Circus (Britney Spears) - Track By Track Review

I never thought i would like the album. But i actually did!! But compared to blackout, it definitely lacks something...the fun element??!! I don't know...

Womanizer is a fun track. The mad lyrics, the totally insane video with the boob shaking (very hot) and the fact that its a dance number made me like the song...of course i didn't like it at the beginning. I thought it was too overproduced like the entire Blackout session, but then again, i think i like her overproduced stuff a lot more than her usual stuff now.... i can't think of going back and listening to Overprotected or Stronger or stuff like that.. i've grown beyond it. I'm happy that Britney's songs are overproduced! The lesser i get to hear her, the better for my ears!! She sounds like the crow on this song... But its still entertaining, just because its overproduced!! Lol...

If U Seek Amy... Is the chorus grammatically correct?? I don't know, something about the chorus annoys me, and i don't know what.. The song is genius though! The la la la's and the haha hehe haha ho are superb!! I love them!! Again, Brit sounds like a crow on this song, but thank god for the producers!!! Yay!! Why doesn't she just go ahead and use strong language in the open..??!! Everyone knows she's grown up now and can use strong language on her songs, she doesn't have to cover the "fuck me fuck me" using a vocoder!!

Kill The Lights is effing amazing!!! Except for the intro by the producer! If this is going to be a single in the future, i'd rather the song without the intro. The song is ace though.. Britney should do more songs about bitching about people who bitch about her! Its fun to listen to them (like Piece Of Me..) The chorus is amazing!!

Circus is fun to listen to. This is the kind of song that i was talking about.. i'd rather Britney doing songs like this. But i think the idea of having the album named after this one song is criminal. The song does not represent the entire album. She could've named the album after Kill The Lights, that would have done justice.

Out From Under is the worst thing that Britney has ever done. I know everyone is going to pounce on me and say that its brilliant and blah blah, this is my opinion. I don't think i can hear her cawing on a track which is not well produced...

Mannequin is weird!! Is it supposed to be a creative song?? Cos it really sounds like a studio accident!! The chorus is quite catchy, but the verses annoy me so much that i tend to skip, and the producer's vocals on the song with "screeeeeam" and "crrrryyyyyy" are pathetic!!

Quicksand is the first brilliant track for me!! Britney sounds great (shocking) and the song is penned perfectly. Its genuis. Wonder why its not on the album, its a bonus track!?! Madness!!!

Shattered Glass is a good concept! The song is well produced, but i would have liked it more if the song stretched on till 3 minutes and 25 seconds, with a middle 8 included in the structure of the song... The lyrics are bold, which is brilliant!! And hurray for the producers for covering up for the crow!!

Blur is boring!!

Lace And Leather is a filler really... nothing special about the song. It reminds me of Gwen's Fluorescent for some reason..

Rock Me In is actually nice!! I think i like girls singing with a bit of guitars playing the background and groove kicking faster than ever!! Although it sounds like a Rogue Traders reject, i'm sure they would have done this song better...

Unusual You is the second brilliant song for me. Its amazing!! The song, the lyrics, the melody, the feel.... just wow!! Bloodshy & Avant always do good songs!

Rock Boy is lame!! I'm glad it wasn't included on the album. Britney sounds like a wannabe on it.. (wait a minute, she always sounds like one, its just more obvious on this..lol)

Mmm Papa is very 80's which cool!! The title annoys me, but otherwise the song is ace!! I love the "mmmm" part... it turns me on, for some strange reason!! lol..

Amnesia is effing brilliant!! I actually have no words to describe this song... Its been on my ipod for just 2 days and its already topping my Top 25 most played!! Its amazing!! I'm actually happy she recorded this song, it makes me happy that i'm still listening to her songs...

Phonography is her second song about phone sex, right!?? So its true, she does like phone sex!! Kinky... The song is alright...

Trouble is different... initially it sounds like something that was thrown off Confessions On The Dancefloor but then it moves into an amazing electro number, and i have to say.. i love the structure of the chrous... with the word trouble being repeated a million times. Definitely will do well in the clubs....

Overall, the album is good.... i'm glad the producers produced it!! Lol....

FUCKING AMAZING SONGS: (in order)
Amnesia
Quicksand
Kill The Lights
Unusual You
If You Seek Amy
Circus

GOOD SONGS: (in order)
Shattered Glass
Trouble
Mmm Papa

OKAY SONGS: (in order)
Phonography
Rock Me In
Lace And Leather

HORRIBLE SONGS: (in order)
Rock Boy
Blur
Mannequin

WORST SONG EVER: (seriously!!)
Out From Under

EDIT - oh i completely forgot about My Baby... second worst song ever... Wonder how it even made it onto the final tracklist while better songs like Amnesia and Quicksand are just bonus tracks... record companies are getting crazier day by day..

Funhouse (P!nk) - Track By Track Review

When i first heard that P!nk was coming out with another album instead of a GH, i thought she would never be able to out-do her previous album. I'm Not Dead, was one of the very few perfect albums which you find these days. But i was wrong. Funhouse is absolutely amazing!! I badly wanna say every bit fun, but i can't, cos i'm not very fond of her acoustic tracks popping up suddenly. Thats my complaint against P!nk, she has these random acoustic tracks between well produced rock tunes, which sounds really lame. Lyrically those songs are probably the best on the album, but when i hear a pop-rock album, i'd love for it to be guitarry and upbeat, not acoustic.. She should either have them as b-sides or come out with a separate album with just acoustic tracks...

The album opener So What, the lead single from the album is a pop track lined with edgy guitars and crazy lyrics. The best part of the song is the pain hidden beneath the stupid lyrics. I don't know why some people say that all P!nk can do is sing about something funny. Losing her husband, and not knowing where he went is actually a strong line. But she does a good job turning this into a fun tune, which went #1 worldwide. Finally, she got what she truly deserves. I've always loved P!nk. And i've always wanted her to have a huge hit. Stupid Girls came close, but it didn't reach this position. Stupid Girls still remains a great song, much much better than anything on this or her previous album, as a pop tune...

Sober seems to have a very Red Hot Chilli Peppers influence, the opening of the track seems very very familiar, although, i'm not able to figure out where i've heard something simliar. The lyrics are superb! This will definitely end up becoming the "who knew" (pun intended) of the Funhouse era. The song is probably going to be the second single from the album. Oh and by the way, she worked with Tony Canal on this song. I was expecting a very Hella Good type of song, but this was a pleasant surprise!

Then the album's pace reduces and we have a nice synth/violin ballad - I Don't Believe You, which i think is excellent. Its something like Christina's Hurt, a ballad with absolutely no beats whatsoever, just melody and P!nk sounds so mature on the song. Anyone who brands P!nk as "that punk ass who sings about sex and lesbians" should probably listen to this song and close their eyes and feel the emotion!! This is soooooooo much better than Who Knew

One Foot Wrong is a weird song, it reminds me of how weird Last To Know felt on Try This, soundwise! I'm not particularly fond of this song, i've probably heard it like 4 times till now, i generally prefer to skip through. Its a perfect filler, not sure why P!nk recorded something like this...

Please Don't Leave Me starts with P!nk's dadada's and its a very very cute song. The sound of the song is very pop. Its a mid tempo track. For some reason, this verse really appeals to me
"I forgot to say out loud how beautiful you really are to me
I can't be without, you're my perfect little punching bag
And I need you, I'm sorry."
This is going to be a single someday, i just know it..

The next song reminds me of how much fun P!nk's songs are. The very first listen makes you think Bad Influence is the Cuz I Can of this era.
"I’m the instigator of underwear
Showing up here and there"
Haha!! This song should end up being a single, it will do very well on the radio! It would be stupid to leave this one out.

The title track, Funhouse, seems to have been in the same recording session as Bad Influence. I think the whole pain in the lyrics is hidden behind the funky beats and guitars.. Again, single material.

The first acoustic track comes in here - Crystal Ball. Lyrically perfect! But i don't like the sound.

Mean is weird. Its a little country, little pop, little rock?? I don't know...its a weird song..

Its All Your Fault and Ave Mary A are both brilliant rock tunes, especially the latter. That song is the Try Too Hard of this era.

Glitter In The Air is the second acoustic track, which i'm just not fond of...

This Is How It Goes Down is undoubtedly the best track on the album. Its superb. Wonder why its a UK bonus track. In fact, this should have been a single. Then there's Boring and Why Did I Ever Like You which are both fucking brilliant, much better than the acoustic tracks on the album. Oh and the b-side Could've Had Everything is singe quality. Again a stupid thing to make it a b-side.

In all, the album is good and i'm looking foward for the next b-side

Journey To The Centre Of The Earth

Journey To The Centre Earth is a science fiction movie. Its about having a whole little world inside the earth, just above the core, but beneath the miles beneath crust... I love how every little thing has been explained in the movie. How some creatures survived there, how the luminuous gases are like the sun providing light. There are luminous birds which got extinct ages ago. There are sea reptiles and even a dinosaur (which is lame, cos they showed one single dinosaur). The concept is based on the book JOurney To The Centre Of The Earth and the movie couldn't have been made any better. I loved it!!

Movies i watched recently

Mummy 3 was a fun movie really. It was very different from the previous two, not just because the lead female has been changed, but its because its a lot crazier and the action is terrific!! The war towards the end of the movie is brilliant. The whole concept of a stone statue come to life and try to find shangri la to live forever is brilliant. Definitely worth watching...


Bachna Ae Haseeno is a very cute movie. The basic story line is this guy who is pretty much who makes two girls fall deep in love with him, when he's just fooling around, and when its his time to fall in love truly, the same thing happens to him. And then he goes and sets things right for the two girls' hearts that he broke and then he wins his love toward the end... typical bollywood. Still, something about the movie is nice....oh and there's a song in the movie which was shot in venice, the same EXACT places where Sophie's song "Catch You" was shot...what a rip off!!!


Phoonk was shit!! I cannot believe its based on THE EXORCIST!!! Phoonk is about Black Magic and revenge. Its not scary, its not spooky, its just plain stupid!!! I can't believe there was a huge bet in the press to watch the movie alone...anyone could!!!! Its so lame. Everyone in the theatre came out laughing after the movie, thats how lame it was!!

The Dark Knight

"This is what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object." There's something in that dialogue which hit me...i absolutely love it!! The movie is brilliant, nothing short of the action and suspense that any Batman movie would require..

Batman faces two of his enemies in this movie - The Joker and Two Face. The movie gets its name because Harvey Dent, Gotham City's white knight, saves the city from peril and ends up becoming Two Face, while Batman who tries to save the city from everything, ends up becoming the reason for so much chaos. Hence, the Dark Knight!

The best part of the movie is the 360 degree flip of the truck. Batman comes on his batbike and ropes the truck to a pole and it flips. Here's a recording that gave away the scene

Quite Honestly

I didn't have much time to read this time cos i spent most of my holidays with my cousins. So i picked up a rather small book, which i took a whole month to read (shockingly). And yet, it was a really good read. I didn't drop off reading..

The book is about this praeceptor Lucy who tries to reform a convict Terry and ends up living his life, turns to crime, goes to jail...all to experience how it is to be him. Why? Cos she falls in love with him. Thats why praeceptors from SCRAP (the organisation she works for) aren't supposed to fall in love with criminals

Superhero Movie

I loved "Drake & Josh" so much when i was younger, i always though Drake Bell had talent. His music is also quite good, i just have a few songs, but seeing him in this movie was a bit of a surprise. From the makers of Scary Movies, Date Movie, Epic Movie comes SUPERHERO MOVIE - the parody of Spiderman, Batman, X Men, and Fantastic Four.

Drake Bell A.K.A. the Dragon Fly is bitten by a genetically engineered dragonfly (much like Peter Parker is bitten by the spider) and he becomes Dragon Fly. Most of the movie is a spoofing of Spiderman. There are references of Fantastic Four here and there, Pam Anderson for ex is the Invisible Girl (sadly though, she's in the Xavier Institure) and the Human Torch who dies..lol.. Professor X has a wife and kids!?!? Where the hell did that come from? The part of the batman spoofing, where Drake as a little boy kills his parents trying to save them is hilarious. All in all, its worth the watch.

I Am Legend

Yes i finally watched the movie. It is based on a 1954 science fiction novel by Richard Matheson. Its about the last man alive in Los Angeles. I must say, Will Smith impressed us all once again in this movie. He's a great actor, but he can definitely work on showing pain better...

The Story: Robert Neville (Will Smith) is the sole survivor of an airborne virus that killed everyone. The movie starts off with a cure for cancer, unfortunately that cure resulted in the death of millions. Neville prepares for the nightly sieges from a vampire horde. He spends the daytime hours repairing his house: boarding windows, hanging garlic garlands, disposing of vampire corpses, and gathering supplies. The story is Neville's attempt to comprehend, and possibly cure, the disease that killed mankind, showing his research of vampirism, and its possible causes. Via flashback, Neville's past is revealed. Moreover, his emotional struggle to cope with losing his family is dealt with by going about a daily routine. Neville sees the destruction of the infected survivors as a right, a moral imperative, even, to be pursued for his own — and mankind's — survival, yet, in the end, he glimpses a future society wherein infection is normal and he, Neville, is a murderous, biologic deviant. He then grasps that, just as vampires were legend in pre-infection times, now he, Robert Neville, is legend for the new human race born of the infection.

Movies i watched recently

1. GET SMART
Get smart is incomparably dumb, nonetheless, one of the funniest movies i've ever watched. I never laughed this much since "Pink Panther Diamond Case" which was a helluva comedy movie.. Its pretty much a 'hero spoof' as my cousin (Vic) describes it. They're both "secret agents" who are trying to save the world (so cliched).

The Story:
Maxwell Smart (Steve Carell) works as an analyst at Control, a U.S. spy agency that was supposed to have closed after KAOS was defeated. However, KAOS is far from being dead. KAOS penetrates Control and steals the names of all their field agents, and they then begin to kill Control agents around the world. The Chief (Alan Arkin) promotes Maxwell Smart, designates him Agent 86, and partners him with Agent 99 (Anne Hathaway). Smart has always wanted to be a field agent, but he wanted to be partnered with the best, Agent 23 (Dwayne Johnson). Smart is given a little training and some spy-tech gadgets to help him do his job. Smart and Agent 99 have uncovered information of where Siegfried (Terence Stamp), the sinister head of KAOS is located, and they go after him to stop him from taking over the world. Douglas Young (the-movie-guy)



2. HANCOCK
Hancock is a (drunk) superhero movie, the FIRST superhero who is always (and i mean ALWAYS) drunk. The storyline is pretty much like "Transformers". Aliens on earth who save the earth from (any) evil and then remain on earth among people. But Transformers had much better action and the story concept, even though very cliched, was fine. I probably liked Hancock only because Will Smith is one of my fav actors. He's a great rapper too. But anyway, most of the movie was predictable. Still, it was okay.

The Story: John Hancock (Will Smith) is an unhappy and reluctant superhero who is living in his own world. For some unknown reason, Hancock is depressed and has started drinking very heavily. He has saved many lives in Los Angles over the years, but in doing so, he has no regards for damaging buildings, trains, roads, cars, or anything that gets in his way to get the job done. The last time he captured several criminals, it cost the city $9 million to fix the damages. The public has had enough of Hancock, and they want him to stop or go to another city. Then one day, Hancock saves the life of Ray Embrey (Jason Bateman) from being run over by a train. Ray is a Public Relations executive who now can go home to his wife and child, because Hancock was there. Ray owes Hancock his life, and he makes it his mission to change his superhero's image and have the public cheering him. Ray's wife, Mary (Charlize Theron), believes Hancock can not be fixed, and she doesnt want Ray to be hurt.


3. JAANE TU YA JAANE NA
Its a really good movie. One of the few hindi movies i liked.... The concept is just okay, i guess i liked the movie a lot only because all the actors are so cute. They're all fresh faces, except the lead female, who i've seen in a few other movies. Its about the two (blue tee and green tee in the pic) falling in love, or i should say realising that they are in love. The best thing about bollywood movies is that you get stupid jokes which you laugh about even after the movie is over.. Sohail Khan and Arbaz Khan have a guest appearance in the movie. The lead male is a Rajput's descendant. So his dead father's dream is for him to become a true Rajput or w/e and for that he should beat up a person, go to jail and ride a horse. When he does all these, his dead father is dancing in the picture hung on the wall....which is sooo bloody funny. Worth the watch, really.... i'd just give it like 7 stars. Don't go by what newspapers say. Its quite good....

One Missed Call

I'm adding One Missed Call to my list of favourite horror movies. Just watched it last night. And i must say, the movie is amazing!!!! The ringtone is especially haunting during the movie. I got the ringtone after that, but it kinda got annoying... Notice the poster, thats what i call creativity. Thats two mouths screaming, and the face's eyes at the same time....

The Story: Elizabeth Raymond (Shannyn Sossamon) is terrified by the deaths of four friends, three of which she personally witnessed, after they received chilling phone calls apparently from themselves in the future, showing the exact time of their deaths. After every death, a small red candy is found in the victim's mouth. Beth reports these strange occurrences to the police; however, they think she is delirious. Detective Jack Andrews (Edward Burns), however, believes her, stating that his sister died in a similar way. Together, they begin to unravel the mystery of the chain of calls, but are unsure if they can figure it out before Beth's phone starts to ring the same eerie tune.

They eventually trace the series of calls back to a woman named Marie Layton, who was apparently abusing her children, Ellie and Laurel, for attention, as in cases of Munchausen by Proxy. They learn that Ellie later died of an asthma attack, and that Laurel is in foster care after her mother went missing.

Believing that Marie is the force behind the murders, Beth travels to the recently burned-down St. Luke's hospital, where Marie was last seen, bringing Laurel in for a cut on her arm. After searching the hospital, Beth finds the body of Marie in the hospital ducting, where she apparently burned to death, clutching a cell phone. Marie's corpse moves and assaults Beth while weeping, and collapses when Detective Andrews makes his way into the ducting to help Beth. During this episode, the time of Beth's own phone call passes without her dying.

After contacting authorities, who arrive to collect the body, Beth returns home and Andrews goes to tell Laurel that her mother is dead. While visiting, Andrews finds a video disc in the back of Laurel's teddy bear. The disc is a video of a camera Marie hid in her children's room to monitor Laurel and Ellie. Ellie, clothed in a black hoodie, cuts Laurel's arm with a large butcher knife. Marie comes in and finds the children, realizing that the abuse she has been blamed for has been Ellie all along, and leaves to take Laurel to the hospital, locking Ellie in the bedroom.

Ellie, frantic, tries to force open the door, and suffers an asthma attack. Reaching for her inhaler, she finds it empty, and dies while dialing her mother's cell phone, making Marie the first real victim of the curse, dying in the fire. Laurel enters the room and Andrews says that it was Ellie who hurt her all the time, not her mother. Laurel nods, and speaking for the first time since the death of her mother, says, "But she always gave me candy," and holds out one of the red hard candies found in the mouths of all the victims.

Andrews realizes that the force behind the murders is Ellie, and races to Beth to make sure she's alright. Finding Beth unharmed, Andrews and Beth hear the doorbell ring and a knock on the door. Andrews looks through the hole, to then die of a knife in his eye, as dictated by the last call received. Ellie then reaches out to strangle Beth, but luckily the spirit of Marie appears and grabs Ellie, saving Beth again. If you look closely at the effects, Ellie's spirit (or energy) pours itself INTO the cell phone that is lying on the ground. Marie's ghost vanishes, leaving Beth to stare bewildered into the distance. Then the phone begins to dial a number showing that the curse has not ended. Ellie is still out there, and there is another victim that is going to die.

The Messengers

THE MESSENGERS
Just watched this movie. Its amazing! It falls under horror/thriller/drama. I was almost falling off my seat watching it. The only let down about the movie is that it has a happy ending.

The Story: The movie starts off with a woman trying to save her kids, a daughter and a son, from "something". In the process that "something" grabs her and kills her by throwing her at a wall. Then the daughter tries to save her younger brother. But then the daugher is dragged into the cellar. The little boy who hides in a closet/shelf is also dragged out and killed. Then the scene changes. There's a new family who are moving into this house from Chicago. Again, its a couple, a daughter and a little boy. The daughter had a drinking problem in Chicago which she had concealed from her parents, which led to an accident leaving the little boy temporarily dumb (loses the ability to speak, they don't explain why or how). They move in and the little boy discovers a ghost first which is crawling on the ceiling and he enjoys its presence. Pointing to it and laughing at it. One day, the daughter, Jess (Kristen Stewart) discovers the ghost when she's left at home to look after her brother. She encounters the ghost and manages to escape. Their newly found "family friend", John (John Corbett) helps her out, but he doesn't tell her parents what he saw. The husband, Roy (Dylan McDermott) goes in search of his daughter, who he thinks has made a run for it, leaving his wife, Denise (Penelope Ann Miller) and Ben (Evan & Theodore Turner). Thats when Denise sees a ghost coming out of the stain in the wall. Then they reveal that John is a psycho killer who killed his family. And now John attacks Denise as well. Jess comes home with her friend Bobby (Dustin Milligan) and they are attackd by John. Roy comes home and tries to save the family. Then the ghosts, who are actually John's family help this family to get rid of John. The movie ends with a happy ending, the harvest works well for Roy and Ben learns to talk.

I might have killed the suspense, lol..

Movies i watched this week

1. THE HAPPENING
I watched the movie two days ago. The title seemed very interesting. But the movie was a let down, really. Its more inflicted horror than right-in-your-face ghosts jumping out like Grudge or Ring etc.,

The Story: The movie starts off at Central Park where a strange phenomenon occurs. People start talking repeatedly and they mutter rubbish. One woman pulls out her chopstick style hair pin and stabs herself with it. Elliot Moore (Mark Wahlberg), talks to his students about an event science can not explain - thousands of disappearing bees, no bodies left, no trace. A student offers the opinion that this is a natural event that we will never fully understand. While speculating on the phenomenon that is the disappearing bees, Elliot is suddenly called out of class to a staff meeting warning about an apparent "terrorist attack" in New York in which terrorists have apparently released some kind of gas in Central Park, and advising that school is cancelled. As they leave, Elliot confesses to his friend Julian (John Leguizamo), a math teacher, that he and his wife are having some problems. Eventually the movie moves on to show Rittenhouse Park where a cop on the road shoots himself in the head. A driver gets out of his car, takes the gun, and also shoots himself in the head. We see a pair of high heels walk over and a hand starts to pick up the gun, then a shot. Meanwhile on a building site, workers on the ground are chatting when all of a sudden a body falls. Panicked, thinking the worker just fell off the roof by mistake, they rush over to his broken body (yes, this whole movie is very graphic and this scene shows his legs and arms with bones snapped from the fall into inpossible, bloodied positions). While over the body, another thud, another worker. They look at him confused; one is possible, two is unlikely, and when the third falls, it seems impossible. Then yet another and another, crashing to earth. When they look up they see many running off the edge, appearently by their own will, looking completely calm, and sure of their actions. Elliot and his wife Alma (Zooey Deschanel) flee Philadelphia on a train, with Julian, and his daughter Jess. On the train people start to get reports by cellphone that the attacks have been reported at their destination, and in many other places. Alma is getting repeated and insistant calls on her phone from someone called Joey, and she lies to Elliot about it. The train ends up leaving them in a small rural town, as the conductors have lost radio contact with everyone else. At a diner they see a newscast that suggests the suicides are not caused by a terrorist attack, but by a natural phenomena. Julian, who has lost contact with his wife, starts to panic as some lady shows Elliot video she was sent on her iphone showing a man walk into a lion's den at a zoo, and taunting the lions with his hands to try to get them to attack him (there's a graphic shot of him staggering with both his arms eaten off). Julian leaves Jess with Elliot and Alma to go and look for his wife in Princeton, when he is offered a ride by people heading that way. When he gets there it is infected, and there are dozens of people hanging from trees over the road. The driver of the car crashes deliberately into a tree at high speed and Julian slashes his wrists with broken windscreen glass and dies (this is the one time you don't see anything graphic - the camera cuts away and we see less than the scene in the red band trailer; where you can see Julian bleeding from the wrists). Elliot and Alma decide, along with everybody else, to flee for the state line, as the attacks seem only to be affecting the northeast US. A nice couple who run a plant nursery offer to take them in their car. The man suggests to Elliot and Alma that the toxin is produced by plants. He explains the way plants can communicate with other plants, and the way they can release chemicals to get rid of specific pests. While trying to reach the state line they see bodies ahead in the road. Turning back they meet many other cars, all converging on a country road junction; all report bodies back the way they have come. Organised by an army private they abandon the cars and strike out on foot, heading for a small remote housing development one man (a realtor) knows about. It's new and small and not on any maps except local ones, so they hope it will be safe from the terrorists since it appears they are focusing on large cities and roads. From the junction one group leaves immediately, but most take a minute to get things from their cars, so walking across the fields they are in two groups. The smaller group (10-12 people), with Elliot, Alma and Jess, is in front. The larger (20-25 people), including a soldier and the plant couple, is behind them by 3 or 4 minutes. This larger group gets infected, and the soldier become delusional (shouting something about how he is a soldier and his gun is his friend, and he will not leave it). Then Elliot's group hears the gunshots as one by one they (presumably) use the soldier's gun to kill themselves. Elliot starts to believe that it is indeed the plants, and that the toxin is triggered by large groups of people. He yells at everyone to split up into smaller groups, and the group peels off into three smaller groups, all running away in different directions. Alma tells Elliot that if they are going to die, she wants to tell him something. One night when she told Elliot she was working late she went out for tiramisu with Joey from work, but that's all that happened. After walking for a bit, Elliot counters with the fact that he finds the girl who works at the local pharmacy very attractive, and sometimes he buys cough syrup from her even when he doesn't have a cough (he is very wry and ironic when he says this). Elliot, Alma, Jess and two teenagers find a showhome for a new development. There is some comic relief as Elliot talks to a plant he sees blowing inside, and introduces himself, saying he is giving good vibes so it won't harm him. It turns out the plant is plastic, but he keeps talking for a little just in case - feeling like an idiot. As they leave they look back, and see two small groups of people arrive at the showhome, forming one larger group (12-15 people approx). That many people trigger the toxin, and they stand around confused, except for one man who starts up a large commercial lawnmower, then lies in the grass in front of it as it rips him apart. (We assumed the camera would cut away, but it doesn't! As previously stated, this movie is extremely graphic!) Our five people all end up on the front porch of a boarded-up house, asking for food, while Jess plays on a rope swing suspended from a tree branch (the swing and the tree seemed very chilling and climactic, but nothing actually happened). The inhabitants of the house refuse to offer food or shelter, and the two teenagers start to get very aggressive, kicking at the door and shouting at the people inside. The inhabitants shoot the two teenagers dead: one through the chest and the second through the head. Elliot is horrified. Elliot, Alma and Jess move on till they find an old house with no power, which they think is abandoned. A spooky old lady lives there, who chooses to remain out of contact with the whole world. She doesn't want to know about the event in the outside world; however, she gives them supper and a bed for the night. We see a newscast discussing the toxin (our protagonists don't, as the house has no TV). A scientist is suggesting that judging from the severity and number of the attacks, and assuming some similarities to other kinds of natural toxins like ocean algae, the attacks will peak at 9am the next day, and very quickly fall away to nothing following that (there's a graph that shows a drastic tail-off of toxin activity). In the morning when Elliot wakes up the old lady tells him that he, Alma and Jess have to leave (she seems completely bonkers). She then goes outside into the garden, pauses, and starts walking backwards; the toxin has affected her. As Elliott cowers inside the house the old lady walks around the porch and headbutts the window, leaving glass splinters in her face and eye, and also letting in the wind (and the toxin). Elliot runs through the house trying to find Alma and Jess. They are outside in a spring house (a remnant from the pre-Civil War Underground Railway), and he is stuck in the main house; however he can talk to them through a speaking tube. He explains that the toxin now seems to be set off by even one person alone. Elliot decides that if he is going to die he doesn't want to die alone. They all leave their safe hiding places and walk into the middle of the garden and hold hands. The wind blows. Nothing happens. IT had ended. Three months later and they are all living back in Philly (which looks business as usual; although the streets are fairly empty there are cars driving around, and people walking on the sidewalks). Jess is off to school by bus. Alma is doing a pregnancy test; it's positive, and Elliot hugs her and looks delighted. On the TV is a scientist warning that the event was like a red tide; the first sign that the planet is rejecting humans as pests. The host says that if that were true it would be happening in other places. Cut to the gardens at the Palace of Versailles. Two guys are walking discussing plans for after work that evening. Cue distant scream; one guy starts to repeat his words about a bike, everyone stands still; other guy says (in French) "Oh my God".

2. FAILURE TO LAUNCH
I watched this one three days ago. Its a nice movie about an interventionist falling in love with her client. Thats two movies with Zooey in it, Sarah Jessica Parker looks gorgeous as ever, and Matthew will have all the girls screaming their lungs out everytime he takes off his shirt.

The Story: At 35, Tripp has an interesting job, a hip car, a passion for sailing, and a great house - trouble is, he lives with his parents. They want him out, so they hire Paula, an "interventionist," who has a formula in these cases: chance encounter, get him to ask her out, involve him in a trauma, meet his friends and get their nod, delay sex, have him teach her something, then launch him. It's worked up to now, but this gets complicated when Tripp thinks she's getting too serious and one of his pals is attracted to Paula's deadpan, semi-alcoholic roommate, who's plagued by a mockingbird. Too many secrets may scrub the launch, and what if Paula really likes him? Who can intervene then?

The Undomestic Goddess

This is a wonderful romantic-comedy novel. Sophie knows how to write chic-books. This will end up as a chic-flick someday. Samantha Sweeting, a top lawyer loses 50 million pounds and makes a run for it. And before she knows it, she's the housemaid who falls in love with the Gardner, Nathaniel. Its definitely a laugh-out-loud book. With the right amount of fun at the right places. The part where she suddenly becomes a media star is quite funny. This book should be made into a movie. Kinsella's way of writing is simple and easy to read, nonetheless, it never had me closing the book for a second. Every page was like an adventure. I must acknowledge her research here, about the lifestyles of Lawyers and Housemaids. Wonderful book..

Rosie

If i have to describe the book in a word - "heartwarming"! Its a warm story about Nick Robertson and his grandmother, Rosie. What made me appreciate this book is that how Rosie, an elderly English citizen lives her life and has so much fun living it. She makes everyone around her feel happy about life. I'm glad i picked out this book when i was in a dull mood. It was a real cheer-upper! Rosie is the main character, of course, and she has a unique quality about being happy. She finds reasons to be happy. She has a strange story to tell about her secret birth and being related to the Russian Royal family, which no one believed, till the end, when Nick gets to know that she is, in fact, Russian royalty. There was a little poem in the story which i loved so much, that i quoted it at my grandad's funeral as well.

"Do not stand at my grave and weep; I am not there. I do not sleep. I am a thousand winds that blow. I am the diamond glints on snow. I am the sunlight on ripened grain. I am the gentle autumn rain. When you awaken in the morning's hush I am the swift uplifting rush Of quiet birds in circled flight. I am the soft stars that shine at night. Do not stand at my grave and cry: I am not there. I did not die."

BRAVO Titchmarsh. One of the best compositions I've ever read.

Kill The Messenger

One of those spine chilling books that had me flipping through pages to see what would happen to Jace Damon. Hoag describes how this bicycle messenger gets caught in a murder which he does not wish to be in and how he finds himself so tangled in it, that he's one of the major suspects! I've never read any of Hoag's older books, so i'm not sure what her style is like. But for a first read, this book really impressed me. One thing that i found in this book is that, its got a little too much cramped in a few pages. There are too many thrillers in the story and they seem to keep coming on incessantly. I guess its a good thing for a person like me who loves to read thriller novels, but for regular readers, its too much of a good thing! The characters she sketches in the story - Kev Parker, the detective and Jace, the messengers are the main characters. The story revolves around them and how Kev ends up solving the murder mystery with a little help from Jace and his little brother.

Dead Simple

First of all, I was amazed when i got to know that he is a British author. Anything English is a turn on for me. Which made me even more interested in this book. When i read the cover "Four bodies, one suspect, no trace", i knew this was the book i was looking for. The perfect mystery book. And to think that the main character who everyone thinks is dead comes out alive in the end, wonderful theme.

Dead simple is the first in its series. Peter James introduced the character Detective Superintendent Roy Grace. The story began with a stag night, continued with a horrifying prank, an accident, a search and eventually the book got so interesting that i didn't even want to pee, even though i had to! One by one, James brought out suspects, clues, incidents and suspense. I think the best part about this book is the suspense. James maintains the suspense through majority of the story. And when the truth comes out, its quite shocking. Who'd have thought his fiancee Ashlee Harper plotted again Michael just to make easy money and run away with her boyfriend Vic!? The story gives "burried alive" a whole new level of fear.

Strong characters, strong theme, and suspense that kills. One hell of a book. A must read!!