New Moon: My thoughts on the movie

When I first saw Twilight last year, my first thoughts were that it came across as a B grade movie. So with the release of New Moon, I went to the movies with very low expectations and was only looking forward to see young half naked men strutting their stuff on screen… guess what, I got what I asked for!

Honestly, I thought New Moon was corny. It felt as though they were trying too hard to make Edward a cool vampire that he turned out just the opposite. Jacob, on the other hand, turned out hawt, hawt, hawt… those abs could kill the worst monsters just by flexing! (Its probably illegal for me to ogle at the boy seeing that he is only 17 but the hot bod is making me contemplate if I should move to Team Jacob... LOL)

Apparently they have a new Director for the third installment of the movie and I really hope that Eclipse and Breaking Dawn will turn out better. I’m also hoping that they will improve on the scripting. Oh well, fingers crossed, let’s hope that Eclipse will be a better movie.

By the way, I always thought that New Moon was the worst in the Twilight book series so maybe that’s why I wasn’t too excited to watch the movie.

Wonder who else I know has seen New Moon. Thoughts?

Book Review: Definitely Dead by Charlaine Harris

Author: Charlaine Harris
Genre: Science Fiction/Fantasy- Vampire/Mystery/ Thriller

I started off reading Definitely Dead in utter confusion. When did Hadley get murdered? When did Sookie become close to the Vampire Queen of Louisiana? I began the first few chapters wondering if I missed a book from the series and even checked the last book to see if I had missed a couple of chapters. Eventually I found out that Definitely Dead was a continuation of Charlaine Harris’s short story “One Word Answer”, which I have yet to read. Despite the confusion, Definitely Dead was still a good read that carried the traditional suspense and excitement in the mysteries that surround Sookie.

My only issue with Sookie while I was reading the book was that I thought she should start settling on one guy instead of falling for every guy she meets! It was getting a tad annoying but thank God she settled for someone in the end. Lets hope the relationship lasts at least until the end of the next book in the series!

There were a few plots in the book that I thought was unnecessary but overall Definitely Dead was still a fun book to read.

Challenges: Sookie Stackhouse Reading Challenge, The 2009 100+ Reading Challenge

Cuci the Musical- Istana Budaya, 6 November 2009

If you haven’t watched Cuci the Musical then you should! I managed to catch the show yesterday at Istana Budaya and I enjoyed myself tremendously. The show was absolutely hilarious and had me in stitches and tears the whole night. I did think that some parts of the show was unnecessary and made it a tad draggy but other than that the show was excellent.

The casting was great and you could see the actors had chemistry on stage and they were having fun doing the show. AC Mizal was my favourite and Hans Isaac absolutely suprise me with his singing. Afdlin, Awie and Vanida were great as expected. It was an excellent, excellent show and an absolutely MUST SEE!

Book Review: Ariel by Steven R. Boyett

Author: Steven R. Boyett
Genre: Science Fiction/Fantasy

It’s been five years since the Change: cars stopped, lights went out, electrical items just cease to function and magical creatures appear and roam the earth. Pete Garey a survivor of the Change wonders the deserted streets alone until he encounters an injured unicorn he calls Ariel. Through their travels together they start to form a special bond. Unicorns are highly priced for their magic and due to Ariel’s magical possessions both Pete and Ariel are hunted by a necromancer from New York City.

I didn’t exactly enjoy reading Ariel but I did appreciate the special bond that exists between Pete and Ariel which kept me wanting to read more. The overall storyline is revealed in a slow pace and at times I felt that certain pages seem to drag on unnecessarily but I have to say that the author manages to combine both science fiction and fantasy successfully. What got me about the book was that you didn’t know why the Change happened, why magical creatures appeared and also the ending… I didn’t like the ending….At ALL.

I’m still curious as to why the Change happened and might pick up Elegy Beach which is the sequel to Ariel targeted for release in November 2009. Hopefully the sequel will have more answers.

Book Review: Kenny & the Dragon by Tony DiTerlizzi

Author: Tony DiTerlizzi
Genre: Science Fiction/Fantasy
Reading Level: Ages 9-12 

Kenny and the Dragon is a heart warming story about friendship between Kenny the Rabbit and Grahame the Dragon who share the same interest despite their differences. However when the local villagers are made aware of the presence of a dragon within their countryside, they panic.

Unfortunately for Kenny, his other good friend George who is a bookstore owner and a retired knight has been dispatched by the King to slay and save the village from the dragon whom they believe is a threat to their community. Kenny is now caught in between two friends and frantically tries to find a way to save his friendship with both George and Grahame as well as trying to keep Grahame from the being slayed.

I absolutely love, love, love this book! I love the simplicity of the story and the strong message on friendship and how negative beliefs or prejudice can effect the nicest of beings. Kenny and the Dragon is a suitable read for both the young and old. The adventure is exciting and the characters are absolutely lovable. Its a light read and the drawings included in the book are just so cute. Definitely a recommended read and I'm keeping this to read to my kids someday!

Book Review: Vampire Diaries: The Awakening & The Struggle by L.J. Smith

Author: L.J. Smith
Genre: Science Fiction/Fantasy
Reading Level: Young Adult

I don’t know how and why I’ve never heard of Vampire Diaries before until recently when I noticed it as a trending topic on Twitter. The TV series had taken off in the US and I think just about everyone I was connected to from the US was raving about it. Then I found out that My Friend Amy was hosting the Vampire Diaries Reading Challenge and I thought I should join in to see what the hype was all about.

Vampire Diaries is a young adult novel which was originally published in 1991. I read a comment somewhere (can't remember where) that Vampire Diaries is the original Twilight and I can understand how that comment came about. There are some similarities based on the premise of girl falls in love with good vampire. However, unlike Twilight I didn’t find Elena as annoying as Bella :)

I absolutely love Stefan’s character…BIG SURPRISE! I always fall for the same type of characters; brooding, mysterious, heroic vamps. I found Elena’s character to be spoilt and can be quite bitchy but she also came across as independent, confident and knew clearly what she wanted and how she was going to get it thus why she wasn't as annoying to me as Bella was when I was reading Twilight.

Anyway, the storyline itself was entertaining. There was enough mystery, excitement and activities that kept me wanting to read on. I absolutely enjoyed reading this book and have the next instalment to the series ‘The Fury & Dark Reunion’ on my TBR pile already.

I’m also going to catch the first series of Vampire Diaries soon. Hope I’ll enjoy it as much as the book.