Bad Teacher (Movie Review)

Bad Teacher

Director: Jake Kasdan
Writers:  Gene Stupnitsky, Lee Eisenberg
Starring:  Cameron Diaz, Lucy Punch, Jason Segel,
Justin Timberlake
Rated: R for sexual content, nudity, language and some drug use

Synopsis from IMDb:  

When her wealthy fiancé breaks it off, gold digger Elizabeth Halsey returns to middle school: she's an awful teacher but wants to save for breast-implant surgery. She brightens when Scott, a new teacher, turns out to be rich, and she stops showing films and sleeping in class when told there's a bonus for the teacher whose class scores highest on the state exam. Her competition for Scott and the bonus is cheery and tightly wound Amy. Amy digs for dirt on Elizabeth who cheats her way toward Scott's bed and the money. Honesty with students seems to be her only skill. She ignores Russell, a droll gym teacher, who looks on. Will she succeed with Scott and get those new breasts? Written by <jhailey@hotmail.com>

**********************************************************************************

MY THOUGHTS:

With a 36% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes, I wasn't expecting a whole lot from Bad Teacher, a movie that was savagely blasted by critics and audiences alike, but I gamely sat down and watched it when it first came out on DVD a couple of years ago and I may have seen it-ahem-two or three times now that it is on Starz. Bad Teacher isn't a perfect movie by any stretch of the imagination. It is riddled with cliches and the main character Elizabeth Halsey (Diaz) is unpleasant and single-handedly sets the feminist movement back at least a decade. But in spite of its flaws, I can't help but find this movie funny. Although, I do sometimes have the sense of humor of a 14-year old boy...

Elizabeth Halsey is a gold digger. The movie starts at the end of the school year and she is thrilled to be leaving the middle school where she has taught for exactly one year to play the role of a kept woman to her rich fiance. So she is shocked to find her bags packed and by the front door when she gets home and her fiance and his mother waiting to let her know that the wedding is off. Three months later, Elizabeth has no choice but to go back to teaching. A job she is, to put it nicely, ill-suited for. She couldn't care less about her students, opting to show them movies daily (from Stand and Deliver to Scream). Her bottom desk drawer has a false bottom that she keeps filled with little bottles of booze, pills, and weed. Her class is void of any decoration and she doesn't know a single one of her students' names.

 

Across the hall from Elizabeth is Amy Squirrel (Punch). The polar opposite of Elizabeth, Amy's room is bright and cheery and Amy wants nothing more than to be a good teacher and reach out to her students. The women have one thing in common though: They are both set on reeling in the new substitute teacher, Scott, played with dorky zeal by Justin Timberlake. Scott is heir to a famous watch company and Elizabeth, seeing dollar signs, sets her sights on him immediately, only to be disappointed when he chooses Amy instead. Deciding he must have chosen Amy because she has bigger breasts, Elizabeth vows to get a boob job and needs to come up with $10,000.

Funding raising? That can only mean one thing: the obligatory car wash! This montage is full of scenes with Diaz slithering across the hoods of cars in tight, extremely short cut-offs and spraying herself with the hose. This was one of the bigger missteps the film makes, in my opinion. So cheap. Then she finds out that the teacher whose students do the best on the mandatory state test gets a fairly hefty bonus. She quickly changes her game plan, going from the lenient teacher who shows movies every day to the teacher who uses dodge ball to get her students to learn--yeah, she's still a bad teacher...even when she's teaching. 





Will she raise enough money to get the surgery or will she realize that her body is perfect the way it is (for real) and that the right guy for her is actually the cute, funny gym teacher she is pals with?

Even with this thin plot line, Bad Teacher does manage to be pretty funny due to its hilarious cast. So many amazing people show up in this movie. Phyllis Smith (from TV's The Office) plays a fellow teacher, John Michael Higgins (Best in Show) plays the principal, Eric Stonestreet (Cameron from Modern Family) plays her roommate. Plus, you really can't go wrong with Timberlake and Seagel, both who are extremely funny in their own right. And I've always been a fan of Cameron Diaz. She almost always makes good choices film-wise, and I appreciate the fact that she seems to be allowing herself to grow older gracefully. Her face moves and she has some wrinkles around her eyes. This just makes her more beautiful in my opinion. She looks like how women in their older 30s are supposed to (if they are drop dead gorgeous naturally, of course). Everyone involved is funny and charming in their own way, making the laughs pretty effortless.


Diaz and Timberlake have to pull off a pretty embarrassing sex scene that's just awkward to watch. I'm always curious about the behind the scene relationships on movies (and shows). The two were a couple for a few years back in the mid 2000s and I wonder how awkward filming a scene like this--and really the whole movie-- was. I remember when this movie came out that Diaz said it wasn't a big deal to work with Timberlake and I believe she was even the one who suggested him for the role. I honestly don't have any major ex-boyfriends. I've been with my hubby for years and while I had boyfriends in high school and in my early college years, none of my relationships really lasted that long. I'd imagine filming a movie with somebody that you were with for years must be kind of awkward.




Overall, I really did like Bad Teacher. As some of you know, I'm about to embark on my semester of student teaching (in two weeks--eep!), so I'm naturally drawn to movies that focus on the profession and love lines like: I thought I chose teaching for all the right reasons--summers off and no accountability (or something like that). Again, the movie is far from perfect. There are definitely some eye-rolling moments, but they are far fewer than the funny ones.

Read More

Waiting on Wednesday (18) To All the Boys I've Loved Before

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases we are eagerly anticipating. Click the link to see the original post plus a whole slew of links to other blogs. After you read this one, of course.



To All the Boys I've Loved Before

Author: Jenny Han  
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Release Date: April 22, 2014

Synopsis from Goodreads:
 
Lara Jean’s love life goes from imaginary to out of control in this heartfelt novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Summer I Turned Pretty series.What if all the crushes you ever had found out how you felt about them…all at once?

Lara Jean Song keeps her love letters in a hatbox her mother gave her. They aren’t love letters that anyone else wrote for her; these are ones she’s written. One for every boy she’s ever loved—five in all. When she writes, she pours out her heart and soul and says all the things she would never say in real life, because her letters are for her eyes only. Until the day her secret letters are mailed, and suddenly, Lara Jean’s love life goes from imaginary to out of control.

Why I'm Excited:

When I was in high school I was always writing letters to crushes and kept an extensive journal. The thought of any of that writing seeing the light of day would have made me die a thousand humiliating deaths, so I can just imagine. I have to be honest that I didn't love Jenny Han's Summer series. The first two books were alright, but I hated the last book (you can see my ranting review here). I loved Burn for Burn and Fire With Fire though and I think this one looks very charming.

What are you waiting for on this Wednesday? Link me up! 

Hey lovely GFC and new followers, please follow me by Bloglovin as we all know Google Reader has gone/is going by the wayside. (I like to follow back, so please let me know if you're a new follower--and leave a link!) Thank you!!!

Read More

Top Ten Tuesday (19) Favorite books that take place in school

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme/original feature hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Click the link to go to their site to see the original list for today plus links to a whole slew of other blogs. After you read mine, of course.

Today's Topic is: top ten books that take place in a setting of your choice.

So I start student teaching in 2 weeks. Gah! So I've got school on the brain. That is why I've chosen to do: Top ten books that take place in a school.

I know this is probably going to be an extremely popular choice, but 5 of my ALL-time favorites fit into this category. 

The FAVS

   

 

Books I really enjoyed

 
   

Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling

Obviously. Is there any school cooler than Hogwarts?

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

So much love for this book that takes place in a Parisian boarding school. 

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks  by E. Lockhart

Why, yes, I am aware that this book makes, like, every list I make. It's because Frankie is the coolest girl ever.
Election by Tom Perrotta
This may just be my favorite book of all time. It's about a high school election for student body president and it is amazing. Seriously, if you haven't read this book you need to remedy that immediately. 

Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld

I absolutely love--love--this book that follows a girl through her four years at an east coast boarding school. It's amazing and I cannot recommend it enough.

The List by Siobhan Vivian

I really enjoyed this book that follows 8 girls (2 from each grade in a high school who made the annual hottest and ugliest list) in the week leading up to Homecoming.

Winger by Andrew Smith

This book about a 14 year-old junior at a Washington prep school is hilarious and touching. 

The Year of the Gadfly  by Jennifer Miller

This book is kind of hard to sum up in a sentence or two. It's about a girl who is new to a New England prep school who starts investigating the school's secret society. The time alternates between this story line and that of one of her teachers when he attended the same high school in which he now teaches. 

Mind Games by Kiersten White

Sisters Annie and Fia, who both have special abilities, are invited to attend a special school that immediately turns sinister. You either love or hate this one. I loved it.

Pivot Point  by Kasie West

This awesome parallel worlds book takes place in not one, but two, high schools. 

So which location did you chose? I'd love to check out your lists, so link me up!

Hey lovely GFC and new followers, please follow me by Bloglovin as we all know Google Reader has gone/is going by the wayside. (I like to follow back, so please let me know if you're a new follower--and leave a link!) Thank you!!!

Read More

Fire With Fire (Early Book Review)

Fire With Fire

Authors: Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Number of Pages: 528
Release Date: August 13, 2013

*This is the second book in a series. Synopsis my contain spoilers for the first book*

Synopsis from Goodreads:

 Lillia, Kat, and Mary had the perfect plan. Work together in secret to take down the people who wronged them. But things didn’t exactly go the way they’d hoped at the Homecoming Dance.

Not even close.

For now, it looks like they got away with it. All they have to do is move on and pick up the pieces, forget there ever was a pact. But it’s not easy, not when Reeve is still a total jerk and Rennie’s meaner than she ever was before.

And then there’s sweet little Mary…she knows there’s something seriously wrong with her. If she can’t control her anger, she’s sure that someone will get hurt even worse than Reeve was. Mary understands now that it’s not just that Reeve bullied her—it’s that he made her love him.

Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth, burn for a burn. A broken heart for a broken heart. The girls are up to the task. They’ll make Reeve fall in love with Lillia and then they will crush him. It’s the only way he’ll learn.

It seems once a fire is lit, the only thing you can do is let it burn...

*******************************************************************************

*This book is the sequel to Burn for Burn. This review contains spoilers for the first book.
You've been warned.*

MY THOUGHTS:

Holy crap. If I thought I was dying to get my hands on this book after reading the first one it is nothing compared to how I feel about the need to get my hands on the last book. I really enjoyed last year's Burn for Burn and squeed when I saw the sequel, Fire With Fire pop up on Edelweiss. Like the first book in the series, Fire With Fire is an addictive and immensely readable novel. It easily held my attention for all 500 pages and I could have easily continued reading. In fact, by the end, I was dying to keep reading, but I know it will be several months before I get to know what happens next.

Fire With Fire starts shortly after the disastrous Homecoming dance in which Lillia, Mary and Kat had drugged Reeve, the popular jock who had hurt and humiliated Mary when the two were younger, causing him to fall and break his leg which has effectively ruined any chance he had on getting off Jar Island with a football scholarship. Both Mary and Lillia are feeling slightly guilty about it until Mary gives Reeve the chance to apologize and instead of doing so he tells her to f-off. That's when the girls decide that they are not through with him yet. Since Reeve confessed feelings for Lillia at the dance when he kissed her in front of everybody, they decide the best way to hurt him is to have Lillia break his heart once in for all.

I loved Fire With Fire. Of the two books Burn for Burn was more fun, maybe, but I loved how Fire With Fire delved more deeply into the girls' psyche. We get to see Kat, who is dying to get in early admission to Oberlin, debate whether or not she should use the fact that her dead mother wanted to go to Oberlin as leverage in her essay. We get to see Mary and her relationship with her aunt, who seems to be going off the deep end. And we get to see Lillia finally deal with the aftermath of her rape in the first book.

I have to say my biggest complaint of the first book was the way Lillia's date rape at the beginning of the first book was just kind of swept under the rug. It seemed so irresponsible to me that the writers wouldn't focus on the effects of the incident or to even name it what it was. While not a huge focus in this book, I do feel like it got at least some of the attention it deserved in this book.

I also found the characterization of Lillia and Reenie's friendship to be very realistic. Reenie is beyond pissed at Lillia for not only snagging Homecoming Queen from under her nose, but for allowing Reeve to kiss her in front of everybody (but is fine with Reeve, of course). She is determined to freeze Lillia out of their group of friends and hasn't talked to her since Homecoming even though they are still on the cheerleading squad together and eat lunch at the same table every day. I can't even tell you how much this brought me back to my own high school days. There were some major fights (snub fights-not fist) that happened in my group of friends because a girl kissed another girl's crush. The back-stabbing and the cruelty just made me cringe. Reading this book made me so thankful that I'm no longer a teen.

My other issue (I wouldn't say complaint exactly) with the first book was the introduction of this paranormal element to Mary's character that seemed to come out of nowhere. In Fire With Fire, Mary's aunt has seemed to realize that Mary has developed unexplained powers and seems to be going off the deep end a little bit. She burns herbs wrapped in bundles and is just acting weird around her. I liked that the book explores this paranormal aspect of Mary's character more in this book.

Overall, if you enjoyed Burn for Burn, I'm sure you will love this book. I'm not even going to hint at the ending, but OMG, you guys (that's right. I used OMG and I'll do it again. OMG!) If you haven't read the first book...I wish you wouldn't have read this review and you should pick up the first book immediately because it is awesome. I cannot wait for the last installment of this series. Han and Vivian make an impressive writing team. The writing is flawless, fast-paced, and exciting. If you've been following my blog, you may know that I've been having trouble concentrating on any one book lately and I couldn't put this 500 + page book down. So good.

*I received a copy of this novel from the publisher via Edelweiss in exchange of an honest review.*



Read More

Stacking the Shevles (18)

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly feature hosted by Tyngas Reviews. This meme allows us to share the books we've recently added to our shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks! *Clicking the link of a book's title will take you to Goodreads.


I have to admit I'm pretty excited to share this week's haul. I mean, due to my awesome library system I almost always have some good-looking titles to show off, but I'm like jumping up and down excited about almost all of these.

E-Book ARCs

Fire With Fire by Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian

I'm about half-way through this as I type this up on Friday afternoon. I'm absolutely loving it. Will post review on Monday if you want to stop back for that. 

Night Film  by Marisha Pessl

This book is getting some rave reviews already. It's one of those books that has really cool photos and letter and websites and all kind of cool things that are way neater in physical (rather than e-book) form.

Just Like Fate by Cat Patrick and Suzanne Young

I've already started this one, too. Although I'm liking the Sliding Doors type story, I have to say it got pushed to the side as soon as I started reading Fire With Fire.

Doon by Carey Corp and Lorie Langdon

Isn't this cover pretty? I'm not exactly sure what this is all about, but I know it's a loose re-telling of the musical Brigadoon.

Blog Tour

 

The Infinite Moment of Us  by Lauren Myracle

I'm pretty stoked to be a part of the blog tour for this book. The lovely ladies of Literary Lushes are hosting. They have some pretty bad-ass tours set up if you want to check them out.

Won

I won the Summer of Love Giveaway hosted by the lovely Courtney (seriously so nice--everybody should go follow her) over at Read Between the Books. I chose My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick. I've read this before, but I had borrowed it from the library. I'm beyond excited to own my own brand new copy to read again and again. Courtney included some awesome, unexpected swag to go with my new book: A gorgeous Alice in Wonderland bookmark and a sticker and bookmark signed by the awesome AG Howard, author of Splintered. Thank you, Courtney!

What I snagged from the library

 

Stormdancer by Jay Kristoff

That cover's pretty awesome. I'm hoping I can somehow find the time for my library books (I still have a ton checked out), but it is looking less and less likely with the school year's bearing down.

Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce

Oh look at those red and black covers next to each other. I didn't even realize until they were side by side. I'm hoping to get to this one, too...

So that's it for me this week. Like I said, I'm pretty excited about what I added to my shelves this week. So what about you? What did you add to your shelves? Link me up!

Hey lovely GFC and new followers, please follow me by Bloglovin as we all know Google Reader has gone/is going by the wayside. (I like to follow back, so please let me know if you're a new follower--and leave a link!) Thank you!!!

Read More

Black Rock (movie review)

Black Rock

Director: Katie Aselton
Writer(s):  Mark Duplass (screenplay), Katie Aselton (story)
Starring: Katie Aselton, Lake Bell, Kate Bosworth
Release Date: July 30, 2013
Rated:  R for some strong violence, pervasive language, sexual references and brief graphic nudity

Synopsis from IMDB:

Three women who were good friends in the past get back together for the first time since they were kids to spend time on an island called Black Rock. They meet some local hunters and find out they know one of them from when they were children. After inviting them to join them in a few drinks on the beach, the atmosphere changes into one of panic and horror as the situation and friendships are turned on their head in a brutal confrontation. Written by Michael Hallows Eve

**********************************************************************************

MY THOUGHTS:

Wow, so I didn't really know what to expect going in to this one. Sometimes when I get bored, I just type an actor's name into Netflix and see if he/she has any new movies that I can save to my queue. Netflix is pretty awesome in that, usually, as soon as a movie is in production it will become available to save. Then I'll chose a movie of said actor that I like and will click on each and every co-star of that film, whether I've heard of him/her or not, to see if that person has any interesting looking films coming out. Rinse, repeat. I'm pretty sure that is how this film ended up in my queue. It was probably through either Lake Bell or Kate Bosworth, who are both actors I enjoy. The point is (oh, yes, there is a point): I didn't really know what I was getting into when I started watching this film. 

Black Rock follows three women who have been friends since childhood: Sarah (Bosworth), Abby (Aselton), and Lou (Bell). Behind the other two's backs, Sarah has arranged for the three of them to spend the weekend camping together on a remote, small island off the coast of Maine. Abby and Lou have never recovered from a fight the two of them had years ago and Sarah is determined to make the two bury the hatchet. 

The film starts off idyllic enough with pretty, although muted, scenery. Abby and Lou are at each others' throats and the viewer soon finds out that the fight was caused by Lou sleeping with Abby's boyfriend years ago. A man she had been with for two years and who she had believed she was going to marry. Tension between the girls are already high when three men come strolling up to their camp. The men are all ex-military and are on the island for a hunting trip. Their plan had been to eat what they killed, but they haven't had any luck so far. Lou recognizes one of the men as the younger brother of one of their elementary school classmates and the girls invite them to sit down and share in their cans of Spaghetti-Os. 

Abby, drunk and still reeling from being in Lou's presence (presumably) starts to heavily flirt with one of the guys (the brother of the old classmate) and lures him away from the others for a make-out session. When he starts to take it too far, she struggles and tries to get away. He throws her on the ground, slaps her, and starts to rape her. Fearing for her life, Abby takes a rock and bashes it into the side of his head, killing him. His friends are pissed. After savagely beating the three women and tying them to a tree, the men are stuck. They feel like they have to kill them now. And that is where the movie really begins. 

This is also where the movie turns into pretty much any other scary chase film ever made. Of course the women get freed from their bondages, there are some scary running through the woods moments, the girls get naked because of wet clothes, not everyone survives. Yada, yada. 

I don't think this was a horrible film. At times it is engrossing and I was certainly rooting for the women to get their asses off that rock, even when they were making the same stupid decisions females always make in this type of film (at least there wasn't a staircase they could run up). At a little over an hour, the film stays pretty tight and nothing that happens is completely outlandish--like is often the case with horror films--it's just that it is predictable. Nothing that happened was surprising. Any discerning viewer will know from the beginning how it will all end.

In the end, I found the film to be alright. I thought all three women did well in their roles (the men did alright, too, for what they were). Aselton, who directed and starred, is truly a striking woman. I liked the additional story of the friends who have to mend the rift in order to survive (even if it is trite). Overall, if you are a fan of scary/suspenseful films there are certainly worst ways to spend an hour and twenty minutes.

Read More

Beauty Queens (Summer Series Book Review)

Summer Series 

I love summer books. I love the romance of summer. I love books about different vacation spots. I love books about road trips. I love seeing the beach on the cover of a book. To celebrate this lovely season, every Thursday I'm going to post a book and review of a summer book I'd recommend reading by the pool, at the beach, while driving across America (or whatever country you call home), in a hammock, in a cabin, on a boat, or at home as you dream of vacation. Happy Summer, everyone! 
 

This week's summer book is: 
 

Beauty Queens

Author: Libby Bray

Publisher: Scholastic

Release Date: May 24, 2011

Number of Pages: 396

Synopsis from Goodreads:

The fifty contestants in the Miss Teen Dream pageant thought this was going to be a fun trip to the beach, where they could parade in their state-appropriate costumes and compete in front of the cameras. But sadly, their airplane had another idea, crashing on a desert island and leaving the survivors stranded with little food, little water, and practically no eyeliner.

What's a beauty queen to do? Continue to practice for the talent portion of the program - or wrestle snakes to the ground? Get a perfect tan - or learn to run wild? And what should happen when the sexy pirates show up?

Welcome to the heart of non-exfoliated darkness. Your tour guide? None other than Libba Bray, the hilarious, sensational, Printz Award-winning author of A Great and Terrible Beauty and Going Bovine. The result is a novel that will make you laugh, make you think, and make you never see beauty the same way again.

**********************************************************************************

MY THOUGHTS:

As with so many books written by women for teenage girls/women, it would be easy to write off Beauty Queens as 'chick-lit' just by looking at the cover. But to do so would be a mistake. Beauty Queens is a hilarious satire that has real things to say about both teenage girls and the world they live in.

I was a teenager in the '90s, when grunge and 'uni-sex' looks were in style, when Sassy magazine was on the shelves, and when My So-Called Life was on TV. The third wave of feminism was going strong and there was a real emergence of strong, political, funny female artists, musicians, and writers. 'Reality TV' didn't really exist yet with the exception of the Real World--a show that, at the time, really did try to examine reality while broaching topics like AIDS, virginity and race issues.

Fast forward to now and you have Kim Kardashian and Snookie, the Real Housewives, the Bachelorette, Teen Mom, Flavor of Love, Toddlers and Tiaras, ad nausem. Yes, for years-decades-women and girls have been exploited to sell the next big thing, but since the 50s I don't think there has been a period of time in which the female race as we know it have tried to conform to the idea of beauty. To the belief that we need to be thin, beautiful, smart, funny, insert-adjective-here to be someone worthwhile. 

Beauty Queens follows...um, teen beauty queens who are on a flight for a pageant-sponsored trip to the beach. After their plane crashes on a desert island only a handful of the contestants survive. The girls band together for survival only to find out that they aren't alone on the island after all. Beauty Queens is like a re-imagining of Lord of the Flies--if LotF would have followed teen beauty contestants instead of school boys. Sans the whole pig head on a stick thing, and, oh yeah, sans the whole killing each other and basically becoming the very worst things about society.

I loved the line in the book, which I don't have on me so I can't quote it exactly, that basically states that the girls needed to be alone on the island to realize who they really are. In contrast to the boys from Lord of the Flies, the girls of Beauty Queens don't turn against each other, they turn towards each other because away from society, away from the media and its societal pressures, they are able to become fully realized. Not just as women, but as human beings. 

As much as I liked Beauty Queens, it is not without its share of problems. The over-the-top campy satire does wear thin after awhile and I could have done without a least a few of the "interruptions." The book would have greatly benefited from having about 50 pages shaved off to make the narrative tighter. BUT I absolutely loved the message of this book and found it absolutely hilarious. I wish that it could be mandatory reading in high schools or junior highs/middle schools alongside Lord of the Flies.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed Beauty Queens--with its fake commercial breaks hawking beauty products like "Stache Off", the beauty product that is one compound away from being a deadly explosive; to its views of a not-to-distant future in each the reality shows are even more ridiculous than they are now. I can completely see this being a movie, although it would inevitable be completely ruined by whatever Hollywood studio bought the rights.  

Read More