"Inception"

This movie is great if you like high action, high suspense, and a great plot. If you don't like violence you will not like this movie.

Christopher Nolan { writer, director } has put together the best written and directed movie I have ever seen. And the acting is also superb. The Movie is VERY hard to follow and you will probably have to watch it a few times to get it all.

So what is "Inception?" It's planting an idea in someone's mind through his dream without leaving any trace of the planter. To accomplish that goal the planter must get into his dream- within a dream- within another dream. Like I said it's hard.

Now I would've given this movie at least 4 1/2 stars, but it has a lot of language. { explosive in some parts} There is some immodesty mostly in the main character's { Dominick Cobb played by Leonardo DiCaprio } wife. There is some suggestive material in the film as well as a lot of intense violence and some blood, not really a movie for younger people.

So I give the intense, well written though rather questionable "Inception" 4 stars.

The New Chronicles - "The Voyage of The Dawn Treader"

Now I must start by saying that I was disappointed by the last movie in the Chronicles of Narnia because it did not stay close to the book, although I must admit that the graphics and battle scenes were very well done.

However the latest movie, The Voyage of The Dawn Treader, pleasantly surprised me. Disney { the makers of the last two films } handed the making of any future films off to 20th Century Fox.

The movie stays at least close to the C.S Lewis book, although they do give twists to the original story line. The "twists" are done very well however and it makes the movie exciting almost all the way through. The acting is admirable and they represent their characters as they were in the book. On the other hand, there is not a lot of deep dialogue in the movie and it doesn't have the greatest theology.

There is, of course, the lovable "Reepacheep" that every person will enjoy watching. {Unless you're afraid of mice}

The only warning I will give is that some parts in the film would be scary for little kids and there is a good amount of violence throughout the film. There is also a lot of magical content at which some people might take offense.

Over all I enjoyed the movie all the way through and the fighting scenes and graphics are great. So I give 3 1/2 stars for the rather inaccurate, but enjoyable "Voyage Of The Dawn Treader."

"Little Dorrit"- The book

" Little Dorrit"- by Charles Dickens is a long, as well as hard, interesting read. It comes complete with the typical Dickens' creepy characters along with the endearing characters that you will come to love as the story progresses.

The story revolves around a young woman named Amy Dorrit { called little Dorrit } who has been born and raised in the Marshalsea { Debtors Prison } and how her life is changed when she meets a man by the name of Arthur Clennem.

The story line(s) goes all over the place which makes the book hard to follow. A Dickens' book would also not be complete without multiple twists and turns through-out. It is a rather challenging book to read because of his very wide reservoir of words and it is a challenging 787 pages long.

Warnings: There is some overly detailed description of Mrs. Merdle dress style and some swearing throughout the book.

I enjoyed the book and will probably read it again in future years. I give " Little Dorrit " 4 1/2 stars

We also watched the BBC Mini series " Little Dorrit " which stays very close to the book and has very good acting and is also well done, but it does have some questionable and sometimes offensive content.

Movie - "Gettysburg"

"Gettysburg," a town in Pennsylvania where the most deadly American battle was fought. This was a war fought between brothers, fathers, sons, and friends. This movie produced by Ted Turner captures this idea beautifully in "Gettysburg."

This movie not only captures the four days of fighting very well, but also the different reasons men fought on both sides, and yes, there was a lot more than just the issue of slavery at stake during the Civil War. This movie is very historically accurate, and you will learn things you never knew before when you watch it.

Now this movie was based off the book by Michael Shaara, "The Killer Angels," which General H. Norman Schwarzkopf says is " The best and most realistic historical novel about war I have ever read."

Warnings: There is a lot of swearing in this movie as well as some blood and gore, { There is one part in the movie that we fast-forward because this guy swears so much}, so probably not for the younger members of the family.

One of my favorite parts is when Colonel Lawrence Chamberlain has to order a bayonet charge down Little Round Top because they have run out of ammunition.

I enjoy this movie very much every time I watch it, so I give "Gettysburg" 4 stars.

Million Dollar Babies

I've always had a fascination with any information on the great depression and this movie is set during that time period. However, the focus is not on the depression at all. Does the Dionne Quintuplets ring a bell? This is a movie depicting their life story, almost unbelievable at times.
The Dionne quintuplets as I've said were born around the great depression so it gave people something to think and talk about. They were born to a young couple who already had 5 children; the young mother was just 25. This couple was poor, but happy and the children loved and cared for.
In steps the powers that be: The family doctor who delivered these preemies(2 lbs each and they came 2 months early)gets in cahoots with the Canadian government to get these babies away from their parents siting they cannot properly care for these children. A special sterile nursery with full time medical care is built for these children who are promptly removed from their own home. The mother is not allowed to hold/care for these children, but is told she may visit any time.
For five years, these children are kept in this environment and call the doctor Papa. But you've heard nothing yet!
The government/doctor get the bright idea that parading these little girls out into the public to be observed twice a day would be good pr, not to mention raise a little dough on the side. Sponsors began to contact the doctor to have these quints endorse various products and everyday, people would come from all over and line up outside a screened in area to view these little girls playing, etc. They built a little area around the hospital/nursery called "Quintland" with little sideshow presentations. I'll leave the rest for you to see.
While we were watching this movie, we kept saying this can't be true~Hollywood must really be adding some stuff here to over-dramatize the plot. Actually, the doctor is played by Beau Bridges and when he was handed the script, he said people will never believe this and then he found out it WAS true! If you watch the movie, be sure to see the documentary at the end where the producer talks with three of the quintuplets who are still alive; they also share real photos of Quintland.
As a mother, my heart was in agony for the mother in this story. She was a woman who loved her children and wanted the best for them. It is so sad that a government robbed her of knowing her babies and loving them as they grew up.
I recommend this movie and give it 3 stars. There are a couple scenes we fast forwarded where a vaudeville style show is shown when the doctor visits New York.
Reviewed by Rhonda Devine

"Band Of Brothers"

Now I've promised you a review on this book so here it is:

"Band Of Brothers" by Stephen Ambrose is very interesting, if you're in to WWII history at all. As I love WWII history I enjoyed this book. In this book you will learn about the 506th Regiment 'E' Company 101st Airborne Division, " The Screaming Eagles." You will learn about brutally intense training at Toccoa, dropping for the first time in Normandy on D-Day, and ultimately, the surrender of Germany and the end of WWII.

This book is filled with stories of the soldiers, quotes from personal diaries, and interviews.

There is a lot of swearing all through the book { as most war books have } as well as some crude humor, and a bit of innuendo, but that is more toward the end of the book. The violence is not very intense. Also some people might take offense at the amount of drinking that goes on in the books. I would say this is probably not a book for someone under the age 15.

If you decide to read the book please make sure you read the last chapter,
" Post War Careers." This chapter tells about some of the men's lives after the war.

One of the stories is about a man { Stg. Skinny Sisk} that was haunted for all the things he had done in the war and took to drinking heavily. He stayed that way until his sister's daughter { only 4 years old} told him that Jesus loved him. It sounds like he became a Christian and was ordained in 1949 into the ministry.

Altogether I enjoyed the book so I give the highly action packed "Band Of Brothers" 3 1/2 stars.

"The Lord Of The Rings"

Now I know a lot of people have mixed opinions about J.R.R. Tolkien's "Lord Of The Rings", but since this is my blog; I will give you my opinion. I have to admit this series is probably my favorite series of books of all time, and I'll tell you why.

These books { The Hobbit, Fellowship Of The Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return Of The King} are very well written and set in the mythological Middle-earth. The story is very engrossing, exciting etc. However, many people have problem with these books because of the magic that Tolkien describes in his books. Some of Tolkien's characters use Magic, some of themon the good side some on the bad, but never do you get the impression that magic is something you should to try to acquire. At least that is my impression when I have read it.

The books also show Good vs. Evil very well, and while you read you begin to hate the evil characters ( Sauron, Saruman orcs, etc. ) and learn that the good people can become as corrupted by ring as much as the Evil characters .

Also in different times in the book Gandalf mentions a higher power that is in control of everything.

I have read all the the books multiple times and love them. I give the first book { The Hobbit } 4 stars, the second { The Fellowship } 4 and a half stars, The third { The Two Towers } 5 stars, and the fourth { The return of the King } 5 stars.

Warnings: There is magical content that some might find offensive and some violence.

I also enjoyed the movies, but they are not as good as the books.

"Twelve Angry Men"

Twelve Angry Men is one of my favorite movies. It is about a jury which has to decide between a guilty or not guilty sentence on a boy accused of first degree murder.

The movie is filmed almost entirely in one room but is very engrossing, and there are many famous actors including Henry Fonda.

There is just a little bit of swearing because as the movie progresses tensions rise, as the movie title implies- Twelve Angry Men.

As I said this is one of my favorites because of the high reasoning involved, invoking a lot of thought in a electrifying atmosphere. So I give it 4 1/2 Stars, for the highly thought provoking - Twelve Angry men.

When Hell Was In Session.

" When Hell Was In Session" a true story written by a Vietnam POW Admiral Jeremiah Denton JR..

It depicts life in a Vietnamese prison camp over 7 and a half years until he was released in 1973.

This book is written as a Biography so you learn what he was thinking, feeling, and wanting.

I am going to give you some warnings, this book has a medium amount of language a little bit of sexual content, and he describes his torture sessions in detail.

I liked the book because of how historically accurate it is, and that it shows the dedication of our military. A good read and I would recommend to people over the age 15.

I give the book 4 stars.

There is also Documentary called Return With Honor Directed by Tom Hanks that is about this same subject which also has Jeremiah Denton Jr. in it. I would Also strongly recommend this Documentary.