breakthesky.net » Reviews

Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011)

Manda — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 13:48:34 +0000

Tagline: Ska2oosh!

Starring: Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, Dustin Hoffman, Gary Oldman, Jackie Chan, Seth Rogen, Lucy Liu

Summary: Po, the new Dragon Warrior, joins forces with his kung fu master friends to defeat an old enemy with a deadly weapon that could spell the end of kung fu

5 Words/Phrases: Great animation; witty script; good development between characters; interesting developments with Po’s backstory; all-around enjoyable movie

Most Impressed By: Jack Black is a great voice actor, he is superb as the voice of Po

Least Impressed By: …nothing!

Comments: It’s a solid movie but I’m skeptical of the ending – it leaves the movie wide-open for Kung Fu Panda 3, which isn’t something I’m positive is a good idea…

Overall Rating: 9/10

X-Men: First Class (2011)

Manda — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 14:21:34 +0000

Tagline: Witness the moment that will change our world.

Starring: James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Kevin Bacon, Rose Byrne, January Jones, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult

Summary: Before Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr became Professor X and Magneto, they were simply two young men discovering their powers. The closest of friends, they were working together with other mutants to stop the world’s deadliest threat. During the struggle to save the world from imminent danger, a schism between the two men opened, creating the eternal fight between Professor X’s X-Men and Magneto’s Brotherhood.

5 Words/Phrases: Excellent performances particularly from Fassbender and McAvoy; great action scenes; good story arcs for each of the major characters; thoroughly enjoyable; best X-Men film since X2

Most Impressed By: Fassbender by far and away stole every scene he was in

Least Impressed By: …nothing!

Comments: This movie was a great movie to watch after a year of not watching movies while abroad (excluding Harry Potter last November). It’s everything a great, solid movie should be!

Overall Rating: 10/10

Kindle 3G + WiFi Review

Manda — Sat, 05 Feb 2011 09:59:14 +0000

Tagline: Amazon’s revolutionary wireless reading device – now with 3G.

Summary: The latest Kindle offers the following new and/or improved feature compared to previous Kindle generations: high-contrast pearl e-ink screen; ability to read off Kindle in bright sunlight; new and improved fonts; sleeker design; more lightweight; longer battery life; double the storage; ability to download books in 60 seconds; free 3G wireless (within the United States); built-in WiFi; faster page turns; enhanced PDF reader; and experimental web browser.

5 Words/Phrases: Extremely convenient to have all my books in one device; absolutely no eye strain even if reading off Kindle for hours on end thanks to pearl e-ink technology; 3G and Wi-Fi enables me to download books anywhere in the world (extremely convenient when traveling, for obvious reasons!); keyboard and page turn buttons are easy to use; can highlight and annotate text fairly easily

Most Impressed By: Well, pretty much everything. The Kindle delivers on every single thing it claims. I travel a lot, particularly as a study abroad student, and it’s a relief to be able to have all my books in one light, compact device that has a month-long battery life (with wireless turned off). The fact that I can download English books in China through 3G or Wi-Fi is no small feat, either; bookstores that do carry English language books tend to be very expensive, especially compared to e-book prices. I am a fast reader and like to read books in one sitting (I finished each of Stieg Larsson’s Millennium books in one sitting, respectively) so the fact that my eyes feel no strain from staring at the screen for hours on end is a huge plus. The experimental features – web browser, mp3 player, and text-to-speech – are pretty good too, especially considering they are still experimental.

Aside from the ability to read books on the Kindle, I also really enjoy the PDF reader. I am reading my friend’s dissertation on my Kindle, which is much more convenient than printing off 80+ pages to read or reading them on a computer screen. Additionally, seeing as Kindle allows you to highlight and mark up text, I’ve been annotating the dissertation just like I would if it were on paper.

Least Impressed By: …nothing. Honestly, nothing. Perhaps the price could drop a little, but for all the Kindle offers and seeing the price of competing devices, I think the Kindle is reasonably priced.

Comments: Can’t say anything about other e-readers, like the Nook, as the most I’ve ever played around with one was with the display model in a bookstore. But you definitely can’t go wrong with the Kindle.

Overall Rating: 10/10

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson (2008)

Manda — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 10:00:56 +0000

Tagline: The girl with the dragon tattoo.

Summary: Mikhael Blomkvist, a formerly respected journalist, is given the chance to re-establish his professional name as long as he undertakes a year-long assignment to research the disappearance of Harriet Vanger, which occurred almost four decades ago. Enlisting the help of Lisbeth Salander, a misunderstood genius, the two begin to uncover a tangled web of family secrets as they work towards solving what happened to Harriet Vanger all those years ago.

5 Words/Phrases: Absolutely incredible book; tightly plotted; fast-paced; vivid characters; compelling plot filled with unexpected twists

Most Impressed By: The intricacy of the plot and how the book is suspenseful from page one till the end. Also, the enigmatic character of Lisbeth Salander is absolutely fascinating.

Least Impressed By: …nothing!

Comments: I heartily recommend this book to everyone. It is an amazing read! At a little over 600 pages paperback, it’s not exactly a short read, but I devoured it in one sitting because I just couldn’t put it down. Stieg Larsson was a fantastic writer and I can’t wait to begin the next book in this series.

Overall Rating: 10/10

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part One (2010)

Manda — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 13:45:52 +0000

Tagline: Nowhere is safe.

Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint

Summary: As Harry races against time and evil to destroy the Horcruxes, he uncovers the existence of three most powerful objects in the wizarding world: the Deathly Hallows¹

5 Words/Phrases: Phenomenal cinematography; very loyal to the book; fantastic performances from everyone; laid a good foundation for the second installment; incredibly well done movie

Most Impressed By: The cinematography and the overall tone of the movie – it really added so much to the film. Watson’s acting was also very impressive, which speaks to her improvement as an actress as I’ve never thought of her as a good one!

Least Impressed By: …nothing!

Comments: Why is July so far away?!

Overall Rating: 10/10

Taken from IMDB.

Speak Now (Taylor Swift) (2010)

Manda — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 16:30:39 +0000

Summary: “Speak Now” is Taylor Swift’s third album and her follow-up to her massively successful album “Fearless” (2008)

5 Words/Phrases: Solid songwriting; some songs sound more similar than different; songs are clear examples of how Swift is growing as both a person and an artist; Swift’s tunes are as catchy as ever; not quite sure how Swift is fitting the “country” genre

Most Impressed By: The tracks “The Story of Us,” “Better Than Revenge,” and “Haunted”

Least Impressed By: The track “Long Live” is relatively dull

Comments: The deluxe version is worth getting as it has acoustic versions of some of Swift’s songs – acoustic versions of songs are my favorite!

Overall Rating: 9.5/10

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert (2006)

Manda — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 16:33:58 +0000

Tagline: One woman’s search for everything across Italy, India, and Indonesia.

Summary: In this memoir, Elizabeth Gilbert writes about how after her divorce and ensuing depression, she went on a year-long journey of self-discovery and her search for pleasure in Italy, devotion in India, and a balance of the two in Indonesia

5 Words/Phrases: Well-written; the countries are good backdrops for each of her respective searches; entertaining (but very, very one-dimensional) characters; hard to get through at times; skip the book and watch the movie instead

Most Impressed By: …nothing. Except for maybe Gilbert’s ability to secure a book deal to finance her year of travel before commencing said travels. (I should take note of this as it’s a great way to cover travel expenses!) And hop from man to man, yet always portray herself as the heartbroken victim.

Least Impressed By: Gilbert herself – she is whiny, she is self-absorbed; her ideas of transcendence often come across as elitism, which makes her quite hard to like. And liking the main character of any book is important, but in a memoir, it’s vital.

Comments: This isn’t a bad book by any means, but it’s definitely not very good. My main issue with it is Gilbert herself; it’s incredibly hard to read her story and like it when you don’t like her. I disagree with the majority of choices she made in this book (so, in her life, basically) and I find it hard to sympathize with a character who, more often than not, comes across as selfish and, well, stupid. I definitely do not think the book is worth all the hype and that the “Pray” section in particular got too bogged down with her wordiness. That was the hardest part to get through.

The only reason why I read this book was because I want to see the movie. Even though I haven’t seen the movie yet, I’d say skip the book and just watch the movie. At least the movie has Julia Roberts and Javier Bardem!

Overall Rating: 5/10

Toy Story 3 (2010)

Manda — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 15:45:04 +0000

Tagline: No toy gets left behind.

Starring: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Ned Beatty

Summary: As Andy prepares to leave for college, Woody, Buzz and the rest of the gang find themselves in a daycare with a slew of new toys and have to put together a wild scheme to get back home before Andy leaves

5 Words/Phrases: Fantastic animation; witty dialogue; good depth to characters, both new and old; littered with nifty Easter eggs; thoroughly excellent movie

Most Impressed By: The characters of Barbie and Ken seriously had me LOL for most of the time they were on screen!

Least Impressed By: …nothing!

Comments: Gosh, I bawled like a baby at the end of the film :’(

Overall Rating: 10/10

Modern Family Season 1 (2009)

Manda — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 21:08:23 +0000

Tagline: One big (straight, gay, multi-cultural, traditional) happy family

Starring: Ed O’Neill, Sofia Vergara, Julie Bowen, Ty Burrell, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Eric Stonestreet, Nolan Gould, Sarah Hyland, Ariel Winter, Rico Rodriguez

Summary: A satirical look at the lives of three different families through documentary-style storytelling

5 Words/Phrases: Flat-out hysterical; great dynamics in each respective family; surprising amount of depth to characters and/or situations encountered; brilliant cast; best new sitcom of the year

Most Impressed By: How skilfully the different stories of each family are incorporated into the episodes

Least Impressed By: …nothing!

Comments: A simply brilliant show with a strong season from pilot to finale

Overall Rating: 10/10

Letters to Juliet (2010)

Manda — Sat, 22 May 2010 23:06:26 +0000

Tagline: What if you had a second chance to find true love?

Starring: Amanda Seyfried, Vanessa Redgrave, Christopher Egan, Gael Garcia Bernal

Summary: Sophie (Amanda Seyfriend) volunteers to answer one of the many letters written to the fictional Juliet Capulet in Verona, Italy and journeys with Claire (Vanessa Redgrave) and Charlie (Christopher Egan) on a quest to reunite Claire with her first love

5 Words/Phrases: Absolutely beautiful setting; surprisingly more thoughtful than the typical predictable love story; Gael Garcia Bernal was great as Sophie’s distracted fiance; unexpected level of depth to the characters; really well done movie overall

Most Impressed By: Amanda Seyfried, she’s fast becoming one of my favorite actresses

Least Impressed By: …nothing!

Comments: The first thing I wanted to do once the credits began to roll was book a flight to Italy!

Overall Rating: 9/10