I listened to this book as a Chivers audio book and I didn’t think it was well-suited to listening. The short stories were fairly long, but since it was an audio book I had no sense of how long each story was and how far along I was in it. Also, there was no substantive pause between stories, so you didn’t get the natural resting period you would normally allow in a book of short stories. This was one audio book where I would have liked to have music between sections (and I don’t usually like that).

I am not a huge fan of the Prairie Home Companion radio show, but I like it okay. If you are a fan and expect nothing more from the movie, then you might enjoy it. Otherwise, don’t bother. As mentioned by other reviewers, the movie was boring with no strong plot and not enough character development. The majority of the movie takes place during a single radio show and you just see little bits and pieces of what’s happening backstage.

I listened to this book as a Chivers audio book and I didn’t think it was well-suited to listening. The short stories were fairly long, but since it was an audio book I had no sense of how long each story was and how far along I was in it. Also, there was no substantive pause between stories, so you didn’t get the natural resting period you would normally allow in a book of short stories. This was one audio book where I would have liked to have music between sections (and I don’t usually like that).

This book pales in comparison to The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, also written by Mark Haddon. There’s really nothing alike about them. I found this book to be a largely pointless and rambling tale of a man struggling with retirement, his life, and hypochondriasis. The payoff wasn’t worth the price for me on this one. It’s not terrible, I just can’t recommend it.

Some parts of this season were very good and enthralling while other parts were not. In all cases, it was more of the same. Take it or leave it accordingly.

This movie runs nearly three hours and it’s difficult to track the plot and characters through all the twists and turns (and the spy speak). It beautifully shot and well acted. The story isn’t one with a clear message (trust no one?) and it’s a bit dark. That seems to be a theme in our movie selections lately. Oh well. I guess I should move a comedy to the top of our Netflix list. ;)

I was happy with Spidey 3. It was corny and the very last scene felt like it was added in response to audience pre-tests, but it was good. Don’t go in expecting the world, but if you liked the first two I think you’ll like #3 as well.

I thought this was a cute, fun take on an old story. It’s not the best kids’ movie ever, but it’s fun.

This is an extremely well acted and well executed film full of great actors. The plot demonstrates both the interconnectedness of the world and the randomness of unfortunate events. However, it’s extremely dark and the previously described plot points may not be enough of a payoff for me after all that misery.

(POSSIBLE SPOILER.) Benjamin pointed out that the white people all end up okay in the end while the brown folks don’t. It’s true, but I think it might be true-to-life rather than true-to-Hollywood.

If you’re the kind of person who likes well done films no matter how depressing, then this is for you. If you can only stand depressing films with a big payoff, then skip this one.

This movie far surpassed my expectations. It was fabulous and unexpectedly included a unique use of a graphic design “GUI” as its CGI. If you don’t like Will Ferrell, don’t let that keep you away. He does a shockingly good job and I don’t normally like him. Check out Jayme’s review on All Consuming for more info.