Deathly Hallows trailer review!!!

Movie Title: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
Release Date: November 19, 2010
SPOILER ALERT: If you haven't read the book and don't want commentary that might spoil parts of the story that will be presented in the movie, you probably shouldn't read past the first paragraph :)

I had intended to do this post last month when this FABULOUS trailer came out, but life got in the way! I'm sure many people can relate to that :) I'm so excited to talk about the Deathly Hallows trailer! Those of you who know my love of all things Harry Potter will understand that keeping this entry a reasonable length will be a tough thing for me to do (I'll try, but no promises)! lol
My first observation is that even though this trailer is for Part 1, it contains a lot of scenes from Part 2 (which will be released in July 2011), as we see in the opening scene of the trailer which is from the "death" scene at the end of the book, followed by a quick shot of a meadow and the trio along the banks of a river, then back to the death scene and one of my fav quotes from the trailer. "Harry Potter. The boy who lived...(long pause)...come to die." Voldemort's snake nose is always a bit freaky to see in those close ups - good, but freaky. Also, I don't like Harry with 5 o'clock shadow. Just an observation. Did you notice that you can see Voldy is using the elder wand??
We got to see glimpses of A LOT of scenes. I tried to count how many different scenes were included. I didn't manage to count them all, but there are 35+ scenes represented in this one trailer. I felt like they managed to show us a lot without making it feel like we've seen the whole movie already, which is tough to accomplish. I hate it when I go see a movie only to find out that I've already seen all the important stuff in the previews.
My fav scenes: Wow...tough to choose, but I'll give it a try! The "death" scene, the seven Potter's, the Hogwart's scene where you can see the defenses burning away, battle preparation scenes, Voldemort sending lightning into the sky (probably from the scene when he steals the elder wand from Dumbledore's grave), the fire in the Room of Requirement, Snape cowering against the window (possibly his death scene??), and the final battle between HP and Voldy in the courtyard.
My concerns: If you've read the series, you will note from my previous list that all but one of the scenes I mentioned are most likely going to be in Part 2. That leads me to wonder - what is Part 1 going to be like? I pretty much assume that Part 2 will be a bigger, more exciting movie because it's the finale of the franchise and has the most action. I sincerely hope though that Part 1 is good as well. I was definitely disappointed that we didn't get more background on the horcruxes in Half Blood Prince. That leads to my second concern - that the lack of backstory established in HBP will make the horcrux storyline awkward in Deathly Hallows. Or, even worse, that they won't feature the horcruxes much in DH, which would be really disappointing because they are such a huge part of the book.
Overall, I LOVED this trailer and I seriously cannot wait to see the movie! I liked the two statements they included - "Finale of the World Wide Phenomenon" and "The Motion Picture Event of a Generation." Maybe they're a little cheesy, I don't know, but I liked them. If you enjoy discussions of Harry Potter related stuff - books, movies, theme park, etc. - you should subscribe to Mugglecast on itunes (if you don't already). It's a great HP podcast and they recently did a trailer discussion that was really good. Also, I may be starting another blog in the near future that will cover the Potter books. I'm thinking I will cover a chapter each day and start with Deathly Hallows so that it's discussion is done before the movie comes out. Then, I'll go back and start at the beginning with Sorcerer's Stone after DH comes out, if I'm having fun with the new blog :)
Hope you are looking forward to DH as much as I am!!! Can't wait until Midnight on Nov. 18th!!!

Let's talk Austen!

Tonight, I feel like discussing one of my all time favorite authors - Jane Austen! I doubt I will be able to be brief on this topic, so it might get a little long. Consider yourself warned! :)

I read my first Austen novel, Northanger Abbey, in an English Honors class my freshman year of college. I feel compelled to admit that it wasn't love at first sight... But, as I read more of the book, and had the opportunity to discuss it in class with the other students and our professor, I'm happy to report that I really started to appreciate her writing and her humor :) So much so, that I decided to read more of her novels.

Sadly, the novels of Jane Austen are few in number. They include: Emma, Pride and Prejudice, Persuasion, Sense and Sensibility, Northanger Abbey, Mansfield Park, and Lady Susan. Another novel, Sandition, was unfinished at the time of Austen's death. It was later finished by another English author under the pseudonym "Another Lady." A nod to the fact that Austen's name did not appear on her books when they were originally published? They said simply, "By A Lady." There are a few other works, either unfinished, or short works from her early years that are available for Austen fans as well.

My favorite Jane Austen novels:

Pride and Prejudice and Emma (I also love the BBC movie adaptations of these novels) I like all her stories, but these two are my favorites. Why? Who knows! I just love them! P&P is probably the most widely read Austen novel. I don't know this for certain, but that's my guess. Emma, like Northanger Abbey, is a story that I wasn't sure I really liked at first, primarily because the heroine is a brat. I ended up liking her though and the story succeeded in securing it's place as one of my favorites :)

Austen inspired works that I like:

The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen by Syrie James - This book is a great read for Jane fans. It's written as a manuscript from a person who finds Austen's memoirs. It's wonderfully written and it was hard for me to remember that I what I was reading was fiction, not actual memoirs. I definitely recommend it.

The movie, "Finding Jane" - This is a movie about Jane Austen's life. Very little is known about her, but this is a good presentation of what is known/believed about her life.

Austen inspired works that I DON'T like:

The Independence of Miss Mary Bennett by Colleen McCullough - I was really disappointed in this sequel to P&P written by an author whose books I usually like. I had two main complaints. First, there were too many things happening throughout the book and too many plot lines to follow. It definitely neeed some simplification, in my opinion. Second, McCullough did not stay true to the characters that Austen originally created so long ago. In this sequel, most characters became very unlikable and I just didn't enjoy reading about what these characters had become in this novel.

The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler - Supposedly, each section/character of this book is supposed to mimic an Austen story line/character. I felt it was unsuccessful and didn't feel like it was in the style of Jane Austen at all. Obviously, my opinion is not shared by all, since it was a successful book and was also made into a movie (which I did watch and didn't like - big surprise right? lol).

So, if you love Jane like me, I hope you enjoyed this little review. If you haven't ready any Jane, I hope you're now inspired to pick up a book and give her a try! Happy reading!!

So let's review...Champions!!!

When spring rolled around this year and it was time for Shelby to sign up for softball again, I decided I would take a year off from coaching. I enjoyed the past 2 years of coaching her teams, but I thought I wanted a year off - primarily because she decided to play in a different league, which meant a 25 minute drive to the fields for me and no control over who I would be coaching with. So, I showed up to the first game excited to sit back and watch her team play, only to find out that I am NOT a good softball spectator...lol Apparently, I need to be in the middle of things, telling the players what to do (or what not to do) haha :) Well, during the second game I was at, the head coach asked if I was interested in taking over for him. So, I started coaching and had a great season with the girls on the team.


The season definitely started shakily. On the positive side though, there was no place to go but up, right? I'm glad to report that the team consistantly improved throughout the season. They didn't win a lot of games, but they played better every game and most of the games were close. Going into tournaments, we were ranked 5th out of the 6 teams in the leage and had a 3-8 record. The tournament lasts one week and you stay in until you lose 2 games. I have to admit, I didn't figure we would be staying in the tournament that long. I'm happy to report that I was wrong! Although I'm guessing that the title of this entry gave that away :) My team played awesome! They were ready to play and determined to hit the ball and make their defensive plays. We beat the Blizzards on Monday and the Avalanche on Tuesday. On Thursday we met the Twisters and it was quite intense, but we kept the lead and won the game! That meant a Friday evening championship game. Which would be great, except that 5 of our players had tickets to the Justin Bieber concer that night. The girls were so excited to be playing for the championship though, that they all decided to sell their tickets and play the softball game instead of going to the concert. I was so proud of them!! So, Friday rolled around and we met the Twisters again. The second time around was a much tougher (and longer!) game, but we held on and beat them again! The game was followed by trophy presentations and lots of pictures.



Congrats Team Force!! You guys are awesome and I had a blast coaching you this season!!

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

Movie: The Twilight Saga: Eclipse released June 2010 by Summit Entertainment

Books: Twilight(2005), New Moon(2006), Eclipse(2007), Breaking Dawn(2008)

Author: Stephenie Meyer

Of course I can't resist reviewing Eclipse now that it's in theaters! I'm going to start with some thoughts on the Twilight series books though.

I didn't get into the series right away when the first book came out, as vampire stories are not usually something that I read. I kept being drawn to them though because their cover art is GENIOUS. I would go to a book stoere and pick up Twilight (again) because I loved the cover, and then put it back (again) because I don't read vampire books...or teen fiction for that matter. Then a friend of mine started reading the series and said she was really enjoying it and that I should give it a try, which I did. And now I'm a Team Jacob twi-mom :)

The funny thing is, that I don't particularly like Stephenie Meyer's writing style. They are easy reads, but there's something about her style that bothers me at times. What I do love though is her characterization and creative story lines. I may not love her writing style, but she is great at writing characters that capture my attention and that I want to know more about, even the characters I don't like (such as Bella, LOL). I love that Stephenie uses things we've seen in other stories - vampires and werewolves - but in a new and unexpected way. Usually the villains, but now the good guys?? (At least the Cullen and Denali clans)

My biggest complaint about the series would be that I really dislike the Bella/Edward dynamic. That is not a love relationship, it's obsession and really annoying at times (most of the time actually). That being said, their relationship is pretty much the core of the series, so we probably wouldn't have the series without it (in all it's dysfunctional glory).

Now on to the movie review!! I've seen Eclipse twice now, so I feel I can give a good review, but I'll try to keep it short :) I had high expectations for this movie because I had listened to some reports from people who saw early screenings and everyone said that this is the best Twilight Saga film so far. I don't disagree, but I didn't think it was as amazing as they made it sound. Overall, I would say it was a good movie though and fairly accurate for a book to movie adaptation.

What I loved: The acting was much, much better in Eclipse than in the first two films, especially Kristen Stewart. The flashback scenes were great - Rosalie's was my favorite. The battle scene was really good! I loved that we didn't just get Eclipse, we also got pieces from "The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner" when we got to see the newborns in Seattle, the Volturi, and the battle scene. The conversation portion of the Jacob/Edward tent scene.

What I didn't love: The Jacob/Bella kiss scene after the tent scene. They just didn't get that one right. I was hoping to see a bit more Seth Clearwater, simply because I like his character :) A few too many cheesy lines (but that's to be expected in a Twilight film, right?). We didn't get to see any of the emotional aftermath from the Jacob/Bella "breakup" scene - Bella's night of emotional breakdown and Jacob running away.

My rating: I would give it a 4 (on a scale of 5)

Would I recommend it: I definitely recommend it for anybody who is a Twilight series fan.

So let's review..."The Magicians" by Lev Grossman

Since starting this blog last week, I haven't done a very good job of getting my reviews started :) It's been a bit hectic, but I have some time tonight, so I'm going to try to get a couple of entries done. I have a list of things in my head that I want to write about, now I just need to start getting them out of my head and onto the computer!

Book: The Magicians
Author: Lev Grossman
Published: August 2009
Format: eBook for B&N nook
From the B&N synopsis:
"Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norell meet Harry Potter in a sophisticated and menacing new coming-of-age tale."
"...Time magazine senior book critic and Nerd World blog regular Lev Grossman's impecably timed fantasy novel aimed at grownups who love J.K. Rowling's bewitching tales."

I had high hopes, based on what I read on the book jacket, that this book would be a good fit for me. I love JK Rowling, JRR Tolkein, and CS Lewis - all authors of series books that this story was compared to - so I was really looking forward to this read. Sadly, it was a big disappointment for me. The synopsis said this story "draws inspiration" from the previously mentioned authors. A more accurate statement would be that this story copies the work of the other authors, with minor changes. For example, in The Chronicles of Narnia, you have "the wood between the worlds," where there are trees and lakes. The lakes are portholes to different worlds. The characters enter and leave the worlds through the various lakes using green and yellow rings. In The Magicians, you have "The Neitherlands," which is a city that has a fountain in each square. Surprise, surprise, the fountains allow the characters to move between worlds, but in this book they use coins. At Brakebills, a magically concealed school for training witches and wizards (sound familiar anyone??), after the first year of study, the students are divided into disciplines based on what type of magic seems to be that student's specialty. They join other students of their discipline and each discipline has their own house where only they can hang out. Still sounding familiar? I think you probably get the point! This entire work felt very unoriginal to me and there were times I didn't even want to finish it. I kept hoping it would improve, but again I was disappointed.
It was also a depressing story. The story felt random and frequently disjointed. The author took bits and pieces of Narnia and Hogwarts and then inserted "post adolescent"/adult themes of binge drinking, drugs, angst, and sex and those things didn't mesh well. I get the goal of making a fantasy novel that isn't so focused on the kid/teen market, but this was not a successful attempt at that. I was definitely glad when I was done reading and could move on to something else :)

My rating: I would give it about a 1.5 (on a scale of 5)
Would I recommend it to a friend: Definitely not