Picture Book Review: Scaredy-cat, Splat!

Scaredy-cat, Splat!  by Rob Scotton, Harper, New York, 2010.

This is a first for this blog, the review of a picture book.  In this case the author also did the pictures  He points out that this is the fourth of his "Splat" books.  This one has a Halloween theme.  Splat, is a cat, and his illustration is really crazy.  I love his hair.  He is a black cat.  This story is about how Spla,t scared of even a tiny spider, can become the scariest of all the cats in school.  How this happens is really rather funny, because to be honest, Splat's costumes are sort of lame.  

I read this to Tony--who is beyond the picture book stage, but we enjoyed it all the same.  There must be some grandbaby who would love this one.

Music Review: Thoroughly Modern Millie: Broadway Cast Recording

I have listen to the original broadway cast CD and is not the entire musical.  As for the story this is a love musical.  It is based on the 1967 movie of the same name.  Many people fall in love.  Millie, from Kansas, heads to New York to find a wealthy man.  She does not want a man for love, but finds herself falling in love with "Jimmy."  This musical is based in the 1920s and the music reflects this.  One of my favorites was "The Speed Test."  The music for this song is very clever.  "Gimme Gimme" is Millie's song when she realizes she is going to marry for love in the end.  The other fun song is "Thoroughly Modern Millie."  The music is written by Jeanine Tesori but there are other composers of some of the numbers.  Sutton Foster is introduced as Millie and Gavin Creel stars as Jimmy.

Movie Review: ***The Black Spurs (1965)

The Black Spurs (1965).  This is another Rory Calhoun offering in which he portrays Santee.  A good man, who has a good prospect with a beautiful woman (Linda Darnell) who becomes bent on becoming a bad man as a bounty hunter.  He hunts down someone for a $3000 reward, and takes his black spurs, marking his new life.  He then pursues bounty hunting and makes a career of it.  He decides to take on more profitable pursuits, destroying a town’s reputation so the rail line will go another way.  He brings in prostitution and gambling and a group of thugs to support his way.  In other words, anything to make the town become a bad town.  The railroad will bypass them for sure, and other towns will get the railroad depot.  However, he changes his mind, based on his discovering that his girl bore his son, and then married another guy to give the son a name.  Now he has a town to clean up.

Music Review: David Archuleta by David Archuleta (2008)

I was listening to the deluxe version on our I-tunes.  David is very talented.  Caleb tells me many of his songs on this album are covers, but I don't care, the sound original to me.  Of course "Crush" was not a cover and is his biggest hit to date.  I think my favorite is "Let Me Go" where he is singing with the bass guitarist playing a really cool riff.  It makes a great funky sound.

Book Review: The Last Apprentice (7): Rise of the Huntress

The Last Apprentice: Rise of the Huntress by: Joseph Delany, illustrations by: Patrick Arrasmith, Greenwillow Books, New York, 2010.  
It would surprise you who the huntress turns out to be.  In this book, the county is overrun as the war goes poorly.  This includes the Spook's home, which is burned and his library destroyed, and the boggart is gone.  The find themselves refugees and flee to a nearby island.  This is a bad mistake.  Boney Lizzy, a bone witch has also escaped to the island.  So everywhere on the island they are picking up anything that has anything to do with the dark, and testing them with a roll down a hill with a spiked ball.  If they survive they must be witches and are fed to the buggane, a creature of the dark.  Tom and Alice are taken prisoner, and survive the roll, but are captured all the same.  Bony Lizzy is also captured, and they make a pact to escape.  Bony Lizzy manipulates things to take over the island, and the Spook, Alice (Lizzy's daughter) and To the apprentice are especially sought out for slow deaths.  And Lizzy has tapped into the buggane's cache of stolen human energy from his victims over the years.  These books seem to grab me and keep me reading.  I was up late last night finishing this one.  I have a few days off as the next book is at work.

Movie Review: ***How to Train Your Dragon II (2014)

In the second movie we find out what happened to the Dragon Trainer's mother, who is not really a part in the first movie other than her absence.  Our dragon trainers and their friends face a much bigger challenge in this movie, as the dragons are being eliminated.  This movie has some intense moments of peril.

Movie Review: The Last Sin Eater (2007)

The Last Sin Eater:  Somehow when I watched this I missed the word Last.  Had I picked up on this, maybe I could have better guessed the ending.  However if I had guessed the ending, maybe I wouldn’t have enjoyed the movie so much.  This is about a rural community with lots of superstition and part of this is that they have a sin eater who will hear everyone’s confession before they day and take upon himself their sins.  This movie is about a girl, who figures she has committed a grievous sin, and it is haunting her.  She seeks out the sin eater to bless her during the day.  Overlayed with this, is a Christian minister who has come to preach.  
The people are against any outsiders, but his arrival causes a great change in the community.  My only complaint is the actors used such a thick accent "sin eater" sounded like somebody's name and it wasn't until later I realized what they were saying. Directed by Michael Landon Jr. and features Liana LIberato.