64. Where Is Area 51? by Paula K. Manzanero

In the WHOHQ series for kids
read the book - Bosler - J. 358.417
2018 Penguin Random House
108 pgs.
Middle Grades Nonfiction
Finished 7/19/19
Goodreads rating:  4.04 - 100 ratings
My rating: 4

From the Back Cover:
--It's a Nevada air force base that keeps the public far, far away
--CIA agents do supersecret work there
--Some people believe aliens and their spaceships are stored there

First line/s: "On June 14, 1947, a ranch worker named William Brazel found a pile of strange items smack in the middle of an open field near Roswell, New Mexico."

My comments: Before these "Where Is" books came out, this series began with Who Is/Was.  I used these in my 4th grade classroom for a biography study, finding them to be much more interesting and readable than most other available biographies for middle schoolers.  I no longer teach 4th graders, but was completely caught up in Where Is Area 51?  It seems really well researched, and eye-opening ... I learned a lot!  I read this as an adult for enjoyment because I do NOT LIKE nonfiction, can't get through it, and this fascinating book kept my attention for all 108 pages!  Can't wait to read the next one.

Goodreads synopsis:  You'll find it on a map--but you'll never get anywhere near this top secret military base. What exactly is going on there? 
          Is Area 51 a top secret military base that lies in the middle of the barren Nevada desert? Or could it actually be a facility for examining aliens and their spaceships? People can't drive anywhere close to it; the US government rarely acknowledges its existence; and until recently, the airspace overhead was restricted! Conspiracy theories abound about what goes on at Area 51, especially since 1947 when strange objects were found in the middle of a field in Roswell, New Mexico. Author Paula K. Manzanero explains why Area 51 was established and reveals the mystery behind those unidentified flying objects in the sky. Check out this book and decide what you believe.

MOVIE - Red Sparrow

R

3/2/18 Wide Release

Viewed Monday, 3/5/18 at Carlisle 8
IMBd:  6.7/10

RT Critic:  50    Audience:  56
Critic's Consensus:  Red Sparrow's tense, character-driven story -- elevated by outstanding work from Jennifer Lawrence -- help this topical spy thriller overcome its somewhat uneven narrative.

Cag:  5/I loved it

Directed by Francis Lawrence

Twentieth Century Fox

Based on the novel by Jason Matthews

Jennifer Lawrence, Joel Edgerton, Jeremy Irons, Charlotte Rampling, and a short part played by Mary Louise Parker!

My comments: The review numbers weren't that great for this movie, but I found it very entertaining and exciting. I've not been enamored of Jennifer Lawrence lately, but I think she did a terrific, mesmerizing job.  And I think Joel Edgerton is really good. What an intriguing story, Russian bad guys vs. American good guys.....

RT/ IMDb Summary:  Dominika Egorova is many things. A devoted daughter determined to protect her mother at all costs. A prima ballerina whose ferocity has pushed her body and mind to the absolute limit. A master of seductive and manipulative combat. When she suffers a career-ending injury, Dominika and her mother are facing a bleak and uncertain future. That is why she finds herself manipulated into becoming the newest recruit for Sparrow School, a secret intelligence service that trains exceptional young people like her to use their bodies and minds as weapons. After enduring the perverse and sadistic training process, she emerges as the most dangerous Sparrow the program has ever produced. Dominika must now reconcile the person she was with the power she now commands, with her own life and everyone she cares about at risk, including an American CIA agent who tries to convince her he is the only person she can trust.

MOVIE - Jason Bourne

PG-13 (2:03)

Wide release 7/29/16

Viewed On Sunday, August 28, 2016 at Gettysburg Outlets

RT Critic:  56  Audience:  61
Critic's Consensus:  Jason Bourne delivers fans of the franchise more of what they've come to expect -- which is this sequel's biggest selling point as well as its greatest flaw.

Cag: 3/Liked it

Directed by Paul Greengrass

Universal Studio

Matt Damon, Tommy Lee Jones, 

My comments:  75% crazy ridiculous car chases, 20% eye-rolling CIA garbage, and 5% traveling the world (with Matt Damon as eye candy).  Since I don't like stupid car chases, the movie was only....okay.

MovieFone Summary:  It's been 10 years since Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) walked away from the agency that trained him to become a deadly weapon. Hoping to draw him out of the shadows, CIA director Robert Dewey assigns hacker and counterinsurgency expert Heather Lee to find him. Lee suspects that former operative Nicky Parsons is also looking for him. As she begins tracking the duo, Bourne finds himself back in action battling a sinister network that utilizes terror and technology to maintain unchecked power.

MOVIE - Criminal

R (1:53)

Wide Release 4/15/16

Viewed 5/13/16  - first day at cheapie Theater

RT Critic:  31  Audience:  58
Critic's Consensus:  Despite the valiant efforts of a game and talented cast, Criminal has little to offer beyond the bare minimum expected by the most undemanding of genre enthusiasts.

Cag:  4/ Liked it a lot

Directed by Ariel Vromen

Summit Entertainment

Kevin Costner, Ryan Reynolds, Tommy Lee Jones

My comments:  My last decadent Friday-after-school-movie.....ever! ? Only one week at THA left!  And this movie was a really good choice.  Ryan Reynolds and Kevin Costner?  Does it really matter what the movie's about?  It was a thriller, edge-of-your-seat-interesting with a (spoiler!) typical really good ending.  A little bloody/gory for me....torture and brain surgery-wise, but I really liked it a lot.  Probably because of the actors - including Tommy Lee Jones and Gary Oldman as well as the afore-mentioned hotties!

INDb Summary:  In a last-ditch effort to stop a diabolical plot, a dead CIA operative's memories, secrets, and skills are implanted into a death-row inmate in hopes that he will complete the operative's mission.

Movie - The Reluctant Fundamentalist

R (2:08)

Limited Release April 26,2013

Viewed Sunday, 5/26/2013 at The Loft 

RT Critic: 55% Audience: 71%

Cag:  6/Awesome; Absolutely bowled me over

Directed by Mira Nair (director of Monsoon Wedding, one of my all-time favorites)

IFC Films

(from the book of the same title by Mohsi Hamid)

Liev Schreiber, Kate Hudson, Kiefer Sutherland, and the wonderfully new-to-me Riz Ahmed (who stole the show, wow!)

My comments:  I had no idea what I was going to see, other than I'd taken the book out of the library and returned it before getting a chance to read it.  So when the credits came on at the beginning of the movie, I was really surprised....Hudson, Schreiber, Sutherland?  I loved the views of Pakistan, Istanbul, New York City.  What I realized when I came out was how tantalizing the "idea" of America and the "American Dream" must be to some, and I can see more and more why people from other countries hate the US.  It didn't get very good reviews from some, but I loved the way it was put together, the story it told, and the way the story was told.  So cudos to writers, actors, and director.  I loved it.

Fandango synopsis: We begin in 2011 in Lahore. At an outdoor café a Pakistani man named Changez (Riz Ahmed) tells Bobby (Liev Schreiber), an American journalist, about his experiences in the United States. Roll back ten years, and we find a younger Changez fresh from Princeton, seeking fortune and glory on Wall Street. The American Dream seems well within his grasp, complete with a smart and gorgeous artist girlfriend, Erica (Kate Hudson). But when the Twin Towers are attacked, a cultural divide slowly begins tocrack open between Changez and Erica. Changez's dream soon begins to slip into nightmare: profiled, wrongfully arrested, strip-searched and interrogated, he is transformed from a well-educated, upwardly mobile businessman to a scapegoat and perceived enemy. With time, he begins to hear the call of his own homeland. Taking us through the culturally rich and beguiling worlds of New York, Lahore and Istanbul, The Reluctant Fundamentalist is a story about conflicting ideologies where perception and suspicion have the power to determine life or death.:

MOVIE - Zero Dark Thirty

R (2:37)

Wide Release 1-11-13

at El Con Monday, Jan. 28, 2103 (alone)

RT Critic:  93 Audience:  85

Cag: 4.5/Liked it a whole lot

Directed by Kathryn Bigelow

Columbia Pictures

Jessica Chastain plays the lead, is up for an academy award for her performance......

From Fandango:  Following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Osama bin Laden becomes one of the most-wanted men on the planet. The worldwide manhunt for the terrorist leader occupies the resources and attention of two U.S. presidential administrations. Ultimately, it is the work of a dedicated female operative (Jessica Chastain) that proves instrumental in finally locating bin Laden. In May 2011, elite Navy SEALs launch a nighttime strike against bin Laden's compound in Pakistan, killing him.