The Knife of Never Letting Go (BR #14)

By Patrick Ness

Setting

The Knife of Never Letting Go takes place in the colonial town of Prentisstown on the planet called New World. On New World, there is an alien race known as the Spackle. The Spackle went to war with the human colonists, and though they were wiped out, the Spackle released a germ that allowed animals to talk and another that allowed everybody to read everybody else's mind. These thoughts that people can hear is call 'The Noise.' The Noise was responsible for killing all of the women in Prentisstown. Prentisstown is now a slowly-decaying town so loud with Noise that it is almost unbearable.

Summary

Todd Hewitt is a boy in Prentisstown whose parents died. He lives with Cillian and Ben, both friends of his parents. Todd is the youngest kid in Prentisstown and was born shortly before all the women in the town died. When Todd and his dog Manchee find a spot without Noise in the swamp outside the town, his life changes. After he tells Ben and Cillian about the Silence, Todd has to go on the run, being chased by the men of Prentisstown. As he runs, Todd finds something he never expected: a girl. Together the girl, named Viola, Manchee, and Todd run for their lives from the men of Prentisstown, and Todd begins to realize that the life he has known has all been a lie.

Characters

Todd Hewitt

Todd is a boy from Prentisstown. In one month, he will become a man at the age of 13. Todd is an interesting character because of his ideas of becoming a man. Throughout the story, Todd tries to come to terms with the new truths in his life and tries to find out how this changes his definition of manhood.

Viola Eade

Viola is a girl from a crashed scout ship for a fleet of colonists who are coming to New World. She is very shy with Todd at first, but the two later make a good team and she keeps Todd from doing stupid decisions throughout the book. She is a very interesting character and I think she has the most realistic personality out of all the characters.

Aaron

Aaron is the crazy religious leader of Prentisstown. For some reason, he held Viola hostage at the beginning of the book and later chases both Viola and Todd through the New World. Throughout the book, you think he is just a madman, but you find out about his reason, even if they are still completely insane.

Manchee

Manchee is Todd's talking dog. He doesn't say much, but he is one of the most likable characters in the entire book.

Ben Moore

Ben is one of Todd's adopted parents. He is probably Todd's favorite person in the entire world and he helps to save Todd's life multiple times in the book.

Conclusion

The book is very interesting and keeps you on the edge of your seat the entire time. The ending was so good, though I hated it so much. This book deserves to be read by everyone. 9.8 out of 11 waffles.

Mortal Engines (BR #13)

By Philip Reeve

Setting

Mortal Engines takes place on Earth several hundred years in the future. The world was destroyed in a nuclear holocaust known as the Sixty Minute War. This war led to a loss of technology along with several types of natural disasters, so traction cities, or cities on wheels, were made to escape these natural disasters. These cities would eat smaller cities. The idea of Municipal Darwinism came about, stating that large cities should eat smaller cities, and smaller cities should eat towns, and towns should eat stationary settlements. The main opposition to the traction cities and to Municipal Darwinism is the Anti-Traction League, which protects itself from the large traction cities with a mixture of natural and man-made barriers. In this world, archaeologists dig up pieces of Old Tech, or technology from before the Sixty Minute War, which they sell to cities for historical or technological purposes. The book takes place when traction cities are running out and cities are looking for new sources of prey.

Summary

In the book, the narrator follows Tom Natsworthy, a teenage boy from the city of London. He is an apprentice in the Guild of Historians in London (There are four guilds in London: Navigators, Engineers, Historians, and Merchants). His life is pretty normal until he tries to stop a girl, Hester Shaw, from killing Thaddeus Valentine, the head of the Guild of Historians. After Hester Shaw falls off of London, Valentine pushes Tom out of the city as well. As Tom and Hester try to make their way back to London, Katherine, Valentine's daughter, works with a young engineer named Bevis Pod to uncover the mysteries surrounding London, Valentine, and the Lord Mayor of London, Magnus Crome.

Characters

Tom Natsworthy

Tom was an orphaned child from London working as an apprentice for the Guild of Historians. He dreamed of adventure until he found his way into one when he is pushed out of London by Thaddeus Valentine. In the world outside of London, Tom is very inexperienced and just wants to get back home, but overall, Tom is a very interesting character who's life and attitude changes over the course of the book.

Hester Shaw

Hester Shaw is a girl who witnessed Thaddeus Valentine kill her parents over a piece of Old Tech. Valentine also cut Shaw's face, disfiguring it horribly, before Shaw was able to escape. She is completely bent on taking her revenge on Valentine. Shaw is also very interesting and is easy to relate too.

Katherine Valentine

Katherine is the daughter of Thaddeus Valentine, and she completely adores her father, but when Tom 'fell' out of London after saving Thaddeus from Hester Shaw, she begins to get suspicious of her father and of Magnus Crome, the Lord Mayor of London. She takes it upon herself to investigate what really is happening in London.

Thaddeus Valentine

Valentine is one of the most powerful men in London. He used to be an archaeologist, but something that he gave to Lord Mayor Crome led to his promotion to the Head of the Guild of Historians. Valentine's past is mysterious and he does whatever Crome asks of him. He acts as one of the main antagonists of the story.

Anne Fang

Anne Fang is an aviatrix, or pilot. Though airplanes are lost technology, pilots still fly blimps and balloons. Fang is also a spy for the Anti-Traction League. She, like Katherine, is trying to understand the mysteries of London. She is a likable character, but is not very dynamic within the book.

Bevis Pod

Bevis is an apprentice engineer in London. He knows some of the terrible things that are going on beneath the surface in London. He tries to help Katherine to find out what is happening in London, and later on, he helps her to stop what London is about to do.

Magnus Crome

Magnus Crome is the main antagonist of the story. He is the Lord Mayor of London as well as the head of the Guild of Engineers. He has plans to make London greater than any other traction city on Earth, though much of his plan is shrouded in mystery.

Shrike (Grike)

Shrike (or Grike in North America) is a stalker. Stalkers are metal men with human brains who were made before the Sixty Minute War. They cannot die unless killed. Shrike helped to raise Hester Shaw after her parents were killed, and later, under the orders of Magnus Crome, goes after her and Tom to kill them.

Conclusion

The book is very well written and develops its main characters well. The ending of the book is completely unpredictable and makes you sad, happy, and shocked all at the same time. I truly enjoyed this book. 9.5 waffles our of 11.

Brain Spill Movie Review #9

We Bought A Zoo

Setting

The story mainly takes place in a city and in the zoo some ways outside of said city. This movie takes place in the present day.

Summary

Benjamin Mee, the father of two children and who's wife recently died, decides to move from his old house. The house he thinks is perfect turns out to be a zoo. Benjamin and his two children, Dylan and Rosie, come to the rundown zoo, hoping to repair it. With the help of the small zoo staff and his children, Benjamin Mee works to fix the zoo and find a way to pay for it before the zoo's opening day. In the process, Benjamin learns more about himself, his kids, and learns to move on from his wife.

Characters

Benjamin Mee

Benjamin is the main character of the story. He is the father who decides to buy the zoo. Throughout the story, he struggles with his relationship with his son. Mee also struggles to make ends meet while trying to fix up the zoo. His feeling are really made clear by all the emotional highs and lows Benjamin has.

Kelly Foster

Kelly Foster is the lead zookeeper. She is also one of the most devoted to getting the zoo back into its previous glory. She is the staff member who trusts that Benjamin will make it through the most. She also serves as a love interest for Benjamin.

Dylan Mee

Dylan is the oldest child of Benjamin. He is still saddened by the death of his mom, and his relationship with his father has grown more and more tense, especially after Dylan was expelled from school. He hates that his family moved to the zoo and that none of his friends came to visit him. He also is so wrapped up in trying to get back home that he is completely oblivious to that fact that his longing for his old home is breaking up his friendship with Lily.

Rosie Mee

Rosie Mee is the youngest child of Benjamin and is also the one who convinced him to buy the zoo. She does not play much else in terms of plot significance other than a constant source of comic relief.

Duncan Mee

Duncan is Benjamin's older brother. Duncan serves as Benjamin's call back down to Earth. He tries to get Benjamin to get over his wife and later to get over the zoo. Benjamin ignores both of those bits of advice, but Duncan plays the ever important voice of reality.

Lily Miska

Lily is Kelly's 13-year old sister who is home-schooled and works at the zoo. She does not play a major role in the film other than having a few key lines and as a love interest for Dylan.

Walter Ferris

Walter Ferris is the closest thing to an antagonist in the film. He is the zoo inspector who is very arrogant and strict. The zoo must meet Ferris's standards if they want to get the zoo opened at all.

Peter MacCreedy

Peter is the zoo's carpenter who created many innovative ideas for the enclosures in the zoo. He believes that many of his ideas were stolen by Walter Ferris. The first time Walter comes to inspect the zoo, Peter says he will kill Ferris and is locked in the bathroom to keep him under control. The second time Ferris comes, MacCreedy gets himself drunk in order to get the zoo passed the inspection. This is a great addition to the movie, and it shows how dedicated these people are to the zoo.

Conclusion

The movie was a feel good movie, and it was good at it. The movie made me all warm and fuzzy, even if some of the scenes were a bit annoying. I rate this movie 8.5 out of 11 penguins.h

Brain Spill Book Review #12

The Gatekeepers

By Jacques Steinberg

Setting

The Gatekeepers is a nonfiction book that takes place in the late 20th Century and the early 21st Century. The story is focused around the Wesleyan University.

Summary

The book follows Ralph Figueroa, an admissions officer at Wesleyan, as he advertises Wesleyan and as he decides whether or not to admit certain applicants or not.

Characters

Ralph Figueroa

Ralph was an admissions officer at Wesleyan at the time when the book took place. Ralph comes from a Hispanic family from southern California, and he feels connected to the students from bad backgrounds that apply to Wesleyan.

Julianna Bentes

Julianna is a prospective Wesleyan student who attended Harvard-Westlake school on scholarship. Being that she is ethnically Brazilian, African, and Caucasian, she dances, and she has good grades, she is one of the top students in the United States. 

Migizi Pensoneau

Migizi is a Native American attending a prep school. Although he had below-average grades before attending the prep school, Migizi's ethnicity and SAT scores make him attractive to quite a few schools, including Wesleyan.

Jordan Goldman

Jordan is a student from Staten Island who is an aspiring writer. Although told not to, Jordan wants to send samples of his writing with is application. He also  is best friends with Devin, a boy who cannot stand on his own. His friendship with Devin is what he writes about in one of his college essays.

Becca Jannol

Becca is the president of  Harvard-Westlake. She has average grades and SAT scores and she once accepted a marijuana-laced brownie. When the student who brought the brownies to school was caught, Becca was the only student to admit that she accepted a brownie. After Becca decides to write about this in her admissions essay, the reactions from colleges vary, though Ralph wants to get Becca into Wesleyan.

Aggie Ramirez

Aggie is from a Hispanic background. She attends a private school and is school president. She, unfortunately, has low SAT and senior year grades. The rest of her grades are fine, though. She also says that her bad senior grades are due to her overload of extracurricular activities. She is, though, a prospective student at Wesleyan.

Tiffany Wang

Tiffany is a northern Californian Asian-American. Tiffany had average grades and was active in extracurricular activities, but she fails to expand on them in her essay. She does have a chance at getting accepted at Wesleyan, though.

Conclusion

The book was very interesting and really gets the reader connected with the characters. The book does go off on several rabbit trails, though, but I liked it. 7 waffles out of 11.

Brain Spill Movie Review #8

Journey 2: The Mysterious Island

Setting

Journey 2 takes place in the modern world sometime after Journey to the Center of the Earth took place. In this universe, the works of Jules Verne were actually true. There actually was a way to the center of the Earth and a Mysterious Island. Those who believe that the works of Verne are true are known as Vernians. 

Summary

After Sean Anderson, a Vernian who was present in The Journey to the Center of the Earth, has received a radio message in code from a Vernian, Sean and his stepfather, Hank Parsons, decipher the code, which gives the location of the Mysterious Island. Sean believes the message was sent by his grandfather, who has been missing, so Hank and Sean, along with their helicopter pilot, Gabato, and his daughter, Kailani, travel to the Mysterious Island, where they crash land on the beach. They soon meet Alexander Anderson, Sean's grandfather, but they also discover that the island will sink within the next few days, so the five of them read through Verne's book to discover how to survive and escape the Mysterious Island.

Characters

Sean Anderson

Sean Anderson is the only connecting character from the first movie. His father died while trying to discover the passage to the Center of the Earth. He relationship with his stepfather, Hank, is very tense because of the fact that some many people have deserted Sean in the past. Sean is also the main expert on the works of Verne and other authors brought up throughout the book.

Hank Parsons

Hank Parsons is Sean's stepfather. He, throughout the movie, is trying to build a solid relationship with Sean. He does have a rather tense relationship with Alexander Anderson, who is constantly making fun of Hank. Hank seems to be from retired military, and he is probably the strongest person on the team from the Mysterious Island.

Kailani

Kailani is Gabato's daughter. She helps him with his helicopter tour company, but she really wants to go to college. The only reason Kailani and Gabato agree to transport Hank and Sean is to get money for Kailani's college. Her main purpose, though, is to serve as a love interest for Sean. 

Alexander Anderson

Alexander Anderson is a Vernian and Sean's grandfather. Alexander is the one with knowledge of the Mysterious Island and knows how to navigate and survive the island, because he's been living there for about two years. He has a strained relationship with Sean because he has never really been there for Sean, even when Sean's father died.

Gabato

Gabato is Kailani's father and the owner of a helicopter tour company. His only real purpose in the film is as a source of comic relief throughout the film. In the story, he sort of has a real goal, which is to get his daughter to college, but even this just leads to more comedy. 

Conclusion

The movie is funny, fun, and interesting. It develops all its main characters fairly well and has a consistent pace. It makes good connections to the Verne books it references, but sometimes they stretch the examples a bit too far, like with Stevenson's Treasure Island or with Swift's Gulliver's Travels. The movie was , overall very fun. 6.55 out of 11 penguins.

Brain Spill Book Review #11

As I Lay Dying

By William Faulkner

Setting

This book takes place near Jefferson, Missouri before or during 1930.

Summary

Addie Bundren, the mother of the Bundren family, dies, but her final wish was to be buried over the river in the city of Jefferson. Her family builds her a coffin and starts to transport her to Jefferson, but along the way, they run into many difficulties, including broken bridges, broken legs, burning barns, and dead mules.

Characters

Darl

Darl is the second child of Addie and Anse Bundren. He is also, in my opinion, the main narrator of the book, though there are fifteen. People talk about him because he is a bit different, but he seems to be more level headed than most. He does do some strange things, though. For example, he set a barn on fire.

Anse Bundren

Anse is the father of the Bundren family. He is known for trying to find the way to finish a job with the least amount of work, but he promised Addie that he would bury her in Jefferson, so he won't accept any alternative plan. He tends to mumble to himself a lot and doesn't accept help from anybody when he is in need of some.

Jewel

Jewel is the third son of Anse and Addie. He has a horse that he worked to get and is so obsessed with the horse that Darl says that Jewel's mother was a horse. He likes to yell and cuss at people and is one of the more annoying characters.

Cash

Cash is the oldest son of the Bundrens. He is a good carpenter, but like his father, Cash tries to do things the easy way. He does, however, work hard on his mother's coffin. His role is as the narrator when other people  are doing things more important.

Dewey Dell

Dewey Dell is the daughter of Anse and Addie. She is a caring sister. A bit too caring, though. By the end of the book, it becomes obvious that she is pregnant, but then the book ends, and nobody important knows she is pregnant and nothing happens about that.

Vernon Tull

Tull is the neighbor of the Bundrens, and tries to help them all the time, but every time he does, Anse turns him away.

Vardaman

Vardaman is the youngest Bundren brother. His is a bit crazy and thinks that his mother is not the dead lady in the coffin, but the fish he caught and cut up earlier that day. He doesn't really do anything else in the book than say that his mother is a fish.

Addie Bundren

She is a dead person, but for some reason, she is still able to narrate part of the book.

Conlusion

Very little happens in the book and what does happen is not interesting. All the characters are annoying and make stupid decisions. 3 out of 11 waffles.

Brain Spill Movie Review #7

Salmon Fishing in the Yemen

Setting

Earth. Modern Times. Nothing unusual.

Summary

Dr. Alfred Jones is a man who works for the British government as an expert on salmon fisheries. He is contacted by Harriet Chetwode-Talbot, a representative for Sheikh Muhammed, a wealthy Yemeni who is fond of salmon fishing in Scotland. Sheikh wants to bring salmon and salmon fishing to Yemen. Though he thinks it is impossible to bring salmon fishing to Yemen, Jones is forced to work exclusively on this project because Patricia Maxwell, the prime minister's press adviser believes this could bring better Anglo-Yemeni relations. The plot revolves around Jones, Harriet, and Muhammed trying to make this dream a reality despite opposition from both the British and the Yemeni.

Characters

Dr. Alfred "Fred" Jones

Fred Jones is a man who suffers from Asperger's syndrome, which leads to difficulties in social interaction and to a repetitive and restricted life style. In Jones's case, this lifestyle includes going to his government job every day and doing little to nothing. This is what makes the Yemeni salmon fishing project even more difficult for Jones. Jones changes over the course of the film. His lifestyle, beliefs, and attitude all change over the course of the film.

Harriet Chetwode-Talbot

Chetwode-Talbot is the representative who comes and contacts Jones about the project. She also helps to contact certain people about the project, including the engineers of the Three Gorges Dam. She has a boyfriend in the army who goes missing in action early in the film, whom she mourns for a good deal of the film. Her outlook on life and her attitude towards Jones both change as the film plays its course.

Sheikh Muhammed

Sheikh Muhammed is a wealthy Yemeni who initiated and sponsored the salmon fishing project. He is a devoted fly-fisher and also a devote Muslim. He believes that fishing is much like religion and brings out many of the virtues in a man.

Patricia Maxwell

Maxwell is the press adviser of the prime minister of Great Britain. She is the one who gets Jones on the fishing project in the first place. She will try to find solutions for problems in the fishing project, but she just as easily drop government support of the project if it doesn't go the way she wants it to. 

Conclusion

The movie was very nice and had a good plot. I didn't really like the whole love part of the story, but the movie was overall very nice. 8.25 out of 11 penguins.

Brain Spill Movie Review #6

Men in Black 3

Setting

The Men in Black come from a secret organization that is in contact with multiple species of aliens. The goal of the Men in Black is to keep aliens hidden and comfortable on Earth without letting the secret of alien existence on to the rest of humanity. They also constantly save the planet from unfriendly aliens.

Summary

In 1969, Agent K captured and imprisoned Boris the Animal,      an alien who came to destroy an artifact that would protect the earth from an invasion from Boris the Animal's species. In 2012, Boris the Animal escapes from LunarMax and finds a way to travel back in time to kill Agent K. Agent J follows Boris back in time to stop him from killing K. If the two do not stop Boris the Animal, the Earth will be subject to invasion. Agent J and young Agent K work together to keep K alive and, in the process, discover more about both of their pasts.

Characters

Agent J

Agent J is Agent K's partner. The two of them are some of the most useful of the Men in Black and have saved the planet multiple times. Not much is known about J's past. J is annoyed at K's constant seriousness and negative attitude. He is also suspicious that K is not telling him just about everything that he knows about the Men in Black. He changes a lot over the movie as he discovers how much he likes K, and as he learns more about K and about himself.

Agent K

Agent K is a secretive and serious Man in Black. He is J's senior partner and has been with the Men in Black since the very beginning of the organization. He knows more about the organization than most, which leads to suspicion from J. He has also accumulated a lot of enemies over the years. He doesn't change much   over the movies, but his back story serves as something to be discovered over the source of the movie.

Agent O

Agent O isn't really a very important character, but she serves the purpose of revealing some of the back story of K. She also helps J to discover what has happened to K.

Griffin

Griffin is an alien who is able to see all possible outcomes in the future and also see past events. He comes from a planet that fought against Boris the Animal's people. He helps young Agent K and Agent J as they try to stop Boris the Animal. He also has the ArcNet, a device to stop invasion from Boris the Animal's people.

Boris the Animal

Boris the Animal hates being called Boris the Animal. He holds a grudge against Agent K for arresting him and also for stopping the invasion. His goal is to stop any of that from happening at all.

Conclusion

I like this movie because it mentions pie and aliens in it. I think that some of the parts of the movie are just strange or disgusting or awkward. I also think that Agent O was one of the most useless characters and she was in the movie too little to be developed well. The movie was, though, very good. 7.75 penguins out of 11.

Brain Spill Movie Review #5

The Avengers

Setting

The Avengers takes place in the modern day (2012) world. This takes place after Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Captain America: The First Avenger, and Thor. The story takes place mainly in New York City, where Tony Stark (Iron Man) has recently built a Stark Tower.

Summary

While studying the Tesseract for SHIELD, Dr. Erik Selvig and Nick Fury bring Loki to Earth. Loki uses a spear to mind control Selvig and Clint Barton (Hawkeye). Loki takes the Tesseract from the SHIELD base before he blows it up. Nick Fury and Agent Phil Coulson activate the Avengers Initiative. Steve Rogers (Captain America), Tony Stark (Iron Man), Bruce Banner (The Hulk), Natasha Romanoff (Black Widow), Thor (Thor), and later Hawkeye are gathered to help stop the threat that Loki poses and aim to find out what Loki is planning. The movie follows the Avengers as they attempt to stop Loki while also learning to settle the differences between them.

Characters

Nick Fury

Nick Fury is the leader of SHIELD and the Avengers initiative. He is serious and mysterious. He is not the most likable character and is not supposed to be. He is under suspicion by most of the characters for the beginning of the movie and remains mysterious for the entire movie. He is, though, a pretty awesome hero with one epic scene in the entire movie.

Agent Phil Coulson

Phil Coulson is Nick fury's right hand man. He makes appearances in Iron Man 2 and Thor as he tries to recruit heroes for the Initiative. He is probably one of the most ignored character in those movies, but in this movie, you finally appreciate him for who he is.

Steve Rogers/Captain America

Captain America is a character who feels out of his time period. He is a living anachronism. A lot of his problems come from this out-of-place feeling. This is why he is so at odds with Tony Stark who is so comfortable in the present time. He is a super soldier who was frozen in the Arctic since WW2 and carries a super shield.

Tony Stark/Iron Man

Iron Man is literally a man in an iron suite that is equipped with weapons and that can fly. This is what keeps Iron Man alive. As Tony Stark, he is a billionaire and the CEO of Stark Industries. Another reason why Stark is at odds with Captain America is because he made his fortune on selling weapons and promoting war. Stark and rogers both change to be more accepting of the other.

Thor

Thor is the Norse god of thunder who came to Earth to get Loki. Thor is pretty distant from the other characters because he is so high up in the way he acts. This is a source of tension within the Initiative. Thor, in my opinion, is one of the less focused on heroes, and he doesn't change as much as some of the other characters.

Bruce Banner/The Hulk

Banner, when angry, changes into the Hulk, a giant, green strong man. He does not get along with the government and stays hidden from his enemies to avoid changing into the Hulk. At the beginning, the Hulk is reluctant to come, but as time goes on, he learns to control his anger and to be a helpful avenger.

Clint Barton/Hawkeye

Hawkeye is a superhero without super powers. He is just able to use a bow really well (What is up with all the protagonists with bows these days?). He is also not focused on as a character and is actually under some sort of mind control spell for most of the movie. He is though, pretty awesome, and I'm happy they didn't stick with the purple outfit.

Natasha Romanoff/The Black Widow

The Black Widow is the most annoying and useless of the Avengers and nobody admires her. Seriously.

Conclusion

The movie was well thought out and well paced, and they didn't skimp out on the action scenes. I think the finally action scene was about twenty minutes long. The movie also has both a balanced internal and external conflict and develops all the main characters very well. I enjoyed the movie greatly. 9 out of 11 penguins.

Brain Spill Movie Review #4

The Hunger Games

Setting

This setting is exactly like the book The Hunger Games. Twelve Districts are controlled by the tyrannical Capitol in the country of Panem, somewhere in the future. Each of the districts must send a boy and a girl as tribute to compete in the Hunger Games, where the 24 children must fight to the death. The winner is showered with fame and wealth.

Summary

In the story, the main character, Katniss Everdeen, volunteers as tribute after her sister, Prim, is chosen as tribute. Katniss and the male tribute, Peeta Mellark, go to the Capitol to prepare for the games. In one interview, Peeta admits that he loves Katniss in order to gain support of sponsors, who could send the tributes supplies during the games. The story revolves around Katniss and Peeta trying to keep up the appearance of being in love as well as trying to survive the games.

Characters

Katniss Everdeen

This is the third time I've done a character description of Katniss. Like always, I think she is annoying and that she complains to much. I might even despise her more in the movie than in the book. Its really annoying whenever Katniss and her mom have an encounter because the movie really emphasizes their conflict.

Peeta Mellark

Peeta is an interesting character, but is focused on even less in the movie than in the book. Sure, he is a big character, but you just don't see too much of him.

Haymitch

Haymitch has a big role in the film, as he does in the book. They cast Haymitch very well, and try to reveal his emotions in this film. 

Cinna

Cinna is the stylist as fashion designer for Katniss. He plays a big role as one of the people who Katniss can relate to within the Capitol. 

Rue

Rue was one of the characters they got spot on. She was innocent, yet powerful and they cast the perfect person to play her. She, like in the books, brings out the best in Katniss. Katniss actually looks like a sort of nice person when Rue is around.

Effie

Effie looks scary.

Conclusion

The movie makes more sense if you have already read the books. I liked how they tried to use Katniss's hallucinations to reveal the back story of her father, but it wasn't done to well. I also liked their use of muted or silent scenes to change the feel of the scene. I didn't like, however, how they made Katniss's prep team so serious. I thought the prep team was nice and fun in the books, and I didn't like the take the movie had on those characters. Overall, it was a 'meh' film. 6.25 out of 11 penguins.

Brain Spill Book Review #10

Death of a Salesman

By Arthur Miller

Setting

Death of a Salesman takes place somewhere in New England in the 1950s. That's about it.

Summary

A salesman gets old and cranky and starts to hallucinate about the past. His family and friends try to help him and support him, but in the end, he dies.

Characters

Willy Loman

Willy is the salesman who is referred to in the title. He is an old man with a lot of regrets. He hallucinates about the past throughout the entire play. Willy is a very annoying character. He lies to just about everybody in the book and when people try to help him with his problems, he just starts yelling at them.

Biff 

Biff is the 34-year-old eldest son of Willy. His life dramatically changed when Biff flunked math in high school and didn't go to college. He has had a variety of jobs, but never held one for very long. His personality clashes greatly with that of Willy and they fight very often. Biff's actions towards the end of the book are really annoying.

Happy

Happy is Willy's other son. He has a steady job and is more successful then Biff. Happy does, however, have a thing about lying. He also enjoys picking up girls. He is, though, one of the most reasonable characters in the entire book.

Linda

Linda is Willy's wife. She absolutely adores Willy and everything about him. She has full faith in Willy and basically lets him do whatever he wants, even if it is dangerous, without question. She gets defensive whenever somebody starts to have an affect on the way Willy thinks or acts, but she won't do anything to Willy.

Ben

Ben in Willy's dead brother who went to Africa and made his fortune. Ben is greatly admired by Willy and is a major source of Willy's regret. When Ben went to Africa, Willy could have gone with  him, but didn't, and now regrets it. Ben died before the book began, but he appears a lot in Willy's hallucinations. 

Charley

Charley is probably the closest thing Willy has to a friend. Charley tries to help Willy, and has been for years, financially and mentally. Willy, though, likes to feel independent, and will not take a job from Willy when he loses his old job.

Conclusion

The play is tied together very nicely and the transitions are good, but the play itself is not that great. The play is very pointless and nothing really gets done in the entire thing, and the only plot twist is mentioned in the title, so there is no surprise when Willy does die. 5 waffles out of 11.

Brain Spill Book Review #9

Catching Fire

By Suzanne Collins

Setting

Catching Fire is a sequel to the book, The Hunger Games. This world takes place where the government, centered at the Capitol, has tyrannical control over the twelve districts surrounding it. Seventy-five years earlier, the thirteen original districts had rebelled against the Capitol, but had failed. The rebellion ended with the utter destruction of the Thirteenth District. As punishment for the rebellion, the Capitol creates the Hunger Games. In the Hunger Games, the remaining twelve districts must each send one boy and one girl (between the ages of 12 and 18) as tribute. These 24 children must then go into an arena and fight to the death. The winning tribute is returned home and lives a life of wealth. Every twenty-five years, though, the Capitol puts a twist on the Games, called the Quarter Quell, and the upcoming Games will be the third Quarter Quell.

Summary

Peeta Mellark and Katniss Everdeen competed in the seventy-fourth Hunger Games, and with a stroke of good fortune, both won the Hunger Games by pretending to be madly in love with each other. Katniss is not in love, but Peeta is. Now living a life of riches, things are much different back at home. Peeta and Katniss are haunted by nightmares of the Hunger Games they were in. President Snow comes to meet Katniss, telling her that having both Peeta and Katniss winning has angered many citizens of the twelve districts. Peeta and Katniss must continue to pretend to be in love to continue to convince the districts that they were in love and to keep the districts from rebelling. Katniss fails, Katniss also begins to hear news of people rebelling in other districts. She hears stories that there might still be survivors in Disrict Thirteen. She wants to run away to avoid punishment for not stopping rebellion, but when law enforcement strengthens and Gale gets flogged for poaching, Katniss knows she must stay. To keep up the facade of love, Peeta and Katniss get publicly engaged. The president then announces that the next Quarter Quell will take previous winners of the Hunger Games and make them go through another game. District 12 only has three living winners: Katniss, Peeta, and Haymitch, and Katniss and Peeta are chosen for the games. Now Katniss and Peeta must try to stay alive in the Hunger Games for a second time.

Characters

Katniss Everdeen

Katniss is the narrator of the story. She is still as annoying as in the first book, but now she actually has a reason for her complaining. She is caught in a love triangle. Gale is now a love interest, and one that she has known all her life, but she also sort of likes Peeta, and the Capitol continues to pressure her into the relationship with Peeta. She also has nightmares about the previous Hunger Games to complain about. She changes quite a bit in this book, where she decides to take up the cause of the districts and try to rebel. In the Quarter Quell, she also learns how to trust people more freely.

Peeta Mellark

Peeta is still madly in love with Katniss, though she still is not. They are, though, on good terms with each other. Peeta is not chosen to go into the Hunger Games, but volunteers in order to protect Katniss. He doesn't change to much. He just can't run well on his artificial leg and is always just in love with Katniss.

Gale

Gale is Katniss's other love interest. His two main characteristics are his love for Katniss and his ongoing anger at the Capitol. He becomes the main voice of rebellion in the book. He really doesn't appear for most of the book, though.

Haymitch

Haymitch is still important. He is now one of the few people that Katniss can confide in. He also works to help Katniss and Peeta survive in the games as their coach again. Haymitch also becomes a voice of reason when it comes to hopes of life in District 13 and of successful rebellion. Haymitch becomes much more of a respectable character over the course of the book.

Finnick Odair

Finnick is one of the other tribute chosen to fight in the Quarter Quell. He becomes a very helpful character and ally to the District 12 tributes in the games. He is also one of the more interesting characters, who can see deep into his emotions and the book continues.

President Snow

Finally! There is now a real antagonist in the books! President Snow becomes the voice of the Capitol and represents the force that the Capitol has in Katniss's life. 

Effie

Yeah. She is still here.

Conclusion

This book was actually very good. I don't enjoy the characters as much. The character development feels very rushed, but I really enjoyed the plot and how the entire book comes together. It was a very good book. 7 out of 11 waffles.

Brain Spill Book Review #8

The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents

By Terry Pratchett

Setting

The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents takes place in Terry Pratchett's fictional world, Discworld. For those who don't know, Discworld is a giant disc that is balanced on the backs of four elephants who are standing on the back of a giant turtle that is flying through space. The story takes place in the city of Bad Blintz, located somewhere on the disc.

Summary

In the story, the main character is Maurice, an educated, talking cat. He is travelling with a kid named Keith and a colony of educated rats. Maurice, Keith, and the rats travel from city to city. the rats scour the city, openly showing themselves to the locals while pretending to be dumb rats. When the people get fed up with the rats, they call for a rat piper. Keith, a regular piper, pretends to be a rat piper, who is paid to pipe the rats out of town. Maurice organizes the whole con. Maurice, Keith, and the rats split the money. Maurice wants the money to set up a nice cat retirement. Keith just wants to play his pipe. The rats want the money to buy a boat and find an island where the rats can live in peace, away from the humans. The group is trying to con Bad Blintz when something suspicious begins. There are no other rats than the educated ones, the rat catchers are sketchy characters, and there is an abundance of poison and rat traps. Something is up in the city, and Maurice, Keith, the rats, and a local girl, named Malicia, try to figure out what is going on in the city.

Characters

Maurice

Maurice is an educated, talking cat who is set on making his fortune. He has a questionable set of morals and has no problem conning people. His dream is to have a cushy life where he is fed well and gets pet a lot. He is a very practical, realistic person, which leads to conflict between him and Malicia. As time goes on, Maurice grows closer to the rats and to Keith, and learns to let go of his own wants in order to help those he cares about. He is a very interesting main character, being a person whose actions the reader wouldn't normally approve of.

Keith

Keith is an orphan who was raised by the Musician's Guild in Ankh-Morpork. He learned how to play the pipe there. For most of the novel, Keith is referred to as the stupid-looking kid, and for much of the novel, he acts that way. Keith's only want is to be able to play the pipe. Keith identifies himself more with the rats than with humans, and this is what leads him to realize that he must assert himself into te ongoing events rather than just playing his pipe.

Malicia

Malicia is the daughter of the Mayor of Bad Blintz. She has a very active imagination due to th amount of books that she reads. She believes that real life should be like a fantasy stories, and is always looking for secret trapped doors, fantasy-like back stories, and other common book plots. As the story goes on, she realizes that life is not just a big story and the ending is not always exactly like a storybook ending.

Dangerous Beans

Dangerous Beans is the intellectual leader of the Educated Rats. He is physically weak, small, and is an albino, but makes up for it with his brains. Dangeroous Beans sets down the moral code for the rats and organized their goal to find a human-free island for rats to live on. He is, though, fascinated by the ideas of the book called Mr. Bunsy, in which humans and rats live in harmony, but he has little hope that this is possible in real life.

Peaches

Peaches is the first educated rat that Maurice met. She is the scribe for the educated rats, writing down the moral rules that Dangerous Beans thinks up and created an entire written rat language. She also carries around a copy of Mr. Bunsy with her at all times. She and Dangerous Beans are the two most intellectual of the rats, and are the main promoters of the rat island idea.

Hamnpork

Hamnpork is the leader of the educated rats, and represents the older generation of rats. He appoves more of the old ways, before they were educated rats. He is the "back in my day" generation. He fears getting his power overthrown by a younger, more powerful rat. He, by the end of the book, also changes his ways, realizing the need for the new ways of life as well as the old.

Darktan

Darktan is the leader of the Trap Disposal Squad, whose purpose is to dismantle all of the rat and mouse traps before someone gets hurt. He is strong and is a viable replacement for Hanmpork as leader, but Darktan does not want to be leader. He enjoys his work as a Trap Disposer. He is practical, and at the beginning of the book, finds little use for intellectual thinkers like Dangerous Beans and Peaches. By the end of the book, though, Darktan realizes that everyone has there purpose. He realizes that the intellectuals are important for the future of the rats and that it is his destiny to become leader someday.

Nourishing

Nourishing is not much of a main character, but is a very interesting character nonetheless. She is a young, scared rat that has not yet found her place in the colony. She is usually found helping out Darktan with whatever he is doing. Over the course of the novel, Nourishing overcomes her fear and becomes a strong, brave rat herself.

Sardines

Sardines is an educated rat he grew up around a theatre. He wears a hat and has a cane and he dances. He is one of the most outgoing rats when it comes to getting the local people's attention. He has been known to swim, dance, and steal dentures out of people's mouthes. He is not exactly a main character, but he is funny and is important in turning Darktan into the leader he was meant to be.

Conclusion

This book is one of the best I have ever read. It has so many main characters and so many that change over the course of the book. The book ends well and is unpredictable up throughout the book. It also has a perfect mix of humor and seriousness. 9.5 waffles out of 11.

 

Brain Spill Movie Review #3

John Carter

Setting

John Carter takes place in post-Civil War Earth, but the majority of the story takes place on Mars. On Mars in this world, there are human-type people and martians, known as Tharks, who are tall, green, and have tusks and four arms. There is also a race known as the Thurns. The Thurns control the power of a mysterious energy source known as the ninth ray.

Summary

On Mars, or  Barsoom, there is a war going on. The mobile city of Zodanga is at war with the city of Helium. The Thurns have taken the side of Zodanga and their king, Sab Than. This has given the power of the Ninth Ray, which makes Zodanga near unstoppable. To halt the onslaught of Zodanga, the general of Helium has agreed to marry off his daughter, Princess Dejah Thoris, to Sab Than. Meanwhile on Earth, John Carter is a treasure hunter, looking for a cave of gold. While looking, he comes across a Thurn and is accidentally transported to Mars. Carter discovers that while on Mars, he is much stronger than others on Mars, able to punch harder and jump higher. Carter soon gets himself into the center of the Martian conflict, trying to save Dejah from the marriage and save Helium from destruction.

Characters

John Carter

John Carter is an interesting character. At the beginning of the movie, he is a treasure hunter, not wanting to get involved with the conflicts of others, namely between the United States and the Apache. John Carter develops well, changing from an indifferent man, looking out for his own good, into a man who cares enough to try to save the princess and Helium. This movie does a good job at developing its main character.

Dejah Thoris

Dejah Thoris is the princess of Helium. She is smart and comes close to discovering the power of the ninth ray, and would have if not for Thurn sabotage. She is a less interesting character, whose motives include not getting married to Sab Than, discovering the mysteries of the ninth ray, and saving Helium from destruction.

Tars Tarkas

Tars Tarkas is the leader of the Tharks, a once-great power of Mars. Tarkas is more interesting than he looks at first glance. He is the one who spares John Carter's life multiple times within the movie. He sees something in Carter that other Tharks do not. He sees Carter as a symbol of change. He hopes for change within his traditional tribal culture and change so that the Tharks can once more become a great nation.

Sola

Sola is the daughter of Tars Tarkas. She is shamed for messing up and making mistakes many times. She has led to so many mistakes that she has to run away from the Thark tribe with Carter and Dejah to avoid death.

Matai Shang

Matai Shang is the leader of the Thurns, who are the controllers of the Ninth Ray and the so-called messengers of the great Goddess. The job of Shang is to make sure that the Ninth ray is not discovered where the Thurns do not want it to be and that it stays as a mysterious force to be feared. To do this, the Thurns give the Ninth Ray only to arrogant warlords who would only use the Ray for destruction.

Sab Than

Sab Than is the arrogant warlord referred to in the above section of the article.

Conclusion

John Carter was, overall, a very good movie. It was interesting and I enjoyed it. It would probably have kept my mom awake in a movie theatre, which is saying a lot. I think that the problem that John Carter had in the box office was that it had too small of a fan base and too small of an advertising scheme to get people interested in the movie. Nine stars out of eleven.

Brain Spill Movie Review #2

Source Code

Setting

Source Code takes place in a military lab of some sort, after a bomb destroys two trains somewhere in the vicinity of Chicago. The main character is within a computer program known as the Source Code, which allows him to go back before the train explodes.

Summary

Captain Colter Stevens wakes up after fighting in Afghanistan to find himself on a train with a woman named Christina Warren. After eight minutes on the train, it blows up. Stevens wakes up again within the Source Code, though he has no idea how he got there. Captain Colleen Goodwin, his contact, and Dr. Rutledge, the head of the Source Code program, explain that the Source Code allows Stevens to relive the last eight minutes of someone's life. In this case, that life is of a man on a bombed train. Stevens's job is to find out who the bomber is in order to stop the bomber from striking again. Stevens, as the story goes on, realizes more about his life from the past two months and becomes suspicious of those who are running the Source Code.

Characters

Captain Colter Stevens

Captain Colter Stevens is the main character of the story. After waking up on the train within the Source Code, Stevens wants to find out how he got there and who the people of Source Code were. As he continues to go into the Source Code, he begins to want to change what happened rather than find out who the bomber was. Stevens discovers that much has changed in his life over the past few months. Stevens, rightfully so, is the most interesting character in the story.

Christina Warren

Christina Warren is the travelling companion of Stevens on the train in the Source Code. Her main role in the story is as a person that Stevens wants to save from her fate of dying on the train. She is what convinces Stevens to use the Source Code as a past-altering tool rather than as an infromation gathering device.

Captain Colleen Goodwin

Captain Goodwin is the main contact Stevens has while inside the Source Code. She gives him advice, instructions, and sends him back onto the train. Over the course of the movie, Goodwin and Stevens learn more about one another, and Goodwin starts to help Stevens in his quest to save Christina from the explosion.

Dr. Rutledge

Other than the bomber, Dr. Rutledge is the closest thing to an antagonist that there is. Rutledge, instead of worrying about the bomber, the people on the train, and Stevens himself, is worried about this mission because it is the mission that determines whether or not the Source Code is militarily useful. Rutledge, though he pretends to be worried about people's lives, is worried about the success of Source Code and himself.

Conclusion

Source Code had its good points and bad points. It was one of those movies that was good, but at some points, you just want to walk away because one of the characters is being so dumb. The plot was a new and interesting one and I enjoyed it greatly 6.5 out of 11 penguins

Brain Spill Movie Review #1

Brave

Setting

Brave takes place in a Scottish Kingdom in medieval times. Stories in the movie tell of a kingdom ruled by four brothers until one brother tried to control too much power and turned against the other brothers, taking all the power for himself. In the movie, the land is ruled by four clans: the king's clan along with the clans Macintosh, Macguffin, and Dingwall.

Summary

Merida, the daughter of the king, loves to ride her horse and do archery. Her mother, Elinor, and father, Furgus, (but mainly her mother) have planned for her to be betrothed to one of the three firstborn sons of the three clans. Merida does not want this, and when the time comes, she shoots for her own hand, being the firstborn of King Furgus. In anger, Merida cuts down a tapestry her mother had worked on for a long time. Elinor then throws Merida's bow into the fire. Merida runs of into the woods and finds a witch, who she pays to change her mother. Merida gives a fruit tart given to her by the witch to her mother, who promptly turns into a bear. The story is about how Merida tries to turn her mother back into a human.

Characters

Merida

Merida is the main character of the story, the princess of the kingdom. She likes archery and horseback riding. She also is completly against getting married. Pixar makes a point of making Merida seem prideful in the beginning, especially when it come to her mother. Merida blames her mother for everything revolving around the unwanted betrothal to one of the sons of the clan leaders. Merida really wants to be free.

Elinor

Elinor is the Queen of the kingdom and has set up the whole betrothal, which is not surprising, given that she basically runs the country for her husband, Furgus. Everybody seems to listen to her, except for Merida. This really bugs her. She, at the beginning of the movie, shows the attitude of an overbearing mother. This overbearing-ness along with Merida's pride are what drives the plot forward in the story. The two attitudes continually clash.

Furgus 

Furgus is the king of the whole kingdom, though his wife basically runs the kingdom for him. He is a strong king, but is missing a leg due to an encounter with a bear. He is an interestingly stupid character with little change throughout the story. He has trouble keeping the clans from fighting with one another and with him.

The Triplet Brothers

The Brothers are not at all main characters and probably have no voice parts in the entire movie, but they do play a main role in getting people stuff. They help get Elinor out of the castle after she turns into a bear. The brothers also get the key from Maudie after Merida gets locked in the bedroom. They're mainly just in the movie, though, to add some comedy to the movie.

Lords Macintosh, MacGuffin, and Dingwall

The Lords are important because they add a sense of urgency to the betrothal and marriage of Merida. The Lords are the loose connections that the King has with the clans. The three sons of these three lords are the possible suitors, and Merida's fight for her own freedom puts the Kingdom on the verge of civil war. These lords provide an urgency to the plot.

Conclusion

The movie is very good, with a good plot, but has trouble mixing humor and seriousness. I believe that this movie is beginning of a new chapter for PIXAR. All of the other movies of PIXAR are comedic, while this movie has a much more serious plot. Though it is not the best PIXAR movie, it was very good. I give it 8 out of 11 penguins.

Brain Spill Book Review #7

The Hunger Games

Setting

The Hunger Games is a book written by Suzanne Collins about America in a distopian future. The Capitol is the center of wealth and the government and controls the twelve districts around it. The twelve districts were forced into submission after a large inter-district rebellion. As a warning to the other districts, the capitol completely destroyed a thirteenth district by bombing it. As part of the post-rebellion agreement, each district must give the resources it produces to the people back in Capitol. Also, once a year, each district must provide two tributes, a boy and a girl, for the Hunger Games The tributes, all of which are between the ages of 12 and 18, will then be put in a large arena where they must fight to the death.

Summary

Our story is told from the perspective of Katniss Everdeen, a 16-year-old from the poor area of District 12. Katniss lives with her mother and younger sister, Prim. To feed her family, Katniss illegally hunts outside of the borders of her district with her friend Gale. When her sister is chosen as tribute for the Hunger Games, Katniss volunteers to take her place. A boy named Peeta is chosen as the male tribute from District 12. Peeta and Katniss, along with Effie and Haymitch, their trainers, go to the Capitol. The story revolves around the two tributes trying to gain the support of sponsors from Capitol and fighting for their lives in the Games themselves.

Characters

Katniss

Katniss is the narrator of the story. She is also, in my opinion, the most annoying character in the entire book. The whole time, Katniss is always angry, or sad, or suspicious, and that's not all. Katniss goes on to describe in detail how angry, sad, etc. she is at certain people. Yes, I understand she is fighting for her life, but can't she just show happiness a bit more? The one time she does show trust and is not acting is when she is with Rue. 

Peeta

Peeta is the other tribute from District 12. He seems better than Katniss because at least his actions are nicer and are actually nice instead of pretending to be nice for personal gain. He does happen to be lovesick with Katniss, which is his main annoying quality. He doesn't seem to realize (even though he helped plan this) that Katniss is only pretending to be in love so that she can get them sponsors and get them out alive. Whatever.

Gale

Gale is Katniss's hunting buddy from District 12. He's sort of not really mentioned too much other than that he is, like Katniss, in a situation where he is supporting the rest of his family. He mainly appears asa kind-of-sort-of-maybe love interest for Katniss which is keeping her from falling for Peeta. We know he is annoyed at the Capitol and that he takes his anger out while he's in the woods. He also helps to support Katniss's family when she leaves for Capitol.

Haymitch

Haymitch is the coach of Katniss and Peeta. He's their coach because he's the only living winner of the Hunger Games from District 12. He is also a major drunkard. He is, in my opinion, one of the most interesting characters. We can see his fear of the past through his continual drinking, which he uses to keep down the memories of his time in the Hunger Games and his time coaching tributes who he watch die in later Hunger Games. We can also see his attempt to save at least one of the tributes by focusing the sponsor's gifts on Katniss.

Rue

Rue is a tribute from District 11 who becomes allies with Katniss partway through the games. she brings out the best in Katniss, mainly because she reminds Katniss of Prim. Rue is 12 years old, and is the youngest tribute that year. Katniss allies with Rue because Rue reminds her of home. Because of this, Rue brings out the little happiness we see in Katniss, which is, besides herself, something that only Prim, Gale, and (until he died) Katniss's father.

Effie

Effie isn't really important, but I want to clear something up. Some might say that Effie is more annoying than Katniss, but that is not true. Effie, with her strange catchphrases and colored wigs, is a comical sort of annoying. She brings a sort of light tone to a dark plot. Katniss is just depressing.

Conclusion

The book is a good, intense read, even though I don't like Katniss. The book mixes moments of emotion with moments of action. In the book, the idea of an over-powerful government which people are fighting against is always interesting and always popular. I give it 7 waffles out of 11.  

Brain Spill Book Reviews #6

Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen

By H. Beam Piper

Anybody who has done a little bit of reading in the genre of science fiction knows the idea of alternate universes. This is the idea that whenever somebody or something makes a choice, two universes are formed: one where the person made the chose one thing, and one where a person chose the other. Lord Kalvan is an alternate universe book, but to the extreme level. A group of people, known as the Paratime, are able to travel through the thousands of alternate universes that there are, and they have taken it up upon themselves to keep order within these universes. One time, on accident, a Paratime trooper accidentally encounters a Pennsylvania policeman, Calvin Morrison. Morrison shoots the trooper, but is accidentally transported to another universe, which Morrison refers to as Otherwhen. Calvin, known as Kalvan in Otherwhen, becomes a powerful leader in the Otherwhen kingdom of Hostigos. The story revolves around the Paratime trying to track Kalvan, the wars between Hostigos and other kingdoms, and Kalvan trying to bring down the over-powerful house of Styphon, a religous group with the only knowledge of gunpowder. Although much of the story is politics and war strategy rather than action, the book has an interesting concept and plot. One of the most interesting things the book brings up is the reorganization of language and territory in eastern North America.

Picture from http://www.listal.com/viewimage/50412h