Review Day

There are no major spoilers in these reviews.

Red (R):
This movie really only exists to show Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, Hellen Mirren, and John Malkovich blowing stuff up, as old Retired Extremely Dangerous spies. If you expect anything more than that, you'll be dissapointed. It's stylishly put together but won't change your life.

Final Grade: B

Love, Save the Empty by Erin McCarley:
A Pandora recommendation from my Lenka station, this album has a good mix of styles and a soft-timbred vocalist. It didn't become an instant favorite, but it's an enjoyable listen.

Final Grade: B+

Let's Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson:
It's been my experience that bloggers rarely transition into book-writing very well. The reason for this is that blog posts must be over-the-top to attract an audience, but are limited from oversaturation by the fact that you get a little bit every day. When you transform a blog into book form and get all of the craziness at once, it becomes a tiring read even if you generally like what you're reading. It's also hard to run a cohesive theme throughout so some books end up feeling like a mishmash of blog posts.

Somehow, the Bloggess (linked in my Bloglog) manages to pull it off. Although there were a few places where paragraphs could have been better edited (generally where each sentence tried to out-do the last one, but the paragraph would have still be funny with half the sentences), the book kept my interest throughout. Some reviewers hated the use of the f-word as all parts of speech, but I barely even noticed that, having grown up in the GoodFellas generation. If you enjoy the blog, you'll enjoy the book.

Final Grade: B

Pushing Daisies, Season Two:
If TV shows had bodies, there wouldn't be a mean-spirited bone in this one. It manages to be pleasant, cheery, and uplifting, without forcing itself into the guise of a kid's show. Although the seasons are free on Amazon Prime, this was one series I liked enough to buy on DVD for future watching. Although the show was cancelled after this season, it wraps up nicely, and I actually think that two seasons was a perfectly-sized run. You should always go out while you're on top (unless you're at home and it's sexy time).

Final Grade: A-