Hey where have you been?

 Sorry,

It has taken so long to get back to this blog. Unfortunately, I am not superwoman; I have a growing business a job, a husband and family and friends to tend to as well as this blog.  

 The book  club has not  stopped. It has  changed and redefined itself as it does when we new people join and share themselves. This is  awesome !

We have not stopped reading nor have I stopped reviewing books and or movies when ask to.  I have been doing mini reviews by email, and a few on Amazon.

 Coming in the new  year I will  be adding this  blog as  well as my other blogs to  my weekly and monthly work loads to  try to get them where I want them to be. I  hope you enjoy them . For now, I am  sending all  who  may read this  my  Misfit wish, May you  read a book  in the new  year that touches your soul and awakens something  new.

Happy New year.

T. Portlock

Magic Mike

Magic Mike (2012)
review

Director: Steven Soderbergh.. Actors: Channing Tatum: Mike Martingano · Matt Bomer: Ken · Alex Pettyfer: The Kid · Matthew McConaughey: Dallas ·

My bff and I went to check out what we hoped to be a entertaining movie. We had seen the Magic Mike trailers with all these handsome men dancing and thought yum!.

The movie stars Channing Tatum in a story inspired by his real life. There is not much of a story.

The movies’ Dance scenes were laughable. Channing Tatum made the other actors look piss poor. They were going thru the motions, off beat and pretty stiff.(and I don’t mean woody). Somebody needed to call Paula Abdul for some dance moves.

Here is the story in short, Tatum plays a poor stripper, who happens to also work construction ,saving to one day fulfill his dream of having a custom built furniture company of his very own. The film follows Mike (Tatum) as he takes a young dancer called The Kid (Pettyfer) under his wing and schools him in the fine arts of partying, picking up women, and making easy money.

Let me breakdown the characters; Matthew Mc Conaughey plays Dallas. His character was more Johnny deep, doing captain Jack sober, with a touch of early prince. (Well, he did show his butt cheeks. )

Next, we have Matt Bomer who was the too peppy, no dancing, white guy whose stripping that left me wanting to go home.(ok, he had a nice smile). I mean I wanted to find him a blanket and call 911. MAN LIMP!MAN LIMP!


On to the Scarier side, Alex Pettyfer who played the kid. The words dancing and Pettyfer should never appear in the same sentence together. NEVER! NO, Dry humping is not dancing, it’s dry humping or grinding. When R. Kelly said there ain’t nothing wrong with a little bump and grind, he wasn’t talking about YOU! Now sit down and don’t get back up.

Next, we have Joe Manganiello aka Big Dick Richie, There was a scene  which showed "Big Dick "Richie’s trouser monkey being tortured by way of an extender. This poor abused member filled a portion of the scene. DUDE! It is against the law to torture helpless animals, now somebody needs to add trouser monkey's to the list.  Manfaniello,don’t quit your day job. Frankly, you ride Sookie on True Blood with less effort!

Besides, it’s not the size that truly matters, it’s the size of the heart of the man which is most important.

To Steven Soderbergh who directed this lack luster movie. If this was Channing Tatum’s inspired story, then tell the story. This movie for me was superficial b***sh*t. Drugs were touched on, but without real conquest. What message does the movie send about drugs and stripping? There were no female stockers? There were no college students dancing to pay off their student loans, nor a son who dances to pay off his mother’s medical bills.(real talk) No full Monty’s. And most regrettably, no jobs given to all the talented male dancers who can really dance and strip.

　

　

T Portlock

The Sitter(2011)

Stars:Jonah Hill, Ari Graynor and Sam Rockwell|

The Sitter is a remake of the 1987 film
 Adventures in babysitting starring

Elisabeth Shue, Maia Brewton and Keith Coogan

In Adventures in Babysitting, Elisabeth Shue’s character Chris Parker agrees to baby-sit after her date stands her up. When Chris’s frantic friend Brenda calls and needs to be rescued from the bus station in downtown Chicago. Babysitter and kids leave their safe suburban surroundings and head for the heart of the big city, never imagining how terrifyingly funny their expedition will become!

In the The Sitter, Noah Griffith played by (Jonah Hill), has been kicked out of college, and finds himself living back at home with his lonely divorced mother. Reluctantly, Noah agrees to baby-sit the kids next door so his lonely mother can make a love connection. When Ari Graynor, who plays’ Noah’s user blond girlfriend, calls dangling sex for picking up some of cocaine, our hero packs his charges into their family minivan and heads out to a dope dealer's den.

One of the big differences better the two movies is in The Sitter is funnier, and a bit more realistic than it’s predecessors. The children are not just cast for their cuteness, the three mini terrors, include perpetually angry Rodrigo (Kevin Hernandez), a Venezuelan adoptee who is also a enthusiastic pyrotechnician.; little Blithe (Landry Bender), a tarted-up Britney Spears want to be; and Slater (Max Records), a neurotic teen ("I've got issues!").

The best part of The Sitter me was Sam Rockwell who played, Karl the coke dealer with the strangest man cave, gym, lab and lounge I have ever seen. This ostentatious boy palace adored with grotesque body-builders heaving weights. Karl is a whacked-out sociopath who is just fun to watch. One of my favorite lines from Karl, (Hugging Noah, he gushes, "You're so gorgeous and shy ... you remind me of my Aunt Shirley!")

Normally, the original is the better choice, Adventures in Babysitting certainly had a closer relationship between the characters. But, The Sitter has better laughs, more believability and character diversity. Watch both and see what you think but for now...

In the words of Noah's too-cool buddy, the doorman at one of the dives our hero visits, the movie's final good advice: "Make love to the night, m-----f-----!"

The Lucky one ( the Movie)

Nicholas Sparks

The Lucky One is a romantic movie is based on Nicholas Sparks' book and starring Zac Efron and Taylor Schilling.

First, let me say I never expect books converted to movies to reflect the book perfectly. My thinking on this issue is if you have 100 readers, you also have 100 imaginations who see each character differently. By the way my imagination never saw Zac Efron as Thibault. There is one exception, Tom Hank’s movie adaptation of Stephen King’s the Green Mile.

For the most part The Lucky one movie is hampered with Hollywood stereotypical characters: from the beautiful single mom, the chivalrous ex-solider, the feisty grandmother, the controlling ex. and the precocious son. The movie does do one thing better than the book, Efron’s character is touched by post traumatic stress, after all as soldier he would have lived thru to sleeping in a trenches, to hear the sounds of weapons being fired at all hours, and seeing friends die. The book just says Thibault hit’s the road on foot with his dog in search of his lucky charm. The movie shows the aftermath of the Iraq war on Thibault goes home to Colorado, he jumps at every loud noise, and accidentally attacks his nephew who touches him while he is sleeping. This is the seg-way to hitting the road, and it works.

Like the book, this is more of a lifetime movie with no surprises, but enjoyable for what it was. It was the nicest stocker movie I have ever seen. By the way my imagination didn’t mind Zac Efron as Thibault.

Watch the movie for yourself and tell me what you thought

T Portlock

The Lucky one (book)

The Lucky one (book)

Nicholas Sparks

You have probably seen the unsmiling serious image of a military person in his or her dress uniforms and thought how strong they appear to be. The question is, can we understand what it takes: for a person to sleep in a trench, to hear the sounds of weapons being fired at all hours, and to see the amount of death a soldier has to endure?   To answer the question, probably not. I am reminded of an old saying, “there are no atheists in foxholes.”

Nicholas Sparks’ fictional book The Lucky one, explores how far a soldier will go to have something to believe in. Thibault, is a soldier in the Iraq war. He finds a photo amongst the rumble. At first Thibault attempts to find the person who lost the picture.  Over time,the photo of a young women wearing a shirt that says lucky lady across the front,  becomes Thibault’s  life line. Thibault’s best friend Victor convinces him that the photo is his lucky charm.

When Victor doesn’t make it home and Thibault does, the journey to find Thibault’s lucky charm begins.

Don't pick it up expecting something earth-shaking, but if you pick it up looking for a light read with a dash of mystery, a splash of action and some tender romance, then you're in for a treat. Overall the book is predictable, but it isn’t a bad thing.Sparks reminds us “there are no atheists in foxholes.” Thank God.


 T Portlock

http://nicholassparks.com/

Alone

Alone by Lisa Gardner

　

Catherine Rose Gagnon endured a month-long nightmare of abduction and abuse, but that was Twenty-five years ago, but for some nightmares never end.

A madman survived solitary confinement in a maximum security prison where he'd done hard time for the most sadistic of crimes. Mr. Umbrio is released from prison, Now he walks the streets a free man, invisible, anonymous...and filled with an unquenchable rage for vengeance.



ALONE... Massachusetts State Trooper Bobby Dodge watches a tense hostage standoff unfold through the scope of his sniper rifle. Just across the street, in wealthy Back Bay, Boston, an armed man has barricaded himself with his wife and child.

ALONE... Bobby Dodge’s finger tightens on the trigger and in a split second, Catherine’s husband Jimmy Gagnon's lay dead.

Garner has woven an intricate web in Alone. This book is worth the read. Why, it’s not predictable. The twists and turns grasped your interest. And if you love a secret this book has a good one.

I would say read Alone, read it and tell me what you think?

T Portlock

Blue Nowhere, Jeffery Deavers

Reviewed by Carlos Vazquez

           
 I felt that even though Jeffery Deavers did a wonderful job, with this psychological mystery, some of the of the character development was a bit weak. Personally, I thought that the villain could have been stronger, and a lot more vicious, that isn't saying that "Phate" wasn't bad enough but I thought it could' be worse.   Still, the book was incredible and insatiably delightful, in a wickedly psychotically delicious and yet disturbing way.
                            

 The Blue Nowhere, was written in 2001, so some of the computer terms such  IBM are a bit  obsolete, for todays' technical norms. Mr. Deavers has invited readers to experience a  somewhat mentally unstable, villain.  Our villain is a suffering, wicked computer hacker, named  Phate. Phate is a stalker, that takes his targets out one by one, using disguises, and his base tool of elimination is the internet.  

   The good guy is Wyatt Gillette although  he is a unlikely hero.  Wyatt was locked up for hacking the Federal Reserve. The question that I pose is How do you catch a hacker? The answer, get a better hacker.  

 I liked the book because it was fascinating and disturbing. However this story is incredible and yes I would recommend it to anyone who likes to be scared. Now don't take my word for it read it for yourself.