Oblivion Movie Review

Title: Oblivion.

Starring: Tom Cruise {Jack Harper}, Morgan Freeman {Malcolm Beech}, Olga Kurylenko {Julia Rusakova}, Andrea Riseborough {Victoria Olsen}, and Melissa Leo {Sally}.

Release Date: To theaters: April 19th, 2013. To DVD: August 6th, 2013.

Genre: Science Fiction, Futuristic, Action/Adventure.

Plot: In the year 2077, the world is a wasteland ravaged by war sixty years ago. Tech 49 Jack Harper and his teammate Victoria Olsen are among the last humans on Earth - everyone else having been relocated to Jupiter's moon Titan. Their job is to protect and maintain the fusion energy generators that power life on Titan. Despite having had memory wipes five years prior, Jack is haunted by memories of an unknown woman and his sense of curiosity and adventure cause conflict between him and Victoria. All Victoria cares about is heading for Titan and to finally be done with Earth.

When a ship crash-lands nearby, Jack goes to investigate and saves the woman from his memories when the drones start attacking. Having clearly done something against regulations but not quite clear on what's going on, Jack embarks on an adventure to discover the truth about the destruction of Earth and who he really is.

Likes/Dislikes: The techno effects and setting of this film are amazing; the scope of it is huge yet contained to the small area that Jack is concerned with. The adventure of the film is wonderful and the plot is well defined with plenty of fun twists. I didn't much like Victoria though, and the two scenes with her could've been left out. Having seen them wake up together, we really don't need any additional info to know that they're lovers.

Rating: Official rating: PG-13. My rating: PG-15 and up for content.

Date Report Written: April 29th, 2014.

Glory, Passion, and Principle Book Review.

Title: Glory, Passion, and Principle: The Story of Eight Remarkable Women at the Core of the American Revolution.

Author: Melissa Lukeman Bohrer.

Genre: Nonfiction, Biography, History, Revolutionary War Period.

Plot: Contained in this book's 248 pages {not counting the end-notes and index of course} are eight mini-bios on eight women who influenced American history. The first chapter introduces us to young Sybil Luddington as she and her siblings stand guard late one night when their father is away and scare off a large party of Tories up to no good. A brief rundown of who Sybil was leads us to the grand adventure which she is most famous for: a midnight ride to alert her father's troops to impending battle that outdistanced Paul Revere's own famous ride. Sybil was a good rider, a fierce Patriot and a loyal daughter with a keen eye to her father's safety, which was what most impressed me while reading her story. The second chapter gives us a fairly in-depth acquaintance with the well-known Phillis Wheatley who, at the tender age of five, was kidnapped from her native Africa and shipped to America where she was purchased by the kindhearted Wheatleys. Phillis was raised in a loving household with a white family that loved and supported her, especially when they discovered she had an appetite and talent for writing. Her poems, letters and essays were destined to become famous as a slave, for the first time in history, took up her pen in defense of her fellow slaves and in favor of freedom not just for the colonists in general but for the slaves as well. She would live a divided life, never quite slave and never quite a freewoman, yet she was eventually freed at the request of her English friends.

The third rather lengthy chapter tells the story of America's first advisor Abigail Adams who was not only intelligent and well educated for a woman of those times but also the wife of America's second president and the mother of America's sixth president. During the long years of the Revolution, Abigail was separated from her husband who was very busy setting up the new government but their letters were lengthy and seemingly frequent; in them Abigail would advise her husband on his various tasks and he in turn would seek her advice and the two would discuss at length the various processes of various problems the new nation was faced with in its governing system. However, freedom for the Americans was not to be the stopping point for Abigail; her goal was freedom for the slaves and women as well. An early feminist while also a supportive and loving wife and mother, Abigail pushed for a vote for the women yet her request and dream were not to be realized at that stage in time. The fourth chapter covers Abigail's good friend Mercy Otis Warren who had grown up in a large family surrounded by lots of siblings. She formed a special bond with her older brother James who was mainly responsible for her education. She married James Warren who was good friends with her brother and who also influenced her education and outlook on life. Mercy, overflowing with opinions and Patriotism, would soon take up her pen and use it as a sword to help motivate the weary soldiers under General Washington; she wrote sarcastic plays belittling and mocking the redcoats which made Washington's men rock with laughter and laughter, she knew, was the best way to keep the spirits of the soldiers high in the midst of all their struggles.

The fifth chapter introduces us to the relatively little known Lydia Darragh who was a feminine Quaker, supportive wife and loving mother. Her firstborn, a son, broke away from the Quakers' neutrality of all things relating to bloodshed and joined Washington's army, believing that freedom for all men was worth fighting and dying for. Once she had realized this, Lydia also joined wholeheartedly but quietly in the war and had a splendid opportunity to aid her country's fight as well as save her son and Washington's army from a surprise attack by the British. Living in Philadelphia with her family when the British rode into it, Lydia first had the opportunity of watching the redcoats' headquarters which had been set up in the house directly across from her and then when several soldiers moved into her own house, she chanced to overhear plans of an attack upon the continental army and did the only thing she could have done: set out on foot and told the right person what was up. The sixth chapter might be considered a mini-bio on two women, not one since experts are reportedly rather confused as to whether it was Mary Hays McCauley or Margaret Corbin who was the real Molly Pitcher or if it might have been someone altogether whose name is now lost to history forever. Whoever this enigmatic female figure was, this chapter is well worth reading for it delves into the little known account of the dirty crass camp-followers who trailed Washington's army during the war. Many followed their husbands, fathers and brothers, the only male protection they had, and would help take care of the soldiers by washing, cooking, and doing other such chores. They were reportedly a very low class of women and yet a very rough and tough class also which seems to have really confused many of the men at that time period who had certain ideas as to what a lady should and should not be like. Molly Pitcher, whoever she really was, apparently wasn't one of those brave bold young ladies who found a task to do and did it well; she was described in this chapter as crass, crude, dirty and bearing a strongly feminist viewpoint formed through long suffering.

The seventh chapter tells the interesting story of Deborah Sampson who had a very rough childhood and grew to be very tall at almost six feet during a time when women rarely grew above five feet in height. Longing for something useful to do regarding the war for freedom which had captured her imagination and fired her fierce Patriotism, Deborah finally found the ideal opportunity and seized it: donning a man's garb and cutting her hair, Deborah ran away and joined the army under her dead elder brother's name. For nearly a year and in spite of a musket ball to the leg which she later removed herself, Deborah passed as a man and fought loyally until the end of the war. Still in the army and now working on tidying up the loose ends of the bloody war, a mutiny broke out in Philadelphia and Deborah, along with four other soldiers, were sent down to quell it but by the time they arrived the mutiny was over. The rampaging fever wasn't however and Deborah became deathly ill. A kindly doctor unsuspectingly discovered her secret and took her to his house where he nursed her back to health and then sent her back to her commander with a letter disclosing her real identity in the kindest manner possible. Instead of being severely punished as she'd feared, Deborah was escorted through the camp and reintroduced to her soldier buddies as the woman she was. Later, after her marriage, Deborah would tour the country talking to people about her experiences in the war.

The final chapter, to me, is the best and most remarkable. It covers the story of Nancy Ward, a Cherokee woman warrior. Nancy had a close relationship with her loving and supportive brother Longfellow and uncle the great chief Attakullaculla. At a young age she married a warrior of the Deer clan by name of Kingfisher and at the age of seventeen she was left a widow and mother of two young children, Fivekiller and Catherine. The tribe of the Creeks, the Cherokees' bitter enemies, had killed her husband and, enraged, Nancy took her husband's place and motivated her people to take part in and win the fiercest battle ever fought between the two tribes. In the course of her life, Nancy would become the first slave owner and cattle owner of her people. In recognition of her bravery in the battle, Nancy was made a Beloved Woman of her tribe {in translation: a female chief with a voice in the weighty matters of governing the tribe} and, as history would show, she was the last Beloved Woman. The Cherokee women were more respected than the women of Europe and America in that they were in the unique position of having "voting rights" while still being under submission to their husbands, fathers and brothers. "But the Cherokee men's respect for women did not translate into gentleness with others: the Cherokee were one of the most feared and ferocious tribes living in the southeastern section of North America." Nancy second husband was a white man named Bryant Ward who was handsome and dashing; however, he doesn't seem to have been the best kind of husband for he would later return to his white wife, signifying that he was already married when he married Nancy which goes against God's commandments. Anyway, her marriage to Ward and raising their half-breed daughter Elizabeth was important to Nancy and would convince her that the white men were here to stay and that peace was the only option open for the Cherokee. However, many of her tribesmen didn't feel the same and much blood on both sides was spilled. An uneasy peace was finally arrived at and Nancy, in her old age, made one last call for peace before she died at the age of eighty-four.

Likes/Dislikes: Wonderfully well researched and highly captivating. I greatly enjoyed this book, but it had a very strong undertone of feminism to it which slightly annoyed me.

Rating: PG-13 and up, mainly for reading level.

Date Report Written: Not available.

Psalm 56.

“Be merciful to me, O God, for man would swallow me up;

              Fighting all day he oppresses me.

My enemies would hound me all day;

For there are many who fight against me,

             Oh Most High.

Whenever I am afraid,

I will trust in You.

In God (I will praise His word),

In God I have put my trust;

I will not fear:

What can flesh do to me?

All day they twist my words;

All their thoughts are against me for evil.

They gather together,

They hide, they mark my steps,

When they lie in wait for my life.

Shall they escape by iniquity?

In anger cast down the peoples, O God!

You number my wanderings;

Put my tears into Your bottle;

Are they not in Your book?

When I cry out to You,

Then my enemies will turn back;

This I know, because God is for me.

In God (I will praise His word),

In the Lord (I will praise His word),

In God I have put my trust;

I will not be afraid.

What can man do to me?

Vows made to You are binding upon me,

           O God;

I will render praises to You,

For You have delivered my soul from death.

Have You not kept my feet from falling,

That I may walk before God

In the light of the living?

                          ~ Psalm 56. NKJV

A Murder is Announced Book Review

Title: A Murder is Announced.

Author: Agatha Christie.

Genre: Fiction, Classic, Mystery, Historical Fiction.

Plot: Friday, October 29th, starts out as a perfectly normal Friday. People having breakfast, families talking and making plans for the day, newspapers being delivered  people going about their affairs, pretending to be minding their own when really sticking their noses into their neighbor's business. But when the Gazette is eagerly snatched up and read for it's local gossip potential, no one is prepared for the one little announcement in the personal column. Someone is to be murdered that very day at 6:30 at Little Paddocks. When word gets around to the residents of Little Paddocks, it is met with something like a confused silence. Miss Blacklock, the owner of Little Paddocks, wonders at this announcement and then demands to know if her visiting second cousin Patrick had anything to do with it. Patrick, a youthful often mischievous young man, denies having anything to do with the matter. His sister Julia is also in the dark. The question of who put the ad in the paper then gets suspended when Mitzi, the temperamental cook, comes bounding in to hand in her resignation, wanting nothing to do with murders.

By the time everything is smoothed out between Mitzi and the mysterious murder announcement, neighbors start arriving under some pretext or other. But when the game turns out to be a very serious affair, leaving one man dead, nobody knows quite what to think of the jolly little joke in the morning paper. But how was it all arranged? And who would want to kill sweet old Miss Blacklock anyway?

Likes/Dislikes: This is, chronologically, the fifth Miss Marple book, and it's amazing! So beautifully written, weaving in and out of the character's lives, painting the picture in such a way that you find yourself being slowly pulled in deeper and deeper until you can't get out - right up to the terrific twist at the end, knocking everything outta place and leaving you dazed, blinking at reality. I never saw that twist coming and it floored me when it hit. This is definitely going on my favorites' list!

Rating: PG-14 and up, mainly for reading level and content {it's a murder mystery but nothing graphic}.

Date Report Written: April 27th, 2013.

Dealing With Dragons Book Review

Title: Dealing With Dragons.

Author: Patricia C. Wrede.

Genre: Fantasy, Action/Adventure, Fairytale Rewrite/Mash-up, Humorous.

Plot: Cimorene isn't like most princesses. Her protocol and etiquette lessons are boring beyond measure and she doesn't look like most princess either, with her black hair and tall height. Looking for other interests, she secretly takes fencing lessons, then magic lessons, cooking, politics, etc. Each new interesting subject is banned when her father discovers her learning it. Finally, out of desperation, her parents cart her off to a nearby kingdom and plan to marry her off to the dimwitted prince there.

Not wanting to marry the prince, nice enough as he is, Cimorene takes advice from a talking frog and sets off to find some dragons. When she does so, she convinces Kazul, an interesting female dragon, to take her on her princess - basically, as a live-in housekeeper till a prince or knight rescues her. Kazul and Cimorene get along famously, and Cimorene loves her new life as a dragon's princess, despite the annoying knights who come to rescue her. But a plot is afoot involving the wizards lurking among the dragons' mountains and Cimorene soon has her hands full trying to figure it out.

Likes/Dislikes: This is the first book in the Enchanted Forest Chronicles and while it's not my favorite, it is the one in which I first met the dauntless princess Cimorene and found her quite captivating. It was especially refreshing that she isn't a blonde princess; growing up, I hated blonde princesses because I'm a brunette. About the only downside to this well written beautiful little story is all the magic in it. If you know that magic is bad and it doesn't bother you to read a story with it in it, then you should be fine.

Rating: PG-10 and up, mainly for reading level.

Date Report Written: March 12th, 2014.

The Royal Ranger Book Review

Title: Ranger's Apprentice: The Royal Ranger.

Author: John Flanagan.

Genre: Fiction, Fantasy, Action/Adventure, Humorous.

Plot: Some twenty years after the last Ranger's Apprentice book, Will is now an accomplished Ranger with a grey beard. Famous throughout the land, Will is a living legend. But his world is darkened by tragic grief and his friends are worried. Concerned, Gilan calls a meeting and attempts to find some way to help Will. It is Halt who comes up with a plan to solve two problems: assign Will an apprentice. But not just any apprentice; assign him Horace and Cassandra's rebellious daughter, Maddie.

While at first both have differing reactions to this idea, the pairing proves to be a sound one. Maddie learns humility and to be a King's Ranger, while Will slowly learns to laugh and live again. But when they stumble upon a kidnapping ring and venture to investigate, the plot things and Will faces a challenge he didn't anticipate. Will tragedy strike for a second time in his life?

Likes/Dislikes: This is the twelfth and supposedly final book in the amazing Ranger's Apprentice series. I sincerely doubt that this is the end of the series, as a whole new story twist has just sprouted and branched off. But it is a unique book in the series and I quite enjoyed it. I only wish that it hadn't been a character I liked who died.

Rating: PG-13 and up, mainly for reading level and content {violence}.

Date Report Written: March 4th, 2014.