Saturday, February 6, 2016

DVD Review - The Lizzie Borden Chronicles


$26.99; 337 minutes; Buy Link: Amazon
The name Lizzie Borden has become somewhat of a legend over the years; mostly thanks to wild tales, books, television movies and feature films.

For those that don't know who Lizzie Borden was, I'll give you a quick history lesson. Lizzie was thirty-two-years-old when she was accused of brutally murdering her father, Andrew, and her stepmother, Abby, in 1892 at their house in River Fall, Massachusetts. Andrew was hit with a hatchet 18 or 19 times and Abby was hit with a hatchet 11 times. Lizzie was arrested for the murders; which was quite odd for a women to be accused of murder at the time, and the media went crazy over the trial. In the end, Lizzie was acquitted, though many people believed she was guilty.

In 2014, Lifetime aired a 90-minute television movie, titled Lizzie Bored Took An Axe, which starred Christine Ricci (Adams Family, Casper) in the title role. While the movie followed actual events, most if was fictionalized. The movie was a big hit for the cable channel with 4.4 million viewers.

A little over a year later, an eight-part limited-series, The Lizzie Borden Chronicles, premiered on Lifetime with Christine Ricci returning as Lizzie Borden and Clea DuVall returning as her sister, Emma. The series was released to DVD on February 2nd from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. Special features includes deleted scenes and a gag reel.

Set after the trial, the series shows what happened to Lizzie and Emma as they try to get on with their lives, which all the plots are speculative and fictionalized. While their father was rich, he had a lot of bad investments, so Lizzie and Emma have a hard time trying to get a hold of their inheritance. The situation gets worse when their half-brother, William (played by Andrew Howard) shows up wanting his part of the family fortune. Lizzie has no choice, but to go back to her old ways and get rid of their problems in a bloody fashion.

Friday, February 5, 2016

Book Blogger Hop: Feb. 5th - 11th

Book Blogger Hop

Welcome to the new Book Blogger Hop!

If you want schedule next week's post, click here to find the next prompt question. To submit a question, fill out this form.

What to do:

1. Post on your blog answering this question:

  This week's question is submitted by Elizabeth @ Silver's Reviews!

Does your significant other share your reading passion?

2. Enter the link to your post in the linky list below (enter your Blog Name and the direct link to your post answering this week’s question. Failure to do so will result in removal of your link).


3. Visit other blogs in the list and comment on their posts. Try to spend some time on the blogs reading other posts and possible become a new follower.  The purpose of the hop is to give bloggers a chance to follow other blogs, learn about new books, befriend other bloggers, and receive new followers to your own blog.
  

My Answer: 


Since I'm currently single, I can't really answer this week's question. Though if I ever do get married, hopefully she will like to read books.


Linky List:

Thursday, February 4, 2016

Review - Rotten School: Shake, Rattle, & Hurl!


Buy Link: Amazon
I almost forgot about this week's Thursday ReRead, until I noticed that I had left the book Rotten School: Shake, Rattle, & Hurl! was on my desk. After that, I made a cup of coffee, grabbed the book and started reading it this afternoon.

Once again, Bernie Bridges is the main character, a fourth-grader living who attends the private school, Rotten School. He thinks that he's the coolest kid at the school, even though in reality he's the rottenest of the students.

The school is going to hold a talent contest, which the winners will win tickets to The Plopps concert. The Plopps are Bernie's favorite singers, so he has to find a way to win the contest. Plus, he plans on inviting the prettiest girl at the school, April-May-June, as his date.

Unfortunately, the Nyce House Band is also going to enter the contest, which one of the band members is Bernie's archenemy, Sherman Oaks. Despite Bernie's dislike for the band, the Nyce House Band are actually good. To make matters worse, Bernie isn't musically inclined.

Wednesday, February 3, 2016

Review - The Berenstain Bears' Easter Sunday


Buy Link: Amazon
The Berenstain Bears is one of the most popular and the longest-running picture book series on the market today. The first book was released in 1962 and was written and illustrated by Stan and Jan Berenstain. Sadly, both authors has passed away, but their son, Mike, has taken over the franchise; adding Christian themes to the most recent releases.

The newest book, titled The Berenstain Bears' Easter Sunday, was released last month to bookstores. Like the title suggests, the story is set on Easter Sunday morning, where the Bear family (Papa, Mama, Brother, Sister and Honey) are getting ready to attend church. This is when the cubs asks why everyone has to wear bright colors that day. Mama answers, "Bright colors are for happy, joyous occasions."

The cubs enjoy Easter Sunday's sermon at church, where Preacher Brown tells the story of Jesus. Afterward, the cubs participate in an Easter hunt. No, they're not hunting for colored eggs, but instead they are hunting for gift boxes, which has a Noah's ark figure inside each one.  The cubs end up learning that Easter is so much more than just colored eggs and chocolate bunnies.

Q&A with Carmen Fox, the author of "Divide and Conquer"



Q&A with author Carmen Fox



When did you become interested in storytelling?

At a fairly early age. Lying is a way of telling stories, right? I also wrote poems when I was little, then articles for the school paper in my teens. It was my nana who gave me the final nudge to write down my stories after I left college.

What was your first book/story published? 

Divide and Conquer was my first. It was published amid delays and close to the publication date of my second book, Guarded, so Divide and Conquer never got the attention I owed it. Such a shame, because it’s quirky and unusual, with a good deal of humor and romance.

What inspired you to write Divide and Conquer?

Frustration. I was fed up with the usual couplings of man and man in the traditional buddy cop movies and of man and woman in paranormal fantasy. So I wanted to write about the lives of two inherently different women who come together for a common purpose. Each follows her own romance interest without sacrificing her friendship with the other, but their bond is at the heart of the story.


What character in Divide and Conquer is the most/least like you, and in what ways?

Tuesday, February 2, 2016

Can I Watch HBO In Australia?


 

HBO has become more popular than ever thanks to the awarding-winning series Game of Thrones, True Detectives and Veep. Now with the long-awaiting Deadwood reunion movie finally moving forward (the script has been green-lit), I'm sure it will bring in even more viewers.

Of course technology has changed since Deadwood ended 10 years ago as you access your favorite shows (True Blood) & movies with a HBO GO subscription on any device (tablet, cell phone, laptop, etc.). Sadly, this service is not available in some areas, such as the UK, Canada, Australia, Ireland, etc, as you can only have access if you are living in the fifty states of the United States of America.

The good new is that there are a few ways around this problem!

HBO GO can detect if a user isn't located in the United States by the user's unique IP Address. If you use the Smart DNS Proxy Service, you can bypass any regional restrictions, so you can be able to watch your favorite HBO programming in HD anywhere around the world.

DVD Review - Saban's Power Rangers Dino Charge: Unleashed


Retail: $14.98; Buy Link: Amazon

Kicking off a brand-new season on Nickelodeon last Saturday was Saban's Power Rangers Dino Super Charge. Fans (young & old) can also be entertained by the recent DVD release from LionsGate, titled Power Rangers Dino Charge: Unleashed, featuring four action-packed episodes from the twenty-second season.

Power Rangers Dino Charge debuted last February. Just like previous seasons, the series borrows Zords footage, props and costumes from the Japanese Super Sentai series (Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger). 

"Powers From the Past" begins with an
intergalactic bounty hunter Sledge, in his spaceship prison, arriving on Earth in the pursuit of a alien named Keeper, who is the possession of ten Energems that Sledge is desperate to have in his clutches. Keeper outsmarts him by bonding each Energem to a dinosaur. Fast-forward sixty-five million year, where we are introduced to Tyler Navarro (played by Brennan Mejia), a young man searching for his missing father. After bumping into the evil creature Iceage, he must team up with a wannabe archaeologist Shelby Watkins (played by Camille Hyde) to save the day as the new Red and Pink Rangers.

"Past, Present and Fusion" starts out with Iceage still not defeated. Tyler and Shelby must team with Riley Griffin - the Green Ranger (played by Michael Taber), Chase Randall - the Black Ranger (played by James Davies), and Koda - the Blue Ranger (played by Yoshi Sudarso) to destroy Sledges newest evil plan to retrieve the Energerms.

"A Fool's Hour" Sledge unleashes his monsters on Earth and the Power Rangers must use their new Zords to save the day.