Guardians of Ga'hoole Book 14 : Exile

Finally the penultimate book 14 of this huge Guardians of Ga'hoole series, Exile. Although after reading 13 books at stretch anyone would definitely get bored and start asking when will this finish but Exile out of the blue still manages to captivate us readers in love and sadness with the brave owls of ga'hoole, the demonic Pure Ones, and the fight between good and evil. Few have been able to make a successful story of animals but this series exceeds that of an animal book,. Finally with the new book we can see the series with Soren and the band continue.

Exile takes an even more darker twist in the Guardians of Ga'hoole when The Striga, a blue Dragon Owl who saved Soren's youngest daughter, Bell, and asked in return to stay and teach his ways to the owls of ga'hoole.

It was their gravest mistake to agree this proposition. 

Slowly The Striga tries to inch closer in his friendship with the king of the tree: Coryn, as Coryn is even more slowly losing control over the Ember of Hoole's power. Even worse than that, books and ancient records detailing very early points in owl history, are being burnt, as a part of "cleansing from earthly possessions and vanity". The blue owl has one thing standing in his way from starting a cult: the band. As Soren, Gyflie, Digger, and Twilight figure out what is going on, poisoned by the Ember and Striga, Coryn sends a message to them as they are on their way home, banishing them, never to return to the Great Ga'hoole Tree, to stay in exile.

But The Striga isn't done. Finding ways of accusing the owls of treason with hard evidence, The Striga orders that band is to be tracked down and imprisoned by their own friends of the tree . Hopeless the band separates hoping to meet again with allies to free Coryn from The Striga's spell.

Kathryn Lasky again stumbles us with strange and dark secrets, keeps us pinned to the book in great fights, and warming our hearts with the courage and daring of the owls of ga'hoole. Exile gives us a view with the classic, good and evil, and the misuse of power and wisdom, that make a great story.

I have to say though, I may have been slowly loosing interest in the series a little but the further into the series I go, the darker the books get, introducing things like references to cults, black magic, and demonic practices, but thankfully the author is able to keep a balance between the to facts of life with good and evil.

Guardians of Ga'hoole Book 14 : Exile

"The Descent"

Its finally back.......The Vampire Diaries after a months hiatus returns with more gruesome side of the inhabitants of Mystic Falls or a teeny tiny bit of focusing on the fate that may befall on the resident bloodsuckers of the mystical town of mystic falls. (Man this hiatus was making me feel like so boring......thank God its back on air)


Alright lets get serious shall we???


"I'm not human. And I miss it. I miss it more than anything in the world. That is my secret." This dialog of Damon well i didn't know it was a secret but oh well! I was hoping that ‘The Descent’ would bring the show out of its hiatus with a bang but it was more of a slow build. I’m still not entirely sure what it was building toward; I wasn’t aware that the big final revelation, that Damon misses being human, was actually a secret. It’s seemed pretty obvious for a season and a half.


So "The Descent" leaves us with a major body count - three campers (dead), one shirtless hot blood sucker (Stefan), one unfortunate female (dead? dying? Damon's return to the dark side?) In between, the plot didn't move forward very much, but plenty of information was passed between characters that planted the seeds for what should be an exciting second half of the season.


Stefan is pulling a Katherine, trying to build up his tolerance to vervain. Not a bad strategy keep it up stef, it'll definitely help in the long run, but let's remember how close he came to the dark side when he did the same with human blood.

When Rose was not sucking down packets of blood like they were six packs at Charlie Sheen's house, she spent a lot of time selling Elena on the advantages of being human, even saying building a family with a vampire is "not compatible" for her kind. Is this more foreshadowing of a decision Elena will soon have to make?

That was a very strange dream within which Damon and Rose hung out, wasn't it? It was a touching scene (it just made me cry), but it seemed to be an example of the show making up a supernatural rule. Since when can Damon control another vampire's subconscious in such a manner? Damon well what can we say about him he’s adorable, simple as that. I just don’t understand what his motives are for hiding the fact that he feels. No one really believes that he’s a coldhearted bastard and he knows they don’t. At the most, he’d get a pitiful look from Stefan and a teary hug from Elena (which he got anyway), but what else does Damon possibly get from denying his emotions? Isn’t it hurting him more in the long run? In fact, isn’t it this denial and playing into the whole vampire stereotype that made him breakdown at the end of the episode? Damon is an enigma wrapped up in a mystery wrapped up in hotness.

But it was a bit whiny and typical vampire-emo at the end, but then Damon killed the chick anyway. Nice contrast, by the way: the tender, peaceful mercy killing of Rose and the outright slaughter of poor little chick. This also means the return of the bad-ass, seemingly cold Damon.

We've seen countless love triangles before on television, but this has to be the first between a human, werewolf and vampire, right? Then again, with the intel Jules has passed along the Tyler, he may wanna yell at Caroline more than make out with her next week. (It's true check the promo for the next episode.)


Caroline declares her love to Matt (as much of a declaration as it can be given the delivery) before running away scared. She’s a vampire, he’s The Human, it’s bound to end badly. (I like this train of thought, Caroline, go share it with Elena.) Back at home waits Tywolf who asks why she’s helping him and then kisses her. This in itself would be fairly unremarkable, except Caroline says the line of the episode: “Everyone just needs to stop kissing me!” Oh, dearest Caroline.

She’s the only reason for Matt being in the show right now – he has nothing else going on – so part of me wants her to go back to him. But then Tyler is well, Tyler and the whole vampire/werewolf thing would be fun. (And let’s face it, I’m just curious as to how restrained they can be around each other to avoid the whole ‘one bite means death’ scenario.)

Can't say I missed Bonnie or Jeremy very much. No offense, guys. But let's all welcome back John Gilbert. Hope your fingers are feeling better, buddy.

Overall, one might criticize the episode for focusing too much on Rose, a character we haven't known for very long. But I see it differently. The extended death scene and the pain she was in as a result of the werewolf bite was necessary in order to depict the stakes that are on the horizon during the impending werewolf/vampire war.

Next Week, we see some Daddy Issues, Uncle or Daddy (whatever you wanna call him) John is back! And, okay, maybe Tyler locking Caroline in a cage will put a dampener on any possible future relationship. But who knows episode promos have been known to be a bit misleading at times.

"The Descent"

Guardians of Ga'hoole Book 13: The River of Wind

Book 13, The River of Wind, finally the series i almost coming to an end. 


The owl Bess has been studying The Others for sometime. They have had strange markings, maps, and the special "winged ones" all clues that suggest that the owls aren't alone or weren't, at one point. But in the scraps of strange objects, lies a map of a strange sixth kingdom.

Bess calls Soren and the entire Chaw of chaws to investigate and see where this sixth kingdom lies. To find this place they must go on an air current The Others called "The River of Wind."

Traveling they find blue Dragon Owls, with almost Buddhist-like values, who live in the mountains. But Nyra, Soren's sister-in-law, is back with the cult of The Pure Ones who know of the sixth kingdom and spreads the demon's magic over the monastery.

What I love is how Lasky adds yet another fascinating culture based on real life, this makes the story just as interesting.

In the story we see how peace is easily disturbed by violence. The story takes a dark twist when even some of the blue owls practice black magic on the new eggs, making them possessed with hagsfiend magic and when they keep a large bird as the king, though he isn't very humble, being filled with jewels and materials things get worse. Nyra's strange demonic religion is spreading dangerously as her very feathers turn dark with all the evil that possesses her and Soren becomes worried that Coryn is concerned about his destiny, his mother, and the idea he might be what she is consumed in.

And the biggest secret of the blue owls in their evil past is revealed.

Guardians of Ga'hoole Book 13: The River of Wind

Glee is coming back on Sunday feb 8 and here are the 2 promos

Glee is coming back on Sunday feb 8 and here are the 2 promos

Guardians of Ga'hoole Book 12: The Golden Tree

Book 12, The Golden Tree may as well be the best book of the whole series, although 15 books is stretching my interest.


After the mid-mini series of the Legends Triology the Band finally makes a comeback, and Coryn is getting used to being King. Soren's chicks also hatch, though I was disappointed there wasn't much about them in The Golden Tree. 

Coryn and the Band go on a journey to discover whether Nyra is really a hagsfiend, and if Coryn's blood is tainted due to his evil heritage, but end up finding out something totally different and possibly even more dangerous. A dark secret from the past is unearthed, and is in Nyra's clutches. Coryn and the Band need to stop Nyra before it's too late, and an important, beloved character nearly dies (i'm not revealing the name, it'll spoil all the fun), and another character does die. I was practically on the edge of my seat with excitement!

Meanwhile, in Coryn's absence, Otulissa is left to deal with the annoying Whiskered Screech Owl, Gemma, and Elyan the Great Gray Owl. Both have become obsessed with the Ember of Hoole, and many Guardians start to follow them. Eventually, even Otulissa is powerless to stop them, and the Guardians' only hope of alerting Coryn lies in one of the most unlikely of owls.

A character mentioned in Book 1, Bess the Boreal Owl, Grimble's favorite daughter, reappears as the Keeper of the Palace of Mists in The Golden Tree. However, Bess, like Soren's daughters, Pellimore, and Eglantine, also has no dialogue, except for flashbacks.

One of the book's greatest surprises was Madame Plonk's amazing personality transformation, from a spoiled, fat old singer to a warrior gadfeather. There are also hints at new romances, and a brand-new owl kingdom.

Guardians of Ga'hoole Book 12: The Golden Tree

Guardians of Ga'hoole Book 11: To Be A King

Book 11 and the final book of the Legends Triology, To Be A King was likable not excellent for besides a few errors, the author didn't tie up all of the loose ends as effectively as in her previous books.


The things I liked about this book in particular were the creative new characters, a new romance, and Hoole's transition from being a chick to an adult, from being a follower to a leader. Part of the book centers on the forces of evil (Pleek, Ygryk, Kreeth, and Lutta, Pleek and Ygryk's "daughter"), while the other part centers on the newly formed Guardians of Ga'Hoole.

This book basically lays the foundation for the Guardians of Ga'Hoole, the sea of Hoolmere and the Island of Hoole. The final battle for the N'rythghar is waged. While King Hoole reigns over the S'rthgahr, chaos runs rampant in the N'rythghar. Lord Arrin is ammassing an army for a final invasion, while kraals, Ullryck's hagsfiend troops, and a mad upstart owl's forces fight for the spoils. King Hoole must also form an army before Short Light, or lose all hope of ever reclaiming his father's throne. Hoole gains new allies: Strix Strumajen the Spotted Owl, Sir Bors the Barn Owl, Sir Tobyfor the Northern Hawk Owl, Lord Rathnik the Snowy Owl, and many others.

New, dark forces also lurk, preparing to strike and steal the Ember of Hoole: the archfiend Kreeth, and the changeling bird Lutta. Lutta transforms into Emerilla, Strix Strumajen's lost daughter, in order to gain Hoole's trust and steal the Ember. But Lutta finds something much more than just the Ember...

There are also deaths in To Be A King, but nothing too disappointing. Basically, the entire book explains how the Guardians of Ga'Hoole came to be.

But there were some problems in the book. Some parts were poorly edited, and had many errors. At the end, it was unclear whether or how Lord Arrin, Ullryck, and Shadyk were defeated and/or killed. Sure, Hoole and the Guardians triumphed, but the whole battle was mostly vague.
Other than that, To Be A King is a great ending for the Legends trilogy and provides some insight on Book 12, The Golden Tree.  

Guardians of Ga'hoole Book 11: To Be A King

Guardians of Ga'hoole Book 10: The Coming of Hoole

Book 10 The Coming of Hoole,  finally Kathryn Laskey is getting back on track. The arc of irrelevance and boredom started in The Hatchling and continued all the way through The First Collier. But The Coming of Hoole is interesting and sticks to the original Guardians of Ga'Hoole story without slipping up nearly as much as the past three books. 


Laskey made the right move in ending Grank's rambling first-person narrative and returns to the third-person, which the rest of the series is written in. The "writer" of this Legend book that Soren and Coryn (now accompanied by Otulissa and the rest of the band) read is supposedly unknown, but easy to figure out from pretty much the first ten pages. I liked her choice, and though you don't really get much more insight into this character than any of the others, it was still good narrative.

The widowed Queen Siv's egg has hatched, and Grank names the owlet Hoole. Immediately he and Theo begin to teach and train him, and Hoole is enthusiastic about it all. You can't help but love his owlet character- he's hyper and ambitious, totally unaware of who he really is and the power he has. When others decide to inhabit the island with Hoole, Grank, and Theo, however, the first collier begins making plans for their journey to Beyond the Beyond, where Hoole will learn from the dire wolves- most especially Fengo, Grank's old friend.

Meanwhile, Siv can't stand to have never seen her owlet. She makes an attempt to see him, which almost ends in his capture by hagsfiends, so contents herself with letting those she trusts in her old kingdom know she's there, readying suport for when she'll need it.
As typical now with Kathryn Laskey, there is no show of character development- Hoole grows up overnight without so much as a warning, and there is almost no mention of how the owl kingdom is faring without Hrath's leadership. So why do they care that the hagsfiends are there? From what it shows they haven't done anything bad! The battle scene at the end is sloppy, and, as predicted, the magic of the hagsfiends doesn't seem to stop any of Hoole's side, even though it supposedly made them unreachable in The First Collier.

But I still liked this book. It had good pace with a good story. Afterward, however, I'll be very glad to get back to Soren and the band (with the unfortunate addition of Coryn) with The Golden Tree, which will supposedly pick up where The Outcast left off. It's almost hard to read their tiny prolouge and epilouge scenes in the Legends trilogy.

Guardians of Ga'hoole Book 10: The Coming of Hoole

First Looks 3

Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2: Rodrick Rules:




Battle: Los Angeles :



HappyThankYouMorePlease :

First Looks 3

Ricky Gervais hosts the Golden Globe Awards live from the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles.

Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture

Christian Bale (THE FIGHTER)

Best Actress – TV Series Drama

Katey Sagal (“Sons of Anarchy”)

Best Mini-Series or TV Movie

“Carlos”

Best Supporting Actor in TV Series or Mini-Series

Chris Colfer (“Glee”)

Best Actor – TV Series – Drama

Steve Buscemi (“Boardwalk Empire”)

Best TV Series – Drama

“Boardwalk Empire”

Best Original Song – Motion Picture

“You Haven’t Seen The Last of Me” (BURLESQUE)

Best Original Score – Motion Picture

“The Social Network”

Best Animated Feature Film

“Toy Story 3″

Best Actress – Film Comedy or Musical

Annette Bening (THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT)

Best Actor – TV Miniseries or Movie

Al Pacino (YOU DON’T KNOW JACK)

Best Actress – TV Miniseries or Movie

Claire Danes (TEMPLE GRANDIN)

Best Screenplay – Motion Picture

Aaron Sorkin (THE SOCIAL NETWORK)

Best Supporting Actress – TV Series, Miniseries of Movie

Jane Lynch (“Glee”)

Best Actress – TV Comedy or Musical

Laura Linney (“The Big C”)

Best Actor – TV Comedy or Musical

Jim Parsons (“The Big Bang Theory”)

Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture

Melissa Leo (THE FIGHTER)

Best Director – Motion Picture

David Fincher (THE SOCIAL NETWORK)

Best TV Series – Comedy or Musical

“Glee”

Best Actor – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical

Paul Giamatti (BARNEY’S VERSION)

Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama

Natalie Portman (BLACK SWAN)

Best Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical

“The Kids Are All Right”

Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama

Colin Firth (THE KING’S SPEECH)

Best Motion Picture – Drama

“The Social Network”

Critics Choice 2011 Winner

The 16th annual Critics Choice Movie Awards took place at the Hollywood Palladium Friday night (Jan. 14). "The Social Network" took home three big awards: Best Picture, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay, plus Best Score. 

"Inception" came out as the big winner, as it took home six technical awards. "The Fighter" was honored in the acting category three times, with both Best Supporting awards and the Ensemble award. Natalie Portman and Colin Firth each took home the lead acting awards for "Black Swan" and "The King's Speech," respectively, which also won for Best Original Screenplay.

Traditionally, Critics Choice winners go on to nab the Oscars, so look for some similar winners in February at the Academy Awards.

The completely winners list:

Best Picture

"127 Hours"
"Black Swan"
"The Fighter"
"Inception"
"The King's Speech"
"The Social Network"
"The Town"
"Toy Story 3
"True Grit"
"Winter's Bone"
    
Best Actor

Jeff Bridges - "True Grit"
Robert Duvall - "Get Low"
Jesse Eisenberg - "The Social Network"
Colin Firth - "The King's Speech"
James Franco - "127 Hours"
Ryan Gosling - "Blue Valentine"
    
Best Actress

Annette Bening - "The Kids Are All Right"
Nicole Kidman - "Rabbit Hole"
Jennifer Lawrence - "Winter's Bone"
Natalie Portman - "Black Swan"
Noomi Rapace - "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo"
Michelle Williams - "Blue Valentine"
    
Best Supporting Actor
    
Christian Bale - "The Fighter"
Andrew Garfield - "The Social Network"
Jeremy Renner - "The Town"
Sam Rockwell - "Conviction"
Mark Ruffalo - "The Kids Are All Right"
Geoffrey Rush - "The King's Speech"

Best Supporting Actress
    
Amy Adams - "The Fighter"
Helena Bonham Carter - "The King's Speech"
Mila Kunis - "Black Swan"
Melissa Leo - "The Fighter"
Hailee Steinfeld - "True Grit"
Jacki Weaver - "Animal Kingdom"
    
Best Young Actor/Actress
    
Elle Fanning - "Somewhere"
Jennifer Lawrence - "Winter's Bone"
Chloe Grace Moretz - "Let Me In"
Chloe Grace Moretz - "Kick-Ass"
Kodi Smit-McPhee - "Let Me In"
Hailee Steinfeld - "True Grit"
    
Best Acting Ensemble
    
"The Fighter"
"The Kids Are All Right"
"The King's Speech"
"The Social Network"
"The Town"
    
Best Director
    
Darren Aronofsky - "Black Swan"
Danny Boyle - "127 Hours"
Joel Coen & Ethan Coen - "True Grit"
David Fincher - "The Social Network"
Tom Hooper - "The King's Speech"
Christopher Nolan - "Inception"
    
Best Original Screenplay
    
"Another Year" - Mike Leigh
"Black Swan" - Mark Heyman and Andres Heinz and John McLaughlin
"The Fighter" - Scott Silver and Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson (Story by Keith Dorrington & Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson)
"Inception" - Christopher Nolan
"The Kids Are All Right" - Lisa Cholodenko and Stuart Blumberg
"The King's Speech" - David Seidler
    
Best Adapted Screenplay
    
"127 Hours" - Simon Beaufoy and Danny Boyle
"The Social Network" - Aaron Sorkin
"The Town" - Ben Affleck, Peter Craig and Sheldon Turner
"Toy Story 3" - Michael Arndt (Story by John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich)
"True Grit" - Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
"Winter's Bone" - Debra Granik and Anne Rosellini
    
Best Cinematography

"127 Hours" - Anthony Dod Mantle
"Black Swan" - Matthew Libatique
"Inception" - Wally Pfister
"The King's Speech" - Danny Cohen
"True Grit" - Roger Deakins
    
Best Art Direction
    
"Alice in Wonderland" - Stefan Dechant
"Black Swan" - Therese DePrez and Tora Peterson
"Inception" - Guy Hendrix Dyas
"The King's Speech" - Netty Chapman
"True Grit" - Jess Gonchor and Nancy Haigh
    
Best Editing

"127 Hours" - Jon Harris
"Black Swan" - Andrew Weisblum
"Inception" - Lee Smith
"The Social Network" - Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter
    
Best Costume Design
   
"Alice in Wonderland" - Colleen Atwood
"Black Swan" - Amy Westcott
"The King's Speech" - Jenny Beavan
"True Grit" - Mary Zophres
    
Best Makeup

"Alice in Wonderland"
"Black Swan"
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1"
"True Grit"
    
Best Visual Effects
    
"Alice in Wonderland"
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1"
"Inception"
"Tron: Legacy"
    
Best Sound
    
"127 Hours"
"Black Swan"
"Inception"
"The Social Network"
"Toy Story 3"
    
Best Animated Feature

"Despicable Me"
"How to Train Your Dragon"
"The Illusionist"
"Tangled"
"Toy Story 3"
    
Best Action Movie
    
"Inception"
"Kick-Ass"
"Red"
"The Town"
"Unstoppable"
    
Best Comedy
    
"Cyrus"
"Date Night"
"Easy A"
"Get Him to the Greek"
"I Love You Phillip Morris"
"The Other Guys"

Best Picture Made for Television

"The Pacific"
"Temple Grandin"
"You Don't Know Jack"

Best Foreign Language Film
    
"Biutiful"
"I Am Love"
"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo"
    
Best Documentary Feature
    
"Exit Through the Gift Shop"
"Inside Job"
"Restrepo"
"Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work"
"The Tillman Story"
"Waiting for Superman"
    
Best Song
"I See the Light" - "Tangled"
"If I Rise" - "127 Hours"
"Shine" - "Waiting for Superman"
"We Belong Together" - "Toy Story 3"
"You Haven't Seen the Last of Me Yet" - "Burlesque"
   
Best Score
    
"Black Swan" - Clint Mansell
"Inception" - Hans Zimmer
"The King's Speech" - Alexandre Desplat
"The Social Network" - Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
"True Grit" - Carter Burwell

Critics Choice 2011 Winner