The general plot of the movie was exactly what I expected, but I enjoyed it all the same. It was a sweet movie to watch with my husband, especially since we had recently taken some dancing lessons together. Now I’ll get all those obsure references I’ve been missing!

I just finished watching it. I had been holding out because I thought I had already seen it and didn’t like it…but it turns out I was thinking of a different Ben Stiller movie.

This one was a fun movie, with a surprisingly high number of cameo appearances. I wouldn’t object to watching it again someday.

I finished reading this book again for the nth time. I take back what I said about Piers Anthony’s writing in previous posts – this book is very well written (as I have always thought) with only a few little annoying bits. I guess his writing had just matured over time.

I feel good about having recommended this series to one of my friends.

When I first started reading this book, I didn’t think the writing was very good. But as I got into the second half (originally a separate book) the writing seems to have matured and the plot got a lot more interesting. I am looking forward to reading the sequels.

I’m so glad finally to have seen this movie. I knew I would like it. I love Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones. They were very well cast for the roles they played.

It’s got some good moments, but overall it’s way too long and has too much slapstick comedy. I keep watching movies like this because that’s what my friends like, so that’s the sort of thing they recommend.

Also, I really didn’t like the portayal of the female lead character. It puts a bad spin on women everywhere.

I saw this on the plane back from Illinois. Neither the plot nor the acting were really that great. Plus, I have trouble taking Keanu Reeves seriously, he’s just so goofy.

Now, Speed, that’s the Keanu-and-Sandra movie I need to see. I’ve heard it’s not that great, but it’s too famous not to see it.

Even though the story is still dragging on a bit, I applaud the author’s decision to tell “all” of the story for half of the characters rather than “half” of the story for all the characters. The rest of the characters are going to be covered in the next book. By “all” of the story, in this case, he means a full season (i.e. autumn) rather than just half a season.

I think this is a great idea (Robert Jordan could take a hint from this guy!) since covering too many characters simultaneously simply tends to confuse me. I still think he could have pared down the number of characters even further, but it could have been much, much worse. Otherwise, I am really loving the story, and can’t wait for the next book. (And the one beyond that, which will finally continue some of these characters’ stories!)

The feel of this story is very different from the previous two books in the series – I don’t like it as much. Like, Stile and Sheen seem to bicker all the time.

It’s kind of sad, I used to love Piers Anthony’s books when I was in high school and college. And I was still enjoying them somewhat until one of my friends told me, “I can’t read his books. It seems like he always takes a really cool idea and then writes about it really badly.” And then I realized, he’s right – the writing isn’t that great. I guess I always just loved the ideas enough that I was willing to overlook the writing. I guess what I dislike most is that he usually belabors the point, makes things painfully obvious. He’ll say something as if it’s a surprise and I’ll think, “I figured that out ages ago.” Maybe the problem is that some story elements are way too predictable? I prefer writing that’s a little more subtle. He truly does have some great ideas, though.

So my friend has singlehandedly ruined my appreciation for Piers Anthony’s writing. Kind of sad. At least there are lots of other good writers out there. Time to find them!

I still have a soft place in my heart for Piers Anthony, though. He’s one of the first authors that I started to read serially (i.e. find every single book he’s ever written and read them all in a row.)

This is another movie I saw recently that involved (in this case, starred) Serious Actor Mark Wahlberg. It was pretty good, too. I didn’t realize when I went to see it that it was based on a true story (apparently…though who knows how much of the details they changed? Probably a lot since I don’t remember them advertising it as based on a true story….) It was certainly enjoyable, even though it was nominally a sports movie.