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I haven't done one of these in a while.  Which explains why so many movies.  Caught Million Dollar Arm in the theaters way back at the start of Summer.  Cute, formulaic Disney movie.  John Hamm is charming even when being a jack-ass.  And I like that they go looking for Indian cricket players to try and convert to baseball and get a pair of more ( Read more... )

Looking over the non-collected short fiction to start, beginning with N.K. Jemisin's Playing Nice With God's Bowling Ball which is about a police investigation of some super-science gone wrong involving young kids.  Steve White's the Last Secret of Mary Bowser is a sort of side story to what I think is his normal time travel war series.  I think.  ( Read more... )

Really procrastinating on these now. *sigh*  Anyways, lets start with the free-range short fiction.  Seanan McGuire's IM is part of her "InCyrptid" series.  Sadly it feels more like a pro or post-logue than a full story. Her latest "Velveteen" story, Velveteen vs.Santa Claus, is a much stronger piece.  Even if it makes you want to punch Santa in ( Read more... )

Short story wise for back in May we had the Litany of the Earth by Ruthanna Emyrs a CoC mythos story on faith from the perspective of the near human.  The Steel Soldiers' Gambit by Ian Thomas Haley, part of reading the remainder of his "Just Cause" supers series, where a robot bluffs a mentalist at a poker game.  And then a tale of artistry, ( Read more... )

Didn't get too many free-range short stories last month.  Just Forsworn by Brian McCellan, another prequel story to his "Powder Mage" series. And the Price of Doing Business by D.B. Jackson, also a prequel story, for his "Thief-taker" series.  I think the second of Jackson's books might be out and I should check on that.  Though the first book for ( Read more... )

Silver Linings Playbook:  Its like Benny & Joon but with grief induced bisexuality and compulsive sports betting.  Also I did not recognize Chris Tucker throughout most of this movie...

After Earth:  The roommate refused to give up the remote or to not finish watching this.  For that he will be forever damned.  Just SO MUCH incompetent ( Read more... )

The Cat Returns:  Its that same old story told so often.  Girl rescues cat from traffic.  Kingdom of Cats declares themselves in her debt and mess with her life.  Girl goes for help from magical cat that used to be a statue.  Girl is kidnapped into the Kingdom of Cats.  You've probably seen it a million times...

Pain & Gain: Michael Bay should ( Read more... )

Time to get the final list for '13 done.  Starting with the free range short fiction.  John Scalzi gives a tale of obsession and science with Muse of Fire.  Mari Ness' In the Greenwood gives a new slant on the Sherwood myth.  Hope's End and the Girl of Hrusch Avenue are a pair of "Gunpowder Magic" stories by Brian McClellan (read to wait for the ( Read more... )

The dragon looked great. And Tauriel was a pretty cool action lady. And despite all the padding the movie moves at a fast pace. And a bunch of that padding is letting the dwarves be bad ass instead of just getting captured by spiders, captured by elves, thrown into barrels and then sitting around while Bilbo talks to the dragon. But still such ( Read more... )