Title:  A Midsummer Night's Dream: Shakespeare Retold
Format:  Netflix
Category:  Shakespeare adaptation
Rating:  B-

Description (from wikipedia):  Theo and Polly visit Dream Park inclusive leisure facility to celebrate the engagement of their daughter Hermia to James Demetrius. The engagement party is, much to the irritable Theo's horror, disrupted by Hermia's true love Xander. Despite their own disagreements, the fairy rulers of the woods around Dream Park, Titania and Oberon, have a duty to ensure a happy ending, so Oberon gets Puck to try to sort things out with "love juice" eyedrops, while Oberon and Theo discuss their marriages. Puck's efforts inevitably lead to more confusion.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

There are so many ways this retelling of A Midsummer Night's Dream could have been improved.  Better actors, fewer slow parts, and less focus on Nick Bottom-- just doing one of these things would have made this movie so much better.

The movie had very good actors, but it doesn't matter how talented you are if there's no chemistry.  Titania and Oberon are supposed to be a couple in love who happen to be in the middle of a fight.  You never get that from actors Lennie James and Sharon Small.  There's no electricity, no chemistry, no spark between them.  And there's no passion in their acting.  They don't seem to ever get into their parts.  In one scene, they're supposed to be fighting, but they might as well have been talking about the weather.  It was like they made no effort at all.  Luckily, the other actors make up for them.  Imelda Staunton, Bill Paterson, and Rupert Evans are all superb in their parts.

There were a few parts of this movie where the action seemed to just come to a standstill.  I found myself fast-forwarding through them.  Most of the scenes with Nick Bottom and his friends just bored me to tears.  If they'd just shortened them, or left a few of them out altogether, this movie would have earned a much higher rating.  B-

Title:  Alice
Format:  Netflix
Category:  Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Miniseries/Book adaptation
Rating:  A+

I think it's amazing that I haven't been disappointed by a miniseries yet.

Description (from Barnes & Noble):  Director Nick Willing puts a new twist on Lewis Carroll's classic tale in this fantasy mini-series depicting Alice as a 21 year old woman who ventures into Wonderland in search of a lost love. Almost immediately after presenting Alice with an ornate family ring, handsome Jack Chase is abducted by a pair of hulking brutes. Approached by a well-dressed man named White Rabbit who claims to know Jack's whereabouts, Alice follows the stranger into a mirror and finds herself in a surreal new world of fantasy and wonder. When the Queen of Hearts discovers her son bestowed a virtual stranger the ring that gives its owner power over the looking glass, it's up to Alice to determine what she should do with it.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Once again, RHI Entertainment, Syfy, and director Nick Willing put together an amazing miniseries that challenges our perceptions of a well-known, classic story.  When I saw Tin Man, all I could think was how much I hoped Syfy would make another miniseries, and then I heard about Alice.  Alice is a new spin on the classic Lewis Carroll stories that is exciting, romantic, funny, and just plain awesome.

The characters were phenomenally well-done.  The thought and development that went into creating these memorable characters is evident, especially Alice, Hatter, and the White Knight.  Caterina Scorsone was very different from every other portrayal of Alice I've ever seen.  Rather than a confused blonde, Scorsone's Alice is a kick-butt (brunette) martial arts expert with a lot of courage and intelligence.  The White Knight was definitely the comic relief.  And I was so surprised to learn that the actor playing him was Matt Frewer, or as I always knew him, Big Russ Thompson from Honey, I Shrunk the Kids.  His background story as well as his ridiculousness make him a very lovable, believable character.  The best character in the whole movie has to go to Hatter, played by the adorable Andrew Lee Potts.  You instantly fall in love with him.  He's sweet, sarcastic, heroic, fun, and wonderfully flawed.  (He wouldn't be so great if he was perfect; perfect people are annoying.)  The supporting characters are fantastic too.  Kathy Bates is perfectly evil as the Queen of Hearts, and Colm Meaney plays her blundering husband very well.

The settings are beautiful and definitely worthy of Wonderland.  I think the Knights' kingdom is done the best.  I would actually want to live there.  The plot is exciting, with lots of twists and no slow moments.  It never feels like you're watching a three hour miniseries.  And the sci-fi elements and twists add so much to an already unique and well-done story.  Another thing I loved about this Syfy production is that, unlike Tin Man, my entire family, including my 8-year-old sister, could watch this.  A+

Title:  Despicable Me
Format:  Movie theater
Date Seen:  July 15, 2010
Category:  Family/Animated
Rating:  A

Description (from imdb.com):  In a happy suburban neighborhood sits a black house with a dead lawn. Hidden beneath this home is a vast secret hideout. Surrounded by a small army of minions, we discover Gru, planning the biggest heist in the history of the world, armed with his arsenal of shrink rays, freeze rays, and battle-ready vehicles for land and air. Until the day he encounters the immense will of three little orphaned girls who look at him and see something that no one else has ever seen: a potential Dad. The world's greatest villain has just met his greatest challenge: three little girls named Margo, Edith and Agnes.

 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I want a minion!  They are so ridiculously adorable.  This movie probably wouldn't have been anywhere near as good, if they had left out the minions.

The movie was so cute, and the storyline was really good too.  The villain's back story was well-done too.  Usually, in animated family movies, there's never any background on the villain.  You're just supposed to accept the fact that he's bad, and he's always been that way.  This time, they provided a look at what makes Gru tick.  And you actually end up sympathizing with him.  The movie's other villain, the real bad guy of the story, was incredibly funny.  As was the dialogue.  Which was surprising, because a lot of family movies have a hard time balancing their dialogue between kids and their parents.  You either get very childish humor that makes the parents cringe over the sappiness.  Or you get innuendo and crude jokes.  This movie didn't have either.  The dialogue was entertaining for both children and adults without the innuendo or baby-talk.  Here are some examples of the stuff that made me laugh:

Gru:  Do you speak Spanish?

Miss Hattie:  Do I look like someone who speaks Spanish?

Gru:  It's just that your face is so... Como es burro.

Miss Hattie:  Oh!  Why, thank you!

Gru:  Your dog has  been leaving bombs in my yard.

Fred:  Oh, you know dogs... they go where they want!

Gru:  Not if they're dead.

Little Gru:  Someday, I'm going to the moon.

Gru's Mom:  I'm afraid you're too late, Gru.  NASA is no longer sending up the monkeys.

Agnes:  Aw.  My caterpillar never turned into a butterfly.

Edith:  That's a Cheeto.

Agnes:  Oh.  *Eats it*

Edith:  When we got adopted by a bald guy, I thought this'd be more like Annie.

Agnes:  Will you read us a bedtime story?

Gru:  No.

Agnes:  Pretty please?

Gru:  The physical appearance of the please makes no difference.

So funny!  And those are only a few of the quotes I loved from this movie.  I would definitely recommend this to all kids, and to anyone who likes to laugh.  A

Title: Toy Story 3
Format: Movie theather
Date Seen: June 19, 2010
Category: Family/Animated/Disney Pixar
Rating: A+

Description (from imdb.com): Andy is now 17 and ready to head off to college, leaving Woody, Buzz, Jessie, and the rest of the toy-box gang to ponder their uncertain futures. When the toys are accidentally donated to the Sunnyside Daycare center they're initially overjoyed to once again be played with, but their enthusiasm quickly gives way to horror as they discover the true nature of the establishment under the rule of the deceptively welcoming "Lotso" Bear. Now, all of the toys must band together in one final, crazy scheme to escape their confines and return home to Andy.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Absolutely fantastic! I will admit that I was a little nervous about this film, because sequels can either be incredibly good or incredibly bad. This one was incredibly awesome! A great story with lots of excitement, plenty of fun for both parents and kids, and a heartfelt conclusion that made me cry.

The new characters introduced in this movie were such great additions. Many of them played big parts and felt like they belonged in the Toy Story family. Some of the other new characters deserved much bigger roles, like Trixie, Buttercup, and Mr. Pricklepants (can't write that name without laughing). But apparently Disney will be giving them a big role in their Toy Story Mania ride, now that one of the original characters is gone.

Best new character- Ken. The Barbie & Ken relationship that was hyped up in all the previews was as good as I thought it would be. Perhaps the best moments of the movie are between the two of them. This classic couple stole every scene. Best Barbie/Ken moment- Ken's fashion show. If you ever had a Barbie or had a sister who played with Barbie, you will appreciate this scene.

What really surprised me was how intense a few of the scenes were. Neither the first or second movie ever had anything in it that would scare a little kid, but this movie did. All I could think as I watched those scenes was "My little sister would be freaking out right now." So if you have easily frightened kids/siblings, keep an eye out for the final, nail-biting moment, where even I was on the edge of my seat, wondering how they were going to make it.

This movie was an extremely satisfying installment in the Toy Story saga (I won't say final movie, because as everyone knows, all the studios are sucking as much money as they can out of their franchises, and Disney is no different). I cannot wait for it to come out on DVD, and to watch this with my entire family. A+

Title:  Shrek Forever After
Format:  Movie Theater, 3-D
Date Seen:  May 21, 2010 (opening night)
Category:  Animated/Fantasy/Family
Rating:  A

Description (from imbd.com):  A bored and domesticated Shrek pacts with deal-maker Rumpelstiltskin to get back to feeling like a real ogre again, but when he's duped and sent to a twisted version of Far Far Away -- where Rumpelstiltskin is king, ogres are hunted, and he and Fiona have never met -- he sets out to restore his world and reclaim his true love.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A great ending for a great series.  Definitely makes up for that travesty Shrek the Third.  It had an awesome story, lots of really funny moments, and a very sweet conclusion.  I also saw it in 3-D, which was pretty cool because they didn't make it gimmicky.  All of those cheesy effects they add specifically for 3-D, the ones that look really stupid when you watch the movie in 2-D, always give me a headache.  Since this movie didn't have those, I could actually enjoy a 3-D film headache-free.

I think my favorite aspects of this film were the introduction of other ogres and witches, Rumpelstiltskin, and the fattened Puss in Boots.  The ogres and witches each added a lot more life to the story, as well as a lot more material for punch lines and story ideas.  Without them, I think the story would have just felt like the first Shrek movie all over again.  Rumpelstiltskin was too perfect.  His hair, his voice, his whole attitude- so devious, but hilarious.  It was also nice to include him so that there could be a different villain.  Having Prince Charming in both the second and third movie was just annoying.  I mean, I love his character, but not that much.  Puss in Boots as the pampered kitty was amazingly funny.

The music, as always, was great.  It's usually the best part of the films, and it didn't disappoint this time.  Overall, I really liked this movie because the story was interesting, the new characters were good, and anything would have seemed a huge improvement from Shrek the Third.  A

Title:  Avalanche: Nature Unleashed: Buried Alive!
Format:  Netflix
Category:  Action adventure/Disaster
Rating:  D

B-movie!  So bad, on so many levels.

Description (from Barnes & Noble):  The disaster film "Avalanche: Nature Unleashed" concerns a pair of brothers who make their living giving snowmobile rides to tourists in the Ural Mountains. One day a massive avalanche strikes the mountainside, leaving a village at the bottom of the mountain covered in snow. The brothers must stay out of the way of the falling snow, while simultaneously attempting to save as many people as they can.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I watched this last night, and within the first 60 seconds, I knew I was watching a B-movie.

1. The movie has a three-part title.  Why not just skip two of those very unnecessary titles?  Wouldn't Avalanche or Buried Alive! have been enough?  
2. The sound quality was horrible.  The background noise, explosions, and music were incredibly loud, and the dialogue was barely audible.  Not that it was good enough to hear.  
3. And that's my third point- whoever wrote the script for this movie should be fired.  It didn't matter that they had two (and only two) really good actors.  Not even they could save the movie from complete cheesiness.  They tried, but that dialogue was so badly written, they shouldn't even have bothered.  My guess is, they did this movie for the money.
4. The special effects and scenery are so cheap and fake.  But I can forgive them for this.  They didn't really have a big enough budget for high-end technology.
5. The entire cast was made up of Brits trying to sound American, and none of them are Hugh Laurie.  So all of their lines sounded so forced because they were trying to not sound British.  And they failed.  Especially when they got emotional or yelled.  And then the accent came back full-force.
6. With the exception of Adam Croasdell and Andrew Lee Potts, everyone's acting stunk.  They were either completely wooden or ridiculously over-the-top.
7. The ending is absolutely anti-climactic and ridiculous.  When it ended, I just couldn't believe it.  I thought there had to be something else, because the movie ends so lamely.

This movie was so bad, I couldn't help laughing (while cringing).  And it's only because it made me laugh that I gave it a D, rather than an F.  D

Title:  The Sword and the Flame
Author:  Stephen Lawhead
Format:  Paperback
Pages:  374
Genre:  Epic Fantasy/Christian Fantasy
Series #:  3 of 3
Date Started:  May 30, 2010
Date Finished:  May 31, 2010

Rating:  A-

Description (from Barnes & Noble):  The Dragon King who rules the land of Mensandor is none other than Quentin, whose courage and heroism have slowly transformed him from an orphaned servant into a war hero, respected leader, and a fierce man of faith.

But even the powerful can fall prey to weakness. The world is turned upside-down when the dark sorcerer Nimrood--long thought dead after a battle with the previous Dragon King--returns with a fearsome plan. Shattered by the death of a dear and trusted friend, the abduction of his beloved son, and the loss of his enchanted sword, Quentin finds his faith tested like never before.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The final book of a trilogy should be epic, filled with drama, and finished with a bang.  This book met two of those three requirements.  It was definitely epic, and there was so much drama.  But the ending was a bit of a disappointment.  The first two books in the trilogy had amazing endings, but this one felt so rushed, like the author was on a deadline and needed to wrap it up quickly.  It was also partially anti-climactic.  The best way to describe it is to think of a Brady Bunch episode where everything's fixed in under thirty minutes.  And the fact that two of the characters, that you know are meant to be together, decide to put off their romance even longer-- totally frustrating!

The rest of the book was great.  Lots of tension and drama, very few slow points (so different from the first two books), and good secondary characters.  Another thing that makes this book awesome is that even though it's Christian fantasy, it never feels like typical Christian fiction which tends to be overly sappy and sweet or overly religious and preachy.  The Christian elements are there, but they're not overwhelming the entire story.  It's a great mix of faith and fiction.  A-

Title:  Lady of Quality
Author:  Georgette Heyer
Format:  Paperback
Pages:  304
Genre:  Regency romance/Clean romance
Date Started:  May 25, 2010
Date Finished:  May 26, 2010

Rating:  A

Description (from Barnes & Noble):  When spirited, independent Miss Annis Wynchwood embroils herself in the affairs of a runaway heiress, she is destined to see a good deal of Mr Carleton, Lucilla's uncivil and high-handed guardian. And, chafing at the restrictions of Bath society, Annis has to admit that at least Mr Oliver Carleton is never boring.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I couldn't help but think of Ciaran Hinds for the part of Mr. Carleton.  I just kept seeing him as Captain Wentworth, from the 1995 adaptation of Persuasion.  I think it's because Mr. Carleton is the complete opposite of a typical Heyer hero.  Instead of a dashing young gentleman or an aloof older Lord/Earl, Carleton is an impolite, domineering "rake" with very few scruples, who isn't even described as handsome.  And despite all of this, you find yourself attracted to him.  (Of course, I know Wentworth would never be described as a "rake" of any kind, but the physical description of Carleton pretty much matches Ciaran Hinds' Captain Wentworth.)

The secondary characters of Ninian and Lucilla were great too.  Their storyline was as amusing and fun as the main characters'.  The other secondary characters were good too.  Annis' brother and sister-in-law helped round out the story, because there had to be someone older and responsible somewhere in the book to balance Carleton and Lucilla.  My least favorite character is Miss Farlow.  She is by far the most annoying character of all Georgette Heyer's books.  Just imagine if Miss Bates from Emma and Mr. Collins from Pride & Prejudice had a daughter.  *shudder*  That's Miss Farlow.

I really can't put my finger on exactly why I didn't like this book as much as Heyer's others.  Especially since sarcasm abounds in this book, and I love sarcasm.  I think it's probably Annis.  I just wasn't able to connect with her.  The book is still good, especially with such a drastically atypical male lead, and worth reading again.  A

Title:  Arabella
Author:  Georgette Heyer
Format:  Hardcover
Pages:  284
Genre:  Regency romance/Clean romance
Date Started:  May 22, 2010
Date Finished:  May 24, 2010

Rating:  A+

Description (from Barnes & Noble):  Daughter of a modest country clergyman, Arabella Tallant is on her way to London when her carriage breaks down outside the hunting lodge of the wealthy Mr. Robert Beaumaris. Her pride stung when she overhears a remark of her host's, Arabella pretends to be an heiress, a pretense that deeply amuses the jaded Beau. To counter her white lie, Beaumaris launches her into high society and thereby subjects her to all kinds of fortune hunters and other embarrassments.

When compassionate Arabella rescues such unfortunate creatures as a mistreated chimney sweep and a mixed-breed mongrel, she foists them upon Beaumaris, who finds he rather enjoys the role of rescuer and is soon given the opportunity to prove his worth in the person of Arabella's impetuous young brother...

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Absolutely wonderful!  This book has tied with The Convenient Marriage and The Reluctant Widow for my favorite Georgette Heyer novel.  The only part of book that dragged a little was the long description of Arabella's brother's faults and escapades.  Other than that the book is fantastic.

The two main characters were amazing; both of them were so real and thought-out.  The more Beaumaris teases Arabella, the more you fall in love with him.  Arabella is great too.  She's spunky and outspoken and headstrong, but also a bit too proud and naive.  The storyline was so funny; all of the crazy situations Arabella gets herself into and then drags Beau into as well.  And I loved Ulysses!  My sister would love him too.  Not just because he's a dog, but also because he steals every "scene" he's in.  I am definitely putting this on my wish list for my birthday.  I can't wait to own it and reread it!  A+

Title:  A Thousand Days in Venice: An Unexpected Romance
Author:  Marlena de Blasi
Format:  Hardcover
Pages:  270
Genre:  Memoir/Travelogue/Romance
Date Started:  May 20, 2010
Date Finished:  May 21, 2010

Rating:  A-

Description (from Barnes & Noble):  He saw her across the Piazza San Marco and fell in love from afar. When he sees her again in a Venice café a year later, he knows it is fate. He knows little English; and she, a divorced American chef, speaks only food-based Italian. Marlena thinks she is incapable of intimacy, that her heart has lost its capacity for romantic love. But within months of their first meeting, she has packed up her house in St. Louis to marry Fernando—“the stranger,” as she calls him—and live in that achingly lovely city in which they met.

Vibrant but vaguely baffled by this bold move, Marlena is overwhelmed by the sheer foreignness of her new home, its rituals and customs. But there are delicious moments when Venice opens up its arms to Marlena. She cooks an American feast of Mississippi caviar, cornbread, and fried onions for the locals . . . and takes the tango she learned in the Poughkeepsie middle school gym to a candlelit trattoría near the Rialto Bridge. All the while, she and Fernando, two disparate souls, build an extraordinary life of passion and possibility.

Featuring Marlena’s own incredible recipes, A Thousand Days in Venice is the enchanting true story of a woman who opens her heart—and falls in love with both a man and a city.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

When's the next flight to Venice?  After reading this book, I wanted more than anything to find the fastest way to Venice, and make my home there.  Marlena de Blasi's style of writing, her descriptions of Venice, her gift for conveying emotions so well.  All of these worked together to make a great book.

I read de Blasi's Thousand Days books out of order, but each stands on their own, so it didn't matter that I knew already where de Blasi and her husband would end up.  The main reason this book was so different from its sequel is that the focuses of the two books are completely different.  In her second book, de Blasi wrote about the people and food of Tuscany.  She focused on her relationships to those people and to that food.  In this book, de Blasi is more interested in describing her romance and marriage to "the stranger", her move from one culture to another, her struggle to reconcile her old life with her new one.  She was definitely a brave woman to risk everything by selling her home, quitting her job, and moving to Venice to be with a man she barely knew.

This book also incorporated the Italian language like the sequel, but unlike the sequel, translations were rarely included, so I felt like I missed out on something.  Very well-written overall, but I think I actually prefer Tuscany to Venice.  A-