Thursday, 31 July 2014

Film Addict's July Film Choice


In honour of San Diego Comic-Con and the amazing panels they have had this year, I decided to embrace my inner nerd and chose a film that has something to with Comic-Con in it this month for Film Addict's July Film Choice.  Originally, I was going to review something to do with the film being set in July which ventured away from my usual selection but my inner geek won out and I chose Paul.

Paul is the 2011 British-American comedy science-fiction film directed by Greg Mottola; Seth Rogen (Knocked Up, This is the End) voices the titular character while Simon Pegg (Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy, Star Trek) and Nick Frost (Three Flavour Cornetto Trilogy, Cuban Fury) are the stars along with Rogen as well as being the scriptwriters.  Other actors include Jason Bateman (Arrested Development, Horrible Bosses), Kristin Wiig (Bridesmaids, How to Train Your Dragon), Bill Hader (Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Superbad), Blythe Danner (Meet the Parents, What's Your Number?), and Joe Lo Truglio (Superbad, Pineapple Express).

Rating: 8

Recommended To: Anyone; Pegg and Frost fans


Favourite Characters: Pat Shields; Ruth; Zoil

Favourite Part: [Paul hits Ruth and Graeme with his collective knowledge and experience which makes all three of them collapse while Clive is driving which upsets the latter]

Clive: Oh yeah.  He always knew what was going on in Battlestar before me 'cause his mum had cable.
Paul: Fine, pull over, I'll do you.
Clive: Absolutely not.  No spoilers.


Good Points: Pure Pegg and Frost; Paul brought a burst of energy to the film; very sweet film

Bad Points: A bit slow at first; Pegg and Frost dynamic a bit strange at first

Friday, 18 July 2014

Elizabeth Gilbert - Eat, Pray, Love


This was another case of me watching a film and then wanting to read the book because I was intrigued; Eat Pray Love with Julia Roberts as Elizabeth is one of my favourite films because it makes me laugh and cry.  As I said, the film intrigued me so I decided to buy the book to see what it was like because I knew it was a non-fiction novel, specifically an autobiographical novel, and these can be hard to adapt as they are based on someone's life so inaccuracies can be found to be even more upsetting for certain people, including the subject of the original text.

Eat, Pray, Love or the full title, Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia is a memoir from Elizabeth Gilbert, an American author, which chronicles her journey around the world following her messy divorce.  Eat, Pray, Love is her fourth book but was the first one of hers I picked up; it was a very personal book and was an interesting read.

Rating: 8

Recommended To: Anyone going through a rough time; anyone


Favourite Part: Giulio and Maria have a beautiful apartment, the most impressive feature of which is, to my mind, the wall that Maria once covered with angry curses against Giulio (scrawled in thick black magic marker) because they were having an argument and "he yells louder than me" and she wanted to get a word in edgewise. - Page 60 


Good Points: Loved the Italy/Eat section; a lot emotion written; great premise


Bad Points: Found Pray tedious; some unnecessary anecdotes; couldn't always connect with the book