All Consuming : Spiderella2

A story about "Jennifer Hudson"

nobody@allconsuming.net (Spiderella2) — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 22:44:52 GMT

by Jennifer Hudson

I love this album. Front to back, all the songs capture such deep evocative emotions, and Jennifer has such a wide range. Spotlight is a solid first single/song, Pocketbook is one of my faves, and the duo with Fantasia is compelling. The gospel track is very reminiscent of early JHud, and the guest songs with Luda and TPain fills the radio play quota. This is a very solid debut, and I look forward to greater things from Jennifer.

A story about "Jennifer Hudson"

nobody@allconsuming.net (Spiderella2) — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 22:44:46 GMT

Jennifer Hudson

by Jennifer Hudson

A story about "Jennifer Hudson"

nobody@allconsuming.net (Spiderella2) — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 22:44:38 GMT

Jennifer Hudson

by Jennifer Hudson

Game Plan (rated 3 stars)

nobody@allconsuming.net (Spiderella2) — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 11:42:27 GMT

The Game Plan (Widescreen Edition)

I’ve seen Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson (Kingman) in alot of movies, and this one just proves that he’s gotten much better (must have taken some acting classes). The story is set in Boston, and it starts off a little typical, big sports hero going through his arrogant and glitzy life. Elvis plays a prominent role in the backdrop, with pictures, movies and songs all over the place. It doesn’t start getting funny until we meet lil Miss Peyton, his newly found daughter, a young lady that proves to be the heart of the plot, and will win over your heart. She’s bossy, manipulative and a total brainiac, the perfect foil for his arrogant self. She takes over his home, creating chaos with glitter everywhere she went. I don’t want to spoil the plot, but Peyton comes in like a whirlwind.

The conflicts and trials they go through as a new father and daughter developing a relationship definitely set the tone for a lot of comedic laughs. (Who knew the Rock could play the guitar) The supporting characters are not that well developed in the plot but provide a good backdrop for the foibles of Kingman and his daughter. Spike the dog is actually more developed than other characters…ouch! The movie is interspersed with enough football to keep the guys happy and enough bare chests & biceps to keep the girls happy.

All in all it’s a great ‘feel good’ movie, great for a date night or even a family night. The moral of the story is that at the end of the day, love surpasses all…and isn’t that what we all want to escape to anyway?

The disc is loaded with all kinds of extras like bloopers, deleted scenes, alternate intros and a funny clip of the ballet scene in it’s entirety. I didn’t even have a chance to check out all the fun stuff on there.

Weight Watchers for Your Relationship (rated 2 stars)

nobody@allconsuming.net (Spiderella2) — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 11:40:28 GMT

Points! The Relationship Survival Guide for People Who Don't Like Relationship Survival Guides

by I. Glebe

This book was definitely one for the guys. And by guys I mean the type of guys that I wouldn’t date. A specific group of guys that see the world through sports, don’t know a thing about grocery shopping, don’t read books, and think going to Las Vegas qualifies as visiting a Wonder of the World. The stance of women is stereo-typical as well, at times even bordering on the archaic principles of woman in the kitchen running the household while guy sits in front of television getting fat.

The Points system is a ridiculous way of keeping score, and manipulating each other in a relationship. Even if a relationship was based on the premise of points, I refuse to believe that acting or saying a certain thing just to get ‘points’ is a way to have a fulfilling and happy relationship with someone you love. FYI: Not every woman likes roses, or champagne, or those idiotic sappy over the top romantic gestures. We want your affection and presents to come from the heart, and not from a place of trying to get control.

It’s supposed to be the spoof or flippant way of turning the script on such bestsellers like She’s Just Not that Into You and Why You are Still Single, so I guess in that direction it fits it’s goals.

However, I just don’t get it. Even as a woman with an open mind, I think that keeping lists and scores of how you rank in the sight of your beloved is a waste of energy and time. But hey, that’s just me. Maybe from a guy’s perspective it makes sense.

I will grant that it’s tongue-in-cheek attitude is hilarious, and I think the author doesn’t take himself too seriously. The anecdotes were funny as hell and seeing alot of scenarios from the guys’ perspective made me understand a bit better how limited the certain male minds can be.
For more information, check out the author’s page at http://glebespoints.com.

So, did anyone else read this yet, and if so, what are your thoughts?

The Girl's Guide....

nobody@allconsuming.net (Spiderella2) — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 05:31:46 GMT

The Girl's Guide to Absolutely Everything

by Melissa Kirsch

This book is truly a manual on everything related to life in this generation. Melissa Kirsch covers every single topic under the sun, from investments, living on a budget, dealing with pets, frienvy and family. At a hefty 400+ pages, this book promises alot in the title and delivers all that and more.

It’s not a literary chore as one might think from the thickness, in fact, every page has lovely blurbs and little sections to keep even the more attention deficit order having of us entertained. There are numerous quotes and citations from other noteworthy authors of this genre like Greg Behrendt and Laurie Frankel.

I gotta say this, Melissa did her homework on EVERYTHING and wrote a book to tell us all about it. It’s like she figured out the facts of every sphere of our life in this generation; from health to love to finances and laid it all out in black and white.

She makes everything that we dread about life, the bills, job interviews, the 401ks, the budget, traveling, stains on clothes/carpeting, coming out of the closet, spirituality and dealing with friend and family hassles sound so easy and uncomplicated to understand and handle. It makes you feel like you have the handle on this thing called life and you can deal with anything that comes your way (even unclogging the toilet without having to call a guy to do it).

Personally I’m going to invest in my own power drill, so I can fix things and put things right where I want them. We might not have the muscles to do things, but that’s why God created power tools!

The only topics that I felt weren’t delved into sufficiently was anything involved with severe illness, death and dying. But for a book about LIVING—-it does cover every single aspect. Check it out at your bookstore, just flick through a few pages and you’ll find yourself learning more about how to handle your business than you ever realized you didn’t know about.

This is something that every woman needs to read and a book that should be shared and passed on among the Sisterhood. Give it to your little sis, your friends, your daughter and even that weird looking girl at the coffee shop. Every woman needs to read this book.

Book Review: The Single Girl's Survival Guide (rated 4 stars)

nobody@allconsuming.net (Spiderella2) — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 10:50:14 GMT

The Single Girl's Survival Guide: Secrets for Today's Savvy, Sexy, and Independent Woman

by Imogen Lloyd Webber

There are hundreds if not thousands of books out there that talk about moving from a staid, lonely onesome to an adorable and loving two-some; however, Imogen Lloyd Webber takes the other stance, proving what our generation is shouting loud and clear, being single is fuckin’ fabulous!

I’m always skeptical with books that promise alot like this in the title, however with this Guide, I ended up pleasantly surprised. She writes this book from her personal collection of a life of a saucy Singleton and attacks every single topic from snarly fuck buddies to getting your own house, car and living space. Every single page of this book is chock full of ideas that will make you realize (as if you don’t already do), that being single isn’t synonymous with being lonely, bored and unfulfilled. From traveling the world, attracting guys, saving money, having great sex to amassing a wicked collection of shoes, Imogen addresses alot of the pros of the single life as well as the cons.

Speaking of the cons, she has delightful chapters with ideas of how to get out of and deal with awful first dates, friends hooking you up and blind dates as well as weddings, work parties and any other occasion where your single-ness might be criticized harshly. In addition, she has a feisty message that will have you flipping the tables on the Twosomes, proving to them that life is still fabulously vibrant by your self!

There is so much covered in it’s full 192 pages, but what I found most funny were the acronyms. She had all kinds of acronyms and nicknames for every situation, like Gay Best Friend (GBF), Promise Much Deliver Little (PMDL) CLs, GBs and so many more. That floored me more than anything, keeping up with the meanings of all the acronyms, but if you can get past that, you will have a very scintillating and inspiring read, one that will have you shouting with a loud voice, “Yes I’m Single and Loving it!”

What is the Secret?

nobody@allconsuming.net (Spiderella2) — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 04:58:24 GMT

Great Sex Secret: What Satisfied Women and Men Know That No One Talks About

by Kim Marshall

Penned by Kim Marshall, the premise of this book promises to deliver the ultimate guide to women’s sexual satisfaction. It’s a hefty promise for a book that’s less than 200 pages, so I skeptically dived into it.

For some reason, I couldn’t devour the book as voraciously as I normally do. For starters, the writing style was too scientific and dry for my taste. I did enjoy reading the history of sex and I really must say…women’s sexual empowerment has come a looooooong way since the beginning when men didn’t have a clue what to do with a woman’s body and how to make her orgasm. Of course, it makes perfect sense why there are still millions of men with an archaic understanding of the rudiments of a women’s orgasm—-hopefully we are knocking down those numbers one by one.

The book tackled alot of issues in the following chapters, delving into everything from the science of simultaneous orgasms to maintaining a great sex life in a long term relationship. Majority of couples divorcing nowadays are apparently because of domino effect of a dissatisfying sex life. As interesting as some parts of it were, there wasn’t enough pizazz to keep me wanting to read the next page. I ended up skimming sections that looked interesting and axe-ing the rest.

I’m not sure if this makes me qualified enough to give a review or not, but I can say this—-sexual satisfaction is attainable by everyone, as long as you are willing and able to communicate your needs, believe in mutual reciprocity, discover your likes/dislikes, learn from each other and external sources, put your partner’s pleasure above yours and let your wild side reign free in the boudoir.

I believe that the great sex secret is really to find someone that you are sexually compatible with and have a connection with—-and taking it all from there.

My Fav. Aisling Book to Date (rated 5 stars)

nobody@allconsuming.net (Spiderella2) — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 04:55:35 GMT

Light My Fire: An Aisling Grey, Guardian, Novel

by Katie MacAlister

From the first page with Aisling back in the picture, this book totally grabbed my attention. Not only did it bring back the favored characters from the past, it picked off right where book 2 left off.

There was definitely much more going on in this book that could be deemed chaotic, especially when Aisling kept flashing from one spot of trouble to another without a breather in between..but I guess that’s what happens when you are a Wyvern’s Mate, Guardian, Demon Lord…er I mean 7th Prince of the Dark Underworld and chosen Venedigger all at the same time. Did I leave anything out?

I can’t wait to see what happens in the next bit of this chapter…and to find out if Aisling really is preggers.

Good job Katie, very well done.

I Kissed Running Goodbye (rated 5 stars)

nobody@allconsuming.net (Spiderella2) — Wed, 07 Mar 2007 06:36:09 GMT

Kiss and Run: The Single, Picky, and Indecisive Girl's Guide to Overcoming Fear of Commitment

by Elina Furman

Written by Elina Furman, this book has the byline of being “The Single, Picky and Indecisive Girl’s Guide to Overcoming Her Fear of Commitment.” Surprisingly, it’s not about how to snag a guy, how being single is fabulous or how being part of a twosome is the best thing to do. It manages to avoid all those issues yet brings alot of insight to a dating/relationship trend that alot of women (and men!) face.

In a nutshell, it’s a book written for Commitment-phobes by a commitment-phobe. Elina breaks down the 7 major types of commitment-phobes in a sassy, no-holds barred prose that is both eye opening, hilarious and interesting. I found out that I used to be a combination of several types. Originally I started out as a combination of the Free Spirit/Nitpicker to the Serial Dater/Player until eventually I found that guy that made me turn in my running shoes and blissfully commit.

As interesting as this book is, it’s actually very well researched. Elina used 3 years to interview singletons and former commitment-phobes to find out what actually made us quit, bolt and run screaming in the opposite direction with any pithy excuse we could find. Every chapter deals with a different type of this dating ailment, has a plethora of easily identifiable examples as well as quizzes that help you recognize easily which type you are. It’s a great read for Girls Night, as you can take the quizzes with your friends, (they might even know more about your dating habits then you do!)

At the end of every chapter there are several tips to help you gradually morph away from the type of commitment phobia that you have into a healthier and more open singleton. Of course don’t expect an overnight change, but at least you will be able to realise your trends and stop sabotaging yourself in this quest called love.

Of course, I still believe it takes a wonderful combination of you being in the right place in your life and right mindset; a dash of healthy optimism, a twist of fate, coupled with a fantastically amazing man that you are head over heels in love with as the one true solution into getting yourself to turn in those running shoes for good.

This is a great read and highly insightful for both singletons and former Commitment-phobes. On her website, you can take the commitment phobe test online to see which category you rank under…try it out, it’s free and fun. www.kiss&run.com

A story about "The Sex Bible: The Complete Guide to Sexual Love"

nobody@allconsuming.net (Spiderella2) — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 08:35:48 GMT

The Sex Bible: The Complete Guide to Sexual Love

by Susan Crain Bakos

Go get this book. RIGHT NOW. This very second. I’m not done reading it…not even halfway through, but I just had to stop to tell you this. Go get this book. RIGHT NOW!!!

I can’t even do a proper review, it’s that amazing. Perhaps when I recover from the sexual high, pure connectedness and unadulterated passion that this book propelled me to this weekend, I might be able to legibly write something.

If I was to compile all the sexual knowledge that mankind has attained over the years from everyone in every single sphere, it wouldn’t even fully complete the scope of this book. Just reading it makes you horny—-that’s how good it is. The pictures are amazing, the ideas presented in a fresh new way, and the techniques are straight forward and not that difficult to master.

All I have done was read the first 2 chapters and I had the most passionate and connected sexual experience that I’ve ever had in my life. I’m not saying that it’s not because of this book. It’s mostly because of my fabulous and gorgeous man, our wonderful relationship and of course my extremely passionate self;) But there is something in here for everyone, men, women of all races and cultures. Even I picked up so many tips, tricks and ideas…all in the first twenty pages.

If you want to learn more about every sphere of sexuality, from toys to talking dirty to dildos to tantric sex and massage techniques…from dressing up and fantasies and flirting to getting down and dirty….from menages to improving your stamina to all the positions that you could do…from what to do to put your mind in a sexual frame and how to have multiple orgasms every single time you have sex—-then this is the book for you. No matter where you are on the sexual spectrum, it will enable you to take things to a whole new level.

For those of you who feel you know everything there is to know about sex and don’t need some 20 dollar book to tell you anything—-then you will be missing out. Even the pictures evoke feelings, ideas and emotions you never knew you had. That’s how provocatively sexy it is. It’s a great coffee table book and conversation starter as well.

They don’t call it the Sex Bible for nothing. Once you read, let it marinate and put it to practice, you will become a sex god/sex goddess. Order it now. You won’t regret it. I promise. It has the Vixen Stamp of Approval. Ten out of five stars….all the way.

A story about "Not Too Late"

nobody@allconsuming.net (Spiderella2) — Mon, 19 Feb 2007 09:02:36 GMT

Not Too Late

by Norah Jones

When given the opportunity to review this, of course I jumped at it, being a total Norah Jones fan. The first single was a hit on iTunes, and I was looking forward to something along the same lines of her previous albums. Not Too Late did have the wonderful melodious voice that is NJ’s signature, yet for me, it lacked the emotional depth that is often expressed in all her songs. The hodgepodge amalgation of different topics that she sang about didn’t allow me to connect fully as I normally do.

Usually I can listen to any of her albums all the way through without skipping any tracks however in this one there are a few tracks that I just had to keep skipping over. I guess I’m just not on the same page. Rosie’s Lullaby, Wish I Could, & Thinking About You are my personal favorites. There are a more wonderful tracks on this album though, so I’m glad I have it in my collection.

For ranking this album with her previous efforts, it comes in last place for me. However, as a stand-alone ranking I would have to give it props for the wonderful acoustic soothing feel and her beautiful voice.

Album dropped January 30th, check it out yourself and let me know your thoughts.

Shattering the Myth

nobody@allconsuming.net (Spiderella2) — Thu, 26 Oct 2006 06:05:33 GMT

Men, Love & Sex: The Complete User's Guide for Women

by David Zinczenko

I’m reading this book right now by David Zinczenko, the editor-in-chief of Men’s Health magazine. The book analyses a survey done on 5,000 people on what their views are on men, love, relationships and sex. The answers are quite candid, totally eye-opening and for me this book has successfully shattered all those dumb myths about men.

Take for instance the myth that men don’t fall in love: According to the survey, they do, deeper and more intensely than most women’s concept of love. Most guys were head over heels in love with their first love, and when their hearts got broken, they built the rest of their experience on trying to avoid such pain ever again.

Okay, I’m not done with the book, just half way through, but I’ve read enough to rave about it to all of you. Go get this book right now! It’s an easy yet extremely scintillating read. On every single page, I found something that made me either laugh out loud or nod in full understanding.

Each page had snazzy blurbs to keep it a fun read, here are a few examples

Say This, Not That!
Say This: I’m so glad to be finally home!
Not: Work was awful and I’ve been in a bad mood all day
Because: Like you, he wants reassurace that you’re happy to see him. (awwww!)

Male Mysteries Revealed: 54% of men say family is what defines them the most.

What It Means When:...He’s still friends with his ex more than a year later
Take it as a positive that he’s a good man, not as a negative that she’s a threat. If their breakup didn’t cause permanent damage, then chancess are that, one, he’s mature enough to let relationships eveolve’ two, he probably treated her well during their time together’ and three, he didn’t screw around on her. All good.

Wondering Woman asks: Why doesn’t he go down on me more often?
If you lie back quieter than a college library on Friday night, he’s not going to know what you make of oral sex. Groan, moan, yell “more” then tell him later that you’re dying for a repeat performance. Once you open your mouth about what you like, he’ll open his.

Every single topic we’ve talked about on this blog is covered, as well as subjects that are considered too intimate to share. Like how do guys really feel about penis size? And why do they have to play Joe the toolman when they don’t know how to use a hammer? Why do they miss the toilet? What’s the deal with guys & cheating? How does he really feel about your body?

It’s a refreshing dialogue with no holds barred responses. The answers are straight from a guy’s perspective—-straight from the horses’ mouth. There are several examples of relationship questions (in the Dear Abby format) with answers given by Zinczenko as well as direct quotes from all the 5000 guys that took the survey.

In addition, the questions focused on are from a woman’s perspective because they also interviewed women as well to ask them the same questions from the other point of view. This book is for both genders and successfully crosses the great divide.

Go get this book now. Right this very second! It doesn’t matter whether you are single, in a relationship or married, it’s an important read for everyone. Trust me, this is one of those books that you will be glad you read.

A review of "Mission - Impossible III (Two-Disc Special Collector's Edition)"

nobody@allconsuming.net (Spiderella2) — Tue, 24 Oct 2006 09:00:16 GMT

Mission - Impossible III (Two-Disc Special Collector's Edition)

by J.J. Abrams

Tom Cruise returns as Special Agent Ethan Hunt, who faces the mission of his life in “Mission: Impossible III.” Director J. J. Abrams (“Lost”,” “Alias”) brings his unique blend of action and drama to the billion-dollar franchise. Super-spy Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) has retired from active duty to train new IMF agents. But he is called back into action to confront the toughest villain he’s ever faced – Owen Davian (Philip Seymour Hoffman), an international weapons and information provider with no remorse and no conscience. Hunt assembles his team – his old friend Luther Strickell (Ving Rhames), transportation expert Declan (Jonathan Rhys Meyers), background operative Zhen (Maggie Q), and fresh recruit Lindsey (Keri Russell) – to travel the globe pursuing Davian and rescue Hunt’s love, Julia (Michelle Monaghan).

First of all I just have to say that for the whole ENTIRE movie (well except for a quiet 2 minutes) I was at the edge of my seat. This movie should really be named Action Possible because it blew me away.

Alias lovers will be able to pick up the talented mastery that JJ Abrams put in to pull this off. There where alot of moments that I was having Alias flashbacks especially with the super spy theme that it had. If Mission Impossible was the foundation that built the franchise, MI:2 was the filler that tied it all in, then MI:3 totally set the roof on fire. This is one of those sequels that just keeps getting better and better.

Without giving any of the plot away, the story was utterly riveting, fully captivating and action packed with all kinds of fight scenes and of course technologically advanced weaponry. You got to see how those masks are made on site and Hunt finally found a criminal that he couldn’t easily outwit. There are plot twists all over the place and the main characters were multi-layered.

The actors did an awesome job, Philip Seymour Hoffman was the perfect villiam, Ving Rhames was his usual smart cracking sidekick, Laurence Fishburne proved once again that he’s not just Morpheus and Cruise proved effortlessly why he’s still box office gold.. The supporting characters did their thing as well, Maggie Q kicked major butt in a fight scene (it’s in the deleted scenes…why???)

This 2 disc edition is super packed with juicy commentaries, behind the scenes footage, 8 featurettes that explore everything from the creation of the mission franchise to a montage dedicated to Tom Cruise and his M-I ways.

So…is there going to be a Mission Impossible 4? That I don’t know, however if this really is the end for the Ethan Hunt saga he went out with a bang!

If you liked the other Mission Impossible movies, shows like Alias or other action movies like i-Robot, Matrix etc, then this is definitely another one for your collection.

MI3 comes out on DVD on October 30. Grab your copy:)

A review of "Save the Last Dance 2"

nobody@allconsuming.net (Spiderella2) — Tue, 17 Oct 2006 12:19:16 GMT

Save the Last Dance 2

by David Petrarca

Continuing the story of the original film, Sara (Izabella Miko) follows her dream and becomes a student at Juilliard. As she is excels and becomes a star pupil, Sara becomes torn between her love for traditional ballet and her passion for the urban street rhythms of hip-hop, complicated further by her new love, hip-hop musician Miles (Columbus Short). When pushed to make a choice, will she follow the path of the tried and true or will she take a risk and dance into uncharted territory?

I absolutely loved this movie. I didn’t think I would, being that it was a low budget sequel and none of the original characters from the first movie were even in it, however the director filled all the holes with an interesting plot that is strong enough to stand on it’s own. You can actually watch this movie without having even seen the first one…there was a short scene that had enough background information to build up the main character Sara. The movie picks up a few months after the first one left off, with Sara moving to Juilliard to study ballet and become a prima ballerina.

The dance scenes were HOT! There is so much music and dancing here from classical ballet to urban hip hop dance. Sara danced her ass off! She rocked both types of dance hardcore, I found myself actually believing that Isabella Miko could succeed in true life in both. Music flowed through the whole movie with a beautiful tapestry of hip hop woven into every prominent scene. The intergration of ballet with hip hop was amazing—- a fusion of moves that I never would have expected. The conflicts between the characters were predictable enough, however there was a plot twist that left me actually surprised.

The main characters were pretty well-developed and secondary characters had enough color to bring something more to the film. Ne-Yo had a small role (thankfully he didn’t ruin it.) Her roomie is a riot! There were some moments in the movie that were contrived/destroyed by bad acting but overall the actors pretty much nailed their parts. Miles’ apartment was off the chain, I want that apartment!

The extra stuff in the DVD was pretty tight too. There’s an interview with the actors/principals I found out that filming was done in 21 days…21 days people! Considering everything that was done, they did an amazing job. If you are a fan of the original, or movies like Take the Lead, Honey or Step Up, then this is another one for you. The DVD came out October 10 so snag a copy!

A story about "Warsworn"

nobody@allconsuming.net (Spiderella2) — Tue, 29 Aug 2006 08:37:52 GMT

Warsworn

by Elizabeth Vaughan

Not as good as Warprize but definitely a good filler book until the third and last in the trilogy comes out.

She's the Man ---and the Girl! (rated 5 stars)

nobody@allconsuming.net (Spiderella2) — Mon, 24 Jul 2006 06:16:16 GMT

She's the Man (Widescreen Edition)

by Andy Fickman

Amanda Bynes proves that girls can do anything guys can do in She’s the Man. The laughs are non-stop when Viola (Bynes), disguised as her twin brother, Sebastian (James Kirk), joins the high school boys’ soccer team and helps win the big game while unexpectedly falling for Duke (Channing Tatum) the hot star forward. Viola discovers that dealing with high school politics and twisted love triangles is a major challenge when you’re a guy who’s really a girl! From the writers of Legally Blonde, She’s the Man features an ensemble cast of up and coming stars and hit songs from OK-Go, The Veronicas & the F-ups. It’s perfect for good-time fun!

I jumped at the chance to check this movie out because I didn’t get to see it in the theatres. It’s an adaptation of Shakespeare’s the Twelfth Night, and actually is pretty well told and sticks well to the original. For a Shakespeare adaptation, you would think that the plot would fall flat on it’s face (as seen with the debacle O) but that is not the case here.

The casting was superb, with Amanda Bynes doing a great job acting both as Viola & Sebastian. For the ladies, we have alot of eye candy, with Channing Tatum’s steamy bedroom eyes walking around shirtless for half the movie. For the guys, we have those sexy teens strutting around in cheerleading outfits and some sports thrown in.

It’s a high school movie, with some soccer thrown in to amp it up a bit. The characters were very well defined, each having active screen time and had an interlacing backstory that filled out nicely with the plot. The plot flowed quite well together and even had some genuine laugh out loud moments.

This movie is highly recommended for those of you that enjoyed 10 Things I Hate About You, Save the Last Dance and other films of that type.

Man Camp----a Possibility? (rated 2 stars)

nobody@allconsuming.net (Spiderella2) — Wed, 19 Jul 2006 22:31:21 GMT

Man Camp: A Novel

by Adrienne Brodeur

The premise of this book sounds pretty good, educate men on the alpha male tendencies that civilization has stripped from them. It was hard getting into it though. I found the scenes really jumpy and the dialogue quite mundane. There were some interesting ideas and plot twists thrown in to mix it up, but all in all, not something I would choose to buy.

Perhaps it’s just that as I kept reading, one thought kept going through my mind—-You can’t change a man. It’s a futile effort. Just accept & love him the way he is or move on to find someone that you can love him just as he is.

A Classic Tale of Pushey--Pulley

nobody@allconsuming.net (Spiderella2) — Tue, 27 Jun 2006 10:30:31 GMT

Failure to Launch (Special Collector's Edition)

by Tom Dey

Even though this was touted as a romantic comedy, for some reason the premise of this movie didn’t sit well with me and I refused to see it in the theatre. When given the chance to review it on here, I jumped at it, even though my initial wariness was still there.

The plot is as close to what you see in the trailers, and without leaving any spoilers the story ends in your normal Hollywood ending. There wasn’t much drama or excitement, but then again, it’s a rom-com, so what do you expect? The ends were tied up very neatly and the plot leaves you satisfied with the ending. I felt that the whole angst part went on for waaaay too long. “Tripp, get over yourself already,” I kept wanting to say! As for Paula (SJP), her pity party went on for way too long. It’s really not that serious considering everything else going on in relationships to factor how they met as such a colossal and monumental catastrophe. Jeez. Cry me a river.

The storyline actually reminds me acutely of Hitch but without the funny aspect that Kevin James & Will Smith brought to that movie. Don’t get me wrong, there were some moments that were definitely funny, but I felt that the humor was contrived and over-done. The whole “nature is against you” theory was a creative way to throw in laughs but felt to me kind of off.

I thought the actors showed much substance in their acting, and Sarah J. Parker did her thing! Even the sub-characters were very well developed and played integral parts in the story.The overall acting was very cohesive. There is alot of drool worthy moments in both Bradley Cooper and Matthew’s visage without a doubt.

The DVD features alot of extra features thrown in there to be worth you while. There are several funny clips with the actors in Real Time and an expose that explains the Failure to Launch pheomenon.

If you liked Hitch, Wedding Planner or How to Lose A Guy in 10 Days then this is definitely another one to add to your collection.

Her Master & Commander

nobody@allconsuming.net (Spiderella2) — Tue, 20 Jun 2006 20:51:54 GMT

Her Master and Commander

by Karen Hawkins

I wasn’t really that impressed with this book. Reeves was by far the best and most developed character, and he’s the friggin butler! The whole ‘sheep’ thing got on my nerves. Christian even showed more depth than the hero Tristan. And honestly the heroine was kind of annoying. Uugh! I just am not as sold on this new series. I’ll probably read Christian’s book before I give the final verdict though. For a first book in a new series, I don’t think it packs the Ooomph necessary to make this one a must-have.

Why I recommend "A Loving Scoundrel"

nobody@allconsuming.net (Spiderella2) — Fri, 16 Jun 2006 23:46:08 GMT

A Loving Scoundrel

by Johanna Lindsey

I finished this book in one sitting. Jeremy has always been a lovable Malory character for me and his own book is no exception. In addition, the whole Malory clan is here en masse, with James, Amy & Regan playing prominent roles in this story. Danny is an excellent and independent heroine, definitely her own person. She really is a character, very well developed and I love how JL explored all the facets of her life and choices. You could see her motives and what led her to make her decisions.

The storyline was most unique, edgy and exciting from the first page all the way to the end. There were even some tearjerker moments. It was funny, witty dialogue with a very fun ensemble. The ending was absolutely perfect, couldn’t have wished for anything better. All the loose ends were tied up nicely and it’s definitely one of those feel good, happy ever after kind of stories.

Is it worth consuming—-YES!