Kevin Lau

I have heard mixed reviews about this movie, and, now that it's on Netflix, I decided to try it out. Also, it's an indie film with a budget of only $1 million, so you've gotta give the filmmakers a chance. When a family get together leads to an argument at the dinner table, one of the family members notice something outside the house. An arrow shoots through the window, killing the family member, and soon the family must defend themselves from the killers in animal masks. However, one girl shows remarkable skills in fighting back, creating problems the killers never expected. You're Next  is not a groundbreaking horror-slasher, but it is well-executed and enjoyable. The cinematography is well-done, the acting on par (with a surprisingly strong female lead), and, though some predictable, plot twists you wouldn't see coming. Also, unlike other horror films, all questions are answered the the movie wraps itself up nicely. The script is great, all the dialogue r...

My mother listened to the audio book, my father watched the movie, and here I am, having just finished a printed copy of this magnificent book. A man and his son walk a road in a post-apocalyptic world with one goal: Make it south, to the coast, to survive the winter. With only a pistol with two bullets, their supplies in a grocery cart, and each other, they struggle to survive from starvation and avoid the danger that lurks in the darkness that surrounds them. The Road , in itself, is a masterpiece. It is a collection of poems written simply and used to tell the story (so, yeah, cool your jets, grammar nazis). The story is intriguing, the details vivid, and the prose gripping. The world Cormac McCarthy creates is realistic and quite disturbing. There were times when reading the book when I cringed or had to re-read some parts because I couldn't believe what I had just read. And the overall stories of good and evil and a bond between a father and son are extremely well exec...

As a fan of the book of the same name by Lois Lowry , I went to the theater with hopes that The Giver  would be an alternate version of the book that works better as a movie than it would if it followed the book word for word. I was not disappointed. Jonas (Brenton Thwaites) lives in the community, the perfect place to live. There is no such thing as pain, suffering, or color and everyone does their job they are assigned to. Jonas, however, is not assigned a career like everyone else, but selected. He is now the new Receiver of Memories, being trained by a man who makes himself only known as the Giver (Jeff Bridges). As the Giver trains Jonas for this special role, he also shows Jonas that there is more to his world than the community. There's history to it, both good and bad, and secrets. As a movie and book adaption, The Giver  is artistically well done, transitioning from black and white to full color as the story progresses. Some changes are made from its source mat...

As a fan of the Murder Complex  series and highly anticipating the sequel, The Death Code , I was excited to finally have a chance to buy an electronic copy of the prequel titled The Fear Trials. Her father calls it the Fear Trials. It's a set of tests fourteen year old Meadow Woodson must take to prove to her father that she is ready to defend herself in the small part of the dystopian world known as the Shallows. However, she draws the line at taking the life of another person. She does not want to learn her father's methods on surviving in this kill-or-be-killed world and is set on proving that there is another way. However, an event unfolds to where Meadow must overcome her moral standards to save the one she loves most. Taking place two years before The Murder Complex , The Fear Trials  still kept me on edge even considering the fact that it's a prequel and I already knew which characters were going to make it and which ones weren't. The action is well-writ...

I'll be honest. Ever since this movie was announced, I was certain it was going to fail. Surprisingly, I was half wrong (but I'm still half right). Created in a laboratory fifteen years ago and now reside in the sewers of New York City, teenage turtles Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, and Michelangelo can't help but, against the orders of their master Splinter, sneak out to the surface and stop an organization called the Foot Clan from overrunning the streets of New York. After their latest escapade, they are discovered by news reporter April O'Neil (Megan Fox). Finding out that April's knowledge of the turtles puts her in harm's way and that she also shares a past with them, the turtles try to protect her from the Foot Clan and their leader, Shredder, who has a plan to overrun New York City once and for all. Like I said in the beginning, my expectations for the movie were low. In fact, I was ready to hate it, but I tried to keep an open mind. Though the fi...

With the movie coming out this Friday, I thought it best to read this book as soon as possible. Jonas lives in the community, the perfect place to live. There is no such thing as pain or suffering and everyone does their job they are assigned to. Jonas, however, is not assigned a career like everyone else, but selected. He is now the new Receiver of Memories, being trained by a man who makes himself only known as the Giver. As the Giver trains Jonas for this special role, he also shows Jonas that there is more to his world than the community. There's history to it, both good and bad. The Giver , a children's novel, is a book that it surprisingly well done. At least, until the last thirty pages. Everything before that, though, is fantastic. Lois Lowry executes the story from an angle of a naive boy, having Jonas learn the difference between what is morally right and what is morally wrong. The pacing is steady and though the dialogue feels out of place at times, the story...

I was pretty excited to read this book, being it is Stephen King's only novel appropriate for a younger audience. In the kingdom of Delain, King Roland is poisoned. Framed for the crime of murdering his father, the king, Prince Peter is thrown into prison and his younger brother, Thomas, is crowned king. Although, little do the brothers know, Flagg, a magician and closest advisor of the now dead King Roland, is working behind the scenes to make sure King Thomas completes his plans in turning the kingdom towards chaos. However, even the greatest plans leaves room for failure, including Prince Peter's plan of escape and the dark secret Thomas had seen through the eyes of the dragon. Though the main plot of the story is quite basic, Stephen King take this tale to the next level. Characters, both main and side, each have their shining moments and are very well fleshed out in this story. Simple enough for a child to understand, the story moves at a slow but steady pace. Also...