America & Co., LLC

In this lifetime movie called America, Rosie O’Donnell gives an inspired performance in a dramatic and enlightening story about the plight of this country’s forgotten youth. 

America (newcomer Philip Johnson), a 16-year-old biracial boy, seems like just another statistic from a broken foster care system when he arrives in a residential treatment facility where psychiatrist Dr. Maureen Brennan (O’Donnell) works. 

She helps a troubled youth teen, who has spent his entire life in the foster-care system, confront his painful past.  Through a series of confrontational sessions, Dr. Brennan helps America find the one thing missing from his entire life: hope. 

Co-starring acclaimed actress Ruby Dee, America is a powerful and provocative journey that will stay with you forever.

This is a very touching movie.  It is a must see for all.  Everyone should buy the dvd and sit with your children and discuss the movie so they can understand how the foster system works and the impact it has on these children. 

I love watching Lifetime Movies.  During the weekend, I cannot get enough of them.  Repeats are not a problem.  You can watch them over and over again or just buy the dvd. 

Today, I watch Suzanne’s Diary For Nicholas.  It was about two simultaneously unfolding romantic stories which involve a writer, Jonathan Schaech, who stuns his girlfriend, Kathleen Rose Perkins, on the most important night of their relationship, by ending their affair without explanation because of unresolved feelings for a past love, Christina Applegate.

Soon after, Schaech sends Perkins a package containing a diary written by his departed wife, Applegate to their son.  As Perkins reads it, she learns of the Martha’s Vineyard marriage between the housepainter who dreams of being a writer and the woman doctor with a diseased heart who yearns to be a mother. 

This was a romantic drama.  Christina Applegate played an amazing part as a doctor.  I’m used to seeing Applegate play comedy roles and not dramatic role but she was great.  Jonathan Schaech scruffy look made him look sexy.  The movie was heart warming and sad but I could not get enough.  It was great!

The DVD movie Defiance is a 2008 war film directed by Edward Zwick.  Set in the eastern regions of German-Nazi-occupied Poland (now western Belarus) during World War II, the film is an adaptation of Nechama Tec’s Defiance: The Bielski Partisans, which is based on the story of the Bielski partisans.  Tec’s book told how Polish Jews welcomed the Soviet invasion of Poland in 1939 and then operated as Soviet partisans in Poland protecting Jews when Germany launched Operation Barbarossa in 1941.

Defiance stars Daniel Craig, Liev Schreiber, Jamie Bell, and George MacKay, as four Jewish brothers from so-called ‘Belorussia’ who escaped the Nazi persecution and fought back to rescue fellow Jews. 

The movie was okay.  They really tried making the movie as real as possible.  Since I am not into war movies, I rate it a three out of five.

The video game Iron Man is based on the film of the same name as well as the classic iterations of the character.  The game is published by Sega, and was released on Playstation 3, Xbox 360 (developed by Secret Level), Playstation 2, Playstation Portable, Nintendo DS, Wii, PC (developed by Artificial Mind and Movement) and Mobile Platforms.  It features the voices of Robert Downey Jr., Terrence Howard, and Saun Toub, reprising their roles from the movie.

The enemies are Advanced Idea Mechanics, the Maggia and the Ten Rings terrorist group.  The super villians in the game includes Blacklash, Controller, Titanium Man, Melter, and Iron Monger. 

As the game starts, Tony Stark is kidnapped by the terrorist group Ten Rings, who orders him to build a missile for them.

The Wii system supports wireless connectivity with the Nintendo DS without any additional accessories. This connectivity allows the player to use the Nintendo DS microphone and touchscreen as inputs for Wii games. The first example Nintendo has given of a game using Nintendo DS-Wii connectivity is that of Pokémon Battle Revolution. Players with either the Pokémon Diamond or Pearl Nintendo DS games are able to play battles using their Nintendo DS as a controller.

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time, released on both the Nintendo DS and Wii, features connectivity in which the two games can advance simultaneously. Nintendo later released the Nintendo Channel, which allows Wii owners to download game demos or additional data to their Nintendo DS in a process similar to that of a DS Download Station. The console is also able to expand Nintendo DS games.

Microfiber cloths are a quick way to clean a DVD. These are the same kind of cloths people use to clean eyeglasses, monitors, and laptop or LCD monitors. Because of microfiber’s very tight weave and the synthetic materials used to make microfiber, dust and particles of dirt are attracted and lifted up into the microfiber, which prevents you from simply spreading the dust around and scratching the DVD further. Every serious DVD collector should have one of these and wash it regularly.

Rubbing Alcohol is also used to clean DVDs and just about every sensitive piece of technology out there because it doesn’t act like strong solvents do, and it evaporates quickly without leaving a residue. Usually a 1:1 mixture of 90%+ Isopropyl alcohol and water will do the trick. Simply dab a small, clean cotton cloth into the mixture and wipe in straight lines from the center of the DVD to the outside edge. To dry the DVD, just let it sit for a moment or two in a vertical position.

The Nintendo Wii Gaming System was released on November 19, 2006.   The name Wii was created because the company wanted something that was short, to the point, easy to pronounce, and distinctive.  That’s how ‘Wii,’ as a console name, was created.

Nintendo’s spelling of “Wii” with two lower-case “i” characters is meant to resemble two people standing side by side, representing players gathering together, as well as to represent the Wii Remote and Nunchuk.

The Wii launch package includes the console, a stand to allow the console to be placed vertically, a circular clear stabilizer for the main stand, one Wii Remote, one Nunchuk attachment, one Sensor Bar, a removable stand for the bar, one external main power adapter, two AA batteries, one composite AV cable with RCA connectors, a SCART adapter in European countries (component video and other types of cables are available separately), operation documentation, and, in all regions except Japan and South Korea, a copy of the video game Wii Sports. 

The DVD movie The Haunting of Molly Hartley stars Haley Bennett as Molly Hartley, Jake Weber as Robert Hartley, Chace Crawford as Joseph Young, Shannon Marie Woodward as Leah, and Shanna Collins as Alexis. 

Molly Hartley (Haley Bennett) is a 17 year old girl who looks to put her troubled past behind her with a fresh start at a new school where she sparks with one of the most popular students.  Molly has physically recovered from a stab wound inflicted by her mother, but the psychological scars that remain run deep.  So to help her begin a new life after her trauma, her father has moved her into a new school.

But can her secrets stay buried especially as she learns more about the horrific truth that awaits her once she turns 18. With her eighteenth birthday approaching, Molly is haunted by nightmares of her mother’s attack upon her while dealing with the stress of being the new girl in school.  Symptoms of psychosis that seem to be affecting her seem to foreshadow an onset of the mental illness that took control of her mother’s life, but of several different explanations for her distress, the most unforeseen and terrifying is revealed as the truth.  Ultimately, Molly discovers that her mother and others who share her mother’s concerns want her killed in order to save her from a preordained life as a servant of the Devil.

Movie was Rated PG-13.  There did not seem to be any hauntings to me.  Not scary at all.  I give it two stars.

Ever since the debut of the Nintendo Wii, people interested in the world of gaming have been arguing about which games are best for the console. Whether you’re a lover of platform games, strategy games, or adventure games, there is one game that has surpassed all others in the hearts and minds of video game enthusiasts. And not surprisingly, that’s the latest version of Zelda, which debuted for the Wii.

Known as the Twilight Princess, the latest installment in the Zelda saga proved very popular with users for no other reason than the significantly different play offered by the Wii remotes. Other Nintendo Wii games that proved a big hit were staples such as Mario Kart and Super Mario Galaxy. Unexpected hits included Wii Fit, which got people up and off the couch even while they played video games. This makes the game popular with kids and parents alike.