The Raven : Refreshingly Macab

This was one of the films that grabbed my interest as soon as I saw the trailer. An interesting and refreshing story idea. Take the idea of a copy cat killer with a slight twist. Re-enact fictional murders. Add a dash of Professor Moriarty games to it, by taunting Poe to figure out his next move, and he have a gruesome tale of mystery and horror brought to life. Plus, the script writing with its bit of humor, in it balanced the drama out perfectly. Be forewarned that one of the murders is rather gruesome, and I didn't even see it, just heard it. Rated R for a good reason. Wasn't disappointed at all.

Job Hunting Fustration

Why did I go back and get another degree, to open doors for a new career, and I find myself in the same spot again. A lot of lower pay jobs ignore me because of my education. Then the jobs in my field all seem to be higher level jobs, experience a must or they want experienced workers. How is anyone supposed to get experience if they never start working in that field. Experienced is nice except for the rest of us at square one.

The Calling by Kelley Armstrong

This is the second book in the Darkness Rising Trilogy. The first book is The Gathering which readers are introduced to Maya,her family, and fellow schoolmates and friends who live in the tiny town of Salmon Creek, which is a medical research corporate town. It doesn't take long till Maya's life starts taking a strange turn. She begins to fall for bad boy Rafe and through this relationship discovers she's a skin walker, or were-puma would be a better term for it.
     The Calling continues where the first book ended. The group of teens are in the helicopter being evacuated. But things take a strange turn and the teens find them selves fighting for survival and making their way home. More of Maya's past comes to light as well as the project they were part of. Characters begin to show their true colors as well as emerging powers. This installment moved better than the first, which at times felt more like teen drama romance than the intriguing supernatural story it was. Not that there isn't any teen drama in this installment.
     I suggest, though it is not necessary, to read The Darkest Power Trilogy first, because this story does loosely connect to that set of stories, and knowing that information, makes this trilogy a bit more interesting as a read.

Shaded Vision by Yasmine Galenorn

If you haven't read The Sisters of the Moon series, than you need to start with Witchling and follow the series in order. This series follows the lives of three sisters from Otherworld. They're half Fae and half human. Every three books in the series is narrated by one of the three sisters. The series starts with Camille, who is a Moon witch. The next installment focuses on Delilah, a were-cat, and the third on Menolly, who is an acrobat turned vampire. The cycle begins again with Camille, and so on. The overlying plot of this series is the sisters having to find and keep the spirit seals, powerful talismans. from being used by Shadow Wing to destroy the world. Of course, there are many adventures, good and bad, that happen through out the series, which is a wonderful blend of magic, romance, action, and mayhem.
     Shaded Vision is told by the view of Delilah. The sisters have to deal with a new Demon threat, and some familiar sorcerers. While trying to track down another spirit seal. This installment didn't disappoint. The story grabs and holds on to you, taking you for a roller coaster of a ride. Certain story lines come to their conclusions, while more are opened up. You won't be left wondering, like Courting Darkness did, with the Iris story line that was built up and you never knew what happened, except that she could marry Bruce and broke the curse on her. 
     Hexed anthology has story about Iris in it.

Hunger Games : Leaves one not wanting seconds

First off, I read the book. Not my cup of tea at all. It had so much potential but fell way short of what would have been a good read instead of a mediocre one. I was hoping the movie would have been better. It made the book look better. One of the worst film adaptations from a book I have ever seen. Important aspects of the book were left out from the film, which would have made it better. One would have had to have read the book to understand certain aspects in the film. A good adaptation is enhanced by reading the book, not allowing a person to fill in the missing information. So much hype for nothing.

John Carter

This film was longer than I expected, but it wasn't a bad film. I just was expecting a bit more. It is based on the book Princess of  Mars. Its a good story, and I probably would have enjoyed it a bit more if I didn't have a headache at the time and the 3D isn't wasted, it helps draw you in to the story more. I guess its pretty good over not bad. May have been the headache issue.

Safehouse

Once I saw the preview for this film, I was interested, in seeing it. Denzel Washington does an excellent bad guy. Plus a topless Ryan Reynolds isn't too bad either. Not that he was the reason I watched the film. A good action flick with a few twists in it. Only problems were a couple of scenes that wouldn't have happened in real life, if this story did actually happen, but otherwise it moved smoothly and was entertaining.