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The Sixth Sense (1999)
The Sixth Sense (1999)
1999 | Mystery
I see dead people
A young boy named Cole Sear (Osment) has a unique ability to see dead people. Dr. Malcom Crowe (willis) is a child psychologist who has tasked himself to trying to believe Sear. The souls that Sear sees want him to do one last task for them. Sometimes Cole wants to and sometimes he doesn't. Crowe is dealing with his own problems after and old case shoots him in his house and then commits suicide. He strives to help Cole with his problem and make him believe in himself when it's his own self he should be examining. The movie has a amazing ending that if you have never seen it then you will want to watch again to pick up on the clues.
  
FI
Friction in Motion
Sy Kadella | 2018
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Jerry is woken by his father one faithful morning, to be informed that him, his father and grandfather will be taking a men-only road trip. Jerry is an emotionally detached child prodigy and wants nothing less than for his parents to finally divorce so that everyone can finally understand why he is the way he is. His father has fits that have put a strain on his marriage and his family which has split the family to sides. His sister siding with his mother and Jerry standing with his dad because he feels that no one will be there for his dad, so if leaving on a long road trip with no end in sights means leaving his sister and mom behind he is ready to go. On this road to discovery Jerry, he visits his mobster uncle, a spirit channeling aunt, a native American Indian healer, and a depressed punker.
This tale is remissive of an epic poem and how the discovery of yourself leads to places you would not normally go. Sy Kadella is a talented storyteller who leaves you wondering about the experiences that Jerry must endure to finally see where he is and where he is going. Jerry is a very complex character who unravels in layers as his journey unfold which is a treat unto itself. To be honest the story is slow in places and almost stalls as the details overrun the overall tale. It was an enjoyable tale even though you do have to dig through in places.
  
Olive and the Valentine's Spell
Olive and the Valentine's Spell
Helen Millman | 2022 | Children
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
I have come across another decent book about the upcoming holiday named Valentine's Day. Children seem to know what this holiday is about. But if you are looking for one that overcomes a child or children's fear. "Olive and the Valentine's Spell" is a good one. Olive feels that Valentine's day means getting married and a few other things as he tells his feelings to his mom. She wants to help fight with him. Olive seems to have to get rid of all his fun stuff at five years. He thinks he got to do some grown-up things.

Will Olive overcome his fears and enjoy the holiday. Will he see this holiday like any other day and there will be no love. Then maybe love comes in many different forms. Will Olive realizes that and wants this memorable holiday to stick around.

Olive seems confused at the beginning and will let his fears run wild. Children will learn that Valentine's day is a special day for couples. But it also showed what love is and how it can be. It also teaches about overcoming your fear. A parent can help children with reading this book. This book shows that love is essential, which is why we celebrate it.
  
Paternity (1981)
Paternity (1981)
1981 | Comedy, Romance
An excellent cast and funny story will have you laughing! (0 more)
Most of the inside jokes and dated storyline will not appeal to a younger audience! (0 more)
Burt wants YOU to have his baby!
When a man decides that he wants a son but no wife, he looks for a surrogate to carry his child. Not as easy as he thought it would be, he finds a woman who is willing to help out. But as they get to know each other, life and love takes them down a road they never expected. For a film made in the early 80's (1981), most of the jokes and story plot is somewhat dated. The excellent cast (Burt Reynolds and Beverly D'Angelo) is a big highlight of the film. For many of those individuals who grew up watching movies in the early 80's and are fans of the cast will be drawn to the film. Parents and Parents-to-be will most likely understand the inside jokes. If your looking for a real good laugh, join Burt and Beverly as they prepare for parenthood in this early 80's jem...Paternity!!!
  
The Book of Henry (2017)
The Book of Henry (2017)
2017 | Drama
Characters – Susan is the mother of the house, though she doesn’t have the full responsibility in the house as she lets her genius son Henry handle the finances in the home. She is a single working mother that does everything she can to help her kids, enjoys a drink with her best friend Sheila and videos to release the stress, she must go through a difficult process when Henry becomes sick and wants to follow his book to do the right thing. Henry is a genius 12-year-old boy, he keeps his family together while trying to leave his own legacy, he knows how to work the stock market which keeps the family a float and when he sees wrong in the world he wants to help change it, this brings him to write a book to stop the abuse of his neighbour by her stepfather. Peter is the younger brother to Henry, he always looks up to him and wants to help him with his innocent being the only thing that lets Henry have fun. Sheila is the best friend and work colleague of Susan, she enjoys herself a drink and has great banter with Henry. Glenn is the neighbour and police chief living next door to the Carpenter family, he has a stepdaughter that he is abusing though he position of power makes it nearly impossible for him to get investigated. Dr Daniels is the man that must treat Henry, he must help the family through the difficult decision.

Performances – Naomi Watts in the leading role is great through this film, we see how her character needs to develop after what happens to Henry. Jaeden continues to show us he is a fast-rising child star along with Jacob Tremblay who are both going to be talked about as a couple of the best of the current generations. Silverman, Morris and Pace give us good supporting performances throughout the film too.

Story – The story here follows a genius son that helps run the family to help take the pressure of his single mother, he plans long term and wants to make the world a better place, though when sees abuse he wants to step in and help. He doesn’t expect the short term though, leaving his legacy to his mother to help solve the abuse he sees the neighbour going through. We do have moments that make the children feel like they are in ‘Pay it Forward’ which does have a better message about, doing something to make the world a better place, this story does get that message over and does make you want to help bring calm to the world. if I was being honest with the way the story is told, I feel it would have been nice to mix the planning Henry does with the actual plan rather than showing his plan before the incident.

Crime – The film does have a crime base to everything going on, we get to see how Henry sees a crime being committed and the only way he can solve it is to have someone commit a crime for him.

Settings – The film shows us the simple life the Carpenter family are currently living and how Henry is happy with this even though he can make them rich with a blink of an eye, he wants family over anything.


Scene of the Movie – Take the shot.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – The kids are way to talent in the talent contest.

Final Thoughts – This is a film that has taken a beating by the critics and sure there are a couple of weaknesses in this film, but the core of the story is one of the most interesting ways to show a child genius doing the right thing in life, well-acted and one people should be giving a chance too.

 

Overall: Nice story about leaving a legacy.
  
Flowers for Algernon
Flowers for Algernon
Daniel Keyes | 1966 | Science Fiction/Fantasy
9
9.1 (26 Ratings)
Book Rating
Amazing plot and moving story (0 more)
A must read
Contains spoilers, click to show
Flowers for Algernon is an amazing journey that makes you take a step back and rethink things. It brings up a lot of issues that, no matter what time we are in, always seem to be around us, whether we notice or not. I found this story to be touching and in ways a bit disturbing. The journey in which this book takes you on, definitely makes you rethink things you may have done or witnessed in the past. It will have you thinking differently about those with learning disabilities and other mental issues. To see it from the point of view of someone who would go through these hardships, you are able to get the feel and understanding of things that you may not have had before.
Charlie is mentally retarded and it shows in his progress reports, which is where the whole story lies in. His grammar is horrible and his spelling can make it hard to read at first. It was hard to remind myself over the first few pages that the way it was written is exactly how someone like Charlie would write. However, it is very clear from the beginning he wants to "get smart." However, his reasoning behind it makes me shudder. I don't shudder because it makes me scared, but because of the disgust I feel towards how people treat him. He states he wants to please his teacher and be able to join in on conversations with his co-workers. He feels isolated and wants to be more than he is. Even though its clear people are making fun of him, he doesn't see it that way because they are laughing and smiling. To him, that means they are his friends. It isn't until later her realizes they are laughing at him that he begins to understand things.
I really liked how as Charlie learned new things and became more intelligent than he was, his progress reports became clearer and easier to read. But with his intelligence growing, he noticed other areas of his life were lacking. He no longer acted the way he had before, began to think very differently and still had the emotions of a child but in a whole new aspect. He was smart, but it was clear he was happier before the operation and the rise in his I.Q. It kind of goes to show that being smart doesn't always means you will be happy. He had to suffer to understand that the way his mind was changing wasn't exactly what he wanted. He wanted so much and even though he got smarter like he wanted, he lost the motivating factors behind it. He ended up losing his job and a lot of the people who surrounded him because of how his personality changed. It was heartbreaking to see him go through the hardships and feel so alone.
I found myself enjoying the fact that even during these hardships, he remained close with Algernon, the mouse who proved the operation worked. Charlie spoke fondly of the mouse, even though at first he hated him. It was pleasant to see that Charlie still had a friend, even if it was just a mouse. Especially with his memories torturing him whenever they decided to pop up. I found Charlie's childhood heartbreaking and exceptionally disturbing. His mother's ideals seemed to be wrong in my opinion. I don't know what she went through, but to be so harsh on a child and to not believe anyone because of how it might make her look to her neighbors and other people, was quite disturbing to me. I found myself hating the woman, and yet I know there are plenty of people who would do the same to their child, even in this day and age.
I have to say the ending was the most heartbreaking thing I have ever read. I understand there will always be risks to experiments that mess with ones brain, but I had really hoped for the best for Charlie. I wasn't fond of his intellectual self because of how he acted towards others and how he thought, but at the same time, to have him lose everything made me tear up and cry. It was truly not a desirable ending. However, seeing him put others first again was heartwarming. It goes to show you, sometimes it those who don't really understand things that are the kindest of people out there. It makes me think of those social studies of people asking others for money and it is the homeless who will try to help out versus those who have a lot they could give. I firmly believe that this book was created to show just how things can appear to be okay and its really not.
I would recommend this book to anyone and everyone who is in 9th grade or higher. I think we all need a reality check from time to time. I have read this book in high school for a book report and even though I am a decade older, rereading it reminded me of how much I loved this book. It has a bunch of underlying meanings and not just on intelligence. I loved the little hidden lessons and thoughts behind this book. It definitely gets your brain working and really puts our society in a truthful light. Even though its based on mental retardation, you can easily apply a lot of what is discussed in Charlie's progress reports and the things it hints at to other sources of discrimination . I would ultimately rate this book 5 stars out of stars. Though the book seems simple to read, it touches base on things in our everyday world that we normally wouldn't think twice about, and probably should. Flowers for Algernon is truly an amazing read.