"House" by Ted Dekker and Frank Peretti

       When married couple, Jack and Stephanie Singleton, run over a strip of spikes on a deserted road in the middle of Alabama, they are fortunate enough to find an old Victorian house a few miles down the road. This Victorian house is owned by a family of three and they double it as an inn. Hoping to call a tow truck and maybe stay the night, they enter the house only to find that another dating couple was also stranded by spikes on the road in the opposite direction. Things go wrong pretty quickly when they realize that there hosts and hostess are all crazy, but even more disturbing is the fact that the power is cut in the house and now a serial killer is on the loose, known as Barsidious White. Here are his rules for survival that he wrote on tin can and then threw down a chimney: "Welcome To My House. 1. God came to my house ad I killed him. 2. I will kill anyone who comes into my house just like I killed God. 3. Give me one dead body, and I might let rule two slide. You have until dawn."
   
      This story is an absolutely mind boggling, page turning, horror/thriller book that I without a doubt would read again and again! Ted Dekker and Frank Peretti did a marvelous collaboration and this has to be one of the best books I've read. This story takes you deep in a search for your soul and shows bare for all to see the depravity of sin and a life in fear of living. Something I love about these authors is there ability to tell a story and bring across a deeper message without letting either one get clouded or confusing in the process.

      I've had this book for about 4 to 5 years now but I never could bring myself to read it till last year, and I was so glad I decided to read it. Definitely not something for the faint of heart it has so many twists and turns and the ever looming mystery and presence of the sadistic killer leaves you in suspense for the entire book. If you ever talked to me about books before, you know that Ted Dekker is one of my all time favorite authors. With books from, "A Blessed Child" to "Adam" and to my personal favorite "Obsessed" his stories are beyond amazing and each one just as good as the last.
They did make a movie out of this one but as per usual it was not as good as the book. It was a lower budget film and it was released directly to DVD.

I would give this book a 9.50 out of 10 stars and if you like thriller/suspense books this one is definitely for you! Follow me on Twitter and share this with your friends!

Peace,
Jake

P.S. I'm sad to say that Paul Walker, best known for his role in Fast and Furious, has died in car crash along with a friend..... Prayers go out to their family's....
   

"Catching Fire"

      The winter after Katniss and Peeta win the 74th Hunger Games, they go on their victory tour. This tour brings them around to all 12 districts and finally to the Capitol, to celebrate, as the name suggests, their victory. While on this tour Katniss must prove to President Snow that her love for Peeta is real, and therefore help dispel the rebellion that their victory sparked. However President Snow feels that the rebellion against him and the Capitol has gotten, if anything, worse since the tour. Therefore he decides to put an end to Katniss and the other victors who stand as beacons of hope to the people of Panem.

    Brilliantly directed by Francis Lawrence, this film stars Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss, Josh Hutcherson as Peeta Mellark, Donald Sutherland as President Snow, Woody Harrelson as Haymitch, Elizabeth Banks as Effie, and Stanley Tucci as Caesar. This movie also stars Lenny Kravitz, Sam Claflin and Liam Hemsworth. You couldn't have asked for better actors, and they do a marvelous job making their characters believable.

     I believe the film closely follows the book, while it did not get all the minute details that extreme, hardcore fans always look for in the movie counterparts, they still did one of the best jobs I have ever seen in a book to movie film. I know some people were complaining that Plutarch Heavensbee did not pull out the watch that had the faint outline of a mockingjay on it at the capitol party scene. This however did not bother me it is such a small detail in the scheme of the movie and only the people who read the books would actually appreciate it.

    The emotion in the film is so heavy throughout and it really makes you feel like your there experiencing the events with the characters. *Spoilers* When Mags dies in the books it is extremely sad but watching it in a movie had to have been even more emotional. Seeing the reaction of Finnick as she died was a major part of that. Then when she finds out that Peeta was left behind you can see the hurt and loss in her eyes and it just kills. *Spoilers* Needless to say it was beautifully crafted and all of those moments are leading up to a final event that I don't think even I'm ready for!

        Mockingjay Part 1 is coming out November of next year and Part 2 is coming out November of 2015! I don't think I can wait that long.. I would definitely recommend this movie to everyone, though if you haven't watched the first one, The Hunger Games, then you should watch that first before Catching Fire. I would rate this film a 9.5 out of 10! Follow me on Twitter and share this with your friends!

Peace,
Jake


  

"Thor: The Dark World" part 2

    Two years after the events of the first movie, Thor and one year after The Avengers, Thor is left to pick up the pieces and restore order to the nine realms once more. Little do they know that Jane Foster, accidentally activates an ancient artifact known as Aether. Aether was used and created by Malekith, the leader of the Dark Elves, an ancient race said to have lived before the light in the universe existed. Malekith sensing that his artifact was activated sets out to find the Aether and finally bring an everlasting, dark chaos to the universe once more.

    Directed by Alan Taylor this film stars Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Natalie Portman as Jane Foster, Tom Hiddleston as Loki, Anthony Hopkins as Odin, Idris Elba as Heimdall, and Christopher Eccleston as Malekith. I just saw this movie a few days ago and... WOW! It was amazing! The chemistry between the returning cast was definitely improved upon since the last film. 

   Tom Hiddleston has quickly become one of my favorite actors and his portrayal of Loki is exactly how I pictured him to act! With Loki, I don't know whether to feel bad for him or hate him but I just can't help but like him. I loved seeing Christopher Eccleston as Malekith, but if I hadn't already known he was in the film I wouldn't have recognized him at all. They definitely stepped it up a few notches and I can't wait till the next one!

    *Spoilers* Skip over this part if you haven't watched the movie..... In accordance with the director Alan Taylor and Anthony Hopkins, Loki did kill Odin off screen... Alan Taylor says this, "That was a big twist. It took us a while to realize that we were actually going to kill him. And then it took us a while to realize that we were going to do that at the end." and Anthony Hopkins said this, "He’s dead. I’ve done two, that’s enough." However Kevin Feige, the president of Marvel Studios is a little more vague but still alludes to Odin's death by saying this, "Like all of our plans at Marvel Studios, we know where we would like to go if given the opportunity. We have very good ideas whether the All-Father is with us or not." *Spoilers*

  Again for those of you wondering who that guy was at the end credit scene, I'm here to help! His name is Taneleer Tivan otherwise known as The Collector, he was played by Benicio Del Toro. This end credit scene was a tease to the upcoming film Guardians of the Galaxy releasing in late summer next year , in which The Collector will probably play a large role, if not that than an important role at least. The new movie also stars Chris Pratt, Bradley Cooper, Glenn Close, Karen Gillian, Lee Pace and many, many more.

 I would rate this film a 9 out 10! You should definitely go watch it before its out of theaters! You won't be disappointed! Follow me on Twitter and share this blog with your friends!!

Peace,
Jake

"Thor" part 1

     Thor, the god of thunder, is cast out of Asgard by his father Odin, the Allfather, for attacking the frost giants unprovoked. This causes Odin to strip him of his powers, including the power to wield Mjölnir, his magical hammer of incredible power. After he loses his powers, he is sent to earth till he is worthy once more of them.
Meanwhile back on Asgard, Thor's brother Loki, the god of mischief, has knowingly set into a chain of events that could bring about the fall of Asgard and his father's rule.

   Directed by the talented Kenneth Branagh, this film stars Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Tom Hiddleston as Loki, Natalie Portman as Jane Foster, Anthony Hopkins as Odin, and Idris Elba as Heimdall. This film really sets up the basis of Thor's character for the culmination of Phase 1, The Avengers. The characters were well cast and I thought the story was great.

       Now Thor is one of my favorite superheros in the Marvel universe, partly because who wouldn't want to fly around, swing a giant hammer, and control thunder and lightning?! The other reason is that I love Norse mythology! The whole Marvel Thor universe is loosely based off ancient myths and legends passed among the Norse people, and is what we now call Norse Mythology. I should emphasize the words "loosely based", because not only is the mythology a lot more complex it is a lot stranger too. For more info you can follow this link: Norse Mythology.

    For those of you who are new to the whole Marvel superhero movie sequence, I will help you out! This is Phase One: Avengers Assembled and you should watch these movies first in order: 1. Iron Man, 2. The Incredible Hulk, 3. Iron Man 2, 4. Thor, 5. Captain America: The First Avenger and 6: The Avengers. Then and only then should you move on to watching the current phase, which is Phase Two.

   I would give this movie an 8 out of 10! Check out part 2 of my blog tomorrow where I talk about the latest Phase Two movie and this films counterpart, Thor: The Dark World. Follow me on Twitter and share with your friends!

Peace,
Jake


P.S. Sorry for missing a week I was on tour with my band, Scarlet Fade, but this week I'm posting a two part blog! Hope you enjoy!

"The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins

      In the post-apocalyptic nation of Panem, which is to us North America, there were thirteen districts ruled by The Capitol. When The Capitol got too comfortable in power and became more of a dictatorship, the thirteen districts rebelled, but this rebellion was short lived and the thirteenth district was obliterated. Now every year since then, The Capitol has held gladiator type games called The Hunger Games.. They hold a lottery, called the reaping, in each district and one boy and one girl from the ages of 12 to 18 is chosen to compete to the death in the games on live TV.

      Katniss Everdeen, a sixteen year old girl from the 12th district, lives in a small house with her mother and her younger sister, Prim. It's the time of the reaping and both Katniss and her sister's names are in the lottery. Prim, whose name has only been in the lottery once, is chosen, but Katniss, fearing for her sisters life, volunteers as tribute in her sisters stead. Katniss along with the boy from her district, Peeta Mellark are sent off to the Capitol to star as district twelve's tributes of The 74th Annual Hunger Games. Can Katniss survive or will she go down in flames along with twenty-two other tributes?

     Written by Suzanne Collins, this book is a magical combination of action, romance, and humor to satisfy any reader. When I first picked up this book a year or so before the movie came out, I had little to no expectations for the book. I thought it was just going to be another "Twilight" but I was so so so so wrong. I couldn't put the book down and I was clamoring for the following two books in the trilogy. Suzanne Collins definitely struck gold when she wrote these books! I was able to connect to the characters in the first few chapters and I loved each one of them for the peculiarities! I hate when authors give you characters and you're like "I don't get it.", but not Suzanne Collins, she got right down deep to what humanity has really become and exposed it for the world to see. 

    Alright let me just say that the film adaption for this book was really close. Now I know they didn't get all the details in there, but I think they got most of the important ones, and I think that it's one the closest adaptions I've seen. Come on, Jennifer Lawrence is perfect and when I say perfect, I mean PERFECT for that role! Whoever was the casting director on that movie should get an award or something! 

      I would definitely recommend this book and movie to anyone and everyone! Although some people might be become disturbed about the subject matter of the film and book. Well there is just one thing left to say, "Happy Hunger Games! And may the odds be ever in your favor!"

 

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Peace,

Jake