Out of the ruins of North America rises Panem with the glimmering Capitol and its 12 districts. Years ago the rebellion ended  with 12 districts defeated and the thirteenth destroyed. The Capitol created the Hunger Games, in which a boy and a girl from each district is chosen to fight to the death, as a reminder that no one can over throw the Capitol.

 This year is no different until District 12 has an unexpected volunteer. Katniss Everdeen, “the girl on fire”(Jennifer Lawrence), takes the place of her sister, Primrose Everdeen, (Willow Shields), to help save her from the brutality of the games. Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson) is the only child in a family of bakers and is also chosen to compete for District 12. They are whisked to the Capitol to compete with 22 other tributes in a fight to the death, showing how almost anything, even death sport, could end up on reality TV.

The action in this movie almost never slows down. Numerous scenes utilize a shaky camera effect that could cause motion sickness. The CGI looks amazing and so real that it is hard to tell if the effects are green screen or real. Every actor seemed to be made for his or her part in the movie.

“The Hunger Games” is an almost perfect adaptation of the book and currently holds the title of number one movie in the world. Raising $153 million in its first weekend, the movie beat out all of the Twilight series as well as Harry Potter in opening weekend revenue.

The movie is rated PG-13 for intense violence and disturbing material involving teens.

The book is not intended to answer any “What- if” questions that you may expect from a time travel novel. The main hook of the novel doesn’t come from Jake attempting to stop the assassination, but rather the assortment of characters that you come to know and associate with. Much of the book shows Epping spying on Lee Harvey Oswald, but not much comes of it until the last stretch of the book.

It’s obvious that King did an enormous amount of research for this novel as historical miscellanea appear throughout the book such as the price of a haircut (40¢), names of old products, etc. This makes the book feel more realistic and interesting, but sometimes it often adds fluff to the already thick book. At 800+ pages the book is a little bloated with parts that should have been cut to make the pacing better, but it’s not a deal breaker.

So when reading 11/22/63 don’t expect any paradoxes or anything that we’ve seen repeatedly in time travel novels. It’s just another extraordinary story told by a man who’s written them time and time again.

In his book, a vampire warrior, Michael, and a witch, Jasmine, are at war against werewolves in the world of Mystoria. Their battle against immortal creatures leads them on a path to discovering the truth while trying to survive in a mystical, ancient world.

“Mystoria: Land of the Immortals” is available at the signing and on Amazon for $13.95.

“Neighborhoods” is a more mature record than previous Blink 182 albums which featured a few juvenile, but likeable songs. The band has experimented more with their style of music in this album. Some songs have drawn out intros, and some even sound like metal. Only a few songs like “Kaleidoscope” and “Wishing Well” sound like typical Blink songs, but the others are still excellent.

The lyrics no longer seem to be about their lives or specific events, but cover issues and stories with the world as a whole and most of them are more somber than in previous albums.

The various types of tracks come together to create an album that is full of emotion and intensity. Blink 182 fans waited six years for this album, and as one of them I can say it was truly worth the wait.

The film is well-rounded with plenty of excitement, puzzles and good laughs. Music creates a suspenseful mood that keeps you on the edge of your seat, while the special effects add breath-taking scenes. The characters are well-developed and all different from one another. The hero who works from the desk, Benji (Simon Pegg) the intelligence analyst, brings comical relief.  William Brandt (Jeremy Renner) is the classic right-hand man to their leader, Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and Jane Carter (Paula Patton) plays the female hero.  

Ethan and his friends are on a mission to infiltrate the Kremlin in Russia for nuclear launch codes. Before they are able to accomplish the mission, they are detered by an explosion. Ethan is not the only one after the codes. The bombing is blamed on Ethan’s team and his organization IMF. Their job now is to retrieve the launch codes and stop nuclear war between the U.S. and Russia.

Will Ethan get the codes in time? It’s your mission to find out. If you miss your window of opportunity to see the film in theatres, plan B is to rent or purchase it upon release.

“Ghost Protocol” is rated PG-13. Visit the official site for trailer and features.

In the town of Whoville, Christmas is the most important time of the year, and when it rolls around, everyone goes crazy with Christmas cheer.  Well, everyone except for the Grinch, a hairy green Who that lives on Mt. Crumpet with his dog, Max. Cindy Lou Who, a young Who that isn’t quite feeling the Christmas spirit, does some investigation and discovers that the Grinch was humiliated as a child, which spurred his hatred of Christmas and the Whos. Cindy Lou befriends the Grinch and soon nominates him for Christmas Cheer Meister, which reunites the Grinch with many of his childhood friends and enemies.  As a final attempt to show his hatred for Christmas, the Grinch decides to steal all of the presents in Whoville and ruin everyone’s Christmas.

Jim Carry does a very good job portraying the sarcastic and misunderstood Grinch, while adding comedic relief through the side comments from the Grinch. A very young Taylor Momsen, who plays Cindy Lou Who, captures the innocence and childhood charm that Dr. Seuss intended for the character. The other cast members, including Jeffrey Tambor, who plays Mayor Maywho, and Christine Baranski, who plays Marth May Whovie, did a good job bringing the town of Whoville to life with enthusiasm and excitement.

 The costume design and set design of “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” is impressive.  While the costumes are very ostentatious, they portray the cartoon essence from the original book. The set design, complete with a giant Christmas tree and lots of fake snow, creates a sort of Winter Wonderland that is full of holiday spirit. The storyline is very easy to follow, and the viewer doesn’t have to think about multiple plot lines going on at the same time. 

If given the choice, I would choose the animated version over the live version of “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”. While the amount of holiday spirit can be overwhelming at times, “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” is a must see every holiday season. With a heartwarming ending and an amusing plot, this movie keeps the viewers attention.  This movie is perfect for young children and people who want to reminisce over a childhood favorite.

The live action “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” is rated PG for crude humor.

The new movie “The Muppets” uses clever humor and catchy songs to awaken the inner child inside adult viewers. It is the most sophisticated Muppet movie yet.

The movie follows brothers Gary (Jason Segel) and Walter (voiced by Peter Linz), who are the biggest Muppet fans ever. Along with Gary’s girlfriend, Mary (Amy Adams), they travel to Los Angeles to tour the Muppet Studios. When they arrive, they see that the place is abandoned and in jeopardy of being torn down by an evil oil driller (Chris Cooper). With the help of Kermit the Frog (voiced by Steve Whitmire), they travel around the world, reuniting the iconic gang again in efforts to save their studio.

This movie is full of guest stars, spanning from the NBC hit “The Office” to CBS’s “The Big Bang Theory.” Mary and Gary were perfect for their roles. 

“The Muppets” creates a modern spin on Muppet humor. This movie made me literally laugh out loud. The puns were so cleverly hidden that I sometimes had to analyze what I  heard to find the humor.

The music in the Muppets was cheesy at times but also had hilarious moments.  Classics like “We Built This City” by Starship were Muppet-ized. The songs movie will have you dancing your way out of the theater.

The Muppets is rated PG for some mild rude humor.

This remake has taken the classic Three Musketeers and  ‘modernized’ it using  humor it’s best to roll your eyes at and walk away. This would-be action movie  had moments where I was glad I came, but a few seconds later I was determining whether I would rather go home and sleep or be lazy and deal with the movie seat.

In the movie the young and cocky D’Artagnan (Logan Lerman) joins forces with the three legendary Musketeers (Matther MacFadyen, Luke Evans and Ray Stevenson) in the recreation of Alexandre Dumas’s story. They must stop the evil  Richlieu (Christoph Waltz), face the Duke of Buckingham (Orlando Bloom) and backstabbing double agent Milady de Winter (Milla Jovovich) for the sake of France and its king, King Louis XII (Freddie Fox).

The purpose of the remaking of this movie seemed to be  money–not a new perspective on the original. It slows down at unimportant scenes and speeds up the moments you want to last forever. The one redeeming point of the film was the progression of the characters. They did not care for anything with meaning but in the end saw what they were truly fighting for, whether literal fighting or fighting a battle within themselves.

I would not recommend you spend your money and Friday night on this movie.  I give it a generous one star out of five. Wait until it’s out on rental and there isn’t a better movie you could watch instead. You’ll be glad with your choice.

This movie is rated PG-13.

Palace, which opened its doors in July in the first floor of the Smith Building, is a fusion of coffee culture, local art and musicians and feels much like a hole-in-the-wall coffee shop in a huge city like New York rather than small-town Canyon, Texas. Owners Patrick and Kristal Burns still keep Palace feeling local as they, along with their merry bunch of baristas, learn the names of all their regulars and generally remember the favored beverages of all who enter.

I could not help but visit Palace on the first day they opened, curious as any to check out a new establishment in Canyon that was not an Asian food restaurant. The mixture of modern design and a hodgepodge of garage sale and fine antique furniture appealed to me as the sort of atmosphere where I could spend a lot of time in a corner reading or sharing a conversation with friends. I have, since then, done both many times.

Palace is not like a coffee shop I have ever visited. Unlike some shops that seem to cater to the daily hustle and bustle of the busy world, Palace encourages you to come in and relax awhile. They hold a growing collection of books and board games, and walking in to see the baristas in a competitive match of chess is common.

Along with all of this, the sense of community spirit Palace gives off is undeniable. From the diverse patrons of the company, to the way they integrate community artists’ work on their walls, feature musicians’ talents in their Palace Room, and include products from other stores such as Bistro to Go’s sandwiches and The Cake Company’s pastries, this place is definitely a group effort.

All in all, Palace Coffee Company is a great addition to our community for people of all ages and types, and is a place I hope to continue visiting now, and for years to come.