Riverdale
7.9
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TV Show Watch
Archie Andrews starts the school year with the world weighing on his shoulders. He has decided he...
Teenage Drama
A Bend in the Road
6.6
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Book
Miles Ryan's life seemed to end the day his wife was killed in a hit-and-run accident two years ago....
Love After All
10.0
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Book
High school math teacher Chelsea Gardner has the perfect plan. She’s tired of dating all the wrong...
The Vessel (Semiramis #3)
10.0
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Book
Fully empowered, at peace with her damnation, and with the mightiest of the fallen angels at her...
Fantasy Romance
Twists of Time (46. Ascending #3)
6.0
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Alex once walked away from a rare ability to warp time, thinking it was only a young man’s trick...
Science Fiction Fantasy
Silent Lies
9.5
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Book
Mia Hamilton lived the perfect life with her husband, university teacher Zach, and their two-year...
Veronica Pena (690 KP) rated Freedom Writers (2007) in Movies
Apr 5, 2020 (Updated Oct 1, 2021)
This story is incredible. I want to read the book. I want to meet these kids, I want to meet Erin Gruwell, that's how good this film is. It will tug at your heartstrings, it will leave you in awe, it will make you cry (or at least tear up). I loved everything about this film and I want to watch it a million times over. I cannot recommend this film enough. I would scream it from the tallest rooftop if I could, but alas, we're in quarantine so Smashbomb will have to do.
Gallants (2010)
Movie
Weedy office worker Cheung is sent to a remote village to secure property rights for his real estate...
Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Here Comes the Boom (2012) in Movies
Aug 7, 2019
The film starts out by introducing our hero, Scott Voss (James), as a former high school wrestler who settled into a career as a high school Biology teacher. It’s clear he was once a highly motivated, recognized, and celebrated teacher, based on the awards he received, and the way he talks about the old days.
As the story unfolds, we find out the music teacher, Marty Streb (played by Henry Winkler), is in danger of losing his job. There are financial cutbacks at the school, and of course the music department is the first to go.
In an effort to gather the funds needed to save his mentor, Voss decides to get into UFC-style cage fighting, because even the losers get paid ten grand! The story continues in a very predictable and formulaic fashion. From the sexy and supportive single nurse (played by Salma Hayek), to the hard-assed principle (Greg Germann), the movie is filled with archetypal roles played by recognizable actors.
Here Comes the Boom is done well enough to get a good laugh out of you, and it has a few heartwarming moments, but don’t expect anything special. The cinematography is done well. The dialog (co-written by Kevin James) is clever enough to generate a few chuckles, but it won’t inspire awe.
The threat of music and art programs being cut from a school’s curriculum over budget concerns is a familiar issue across the country. This movie comes at a good time, benefiting from the debate currently happening in so many places.
I would watch anything with Henry Winkler in it, as I have a love-affair-from-afar with that man, and he definitely adds to the ensemble. However, the film smacks of UFC product placement. I suspect many of you will reach the same conclusion I did: that the UFC was clearly bankrolling this in some fashion. Even Joe Rogan makes a noteworthy appearance.
The film is not without its positive aspects. I was impressed at how well the humor and drama blended together. All the right things in all the right places. Here Comes the Boom is a good movie for a few chuckles, and for briefly melting a some of the ice surrounding your bitter, frozen heart.
graveyardgremlin (7194 KP) rated Patti's Luck (Sleepover Friends, #1) in Books
Feb 15, 2019
This book has a little of everything most girls like: sleepovers (duh), junk food and baking, talk of boys, games, makeovers with purple hair gel, movies, the paranormal, school fairs, field trips, new friends, and who knows what I've forgotten! Plus, a moment when Stephanie's father cross-dresses as fortune teller at the school fair. That gave me some thoughts about secrets in that family. Maybe that's why they moved from "The City." There's some moments of suspended belief, the biggest is when Patti and Lauren chase after a car (homework was put on the bumper and apparently it stuck real good :P), Lauren (the narrator) loses track of Patti, gets back to school and tells their teacher that Patti's lost. The teacher, being told of a new student unaware of the area being lost, says not to worry(!), that someone will point her back to the school. What?! All I'm thinking is good thing this isn't the real world! Abduction, anybody? There's also a lot of baking these fifth-graders do, they talk surprisingly well, probably better than I do, and have heaps of common sense, but hey, it's a harmless kids' book that I would have gobbled up when I was that age. Overall, it's a cute book that I think even girls today would enjoy.