Book Review #12

Title: Twilight 1: The Graphic Novel
Author: Stephenie Meyer
Art and Adaptation: Young Kim

Summary: The love story between the innocent teenager Bella and the handsome vampire Edward, which prompted a worldwide phenomenon, breathes new life in a two-volume adaptation of Twilight! The first volume has been rigorously reviewed by Stephenie Meyer and reflects her personal vision of the world of The Twilight Saga. This unique art style -- a black-and-white graphic novel with color interspersed throughout -- is guaranteed to take a bite out of the graphic novel world and leave fans eagerly anticipating the exciting conclusion in Twilight: The Graphic Novel, Volume 2 (publication date not available). (Summary provided by Borders)


Review: I am a Twilight fan, and I wanted to read the graphic novel to see the newest interpretation of it. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed reading this. This was the first time I had ever read a graphic novel, and I thought the art was beautiful, and they kept everything that made it Twilight.
I noticed that some of the art was drawn a little like the movie, and then some was what Kim had interpreted. I liked that because it added a new feel to it. 
The story remains the same, one we all know and love, the story of how Bella and Edward fall in love. It starts off the same, but the first volume ends right when Edward drops Bella off after they go to the field. I personally can not wait for the others to come out. There really isn't much to say about the story because it's all the same. I do wish they had just made a larger graphic novel and just made the whole book on big one, rather than make us wait for them to come out with Twilight part 2. I give it an 8/10 Stars


To read my Twilight book Review click here!

Book Review #11

Impulse

By: Ellen Hopkins

Summary: Sometimes you don't wake up. But if you happen to, you know things will never be the same. Three lives, three different paths to the same destination: Aspen Springs, a psychiatric hospital for those who have attempted the ultimate act -- suicide. Vanessa is beautiful and smart, but her secrets keep her answering the call of the blade. Tony, after suffering a painful childhood, can only find peace through pills. And Conner, outwardly, has the perfect life. But dig a little deeper and find a boy who is in constant battle with his parents, his life, himself. In one instant each of these young people decided enough was enough. They grabbed the blade, the bottle, the gun -- and tried to end it all. Now they have a second chance, and just maybe, with each other's help, they can find their way to a better life -- but only if they're strong and can fight the demons that brought them here in the first place. (Summary by Borders.com)

Review: I'm a big fan of Ellen Hopkins, everything she writes seems to speak to me, so I was not disappointed in reading this book and falling in love with all three characters. Tony, Vanessa, and Conner all end up in a psychiatric hospital for attempting suicide. They all have different reasons for doing so, but seem to have a lot in common. We see each character at it's worst point, and we watch as they grow and develop and come to terms with their lives. 

Out of all 3 my favorite character was probably Vanessa. I felt like I could relate to a lot of things she went through  and that she was able to find love and meaning and a will to live. One thing I didn't like was the fact that it just sort of ended, I would have liked to have seen each character deal with going home, and not the way it ended (now I don't want to give away too much). 

Overall it was a good read, and has secured my love for Ellen Hopkins novels. She always tells her story beautifully and her characters are always so real. I give it a 7/10 Stars. 

DVD Review #5

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs


Summary: Flint Lockwood thinks he's a genius. But none of the things he invented are things that make sense or are useful. However, he has the support of his mother but when she dies, he's left alone with his father who thinks he should give it up. When the community that he lives in, is in an economic crisis because their primary source of income a sardine cannery was shut down, Flint decides to try his latest invention, a machine that can turn water into food. But something goes wrong and the machine ends up in the atmosphere. Later it starts raining food. And so the shifty mayor tries to use this as a way to help their community. But when Flint sense something's wrong with the machine, the mayor convinces him to ignore it. But as Flint predict chaos ensues. (Summary found on IMDB)


Review: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is a highly entertaining movie, that will keep you laughing throughout the film. The movie is about everyone's basic nee, Food! Flint is an inventor that invents a machine to turn water molecules into food. He does this so that the town can finally stop eating their only source of food, anchovies, and start eating well anything else!


The story did seem to have an underlying meaning. Everyone in the town goes food cray and actually the mayor becomes incredibly overweight, because he ends up eating nearly everything in sight. Everyone knows that obesity is becoming the leading cause of death in our nation and I think that this movie was trying to show kids that it is not a healthy obsession.


Cloudy was a great movie in all, and I can't wait to watch it again. The animation was so much better than I ever expected, as was the story. I give this a 7/10 Stars.

Game Review #6

Karaoke Revolution
PS3, Wii, X360

The newest installment of the singing game, adds quite a bit to the table. It adds a whole new type of career mode, that is entertaining to play through. You play through 3 cd's, and please don't confuse that with having 3 different Karaoke Revolution discs, it is a one disc game. The game has a good array of songs, and everything you have downloaded (if you have a PS3 or X360) from the older versions will work as well.

Playing through the career mode as a single player adds some challenge to playing by yourself that I like. With each song, medley, or set list you sing you have to achieve a certain score if you don't achieve that score you have to re-do it. Once you start the career mode you will notice a small circular shaped object on the screen, that is the start of your disc, and as you beat challenges it will get bigger.

I've only played the PS3 version of the game, but as far as I can tell the online capability is well done. The only bad thing I would have to say about it would be that not a lot of people play it online so unless you have a lot of singing parties, you'd be playing the game by yourself a lot.

After a few added things, not much else has changed in the series, but hopefully this sort of career mode will keep the series afloat. However, many of the singing gamers have veered more towards SingStar, Lips, even Rock Band. It doesn't compete well with those games, but this is one of the best Karaoke Revolution games I have played, and I do hope they come out with another.

For a complete setlist please click on the following Wikipedia link: Karaoke Revolution 2009

Movie Review #4

Alice in Wonderland


"19-year-old Alice returns to the magical world from her childhood adventure, where she reunites with her old friends and learns of her true destiny: to end the Red Queen's reign of terror."


Everyone knows the story of Alice in Wonderland; little girl falls down the rabbit hole and fun ensues. Tim Burton's version of Alice in Wonderland is similar however it's the second time she's fallen down the rabbit hole, but she doesn't remember and thinks it was all a dream. Tim Burton fans will not be disappointed because his kooky style is style there along with his sidekick Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter. Depp's interpretation of the Mad Hatter was wonderful! It was a combination of his Pirates character and his Willy Wonka character. Helena Bonham Carter played the red queen and if you can get by her unusually large head and tiny body she played it rather well. Anne Hathaway as the white queen was great! A little overly sweet, but other than that she was great.  And I can't forget Mia Wasikowska as Alice, in my opinion she was perfectly casted. I was happy that she didn't disappoint me in this, because it would really have changed my view of the movie if I didn't like her as Alice. 


The story was good. It was different than the disney version, and I really liked that. It was almost like a sequel. I was not expecting that. I went into the movie expecting to see a darker version of the disney movie, but that's not what I got. It was very different. The set was beautifully designed I enjoyed having it pop out at me. The 3D added so much depth to the movie and I loved that. I'm not a huge fan of seeing movies in 3D, but I was happy to have seen this one. 


Alice will be loved by adults, teenagers, and children everywhere. Whether you loved the disney version, just love the story, or are a die-hard Tim Burton fan, you will enjoy this movie. I would have to give this an 8/10 Stars.