Knowing, The Silence of the Lambs, Julie and Julia, The Great Tree of Avalon: Book One, and Do Women Usually Make Better Romance Authors Than Men?

I guess I'm taking procrastination to a whole new level (don't even get me started on all the summer homework that I'm still putting off) because I have several things that I'd like to discuss in this post that I probably should've split up but I'm too lazy to do so : ) Sorry, this post will definitely be a biggie. *Cracks Knuckles* Where should I start? How about with the movie Knowing?

About a week or so ago I had a great sleepover with Maddie (who now has a blog! If you're interested, it's www.maquiqui.blogspot.com) and we picked Knowing as our movie for the night. I will start with this to be absolutely clear: I personally enjoyed this movie, but I'd recommend it to very few people because it was a specific type of movie that wouldn't fit everyone. It had a message and purpose that I can't see your general audience being particularly fascinated with. If you're considering watching this movie, then I advise you to choose it carefully.

Now I'll get onto what it was about and why I liked it. John Koestler (Nicholas Cage) is a single father raising a son named Caleb. Koestler is a professor who teaches astrophysics at MIT, so he's clearly an intelligent man who bases many of his beliefs on scientific principles. When his son Caleb brings home a sheet of numbers from a school time capsul, Koestler thinks nothing of it. Until he really looks at the numbers and sees a pattern. 911012996 among a stream of numbers. If you separate it into 9/11/01 it's the date of the 9/11 terrorist attack. The 2996 is the exact death toll after the attack, and these numbers were written 50 years ago (remember his son got the numbers from a school time capsul) by an elementary aged girl. Koestler spends a sleepless night going through all of the numbers and making similar connections (date and death toll) to countless more catastrophes that happened over the past 50 years. The next date on the list of numbers (with a predicted death toll of 81) is supposedly going to happen the next day. That's when Koestler discovers that the other numbers on the sheet are latitudes and longitudes that give the exact location of the disasters predicted. He discovers this bit of information because he is present at the next predicted disaster.

You might be thinking that this movie seems very philosophical, or that there is little action. Trust me, there's action. Even a little suspense during some parts, I really enjoyed it. There are major "end of the world" and apocalyptic themes, they mixed a bit of religious views with all the science (which is best explained on a feature of the DVD that Maddie and I watched after we finished the movie, it cleared up a lot of confusion for us). Anywho, it was a great science fiction movie that made me think- which I loved : D I could go on talking about Knowing for a long time, but I'll move along to The Silence of the Lambs.

I did not like The Silence of the Lambs. At all. Some of my friends are outraged, they consider The Silence of the Lambs a classic movie and they think I'm insane for not liking it. Perhaps it is a fantastic movie loved by many, but it just plain wasn't my type of movie. In comparison to Knowing (the type of movie that I can really get sucked in to) this movie was the exact kind of movie that I have no chance whatsoever of truly liking. I suppose I found it interesting, but I didn't get any enjoyment out of the movie.

FBI Agent in training, Clarice Starling, is assigned a tricky task. She has to question and attempt to obtain information from a man named Hannibal Lecter. He is a brilliant psychiatrist who also happens to be a cannibalistic serial killer. He's been in prison for a long time, and Clarice is sent to question him because her superiors think that her sweet face and interesting manner (not to mention her sharp and clever mind) will intrigue Lecter and maybe soften him up enough to relinquish some useful information for a current case that the FBI are dealing with (and Lecter happens to know a lot about). The movie follows Agent Starling as she deals with Hannibal Lecter and attempts to solve the Buffalo Bill case that the FBI are so preoccupied with. However, to solve the Buffalo Bill case Agent Starling must tell Hannibal Lecter personal information about her and her past. She has to uncode the many messages that Hannibal Lecter gives her, and she has to keep a level head while she reveals dangerous information about herself to a cannibal and serious killer.

It's a captivating plot, I'll admit. To me it's the definition of an on-the-edge-of-your-seat movie. It has several things to keep you interested..... and several things to make you run away from the screen screaming. I didn't get nightmares after watching this movie, but you won't catch me watching another horror-ish movie until 2010.

I saw this movie with my friend Alanna, and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it! It kept me interested and left me feeling properly entertained and inspired. The story follows two women: Julie Powell and Julia Child. Julie Powell is a woman living an ordinary life, she feels put down by her job and jealous of the success of her friends. How does plain jane Julie escape the ups and downs of her plain jane life? She cooks. Her husband encourages her to set up a blog about her cooking, and she accepts the blog with a challenge. She's going to cook every recipe in Julia Child's cookbook in one year! That's 520 something recipes in 365 days, and Julie feels like Julia Child is with her every step of the way.

Meanwhile, the story also follows Julia Child while she was living in Paris. It shows how her interest in cooking started, and follows Julia's life while going through cooking school and while writing a cookbook of her own. While Julia Child's struggles are different than Julie Powell's, you see connections and similarities in what they're both going through and how they're dealing with their separate obstacles.

The fact that the movie is based on two true stories makes it even more cool in my opinion, and my only complaint was that it was a bit long (over 2 hours!). It didn't drag at all, though. In fact, I was sad to see it end : ) A good movie to see with friends and family; I highly recommend Julie and Julia to almost anyone.

I tried to pace myself, I really did : ) Unfortunately I failed, and finished this book way more quickly than I had planned. This book is great for people who love a good fantasy- it's full of mythical creatures, magic, quests, and a dark prophecy! The land of Avalon is a great tree, born of Merlin's magic seed that beats like a heart. The various creatures of Avalon live on different roots of the tree (Mudroot, Fireroot, Woodroot, etc.) and things are going well after the Age of Storms.... until the Year of Darkness. One child born during this year is prophesied to bring the end of Avalon, and one child born during this year is prophesied to save it. The book follows the journeys of Scree (an eagleman), Tamwyn (who is half flamelon and half unknown), and Elli (a human slave to gnomes who escaped and became a priestess). Together, they can stop the dark sorcerer who is plotting to ruin Avalon on his own terms. But which of the children is the one who will save them all? And which child is the one who will doom them?

I definitely liked this book, and I will most certainly read the rest of the series. If you aren't majorly into fantasy books then I wouldn't pick this one up, but if you are a fantasy lover it's a great read!

Okay, my last topic isn't exactly a journal one, it's just a question. Do women usually make better romance authors than men? If so, why is that?

I love to read, I'm sure anyone who follows my blog knows that. I've noticed often with books written by men there can be a situation with an obvious love interest... and they describe absolutely nothing between the two people involved. The two involved in the love interest won't have a moment, kiss, or even acknowledge their feelings for each other and yet we're all supposed to know that they're in love! Or sometimes the author will attempt to describe a romantic moment and he will completely and utterly fail. I'm not trying to be sexist, but I've noticed this tendency more often in books written by men than books written by women.

And I'm not saying that men can't write good romance! They're out there, those sensitive male authors. And on the flip side I'm not saying that certain female authors don't suck at writing romance just as bad as some of the men. I'm just saying that in general it seems that male authors really wimp out when it comes to describing romance between two characters with a love interest. If you're going to have a love interest in a novel, there should be something (even just one tiny little part) between the characters so that it at least seems like they are actually in love. This is just my opinion, though, anyone out there reading this is perfectly justified in disagreeing with me.

Here's my theory about why men in general avoid writing any romance in books even if there's a love interest: men define romance differently than women. I think most women feel that romance is two people expressing their love for each other whether that be through words, kind gestures, a kiss, etc. I'm not sure how men define romance, but I think they define romance as certain things that aren't appropriate to write about in young adult novels. Maybe that's why there's sometimes a complete lack of romance in books written by men where there very well should be romantic parts. Or maybe I'm totally wrong : P Whatever the case, I hope you have an opinion about this question or that it at least made you think.

So, what is SunnyD reading now? I'm reading the fifth Children of the Lamp book, and it's okay so far... As for what I'm up to these days... nothing too exciting. I spent a fun day yesterday at the mall with Grip of Steel, her boyfriend, and her little brother. Tomorrow I'm having breakfast with NHC at a bookshop/trying to stay out of the heat as much as possible. Basically, I'm doing all the normal summer activities : D

~Sorry that this post was so long, I'll try to split things up more from now on!