I've always had a thing for vampires, which is a good thing considering the current trend in teen lit. Even though it was a little under my level, I listened to the audio version of "Eighth Grade Bites" by Heather Brewer. As subliminal as its title suggests, we're almost instantly immersed in vampirism. Vladimir Todd is a half vampire who lives with his best friend's mom since his parents passed away three years ago. Typical of nonhumans, he has to hide who he is from everyone except for his best friend Henry.
I usually don't pay attention to an author unless A) They're so incredible I want to read more books by them or, as in this case B) It's obvious the gender of the author. I'm not an expert on middle school boys, but I doubt they act as love struck as Vlad does. It reeked of femininity. Points were deducted immediately for this; if you're going to write as a guy, do it well.
The characters are stereotypical at best. Henry is the stereotypical boy, Aunt Nellie is the sweet cool mom's friend, etc. etc. The only mildly interesting and unique character is Otis and was the only reason why I kept listening. Vlad is the typical whiny angsty teen that is hard to listen to, and I have the urge to hit him over the head for ignoring the blatantly obvious.
It is standard run-of-the-mill fiction; very little sets it apart from the rest and it can hardly be called original. My guesses of the plot were actually far more complex than what actually occured, leaving me frustrated and wanting to go to Fanfiction.net to rewrite the entire thing. I was very disappointed.
I give it a two out of five, and that's mostly for Otis. And the fact the vampires actually ate people. Except for Vlad and his dad.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Monday, January 17, 2011
Sharks Go After: Repo! The Genetic Opera
Being a cult classic and me being the slightly offbeat girl I am, I was eventually going to watch this, especially being addicted to the soundtrack.
Repo! The Genetic Opera is a story set in the not-too-distant future where an epidemic of organ failures (kind of curious how medically sound that is...) causes a near extinction of the human race. In the middle of the tragedy, a company named GeneCo emerges and offers organ transplants for "low" prices. If people cannot make their monthly payments, mercenaries known as repo men are sent out to repossess the organs. No anesthesia, no explanations, and no matter which organ is repossessed, the victim is always killed. Shiloh is our heroine, infected with a mysterious blood disease that includes fainting if she doesn't get her constant meds. She's locked up in her room by her overprotective father, who is a repo man himself.
There are two keys if you're going to make it through this movie; you must not mind people bursting into song constantly and you must have a strong stomach. I love musicals myself, but when there are four songs back to back, it gets a little excessive. The music is a blend of several genres, mostly punk, rock, emo, indie, and classical. I honestly couldn't watch the movie in one sitting because of my weak stomach towards gore; spines are ripped out as well as anything in the abdominal cavity. Heavily sexual and bodies everywhere, it well deserves its "R" rating.
The premise itself is very interesting, but the movie tries to explore too many topics to delve into any one very well. Greed, jealousy, addiction to perfection, how low humanity can sink, sheltering, loss, etc, are covered, but it's hard to focus on one theme with so many attempts. Plot holes are rampant and can get confusing if one can't understand the lyrics. The vast majority of the characters are likeable, and I was disappointed that Graverobber didn't get more screentime somehow. Shiloh is a run-of-the-mill whiny Mary Sue character, but it's understandable frustration.
One of the more interesting points of the film is its casting. Alexa Vega, best known for her main role in "Spy Kids", is cast as Shiloh and after hearing "Infected", it seems like she's matured quite a bit. Rotti's surgery-addicted daughter Amber Sweet is played by Paris Hilton, who actually isn't that bad in the role. Some of the scenes are over-the-top (the crack moment known as "Seventeen" is one of them), but overall it's got an intriguing setting and good camera shots.
I'd give it an overall 3 1/2 out of 5, mostly because of the effort put in. One last piece of advice; don't get attached to any of the characters.
Repo! The Genetic Opera is a story set in the not-too-distant future where an epidemic of organ failures (kind of curious how medically sound that is...) causes a near extinction of the human race. In the middle of the tragedy, a company named GeneCo emerges and offers organ transplants for "low" prices. If people cannot make their monthly payments, mercenaries known as repo men are sent out to repossess the organs. No anesthesia, no explanations, and no matter which organ is repossessed, the victim is always killed. Shiloh is our heroine, infected with a mysterious blood disease that includes fainting if she doesn't get her constant meds. She's locked up in her room by her overprotective father, who is a repo man himself.
There are two keys if you're going to make it through this movie; you must not mind people bursting into song constantly and you must have a strong stomach. I love musicals myself, but when there are four songs back to back, it gets a little excessive. The music is a blend of several genres, mostly punk, rock, emo, indie, and classical. I honestly couldn't watch the movie in one sitting because of my weak stomach towards gore; spines are ripped out as well as anything in the abdominal cavity. Heavily sexual and bodies everywhere, it well deserves its "R" rating.
The premise itself is very interesting, but the movie tries to explore too many topics to delve into any one very well. Greed, jealousy, addiction to perfection, how low humanity can sink, sheltering, loss, etc, are covered, but it's hard to focus on one theme with so many attempts. Plot holes are rampant and can get confusing if one can't understand the lyrics. The vast majority of the characters are likeable, and I was disappointed that Graverobber didn't get more screentime somehow. Shiloh is a run-of-the-mill whiny Mary Sue character, but it's understandable frustration.
One of the more interesting points of the film is its casting. Alexa Vega, best known for her main role in "Spy Kids", is cast as Shiloh and after hearing "Infected", it seems like she's matured quite a bit. Rotti's surgery-addicted daughter Amber Sweet is played by Paris Hilton, who actually isn't that bad in the role. Some of the scenes are over-the-top (the crack moment known as "Seventeen" is one of them), but overall it's got an intriguing setting and good camera shots.
I'd give it an overall 3 1/2 out of 5, mostly because of the effort put in. One last piece of advice; don't get attached to any of the characters.
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