Vanilla Sky

I watched Vanilla Sky yesterday. I have seen it many times, but never really understood the movie until now. I also found out it was a remake of Abre Los Ojos. It has Tom Cruise, Penélope Cruz, Cameron Diaz, Kurt Russell, and Jason Lee in it.

Warning: there is a little bit of violence.

In this movie, A man named David has a friends with benefits relationship with a woman named Julie Gianni. Later he meets a woman named Sofia. Julie gets mad at David claiming she is in love with him. She runs the car off the bridge. David lives, but he is disfigured. Later on he discovers that part of his life has been a dream. He decides to live again in the future. I found a really good blog post that explains the movie. Here’s the website: https://filmcolossus.com/single-post/2017/06/01/Explaining-the-ending-of-VANILLA-SKY-why-its-all-a-dream-the-glitch-and-how-INCEPTION-helps

I now like the movie. This is last time I will watch this movie. Next week I’m watching Vantage Point.

A Clockwork Orange (movie)

I watched A Clockwork Orange last week. It is based on the book by Anthony Burgress. I watched it on Netflix. It has Malcolm McDowell, Patrick Magee, Warren Clarke, Adrienne Corri, Carl Duering, Miriam Karlin, James Marcus, Aubrey Morris, Godfrey Quigley, Sheila Raynor, Philip Stone, and Michael Tarn in it.

Big Warning: there is lots of violence and rape.

Quick Summary: Alex and his gang friends steal, hurt, and rape women. They go to a woman’s house and Alex decided to do the job by himself which led him to get arrested. He later decides to do an experiment treatment so he could get out of prison early. The treatment is to get rid of his violence behaviors. But when he gets out he is beat up by his gang friends and tortured by one of his victims. Then the government decides to make a deal with Alex to make them look good and he can get a good job, etc. Alex agrees to deal. The ending is weird, but a website explains that Alex is going to use the government and still get what he wants. But another person said that he can think for himself again, but he is still “cured.”

Differences between book and movie:
1. The 21st chapter is not part of the movie. The 21st chapter is not in the American version of the book. It is in the British book version.
2. Alex and his gang friends attack a professor in the book.
3. Alex and his gang friends rob a store in the book.
4. In the Duke of New York, old women are their cover for the store robbery.
5. The girls are younger in the book. And the girls that Alex rapes call him a beast.
6. Alex hits Dim in the mouth in the book. And Alex cuts the hand of Georgie too.
7. Alex is told in prison by his mother that Georgie is dead.
8. The cat lady is older than the she is in the movie. And Alex slips on saucers of milk in the book. He does hit the cat lady, but not with that statue in the movie. It was a crowbar and he kicks her in the face.
9. Alex sees more films and hears more music in the book.
10. In the movie, he tells the nurse that he had strange dreams. In the book he does have dreams of him being himself again.

I sorta liked the movie. The movie was actually tamer than the book is.

A Clockwork Orange

I finished reading A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess. There is a movie based on the book.

Big Warning: there is lots of violence, rape, and the book is in Russian slang. I had to look up a glossary and take notes while reading the book.

This book is in a narrated style. The main character is Alex. Alex is fifteen years old. He is a leader of a gang of three other boys. They first hit and terrorize a professor, then they rob a store, and then they steal a car and go rape an author’s wife.  They drink milk laced with drugs. Alex doesn’t go to school and rapes two young girls. Georgie, one of the boys in the gang, tells Alex about a big job at a cat lady’s house.  Alex decides to do the job himself and it costs him big time. His gang friends run off when the police come. Alex is sent to prison. In prison, he learns that Georgie is dead. He also learns of way to get out of prison fast, but this also costs him big time. He didn’t really understand what he was getting into. The experimental treatment used a serum, movies, and music to cause him to be not violent. The only thing was that he made him physically sick when he thought violent thoughts. He meets the professor, the author, and one of his gang friends again. He gets beat up pretty badly. He was rejected by his parents too. He wanted to kill himself. He landed in the hospital which they tweaked his brain to make him normal again. (The 21st chapter was omitted in the English version.) In the 21st chapter, Alex has a new gang, but he feels different. He realizes he is growing up and dreams of having a wife and a son. (I just realized that he said he would teach his son the right way to live, but he never said anything about his wife. So he would probably abuse his wife which in turn cause the son to be violent.)

I didn’t really like this book. The movie was much tamer than the book. Now I’m reading The Ace of Shades by Amanda Foody. (It is a YA book I had recommended to Overdrive to get and they got it.)

Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore

I watched Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore yesterday. It is a sequel, but I haven’t seen the first one. It has James Marsden, Nick Nolte, Christina Applegate, Katt Williams, Bette Midler, Neil Patrick Harris, Sean Hayes, Michael Clarke Duncan, Chris O’Donnell, and Jack McBrayer in it.

Big Warning: there is a little bit of violence.

In this movie, a police dog named Diggs doesn’t listen to his partner during cases. He gets retired as a police dog. Then a secret group of dog spies recruits him to take down a cat named Kitty Galore. Kitty Galore had a plan to get rid of all dogs and get revenge on humans. The spy dogs team up with a pigeon and a spy cat group to take down Kitty Galore.

I liked this movie. At the end it hints to a third movie, but I don’t know if they are going to make a third movie. Next week I’m watching Vanilla Sky. I had seen the movie twice before, but I want to see it again.

The Secret Life of Pets

I watched The Secret Life of Pets yesterday. I taped it when it was on the Disney channel a few weeks ago.It has Louis C.K., Eric Stonestreet, Kevin Hart, Jenny Slate, Ellie Kemper, Albert Brooks, Lake Bell, and Dana Carvey in it.

In this movie, A dog named Max finds out that his owner has decided to get a new dog. The new dog is a huge dog named Duke. Max doesn’t like Duke and tries to tell his owner, but of course humans don’t know dog language. Duke does something mean to Max which leads to a lot of trouble and a long way from home. During their journey back home, Max and Duke bond.

When this movie first came out, I didn’t want to see it. After I saw the very cute commercials of the sequel that is coming out, I decided to tape the first one. I’m glad I did. I loved the movie and I do want to see the sequel. Tomorrow I’m planning on watching A Clockwork Orange. I’m not through with the book yet, but the book is driving me crazy. Next week I’m watching Cats & Dogs: Revenge of Kitty Galore.

Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted

I watched Madasascar 3: Europe Most Wasted yesterday. I taped it when it was on FX. It has Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer, Jada Pinkett Smith, Sacha Baron Cohen, Cedric the Entertainer, Andy Richter, Frances McDormand, Jessica Chastain, Bryan Cranston, Martin Short, and Chris Miller in it.

Since most people have seen this movie, here’s a quick summary: The NYC animals go to find the penguins. They find them in a casino and they try to go an mission impossible act, but it doesn’t work. An animal catcher is alerted about the animals. So the NYC animals join a traveling circus. The penguins buy the circus deed. Alex, the lion, takes over as circus leader after the first circus act was a failure. The NYC animals do make it to NYC, but they decide that they would miss being in the circus so they go back to being in the circus.

I loved this movie. There is supposed to be a fourth one, but I don’t know when it would be out.Next week I’m watching The Secret Life of Pets.

An Acceptable Time

I finished listening to An Acceptable Time by Madeleine L’Engle. It’s labeled as the fifth book of the Time Quintet book series (A Wrinkle in Time book series), but I think it should be the last book of the O’Keefe book series.

Warning: there is some violence.

In this book, Meg’s daughter Polly is taking some time of from school to stay with her grandparents. She had met a guy when she went on class trip to Athens. His name is Zachary Grey. He shows up at her grandparents house wanting to see her again. They see a strange man near one of the trees, but the man doesn’t say anything to them and then the man disappears. Then Polly meets a strange girl. The man and girl are part of the past of 3,000 years ago. Zachary tells Polly that his heart is bad and he is dying. Then they both go back into the past. Zachary is so focused on getting his heart fixed that he does something so terrible that ruins their friendship. Zachary and Polly do come back to the present.

Even though I didn’t like Zachary, I loved the book. I will be reading the O’Keefe book series soon. Now I’m reading A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess.

The month of July

Happy July!!

Thursday (4th) is Independence Day!! I’m going to my great-aunt’s house. I do plan on giving Lily some treats to celebrate.

July 7th is the last day our preacher is going to be at our church. I’m really sad about it.

July 11th The tv show The Outpost is coming back on!! July 17th Pearson comes on. It’s a spin off of Suits.

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa

I watched Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa yesterday. I had seen it before, but I wanted to watch it again. It has Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer, Jada Pinkett Smith, Sacha Baron Cohen, Cedric the Entertainer, Bernie Mac, Alec Baldwin, and Will.i.am in it.

Warning: there is a little bit of violence.

Since most people have seen this movie, here’s a quick summary: the NY animals try to get make it back to NYC, but their plane crashes in Africa (where they were supposed to end up in the first movie). They discover animals of their kind. Alex meets his parents again. Then the watering hole dries up because of a dam that the NYC tourists built. The NY animals bust up the dam and saves the day. Instead of going back to NY, they stay in Africa for a little bit.

I loved this movie. Next week I’m watching Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted. I haven’t see it yet.