Really Exciting

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014) – Movie Review

 in Adventure / Fun / Humorous / Interesting / Movies by

Starring

Megan Fox – April O’Niel
Will Arnett – Vernon Fenwick
William Richtner – Eric Sacks
Alan Ritchson – Raphael

Summary

“Darkness has settled over New York City as Shredder has an iron grip on everything from the police to the politicians. The future is grim until four unlikely brothers rise from the sewers and discover their destiny as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.”

-From Amazon.com

Review

I. Just. Can’t. Contain. Myself.

IT WAS TOO PERFECT.

Yes it was a Michael Bay so there were a few sequences of fighting which was….epic, but over all it wasn’t terribly explosiony (I made a word up…yes xD).

The animations of the turtles were beautiful as well. I would have liked their faces a little less human looking, but over all, I honestly can’t complain. I’m really happy about their size and how they made them taller than humans because in some of the TV seasons of TMNT they were shorter than adult humans and it just wouldn’t have worked.

There were a lot of comical moments which appealed to all ages. Some jokes could be taken for two different ages; children taking it as one meaning while adults taking it a completely different way.

And probably, one of THE funniest scenes in the movie. No, it isn’t spoilers…as far as I know xD. Just some funny stuff.

The movie was short, only about 1 hour and 40 minutes long and it was happily a simple story line. It took the general idea of TMNT with The Shredder and the mutagen but twisted it slightly so they could make it more realistic and used that.

Overall…IT WAS JUST TOO PERFECT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yes I have been a fan of this show for a little while (a few years) and so this movie was perfect. I’ve literally had a count down on my laptop for about 2 years….and when it started counting down by the days…I couldn’t wait. So of course I had to see it the day it came out.

Yes….my couple of friends and I (one of whom is obsessed as well, the rest we dragged along) were the oldest in the audience. The rest were little boys with their parents. But we didn’t care xD. We wore our green shirts or pants with pride, and my friend wore her mask. xD Nerdy…but so much fun!

If you were a fan of the TV shows as a child or like the TV shows now, I’d honestly suggest to go and see it. I thought April would be portrayed badly as Megan Fox is always made to play a ditzy role, but this time she was given a decent role. She was actually smart and actually kicked some serious ass, surprisingly, which was quite nice.

So go and see it as it just came out! It was soooo good…and I think I’m gonna go see it again. xD

So happy viewing!!!!!!

 

Star Wars vs. Star Trek by Matt Forbeck

 in Book Reviews / Books / Fiction / Fun / Humorous / Movies by

“COULD THE EMPIRE KICK THE FEDERATION’S ASS? and other galaxy-shaking enigmas”

Includes Forewords by Jeremy Bulloch (Boba Fett in Star Wars) and Tim Russ (Tuvok in Star Trek: Voyager)
Summary
WHO RULES? CAPTAIN KIRK or HAN SOLO?
Could a Jedi knight use his light saber to deflect a beam from a phaser? Could a Cardassian beat a Chazrach in a fair fight? Would a Federation ship making the Kessel Run crack the Millennium Falcon’s record of less than twelve parsecs? And most important…in a fight between the Empire and the Federation, who would win?
Ever since the first Trekkie walked out of Star Wars in 1977 and said “Meh!”, fans of the two series have gone head to head over these questions. Now you can line up – side by side – aliens, technology, story points, weaponry, and heroes from the two great SF sagas of all time.
Whether you can pronounce “Heglu’meH QaQ jajvam!” (that’s “Today is a good day to die!” in Klingon) or can recite all the names of the members of the Imperial Senate (which meets on Coruscant), you’ll want the detailed information Matt Forbeck has compiled about both universes, as well as trivia, quizzes, quotes, and information drawn from these two iconic settings. So phasers on stun and light sabers at the ready! It’s on.”
Review
This book is SO much fun to read. My family is a huge Star Trek/ Star Wars family. We are all Trekkie’s (while my mom is more so with my dad), but my dad and I are both Star Wars fans as well (I more so.) So we sometimes get into debates over who is better. (I won’t state my opinion as a backlash will ensue, don’t want to start a galactic war now do I? >:) ). So when Christmas came around and I saw this book in Bookends, I just had to buy it, hoping that it would put to rest some of our arguments (sadly it didn’t really.)
This book really does help with many questions that one may have between the two fandoms. 
The book is split up into sections, different creatures, weapons, ships, culture, heroes, and even an ending section of Star Wars fans versus Star Trek fans (haven’t read that part yet haha.) Then within each section, well known character, weapons, ships and so forth are taken from each universe and compared to each other and a situation is set up. The situation is fake but it is as if the two universes collided and then there is an outcome and who would win. The book could be biased in some way or another but still it is SO MUCH FUN TO READ! 
I never would have thought of doing this and its such a genius idea. There are even some quizzes to test you knowledge. There isn’t  a scoring system or anything like that but there are the answers so that you can know if you are correct or not. AND IT IS SO MUCH FUN! We did these quizzes at dinner and would be laughing (or arguing) over different answers.
There isn’t terribly much to say about the book as it is quite self-explanatory but I just have to say that you must try to find it if you are a fan. It is a great read and a good way to have some fun with the family and your friends. You may even learn a thing or two (for that day when you need to choose between joining the Empire of the Federation (that day is coming….I’m telling you 😀 )). So go and check this book out and let me know what you think because in my opinion it’s so much fun to read. Enjoy!

A History of Weapons by John O’Bryan (Author) and Barry Orkin (Illustrator)

 in Book Reviews / Books / Fun / History / Young Adult by

“Crossbows, Caltrops, Catapults & Lots of Other Things that Can Seriously Mess You Up”

One of the coolest covers ever! 😀

Summary

“BEHOLD more than 150 of the freakiest weapons in history.

UNLOCK the secrets of Genghis Khan, the “peaceful” Shaolin monks, and the ass-whooping Rajputs of India.

DISCOVER the truths about strange and ancient weapons like the atlatl, the sarissa, the urumi, and the Maka Pahoa Ko’oko’o

BECOME ONE with the often eccentric and always fascinating history of weapons”

-From the back of the book

Review

WOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOW!! This book is freaking AWESOME! I haven’t read the entire thing as it isn’t supposed to be read like a regular novel. It is a factual book but its fun to read. The book is broken up into different sections, classifying weapons under what time period they are from or who used them. An example would be that there is a section just on the cavemen’s weapons and then there is a section of Ninjas and Samurai and shows the difference between the two groups and the weapons that they used. The chapters start with an explanation of the group of people in history that are being mentioned and then there is one page per weapon. There is a picture of the weapon itself and then a paragraph or so on what the weapon actually is and what it was used for and its historical importance. Sometimes it will say how easy it is to use the weapon (usually for better known weapons as in the katana and such), it will sometimes say how it became famous (a historical event, movie, or even video game), and some uses that it was used for. It also may talk about what other weapon was used with it.

The setup was incredibly easy to understand and made the book more enjoyable. I also LOVED the illustrations!

You may think that this book would be boring and all historical and stuff but it most definitely is not. There was one weapon which was talked about which made me laugh because what was said in the description. The weapon was the Mancatcher which is a glorified pair of tweazers, massive style. It has spikes inside of it and was used to keep an enemy down while they were being bound or blindfolded. And John O’Bryan, in one of the sentences said,

“After a victim was subdued by the mancatcher, the knight would typically bind the person’s hands for the ride home. Or if he was feeling like a dick, he might leave the person inside the jaws of the mancatcher for the entire horse ride. Ouch.”

The writing in this book is not like a regular history book where big words are used and such. It is written in a common dialect and it makes it more fun and engaging. The pictures also really add to the book as well because otherwise I would have ABSOLUTELY no idea what the weapons are that are being talked about.

I had always been fascinated with weapons and such and this just does the trick for me (also some of the stories I’m writing has historical contexts and Wikipedia searches just aren’t cutting it for the weapons.) This book puts all of the weapons that you are ever going to need to know in one fun, friendly, and easy to use book.

I also loved the cover. It caught my eye and I loved the tagline of the book. It made me laugh and intrigued me to as what the book was about. What can I say…I sometimes judge a book by its cover and boy am I glad that I did.

I personally love this book and will be reading it from beginning to end. It it set up amazingly well and I am so glad that I made this purchase. You should definitely go and try to find this book. It is worth the price, (not that expensive, about $19). If you are interested in weapons then this is a great thing to buy, but would be an amazing gift for someone who is interested in weapons as well. But even if you aren’t interested in weapons, it’s still a fun read and you may learn something.

So go and check it out and let me know what you think of it.

Boy Nobody by Allen Zadoff

 in Book Reviews / Books / Interesting / Young Adult by

“He is nothing. The mission is everything.”

Summary

“They needed the perfect assassin.

Boy Nobody is the perennial new kid in school, the one few notice and nobody thinks much about. He shows up in a new high school in a new town under a new name, makes a few friends, and doesn’t stay long. Just long enough for someone in his new friend’s family to die-of “natural causes.” Mission accomplished, Boy Nobody disappears, moving on to the next target.

But when he’s assigned to the mayor of New York City, things change. The daughter is unlike anyone he has encountered before; the mayor reminds him of his father. And when memories and questions surface, his handlers at The Program are watching. Because somewhere deep inside, Boy Nobody is somebody: the kid he once was; the teen who wants normal things, like a real home and parents; a young man who wants out. And who just might want those things badly enough to sabotage The Program’s mission.

In this action-packed series debut, author Allen Zadoff pens a page-turning thriller that is as thought-provoking as it is gripping, introducing an utterly original and unforgettable antihero.”

-from Amazon.com

Review

I will start off by saying that this book was quite unlike any other book that I have read. It was written differently, there were more flashbacks, and it just, overall, had a completely different feel. Now this is not necessarily a bad thing, because I feel that for this book, it worked quite well and fit in with the overall theme.

It was quite a fast paced book, even though the majority of the book only spanned over about 5 days. In those five days a lot happened…..betrayal, mysteries, rebellion, death! It definitely kept you on your toes until the very last page. The entire time you thought it was one thing, but by the time you got to the last page…you were like ‘whatttttt’.

And then after the book, you were left sitting there thinking how quickly everything escalated.

There was very little dialogue in this book which is completely different from most books. If I remember correctly, this entire book was in first person point of view, but it was mostly feeling, thoughts, and things that the main character saw. Since this was a kind of secret espionage, soldier, mysterious thing-y (yes, I used that word) book, it really did add to it.

The only thing which I found a little confusing was when there was a flashback. There was nothing to really indicate that it was a flash back; no font changes or little things in the beginning to say what year it was or where it was. If you pay attention you will get it, but if you skim chapter, then you will be lost. SO DON’T DO IT! (you probably shouldn’t be anyway)

This is a hot off the press, as it only came out in June of this year, so if you look for it, it will probably be on your new YA shelf.

You should definitely go and check this book out as it was really an extremely well written book!

If you love stuff to do with government’s (or mysterious Programs) and where the main character is a young teenager (in this case, a young boy (about 16 I believe)), then this is definitely your type book. Also it is a quick read so with all of the school work, you will still be able to finish it in a few days.

So go and check this one out and let me know what you think.