Pixels

Pixels (2015)

My rating: 1 of 5 stars


A slightly different twist on a common aliens destroying the earth theme. A space capsule is sent out containing videos of old arcade games. The aliens take these games to be a declaration of war and set out on creating pixel versions of these "soldiers" to eliminate earth following the 3 lives per game rule to take over. Interesting how a little misunderstanding can lead to very strange and complete chaos. It's like watching a train wreck - it's so insane and horrible you can't look away even though there are times when you really want to.

Barbie 31: The Great Puppy Adventure

Barbie 31: The Great Puppy Adventure (2015)

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


A little different than the other Barbie films, this one takes us back in time to when Barbie is a teenager and her sisters are all younger (though it's hard to picture Chelsea being "younger" when she's already so young to begin with). This also shows how Barbie comes to adopt Taffy, though if you follow this tale, the other sisters should have their own retrievers as well. Taffy earns her place with Barbie the hard way - solving the town's long standing treasure hunt and saving it from falling apart.

Barbie 30: Rock'n Royals

Barbie 30: Rock'n Royals (2015)

My rating: 2.5 of 5 stars


A rock star and a princess accidentally get on the wrong boat at the start of summer camp, taking them to their rival camp on the opposite side of the island instead of the one they were planning on attending. Turns out these two out of place girls might be the best thing for both camps as they learn they might just fit in more than they thought and ultimately cook up a plan to bring both worlds together, saving both the camps when their directors are at war with each other.

Equestria Girls 3: Friendship Games

Equestria Girls 3: Friendship Games (2015)

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This movie focuses mostly on the human world with only references to Sunset Shimmer trying to contact Twilight Sparkle through her magic book for advice as the Friendship Games approach. Meanwhile, the human world's Twilight is on the scent of the magic at Canterlot High, though she doesn't know that's what it is. Caving to peer pressure and not yet having learned the lessons of friendship the Equestrian Twilight has, this world's Twilight has a lot of learning to do in the games. Principle Cinch is easy to dislike, as are Twilight's fellow students until the end of the movie. Guess nearly having your world destroyed because of you're own arrogance and bullying kinda sets things in perspective. Other than glimpses of Equestria through the portals, we don't really see any of our favorite ponies until Twilight shows up as a credit bonus, meeting the alternate her for the first time. It would be interesting to see how this meeting played out instead of just the shocked acknowledgement we get from the two Twilights while the rest of the friends continue on with their picnic as if nothing is up at all. It would be amusing if at some point all the ponies and human counterparts for the core group were to meet up now that the two Twilight Sparkles have seen each other. Curious that there has been no mention or sighting of another Sunset Shimmer yet.

In Death 41: Devoted in Death

In Death 41: Devoted in Death by J.D. Robb

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


For how long the series is, you'd think a reader would be tired of it by now. Even at 41 books and counting, the story sucked me in like I'd just done my first marathon read on it yesterday. Don't see much of Nadine this time around; just a reference to her looking for a new home and being back from vacation. There's a lot more interaction with the rest of Eve's squad and this Deputy from Arkansas though as this case takes on federal proportions. A lot better interactions with the FIB this time around than on many of the other ops they've tried to hog as well. Doesn't help them any that Eve showed just how wrong their investigation and intel was pretty quickly out of the gate from her own acquisition of the case. Roarke was pretty hands on with the investigation too, though there was a lot more fact checking and less danger in this case it seemed, despite the twofer on the kidnapping/potential murders. I guess that might seem true of any case after nearly getting the entire Homicide division blown up in the last book.

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Disney's Pooh's ABC

Disney's Pooh's ABC by Walt Disney Company

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This was a hand-me-down that was bought at a library sale years ago. Goes along with the Senses and Feelings Pooh books as far as style, size and printing go. Christopher Robin has lost his alphabet blocks. This simple child's book turns a block hunt into a fun rhyme as the characters look for the blocks in alphabetical order. A nice variation to the typical ABC song and dance found in most books of this type.

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Barney's Color Surprise

Barney's Color Surprise by Mary Ann Dudko

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


We're not big Barney fans, but this is a simple children's book that does it's job decently. Being all about colors, it goes about describing each of them by dedicating a page spread to each color of the rainbow until the "picture" is completed at the end of the book. Painting a rainbow is a very simple way to help teach a child about colors with a rather iconic childhood figure (even if his show will drive you batty rather quickly).

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Penguins of Madagascar

Penguins of Madagascar (2014)

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


These 4 penguins take on a series of rather strange adventures. It's sometimes hard to tell if they get through things by actual skill or sheer dump luck. Either way, it makes for a non-stop sequence of laughs and amusement. The North Wind succeeds in both playing the "good guys" and being rather aggravating all at the same time. Really, it's all about the penguins.

Fiddler on the Roof

Fiddler on the Roof (1971)

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars


It's been a long time since I saw this in either movie or musical form. Seeing as it is this year's L.O. Stake Play that I'm in, I figured it was time to refresh my memory. The music is catchy and funny at the same time, so it will stick in your head. For example, I've had Tradition and Anatevka playing on a fairly constant loop the last 3 days, and I've only practice each of them once so far. The main character acts like a drunk, religious loon half the time with his constant "on the other hand" thinking aloud to himself. Come to find out, the actor who played Tevye was indeed drunk most of the time. Go figure. Taking place during the Russian Revolution, there's an interesting mix of politics, religion, social traditions, and family loyalty that all come into play. Overall an interesting story as this family evolves... and occasionally disappoints, trying to adapt to a new world they aren't sure they either want or need.

Walt Disney's Cinderella: The Fairy Godmother's Magic

Walt Disney's Cinderella: The Fairy Godmother's Magic by Robbin Cuddy

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Great book for small children. The actual story reading is very short and to the point. Each set of pages is interactive for children with a flap to lift to "find" someone as the Fairy Godmother searches for Cinderella. Might want to keep an eye on the littles so they don't tear those flaps, but otherwise they have a blast with this type of easy book.

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Behold! A Baby

Behold! A Baby by Stephanie Watson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is a cute introduction to the idea of siblings and how older siblings can help teach and be role models to their younger siblings. The only thing my daughter did not like about it was that it was all about brothers. So I added in "or big sisters" every time it talked about what "big brother" could do, and that satisfied her. She didn't mind anything regarding the baby since she has a baby brother herself. If there was another version of this for big sisters with baby brothers, we would have bought that instead.

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