How Could I Forget?

My last post neglected The Woman in Black - a definite winner if you ask me.

Top Five Best Movies of 2011

I decided on five as I cannot currently think of ten. And yes, I do realize this is a few months late. And these are in my opinion, although I think I am being as objective as possible. In no particular order:

1. The Artist
2. War Horse
3. Super 8
4. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2
5. Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

I am in a bit of a hurry, so feel free to suggest movies to me. I did not see all of them, and I enjoyed several that I simply do not think ought to be honored due to my critical side. But I definitely recommend all five of these to anyone who loves a very well-made picture, regardless of genre.

-- Lewis

Book Review: The Summer of May by Cecelia Galante

At my Mock Printz book club a few sessions back, we were each assigned a Book of Fate in order to clear those which needed to be read and reviewed. Some sounded absolutely atrocious; I was spared that...to a degree.

PLOT. May's mother left years ago, and now her family and life seem to be falling apart. She gets into trouble 24/7 at school, and her father is verbally (and physically, as it later turns out) abusive. After she sprays graffiti on her English teacher's board (and somehow thinks not to be caught), she is faced with either expulsion or one-on-one summer school with the same teacher. She chooses the latter and finds that the teacher has an interesting past.

The writing, while not beautiful, was good, and I liked the teacher (Miss Movado). I did not care for May's character at all; she whined a lot (not quite Bella Swan, but still annoying) and seemed malcontent. She continued to refer to her teacher as Movado the Avocado, due to Movado's squat form and green attire, despite the many kind things which the lady did for her. She was basically impossible to please: for example, Miss Movado took her to a restaurant - which she really didn't have to do, especially after what May did during the school year - and May complained about the food, the seat, you get the idea. Show some gratitude, you little brat! In the end you're supposed to end up liking the father (or at least, that was my impression), but I see no excuse for the way he treated his daughter - even though I understand his being unhappy with her. What I liked was Miss Movado's back-story, which ties in with the mother thing. Bit of a spoiler, but it says that in the front cover anyway.

I somewhat enjoyed The Summer of May, but I would not nominate it for an award (and I didn't), and I wouldn't read it time and time again.

Final grade: C