August 2013 Media Inventory

This one's going to be short and sweet, folks, although I think this has been my highest month for reading and watching (22 movies and 10 books! And most of them were completed in the last two weeks after I finished summer school).

Movies:

Premium Rush: Loved this one! Matthew watched it with me and we were both hooked, thrilled, amused, and terrified.

This Means War: I really want this movie to be good, because I love the three main cast members so much, but it's really not.

Star Trek: Into Darkness: Favorite movie of the month. Maybe year. It was pretty awesome.

Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows: It had its ups and downs. I think I liked it better the first time watching it, and I definitely still think the first Sherlock was better.

Beasts of the Southern Wild: Interesting, unpretentious, poignant film. I wasn't quite as caught up in it or blown away by its profundity as "The Tree of Life," say, but the story was simple and sincere.

Saved by Grace: Cute but shallow. But who doesn't love dancing and horses?

Shanghai Noon: Funny, entertaining, somewhat clever but mostly just a lot of Jackie Chan + Owen Wilson silliness. It got tiresome as it got longer.

Jurassic Park: I don't remember watching this, but Matthew says I did. I liked it, but the book was actually more terrifying.

Admission: Okay movie. I'm glad I saw it once. I probably won't watch it again.

10 Years: Surprisingly creative, interesting, and real-feeling movie. I was definitely pleased with how the natural dialogue and acting drew me in and won me over at least to the point of caring about what was going to happen next and remembering all the different characters.

Rise of the Guardians: Okay, so it was a run-of-the-mill kid's film. Nothing special. Pity because some of the details were quite amusing.

Unstoppable: A lot more intense and interesting than I expected it to be. Would watch again.

Salmon Fishing in the Yemen: Cute, creative, and clever. Loved it!

Shanghai Knights: A little less funny and entertaining than the first one, but I still got through it. Now I really want to purge now by watching "Hero," though.

A Good Woman: I think this would make a good play (not surprising since it's based on an Oscar Wilde play). For some reason it felt something was missing from the movie. It was still pretty good, though. Just sort of . . . "staged"-feeling.

Iron Man 3: Matthew and I saw this on a date at the dollar theater. It was fun (but not as great as Star Trek 2). Other than the crazy and inexplicable ending. We stuck around for the after-the-credits bit, which was also fun and made me feel like a nerd in the know.

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel: A quirky little film, that started out really promising and sort of ran out of steam somewhere in the middle. I tried hard to like and care about all the characters, but just gave up on a few and lost track of a few more, and by the end I was just glad that Judi Dench was happy.

Just Like Heaven: One of my favorite go-to rom-coms. Have I mentioned before how much I like Reese Witherspoon? Yep. Yep yep.

Oz the Great and Powerful: Still a fun, creative, and entertaining film.

The Hunger Games: I'm indebted to this film for being the first to make me aware of Jennifer Lawrence's talents. I'm excited for the sequel.

Rescue Dawn: I was not that stoked about the premise, but literally seconds into the film I was entranced. The musical score is so powerful and beautiful yet subtle (the same could also be said of the story and acting).

October Sky: I've seen this a couple of times but EVERY TIME I get choked up by the sweetness, innocence, purity, and love on display. The story of the Rocket Boys is wonderful by itself but the story of the Hickam family is the real heart-breaking clincher.

Books:

Jurassic Park: Fascinating. I love the way Michael Crichton starts with an incredible premise and slowly, rationally, deliberately makes me buy into it. Also terrifying and more gruesome than the film.

Animal Farm: Depressing but clever and quick read.

These Happy Golden Years: I love the Laura Ingalls Wilder books, and this one is quickly becoming my favorite. All the scenes with Laura and Almanzo driving down on the weekends remind me of my trips with Matthew to and from Sandy while we were engaged.

Fablehaven: Decided to kick off the end of the summer re-reading one of my favorite series!

Fablehaven 2: My favorite book of one of my favorite series!

Good Omens: Really liked the beginning of this book. It sort of lost momentum and just got confusing and less funny towards the later half, but it was still enjoyable.

Marley and Me: Loved it. Everything I could have hoped for in a "dog meets young family" tale.

Fablehaven 3: My least favorite of the Fablehavens, but still great!

Lamb: Hilarious novel. Somewhat scandalous and not for the strictly pious, but still. Absolutely hilarious. And there were more than a few profound insights to be had as well.

The Emperor's Soul: I read this all in a rush last night because Matthew was reading Fablehaven 4 and I had to read SOMETHING. I usually love Brandon Sanderson, but I think his longer works are better. It was okay. I didn't quite "get" the magic system at first and found the beginning a little slow, but things picked up and the end was fairly satisfying. I probably won't read it again.