AdamB

I cannot comment on the movie since I have not seen it, but the Divergent book trilogy has some interesting ideas for the target audience (teens) to think about, such as when does a positive trait such as bravery cross the line into a negative (the factions are based around desired personality traits like honesty and humility). That being said, the first book was pretty good (for YA Lit), the second was ok, and the third was not worth bothering with.

I tried Bitten and made it through part of one episode before the cringe-factor just got to be too much. However, to be fair, I am a fan of the book series (Women of the Underworld) so that could be a big factor in not liking it, plus the Elena and Clayton characters are among my least favorites in the book series. Now, if they start introducing characters like Eve Levine (ghost/angel with a bad attitude), Savannah Levine (witch), and Jamie Vegas (necromancer) I will be giving it another shot.

Well, it looks like we will most likely be heading back to the family farm in a few weeks to stay, and I am in the process of drawing up a list of projects that I will have to start on. Due to budget (on the low side), almost of the work is going to be DIY so I will probably become a fixture in this thread looking for advice. The most serious issues are not ones we are going to do ourselves. The first is a new furnace (so obviously not a DIY project) - my father-in-law had the very nice one installed about 10 years ago, and has hardly been used, but it was installed in a cellar with no moisture protection resulting in heavy corrosion in the electronic controls. We are planning to have it checked to see if it can be repaired, but budgeting for replacement. We spent the winter 2012 there, and it was bad with no heat (or modern insulation - 160 year old house). The second main issue is the roof. One, I am not going up on that roof without a cherry-picker and safety gear (see picture below), and two it is metal. This is something we know we will have to get the entire family to chip in on since the last quote anyone got was $25K not including any repairs to the actual roof structure. We are also looking at metal roof alternatives like what was used when the family replaced the roof on the carriage house/smoke house (I drew a blank on the material name). The first planned project is cleaning off the old latex paint that was used awhile ago and now is coming off in strips. Also, at some point in the past a milk-wash was used (we think about 30 years ago). What would folks recommend for primer and paint types - oil primer/oil paint, oil primer and latex, or should latex for both be ok as long as I am make sure the primer is put on correctly? I have tried to find information on ye' ole web but it is the milk-wash that seems to be a stumbling point (most discuss new plaster walls).

My son watched Down Periscope for the first time yesterday, another flick with Bruce Dern

My main issue with Thor 2 is silly, but still... You take a recognizable (but not household name) actor in Christopher Eccleston, someone with a distinct look, voice, and mannerisms, cast him in the role of the bad guy - then slap on prosthetic and makeup, modulate his voice, and give him limited dialogue. I was a bit miffed at that. Again, silly, but he was the only Doctor Who in the long line of Doctors that I ever really liked (as well as other films, including some real turkeys) and was looking forward to seeing him in Thor.

Just finished watching Hyde Park on Hudson. It was ok. Not great, not bad. There are better films out there in regards to the central figures - my wife kept comparing the depiction of George and Elizabeth to that in The King's Speech. And historical accuracy is...well..ahem...questionable. However, as a period piece it did well, and Bill Murray was great as FDR.

We watched Frozen tonight. The first 2/3rds of the film were pretty good, though the pop-ish music made it felt more like Glee or something instead of the older Disney cartoons. The final 1/3rd was somewhat of a letdown. The quality was just a good, but there were so many different ways they could have taken the story without falling into the normal "princess" cartoon plot devices.

We finally watched Scream 4 last night after having bought it on Black Friday last year for $2.50 on blu-ray. The wife and I love the first three, but had heard bad things about this one. It is slower paced (as in it drags at times) and there is something...off about most of the film. I am not sure if this movie was filmed before or during Arquette and Cox's breakup, but their chemistry was shot, and Neve Campbell looked bored. However, that being said it had the right story elements to fit into the series and some great one-liners. Overall, better than what we were expecting, but weaker than the rest of the series 6/10 when compared to many in the slasher genre, 4/10 compared to the rest of the series.

The wife and I have been watching Lost Girl a lot. We binge watched seasons 1-3 on Netflix about a month ago, and are watching it again in between season 4 episodes on SyFy. It is a Canadian show in the same genre as True Blood and the like, and has been nominated for several Gemini awards (Canadian Emmy). Decent cast with a great chemistry, interesting storylines if you are into that sort of fiction, sex about every other episode....but we watch it for the story, I swear!