The King's Speech, Black Swan, and other reviews

I absolutely loved The King's Speech! It stars Colin Firth as Prince Albert, who stutters. His father (the king) dies, then his older brother abdicates the throne to Albert (George VI), all this happening while Hitler is continuing to take over Europe. Albert finds help from a very unorthodox speech therapist played by Geoffrey Rush. With his help, Albert is able to deliver the radio speech to the nation on the eve of England's involvement in WWII. It's a wonderful movie full of humor and heart. I'm sure Firth and Rush will be getting Oscar nominations for their performances. Definitely go see this movie.

The Black Swan was just slightly too weird for me. Natalie Portman's performance as a driven ballet dancer will surely win her an Oscar nomination, but the character she played was unlikeable and I became more annoyed with her as the movie went on. That combined with the many suddenly bloody scenes had me anxious for the movie to end. It's well done, but I don't recommend it unless you want to see a movie that's a little too 'out there.'

I read Artemis Fowl and the Atlantis Complex, the latest in Eoin Colfer's series. It was good, but not as good as its predecessors. Definitely worth reading though if you're into YA literature. I also read Hellforged by Nancy Holzner which rocked my world. Shifters, demons, zombies galore and a kick ass chick kicking all their asses - what more could you ask for? I just finished a re-read of For A Few Demons More, the fifth book in Kim Harrison's The Hollows series. Just as great the second time around. Great wedding scene, heartbreaking ending.

I played a few Nintendo games over the holidays. I love Professor Layton and the Curious Village and Professor Layton and the Unwound Future. Both are puzzle games wrapped in fun little stories. Great series for the DS. I also played Epic Mickey on the Wii. It's sort of like a Mario game but not as fun for some reason.