December 29th, 2009 — 3.5 Stars, Alien, Another Planet/Dimension, Enemies, Interracial, Movie Reviews, Science, Science Fiction, Soldier, Survival
Avatar is very enjoyable and a visual feast. I highly recommend seeing it in 3D. I saw it in 3D by mistake. My friend and I thought we were going to the 2D showing. As a measuring stick, my friend hates 3D films and thought it was the best 3D film they ever saw. It's not hard on the eyes, and they don't over do it. (At least it doesn't look/feel that way.) It probably helped too that we saw it with good 3D glasses provided by the theater instead of cheapo ones.
The point behind the film is alien interaction. When the story starts we find out that the Na'vi are hostile. They seemingly attack for no reason and use deadly poisons. By the end of the film you’re rooting for the Na'vi, because the true hostile aliens are the humans.
It's an interesting SFR movie. Avatars are genetically engineered bodies that mix human and Na'vi DNA. These bodies are empty. No souls in them. Humans like Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), leave their human bodies behind and enter into the Avatar assuming control. Every time they’re unplugged or fall asleep they wake up back in their own body.
There’s definitely a feel of Fern Gully
to this movie. The Na'vi are trying to save their home from destruction. The ignorant humans are trying to cut down the forest and mine out the ore. The story follows Jake Sully as he learns to love the forest, the Na'vi, and Neytiri (Zoe Saldana).
One of the most rewarding moments to my little romantic heart was when Neytiri sees and holds Jake Sully in his human form while trying to keep him alive. I waited for it the entire movie and was exceedingly happy when it happened.
Avatar is visual eye candy. Everything is exceedingly beautiful. I loved the Na'vi and the phosphorescent plant and animal life. The floating mountains were never explained or if they were I missed it. If for nothing else you need to watch this film for the CGI.
3.5 Stars
Buy: Avatar [Theatrical Release]
Online Stores
November 3rd, 2009 — 4 Stars, A-C, ARC, Contemporary, Cooking, Cowboy, Guest Reviews, Ranching, Survival, Suspense/Thriller, United States of America, Western
by Susan Sigler, guest reviewer
Brown delivers another great cowboy romance! With devil-may-care characters, exciting plot twists, and outrageously silly sayings.
One Lucky Cowboy is book two from Brown’s Lucky Trilogy. This book stands alone, but if you read book one Lucky in Love, you’ll appreciate Milli and Beau’s cameo appearances all the more. You’ll also see the Yak-52 (Milli’s plane) take flight once again. This story takes place approximately one year after the first one, as evidenced by the amount of time Milli and Beau have been together.
Book two tells the story of another handsome Luckadeau cousin. We meet the hero Lester (Slade) Luckadeau. Slade’s a tall blonde, blue-eyed cowboy. He’s hell bent and determined to get the heroine (Jane) off the Double L Ranch. Slade’s grandma (Nellie) hired Jane as cook and driver and Jane has no intention of leaving. At least not until she turns 25. Staying alive for another six weeks will be a challenge, but dealing with an infuriating piece of cowboy eye candy will be downright impossible.
In typical Brown style, we have more outrageous sayings such as: burr in his britches, cow chips for brains, and one legged chicken at a coyote convention.
What will you find within the pages? Four fool hardy old women, who gamble, dance, drink, meddle, and have a grand ole’ time. There’s lots of eating, hangovers, and death threats.
I’ll be honest, I enjoyed this book more than the first, a lot more! Why? It has romantic suspense elements, and I love romantic suspense. The bantering between Slade and Jane was fun to read, while the drunken seven flights of stairs scene was cute and sexy. Oh yeah…it was also gross. (LOL)
The fundamental theme was the importance of family loyalty.
Will Slade run Jane off the ranch? Or will they simply drive each other mad?
I’ll be happier than a monkey in a Chiquita banana factory when Getting Lucky
releases in January of 2010.
Rating: 4 Stars
Buy: One Lucky Cowboy
Contemporary Romance, ARC, Trilogy, Sourcebooks, Inc., Casablanca, November 2009, Print Pages 331.
ISBN# 978-1-4022-2437-9
Online Stores
