TV Shows: Sherlock

I have been obsessed with the BBC series Sherlock.

On Netflix, there’s a total of two seasons with three episodes each, but BBC is expected to start producing another season in March 2013. None of the episodes have disappointed me yet. Complete with everything you’d expect a modern Sherlock Holmes to have, there’s romance (well, slightly:  Sherlock isn’t really the dating type), explosions, blood, science, logical explanations, not-so-logical endings (if I elaborated on this I would be giving everything away), and a few too many crazy people.

Movie Review: Ponyo

I’ve recently really been interested in sci-fi and action (or a combination of both) like the Matrix, so I kind of put off watching the animations that I said I would. So when we rented Ponyo from Blockbuster, I was kind of ambivalent.

Ten minutes into the movie, I wondered why I had not watched this movie when it first came out.

Movie Review: The Avengers

Recently, for some reason, I’ve been on a Marvel movies binge. In the span of a month I managed to catch up on almost all of the Marvel superhero movies, and the last one I saw was The Avengers. Despite the original Iron Man cutting it pretty close, I have to say that The Avengers was my favorite of the whole bunch. This may be my favorite superhero movie ever. (And that’s counting X-Men First Class.)

The Avengers begins with Loki, the antagonist from the prequel-ish movie Thor, stealing a cube called the Tesseract from supersecret organization SHIELD and promising to bring havoc to the world with his alien Chitauri army.

Movie Review: The Hunger Games

I have found an interesting trend regarding this particular movie: all the guys I know hated it and all the girls I know loved it. I have no clue why. Either way, I went to see The Hunger Games the week after it came out, and I personally really enjoyed the movie.

I don’t think a plot summary is entirely necessary for this review, but I’ll include a small one anyway. The dystopian country of Panem is divided up into the Capitol and 12 districts, each of which specializes in producing some product. As punishment for a previous uprising against the government, every year the districts each offer up a girl and boy tribute to compete in the Hunger Games. The Hunger Games are a twisted survival TV show in which the tributes must fight to the death in an arena until only one winner remains. The book opens before that year’s reaping, or the selection of the tributes, where we meet our protagonist…

District 12 Has Awesome Hairstyles.

So…

I watched the Hunger Games!

I waited a week after the movie came out to watch it, and then I went and watched it twice. Though a bit too artsy for my liking, it didn’t disappoint. It was nothing like how I felt after Percy Jackson (ugh), and I’m looking forward to Catching Fire.

But this isn’t a movie review.

What I primarily noticed was the hairstyles, particularly the braids from District 12. So I had to come home…and try them on my sister (I have really layered hair so it never works on me D:).

TV Show Review: BBC Sherlock

I don’t think I will ever have a more emphatic introduction to one of my reviews: WATCH THIS SHOW. DO IT. If you don’t, I’m not even disappointed, I’m just sad that your life is not brightened by this absolutely incredible and well thought out TV show.

Sherlock is a modern day adaptation of the classic books by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle by the BBC. They feature Benedict Cumberbatch (omg) as Sherlock Holmes, an antisocial, rude, and unimaginably genius man who has been described by himself as a “high functioning sociopath”. Martin Freeman plays Dr. John Watson, a man that’s been discharged from the army due to injury and is living a mundane life that bores him to psychosomatic problems. The two men are as polarized as can be, but somehow when they meet each other, it just works. Together they become an unstoppable team that live in a flat on 221B Baker Street and solve crimes, , blog, become famous, and gain enemies.

Movie Review: The Muppets

When I saw that this movie was coming out, I was so very excited.

Soon after, I dragged my sister to the movie theater, and we watched it together. Surprisingly, we didn’t finish off the popcorn in the first few minutes. We were both so engrossed in the movie that we didn’t even have time to eat our popcorn.

Walter, his brother Gary (Jason Segal), and Gary’s girlfriend Mary (Amy Adams) find out that an evil oil baron, Tex Richman, wants to drill for oil under the Muppets theater. Hoping to save the Muppets theater, the threesome go and try to bring together the Muppets gang again. Kermit is lonely in his mansion, reminiscing about Miss Piggy; Gonzo is the head of his toilet company, Gonzo’s Royal Flush; Fozzie performs with a rough band called the Moopets; Animal is at an anger management rehab clinic; and Miss Piggy is the plus-size fashion editor at Vogue Paris.

Movie Review: The Secret World of Arrietty

I previously stated that I have minimal love for Miyazaki movies. Well I’m going to have to retract this statement, because I loved this movie so much I’m not sure I have coherent words for it.

The movie begins by introducing a girl named Arrietty, who is absolutely tiny and a “Borrower”. She lives inside the walls of a human’s house along with her mother and father, and they’re not sure if they are the last Borrowers left, since their species has been gradually declining in population. They live by stealing tiny bits of food and things to make into objects to use. The movie begins with the arrival of a sickly boy named Sho, who Arrietty sees as he drives up to the house. Arrietty also has her first expedition to go gather materials that night with her father, and while they have a mildly successful time, it ends in disaster when Arrietty is seen by Sho. With their secret exposed, the Borrowers must find a new home before they and their home are discovered by people less kind than Sho.

Movie Review–Green Lantern: The Emerald Knights

I actually thought this was the Green Lantern with Ryan Reynolds in it, but sadly I was mistaken. This is actually a series of stories about the Green Lanterns…in cartoon.

It was still okay. I haven’t watched the Green Lantern yet and therefore have not yet formed any sort of attachment to the characters, so I guess if you liked the Green Lantern and its characters then you might like this. Basically, the more senior Green Lanterns tell Arisa, the new recruit, stories about themselves.

Movie Review: Howl’s Moving Castle

Junior year has been busy sucking the fun out of my life, but I managed to find time on Halloween to watch Howl’s Moving Castle, a movie I’ve been meaning to see for quite a long time but had never quite topped my priority list. Bored and at a friend’s house, we started the movie up and I found I liked this movie. I may not feel motivated to see it again anytime soon, but it was definitely good and worth a watch.

Anime Review: Puella Magi Madoka Magica

If there is one phrase that the cover of Puella Magi Madoka Magica brings to mind, it’s probably something like “ridiculously girly”, “magical girl shoujo”, or “very pink”.

At first I was put off by this anime since it seemed like a standard magical girl series, which is something I’ve avoided ever since my Sailor Moon and Tokyo Mew Mew days in elementary school. But after hearing favorable reviews, I decided to give it a try and I was stunned by this series. I’ll just let you all know right now: this is not a magical girl anime in the standard sense. It is a deconstruction of that genre.

Book Review: Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

If you’re looking for a book that’s interesting, well-written, full of detail, and long enough to keep you occupied for a few weeks, this is the book for you.

This is The Great American Novel, written by Margaret Mitchell while she was bedridden. Published on June 10, 1936, it instantly became a best seller, and, in 1939, one of the most popular movies of all time, Gone with the Wind, starring Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O’Hara and Clark Gable as Rhett Bulter, premiered.

The copy that I’m reading, the version published by Pocket Book Fiction, is 1448 pages in all. I think it’s the longest book that I have ever read, and also one of the best as well. But don’t let the page number keep you from picking up this book. It’s definitely worth your while to read.

Movie Review: Source Code

“I took your advice.”

When Captain Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal) wakes up, he’s sitting on a train across from a beautiful woman. Disoriented and confused, he rushes to the bathroom, but when he looks in the mirror, he sees a different reflection.

A few moments later, the train explodes.

Movie Review: Kiki’s Delivery Service

It’s kind of a shame that I never watched this movie before. I’ve likely mentioned this before, but I watched Spirited Away, another Miyazaki movie, at a fairly young age and didn’t understand the plot at all. I saw Princess Mononoke when I was older, but I still wasn’t quite old enough to understand the plot and disliked both movies greatly. Unfortunately this bad history with Miyazaki movies has clouded my opinion of them and I have a tendency to avoid them even now.

This movie has changed my opinion of Miyazaki movies entirely. Maybe it’s just because I’m old enough to understand the movies now, but I have every intention of watching almost all the rest of Miyazaki’s movies now (except Spirited Away, nothing will get me to watch that movie again).

13-year old Kiki is a witch in training, and as per custom she has to leave home for a year as part of her training. Eventually she finds a beautiful seaside town called Koriko, and despite a somewhat less than perfect introduction to the locals, she and her cat Jiji settle nicely into the town. Eventually Kiki begins her titular delivery service, making friends with people around town. Unfortunately, after she is crushed by certain events, the worst thing possible happens to Kiki. She then must redefine herself in the face of losing everything that she believed defined her.

Movie Review: Lemonade Mouth

I feel kind of weird writing a blog post on a Disney Channel movie. But I actually liked watching this one. It’s the usual “outcasts” of the school throwing aside their differences for a common interest – music.

Stella (Hayley Kiyoko), Olivia (Bridgit Mendler), Charlie (Blake Michael), Mo (Naomi Scott), and Wen (Adam Hicks) meet in detention. After singing together “Turn Up the Music”, they perform at the Halloween bash and are an instant hit…but the rivaling boy band Mudslide Crush, led by Ray, is furious. Not only are they furious, but so is Principal Brenigan because not only do they express themselves in their music, but they also begin to express the

These are the band members: (from left to right) Win, Olivia, Stella, Charlie, and Mo.

voices of the students of the oppressed Mesa High School.

Movie Review: Grave of the Fireflies

I can honestly say this was one of the most depressing, moving, and heart-wrenching movies I have ever watched. Based on a true story, Grave of the Fireflies depicts the sufferings of two children who lose their houses in the Kobe bombing during WWII. This movie is unrated, but I personally would not recommend it for anyone under 13 years old due to some graphic depictions of suffering and disease.

I feel that the WWII context gives this movie a bad reputation. Many people might assume that this movie is an anti-American movie, but it’s not. This movie is profoundly anti-war itself. It begins with the death of a main character, and then backtracks to when the story begins at the Kobe bombings.

Movie Review: Tangled

Well I finally took the chance to go see this movie that all my friends are raving about. Was it good? Yes. IT WAS BEAST.

Do you like the way Disney is taking classic fairy tales and morphing them into something cooler? I do. How’d you like The Princess and the Frog, the way they added jazz and flair to the whole story? Tangled, as you might have guessed already, is a retelling of Rapunzel. And Disney brings it to a whole new level.

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter Part II

There are three rides: Flight of the Hippogriff, the Dueling Dragons, and the amazing Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey.

The Flight of the Hippogriff is a fun and simple rollercoaster. I wish it had gone around the track more than once, but it was fine for a minimal thrills girl like me. Because I’m not a fan of being raced along upside down, I did not go on the Dueling Dragons rollercoaster. However, I heard from the many scary-rollercoaster-loving people that it was one of the best. Also, the ride is made up of two rollercoasters which run at the same time, the Hungarian Horntail and the Chinese Fireball. Apparently, the Chinese Fireball is the better of the two, although both are thrilling.

Movie Review: The Girl Who Leapt Through Time

This movie was absolutely incredible. On the surface it looks like your standard “girl gets magical powers, abuses them, learns an Aesop lesson and comes out of it more mature than before” boring movie. …It’s not. It’s so much better. 

Teen Newsletter needs you!

Did you know that West Regional Library has a teen newsletter called The Splash and they’re looking for contributors?  All content is authored by teens, and the library’s teen advisory board puts it together.  All teen, all the time.  Check out the latest issue here.  The Splash features artistic and written work by local teens. They accept:

• Poetry
• Short Stories
• Digital or Traditional Artwork
• Photography
• Book Reviews
• Riddles/Jokes
• Comics
• Questions for Ask Elizabeth, an Advice Column

There are two easy ways to submit your work. Email thesplashsubmit@gmail.com
OR
Drop off your work in person in the Teen Section of West Regional Library in Cary.  Please include your Name, Title of Work, Age and/or Grade.