Movie review: Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds 3D

Yesterday, I took my daughter to the Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus concert movie. For those of you that don't follow the Hannah Montana news, this tour is the biggest ticket of the year. Some sites are claiming it is bigger than The Police reunion tour. Tickets are selling out within seconds and scalpers are taking in a cool $500+ from parents who weren't able to buy them from legitimate sources. So Disney decided that they would film a couple of the live concerts and release it for one week in February as a 3D theatrical movie. Tickets for the movie? $15 a piece. Overall, the movie was not bad. None of the songs offend my ears and, actually, some of the songs are really quite good. People just write them off because they come from a Disney channel show.

The movie started off with some backstage scenes. It was basically a "how the tour got started" type of mini-documentary. Then the concert started with Hannah Montana (which would be Miley Cyrus in a blonde wig) singing a couple of songs. There was a lot of dancing and running around. It was obvious she was having fun on stage. In between the songs, there was more of the behind-the-scenes stuff with Miley talking about some of the mistakes on tour (in one song, she's carried by four male dancers...in one show, they dropped her) or working on dance moves. It was nice to see what goes on backstage but I felt it really detracted from the concert. People go to see Hannah/Miley sing, not to see how long it takes her (and her assistants) to do a costume change. It takes away the magical feel of a concert.

After Hannah sang, she brought out the Jonas Brothers to sing "Party With Us" before she left to change into Miley. While she was changing, the Jonas Brothers sang two songs. Unfortunately, they picked the two worst Jonas Brothers songs to put in the movie. It was also a little difficult to understand what they were singing because the instrumentals were turned up too high. Luckily, the boys told us the name of each song before they sang it. I don't know that the audience would have been able to identify it otherwise.

Finally, Miley came out to sing. In my opinion, the Miley songs are much better than the Hannah songs. Even the dancing was livelier. Again, there were problems with the vocals being too low to be understood. You would have thought that the sound guy would have picked up on this by now. More backstage documentary pieces told us why she wrote some songs and how her mother helps her out on tour. The concert ended with Miley and a pre-recorded Hannah singing "Best of Both Worlds" together.

Luckily, my daughter really enjoyed the concert movie. It was her opinion I wanted. The concert isn't really geared for us parents. It's for the kids. However, I still think it would have been better if they left out the documentary parts. The Hannah/Miley fanbase is mostly made up of younger kids - ages 4-10 or so. I'm not sure that they are particularly interested in watching Miley rehearse or see her hiding under the stage before an entrance. I also think it might have been better if they had just filmed one concert instead of filming multiple performances then splicing them together to make it look like it was one performance. If you pay attention, you can see props moving around the stage without being touched or the number of guitar picks in a microphone stand changing mid-song. Again, it's nothing big. It's just one of many little things that takes you out of the concert experience.

So, if you or your kids are a Hannah/Miley fan, you would enjoy the movie. But if you are looking to see the movie in place of going to the concert, it just won't work. Maybe, one day, those of us who aren't willing to shell out a couple hundred dollars for a children's concert will be able to have our kids experience an actual concert.

Game review: Blood Ties

In Blood Ties, you are recruited to help private investigator Vicki Nelson solve some unusual missing persons cases. This is accomplished by finding clues around town. There isn't anything particularly amazing about the game. It's a fairly typical hidden object game. Some of the locations are interesting because they look a bit more life-like than in other hidden object games. I really wish there was more for me to talk about though. I did enjoy playing the game but not any more than I enjoyed playing the Dream Date series or Mystery Case Files.

Music review: Blind Melon - No Rain

Artist: Blind Melon Members: Shannon Hoon (vocals), Brad Smith (bass), Rogers Stevens (guitar), Christopher Thorn (guitar), Glen Graham (drums) Album: Blind Melon Release date: 9/22/92 Video link: Via YouTube

Lyrics: All I can say is that my life is pretty plain I like watchin' the puddles gather rain And all I can do is just pour some tea for two and speak my point of view But it's not sane, It's not sane

I just want some one to say to me I'll always be there when you wake Ya know I'd like to keep my cheeks dry today So stay with me and I'll have it made

And I don't understand why I sleep all day And I start to complain that there's no rain And all I can do is read a book to stay awake And it rips my life away, but it's a great escape escape......escape......escape......

All I can say is that my life is pretty plain ya don't like my point of view ya think I'm insane Its not sane......it's not sane.

About the song: Most people know this song from the infamous Bee Girl video. There's nothing particularly wonderful about No Rain other than having a catchy tune. I have to admit that Blind Melon is one of those bands that make me wonder what they could have been if they weren't involved with drugs. Would they have been more successful? Supposedly the band didn't start using until they started touring for the Blind Melon album. While it's too late for them now (beyond their current reunion with a new singer, which just isn't the same), I wish I could have known what would have been if things were different.

Game review: Greek Goddesses of Solitaire

Hades has kidnapped all of the Greek Goddesses. In order to save them, you must beat the God of the Underworld in various games of solitaire. I have to say that the game pretty much delivers what you would expect. Each goddess has a different variation of solitaire that you need to beat in order to rescue her from Hades. In between some of the levels, Hades tries to trick you with a card game. He shows you a card, mixes up all the cards and you need to pick the correct card. It's not particularly difficult.

Overall, the game is dull. It's fairly easy to beat Hades in each card game and when you do save the goddesses, you don't receive any sort of reward. This might be a nice change of pace if you play a lot of solitaire games but it's not something you'll be playing very often.

TV review: Terminator - The Sarah Connor Chronicles

Now I've finally had the chance to watch third episode of Terminator - The Sarah Connor Chronicles, I think I might be ready to talk about it. I've never been a big fan of the Terminator movies. As a matter of fact, I only classify the movies by their bad guys: "Arnold is the bad guy," "That shape-shifting one" and "The chick is the baddie." Beyond that, I don't know a lot about them. Keeping that in mind, I have found the television series to be pretty interesting. I'm not worried about continuity. I just want a show with some kickass chicks beating bad guys up. That's not too much to ask for, right? Well, I can say that it definitely delivers for me. Summer Glau makes an absolutely awesome protector-Terminator. (Protectinator?) And thanks to the Firefly franchise, we all know that she can definitely kick some ass when she needs to. I'm not too thrilled with Lena Headey as Sarah though. She seems a lot more fragile than Linda Hamilton was in the movies. (Yes, I will let them play with the timeline of the movies but c'mon, these are supposed to be the same people!) The writers also seem to be playing up the maternal role and making her less willing to do whatever she needs to do to protect John.

Ah, John. Thomas Dekker isn't terrible in the role. Though I think I'd like to see John be a little less emo. Yes, his life sucks but, at some point, you just have to suck it up and accept it. I hope that he'll get to that point in the series.

So, overall, it's not completely terrible. I suppose it might upset you if you are a big fan of the movies but the writers did try to explain their way out of a few things. We're just going to have to wait to see where it goes from here.

Game review: Chocolatier 2: Secret Ingredients

Back in October, I talked about the first Chocolatier game. Since I had a lot of fun playing the first one, I gave the sequel a try. Chocolatier 2 was even more fun than Chocolatier 1. Perhaps it was due to playing the first one but I was able to make a ton of money and gain new recipes very quickly. The basic gameplay is the same and it's easy to pick up if you haven't played the original. The big change is that now you can make your own recipes. Once you reach Entrepreneur status, you can buy your way into the lab to research new recipes with various ingredients. To show just how easy it can be to achieve this, I only played the one hour demo and managed to not only access the laboratory, I also created two brand new recipes. I even got the chance to implement those recipes before the trial ended.

I've played a lot of casual games lately and I have to admit, this is the most fun I have had in a long time. I think anyone would enjoy Chocolatier 2.

Music review: X-Japan - Tears

Artist: X Japan Members: Deyama "Toshi" Toshimitsu (vocals), Hayashi Yoshiki (drums and piano), Matsumoto "Hide" Hideto (lead guitar), Morie "Heath" Hiroshi (bass), Ishizuka "Pata" Tomoaki (rhythm guitar) Album: Dahlia Release date: 11/4/96 Video link: Via YouTube

English translation: "Wherever we go is okay," You said Now what may have been Has been stopped by time

On that night that was too long I had a dream where you left me Staring at a foreign sky I hugged my loneliness

My fallen tears Are piling up on the winds of time At the end I feel your breath

DRY YOUR TEARS WITH LOVE DRY YOUR TEARS WITH LOVE

LONELINESS... YOUR SILENT WHISPER FILLS A RIVER OF TEARS THROUGH THE NIGHT MEMORY... YOU NEVER LET ME CRY AND YOU, YOU NEVER SAID GOODBYE SOMETIMES OUR TEARS BLINDED THE LOVE WE LOST OUR DREAMS ALONG THE WAY BUT I NEVER THOUGHT YOU'D TRADE YOUR SOUL TO THE FATES NEVER THOUGHT YOU'D LEAVE ME ALONE

TIME THROUGH THE RAIN HAS SET ME FREE SANDS OF TIME WILL KEEP YOUR MEMORY LOVE EVERLASTING FADES AWAY ALIVE WITHIN YOUR BEATLESS HEART

DRY YOUR TEARS WITH LOVE DRY YOUR TEARS WITH LOVE

My fallen tears Are piling up on the winds of time This feeling at the end Makes my blue rose change DRY YOUR TEARS WITH LOVE DRY YOUR TEARS WITH LOVE

My fallen tears are piled on the winds of time again At the end I can feel your breath DRY YOUR TEARS WITH LOVE DRY YOUR TEARS WITH LOVE DRY YOUR TEARS WITH LOVE DRY YOUR TEARS WITH LOVE

(talking) If you could have taught me anything You would have found what love is If you could have taught me what was on your mind I could have shown you the way Someday... I will be before you Have you ever thought about that time? I never imagined the pictures of that night For now I will try to live for you And for... I will try to live Try to live the love, the dreams, And finally, the tears. About the song: Tears is an amazing power ballad. Toshi's voice is powerful enough to rock yet still give the song the raw emotion it needs. A good portion of the song is the vocal, a piano and a small orchestra. When the guitar, bass and drum kicks in, everything pulls together wonderfully. I'm not the type of person who cries at songs but this song makes me weepy.

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

I just realized that I completely forgot to talk about this movie. My husband and I had been looking forward to seeing this movie since we saw the first preview. Now neither of us are particularly big Johnny Depp fans but we are fairly big fans of Tim Burton. So on December 31, the three of us (my husband, my daughter and myself) went to the only movie theater in our area that was showing the film, purchased our tickets and snacks and had a wonderful time at the movies. There are probably a few of you out there that aren't familiar with Sweeney Todd. I shall give you a quick run-down of the plot. Benjamin Barker (Johnny Depp) was a successful barber on Fleet Street in London. He had a beautiful wife, Lucy (Laura Michelle Kelly), and a cute baby daughter, Johanna. However, evil Judge Turpin (Alan Rickman) coveted all that Barker had. So he had Barker arrested and sent to prison in Australia. Turpin then raped Lucy, causing her to commit suicide, and took Johanna as a ward. However, our story really starts when Barker comes back to London as Sweeney Todd, bent taking his revenge against the man who destroyed his life. Todd finds a friend in Mrs. Lovett (Helena Bonham Carter), his former landlord who currently sells the worst meat pies in London. The two find a way for Todd to take revenge against those who have wronged him while making Mrs. Lovett's pie business boom. Yes, Sweeney Todd kills the people and Mrs. Lovett bakes them into pies.

The original stageplay had Angela Lansbury (yes, that would be Mrs. Potts from Disney's Beauty and The Beast) as Mrs. Lovett and Len Cariou as Sweeney Todd. It really was a magical performance that made me realize just how talented Angela Lansbury is. It also made me sad to have been born too late to see her perform on stage in person. If you enjoy musical theater, I recommend that you add this to your collection. You won't regret it.

Anyway, back to the movie version. While the plot is rather dark, there is a bit of comedy underneath. I'm not sure that the comedy came through all that well with Burton's style. The darkness of London and Sweeney Todd's personality came through magnificently but Mrs. Lovett didn't come off nearly as daft as she is supposed to be. In my opinion, it really was Mrs. Lovett that orchestrated most of the evil plots in this version. As for the music, the singing wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. However, there wasn't a lot of movement while the songs were performed. Considering that the actors were lip-synching during the filming, it shouldn't have been too difficult to have them move a little bit more.

Overall, I did enjoy the movie. I'm probably going to buy the DVD when it comes out too. But it's not going to replace the Angela Lansbury version in my heart.

Game review: Fashion Rush

It seems that fashion based time management games are becoming extremely popular. I've already talked about Fashion Fits! and Fashion Craze. Now we've been presented with Fashion Rush. Fashion Rush is similar to Fashion Craze in that your character has to pick fabric colors and clothes styles instead of just handing out pre-made clothes. However, this game steps it up by making you keep track of how much fabric you have available. Each color has a set amount of fabric and each time a piece is cut to make a garment, the roll gets smaller. When the roll of fabric runs out, it is up to you to put a new roll on the holder. (Hm, that makes it sound like toilet paper!)

You also get to choose which styles of clothing you are going to offer to your customers. There is a limit of four styles per level but it is up to you to decide if you will sell four styles of dresses or one pants design with a jacket, a shirt and a dress. I found this part to be the most exciting. If you don't like a certain style that is offered, you don't need to offer it to your customers. Of course, the problem is that a lot of the designs are cute and you can only have four designs at a time!

While I'm not a fashion mogul, I do like the direction that these games are taking. Instead of forcing the gamer into an already determined path in the game, there are a ton of choices that are being offered. Considering that these types of games need to follow a "work your way to the top" type of theme, it is really refreshing to have at least a little bit of say in the storyline. I hope that more time management games pick up on this. Maybe one day we'll see a Diner Dash where Flo gets a say in what goes on the menu!

Game review: Hot Dish

In my day-to-day life, I don't cook. My husband does a majority of the cooking in our household. This is mostly due to the fact that I hate to cook. For some reason, I decided to load up Hot Dish to see if I'd like that any more than real life cooking. I both liked and hated this game. On one hand, the simulated cooking is a lot like Cooking Mama on both the Nintendo DS and Wii. You choose a dish and you go through the steps to cook it. From chopping the vegetables to simmering the seafood to baking the bread, you do it all. However, Hot Dish throws you for a loop by forcing you to prepare more than one dish at a time. It starts out with one dish in the tutorial but you are quickly thrown into making three dishes at once! This means you have to keep track of when to flip your grilled chicken over so it does burn while stirring your warming milk so it doesn't curdle while flipping your sauteed shrimp. It really does get to be too much.

In my opinion, this game would have been better if it had focused on making two dishes at once instead of three. As it is, you already make an appetizer, a main course and a dessert. Do you really need to make three of each at once? The game only shows one reviewer and I doubt that she is eating that much food by herself. I think I'll stick with Cooking Mama. At least she doesn't try to drive me to drink!