Story Lover

Nothing really special about this film. Just kind of another bank robbery movie with some hot shots who think they’re above the law and can do whatever they want. I thought there’d be more of a spin on this, since Ben Affleck had more to do with this movie than just acting. But it kind of just flopped around for a few hours.

I have to admit, I thought this movie would be a lot better. It was kind of interesting with the little owls being stolen and moonbeamed and the evil older brother. But I felt that either the story kind of sucked or the adaptation of the book wasn’t well done.

They left it pretty well set up for a sequel, which I really hate when there doesn’t ever seem to be a sequel. I wonder if this one did well enough to warrant one.

I usually like to use the visual for the respective format. But I just like the movie poster so much more than the DVD.

Wow, talk about making a movie about product placement and then crashing it with products all over the place. I feel like our North American lives have become all about lifestyle and less about life itself. Everybody looks happy, but they’re all looking for something. I used to think that popularity contests ended once you graduated from high school. And maybe if you went to a small college, well, you might get some there too. But I never imagined all of North America to be one big popularity contest and products to be the center of it all. But I feel like we all just traded one Prom Queen in for the next as we progressed into bigger and bigger ponds.

I remember reading the book Branded a few years ago. The author commented on how some companies that sell products to teens (who have the most expendable cash flow) have skipped most mainstream advertising techniques completely and now use popular high schoolers to sell things to their peers. So, instead of paying for ad space in Teen Vogue, they buy popular kids all across the country the new it thing and then get them to pounce around their peers (who want to be like them). Basically, what this movie is about. It’s pretty fascinating when you think about it.

But the whole time, while watching this movie, all I could think about is, no way, people just aren’t that stupid and needy are they? But then there are the Ed and Angela’s out there in the world and all the fancy show homes. Everybody trying to impress everyone with what they have. So I guess it’s not that unfathomable. I guess it really would work.

by Lauren Oliver

I really liked this book. I feel like I’ve been on a bit of a morbid streak. Thirteen Reasons Why and I guess all the John Green books from awhile back. I guess most of all, this reminds me of Thirteen Reasons Why, except instead of Sam’s suicide, it’s Juliet’s that shapes the story. The thing I wasn’t too sure about though is, does she get to keep that final day? Does she get to save Juliet and leave a good impression with her parents, little sister and Kent? Or does that first day remain the truth, the reality, but Sam dies feeling a little better about herself?

I like though how over 7 February 12th’s, she gets to know Kent a little better and she gets to see herself through a variety of different points of view. It’s really what life should be about, yet how often do we veer off the beaten path, off our routine and experience something else? How often do we just take a chance and go with the flow? I think the last time I really just wandered through my life was at Regis. I kind of miss those days.

Pretty laugh out loud funny. I hope Emma Stone has a long career. She was perfect in this movie. Along with Penn Bradley. And I loved her parents in the movie. They were hilarious and quirky, but most of all, they were just pretty honest. I think they’re the kind of parents (haha, I know they’re fake and made up, but…) I’d like G and I to be. Plus, they adopted!

Rumors have a way of running away from you and out of control. I wonder what rumors were spread around about me in high school. I know there was a lot when my mom died. And I hated that. I felt like someone’s heartbreak just shouldn’t be cafeteria chatter.

I thought that this was a pretty cute movie. It was funny and reminded me of when G and I did our year of long distance. Sometimes I wonder if we would have made it had I not gotten into OCAD and been able to move up here. I think we could have if there was a backup plan or a time in the future we could see when we lived in the same place. Luckily things worked out.

Justin Long is sneak up on you cute. I was really impressed by his performance in He’s Just Not That Into You. And I liked Drew Barrymore’s performance. She wasn’t her usual annoyingly cute character this time.

G and I watched this to get us in the mood and kind of excited for what’s going to be our little experience in less than 9 months. I actually thought that it’d get me super pumped up, but in the end I thought it was just a little overwhelming.

I liked Bayar the most. He was a cute little guy who liked to get into trouble. Plus he was always smiling!

by Jacqueline Woodson

The only thing I didn’t like about this book was the grammar and slang. The mothers in the story would get so bent out of shape if the kids said ain’t, yet nothing fazed them when they didn’t use correct sentence structure or grammar anywhere else. I don’t think that to be authentic, a book has to be written in Ebonics. But that’s just me.

What I did really like about the book was the search for a big picture purpose that I think we all at one point in our life feel we’re looking for. And the mystery of D was kind of intriguing. Where did she come from? What was her real story? It’d be so hard to consider someone a good friend and then lose touch with them and never know what happened to them or where they’ve gone. I don’t know really why D left with only one phone call. But I guess some people become too hurt to hang on to others.

Overall, I thought this book was good, but not great. I didn’t see it as being amazing. But it does make you wonder, was Tupac completely innocent? Was he completely guilty? Can someone be kind of inbetween?