Ruby Sparks

Calvin, former 'boy wonder' in literary circles, has not been writing anything measuring up to his successful debut novel. He spends his days talking to his shrink, working out with his brother Harry and walking his dog Scotty, who he only got in order to meet people (preferably girls) that will come up to pet the dog. But Scotty is far too scared of other people.

He has dreams of the same girl that he cannot quite remember. Until one day he does and he starts writing about her on his old typewriter, his dream girl, and calls her Ruby Sparks. Over the next few days, he is writing in a frenzy and Scotty starts bringing him random things, clearly belonging to a woman.

Then one day, Ruby appears. He first thinks that she is a figment of his imagination until he realizes that other people can see her as well. He has created his dream girl. His brother Harry does not believe him, of course, until Calvin introduces her to Ruby and the brothers decide to try out what Calvin is able to change about her by simply writing it down. He makes her speak French as prove that this is actually happening.

At first, everything is fine and Calvin decides to never write about her again so that he can keep her forever. But soon after Ruby meets Calvin's family, their relationship turns into something less magical and more normal. After a while, Ruby wants to spend a little time without Calvin and suggest that she spent one day per week at her place. So Calvin is lonely again and does - contrary to his earlier decision - write about Ruby again. He makes her clingy. This does not work for him and when she gets really desperate about him having let go of her hand to answer the phone, he writes her happy.

When things finally come to blows (and of course, they would) and Ruby wants to leave him, he shows her what he has written about her and to prove to her that he can make her do whatever he wants, he does just that. She runs against an innocent wall, she starts speaking French, she snaps her finger, she sings and strips, she jumps and yells compliments at Calvin....until the letters on the old typewriter slam up and she falls to the floor.

Then he finishes the story, writing her out of his life and retiring his old typewriter.

He rewrites the story again as fiction (on a a laptop). And then, just for that magical ending, he meets her in real life.

7/10

Percy Jackson 1+2

Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief

Young, regular teenager Percy Jackson finds himself in the middle of a sticky situation. On the one hand he gets attacked by a monster that used to be his substitute English teacher and on the other hand his best friend turns out to be a Satyr, whose job it is to protect Percy and his mother. He learns that he is the son of the Greek god Poseidon.

The trouble is that Zeus' lightning bolt was stolen and the rumor is that half-blood Percy is accused of being the thief. To keep him safe, he is transported to a camp for half-bloods. But then Hades kidnaps his mother and to safe her and prevent a war of the Gods, Percy and his two sidekicks have to go to the underworld to free Percy's mother, retrieve the lightning bolt and return it to Zeus in time for the summer solstice.

The real thief turns out to be Luke, son of Hermes, who is convinced that the time of the old Gods is over and they should just go ahead and kill each other to clear the way for the next generation. Good prevails, of course, and a new hero for many films to come is born.

Was actually funnier than I expected it to be.

6/10


Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters

In this second installment in the Percy Jackson franchise, the perimeter protecting Camp Half-Blood is shattered because the tree controlling/protecting is dying. The flashback tells us that the tree grew in memory of Zeus' daughter Thalia, who died protecting her friends right before reaching the safety of the camp. To save her/it and keep the half-bloods secure, someone needs to go and get the Golden Fleece, that has healing powers.

Über-achiever Clarisse gets the job, but Percy and his posse start their own quest for the Fleece because of some prophecy that says that the offspring of one of the brothers Zeus, Poseidon and Hades will either save or destroy the Gods. The trio has now become a foursome because Poseidon also had another son who is a Zyclops.

The culprit, once again, is Luke. He is still out to destroy the Gods and with the Golden Fleece he hopes to bring back to life Cronos, who had once been destroyed by his three sons. There is a big battle with the re-animated Cronos and after he is once again in pieces, the half-bloods return to the camp and let Clarisse have all the glory.

The Fleece turns out to be so powerful that not only does it heal the tree, it actually brings Thalia back to life. The film ends with a voice over by Percy wondering if the prophecy meant his spawn of the trio of brothers rather than him....part three is set, then.

6/10

The Trip

You will probably get more out of this film if you know the two lead actors. Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon play themselves on a food tasting trip together for The Observer.

Whereas Coogan has appeared in international productions, Brydon is probably not as widely known, internationally, I think.

I am a fan of the show QI, on which Brydon is a regular, so I was familiar with him before watching this. I very much like his "little man in a box" voice (it does turn up in the film).

Basically, this is about two comedians in their 40s who are critizising each other's work while trying to get through a string of meals and occasionally getting on each other's nerves. It features a lot of impressions (Michael Caine) and made up conversations (the "To bed! We shall leave at daybreak!" bit in the car is quite funny) as well as occasional singing.

Small road trip film that I enjoyed a lot.

6/10