Author Archives: Jo Ann Schneider

  • 0

Dune: Part Two Movie Review

Tags : 

Paul Atreides unites with Chani and the Fremen while seeking revenge against the conspirators who destroyed his family.

Why did I come to this movie again?

Because it’s Dune: Part Two!

5 of 5

Characters

This story is full of great characters with rich backgrounds and varied ideals. The film did a good job of showing us this.

Chani was probably my favorite.

There were a few who felt flat. I’m not sure if that was the actor or the director.

4 of 5

Did I care what happened?

Since I haven’t read the book for at least twenty-five years, I was interested in what happened. Mostly because I didn’t really remember.

The film kept the tension going, which kept me interested.

4 of 5

Plot Holes

There will always be plot holes in adaptations from books to film, and I’m generally forgiving with those.

What I didn’t love in this movie was little things like not showing us, the audience, how to ride a worm via a training run for Paul. They skipped a bunch of little things, due to time I’m sure, that made parts of the story feel shallow.

4 of 5

How many times did I yawn?

Surprisingly, none. Part two is faster paced than one, so that was good. I don’t think the hubby fell asleep at all, which is miraculous.

5 of 5

Cool Factor

I can’t fault the beauty of each scene in this movie. The attention to detail is mind-boggling, and I loved seeing it in the theater.

The battles were awesome, which is important to an action junkie like me. If you’re looking for a spectacle that’s also pretty, this is your film!

5 of 5

The End

It’s abrupt. There’s no denying that. However, I did love that Chani marches off because Paul is not only betraying here, but he’s also being an idiot. All he’s doing is replacing one overlord with another, and that’s not what they need.

4 of 5

Overall Enjoyment

Like the first film, I loved each individual scene, but the movie felt like a pile of squares for a beautiful quilt that were hastily strung together. Did I like it? Yes. Would I watch it again? Yes. Can I say I loved it? Not quite.

4 of 5

Total: 35

That’s a Brown Belt!

White Belt: 1-10
Yellow Belt: 11-19
Purple Belt: 20-25
Green Belt: 26-30
Brown Belt: 31-35
Black Belt: 36-40


  • 0

Books Read in February

I managed to get a little more reading done in February than in January.

I made a goal to read 50 books this year, and I’m still a bit behind, but I’m getting there.
Seven down, forty-three to go.

I have one friend who has already read 29 books this year, and another who is over 50.

It’s important not to compare yourself to other people, right?

Right?

Anyway, here’s what I read or listened to last month!

Sweet and Clean RomCom
This book had a great voice, fun characters, and plenty of swoon.
This one is up for a Whitney Award.

Sweet and Clean RomCom
A fun enemies to lovers romance with a surprisingly good character arch for the woman.
This one is up for a Whitney Award.

Fantasy
With a great title and a food based magic system, this one was clever from start to finish.
I listened to this one.

Sweet and Clean RomCom
I adored the characters in this one! I’ve only read one other in the series, but it didn’t matter. I loved it.
This one is up for a Whitney Award.

  • 0

Argylle Movie Review

Tags : 

A reclusive author who writes espionage novels about a secret agent and a global spy syndicate realizes the plot of the new book she’s writing starts to mirror real-world events, in real time.

Why did I come to this movie again?

Some friends wanted to see it, and I was like…fine. (I’d heard it was pretty bad, but sometimes going in with low expectations is best.)

4 of 5

Characters

I loved Bryce Dallas Howard in this! She did a great job playing a seemingly mild-mannered spy novel writer who was way out of her depth. The character was cute and fun, and then something more. I also love that she told the director that she wasn’t going to lose a bunch of weight to fit an ideal actress size for this film, and the director said that was fine, he wanted her as an actress, not for what she looked like.

Henry Cavil was there for eye-candy effect, which worked.

Sam Rockwell did a pretty good job too.

The bad guys were simply bad, which isn’t enough these days. Audiences want more.

I honestly didn’t mind the characters. This movie was set up as ridiculous from the first few minutes, and it only went downhill from there. I wasn’t expecting much in the realm of character development, and I didn’t get it.

Is that a win-win? I’m not sure.

3 of 5

Did I care what happened?

I didn’t fall asleep, but the two people I was with did. The pacing felt jerky, but it kept me entertained.

4 of 5

Plot Holes

If this was a superhero film, I’d say, “of course there are plot holes.” Since this was sort of like a superhero film, I’ll say, “there weren’t just plot holes, but more like plot chasms.”

So many things didn’t make sense, and there was literally a plot twist every ten minutes. Maybe more. I stopped trying to keep track and simply ride the chaos.

3 of 5

How many times did I yawn?

Like I said, the pacing felt jerky. I don’t love it when the director uses the main character falling asleep or unconscious and waking up somewhere new as a scene change, and this film did it four or five times.

There was plenty of action, and more than enough twists, so I didn’t yawn at all. I did roll my eyes a lot.

4 of 5

Cool Factor

I’d love to say this film looked great, but frankly the CGI was awful. Between the unrealistic cat, the obviously green-screen backgrounds, the cartoon oil spill, and the horrible body double CGI in the action scenes I felt like I was watching something from at least 15 years ago.

Now, if you’re in it for pure cheesiness, then this is your movie. The action was over the top and the characters cliché.

3 of 5

The End

Um…the ending was okay. I guess. I left this movie almost as confused as when I started, which isn’t good. The threads sort of wrapped up, but not really.

4 of 5

Overall Enjoyment

I’m glad I went and saw this on $5 Tuesday at the theater. Was it fun to watch? Yes. Did I laugh a few times at the silliness of it all? Yes. Would I see it again? Probably not.

3 of 5

Total: 28

That’s a Green Belt!

White Belt: 1-10
Yellow Belt: 11-19
Purple Belt: 20-25
Green Belt: 26-30
Brown Belt: 31-35
Black Belt: 36-40


  • 0

Alaska at 40 below

Tags : 

A few weeks ago I had the privilege of going to Fairbanks for a writing retreat.

Yes. I said Fairbanks. Alaska. In January.

Here’s the thing, last fall I was in a bad mental space as a writer. I felt grumpy, unworthy, and had imposters syndrome breathing down my neck.

So, when Craig Martelle put out a call for writers to come to his home town for a writing retreat, I was like, “Fine, I’ll sign up for your stupid retreat and you can reject me and validate my feelings that I’m a failure as a writer.”

Three days later I got the invite to come.

I was shocked. I might have cried, and this was the conversation opener with the hubby. “Uh…honey…do you want to come to Alaska with me?”

He, of course, said yes!

What goes on at a writing retreat?

Well, at this one, eight authors sat around a table and did writing sprints for six to eight hours a day. We would type like crazy for 20-30 minutes, then chat for a bit, get up, stretch, walk the dog, and then write again.

Over the course of three days I put 20,000 words on the page! That’s not my biggest number for a retreat, but it’s up there, and I’m thrilled with it!

Between typing and eating, we did things like go outside.
(Hey, when it’s in the -30F range that’s a big deal.)

We made snow angels. (Click here if you’re on Facebook to see the video!)


We drove during the sunset…at 4pm.


We went to some natural hot springs, and froze our hair!


And we stood outside in -40F to take a picture.


And we saw three moose!

It was fun to get to know writers from around the country. It was amazing to experience that kind of cold weather. It was refreshing to get that many words written on a project that’s been kicking my trash.

All in all, I had a great time.
But I’m not sure I’d go back when it was quite that cold.

I sent this meme to the group when, the week after we were there, it warmed up to 0 degrees.

The one thing we missed was the Northern Lights. 🙁
I guess that mean’s we’re going back to Alaska or Iceland. How sad.


Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 28 other subscribers

Top Posts & Pages