Watching, Playing, Reading #7

Watching, Playing, Reading is a pretty self-explanatory monthly-ish post series here on my blog.

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Watching:

on Hulu:

Finding Carter and Chasing Life: These shows are both dramas about girls who have had their lives turned upside-down and how they respond to it.  One finds out her mother is actually her kidnapper and the other learns she has cancer.  These shows are both fairly new so I haven't seen more than one or two episodes but so far I'm entertained and intrigued.

on Netflix:

TV shows:

Bones: Oh how I love this show.  There is a team of (mostly socially awkward) geniuses who work together to solve murders.  They all work at the Jeffersonian and use a variety of forensic techniques to discover the small details that others would miss.  I find it really fascinating for a few reasons: 1. murders/serial killers, 2. the cool and creative scientific processes and investigations, 3. the relationships between the team members, 4. Bones' attempts to understand people from more than just an anthropological viewpoint, 5. the cool necklaces that Bones is always wearing.  This show is intense, gory, and just funny enough to keep it together.

House, M.D.:  N and I have been watching a few episodes of this just about every night and have nearly watched it all now.  House is a genius doctor who solves all of the most difficult medical cases.  He loves puzzles and dislikes patients.  There are many humorous situations but the show is mostly a drama.

Hemlock Grove: The show starts out with a murder and then we learn that there is something supernatural going on.  There are gypsies and werewolves and drama and mystery.  And then in season 2, which I just finished there are some crazy science experiments and the season finale is insane.  I will definitely continue watching once season 3 comes out, because I have no idea what is going on anymore!

movies:

I already told you which ones I didn't like so here are the ones that I enjoyed.

Safe Haven:  Some of the reviews on Netflix are saying this is a typical chick flick.  It is not.  I don't like chick flicks but I liked this.  I could have done without the twist ending, but even with it I thoroughly enjoyed this movie.  I loved the setting (It made me want to live in a small town by the sea).  The story was fairly simple but very well executed.  A woman arrives in a small town and assumes a new identity.  Just when things start working out for her, her past comes back in a frightening way.  There was action, danger, romance, and heartwarming moments, and once again it was not a chick flick.

Of Two Minds:  I would be interested to hear how accurate this movie is from someone who has bipolar disorder.  Of Two Minds explores the lives of different Americans with bipolar disorder.  They discuss the highs and the lows and the problems that they deal with.  I am fairly certain that the people in this documentary all have a pretty severe case of bipolar disorder.  I found it fascinating and sometimes heartbreaking.  It was a very emotional film.

Penelope:  This movie was sweet and family-friendly.  It's a quirky modern fairy tale about a girl cursed with the nose of a pig until she finds love.  I love how quirky it is and I adore Penelope's wardrobe, especially her jackets.  The moral of the story is to love yourself the way you are, so it's great for kids or as lighthearted fare for adults.

Frozen Ground:  On the completely opposite end of the spectrum from Penelope we have Frozen Ground, the story of an Alaska state trooper (played by Nicolas Cage) working with a 17 year old prostitute to catch the serial killer she managed to escape from.  It is fast-paced and very intense and made even sadder by the fact that it is based on actual events.

Playing:

My Singing Monsters: This game is available in the App Store, Google Play, Kindle Fire, and Nook.  I have it on my Android phone.  I just cannot get enough of this game!  You get to raise and breed monsters on an island and they produce coins which you can use to buy them things that will make them happy.  It's like you're a feudal lord for a bunch of monster vassals (if I am going to really geek out).  The monsters all sing a different song and have different things that they like.  You also get rewarded for different tasks, such as hatching a certain number of one kind of monsters or buying a certain item.  If you love monsters and love controlling worlds, you should definitely download this game.  Did I mention that it's free?  Because it is.

Reading:

Let's Pretend This Never Happened* by Jenny Lawson:  This is the book by The Bloggess that every blogger and their grandma has been talking about for ages.  I finally got around to reading it and I can honestly say that it made me laugh out loud like a crazy person in public more than any other book ever has (which is a very good thing in my opinion).  Jenny is the absolute master of telling hilarious stories and having a crazy childhood full of ridiculous stories to tell.  I also love how she can talk humorously about her anxiety and how it affects her.  It makes me feel like I'm not alone, which I know I'm not but it's nice to read about anyway.

77 Shadow Street* by Dean Koontz:  This book is dark and twisted with a capital D and T.  Some people couldn't stomach it and others didn't get it but I kind of loved it in a kind of horrified way.  I really loved the way that the chapters are told through the point of view of the different people in the house.  People fascinate me and these characters were especially fascinating and complex.  The story is of a big fancy house where some rich people live in different apartments.  The house is very secure and has a spooky history of people going crazy and murdering each other and of other people just disappearing.  Something strange is happening in this house and nobody really knows how to deal with it.  There is a time travel part into a somewhat alien and very post-apocalyptic future and the residents of the house have to try to survive the future so they can escape it and prevent it from ever taking place.  This book is not for the easily grossed out, spooked, or the faint of heart, but I think a few of you share at least some of my strange tastes and will really like it.

Frankenstein: Prodigal Son* by Dean Koontz:  I have read this book before and it is just as good the second time around.  It's about a mad scientist creating what he believes are a superior race of human beings through some very high-tech processes.  One of his first and more primitive creations, Deucalion, is trying to find a meaning to existence.  Another creation has developed a taste for violence.  A third creation is trying desperately to escape the autism that his creator purposely caused him and find out how to be happy.  This is a very interesting book which weaves together a few stories involving science, human desires, and the supernatural.

*These are affiliate links that will give me a small commission if you buy the item through Amazon.  I wouldn't link you to anything I don't really like.