Jenny Colgan - West End Girls

After a fairly dark, twisted film, I decided to read something light and fluffy to distract me and lighten the mood and what better to do that with than a chick-lit novel which was also at the top of my pile.

West End Girls is a chick-lit romantic comedy book by Jenny Colgan, an author I like to read every so often as her books are generally light-hearted.  While they are not my all-time favourite books, I like to reread Colgan's books as well as books from other authors like her when I'm feeling down or ill or I'm on holiday because they make me smile in the end.

Rating: 3

Recommended To: Those with a need for a holiday read

Favourite Characters: Will - far more interesting than Penny and Lizzie

Favourite Part: 'I want you,' said Penny, 'to shoot me before I ever have to come to one of these places.'
'OK,' said Lizzie.
'You're not meant to say that!' said Penny in despair.  'You're meant to say, "Don't be daft, how would you ever end up in one of these places?  You'll be surrounded by family and friends and grandchildren before you painlessly slip off in your sleep like that old lady in Titanic."' - Page 258

Good Points: Girls complete opposites; met expectations

Bad Points: Penny and Lizzie were both unlikeable; nothing exciting or striking about this book

Gone Girl

For some reason, near the end of October/beginning of November, I happen to go to the cinema more than once, or I have in the last two years at least.  This time I went to see Gone Girl, a thriller, which I wouldn't normally go see in the cinema because sometimes I'm a bit jumpy when it comes to that sort of film and it's embarrassing in public but I fancied a change as I find Ben Affleck fascinating as an actor.

Gone Girl is the 2014 thriller, directed by David Fincher, adapted from Gillian Flynn's novel of the same name, who also wrote the screenplay for the film.  The main cast includes Ben Affleck (Good Will Hunting, Argo), Rosamund Pike (Die Another Day, Pride and Prejudice), Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother, Doogie Howser, M.D.), Tyler Perry (Tyler Perry's House of Payne, Diary of a Mad Black Woman), and Carrie Coon (The Leftovers, One in a Million).

Rating: 9

Recommended To: Thriller fans; Fincher fans

Favourite Characters: Nick - Ben Affleck was great

Favourite Part: Nick: When I think of my wife, I always think of the back of her head.  I picture cracking her lovely skull, unspooling her brain, trying to get answers.  The primal questions of a marriage: What are you thinking?  How are you feeling?  What have we done to each other?  What will we do?

Good Points: The two narrative structures working simultaneously; beginning and middle were excellent; Nick and Go

Bad Points: Could have finished a lot sooner

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is a sacred thing for me and the moment I found out that Michael Bay was producing a new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film, I was dreading it because Bay is known for immense action scenes filled with guns and massive explosions and I personally thought that this would detract from the pure Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles elements that those that grew up on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles loved.  However, I was encouraged by my mother to go and see Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles because if I found it to be as bad as I was expecting it to be then it would bring some variety to my reviews as I have a tendency to pick books and films that I roughly know I will like and very rarely venture out of my comfort zone.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is the 2014 science fiction action comedy based on the franchise of the same name directed by Jonathon Liebesman.  Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles stars Megan Fox (Transformers), Alan Ritchson (The Hunger Games: Catching Fire), Jeremy Howard (Mighty Med), Pete Ploszek (Parks and Recreation), Noel Fisher (The Twilight Saga - Breaking Dawn Part 2), Will Arnett (Arrested Development), Danny Woodburn (Bones), William Fichtner (Prison Break), Johnny Knoxville (Jackass), Tony Shalhoub (Cars), and Whoopi Goldberg (Sister Act).  A major selling point for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles that they used for the marketing was Michael Bay acted as a producer which caused major panic across the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles loyalists.

Rating: 5

Recommended To: Bay fans - lots of visual bubblegum

Favourite Characters: Raphael - will always be my favourite

Favourite Part: Raphael: I just...uh, uh...if this is our last moment together, I just want you guys to know I'm sorry!  I'm sorry I was so hard on you!  Ugh.  Every time I pushed you, I...I threatened you, I yelled at you, I pushed you beyond your limits, it's because I believe in you!  I believe in each one of you!  I believe in you spirit and your intelligence and your potential!  And every time I talked about walking away it was because I was scared!  I just didn't think I was good enough to stand next to you and call you brothers, and say to you, I love you! I love you guys so much!

Good Points: The turtles; the introduction scenes; lots of action scenes

Bad Points: Too much focus on the human characters; Shredder; very little to the plot; NO CASEY JONES!!

Emily St. John Mandel - Station Eleven

So a couple of months ago, I was browsing in a bookshop and I found the new David Mitchell book that had just been released, The Bones Clock, which excited me because I enjoyed Cloud Atlas because it was engaging and thought provoking.  However, when I got to the till, I started to have a conversation with the young woman serving me about David Mitchell and other books both of us have read (yay! Bibliophiles together) and she recommended Station Eleven to me because it was different yet something I could find interesting because it was in the same field as David Mitchell's books in a way and now that I have read it, I can understand why she recommended it to me.

Station Eleven is the fourth novel from Emily St. John Mandel and is an interesting trip into a post-apocalyptic world which flits between various moments in time, prior to an outbreak of a pandemic that wiped much of the world, during the outbreak, and a number of years after the outbreak after civilisation has crumbled.  It's a different take on the post-apocalyptic/dystopia fiction we have out because it shows the fall of civilisation as well as the normal aftermath.

Rating: 10

Recommended To: Post-apocalyptic fans

Favourite Characters: Jeevan - understand his motivation throughout the book; Kirstin - interesting

Favourite Part: "What a terrible time that was," Clark said softly to an imaginary Robert, practising for the future.
"Awful," Imaginary Robert agreed.  "Remember those days when you were in the airport, and I didn't know where you were?" - Page 240

Good Points: How this random group of people is linked; the flitting between different times; different from other post-apocalyptic books

Bad Points: More could have been heard from the prophet

Geek Alert - October Loot Crate

Run!  Hide!  Tis the time to be full of Fear!

It's that time of the month again and Loot Crate is here and I have loved both of the previous boxes I've had because they've both been themes I liked and even this month, though apprehensive, I was intrigued by the prospect and I think I will be for a while yet.  As I've said before, I don't like to hear my own voice so I'm going to continue my blogs on them.

J.R.R. Tolkien - The Hobbit

At least fourteen years ago, I started reading The Hobbit with my dad and while I can't remember it well, the thought of those times brings a smile to my face.  Unfortunately, and I don't remember how, we lost the copy of The Hobbit that we had and we didn't get to finish it back then which was a shame because it was nice spending time with my dad.  I did eventually get to finish Tolkein's book years ago when I found it in the library.  Happily though, while at work, I found a copy of The Hobbit in the stockroom and I bought it immediately.  Originally, I was going to wait to read this again but I changed my mind recently and pulled it out of my mountain of books.

The Hobbit, or There and Back Again is a fantasy novel from J.R.R. Tolkein, aimed at children, set in Tolkein's fictional world of Middle-earth with fictional creatures such as hobbits, dwarves, elves, and goblins.  It was published in 1937 and went through a number of revisions and has been reprinted since; the world was expanded in the sequel Lord of the Rings which is aimed at an older audience because readers wanted to know more about Middle-earth.  The Hobbit has inspired the recent film franchise by Peter Jackson, two films have already been released and the third is being released this December, which followed the other film franchise inspired by Lord of the Rings.

Rating: 8

Recommended To: Fantasy fans; excellent for kids to introduce them to Tolkein

Favourite Characters: Fili and Kili

Favourite Part: "What shall we do, what shall we do!" he cried.  "Escaping goblins to be caught by wolves!" he said, and it became a proverb, though we now say "out of the frying-pan into the fire" in the same sort of uncomfortable situations. - Page 115

Good Points: Very descriptive; interaction with reader

Bad Points: Not a vast amount of speech; time skips

Film Addict's September Film Choice

I was completely gutted last month when Robin Williams died; he was, and still is, one of my favourite actors when I was growing up because he always made me laugh and I especially loved Aladdin and Mrs. Doubtfire.  My original intention was to review one of his films in August but then I remembered I promised to review Treasure Planet for my sister's 20th birthday so now the Film Addict's September Film Choice is Good Will Hunting because it's another one of my favourite films from Robin Williams, plus it's my best friend's favourite film and coincidentally, it was her birthday in August so this is for her as well.

Good Will Hunting is the 1997 drama film from Gus Van Sant and stars Robin Williams (Mrs. Doubtfire, Dead Poets Society), Matt Damon (The Bourne Identity, Saving Private Ryan), Ben Affleck (Argo, Pearl Harbour), Minnie Driver (Tarzan, Princess Mononoke), and Stellan Skarsgård (Marvel Cinematic Universe, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead's Man Chest).  Upon Good Will Hunting's initial release, it received almost universal critical acclaim and became a financial success; as well as critical and financial success, it was nominated for nine Academy Awards and won two: Best Supporting Actor for Williams and Best for Best Writing (Original Screenplay) for Affleck and Damon.  The success of this film, being the writers of Good Will Hunting launched both Affleck's and Damon's careers which allowed them to gain more high-profile roles such as Armageddon (Affleck) and Saving Private Ryan (Damon).

Rating: 9

Recommended To: Matt Damon fans; Robin Williams fans

Favourite Characters: Chuck - voice of reason; Sean - understands Will better than Will thinks

Favourite Part: Sean: Do you have a soul mate?
Will: Define that?
Sean: Someone you can relate to, someone who opens things up for you.
Will: Sure, I got plenty.
Sean: Well, name them.
Will: Shakespeare, Nietzsche, Frost, O'Conner...
Sean: Well that's great. They're all dead.
Will: Not to me, they're not.
Sean: You can't have a lot of dialogue with them.
Will: Not without a heater and some serious smelling salts.

Good Points: Sean and Will's relationship; the use of the hero journey; great chemistry between the cast

Bad Points: First half hour dragged; predictable story

Geek Alert - September Loot Crate

Oh god, oh god, we're all going to die [with excitement because the September Loot Crate is here].
Paraphrased from a Serenity film quote, Wash is a great character.

So it's that time of the month again and my Loot Crate arrived today.  Last month I was thrilled with this subscription service and I loved my random box of themed stuff and I wholeheartedly agree that it's a Christmas present every month from a family member who knows you're a geek/nerd/gamer.  As I've said before, I don't like to hear my own voice so I'm going to continue my blogs on them.

Kristen Simmons - Three

Unfortunately, I kind of forgot that I promised to review this book as soon as I bought it; luckily, I was rereading some of my reviews last month and found the promise I made to you, if there's anyone out there, and pulled Three out of the bottom of the pile and started to read it immediately.  I apologise profusely and have rectified my mistake; I need to reread some of my reviews after this one and see if I've made any other promises that I've not kept.  With this being a review of the third book in the trilogy, it was too hard to keep spoilers out of it but my advice is to skip to the end if you want a simple summary of my feelings on this book as there is too much important information in the first two books to skip them entirely.

Three is the third book in the Article 5 trilogy from Kristen Simmons which is told from Ember's point of view and focuses on her and Chase Jennings, her first love.  The Article 5 trilogy is set in a war torn America, there are no police but are soldiers who enforce the law of the land, known as Moral Statues, dictating to society the moral code that people should live by.  Punishments are severe if these Statues are broken, going from being arrested to the punishments (with long imprisonments and death being common).  Prior to Three, in Breaking Point, having faked their deaths in Article 5 due to both Ember and Chase having fugitive status and no familial ties, Ember and Chase are trying to keep a low profile and are taking in by the Resistance.  At the same time as that, there is a sniper going around shooting FBR soldiers and the Bureau's number one suspect is Ember which makes it even more difficult for our heroes because now the Resistance are cautious around her because she could draw too much attention to them.  Eventually, even though it's not true, Ember embraces her identity as the sniper so to gain attention and help so she can save her friend, Rebecca, Ember's friend from the reformation school, from a rehabilitation centre where it goes wrong for Ember and Chase but they do escape in the end with Rebecca with the help Sean and Tucker.  However, much to their horror, on their return to the safe house, they discover that the safe house has been burnt down and very few have survived, which may not include the leader, Wallace.  This sparks something in our heroic duo and leads onto Three.

Rating: 9

Recommended To: Definitely one for those that like dystopian fiction

Favourite Characters: Chase - many great things about him

Favourite Part: He opened his hand, and in his palm was a yellow flower - like a rose, but smaller.  When I looked at it, he unfurled my fist and placed it within.
I prodded the tender petals - those that had survived his grasp.  Most were bent or torn, but it was still beautiful.  Something fluttered inside when I imagined him finding it and carrying it for me.
"I think I might be broken."  He didn't look up.
I moved closer, feeling his sadness washing over me.
"We're all broken," I said.  "We just have to put each other back together."
My loose fist holding the flower came to rest in the center of his chest, locked between us.  He leaned down, his forehead touching mine.  His eyes closed.
"What if I'm too far gone?"
"Then I'll find you," I said.  "And I'll bring you back." - Page 84

Good Points: Chase and Ember's relationship; great end to the trilogy; Jesse

Bad Points: Everything went horribly wrong in the last hundred pages; Sean and Rebecca were left out a bit

Lucy

Another trip to the cinema came today and while it's not completely different from my usual film choice when going to the cinema, this time it's a little unusual because it was by a director I don't normally watch, though I have seen some of his films before, and the entire plot was different to my usual type of film.

Lucy is the 2014 science fiction action film from Luc Besson, whom wrote, directed, and edited this film; Scarlett Johansson (Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Island) stars as the titular character while Morgan Freeman (The Shawshank Redemption, The Dark Knight trilogy), Amr Waked (Contagion, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen), and Choi Min-sik (Oldboy, I Saw the Devil) co-star along with Julian Rhind-Tutt (Green Wing, Notting Hill) and Pilou Asbæk (A Hijacking, R) who play minor roles in Lucy's story.

Rating: 8

Recommended To: Scarlett Johansson fans; those looking for something weird

Favourite Characters: Lucy - interesting character

Favourite Part: Lucy: [At the beginning, voiceover] Life was given to us a billion years ago.  What have we done with it?
[...]
[At the end, voiceover] Life was given to us a billion years ago.  Now you know what you can do with it.

Good Points: Johansson's performance was wonderful; first half was great; interesting concept

Bad Points: Science jargon got too much; second half was drastically different

Film Addict's August Film Choice

My kid sister turned 20 this month and while not a big achievement (though she has lasted 20 years without me or my mother killing her), I decided to dedicate Film Addict's August Film Choice to her which meant she got to choose any film for me to review.  So this is Disney's Treasure Planet.

A faithful adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island, Treasure Planet is the 2002 animated fantasy film from Ron Clements and John Musker with the voices of Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Inception, The Dark Knight Rise), Brian Murray (Dream House, In the Family), Emma Thompson (Sense and Sensibility, Nanny McPhee), David Hyde Pierce (Frasier, A Bug's Life), Martin Short (Saturday Night Live, How I Met Your Mother), Michael Wincott (Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, The Crow), Laurie Metcalf (Toy Story, Roseanne), and Roscoe Lee Browne (Babe, Spider-Man the Animated Series) bringing this eclectic group of characters to life.  While a faithful adaptation, there is the major alteration of the film being set in space instead so to make it stand out from other Disney adaptation of Stevenson's Treasure Island.

Just like Film Addict's May Film Choice, Brother Bear, which was dedicated to my best friend, I'm going to add another point to my normal review points which reminds me of my kid sister.

Rating: 9

Recommended To: Disney fans; anyone; adventure fans

Favourite Characters: Dr. Doppler - funny; Jim - loveable; Captain Amelia - just love her

Favourite Part: Captain Amelia: [to a protesting Doppler] Let me make this as... monosyllabic as possible.  I...don't much care for this crew you hired.  They're...
[to Arrow] How did I describe them, Arrow?  I said something rather good this morning before coffee.
Mr. Arrow: 'A ludicrous parcel of drivelling galoots,' ma'am.
Captain Amelia: [to Doppler] There you go, poetry.

Good Points: Variety in character designs; dialogue was great; father-son relationship explored; Silver - a villain who wasn't evil for the sake of it

Bad Points: Not a lot of female characters; Jim and his parents are the only humans

Special Point: Morph - many reasons behind this one

Geek Alert - August Loot Crate

It's a bird! It's a plane! No, it's the August Loot Crate.

I was so excited this month when I found out about Loot Crate and what it offers.  It's a subscription service that you get a box full of themed stuff sent to you once a month.  As others have said, it's like a Christmas present every month from a family member who knows you're a geek/gamer.  They like Looters to film when they open their Loot Crates but I don't like to hear my own voice on film so I've decided to blog about it instead.  Originally, they didn't ship to the UK but obviously now they do and I get to enjoy the experience for myself, yay!

Cressida Cowell - How to Train Your Dragon

I seem to be on a comic book/graphic novel kick at the minute and I haven't decided whether I am going to add graphic novels and manga to my blog because it's a different style of book; however, I did decide to read the original book that How to Train Your Dragon film and its sequel, starring Jay Baruchel and Gerard Butler, were inspired from.  I know it's for kids but I wanted to mix things up a bit from my usual books, plus I'm always curious about where a film is adapted from and how it differs which is why I read graphic novels from Marvel and DC.

How to Train Your Dragon is the first in Cressida Cowell's series of the same name which was first published in 2003; How to Train Your Dragon is set in a fictional Viking world and focusses on Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, a young Viking, who is learning how to train his dragon as a pet as his ancestors have before him.

Rating: 7

Recommended To: Dragon lovers; boys would love it

Favourite Characters: Old Wrinkly

Favourite Part: 'Anyway,' said Old Wrinkly, 'it might be just what this Tribe needs, a change in leadership style.  Because the thing is, times are changing.  We can't get away with being bigger and more violent than everybody else any more.  IMAGINATION.  That's what they need and what you've got.  A Hero of the Future is going to have to be clever and cunning, not just a big lump with overdeveloped muscles.  He's going to have to stop everyone quarrelling among themselves -and get them to face the enemy together.' - Page 77-8

Good Points: Engaging story; funny book; different dragons

Bad Points: Massive time skips; could have worked better as first person

Guardians of the Galaxy

My Marvel antenna has gone up this month and while I didn't go out on opening weekend, I really did want to see the latest addition to Marvel Cinematic Universe because I love anything Marvel related.  What was even better was that I loved the cast that was chosen because it was so varied but had potential.  My mum thought this was a spoof of the Marvel films and I can see why because of the trailer but after much insistence that they were part of the Marvel world, she became curious to see what it was all about.  So my sister treated me and my mum to a trip to the cinema so we could see the latest superhero film out, an interest all three of us share.

Guardians of the Galaxy is the latest addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe directed by James Gunn; it is the tenth instalment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and is based on the team of the same name from Marvel.  A brand new cast was brought in to play the ragtag team who are meant to save the galaxy and other alien characters in this universe.  The stars include Chris Pratt (Parks and Recreations, The Lego Movie), Zoe Saldana (Star Trek, Avatar), Dave Bautista (Riddick, The Man with the Iron Fists), Vin Diesel (The Fast and the Furious series, The Iron Giant), and Bradley Cooper (The Hangover series, Silver Linings Playbook) as the Guardians and the supporting cast include Lee Pace (The Hobbit series, Pushing Daisies), Michael Rooker (Jumper, The Walking Dead), Karen Gillan (Doctor Who, Oculus), Djimon Hounsou (How to Train Your Dragon 2, The Island), John C. Reilly (Wreck-It Ralph, Step Brothers), Glenn Close (Tarzan, Dangerous Liaisons), and Benicio del Toro (Sin City, Snatch.).  Del Toro is the only cast member to return, having appeared at the end of Thor: The Dark World in one of the credit scenes,

Rating: 10

Recommended To: Anyone; Marvel lovers

Favourite Characters: Peter Quill; Groot

Favourite Part: Gamora: I know who you are, Peter Quill, and I will not succumb to your pelvic sorcery.

Good Points: The chemistry between the main five; all of the Guardians were endearing in their own way; the special effects; the comedic elements; refreshing to have a new batch of characters

Bad Points: Gamora and Nebula relationship wasn't really explored

Bailey Cates - Brownies and Broomsticks

I've recently read normal, non-fiction books that differ from my normal books as well as my usual bag of weirdness in the form of dystopic/post-apocalyptic books and other genres and watched a varied bunch of films; because of this, I decided to read a new series which falls into the cosy crime genre that I like to read every so often and expand my author knowledge base.

Brownies and Broomsticks is the first in Bailey Cates's Magical Bakery Mystery series which focusses on Katie Lightfoot as she moves to Savannah to work with her aunt and uncle in the Honeybee Bakery.  Bailey Cates also works under the names Cricket McRae and K.C. McRae and has written other mystery books like this series.  While this is similar to other cosy crime books I've read where the protagonist has nothing to do with working in law enforcement but inadvertently become involved in some kind of investigation, this series involves magic of different variations which make it stand out to me.

Rating: 6

Recommended To: Stephanie Plum fans; cosy crime fans

Favourite Characters: Katie; Mungo

Favourite Part: He stroked my cheek with his thumb.  Before I knew it, his lips were on mine.  His kiss was quick, casual and undemanding.  Warm and comforting.  Nice.  My body pressed against his for a moment before I gathered my wits and stepped back.
"Um," I said.
He grinned.  "Don't worry.  That was just an accident.  Life having supper with someone." - Page 194

Good Points: Concept; an easy read; wasn't just Wiccan magic

Bad Points: Love triangle; predictable; could have looked back at Katie's parents more

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

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

Film Addict's June Film Choice

My original intention was to review this particular film in April but I changed my mind because I wanted to review Tron: Legacy instead, plus, I knew this was going to be a hard film so I had to prepare myself for it.  In April, I found this film in my Empire magazine and it intrigued me, plus I like some of the actors.  So the Film Addict's June Film Choice is Snowpiercer.

Snowpiercer is the 2013 science fiction action film from Bong Joon-ho, adapted from a French graphic novel, La Transperceneige by Jacques Lob, Benjamin Legrand, and Jean-Marc Rochette.  This is Bong's first English-language film with a large percentage of it having been shot in English and has a mixture of Korean, American, and English actors.  Some of the stars include Chris Evans (Captain America: The First Avenger, Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World), Jamie Bell (Tintin, Billy Elliot), John Hurt (Hellboy, Doctor Who: Day of the Doctor), Luke Pasqualino (Skins, The Musketeers), Song Kang-ho (The Host, Memories of Murder), and Go Ah-sung (The Host, Elegant Lies) to name a handful of them.

Rating: 10

Recommended To: Not for the faint-hearted

Favourite Characters: Curtis - protector, leader, reluctant hero, Chris Evans; Edgar - weird sort of comic relief, Jamie Bell; Grey - quiet fellow, Luke Pasqualino

Favourite Part: Edgar: What does steak taste like again? I had it once, but I can't remember.
Curtis: If you can't remember then it's better to forget.
Edgar: What does it smell like when it's cooked? It must emanate around the place.

Good Points: Great adaptation of original story; chemistry between the cast; odd moments of the humour

Bad Points: Felt like a long film - very intense two hours

How to Train Your Dragon 2

While it has already been released in the States, How to Train Your Dragon 2 isn't going to be released until early next month but fortunately, some of the cinemas showed it over the weekends which was great so me and my sister hopped in my car on my weekend off and went to see it because we were so excited and completely adore the franchise.  When I say adore, I mean we are obsessed; I have a Toothless toy and a Hiccup figurine; maybe I'm the obsessed one.
 
How to Train Your Dragon 2 is the 2014 3D animated action-adventure fantasy film directed by Dean DeBlois and is the sequel to the 2010 How to Train Your Dragon which is loosely adapted from the book series of the same name by Cressida Crowell.  The original cast returns, including Jay Baruchel (Sorcerer's Apprentice, This is the End), Gerard Butler (The Ugly Truth, 300), Craig Ferguson (The Craig Ferguson Show, Brave), America Ferrera (Ugly Betty, The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants), Jonah Hill (21 Jump Street, Superbad), Christopher Mintz-Plasse (Superbad, Kick-Ass), T.J. Miller (Cloverfield, Unstoppable), and Kristen Wiig (Bridesmaids, Despicable Me), with new additions, Cate Blanchett (Lords of the Rings series, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button), Djimon Hounsou (Gladiator, The Island), and Kit Harington (Game of Thrones, Pompeii).  In How to Train Your Dragon, Hiccup (Baruchel) is considered an outsider in the Viking village where he lives, Berk, which suffers from constant dragon attacks.  To make things even worse for Hiccup, his father, Stoick (Butler) is the chief and it seems that Hiccup doesn't live up to his father's expectations of what a true Viking is; a strong, courageous warrior who can simply kill a dragon with any given weapon.  During one of the attacks, Hiccup strikes down a Night Fury, one of the more deadly dragons, and when he finds it, he can't bring himself to kill it even though it can't escape because of an injured tail.  Hiccup is eventually able to win over the dragon and gain his trust as he cares for the young dragon, naming him 'Toothless' because he has retractable teeth.  As they bond, Hiccup builds a harness for himself and a saddle and prosthetic tail piece for Toothless, they are able to fly together with Hiccup have some control over the tail piece.  Meanwhile, Stoick places Hiccup in Dragon Training with Gobber (Ferguson) along with the other Viking teenagers while Stoick goes out with his fleet to find the dragon nest; with everything he learns from spending time with Toothless, Hiccup becomes the star pupil in Dragon Training, shocking his dad when he returns from his unsuccessful mission.  Following a failed attempt at showing Berk that dragons aren't evil and can in fact benefit them, Stoick discovers Toothless and disowns his son before he ventures out again to find the dragon nest, using Toothless as a navigation system.  Hiccup knows that this won't work out well as he knows what truly lives in the nest so with the help of his classmates, he goes to help his dad out and ensures that Toothless is safe.  Following a heartfelt moment between Hiccup and Stoick as the latter admits that he was wrong about the dragons, that you can trust some, Hiccup and Toothless fly off together to defeat the Red Death dragon who reigns over the dragons in the nest by using the main weakness of a dragon against it, fire.  While the Red Death dies and our heroes survive, albeit minus a leg on Hiccup's behalf.

Rating: 10

Recommended To: Anyone; everyone

Favourite Characters: Hiccup; Toothless

Favourite Part: What do you think? What should we name it?
[Toothless scratches under his arm with his snout]
Hiccup: Itchy Armpit it is.

Good Points: Animation; excellent sequel plot; the composition of the dragons; relationship between the characters

Bad Points: Cate Blanchett's accent

Maleficent

My family and I went out to Meadowhall in Sheffield and while we were there, shopping and scoffing food, we decided to go to the cinema.  Between the four of us, we wanted to see different films so we split off into pairs and my sister and I went to see Maleficent because it was different than the others films and I wanted to see how they were going to recreate this classic fairy tale that was part of my childhood when I was growing up.

Maleficent is the 2014 action fantasy film by Robert Stromberg and rewrites the history of the classic Disney villain.  Stars of Maleficent include Angelina Jolie (Salt, Mr. & Mrs. Smith) who doubles as an executive producer, Elle Fanning (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Super 8), Sharlto Copley (District 9, Elysium), Sam Riley (Control, On the Road), Imelda Staunton (Vera Drake, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix), Juno Temple (The Dark Knight Rises, Atonement), and Lesley Manville (Another Year, Vera Drake).

Rating: 8

Recommended To: Fantasy fans; Disney fans

Favourite Characters: Diaval; Maleficent

Favourite Part: Maleficent: I hate you, Beastie.

Good Points: Recreated fairy tale; beautiful setting; hints of humour

Bad Points: Predictable plot; Aurora fades in the background to Maleficent; found accents slightly irritating