads you to think Scream is going to pop out and kill someone but it's just something stupid like it'll just be a random character. People pretty much screamed whenever the music got louder.

As for storyline goes, as in most horror movies there isn't really one, which is the main reason why I typically don't like them. The point is just to get people killed. But there's a certain attraction to the movie because of the fun part of trying to figure out who Scream actually is. I won't say who, but I'll say it's pretty unexpected. That simple fact is almost the whole reason I'm giving this such a high rating. The other reason is the cast: Lucy Hale, Anna Paquin, Courteney Cox (whose first name I didn't know was spelled like that until recently), Kristen Bell, Hayden Panettiere, and David Arquette being among the long list of the well-known actors/actresses in the cast. Having all of them in Scream 4 just makes it that much better because it doesn't seem as cheesy as it may have been if they had used unknowns.

I give it: 8/10

Mr. Perfect by Linda Howard

Wow another book! This book literally took me about a month to read; not because I didn't like it but because I always seemed to have something better to do such as look at the multitude of cat videos on the Internet. The whole premise of this book is pretty interesting: one day a group of four women are eating together when the topic of what a perfect man would be comes up. It starts out normal with the top things being loyalty and good looks but then turns into being about certain physical aspects of men. One of the women writes down this "List" and after that everything goes downhill for the group.

Their "List" ends up getting published and becomes a highly talked about bit for the newspaper and TV shows. It leads to a lot of men (and women) being resentful for the items on the "List", but one person takes action and murders one of the four which leads to a highly suspenseful tone for the remainder of the book.

The main reason it was such a good book is because Linda Howard was able to acheive a good balance of suspense, humor, and romance in the novel. The ending completely suprised me which I like because I hate predictable books.

I give it: 8/10

X-Men: First Class

☞ Trailer

Okay so I'm not some X-Men geek/nerd/dork and I'm not even well-versed in the whole idea of it either. I've seen most of the movies but that's pretty much it. The idea of this installment is to show how the X-Men began and what led up to it.

I'm pretty sure about half the movie is in subtitles so try not to be like the couple in the movie theater who brought their little kid to a PG-13 movie. I'm sure their kid had less of a clue than usual as to what was going on. At one point in the movie they're in Argentina and then they're in Germany, Poland, Russia, and I'm sure I'm missing somewhere. Crazy. It takes place during the Cold War, although the beginning scene happens during World War II. Speaking of the opening, it was really confusing. I was like whoah. But then I got less confused as the movie went on. Explosions, emotions, and the Banshee are all high in the movie. If you see it you'll know what I mean by the Banshee looking high, or maybe just stoned.

The storyline didn't really have anything special to it and didn't really stand out to me, but the movie did flow pretty well once I got used to the constant changes in the story from character to character. There were a few funny lines, but not much. The one time Wolverine showed up for about 10 seconds was probably the funniest scene in the movie. I did like knowing the history behind what was going on because at the high point of the movie they are in a situation during the Cuban Missile Crisis which actually did happen.

I give it: 8/10

Ghostbusters

☞ Trailer

Who you gonna call? Well, it's either Ghostbusters or Maroone I'm about to start talking about but I'm pretty sure you can figure out which one it is. This movie is old, so any of the graphic effects were really funny because technology back then was pretty lame compared to what we have now. Even funnier is to think that this movie was scary when it was released and now it's been turned into a joke because it's so unrealistic. There still were some creepy parts to the movie though.

Everyone knows what Ghostbusters is about so I'm not going to waste my time explaining the plot. Bill Murray was his usual funny self and Rick Moranis (the guy who was in the movies like Honey, I Shrunk the Kids) was still extremely short. There were some funny lines that I liked in Ghostbusters too.

I give it: 8/10

Bolt Ϟ

☞ Trailer

Talk about the cutest start to a movie ever. Right away I was like "oh em gee cutest dog ever". I mean really, who could resist the cuteness of a puppy playing with a squeaky carrot and chasing its tail? The beginning of Bolt was slightly confusing because of how they completely mislead you. I had no idea what the movie was about though so I'm sure if you watch the trailer you'll know what's going on whereas I was suprised.

Being a Disney film, I had pretty high expectations for Bolt and I can say that I wasn't let down. It had the typical qualities of being extremely cute and funny. The hamster named Rhino is also hilarious. Pretty much the only thingsI didn't like about the movie was it's predictableness and at some parts it was sad. It was so sad when Bolt (spoiler alert) finds out that everything he thought was real actually is all just part of a television show. He pretty much has to start his life all over again because he had been deceived so much. A cat has to teach Bolt how to act like an actual dog that's how bad it is. Anyway, overall it's definitely worth watching.

I give it: 8/10

My Girlfriend's Boyfriend

☞ Trailer

This movie was one of the better ones I've seen. It wasn't released in movie theaters but I have no idea why. This is supposedly a romantic comedy, but it wasn't very comedic although I did smile a few times but mostly at the minor character of the gum guy (Tom Lenk). I watched the movie because I saw that actress Alyssa Milano who was on the TV show Charmed was the main character and she hadn't been doing much acting as far as I was aware of. She did a pretty good job acting in the movie so I wasn't disappointed.

I loved the twist of the movie which is evident by the ending. It is a little bit confusing to understand at first, but once you get it it's an "ohhh" moment. Another good thing about the movie is that it's only PG so it's not a romance movie that's all about sex and things like that. They only mention sex maybe once and it's a pretty obscure reference at that. It's nice to see a movie that doesn't rely on the physical aspects of a relationship. Overall it's a cute movie that I recommend mostly because it's different than the other movies of it's type.

I give it: 8/10

Serenity

☞ Trailer

This movie is based on the series Firefly. Firefly was a short-lived show that only lasted a single season. Even with only 14 episodes, the show managed to gain a dedicated fan base.

Throughout the almost 2-hour movie, it shifted through ups and downs. The beginning had me laughing and the end had me crying. Not going to spoil anything here, but Joss Whedon sure does love making his viewers crazy on the emotional roller coasters he so loves to create.

The movie centers around the character of River, insane 17 year old female prodigy of well... everything. The antagonist tries to kill her because he believes she is a tool of destruction. He's not wrong. She goes completely insane at a few points in the movie at times knocking out entire rooms full of armed men singlehandedly. How is it that a show that's not really centered around a teenaged superpowered girl has more of her killing people/kicking ass than a show that is? I have no idea. Anyways, the movie has some pretty awesome fight scenes, but at times they just get really confusing and everywhere. Some scenes themselves seem to be randomly inserted and have hardly any relevance, but they actually do because those are the scenes where River is being her usual insane self. I was glad to see the whole original cast from Firefly in the movie, because I hate when movies are made off of TV shows and they use different actors.

I give it an: 8/10

Dead Like Me

I first found this show surfing through random things on Netflix and I'm glad I did. I like shows about death, just because I find death interesting, and this one is good on that aspect. The show ran on some obscure network (I don't even remember which one) and only has two seasons... plus a movie. Admittedly I don't plan on watching the movie just because I read the reviews on Netflix and not a single one says anything good about it. I'd rather not waste my time. Plus I saw that not all the original actors were in it, which I typically don't like because it's comparable to changing the character entirely.

Anyways, Dead Like Me is a show about a teenaged girl named George (she goes by George her real name is Georgia) who gets killed in the first say... 20 minutes? of the show. By a toilet seat. From the space station. Flying down to earth and hitting her. Within a few moments of dying, George discovers that she is destined to be a Grim Reaper. Basically, her job is to take the souls out of bodies before people die. They get their assignments through a highly secretive and new-aged way: Post-Its. The Grim Reapers in this show can still be seen and interact with the living, although their appearances are changed for obvious reasons. George has trouble dealing with her death and often finds herself going back to watch how her family deals with the event. She's also someone who hides behind sarcasm and is a straightforward person who hardly ever smiles (though she smiles more and more as the show progresses). I especially like the character Mason who is another Grim Reaper. Or more I like who plays the character which is Callum Blue (look that's him on the left). Cute and has a nice accent going on but he, or rather his character, can be a complete jerk. The writing on the show is good and I like some quotes I can use often from it like "Who was using the defibrillator paddles to make grilled cheese?". But there's also some serious thought-provoking stuff in the show too.

The strange deaths in the show are worth mentioning too. Not one episode goes by without anyone dying except the one where the Gravelings (the ones who plan out how deaths happen) take a vacation. Seriously though, death by flying toilet seat and having to be known by other Reapers as "Toilet Seat Girl"? Sorry George. Other weird deaths that I remember include having the sign from "Der Wafflehouse", a restaurant the group of Reapers visit a lot, fall on the cashier and kill him. There's also a death by falling piano, getting run over chasing a dog across the street, and a lot of other ones I don't remember. The show is well written, it just drags on at some points and at times it's almost like there is no purpose to the episode.

I give it: 8/10

Pretty Little Liars

When I first saw the name of this TV show, I instantaneously thought "Oh great another girly gossip show", but I still gave it a shot solely because I saw that Holly Marie Combs (Piper from Charmed) would be on it. I'm glad I watched it and now I'm hooked.

Pretty Little Liars is based on a series by the same name by Sara Shepard. In regards to how accurate the show is to the books, I really don’t know because I have not read the books yet. The show is based on a group of girls whose friend Alyson recently died. But not very long after Alyson's death, the girls begin  receiving messages all from the notorious "A" which makes them think it is Alyson. "A" knows all their secrets and sets out to ruin the girls' lives. This sets up the series’ premise of finding out just who “A” really is. After the first episode, I became immersed in the series. Originally, I lamented over another great show that would never get the respectability it deserves. That was until I realized that this show wouldn't be passed over and that people actually were watching it.

So if you wrote off this show because of the cheesy-sounding name, remember that saying everyone rolls their eyes at; "Don't judge a book by its cover". Give the show a chance and you may be surprised at how good it actually is.

I give it: 8/10