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    Einstein™ Brain Trainer

    Einstein™ Brain Trainer

    Games and Education

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    Feed your brain with a personal coach! If you want to stay young at heart, and sharp mentally, take...

The Rooster Bar
The Rooster Bar
John Grisham | 2017 | Fiction & Poetry
3
4.3 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
Timely plot topics (0 more)
Slow-moving (1 more)
Not interesting
Not one of Grisham's best
Mark, Todd, and Zola all had big aspirations when they signed up for Foggy Bottom law school. They also dreamed of the big paychecks that would follow after graduation. Those paychecks would help pay off the student loans required to attend Foggy Bottom--a less than well-respected for-profit law school that has left each of the trio with an average of $200K in debt. Even worse, Foggy Bottom is such a terrible school that they are receiving a mediocre education from sub-par professors; they may not even pass the bar exam. And if they do, they have little chance of gaining one of the coveted, well-paying law positions that can pay off those loans. So when one of their close friends, Gordy, alerts them that their school is owned by a shady financial operative who also has ties to a bank that profits off their loans, they are outraged. When tragedy besets the group, Mark, Todd, and Zola decide to take matters into their own hands, no matter what it takes. Even if that means quitting school a few months shy of graduation...

Oh man, I wanted to like this one, but it just didn't work for me. It took me eleven days to read--unheard of for basically any book, let alone a Grisham, and I practically had to force myself to finish it. It seemed like a really good premise: the novel combines the timely issues of student loan debt and immigration, but nothing meshes together well.

I never warmed to the protagonists. It's really hard to like or empathize with Mark, Todd, or even Zola, who is dealing with her family being deported. What's being done to the three law students is certainly not great, but their response just never seemed fully justified to me. I could not root for them like I could a Darby Shaw, a Gray Grantham, a Reggie Love. It's a shame, because the bad guy is fairly despicable, but we don't get enough development on either side to feel fully invested. As for our trio, for instance, they basically blow a huge case for someone and never do anything to make amends--nor ever really seem to show any real remorse. How is that any better than the people they are going up against?

Without anyone to really root for or a plot to quickly move forward, this one just dragged on. For me, it was slow-moving and not-interesting. Definitely a letdown. 2.5 stars.
  
The Greatest Showman (2017)
The Greatest Showman (2017)
2017 | Drama, Musical
Soundtrack (phenomenal) (3 more)
Casting/Acting
Choreography
Cinematography
Best original musical in recent days
Michael Gracey’s slick new musical, The Greatest Showman, brings to life the imagination of P.T. Barnum and his creation of the first circus.
Inspired by the legend of P.T. Barnum (Hugh Jackman), The Greatest Showman follows Barnum in a pursuit to piece together a dream-like show.

The film follows the businessman as he desperately tries to support his wife (Michelle Williams), and daughters. However, the urge to make the shower better and better ultimately gets in the way of both his personal and family life.

Barnum knows exactly what he is looking for. He scouts several individuals who he believes are perfect for the show. Each and everyone of them, a spark or magic that completes the circus. His show includes; bearded lady, Lettie (Keala Settle), and ‘the shortest man in the world’, Tom Thumb (Sam Humphrey). Also, a partner in need (or to help his succeed)Phillip Carlyle (Zac Efron).

The performers are part of a close family and stick together despite being ridiculed by the public. They are frequently humiliated and often labelled as 'freaks'. This brings a lot of emotion to the film. It encourages a lot of positivity in that it helps promote individuality and equality.

As a musical, The Greatest Showman comes packed with musical numbers. It features a number of brilliant vocal performers including the likes of Jackman, Settle, Efron and Zendaya (who plays a trapeze artist and pretty much most of the cast). The songs themselves are very moving, through joy or sadness. Many of the songs will also have your feet tapping to the beat! At points, you'll find yourself wanting to join in with the group!

Music is a powerful instrument which can often be emotive. The composers Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, who also worked on the music for La La Land, and Trolls, hit the mark. The songs were outstanding and often bought a tear to the eye.

From the beautiful ballroom-esque dances of Jackman and Williams to the group dances by the circus family, the film was not short of magical moments. The camera angles were also spot on - from the beautifully shot symmetrical aerial shots to the moving steady cam shots.

Already nominated for three Golden Globes, The Greatest Showman is sure to be a hit with everyone. It is almost certain that it'll leave you feeling emotionally drained. On the more positive side, it may even inspire people to spread a little Christmas joy and happiness!
  
Premonition (2007)
Premonition (2007)
2007 | Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
4
6.6 (7 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Linda Hanson (Sandra Bullock), Is a woman whose comfortable life is about to to turned upside down when her husband (Julian Mc Mahon) is killed in a tragic car accident while away on a business trip. Suddenly a windowed mother of two young girls Linda is grief stricken and falls asleep wondering what she will do to handle her loss.

When Linda awakens the next morning, she is shocked to discover her husband alive and well downstairs. This bizzare occurence sets a chain of events into motion where each day she awakens, finds that her husband is either alive or dead. What is even more bizzare is that some days she awakens days in the future after her husbands accident to learn that other events have transpired while other days she awakens before the accident and wonders about her sanity.

Eventually Linda decides to map out the days she has visited and learns that she is covering the days leading up to and following the accident, and sets a plan into motion to answer the questions she has about why she is suddenly moving back and forth through time each day, as well as the events surrounding her visions of the future.

While the premise of the film is good, it looses momentum very quickly and soon becomes a myriad of plot holes and worn scenarios that ultimately leads to a very silly, and wholly unsatisfying ending, that does little to resolve the premise and mystery of the setup.

What further frustrated me about the film is the utter lack of chemistry between Bullock and Mc Mahon, who come across very stiffly during their scenes with one another, and seem almost to be taken an Acting 101 seminar rather than convincing us they are a married couple.

Mc Mahon’s part is also so lacking in substance I was suprised that an actor of his status would accept such a shallow part, as there is very little for him to do in this film as he is reduced at best to a moving prop and a plot device for much of the film.

This ultimately dooms the film as we feel very little for the characters as Bullock is very bland and by the numbers in her performance, which really strains the audeince to care for the chacters and their outcomes which is essential in a film of this type.

As it stands, Premonition is a good idea that goes nowhere fast, which is what I think will ultimately become of this film after its opening week at the box office.
  
    Skeleton Premium

    Skeleton Premium

    Medical and Education

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    ***** Take a deep dive into the human skeletal system. Skeleton Premium includes: - Models of...

Dog Days (2018)
Dog Days (2018)
2018 | Drama
Cheesy but Solid
Dog Days revolves around a number of moving parts stories that shows the strength of relationships between people and man’s best friend.

Acting: 10

Beginning: 5
Typically with stories like these that have a number of different characters sharing screen time, it really can be a challenge to get the film off to a hot start as you introduce everyone. Ten minutes in, I wasn’t completely sold on the film, but it was enough for me to say, “What the hell? I’ll give it a shot.” Not bad, but not great.

Characters: 8
Again, moving parts stories introduce a lot of characters and it’s hard to try and get people to care about everyone. While I wasn’t invested in everyone all of the time, there were plenty of moments where I cared about the character’s outcome. There were certain characters I cared about a lot more than others like the coffee shop girl and the shelter owner.

Cinematography/Visuals: 7

Conflict: 6
This is a family film, very much meant to be light-hearted. While Disney has somehow found a way of perfecting having conflict while keeping things light, Dog Days suffered a bit more in that respect. Maybe it’s the fact that you know everything is going to work itself out in the end. Then again, you kind of know that for most movies, but it’s that drive of conflict that really makes things seem dire and leave you wondering for a bit. Not the case with Dog Days.

Entertainment Value: 10
Not going to lie, this movie really had me invested from beginning to end. It’s funny, endearing, and you get to see a bunch of cute dogs. Not going to win any academy awards, but it’s a fun movie I would recommend for any family. I didn’t leave the theater thinking I had wasted my time. It was more of a, “Wow, that was surprisingly fun.”

Memorability: 9

Pace: 10
The 113-minute runtime definitely doesn’t feel like it. Sometimes having a number of storylines can confuse the audience, but I managed to follow along at an easy pace. There are no bumps, it’s pretty smooth sailing from beginning to end.

Plot: 5

Resolution: 9

Overall: 79
I can think of countless family movies that would be a better use of your two hours than Dog Days. However, for what it is, the movie does the trick. It’s undeniably cute and pretty darn entertaining. Even better if you’re a dog lover. For all of it’s cheesiness, it’s pretty solid overall.
  
Abominable (2019)
Abominable (2019)
2019 | Adventure, Animation, Comedy
Abominable is a new animated film that is co-produced between Dreamworks Studio and Pearl studio (out of China).

The main character is called Yi, voiced by Chloe Bennett.

Yi is a bit lost, and sad due to the death of her father. We are introduced to her in the film working working working and barely slowing down enough to eat, and never spending and family time with her mother (voiced by Michelle Wong) and grandmother (Tsai Chin).

I could tell there was more to Yi’s reluctance to spend time with her family than just ‘work’, and the movie, from an adult perspective, showed that Yi didn’t feel like she really HAD a family anymore, because of the loss of her dad.

We find out that she is working so hard to earn money to travel to all the spots she was supposed to travel with her father to.

Discovering a Yeti on the roof of her apartment building puts a monkey wrench in her plans, however.

Yi discovers that the Yeti needs to find his way home to HIS family, and that his home is Mount Everest. She promptly tags the Yeti with the name ‘Everest’.

Her best friend Peng (voiced by Albert Tsai) and Pengs cousin Jin (voiced by Tenzing Norgay Trainor – who is actually the grandson of Tenzing Norgay, one of the first men to reach the summit of Everest), get roped into the adventure.

The group must avoid being captured by a man intent on collecting novel and new animals, named Burnish (Eddie Izzard) and his assistant Dr. Zara (Sarah Paulson) who is not what she seems, who Everest had escaped from.

The movie moves along quickly and kept even my 3 year old who never-stops-moving pretty engaged for at least the first hour.

My 11 year old son was entranced the whole way through.

I thought that the animation was great, the visuals (scenery) that the movie existed in were phenomenally done and the music was perfectly arranged to go with the story line.

The story itself was sweet, and a bit sad, but did evolve well and showed the possibilities of moving beyond deep sadness and the healing power of music and friends and helping others as well.

It’s a great family film, and I would go see it again for sure.

I would actually give this movie 5 out of 5 stars as a kids / family movie.

It’s a must see!