Sunday, February 26, 2012

February 2012 "Wrap-Up"

Welcome to this month's edition of "what's entertained me the most"
(other than my children, of course!)


Best Book of the Month:
This month, we have a tie...
'The Soulkeepers' and 'Weaving Destiny' - both by: G. P. Ching

A friend of mine inquired about this young-adult series (the series is called 'The Soulkeepers' - Book 1, obviously being titled after the series. 'Weaving Destiny' is # 2 in the series...)
Anyhow, my friend wanted to know if these books were appropriate for her daughter to read.
[I encourage all parents to read what their children are reading 1st, or at least monitor the books that they choose...]
Having never heard of the series, I looked into the first book and it definitely peaked my curiosity, so I bought it, and a few pages into it, I immediately bought the 2nd one as well.

If you are at all familiar with Cassandra Clare's 'Mortal Instruments' Series, then you will definitely enjoy this series as well!

While the 1st book was excellent, the 2nd book was even better! However, both deserve to be this month's "Best Book Choice"
Book #3 - 'Return to Eden' - is supposed to be released sometime next month...!

Runner-Up:
'Level 26: Dark Revelations' - by: Anthony Zuiker (with Duane Swierczynski)

This book completes the "Level 26" trilogy that began with 'Dark Origins' and 'Dark Prophecy'.
If you haven't read this series, I highly recommend it!

For those who may not know, Anthony Zuiker is the creator of the television show C.S.I. and these books are considered to be "digi-novels" - they have interactive sequences spaced throughout the books. 'Dark Origins' was the 1st digital book that I read, and it completely sold me on the format!

Definitely check these out, if you have not already...!

Other books that I read this month:
'Invasion' - by: Robin Cook


Best Movie of the Month:
Breaking Dawn: Part 1

Yes, this is part of the Twilight series and I'm sure that I'll get flak for it, but I enjoyed the books, and I enjoy the films as well, so you'll just have to deal with it! :-)

Runner-Up:
This one's a toss-up between 'Chronicle' and 'The Dead'...

I'm going to go with 'Chronicle', purely for entertainment purposes.

While 'The Dead' is one of the best zombie movies that I've seen in a while, it definitely has it's slooooow moments as well as very minimal dialogue, so it's probably not for everyone, though it is still definitely worth watching!

Other movies that I watched this month:
(in the order that I watched them)

A Smile As Big As The Moon (a good family film!)
Red Hill
Killer Elite
The Silent House
Attack the Block
The Vampire Conspiracy
Star Wars - Episode 1: The Phantom Menace [I had to take my son to see this one in 3-D!] :-)
The Woman (while I am a big fan of Jack Ketchum, this movie just didn't work for me - quite disturbing actually... unfortunately, I wouldn't recommend this one to anyone)
Real Steel
Apollo 18
Contagion
The Reeds
Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (*I was extremely disappointed in this one - if you plan on watching it, I would wait till DVD! While it does have some good "3-D" moments, it is not worth the price of admission!)
Outcast
2012: Ice Age
Seven Days in Utopia
Puss in Boots (better than I expected it to be!)


My Favorite iPhone App of the Month:
Judge Dredd vs Zombies

Runner-Up:
Crazy Hedgy

These were initially going to be reversed, however Judge Dredd came out with an update, a week or so ago, that added "Arena Modes" and more levels, and this caused me to put Crazy Hedgy on the back burner for a bit, while I decimated some zombies - definitely worth the buck!


Well, that's all I have for this month. As always, if you have any questions, just leave a comment - I'll check for them on my phone.

Until the end of March - take Care!

Jason

4 comments:

Smirking Revenge said...

Good to see that your month was eventful. I would say for me best film was Chronicle which I should just sit in front of the comp and write a review for. You know I look forward to your month in review so much, you may have inspired me to do it next month as so often I will pick up something that you have watched or recommended.

It really is good to have you back and I hope your family continues to do well.

thebonebreaker said...

Starbuck,

Thank you for your kind words.
I am glad that you enjoy my end-of-the-month re-caps, and I am glad to hear that you pick up on some things you might not have otherwise (part of why I do it!) :-)

Also, glad to hear that someone else saw Chronicle and enjoyed it as well (I saw it opening weekend, and there were only 2 other guys in the theatre...) I hope that it does well enough for a sequel - I would love to see what happened down in the cave and what happens next...

Until next month!

J

Unknown said...

Agreed, your end of the month recaps are great!

If I can ever beat Judge Dredd Vs. Zombies I'll be reviewing that. What a fun game! Thanks for recommending that one.

Also... I'll be checking out The Dead. I need a good zombie movie since I just found out how horribly Paramount Pictures is ruining World War Z... The whole story is different!!! *Smh*

However... checkout a trailer for the upcoming zombie film called "Exit Humanity" (http://www.exithumanity.com/photo-video)....

Think Undead Nightmare for Red Dead Redemption! lol

thebonebreaker said...

Thanks Mike :-)

I'm glad that you're enjoying Judge Dredd. I've defeated all the levels (with 3 stars each) now I'm just working on my commendations... Definitely an addicting little game!

I read 'World War Z' when it came out, and wasn't all that impressed. Changes to the movie may be a good thing. ;-)

As for 'Exit Humanity' I will definitely check that out, next time I'm on-line (on my computer) Sounds Interesting!