Glee: The Complete First Season

Wow! This DVD set is nothing short of spectacular. The DVD set contains all 22 episodes of Season 1 on seven discs. The show speaks for itself - it's positively delightful. Whenever I'm in a bad mood, I turn on an episode of Glee. The music makes me smile, and there's almost always at least three lines that make me laugh incredibly hard. The cast, especially Matthew Morrison, Lea Michele, and Cory Monteith, are phenomenally talented, and rejuvenate old classics with brand-new energy and vigor. Plus the guest stars are spectacular - Neil Patrick Harris, Idina Menzel, Kristin Chenoweth, and the list goes on!

The DVD set itself is also great. The menus are easy to navigate, and even include a short synopsis of each episode when you click on that episode. I haven't made it through all of the special features yet, but there are lots of them, including: a Glee "jukebox" (basically a selection of songs from different episodes to listen to), a Glee sing-a-long with four songs, a comprehensive dance instructional, a short feature on the costumes, and more!

I recommend both this set and the show. I know many people bought Volume 1 when it first came out, which contains only the first 13 episodes, but this is a great alternative to buying both volumes separately.

To bring a smile to your face...

This is a re-dub of the Inception trailer (see my review here) and it absolutely made my day, so I thought I'd share. We're talking laughed-til-I-cried, almost fell off the chair made my day. Especially when you get to the part where, in the original trailer, it sounds like a foghorn. Happy weekend to all!

Outlive Your Life, by Max Lucado

I had never read a Max Lucado book, but I'm so glad that I started with Outlive Your Life. This book is a call to get off the couch, to care about someone beyond yourself, and change the world for the Lord. In the first chapter, Lucado hit me square between the eyes with the following paragraph:

A few years back, three questions rocked my world. They came from different people in the span of a month. Question 1: Had you been a German Christian during World War II, would you have taken a stand against Hitler? Question 2: Had you lived in the South during the civil rights conflict, would you have taken a stand against racism? Question 3: When your grandchildren discover you lived during a day in which 1.75 billion people were poor and 1 billion were hungry, how will they judge your response? (pages 6-7)

That last question really got to me - how many of us actually think about what our grandchildren will think of us? The book also centers on the 120 people who helped form the early church in the first 12 chapters of Acts, and helps us to realize that they changed the world for the Lord even though they were ordinary people. Like us. But they had the courage to follow God's call.

I really enjoyed this book, and have found myself pondering its points during my day-to-day life. I appreciate how Lucado has made the early Christians come alive, and be relatable to my life today. I was certainly encouraged by this book, and am so very thankful for it. In particular, I appreciated chapters 9, 10, and 11. Chapter 9 focuses on something that has always been a pet peeve of mine (not putting on a show in worship).

Also included at the back of the book is a lengthy discussion guide, covering each chapter in depth. I believe this will be a great book for small groups to discuss, but is also valuable for personal reflection.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Review of "Takers"

I had never heard of "Takers" until I walked into the theatre - I was out with friends, and they chose the movie. I was excited to have no preconceived conceptions or expectations for the movie, but decided about halfway through that it would have helped to at least know the basic premise before going in.

The movie revolves around a crew of "takers," who are essentially bank robbers. They all dress well, have fantastic cars, and have apparently never been caught. However, one former/current member of their crew has been caught, and is now out of jail for good behavior. Right after one large bank job, this member contacts the crew, and tells them of a once-in-a-lifetime heist that is happening in five days. This breaks their rules of always waiting two years in between heists, but they decide to do it anyways.

If you're wondering why there are no character names in that summary, it's because you're never quite sure what their names are. The whole movie feels very generic - an updated version of Ocean's 11 with more brawling and violence, and less charisma. There are some genuinely interesting scenes, however, as well as some great cinematic shots, and LA looks better on film than it does in real life. It's a fine way to spend two hours, but at the end of the day, I could take it or leave it.

Takers is rated PG-13, stars Matt Dillon, Paul Walker, Idris Elba, Chris Brown, T.I., Zoe Saldana, and Hayden Christensen. Directed by John Luessenhop and distributed by Sony Pictures.

Inception

I admit it - I wanted this movie to be awesome. As a whole, I have been unimpressed with movies lately, and I saw this as almost a last-gasp effort to be truly impressed with cinema again. I was far from disappointed.

As a film major in college, this was the type of movie that we all wanted (and still want) to achieve someday - a truly fascinating movie that is as much a feast for the eyes as much as it is a puzzle for the mind. The story revolves around Cobb (excellently articulated by Leonardo DiCaprio), and his team of unusual characters who make a living by extracting the secrets of high-powered people, which they they are usually tasked to do by a competitor. Until now, they have focused primarily on extracting secrets. But then, a client has a tall order - can they actually plant an idea into another's mind? The story unfolds brilliantly from then on, twisting and turning and throwing in loopholes left and right, forcing you to do mental acrobatics.

Any review of Inception would be incomplete if it didn't also mention the visuals of the film. In short, they are nothing less than breathtaking. For me, I am often drawn out of the moment of a film by wondering "how did they do that?" or thinking "wow, this CGI is horrible." There was little to no moments for me like that in this movie - I was completely engrossed the entire time, and the computer graphics (what there is of them) blend seamlessly into the rest of the film.

While I know that The Dark Knight made a bigger box office draw (thus far), I believe that this will be known as Christopher Nolan's masterpiece. He truly creates a different world for the viewer. Plus, if the last five to ten seconds of the film aren't a conversation starter, then I don't know what is. Highly recommended.

A Confession

I have something to confess. Much like knitting, sewing, and dieting, I have tried blogging before. Only to have it fail – miserably. I get too caught up in the thought of “but what should the genre of my blog be???” and grow weary. And pretty much never come back to a blog again. I’ve started something like 5 blogs, only to have them sit unused in the vast openness of the Internet, taking up a domain name.

So why restart the blog now? Many reasons. I want to have a place to connect with people who I don’t necessarily know, have an outlet for expressing myself that, let’s face it, probably won’t be read by tons of people, and I want a place to be able to share my thoughts on things that interest me, whether it be books, movies, tv (oh my!), or whatever happens to pop into my head at that particular moment.

I want to share myself on this blog, not just review things. I want it to be interesting, helpful, and a place where people can laugh and think “yep, I’ve definitely thought that before!” And I have no idea how this turned into a mission-statement blog, but there we have it. Enjoy, and welcome to my blog!