Up was a heckuva lot of fun.

It did get a little toothgrinding, though, that Ellie, Carl’s wife, ended up dying before she could have HER adventure, and it was a little too pat that, once he actually looked through her adventure book, he discovered all the pictures she of the two of them together with a message to him “I’ve had my adventure [being with you], now go on and have some of your own!”. As if THAT hadn’t been an … READ MORE

Night at the Museum 2–Second attempt at writing this review.

I thought it was funny, but I didn’t like it much.

The main change in this sequel is there’s a female costar. Amy Adams plays an effervescent Amelia Earhart. I won’t quibble too much with the immense difference between this adventurous, bubbly character who doesn’t appear to have much of anything in common with her namesake other than the name, accomplishments and drive. Adams steals the show from Ben Stiller’s Larry Daley, … READ MORE

Fire Study was a somewhat unmemorable conclusion to an otherwise strong trilogy. In it, we’re once again trying to negotiate peace between Ixia and Sitia. Yelena is also trying to get comfortable with her role as a Soulfinder, figure out a way to be with Valek, and reconcile a series of dual obligations related to her newly discovered family, her dual citizenship in these two countries, and her growing desire for independence. The text’s flaws included an increasingly de-fanged Valek … READ MORE

I’m still on a big YA kick, and went ahead through the first volume of Smith’s Night World collection. Again, Smith’s prose is gorgeously lucid, and the plots are quite fun. My one hesitation is that Smith’s got an on-going motif re: female archetypes that’s kinda making me twitch. The whole DID YOU NOTICE XXX IS SO WILD MAGIK IT MAKES YOUR TEETH HURT? THIS IS WHY THEY’RE IEXPLICABLY SEXY!!! as a means of characterization is making me a leeeeeeeetle … READ MORE

Just finished the first vol. of the series the Secret Circle. Smith’s an amazing YA writer — her characters are generally distinct from both one another and from other series, which is always fun. While her plots can be a bit rote, she infuses them with fresh life because of her able prose and her quirky details.

On to the plot. Cassie has to move out to Cape Cod because of MYSTERIOUS FAMILY REASONS her mother won’t tell her. After starting  … READ MORE

Okay, here’s a quick run through of what I’ve been reading..

Magic Study is the sequel to Poison Study, once again following the adventures of Yelena as she continues to encounter political power plays and navigates her new-found magical powers. Interestingly, she discovers that she’s not at all a super-powered demi-goddess. She’s got some neato powers, sure, but she can’t start fires, which is a pretty common magic, and her insistent desire to be independent still gets her into trouble. She’s def … READ MORE

Sorry this is late, my loves! Starline was incredibly professional and easy to interview. I, on the other hand, am a massive flake.

Candi is an AWARD WINNING strip by Starline Hodge, one of the hottest young comics artists working right now. Candi  is semi-autobiographical, and features a fascinating cast of characters, including a ferret engaged in an a battle of wits with some evil squirrels and the Sexy Police!  

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1. One of the neato things about Candi … READ MORE

Coraline is 140 minutes of brilliance.

SPOILERS a-hoy! Do not read further if you do not want to be spoiled! You have been WARNED!

Assuming you haven’t read the book, know that the movie is faithful to the feel, spirit and mood of Neil Gaiman’s novella.

Aside from the masterful animation and color palate and use of space within the movie, the characters are true to themselves. Coraline is a sassy, sarcastic, been-there-done-that tween with parents who concentrate more on their lives on … READ MORE

Sorry for the brief hiatus, folks! Every piece of technology I brought with me on vacation died within 3 days of each other. :(. Thankfully, T. was totally awesome about that. Go Penny and Aggie!
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1. I first encountered your work via Penny and Aggie and Cool Cat Studio. One of the things I’ve noticed throughout the series you’ve been involved in has been that you have consistently awesome characters, particularly female ones. Where do you draw your inspiration for these … READ MORE

Righto. Let’s begin with Michael Reaves’ sequel to The Shattered World. In THE BURNING REALM, Reaves takes up with his kooky cast a year later; Amber (symbolic love interest #1) has acquired the rank of Conjuress, Pandrogas has desperately researched a way to prevent the decay of the shattered world’s orbit, and Mirren’s started training as an assassin. Thankfully, Amber, Mirren, and the other female characters emerge as more complete characters. At times, Reaves use of the physical as a … READ MORE