Movie Review: Detention

Title:  Detention
Rated:  R
Genres:  Comedy, Horror, Sci-fi
Director:  Joseph Kahn
Writers:  Joseph Kahn, Mark Palermo
Stars:  Josh Hutcherson, Shanley Caswell, Spencer Locke, Dane Cook
Rating:  4 Stars

Synopsis from Redbox:

17-year-old Riley Jones must survive her final year of high school. The problem is that she has been sentenced to detention on the night of her prom, her friends are apparently being murdered by the fictional villain of a horror film series, and worst of all, the boy with whom she's in love is infatuated with her biggest rival. It becomes a race against time to save the world as she knows it.

My Thoughts:

Based on this description, I was expecting a B-horror movie. Detention turned out to be so much better than that expectation.

Detention is a meta-tribute to teen comedy and horror films, as well as the 90s. There are clear references to The Breakfast Club, Scream, The Fly, Freaky Friday and so many more. I love when films (or any media) lovingly, and jokingly, reference other things. It gives the film another layer, and a game I can play during a second (or third, or fourth) viewing.



Not only does Detention make tribute to previous films, it also captures the quick, ADHD nature of today’s youth. Characters spew rapid-fire references and quips as the story careens at texting speeds. While I enjoyed this for the most part, sometimes things moved a little too fast to catch everything.

Overall I found Detention to be hilarious and not scary at all. I will definitely be purchasing this film and watching it several more times. However, I find it difficult to recommend to a general audience. Detention is destined to become a cult film. I know many people will tire of the references. Others will despise the overall attitude and ridiculousness. And some people are looking for another Josh Hutcherson movie—which this is much different from his previous work. If you enjoy comedy-horror benders, or cult films, I give a tentative recommendation.

What were your thoughts on Detention? What do you think of cross-genre films? Let me know in the comments below.

Event: Maggie Stiefvater Signing

A slightly blurry photo of Stiefvater in full storyteller mode

Even though I haven’t read any of Maggie Stiefvater’s books (yet), I would definitely see her in person again. Here’s why:

The first part of her signing at Red Balloon Bookshop was like a one woman show. Stiefvater began with stories, not surprising for someone who writes for a living. But her stories didn’t come from behind a table or droned out because it’s the nth time repeated. She was animated. Using the entire space, Stiefvater played the roles of herself, her agent, her sister, a flight attendant, and others as they appeared throughout the stories. I was chuckling along with the other audience members as ‘killer goats’ and other completely logical yet ridiculous things surfaced.

After she told her stories and answered audience questions, there was a raffle for a Stiefvater original colored pencil drawing that was featured in the book trailer for The Raven Boys. As someone who only recognized Stiefvater’s name and a couple of book titles, it was neat to find out that she was also an accomplished artist (as well as bagpipe player). It was even better to find out that her drawing was the prize of the raffle and not the typical ‘this is a copy of what I’m currently promoting.’ And can you guess who won?

My pretty raffle swag

Stiefvater kept her humor throughout the signing as well. She chatted and took pictures with her fans. She was unperturbed by the few of us who hadn’t read her books yet, chatting with us as much as her diehard fans. Seeing her in person and interacting with her has made me excited to read The Raven Boys and Lament.

Photograph: Robert Severi

If you have the opportunity to attend a Maggie Stiefvater signing, do it. Even if you haven’t read her books, she’s highly entertaining. This was a great way to spend an evening.

Find Maggie Stiefvater online: 
Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook


Have you been to a signing? What was your experience? Tell me in the comments below!

Book Review: The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy & Other Stories by TimBurton

Title:  The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy & Other Stories

Author:  Tim Burton

Rating:  4 Stars

Genre:  Illustrated poetry

Synopsis:
From Amazon:

From breathtaking stop-action animation to bittersweet modern fairy tales, filmmaker Tim Burton has become known for his unique visual brilliance -- witty and macabre at once. Now he gives birth to a cast of gruesomely sympathetic children -- misunderstood outcasts who struggle to find love and belonging in their cruel, cruel worlds. His lovingly lurid illustrations evoke both the sweetness and the tragedy of these dark yet simple beings -- hopeful, hapless heroes who appeal to the ugly outsider in all of us, and let us laugh at a world we have long left behind (mostly anyway).

My Thoughts:  I love Tim Burton’s distinctive style. And this has been the case for . . . always. I grew up with The Nightmare Before Christmas and Edward Scissorhands. He was definitely one of my introductions to the odd. The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy & Other Stories (MDOB+) sits squarely in the odd and stylized world of his creation. One look at an illustration and you know it’s by Tim Burton. There are very few modern artists I can pick out that easily.

The illustrated stories (Or poems? They’re kind of both.) are very reminiscent of The Nightmare Before Christmas--not in content, but in the simplistic rhyming and unique turn of phrase. The cast of children in MDOB+ often suffer because of a small twist. For example, Staring Girl needs to rest her eyes. That’s not done by napping, but by them jumping out of her skull and lounging by a pool. In these instances I kept returning to the “Town Meeting Song,” where sleigh becomes slay, and Santa Claus becomes Sandy Claws, a “big red lobster man. “ These ‘misunderstandings’ are fun and interesting, especially since they seem like such logical mistakes. It makes me wonder what similar misunderstandings I made as a child not yet fully versed in the language.

Tragic characters in all their plastic glory

The images are what make this book so great. Without them, the poems lose a lot of their charm. If the poems were as wonderful as the drawings, MDOB+ could have easily captured all 5 stars in a review. But with some feeling too short, or a little incomplete, I must give it 4 stars.

Photograph:  Patrick Rideaux/Rex Features

Find Tim Burton online:
Website | IMDB




 

Do you like Tim Burton’s visual perspective? What’s your favorite Tim Burton work? Let me know in the comments below!

Game Review: Amateur Surgeon Hospital

Title:  Amateur Surgeon Hospital

Type:  Facebook Social

Creator:  Adult Swim and Mediatonic

Rating:  3 Stars

Once upon a time, Adult Swim created a game called Amateur Surgeon. In this game, players perform back-alley-esque surgery with pizza cutters and lighters in an illegal hospital. The premise and stylization brought me in. However, I found it difficult to perform some of the tasks using my laptop’s trackpad and abandoned my surgeon’s post (because, really, I was not buying a mouse for one casual online game).

A few years (and sequels) later, Adult Swim releases Amateur Surgeon Hospital on Facebook. In this iteration, the player is managing the hospital, as well as performing surgery. This includes everything from hiring scummy staff to building rooms to the decorating scheme. I figured I would give it a shot, since the simple Facebook games have been manageable with the trackpad (and I have since invested in a mouse, if the difficulty persisted).

For the first two weeks, this game is enjoyable. There are a variety of interestingly designed characters, as well as items for the hospital. I found the surgery easier than before, but whether that is true to gameplay or me getting better at computer games is uncertain. Players can only perform as much surgery as their blood bar permits, so the rest of the game is time management and layout. It’s easy to set up a hospital shift and let the staff handle the patients while players are away. This also allows the blood bar to fill, vending machines to collect coins, and machines to produce materials.

There are some problems I’ve experienced, though. When I leave the game with a shift in progress, the money earned is usually less than if it is up in my browser, and occasionally, I have reopened the game where the staff has cured zero patients and earned zero coins. I’ve also noticed the tendency of higher level patients flooding in before I have unlocked the rooms they need in order to be cured, which, if lines are too long, will make the curable patients leave in a huff.

The biggest issues for me are the repetition and necessity of neighbor activity and real money. I am into the third week of play and right now all of my quests are curing 50 patients, of several different types. That will take several shifts and a few days at least. I am also getting to the point where I need diamonds, instead of coins, to purchase items. There are a couple ways to get diamonds. Completing certain quests will give you one diamond, but at this point, they are few and far between. Second, players can buy them with Facebook credits, which cost real money. I am not giving Facebook my credit card or Paypal information. Lastly, you can earn diamonds through the loyalty card—where players earn coins, and eventually diamonds, for logging in each day. Otherwise, you can ask a friend to send the needed items to you, but I cannot allow myself to annoy everyone like that.

So I am rapidly approaching the point in which I will be unable to progress--unless Adult Swim allows me to buy diamonds with in-game coins. That would be fantastic. But even if I stop at that point, it was fun while it lasted. Amateur Surgeon Hospital is a decent casual game to kill a bubble of free time too small for anything immersive.

Some people use tongs for cooking. I use them like MacGyver. . . to save lives!

Don’t forget to check out Adult Swim online for more casual online games and their TV lineup.

What casual games do you play? Tell me in the comments!

Movie Review: Hick

Title:  Hick
Rated:  R
Director:  Derick Martini
Writer:  Andrea Portes
Stars:  Chlöe Grace Moretz, Blake Lively, Eddie Readmayne
Rating: 4 Stars

Synopsis:  Tired of life with her drunken parents, 13-year old Luli (Chlöe Grace Moretz) starts a hitchhiking adventure from small town Nebraska to Las Vegas. Along her way she meets Eddie (Eddie Readmayne), a former rodeo cowboy with dangerous charm, and Glenda (Blake Lively), a coke snorting grifter with lots of advice. But the road to Vegas isn’t as glamorous as her TV led her to think. Luli finds herself in one bad situation after another on the road in this coming-of-age story.

My Thoughts:  The driving force of this film is the phenomenal acting. The whole reason I picked this up is because I love Chlöe Grace Moretz on screen. She hasn’t done anything I haven’t liked, that I’ve seen at the time of writing this anyway. Blake Lively, who I’ve been pretty lukewarm up to this point, surprised me with this role and her portrayal. Then there’s Eddie Readmayne. He’s British! Not once during the film did he sound anything other than a Texan (or from some southwestern state). Usually I can pick up on ‘false’ accents, but not this time. Other great appearances include:  Juliette Lewis, Rory Culkin, Alec Baldwin, Anson Mount, and Ray McKinnon.

Chlöe and Blake escaping a bad situation

As for the plot, it’s meanders a bit. I like a story that doesn’t feel forced, so this worked for me. Luli wasn’t completely sure how she was going to get to Las Vegas, and her voyage reflected that. It’s also a story that doesn’t have a clear moral or message. Portes and Martini let the viewer take what they get out of the story. I really like this format, but I know it’s not for everybody.

While I really liked the film, there were a couple of holes. First, Luli has a loaded gun with her. Yet she never brandishes it, even though there are plenty situations that would warrant it. Second, she has a wad of cash. After the first or second rough situation, why wouldn’t Luli just buy a bus ticket? This is a character who had enough forethought to create a pros and cons list of going to Las Vegas, where the cons column had “might die.” She knew the possibility, and I’m not sure if her need for love would overtake her survival instinct honed by years of self-raising.

But if she dies in Las Vegas, maybe she'll end up on CSI? Insta-fame!

Overall, I highly enjoyed watching this film. I can easily see myself re-watching in the future. This is a film not quite like anything else I’ve ever seen. If you like indie films or what you’ve read here, I recommend checking it out. If you’re unsure, Redbox has it! And don't forget to check out the novel it's based on, also titled Hick and written by Andrea Portes

Have you seen Hick? What were your thoughts? Do you share my love of Chlöe Grace Moretz films? Tell me in the comments below!

In My Mailbox (IMM) #1

There are a few In My Mailbox memes around and even more bloggers unaligned to a specific version. Most of the versions I know are for book blogs and have bookish restrictions. I, however, would like to share all of my non-bookish things with you as well. So for now, I will be unaligned. Here are the goodies that were in my mailbox this week!

First up is a nerdy t-shirt! This design is by Nathan Davis, titled “Black Knight Rises.” I purchased this from my favorite of the daily t-shirt sites, Teefury, but you can still get it from Redbubble. It’s a wonderful mashing of the movies Monty Python and the Holy Grail and The Dark Knight Rises.

"Look, that rabbit's got a vicious streak a mile wide! It's a killer!"-- Monty Python and the Holy Grail

I also received the cd Disc O-Zone by Moldovan pop group O-Zone. This cd was released in 2004 and contains the song “Dragostea Din Tei,” also known as “The Numa Numa Song” popularized by this video. I’ve had a digital copy of this cd for years now, and I love it! But I’ve always wanted a hard-copy to play in my car (since the disc player decides to go kaput any time it tries to deal with a burned cd). The funniest bit, part of the case is in German, and part is in English.

"Haiduc" = Outlaw
Arched eyebrows also = Outlaw

That's what I got this week. Did you get anything fun?

Book Review: Dead(ish) by Naomi Kramer

Title: Dead(ish)

Author:  Naomi Kramer

Rating:  2 Stars

Genre:  Humor, paranormal

Synopsis:  Linda is dead. Well, mostly. She didn’t go to the great beyond, or whatever is supposed to happen when someone dies. She’s stuck as a ghost. And until she figures out how to move on, Linda will make every second count by pranking the man who killed her—Mike, her boyfriend.

My Thoughts:  The cover hooked me. It’s so cutesy dark that I thought “I have to read this!” But make no mistake, that young adult style cover is misleading. Dead(ish) is an adult novel.

I really enjoyed the premise of this story. Linda pulls some hilarious pranks, like turning Mike’s skin orange. She also hires a private detective, Trent, to find her murdered body to try and find closure. The pranks and Linda’s relationship with the other characters are by far my favorite parts of this story.

My problems start with the fact that there is no setting. We are told in vague terms where we are, like “apartment” or “veranda,” but offered no details. When something changed in the environment, it didn’t feel significant, as that was the only detail I’ve seen. Kramer had many locations where physical details would have pulled me into the scene and deepened the story.

I also wasn’t sure who the characters were speaking to at times. Eventually it became clear that most of them were speaking to the reader. However, the story doesn’t start that way. It starts with characters talking to each other. I was confused when the fourth wall was broken. What is the situation that I am now part of this story? That question is sort of addressed with Linda thanking the reader for listening, but never fully answered.


Dead(ish) was a quick read (that only took me about an hour), consumed in between events during a busy day. I found it on the Kindle store for free. The premise was entertaining enough to keep me reading, but I probably will not read the sequel, (technically) Dead.

Find Naomi Kramer online:  website