Monday, June 28, 2010

Book Review: "The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel Book #4"


I'm not going to use the official title of Book #4 in this series because the title sort of creeps me out. You can see the title on the picture posted with this blog.

Actually, this book sorta creeped me out. Well, that's not the right word. This is going to be a 6 book series and book #4 was sort of a let down. Nothing really happened in this book. I was hoping for fireworks and excitement, and I really got a bunch of nothing.

I'll finish the series as the books come out, but I'm not as excited as I once was.

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Movie Review: How To Train Your Dragon


There's just something about the love between a boy and his dragon. I bet you never expected to read that sentence. My oldest son and I went to see "How To Train Your Dragon" yesterday afternoon because it was about 200 degrees here, so outside activities were right out! We saw it at the cheap theater, so we both got popcorn and drinks and still made it out for under $20...gotta love the cheap theater.

"How To Train You Dragon" is the story of the Viking Boy Hiccup. He is a bit of a dreamer, and generally ends up causing trouble wherever he goes. His village is frequently attacked by dragons, and young Hiccup really wants to kill a dragon and win his father's approval. When he fells the most feared of all dragons, he finds that he can't kill it. Hiccup ends up befriending the dragon and learns that maybe his village has been wrong about dragons all along.

I loved this movie. I would rate it 4.5 stars, easily. I found the story surprisingly heartwarming, which is rare for a Dreamworks animated flick...usually they just go for laughs. Don't get me wrong, there were laughs, but the story tugs at the heart strings. I didn't recognize many of the vocal talents, though if you listen hard enough you'll hear Gerard Butler and Jonah Hill. All the vocal talent did a good job. I wish I could have seen this in 3d, but the cheap theater only has 2d...I think it would be very cool in 3d, and Nuke agrees.

Just a random aside. Ever notice how many movies have subplots about son's seeking their father's approval? Maybe fatherly approval is important to kids, especially boys? I'm not saying Hollywood has it all figured out, but they wouldn't keep making these movies if there wasn't something to that. That's really a subject for a more well thought out post, but it just popped in my head, so I wrote it.

Anyway, you should see "How To Train Your Dragon." It's really good and really fun.