Opinions

Alright, now that I'm starting to get the hang of this. I would like some opinions.

What kinds of reviews would be helpful to you? Do you want to know about movies? new movies? old movies? books? products? Is there any information you would like that I'm not currently including in my reviews. Really, do you have any input at all for me?

Even if you have no suggestions, please leave a comment on this post anyway. The second purpose of this post is to find out if anyone is actually reading this blog. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy doing it even if no one else cares, but I would like to know if I'm talking to myself here.

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

I know, I saw a movie in the theaters...weird. Don't expect it to happen again for a while.

One Word Description: Exciting

Family Appropriate: I would personally say yes. It is PG-13 for violence and yes, quite a few people die. However, I didn't feel that it was scary or scarring violence, 90% of it is sword fighting.

Basic Outline: (I'm going to try hard to tell you as much as I can, but there's not much I can say without giving things away.) This movie follows Dastan, the youngest son of the king of Persia. He is not a prince by birth, Dastan was a homeless orphan who was adopted by the king because of his bravery. At the beginning of the movie, the three princes, Tus, Garsiv and Dastan, attack the sacred city of Alamut. After they have taken control of the city, the king of Persia is murdered and Dastan appears to be the obvious culprit. He flees and takes the princess of Alamut with him. As they run from his brothers, Dastan discovers that the princess is the guardian of a sacred dagger that holds the sands of time and the power to rewind time. Dastan begins to believe that the attack on Alamut and the death of his father were a plot to get the dagger. He must prove his innocence, protect the dagger and, of course, save the world.

I have to say that the movie was very well made. It's made by Disney, of course it was well made. Jake Gyllenhaal was fantastic and Gemma Arterton, who played the princess was very impressive. I thought the movie had a really good balance of a lot of different elements: danger, action, romance, comedy, adventure. It really had something for everyone.

Recommendation: I would definitely see this one!

Sherlock Holmes

One Word Description: Fun

Family Appropriate: I would say yes. It is PG-13, almost exclusively for violence. There is some hand fighting and a really big explosion, but nothing terribly gross or scary. There is one slightly suggestive scene. It is very short and anyone who understands that it's suggestive won't be bothered by it, in my opinion.

Basic Outline: I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised by this movie. The previews definitely made it look more violent than it was. The character of Sherlock Holmes was much closer to the character in the books than I expected him to be.

In the movie, Holmes is solving a case that begins with the apparent death of Lord Blackwood, who is hung for practicing black magic and for murder. When Blackwood rises from the grave and starts killing again, Holmes sets out to figure out how he is pulling off his stunts that appear to be magic and what his ultimate plan is.

It's very fun to watch his mind at work and try to keep up with what he's thinking. Of course, you're not given every detail, but I definitely didn't figure out what was going on! The movie is unpredictable and the character of Sherlock Holmes is brilliant, neurotic and hilarious. I am starting to be very impressed with Robert Downey Jr.

Recommendation: I enjoyed it. It makes for a fun movie night!

The Red Pyramid

Genre: Fantasy

Target Age Group: Pre-Teen/Teen

This book is the first in Rick Riordan's new series, "The Kane Chronicles". Rick Riordan is the author of "Percy Jackson and the Olympians" (fantastic series, if you'd like me to do a full review of these ones, just leave me a note) and these books are very similar. The Percy Jackson books are about the Greek Gods and these are about the Egyptian Gods. Instead of having children with mortals and creating half-bloods, the Egyptian Gods just posses people. Generally people descended from the Pharaohs, such Carter and Sadie Kane.

In this first book, Carter and Sadie find out who they are and learn all about the Egyptian Gods and their history. Of course, they have to learn all this while trying to stop the god Set from plunging the world into chaos. Maybe I better back up a little...At the beginning of the book, for reasons that I won't reveal, Sadie and Carter's dad accidentally releases 5 gods (Osiris, Isis, Horus, Set and Nephthys) from Maat, where they have been contained for thousands of years. SPOILER ALERT: All the gods but Set, immediately find someone to posses. I'm sure you can figure out who. Set however, immediately heads out to gain power and release chaos into the world. Sadie and Carter are now the only ones powerful enough to stop him.

This book made me realize that my education in the area of Egyptian history is seriously lacking. The Percy Jackson series was very easy for me to follow because I already knew all the Greek Myths. I had never even heard of most of the Egyptian Gods. So reading this book was an extremely educational experience. Like I said, it was a little harder for me to follow, but I'm very glad I put in the effort and I think that the next books in the series will be easier reads, now that I have some basic knowledge.

Recommendation: If you like fantasy and mythology, you will like this book! I would definitely recommend it for 6th graders or anyone else that wants to learn about Egyptian History.