my life in entertainment - april 2013
movies i saw
This Means War - Chris Pine and Tom Hardy are both pretty dreamy in this movie about two CIA spies who are as close as brothers until they realize that they are actually dating the same woman, Lauren, played by Reese Witherspoon (pre crazy arrest). Lauren is a busy career woman who hasn't been lucky in finding love and signs up for an online dating service at the urging of her BFF Trish (CHELSEA HANDLER, yall!). She matches up with Hardy's character, single dad Tuck, and they hit it off, but she ends up flirting with Pine's character, FDR, when she ducks into a video store on her way home. When the guys find out that their amazing new love interests are the same woman, it's on, and they employ everything from infrared cameras to tranquilizer darts. Meanwhile, Lauren is having trouble deciding which of the sweet, handsome guys she likes more. And on top of all that, there is still actual CIA work to be done. About 3/4 of the way through, Mr. Q asked me if I would pick FDR or Tuck, and I couldn't say - so I guess the writers did a good job of making Lauren's choice a truly difficult one!
books i read
Colin Fischer by Ashley Edward Miller and Zack Stentz - I stumbled across this book in the middle school library and was intrigued by the cover, which is covered in labeled diagrams of faces showing different moods. Colin Fischer, a high school freshman with Asperger's Syndrome, relies on a similar "cheat sheet" to understand the emotions of his family members, teachers, and classmates. He can't stand the color blue, won't eat mushy food, and hates to be touched. His heroes include Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Spock. When a gun fires in the school cafeteria during a classmate's birthday celebration, Colin, with his intense attention to detail, is uniquely equipped to investigate. Having taught several children with Asperger's Syndrome, I thought the authors did a great job of portraying a young man like Colin in a realistic way, and when I found out that they wrote the screenplays for X-Men: First Class and Thor, I really geeked out. This book will inevitably draw comparisons to Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, but the California setting and quirky characters make Colin's story unique and I plan on adding a copy to my classroom bookshelf.
Reached by Ally Condie - Reached is the conclusion to the trilogy that starts with Matched, one of my favorite recommendations for girls who loved The Hunger Games and are looking for something to read next. I have read the books as they are published, so it took me a few pages to remember what exactly had happened in the first two books. In this series, the main character, Cassia, lives in a Society that reminds me a lot of Jonas' community in Lois Lowry's The Giver - people's lives are tightly controlled and there is little choice; people are even "matched" to their future spouse by the government. Cassia and her two matches Ky and Xander are all working for the revolution in the third book, and when it finally happens, it's similar to the resolution of the Hunger Games series - does anything really change? I enjoyed getting some closure on the series, but Reached was fairly slow moving and I missed the more active Cassia from the second book.
Four to Score, High Five and Hot Six by Janet Evanovich - Why yes, I am still obsessed with Stephanie Plum. Thanks for asking.
television favorites
At the risk of sounding 63 years old, I'm going to go with NCIS as my favorite this month. This week's cliffhanger ending was INSANE.
The season finale episodes of Suburgatory reminded me why it's become one of my favorites. While it's clearly based on a place like West Chester, New York, I like to think of Chatswin as the town where I did my student teaching on steroids. I love the cast so much - Jeremy Sisto, Cheryl Hines, Alan Tudyk, Ana Gasteyer, and Chris Parnell seem like they're having so much fun playing the adult characters in teenage Tessa's life.
What are you loving this month?
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