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I was actually expecting quite a lot out of this movie. I didn't quite live up to my expectations, but it was still worth watching. The characters just didn't hang together very well for me ... the escalation between the two protagonists a little too quantum. But still, a decent movie, just could have been better.
When I first saw the billboard ads for Blue Crush, I immediately dismissed it as bikini-strewn trash. Then I heard some good buzz about it, so I was anxious to see the movie. It actually ended up being pretty good and not too formulaic. On top of the amazing surfing scenes and amazing (ahem) bikini scenes, I found the way that the movie examined the dual cultures of a vacation hot spot like Hawaii really interesting. When you're visting a place, you don't get to see the "real" place ... and there's a whole subculture of people that work to (surf/sky/fish ... you name it).
by J. K. Rowling
Yes, I enjoy reading the Harry Potter books as much as the next 12-year old girl, and this one didn't disappoint. I mean, all the books are pretty much the same story, but this one adds the fact that Harry is growing up to be kind of a snot. He's like most of the kids I knew in middle school. J.K. Rowling's got a gift, though, for keeping you involved and she really gets you cheering for the good guys.
Read it for the same reason you should be somewhat competent with a GameBoy: so you seem cool to the kidz.
By Dan Brown
Well, I couldn't ignore the hype any longer, so I read The Da Vinci Code. I have to say, the book was entertaining and even thought-provoking, despite the rather poor writing. See, I never made it all the way through Foucault's Pendulum, so I felt good flying through this book ... kind of an "Umberto Eco for Dummies".
What made this a worthwhile read was some of the thinking it provoked in me about modern religions. How was the Bible actually put together? How did the Catholic Church get to be so rich and powerful? Now supposedly, Dan Brown really did his research and all the "facts" in the book are true, but there's a whole lot of "opinion-atin' to string those facts together.
So even though it's a fairly lame mystery, it did keep me turning the pages (this is a quick read) and some ideas continue to swirl in my head long after I finished it.
by Jonathan Franzen
I really liked about 80% of this book ... the middle 80%. The first 10% made it really tough to get into because it just wasn't that good. I've heard he was maybe parodying one of the characters in the story -- if so, too meta for me. The last 10% just kind of fizzled out for me. I feel like I should have gotten something more out of it, but the story just kind of wound down without a satisfactory resolution. Maybe that's the point, I don't know, but I don't like feeling like I'm missing out! Reader problem instead of an author problem perhaps?
But the middle is some fantastic fiction. Great style, cutting cristicism of pomo (that's p-o-m-o, not p-o-r-n-o) existence, and probably the best depiction of what must be going through an Alzheimer sufferer's mind that I've ever read. I probably need to find some literary criticisms out there to piece together what I missed out on, because it really was a fun read.