The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms - Book

This is the first book in the Kingdoms Trilogy. Very cool world that she has created - great characters interesting magic and a good plot. We follow a young woman who is thrust into the ruling elite out of the blue and struggles to stay on her feet throughout a lot of difficult events. If you like fantasy novels, this is a good one!

The Brothers Grimsby

Wow. I really dislike Sacha whatevers movies. Really a lot. I watched this one because I like the genre it was spoofing - Super Spy movies. But it was typically thin and crude. Yes, I did laugh outload once. For a 90 minute comedy, though, that isn't much of a compliment. If you like him and his movies, you might like this one. I am sorry I wasted my time with it. Sigh.

The Broken Kingdoms - Book

This book is almost a direct sequel to the first book in the series. It follows Oree Shoth, a blind woman who takes Impetus, one of the Three from the first book. Lots of interesting characters, good story and a surprising ending made this an enjoyable second book. Very different from the first which makes it even better. Good read!

The Kingdom of Gods - Book

The last book in the "Kingdom" Trilogy by N. K. Jemisin. This book focused on Sieh, the son of two of the Three (the first three "gods"). As with the other books in the series, it is interesting to be in a world where gods walk amongst the people. Someohw, Sieh gets turned mortal, discovers that he has a psychopathetic son and tries to save the world (and the universe). On the cover it sats it is a magic-filled thriller. I don't know if I would go that far, but it was worth the read.

The Meddler

Having seen Doris recently, I thought I would try this Susan Sarandon one woman movie. It wasn't as good as Doris. I thought her accent was a bit over the top. Not a lot happened in the movie. Lots of contrived occurrences. Not terrible, mind you, but not great at all. Focuses on a few weeks of Susan's life after her beloved husband has died. She has moved to LA to be near her only daughter, and is basically smothering the daughter. She gets involved in other people's lives to help her avoid the pain in her own life. Some funny bits, but as I said, not as good as Doris.

Running with Scissors

I came back from CR to find this movie sitting in my mail. I don't know when I added it to my list, but I am glad I did. Not a great movie, but interesting for sure. Great cast. It is the story of Augusten Burroughs upbringing during the seventies. I enjoyed the movie - Evan Rachel Wood and Gwyneth Paltrow both have small fun parts in the movie. Annette Benning was interesting as Augusten's driven but ultimately not talented mother. Alec Baldwin had a small roll as Augusten's alcoholic father. The Finch household was fun. It was also interesting to see a little of the original Dark Shadows. All in all, an entertaining film. There were some weak moments, but nothing that can't be overlooked.

Despicable Me 3

I started to watch this on my flight down to Costa Rica but the wifi on the plane was so slow, it just didn't happen. So I got to watch it on my way back to the US. Huzzuh. I liked the first one very much. The second, I don't really remember. The third was sort of fun, but the whole series is getting a bit thin. Add to that Steve Carrell playing two roles, well. Gru gets kicked out of the organization because he didn't catch a bad guy. Turns out that Gru has a twin brother, Dru, who wants to be an evil doer - like their father was. Gru has to redeem himself so that he can get his job back. And the minions abandon Gru because he is no longer evil. Some fun bits - there is a whole 10 minutes or so of the minions in jail. Overall fun, but not something I would watch unless I was sitting on a plane for a few hours and had absolutely nothing else to do!