The Genius Club

This film had so much potential.

Think of the plot: a madman is threatening to blow up a nuclear bomb in Washington D.C. unless a group of brilliant men and women can solve his riddles.

They have until sun-up.

Sounds like a nice thriller right?

All night the bag guy asks questions and if the group answers correctly, they win points. They have to earn so many points to stop the bomb.

The first mistake was casting Stephen Baldwin as one of the geniuses.

The second mistake was writing a script that has almost nothing to do with the plot.

Even Tom Sizemore as the villain couldn't save this low-budget fiasco.

So much promise with nowhere to go.

Game Plan for Life by Joe Gibbs

Joe Gibbs - the man behind Joe Gibbs Racing (NASCAR) and two stints as head coach of the Washington Redskins - has released a book with his new "team" of experts.

Game Plan for Life is written for men. But I don't understand why women couldn't have been involved as experts. Maybe it's just his way. (But don't be offended, it's still a great book)

Each chapter is devoted to an area of life men are concerned about. Gibbs asks 11 different people to address each topic after he shares a few pages from his own life.

The topics include:

Finances by Ron Blue
Health by Dr Walt Larimore
Relationships by Don Meredith
Vocation by Dr Os Guinness
The Bible by Josh McDowell
God by Dr Ken Boa
Creation by Dr John Lennox
Sin and Addiction by Ravi Zacharias
Salvation by Chuck Colson
Purpose by Dr Tony Evans
Heaven by Randy Alcorn

As a fan of football and those who profess to be followers of Christ in the national media, I greatly enjoyed reading about the struggles and success of Coach Gibbs and how he became a devoted man of God.

Read and Share Toddler Bible by Gwen Ellis

I am very excited to have read the Read and Share Toddler Bible. It is the perfect gift for a family with a young child - either on the way or growing up.

Seeing as I have a 2 month old, this book fit in very nicely with our evening "bedtime schedule".

Filled with bright colors on every page and words that are just about as easy to read as anything you could imagine, this Bible will help introduce your son or daughter to the Bible Stories they'll grow up to remember and what to hear over and over again.

The bonus DVD with 1 hour of stories included is a nice touch for those times when you need a "break".

Don't think of it as television-babysitting. As long as you aren't having them watch every story back-to-back for the full hour, your little one will be acting out their favorite Bible character in no time.

I can't wait for my son to begin his adventures with this book!

Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes by Kenneth E. Bailey

Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes brings us another side of the culture Jesus grew up in.

Kenneth Bailey has produced a large volume of commentary that shines light on areas of Scripture most of us wouldn't think existed.

His opening chapter on the story of Jesus' birth is almost worth the entire book in itself. (What if Jesus wasn't born in a barn or cave but in someone's house?) Bailey spells it all out in easy-to-understand fashion.

Other chapters include: the genealogy of Joseph, and how the vision of Isaiah plays into the birth story.

He uses 2 chapters to discuss the Beatitudes, 4 to spell out The Lord's Prayer, 7 to unveil how Jesus interacted with women and finally, 12 chapters dealing with, unpacking and his commentary on the parables of Jesus.

A wealth of knowlege is for anyone willing to dig in and let the culture of the Middle East pour over you.

Blue Like Play Dough by Tricia Goyer

In the everyday stretch and squeeze of motherhood, Tricia Goyer often feels smooshed by the demands of life. In Blue Like Play Dough, she shares her unlikely journey from rebellious, pregnant teen to busy wife and mom with big dreams of her own. As her story unfolds, Tricia realizes that God has more in store for her than she has ever imagined possible.

Sure, life is messy and beset by doubts. But God keeps showing up in the most unlikely places–in a bowl of carrot soup, the umpteenth reading of Goodnight Moon, a woe-is me teen drama, or play dough in the hands of a child.

In Tricia’s transparent account, you’ll find understanding, laughter, and strength for your own story. And in the daily push and pull, you’ll learn to recognizes the loving hands of God at work in your life… and know He has something beautiful in mind.

Go here for more info.

Holy Available by Gary Thomas

I tried. I really did. I tried to enjoy this book.

The subtitle was enough to get my attention: "What if holiness is about more than what we don't do?"

I thought this might be a decent read from Gary Thomas. However, Holy Available is quite honestly a boring lead ball.

Maybe it was the ongoing rambling that seemed to be taking place or just the number of words Thomas uses to get to his point. Whatever the cause, I read through this like trying to gag down oysters.

I liked the idea of teaching what it means to be followers of Christ instead of teaching the things we don't do. For example, Thomas remarks the church's obsession with swear words. "Here's a list of words we don't say - now memorize them"

And that Jesus continues to work today. Christians love Christmas and Easter but we tend to forget that Jesus ascended and is at the right hand of the Father.

Interesting ideas that could have been captivating but, alas, were dead weight in this book.

Maybe his other book, Sacred Marriage is a success but Holy Available needs some pep.

The Enclave by Karen Hancock

Following her fantasy/allegory series, Karen Hancock delivers an epic story in The Enclave.

The Enclave spans the spectrum of genetic engineering, cloning, even Old Testament giants.

Like most of Kancock's novels, this one takes a few chapters to get used to her writing. And while it may seem boring, you'll want to continue working through the character development early on.

Once you get to Part Three (page 367) the brakes shut off and the roller coaster never lets up.

Lacey McHenry and geneticist, Cam Reinhardt are employees of the Kendall-Jakes Longevity Institute. While it promotes well-being, things are going awry down below.

Cover-ups, blackmail and deadly intruders are just the tip of questions surrounding this company.

This is a decent follow-up for Hancock. Can't wait to see what's next.

Everyday Greatness by Stephen R. Covey

Everyday Greatness is a book that demands to be read over multiple sittings. Compiled of stories from Reader's Digest, you will discover the inspirational lessons from celebrities, writers, politicians, actors and more.

Each chapter gives you three stories from three different people followed by quotes that fit within the theme.

The themes range from finding meaning in your life, taking charge, dreaming (life not the sleep kind), overcoming hardship and much much more.

I keep saying more because this book clocks in at 434 pages.

The first story had me dreading reading the rest. Not because I didn't enjoy it, but because it was almost a tear jerker. I wasn't ready to read sad story after sad story. Luckily most of the stories are positive and not ending with a death.

The things you learn about people like Chuck Norris as a bagger and Mrs. Ford as a drug addict are just a few of the tid-bits you'll uncover as you learn a little bit about yourself on the way.

Cure for the Common Life by Max Lucado

I'm a little behind in my Lucado reading. But it took me so long to get through this book.

Max Lucado tells his readers, in Cure for the Common Life, that we need to find our Sweet Spot, that God has made us unique with specific gifts.

And what we should do is figure out what we enjoy doing and then pursue that because it's what God would want us to do.

It's no fun doing something that makes you miserable - and Lucado tells the story of how he hates strategy/building meetings yet was part of them all. Finally he quit and stuck with reading and teaching.

So stop doing the things that make you miserable is the lesson here.

But wait, a couple chapters later he tells a story of a boy who didn't want to hike clear to the top of a mountain like the rest of his friends. Instead of letting him be happy and stop, they forced him to walk the rest of the way.

So much for living in his Sweet Spot.

This book is typical Lucado with easy reading and stories about people galore!

Essential Spider-Man vol. 9

The 9th volume of Essential Spider-Man is not up to par in storytelling. Most of the villains are newbies. Of the veteran foes, we see Mysterio, Electro, Kingpin, Kraven the Hunter and Chameleon.

The stories are really bad. You can tell they are in desperate need of some new ideas for Spidey. Parker is out of school and has become a teacher at the university.

He also gets fired from The Daily Bugle and decides to work for The Daily Globe.

Here are a few of the titles found within this volume:

Chaos Is The Chameleon!
The Power Of Electro!
The Jigsaw Is Up!
Mayhem By Moonlight!
In Search Of The Man-Wolf!
Wanted For Murder: Spider-Man!
24 Hours Till Doomsday!
The Wings Of The Fearsome Fly!
Never Let The Black Cat Cross Your Path!
Nine Lives Has The Black Cat!
Requiem!
The Kingpin's Midnight Massacre!
Mysterio Is Deadlier By The Dozen!
Now You See Me! Now You Die!
The Spider And The Burglar...A Sequel (200th comic)
Man-Hunt!
One For Those Long Gone!
Bewitched, Bothered And Be-Dazzled!
The Black Cat Always Lands On Her Feet!
...In Love And War!
A Method In His Madness!
Mesmero's Revenge!
Fusion!
To Salvage My Honor!
The Prophecy Of Madame Web!

The Day The Earth Stood Still (2008)

In 2008 a re-make of The Day The Earth Stood Still was released to theaters.

While the original was a warning against nuclear war, this re-make starring Keanu Reeves as the alien Klaatu, serves as a warning against global warming/ecology disruption.

This giant sphere comes to New York and Klaatu emerges only to be shot by a lone military man.

While under the knife, Klaatu befriends a scientist played by Jennifer Connelly who believes these aliens are friendly.

Fat chance. They are here to collect a few specimens and then wipe out mankind.

This updated version doesn't have the punch of the original. When you cast Keanu Reeves as your lead, you should know what you're getting yourself into.

And GORT, the huge guardian alien has been changed altogether.

If you must, just rent this thing for a day.

Rick & Bubba's Guide to the Almost Nearly Perfect Marriage by Rick Burgess & Bill "Bubba" Bussey

This book is for the very casual reader. The chapters are very short and you really can't take what they write too seriously. Rick & Bubba are radio personalities who have taken their ideas to books. (with a little help from Martha Bolton)

In Rick & Bubba's Guide to the Almost Nearly Perfect Marriage you'll read their pearls of wisdom concerning all things marriage: getting lost, going to PTO meetings, how the husband is always wrong. Then they add a little God-stuff at the end.

You read books like these for the humor and sarcasm.

When defending marriage against the "Ball and Chain" mentality, these comedians claim that singleness is actually the ball and chain. How single men who date are always explaining themselves to their girlfriends but a married man just needs to "report in".

The bonus CD of their best work is a nice touch as well.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Not impressed with this second Transformers movie.

Too many sexual jokes that just were not funny, too much screen time of "The Twins" and not enough of Optimus Prime. (The only reason to see a Transformers film)

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen brings back the characters from the first movie:

Shia LaBeouf as Sam Witwicky
Megan Fox as Mikaela Banes
Josh Duhamel as Major Lennox
John Turturro as Agent Simmons

And John Leguizamo wannabe Ramon Rodriguez as Leo Spitz.

I've already mentioned the sexual jokes that had no purpose in this film. They weren't funny and were totally inappropriate.

The lack of Optimus Prime (no spoilers): he isn't in this film very much. BIG, HUGE mistake Mr Bay and your writers. And instead you fill that time with two minor autobots who try to be funny (think Jar Jar Binks).

The action sequences were better. I could follow who was fighting whom. And the explosions - I liked the nice big one at the end - were nice eye-candy.

But the story was the best they could do considering the Writer's Strike of last year. With all the new robots, it's hard to create a character-driven story like the last one (what am I saying?!?!?!).

You can definitely tell how Michael Bay feels about President Obama and his foreign policy. The jabs given are aimed at liberals and those who aren't too keen on the U.S. military. Speaking of the military, they really get to shine and explode in this film as they do most Michael Bay films.

Even though it's raking in the big bucks (think Spider-Man 3), people will remember this sequel as another poor attempt at milking a franchise. And it's only the second film!

This film may even fail to be picked up and added to my DVD collection (A true sign of lameness). Let's hope Transformers 3 will be the final film.

Notes From The Tilt-A-Whirl by N.D. Wilson

When I saw that this book was written by a poet, my heart sank. If I wanted to create the shortest book review ever I would say Notes from the Tilt-a-Whirl is a poor example from a Donald Miller (Blue Like Jazz) wannabe.

N.D. Wilson writes in a cadence that leaves me with headaches. He may have writers ADD - is that offensive?

Wilson discusses the deeper areas of faith in a manner that is both confusing and he uses language that I found insulting - especially since this book was published by a Christian company.

So having said that short bit: if you want to read engaging Christian-themed questions, read Blue Like Jazz or Searching for God Knows What by Donald Miller.

If you want confusion and headaches, read Notes from the Tilt-a-Whirl.