The Grey (Drama 2011)

Although this movie got pretty good ratings on IMDB, I didn't think it was that good. It's a survival film following around a small group of survivors from a plane crash as they try to get to civilization while a pack of wolves pick them off one by one.

First off I wonder if wolves are really this vicious...like making sneak attacks into a camp to try to drag off some victim. Nutty if so. More reason not to go camping aye? Secondly, the rest of the story didn't really prod me into a more positive mood after you figure out that they were purposely axing off all of the characters one by one. I think the main purpose of the film was to say something about human resilience and mental endurance and stuff but to me it was just a movie where many people get sniped and the ending was, of course, cut so you don't really know what happened although you could easily guess.
Rating - C

Young Adult (Comedic Drama 2011)

This movie was an odd one. Charlize played a chick who goes back to her hometown to "win back" her Ex who is happily married and has just got a baby. The whole film made you feel weird because of what the main character was trying to do. Many scenes were super uncomfortable and yeah it was an overall mess. The climax of the film was pretty intense but the ending was kinda a flop.

This movie was yet another one that didn't really have a purpose. I dunno what the point of it all was. The main character was hella immature and still a bitch? I don't know what else could be said.
Rating - C

The Becoming by Jessica Meigs (Book 2011)

Even though I'd like to give this one more props, I just can't.

The weakness of this book comes from the 3 main characters and their awkward character development. You have a cop, an active duty Marine Corp officer, and an ex-IDF sharpshooter. Bad thing is that all of the characters were completely off kilter personality-wise. I know that people are different and one shouldn't categorize, but real people who have these occupations are usually leaders and alphas and would usually not behave in the manner they did in this story. The 3 characters seemed indecisive, inexperienced, and weak. I believe the author tried to write in emotional trauma, preoccupation, and stress as reasons why some characters were rude and hostile towards their compatriots, but it was just plain odd. So although it's great that a zombie book actually tried to build up its characters, the entire dialog going back and forth seemed awkward and unbelievable.

Either way, I think this was the author's first book, so good job for writing and publishing. But there is a lot of work to be done for any future books in this genre. More research is needed and maybe "meeting" a few military officers or cops and taking note of their personalities. Some odd spoiler examples that were unbelievable were that the cop didn't seem to know what he was doing at all. He seemed flustered at every situation he encountered and had no idea what to do. He behaved like a regular person or a rookie cop out of training but it was weird since the story had said that he had just gotten promoted in his PD. The Marine surrendered his pistol way too quickly and the fact that he abandoned his post is a bit disturbing as well. Also, where is his rifle? He seemed to only be running around with a pistol most of the time. As for the sharpshooter, the IDF character didn't use her rife much at all. I think she shot it around 5 times only. Lastly, who keeps guns locked up in a case during any sort of zombie event? I don't see that happening...ever.
Rating - Low

Remains of the Dead by Iain McKinnon (Book 2011)

I've read many-a-zombie books in my day and this one goes in the crap pile. The story was very weak as it followed around 3 guys and a baby as they try to wait for a chopper while moving. Yeah I dunno how much sense that makes. If I knew a chopper was coming for me, I'd stay put but these guys thought it would be a great idea to start traveling.

There was one extra character who had his own little sub-plot even though his portion didn't play into the main plot at all. I really don't know why this was added as it served absolutely zero purpose.

The book had a very abrupt ending that didn't close out anything in terms of what happened to the main characters. I guess there could be a sequel to this but really...what the fuck is the point when the story itself was such boring shit.
Rating - Low

Bridesmaids (Comedy 2011)

This movie was pretty good. It wasn't as funny as others I've seen but there were a few scenes that were quite memorable. People who know me will know what I'm talking about. I'm chuckling just thinking of it lol.

The story was good but it didn't keep up with the same intensity meaning that it went from funny to boring to funny again to weird to the end. If they would've kept the humor consistent then it would've been a better film.

It did make me laugh a good number of times though so yeah it's worth a watch but it could've been better.
Rating - B

The Dig by Michael Siemsen (Book 2011)

So the story on this one was pretty interesting. The main character is this kid who is able to touch objects and know the history of its past owners. The story starts when he is given a piece of metal and is then transported into a humanoid's body that inhabited the earth during or before the dinosaur period.

The basis for the story was a good one but the whole naming of the characters in the "past" world sucked. I'm sorry it's hard to characterize a person named I-Pin or O-Wr. Jack or Alice would've done quite well. Hell I could even make up fantasy names like Shrilka or Damko or Krellsoni which would've been an improvement. Friggin' anything could've been better than what I had to wade through.

So yeah as stated the premise was good and the story was also good (present time). But everything having to do with the pre-history civilization was pretty crappy and a lot of that was because of the naming. Fix that shit if you want to sell more books.
Rating - Mid

Hugo (Family Adventure 2011)

I'm not really sure why this movie got such high acclaim on imdb. I know it was a kids movie and all but it really was just a plain Jane type of film. The story was OK...it had a good ending but it wasn't anything spectacular.

Acting was eh. Asa Butterfield was annoying and I don't think he's a very good actor. Chloë Grace Moretz was much better but maybe that's because she was Hit-Girl from Kickass. One thing this movie had was great visuals. I don't know how they did a lot of the camera shots since they would've been impossible to do in real life so I think everything was using a green screen. All realistic nonetheless.

Overall it was OK for kids but it really wasn't all that special.
Rating - B