Movie Review with Dr. Daen: Twilight

Twilight
Genre: Drama, Fantasy, Romance
Rated: PG-13
Time: 122 min
Release Date: November 21, 2008
Director: Catherine Hardwicke
Writers: Melissa Rosenberg (Screenplay) , Stephenie Meyer (Novel)
Starring: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Billy Burke (Full cast and crew HERE)

MOVIE DESCRIPTION:

A teenage girl risks everything when she falls in love with a vampire.

REVIEW:

Hello and welcome to BBR! Today on BBR we will be doing a movie review with Dr. Daen. For those of you who don’t know, Dr. Daen is a very close friend of mine. He has a doctorate in Bullshit and will call you on it in a moments notice. So with that being said, let’s get started!

BBR: Hi, Dr. Daen, thank you for joining us today :)

Dr. Daen: Thank you. Thank you. Glad to be here.

BBR: So, you just recently watched Twilight, is that right?

Dr. Daen: That is correct-amundo.

BBR: Fantastic, can we now say that you are a HUGE Twilight fan?

Dr. Daen: You mean being a fan of the horrible actor of the most epic ending in Twilight...EVER!?

BBR: Now, now, Doctor. Please, let’s not jump the gun. We’re only on Twilight, let’s not fast forward to the last movie.

Dr. Daen: Okay, Okay, sorry. Excuse myself. *sniffles*

BBR: Are you sick?

Dr. Daen: Oh, very sick of seeing Kristen Stewarts acting through five movies.

BBR: I’m sorry to hear that, but I’m sure a lot of the readers out there can understand the pain that you went through.

Dr. Daen: hahahaha. Good one, BBR. Oh I love you so much. HAHAHAHA

BBR: *silence ensues*

Dr. Daen: hahahaha… hahahaha...hahaha

BBR: Ahem… are you done?

Dr. Daen: *pulls self together* *ahem* Yes, forgive me.

BBR: Not a problem. Lets start from the beginning, shall we?

Dr. Daen: You mean the beginning to end of all actors.

BBR: Heh. yes, yes, aside from her non acting abilities, how did you like the beginning of the movie?

Dr. Daen: Uhmm. Since I haven’t read the books...and going based off just the movie, I found it very slow. They could have… I think they could have introduced the characters a bit more. Like gone into a bit detail. Because I’ve heard from you, that the books went into much more detail.

BBR: Ahh, right, right. Books aside, did you think the movie as a whole was slow?

Dr. Daen: Yeah, I thought the very first movie was very, VERY boring.

BBR: Was there anything that you liked in the movie?

Dr. Daen: I kinda liked how they introduced Edward in the movie. How he tried to stop a truck from crushing the worst actor in the history of the world. That mother fucker. WHY!!???

BBR: You liked that he stopped the truck, or did you like the fact that she would have done an awesome “I-AM-DEAD” acting piece?

Dr. Daen: Definitely the second.

BBR: I see. Now, what was your favorite part of the movie?

Dr. Daen: My favorite part was when we were introduced to the Cullen family. I really enjoyed that. I really liked the family. 

BBR: Definitely, I’m a big fan of the Cullens <3

Dr. Daen: Oh and the baseball scene. BADASS!

BBR: And what was your least favorite part of the movie?

Dr. Daen: When they showed off Edwards’ fast movement running thing.

BBR: lol.

Dr. Daen: I found it really cheesy. And when Edward walked into the sunlight. I thought that was cheesy as well. A diamond vampire? Make the mother fucker burn!

BBR: Heh. Sparkle! Would you recommend this movie to anyone?

Dr. Daen: Hmm. Uhmm. *lots of thinking going on* If you like a twist on vampire/fantasy then yeah. Cause, I mean, they don’t burn in the sun, so...that’s a small little twist. And along with their special little powers.

BBR: okay an-

Dr. Daen: I mean, I like the idea with vampires have some sort of ability. Instead of it just being “I’m gonna suck your blood.” In fact in Cirque de Freak, they fed off of animals. So it’s not like it’s anything new.

BBR: Okay an-

Dr. Daen: As far as abilities go, I’ve never heard of any other book that does that.

BBR: *ahem* okay. that’s good to know. Now, 10 being the highest, what would you rate this movie?

Dr. Daen: Hmm. I’d say 5. I didn’t really like it, but I didn’t really hate it. Because of the specific scenes that I mentioned above.

BBR: Great! Thanks for stopping by! Will you be joining us again soon?

Dr. Daen: Oh, hell yeah I’ll be coming back. And real soon too! I enjoyed my stay!

BBR: There you have it folks! Tune in next time for another movie review with Dr. Daen. Hope you enjoyed! Leave a comment in the section below with your thoughts on the movie review. If you liked it go ahead and leave a movie request review down below for Dr. Daen. 

RATING:

 

MOVIE TRAILER:

Blog Tour: Chattin' It Up: Chasing the Trickster by April Grey

Chattin' It Up

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Don't forget to check out the other blogs participating in this tour HERE.

Chasing the Trickster
(Book #1 in the Cernunnos series)
Amazon | Eternal Press | BN
Author: April Grey
Publisher: Eternal Press (November 7, 2011)
Genre: Dark, Fantasy, Paranormal, 236 pages
ISBN-10: 1615725334
ISBN-13: 978-1615725335

SUMMARY:

One Man, Two Women, Two Gods...who will survive the Trickster's snare?

Ghostly images materialize in Nina Weaver's photos. Goons try to kidnap her. When her photographs are stolen and her best friend is shot, she realizes that she has no one to turn to but her ex-lover, Pascal ""Goofy"" Guzman. Together they go on a desperate road trip in search of answers. The truth is darker and more terrifying than Nina could ever have imagined. After their love re-ignites, they fall into the Trickster God's trap.

EXCERPT:

She stared at the photo on the gallery wall and silently swore. All semester ghostly images had marred her work. And now not only a strange inclusion ruined her photo, but the pin light needed to be repositioned as well. She found a ladder in the hallway supply closet. Balancing precariously on the top step, she noticed that the imperfection had changed into the image of a vehicle, and it was on fire. She could see the superheated air wavering up off of the flames. The crackling and sudden heat of a blaze forced her to lift a hand to guard her face. It was going to explode. She was quite sure of it. And then she was falling backwards, falling down…

Ana: Welcome to Beach Bum Reads! I am super excited that you could join me today! 

April Grey: I'm delighted to be here!

Ana: Can you tell us a little about yourself?

April Grey: I'm the author of Chasing the Trickster, published by Eternal Press. Also, my short stories appear in numerous e-zines, along with e- published and print anthologies. I live in NYC with my hubby and teen son. My life prior to marriage was involved in working in the theatre and in law firms (gotta pay the rent). After marriage and motherhood I've spent my time writing as well as teaching  art and ESL.

Ana: What was the first book that got you into reading?

April Grey: The Lion, the witch and the Wardrobe. It was read to us in first grade and I was hooked.

Ana: What/who inspired you to become a writer?

April Grey: I think it was primarily the work of Charles DeLint that made me want to write, but there's a whole stable of favorite authors before and after him that gave inspiration.

Ana: Is there anything you want to say to inspiring writers? (to inspire writers or to aspiring writers?)

April Grey: Keep honing your skills and keep reading. Observe what your favorite writers do that brings you pleasure.  Find what appeals to you as a reader. Don't try to copy, but learn what works for you.

Ana: Can you tell us a little bit about Chasing the Trickster?

April Grey: It's a crazy road trip to self discovery for Nina Weaver, our main character. Uncanny things have been happening to her such as mysterious images and messages showing up in her artwork.  But when she barely escapes being kidnapped and her best friend is shot, she decides to get to the bottom of the mess her life has become. She winds up accepting help from her ex-lover and on their trip they fall back in love. Eventually they discover that they are pawns in a rivalry between two pagan gods, Cernunnos and the Trickster God of the American Southwest.

Ana: Who was the hardest character for you to write?

April Grey: Linda, because she is a tragic figure. There were times that I cried as I wrote her story.

Ana: Where did you come up with the idea for Chasing the Trickster?

April Grey: I've long been a fan of the work of Carl Jung. In particular, I was intrigued by his writing on the Trickster Archetype. The Trickster comes and shakes us up whenever we get big headed and think we know everything there is to know.

Ana: All book descriptions set aside, they say a picture is a worth a thousand words. What do you think the cover for Chasing the Trickster says?  

April Grey: The cover depicts the Celtic god, Cernunnos. Even though the title of the book is Chasing the Trickster, it is the first book in the Cernunnos series. A pagan fertility god, Cernunnos gets mixed up in people's problems as he goes on his own journey of self-discovery.

Ana: Are you currently working on anything? Care to dish?

April Grey: The sequel to Chasing the Trickster, St. Nick's Favor will hopefully be released this holiday season. We are working on the cover right now. Also, I'll be teaching a course at Savvy Authors early next year on Getting Published in E-zines. I have just published "Troll Bridge: Three Unlikely Stories" for Halloween. 

Ana: Okay, last question… and I’ve gotta ask… are you a beach bum? 

April Grey: Yes, I am. Or I would be if my husband wasn't deathly allergic to beach grasses. I'm hoping to head to Nantucket next year for our 20th anniversary, but he'll need to bring an Epi pen.

Ana: Thanks for stopping by! It was a pleasure having you here today :)

April Grey: Thanks! It was a pleasure.

Think Fast:

Ana: Water or Soda?

April Grey:  Water

Ana: Coffee or Tea?

April Grey: Coffee

Ana: Zombies or Vampires?

April Grey: Zombies

Ana: Rap or Rock?

April Grey: Rock

Ana: Day or Night?

April Grey: Day

Ana: Salad or Burger? 

April Grey: Salad (I switch off between Vegan and Lacto-Ovo-Pesco Vegetarian). I'm also gluten free.

April Grey's urban fantasy novel, Chasing The Trickster, is published by Eternal Press. Her short stories have been published in such print anthologies as Demonmind's Halloween 2010, The Best of Everyday Fiction 2, Northern Haunts, Ephemera and Terrible Beauty, Fearful Symmetry. Many of these stories can be found in her collection, The Fairy Cake Bake Shoppe available through Amazon and Smashwords.

She and her family live in Hell's Kitchen, NYC in a building next to a bedeviled garden. Gremlins, sprites or pixies, something mischievous, lurks therein. Someday she'll find out.

Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Smashwords | Website

 Writing Class - Jan 28 - Feb 10

Writing for e-zines 13 SPOTS LEFT
April Grey. The best piece of advice I ever had as a budding novelist was to also write short pieces. The benefits of publishing short stories and/or non-fiction articles with e-zines (and other publications) are huge. You can make a name for yourself as a writer, create a platform, improve your craft and get paid by selling to e-zines. This course will teach the beginning writer how to research markets, evaluate their own work, write a cover letter/follow up query and track their stories. Students will sub... {more info}
Duration: 13 days. $20/$30 (Craft, Plotting, Characterization, Industry, Genre, Intermediate) 
http://www.savvyauthors.com/vb/workshoplist.php

Blog Tour: Review: Bodyguards by Kallysten

Review 

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Don't forget to check out the other blogs participating in this tour HERE.

*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review*

Bodyguards
(Book #1 in the Quicksilver Codex series) 
From the Author | Smashwords | BN | Amazon Kindle | Amazon UK – DE - FR - IT - ES
Author: Kallysten
Publisher: Self-Published (November 9, 2012)
Genre: Fantasy, Paranormal, Romance
eBook Words: 60,000
ASIN: B00A54RF2C

SUMMARY:

On the verge of her twentieth birthday, Vivien’s worries are those of a typical young woman: doing well in college, gaining more independence, and maybe managing to show Brad, her classmate and sometimes jogging partner, that she wouldn’t mind taking their burgeoning relationship to a different level.

Everything changes in the blink of an eye. Vivien stumbles into a knife fight, watches a man die in front of her, and soon listens, stunned, as Brad and his brother Aedan tell her a story of magic, vampires and a murderous ruler intent on killing a princess in hiding – a tale in which she is the princess and heir to a realm she didn’t know existed.

Vivien’s first instinct is to refuse to believe this incredible tale, even if it comes from a man she is attracted to. But when her self-proclaimed bodyguards use magic to take her to a different world, the edges of reality start blurring and Vivien has to figure out who she truly is.

MY REVIEW:

Ahhh. Let me just start by saying that I do not like Vivien. And with that being said, Bodyguards takes you into the world of fantasy. A world where vampires and hidden princesses whom a king is determined to kill exist. When Viven was young, her Queen mother was murdered and she was sent to Earth, or Otherworld and hidden from a king who is ready to kill her to keep the throne. Bradan and Aedan, twin brothers, are sworn into oath to protect the true heir, Vivien, to the throne. And will die for Vivien if need be. 

Bodyguards is the first book in the Quicksilver Codex series, and a really great start to a promising series. Aside from the main character, Vivien, I really like this book and think the series as a whole has the potential to be awesome. Vivien doesn't want to be treated like a child, and doesn't want Aedan or Brad dying for her, but she's continually acting like a child and does the damndest things after Brad and Aedan tell her it isn't safe. Ahhh. I don't know. It might just be me, but how many times did they need to say that they swore an oath to protect her. 

Other than Vivien, I really liked the Brad and Aedan. I like the connection they have as brothers and I like that they have a pretty strong bond as brothers. Brad seems to be Vivien's eye candy for the moment (even though the brothers are twins and look exactly alike aside from Brad's tattoo) and I like him as a character, but I'm really loving Aedan. He comes off more as wounded and I like that. 

Overall, I really liked this book. I would recommend this book if you're into fantasy/paranormal romance. It was a great start to a series and I'm definitely looking forward to the next installment.

MY RATING:

Kallysten’s most exciting accomplishment to date was to cross a few thousand miles and an ocean to pursue (and catch!) the love of her life. She has been writing for fifteen years, and always enjoyed sharing her stories and listening to the readers' reactions. After playing with science fiction, short stories and poetry, she is now trying her hand, heart and words at paranormal romance novels.

To see her stories, including free short stories and sample chapters, visit

http://original.kallysten.net

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Blog Tour: Giveaway: Above the Universe Below by Elias Barton

 Review

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     » 5 eBook copies of Above the Universe Below by Elias Barton 

About the Universe BelowAmazon US (Kindle) | Amazon (Print) | Amazon UK (Kindle)

Author: Elias Barton

Publisher: Iron Glass Press (July 26, 2012)

Genre: Fantasy, Dark, 332 pages

ISBN-10:0615660746
ISBN-13:978-0615660745

SUMMARY:

For two years running (2011 & 2012) Above the Universe Below was was a semi-finalist in Amazon.com's Breakthrough Novel Award and Publishers Weekly:

"Brilliant writing carries this pleasantly odd tale of an agoraphobic artist, Carder Quevedo... Carder's road is not an easy one, but readers will be rooting for him in this unusual and beautifully written book."

An agoraphobic artist in our world but a grim reaper in another, Carder Quevedo hides at home, immersing himself in the paintings which commemorate the strange deaths he's witnessed. He ventures into public only when necessary, scrambling to his hospital job to extract corneas from deceased donors or darting to the diner to share a meal with Darren, his only friend. That's Carder's existence - and he's content.

Until...

Haika changes that. As the bored, beautiful owner of an art gallery - who also happens to be married - she stumbles into Carder in a chance encounter and soon becomes obsessed with his art. As they forge a quirky, electric relationship, Carder is reluctantly pulled into Haika's social world of wealth, status and the peculiar characters that come with it. Carder is pushed further to the edge when his teenage niece visits, rebelling against her ultra-conservative upbringing. All the while, Carder's hidden history threatens to ruin his developing chance at normalcy, and on the opening night of his art gallery show, his past finally catches up to his present and wreaks havoc upon them all.

EXCERPT:

Haika’s mouth is obscured behind an empty Styrofoam cup riddled with repeating arches of gentle teeth-marks she’s bitten into it like colorless rainbows perforating white sky. She meets Carder’s gaze with a mischievous smile, enjoying the role of spectator and anthropologist. She’s relaxed, as if sitting in a bubble bath with a goblet of wine in hand, reading this all in a novel someone lent her.

Love.

That’s what Haika is: love. Not just love for Mike or art or New York. Haika is love in every moment. She’s loving to Carder, to his relatives, to the Carlisle boys. But she’s more. She’s love in the cloudless sky above, in the honey she brought for tea, in the music she tries to soundtrack Carder’s life with, in the thrift-store clothes she’s wearing, in the ascot knotted at her chin, in her bare feet sliding through what would once have been war-torn grass, in the sadness sometimes hiding in the corners of her lips. She brings love to every moment… something Carder has never seen in another person. Ever. He obsesses over every detail, and gulps down the harrowing thought that he’ll one day lose her. He tries to be love like Haika is, to laze on the hammock of friendship hanging from her eyes right now. He fills with gratitude. This has actually happened. She had actually been in his life, and no one can take that away. Carder could live off it for decades and fully plans to.

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Elias Barton has lived on the edge of an active volcano, worked in a Bible factory and is the author of the novel "Above the Universe Below." He was a semifinalist in both 2011 and 2012 for the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award. He currently resides in Washington DC where he befriends gargoyles, feeds unicorns and combats two cats who try to smother him in his sleep.  

Website