My mom brought over Mom's Night Out for us to watch on Sunday evening. I thought it'd just be a romantic comedy or something, but then I started noticing it had some actors in it that you routinely see in Christian films. Plot: Grey's Anatomy's hilarious Sarah Drew plays Allyson, a seriously over-worked mother of three who seriously needs a break. In the tradition of Date Night, only with all mothers, she and two gal pals plan a night out, leaving the husbands to deal with the kids. And, of course, Murphy's Law kicks in. Everything that can go wrong, does. Catastrophically. And hilariously. I didn't stop laughing the entire film. Actors/Characters: Many Christian films have somewhat mediocre acting, but this one featured Sarah Drew, Sean Astin, Patricia Heaton, and staple of Christian cinema, Alex Kendrick. Trace Adkins also made an appearance with perhaps the most profound lines of the film. (Awesome!) Message: Underlying Christian themes were aimed primarily at stressed out moms who expect too much of themselves and don't realize that they are the only ones who care or expect them to be perfect. The way the message was presented was actually very touching and, even though I am not a mom myself, I found the film to be very sweet. I really liked it. Overall: A great, funny, highly-entertaining, feel-good film. It's one that will crack you up and also leave you feeling satisfied. In a warm, fuzzy sort of way. I would highly recommend it to anyone. Has anyone else seen Mom's Night Out? What did you think?
My sister brought God's Not Dead home from Redbox over the weekend. It's a Christian film that features Kevin Sorbo as it's only recognizable star. While I've been a Sorbo fan since I was just a kid and thought the special effects in Hercules: The Legendary Journeys were pretty darn cool, I still didn't have particularly high hopes for the film. While Christian cinema always has great stories that, because I am one, I can always get behind, they also tend to be low budget and somewhat lackluster. I figured this film would be the same way.
Boy was I wrong! I liked it so much I watched it not one but three times over the course of the weekend. Not just one my own, of course. First I watched it with one sister. Then another. Then on Saturday my parents and brothers showed up, and when I gushed about how great it was, they wanted to watch it too. So yes, I watched it thrice. And yes, I cried each time.
So the ever-hansome-and-charismatic Kevin Sorbo is a philosophy professor at prestigious college, who on the first day of the semester, asks his students to sign their names to statements saying that God is dead. He does this because he is an atheist and hates the whole god argument so much that he just wants all of his students to agree with him so they can skip that aspect of the course.
But of course our MC, Josh Wheaton (played by Shane Harper) is a Christian who refuses to sign the statement. The professor then gives him the chance to defend God's honor in front of the class. This poor freshmen is up against a hard-nosed atheist/philosophy professor in his own classroom, in front of his peers! Talk about a pressure cooker. But he puts his shoulder to the wheel, coming up with amazing arguments, all while struggling under a full course load, and dealing with his failing relationship with his fiancee.
My sister rented 300: Rise of an Empire over the weekend. We've been meaning to watch it for quite a while. I was only kind of excited to see it, and so didn't have super-high expectations. Plot: Well, first of all, there's very little accurate history in the plot. Not surprising, given the kind of fantastical film it is, but just don't go in expecting to learn all kinds of cool facts. The story itself moves at a good pace, never stalling, and overall I liked it more than I expected to. Effects: Definitely didn't skimp on the gore for this film. Good ole Zack Snyder. As with it's 300 predecessor, and shows like Starzz's Spartacus, there was a whole lot of less-than-realistic blood spurting about in slow-mo. That sort of thing doesn't bother me. (Mostly I just have to chuckle and shake my head) but do know that this film is full of R-rated gore. You've been warned. Characters: Themistocles was a convincing character, and likable. The actor who portrayed him (Sullivan Stapleton) was a complete unknown to me, but I had no complaints. Lena Heady reprized her role as Queen Gorgo. It's kind of weird to see her in things other than Game of Thrones, now. I've gotten so used to the blond hair, and her voice seriously never changes. She wasn't exactly front and center in the film, but I did like that, near the end, we got to see, through her, just how much the Spartan women were warriors as well. It's was pretty cool.
In 1993, three young boys went missing from West Memphis, Arkansas. Their bodies were found the next day in a creek and three troubled, teenage boys were accused and convicted of their murders. This movie tells the story of those tragic murders and the subsequent farce of a case that convicted three innocent teens of the crime. I rented it because I'd heard of the case and was interested in learning more. **I outlined the details of this case in a crime tidbit post on Monday. To read that, click HERE.** Synopsis: West Memphis, Arkansas in 1993 was a small town of bible belt folk. When three young boys don't make it home one night, the community sets out to look for them. Acting/Characters:Reese Witherspoon plays the mother of one of the boys, Stevie Branch, who lives through the misery of the twisted case. As always, she is very convincing in her role. Not the kind of woman who simply wants justice for her child, but one who genuinely wants to know what happened, she plays a discerning woman, swept up by the tide of a case that quickly becomes much bigger than her or her family. Colin Firth--who I've loved since his days of playing Mr. Darcy--plays a P.I. who attaches himself to the defense, less because he believes the boys to be innocent, and more because he hates the idea of the teens being convicted of a capital crime. It's the digging of him and his team that brings most of the problems with the case to light. Though they ultimately can't stop the conviction, they keep digging to try and churn the truth to the surface.
Plenty of other talented actors also make an appearance. Most aren't A-listers, but they were part of the appeal of the film for me. Even the small parts were often played by actors I know and respect, including Elias Koteas, Mireille Enos, Kevin Durand, Steven Moyer, Alessandro Nivola, and more. I really liked this film. You have to watch closely and note names of characters so you know who they're talking about in the courtroom, but I think they did a good job of showing what happened, how many people were involved, and how so many obvious blunders could be swept under the rug and untruths so easily believed. I'll warn that the beginning is hard to watch. While not terribly explicit, you do see them pull the nude bodies of the boys out of the water, and your heart will definitely hurt. If you know the details of the case, the final convictions aren't shocking, but the afterward in which they describe different things that came to light in subsequent years will make you gasp. It becomes fairly obvious to the discerning viewer what actually happened, but justice was not and still has not been served here, which makes it quite tragic all around. The film is dedicated to the memory of the three boys who died that night, which I thought was touching. Overall, if you like true crime or have any interest in this case, you'll like Devil's Knot. I thought it was well put together and did a good job showing the ins and outs of what happened. It's the kind of thing that happens very little any more, thanks to the technology of forensic science, but must still be guarded against. Has anyone else seen this film? What did you think of it?
So this past week I finally got around to watching the film, Pompeii, which I've been wanting to see for awhile. Because it's based on a true event, I thought I'd combine the review with a historical tidbit. I'll do the tidbit first--the truth behind Pompeii's history--and the movie review will be below.
Pompeii was a city/town near modern-day Naples. It sat roughly 8 miles from the base of Mount Vesuvius. On August 24, of 79 A.D., the volcano erupted, famously killing most of Pompeii's 20,000 residents by covering them in 13-25 feet of ash. Reports of people still lying in their beds and bread still baking in their ovens are famous facts surrounding this ancient tragedy. No one could understand why the people didn't run or how they wouldn't have understood that the volcano was erupting.
So my NaNoWriMo is progressing nicely. I wrote 3759 words yesterday, which puts me at 16062 words for NaNo and 29756 for Desolate Mantle. It's coming along beautifully and as I speed toward the climax, I get more and more excited about it. Meanwhile, I actually managed to see not one but two movies this weekend. One, Thor: Dark World, is reviewed below. The other, Ender's Game, is reviewed HERE, on my other blog, if you want to check it out.
So. Thor: Dark World is the second installment for this Marvel (not including the ensemble effort of The Avengers). I gotta say, I loved it! I've heard some bad reviews of this one, but don't listen to them. Maybe this isn't the next Oscar contender, but it was just all kinds of fun. This picks up two years after the fist installment (fitting) and Thor's been away from earth that long, except for the pit stop he made in New York to help his fellow Avengers. He has Heimdall, the yellow-eyed gate man, keep tabs on Jane, though, and when she mysteriously disappears from his sight, he goes to find her. Jane has stumbled onto the dark aether (pronounced ether) and suddenly Thor has no choice but to take her to Asgard. You know, to meet the folks. What ensues is adventure, romance, and hilarity. In short, everything expected from super hero films these days. Chris Hemsworth encapsulates the princely god wonderfully, as usual. (Who's his personal trainer, btw?). And yes, ladies, there is a shirtless moment. Tom Hiddleston returns to play Loki with that psychotic hyena smile of his, though we love him anyway. In fact, much of the comedy is due to him. Other favorites, including Jane's intern Darcy, who also has her own, unpaid intern now, return with lots of comedy. (Darcy's intern is a guy who can totally scream like a girl. Not saying more than that, though.) I think the only character I was somewhat disappointed in was Jane's. I'm not a huge Natalie Portman fan, despite liking several of her films. But I really loved her in the first Thor film. She did such a great job. Every time anything awkward happened, like hitting the hot god with her car (you'll remember it happened several times) her expressions were just priceless. There was so much endearing comedy in that, and it was almost completely done away with in this installment. She's still spunky. In fact, she gets to full-on slap both Thor and Loki across the face. It was funny, but not as effective, in my opinion as her previous, utterly mortified facial contortions. Just sayin'. I thought the plot was great. There was plenty of angst and tragedy. We got to see more of Asgard, which was fun. Kind of like the second novel of a dystopia where you get to see more world-building? Yeah, kind of like that. And I gotta say, I totally loved the entire Reno Russo exchange. Remember, Asgard is a place where the women are warriors, too. Even if they aren't in the army or anything, they all know how to fight. Let's just say we get to see Rene kick some serious butt, and I totally loved it! The bad guys were pretty one-dimensional, but evil enough to be effective. I really loved the way it all played out. So, I'd definitely recommend this one to everyone. Just a fun romp with lots of eye candy, but still packs enough emotional punch to tug at you. Just remember to stay until after the credits again! There are some credits, and then an extra scene. Then you have to wait all the way until the end. After the final studio emblems and after the theater lights come on! Trust me, it's worth it. Describe the extra scenes in four words, you say? Okay! "Awesome kiss" ...and... "frolicking creature." Not necessarily at the same time, though. Come on, now you have to go see it just to find out what I'm talking about, right? Well, go for it, and have fun when you do. I might just have to go see it again myself. :D Has anyone else seen Thor? What did you think of it?
Sinister is yet another film I missed while it was in theaters, though I heard great things about it's creep factor. I have younger brothers who are practically horror film aficionados, and they had a copy of it. I wanted to watch at least one horror film, both for participation in Readers Imbibing Peril, and just in honor of Halloween in general. So, I did some borrowing from my brothers' film library. **Don't worry. This review will be largely spoiler-free!** Plot: Ellison Oswalt (Ethan Hawke) is a crime writer who may or may not have pissed off law enforcement through his writing in the past. He moves his family into a home where several unsolved murders recently took place in order to look into them for his next big book. He finds a box of old, projector-style films in the attic that law enforcement somehow overlooked. When he starts watching them, he realizes they are eerie snuff films cataloging not only the murders he's investigating, but others that have never been linked. His investigation leads him to the occult, the unseen world, and other hellish places he could never have imagined.
This was one I missed in theaters, but I got it from Redbox over the weekend. Gotta say, I really loved it! I tried to read the book several months ago, and for me, it was a dud. I won't go too much into why, except to say that there wasn't a common thread or character throughout it. It was a collection of stories that read like mini episodes of Dateline. In and of itself, that's not bad, but there wasn't one common character to follow and root for, so I kept getting bored. I skimmed a lot and barely finished. (For more details, see my review.) In the film, though, Brad Pitt's character (obviously) is the one you're rooting for throughout, which makes the story much more cohesive. Plot: Having recently quit his job working for the state department to spend more time with his family, Jerry (Brad Pitt) is thrown into the chaos of the spreading zombie contagion. The only way to protect his family is to jump back in and tried to pinpoint patient zero, in the hopes of perhaps finding a way to counter the disease. The plot was believable and unrolled easily, with no confusion or boredom. Dystopian World: Of course, chaos and dystopia ensue for Gerry. I thought the world building was well-done. The chaos in the cities, especially the Jerusalem scene was just so stinkin' intense, it was hard to look away from the screen. There was also a lot of talk about how it doesn't really zero in on a zombie, but I don't think that's a very fair critique. You see lots of zombies and you don't feel like you didn't get a good look. There's enough zombie gore to satisfy most die-hard zombie-lovers, and you even see the quick (12 seconds, in fact) turning of human beings to undead when they're bitten. I thought that was the most disturbing image in the film. Twists: Being an action film, there weren't really any major, shocking twists. The plot twisted and turned as it went on it's way, though, and, as I said before, I never got bored. It was a well-paced, well-told story. Characters: Brad Pitt, whom I'm not always a huge fan of, did a great job. The characters felt, real, believable, and easy to root for. You just couldn't help it. Overall, the film was exciting, the scenery amazing, and the story, easy to follow. I think it's a great contribution to the zombie and dystopian genres. If you haven't seen it yet, I'd highly recommend it! Did anyone else see this film? What did you think of it?
I also saw Fast and Furious 6 this weekend. Let me say up front that I didn't think this film was quite as good as the last, but that doesn't mean that I didn't enjoy it. :D The latest installment of the adventures of the gang that crashes sweet cars was about what you'd expect: fast-paced, fun, and full of adrenaline. I read an article in EW Magazine about how this is the most unlikely of franchises. Why? Because it's completely unapologetic about what it is. And it doesn't pretend to be anything but a superficial action film about muscle cars and the dare devils that drive them. Yet, everybody loves these films! (Don't worry: I include myself in that group.) But why do we love them? Probably lots of reasons, but mostly I think it's just refreshing to have something unpretentious and unapologetic about what it is. It's for fun; nothing more!
We open with Dom (Vin Diesel) and Brian (Paul Walker)and their crew in different parts of the world, living the high life after getting away with a crap-load of money at the end of Fast Five. Federal Agent Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) seeks them out to help him catch another crew that's wreaking havoc that he hopes they can help catch. A crew that may or may not house a former member of their own crew previously thought dead. (Michelle Rodriguez) To be completely honest, I thought the set-up at the beginning of this film was a bit hokey. (Not that I expected all kinds of depth and realism. Who am I kidding, right? But still!) I didn't mind the whole FBI asking them for help thing. It's not uncommon to call in experts to consult on such things, no matter which side of the law they're on, but in reality, they would have been just that: consultants. In this, they're treated almost like cops themselves. As in: go get 'em, guys! And as I said, I never expected extreme realism, but I would have liked it if it were at least addressed.
After the initial set-up, though, things get good fast. Lots of fast cars, lots of cool chases. I actually really liked the way they handled the Dom/Leddy story. My sisters didn't particularly like it. They hoped she was still undercover and protecting the old team. Sorry for the slight spoiler, but that's not the explanation they go with. I won't say what it is, but I actually thought it was kind of original. Risky, but they pulled it off.
There was plenty of comedy (especially using the camaraderie of the crew playing off and razing one another). Memorable line: "" I really hope not all guys need to be shot at to take the hint! They also threw a little bit of tragedy in at the end, which I thought added depth.
Overall, is this film overly concerned with reality? Um...no. (This won't make sense until you see the film, but can we all say convenient bridge-catch and 50-mile runway?) But it's fun, fast-paced, and definitely gets your adrenaline pumping. One of my sisters said she wanted to go out and do something bad and rebellious after seeing it. The other one wanted to go running to rap music. Me? I just felt the urge to sit down and write an awesome action scene. :D (Our personalities didn't show through on that one at all, did they?)
As has become the custom over the past few films, they add in a little kicker at the very end to set up for the next film. Being film 6, this is being called the unofficial end of the second Fast and Furious trilogy, but from what I understand, our pal Vinnie is all for making more trilogies. As long as the films continue to do well, I'm sure we'll see more of them, which is just fine with me. :D Has anyone else seen this film? What did you think?
I finally saw Iron Man 3 and loved it. I remember seeing the second movie and thinking it was good, but personally I didn't feel it lived up to the first one. I had no such qualms about this one. It opens a few months after Avengers closes, and Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.) is having problems. He can't get over what happened in New York. He constantly has anxiety over being able to protect the people he loves. (Normally I would ask, Can we all say hero complex? But in this case, the answer is yes. Seriously.) I thought they did an excellent job with Stark's angst and the problems it's causing him, especially in his romantic relationship with Pepper Pots (Gwyneth Paltrow). I also really liked the villain. Played by the unconquerable Ben Kingsley, he was a pretty great villain even before the sudden twist 2/3 of the way through, but I liked that too. It was fun. Stark is up against super-humans who can actually out-do his iron man suits, which is pretty cool. I was glad to see James Badge-Dale among the villains. Generally he's a television face, but I haven't seen much of him over the past year or so. Glad he (and his nose) are back! We also get some great performances by Don Cheadle, Jon Favreau (a bit of an inside joke since he directed the first Iron Man film) Rebecca Hall (who I haven't seen since The Town) and of course Guy Pearce. When he signs up to be the villain, you know your in for a great movie!
I read this book because Adrienne is a fellow Jolly Fish Press Author and, as I've mentioned before, all us JFP-ers try to help read and promote one another's books. I received a digital ARC copy from JFP in exchange for an honest review.
Leisha is a thousand-year-old vampire with, as you can imagine, all kinds of past drama. A war is raging between the vampires and another race known only as the Immortals. While she's technically a vampire herself, the man she used to love and be married to thousands of years ago is an Immortal who hates her for becoming a vampire. To make things worse, the leader of her particular vampire household is a douche who wants Leisha for his lover. She despises him, of course, but he's powerful and she owes him her allegiance.
Enter Samantha, a head-strong teenager whose life has recently been turned upside down with the death of her mother. She goes to live with her dad, with whom she has absolutely no relationship and upon following him to his "work place" finds out that he's embroiled in underworld of paranormal creatures.
This past weekend I went and saw G.I.Joe: Retaliation. My sister is a huge Dwayne Johnson fan, so she wanted to see it. I certainly didn't mind being 'dragged' to the movie theater (poor me, right) but I'll admit I wouldn't have been so gung-ho about seeing it if she hadn't been.
That said, I enjoyed this film far more than I would have guessed. I only saw the first G.I. Joe film once in the theaters, so I've forgotten a lot of it. With that film, it got a lot of flak, from critics especially, for being shallow, cheesy, and having less-than-stellar acting. I remember being surprised at the bad reviews. A little cheese? Yes. But nothing I minded. The special effects were especially cool (who didn't want one of those metal suits that could jump entire city blocks and get hit by trucks without incident?)
This second G.I. Joe film was much better than the first, though. I thought the acting was very good, and the story line was just better. I found it very engrossing. I will warn you: this is an action film to its core! My sister isn't actually big on action films, and the amount of action in it was almost too much for her. I don't share line of thinking myself, but if you aren't big on action films, this one probably isn't for you.
So I finally watched Brave! I've been wanting to see this since it came out in theaters, but it was one I just kept missing or not getting around to. My sister even rented it from Redbox when it first came there, but the copy we got was scratched and wouldn't play. :( So, we finally tried again and this time it worked!
And I gotta say: I LOVED this film! It was so great!
Princess Merida, voiced by the fabulous Kelly Macdonald, of the fiery orange locks, has a spirit to match her hair and hates being made to be proper. When her parents tell her she must marry, and she has only the sons of the three powerful nobles to choose from (let's just say none of them are exactly swoon-worthy) she sets off to forge her own path of destiny.
While this has practically no romance in it, it's a great mother-daughter relations kind of show, and you don't get a stronger heroine/role model for tween girls than Merida. While of course Merida ought to have the right to choose whom she marries, she's, shall we say, less than sensitive about her family's position of power. Because of her "selfishness," disaster ensues. I really liked that, when she finally learned true sacrifice, and was willing to do it, even though it was hard and meant unhappiness for her, that was the moment when things changed and that sacrifice was no longer required of her. That happens so often in life and I was so pleased to see it depicted in a Pixar film.
Now, let's talk about the hilarity, shall we? There are two bears in this film. The first, near the beginning, is mean, fierce, and all kinds of man-flesh-happy. We don't like him. The second one is much more entertaining. I'm not going to tell you who the bear is, as it's a key part of the plot, but let's just say it might be a person in bear form. So we have a grizzly that can't talk, but makes human hand (paw) motions and expressions. So funny!
Then there's the king. Voiced by the perfectly chosen Billy Connolly, he's a large man who loves his food, his family, and his fights. And he's such a guy's guy. Pretty much everything he said, I feel over laughing. His expressions were really funny too.
I won't say much about the witch in the woods Merida meets, except that I liked her a lot. A combination of the cliche and the refreshing, I found her both funny and intriguing.
Probably my favorite part of the film was Merida's three younger brothers. They had the same fiery red hair as she does, but their little trouble-making, half-pint triplets that run around stealing cakes, tying people's shoe laces together, and just wreaking havoc in general. They were so adorable and so funny, you just couldn't be mad at them, even though they caused a lot of trouble.
In short, if you want a fun adventure with lots of laughs, a strong heroine, and some surprisingly deep and refreshing life lessons, Brave is the film for you!
Thoughts for Thursday--Einstein
Thoughts for Thursday is a new meme hosted by Musings on Fantasia and LKHill.In this meme, we share thoughts or quotes that we know or have recently come across. Each week there is a specific subject or theme. These can be quotes from books, quotes by famous people, (quotes by YOU, perhaps ;D). Anything from anywhere is game, though we do ask that you keep your quote to a few sentences at most. Don't quote, for example, entire passages of a book or essay. These can be funny quips, cool sayings, hair-raising antidotes, movie lines, any kind of quote you can think of!
Just have fun, collect awesome sayings by awesome people, and try to be inspired! Today's subject is quotes by Albert Einstein! Now this guy was a genius, not just at physics but at life. Usually I go through quotes on a certain subject and find my favorite. Often, I'm even hard pressed to find enough for the post. Not so with my buddy Alby. Everything he ever said was deep! I didn't use all the quotes I wanted, because the post would have gone on and on, but even these barely scratch the surface. I have different ones at Musings on Fantasia.
"If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales."
"Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new."
"Creativity is knowing how to hide your sources."
"Science without religion is lame. Religion without science is blind...All religions, arts, and sciences are branches of the same tree."
"When you are courting a nice girl and hour seems like a second. When you sit on a red-hot cinder a second seems like an hour. That's relativity."
"Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world."
What do you think? Which is your favorite? Do you have one to add?
So it was Valentine's Day, 2013. My family has developed a bit of a tradition that, on this day, anyone who doesn't have any special plans or doesn't currently have a special someone just all go out together to see a movie. We'd planned to see Beautiful Creatures, and even my dad said he wouldn't mind a chick flick.
Then I realized that A Good Day to Die Hard was out. As my dad was coming and a big Die Hard fan, I kind of thought we should see that instead. Furthermore, my sister and I could go see the romantic YA flick anytime, and chances were the romance one would be more packed than the action one on Valentines. We got down to the wire and still hadn't decided, but it ended up being the timeline that decided for us. By the time we all got our ducks in a row and got to the theater, Beautiful Creatures had already started, so Die Hard it was. There was a good smattering of people in the auditorium, but it was by no means crowded, which was nice.
A Good Day to Die Hard was great! It was everything we've come to expect from a Bruce Willis action flick. It had action (obviously), humor, plentiful color metaphors, violence, but also some good, old-fashioned loyalty-to-family-is-most-important-thing-ever moments, and let's face it, the bald guy always wins! So, in short, I loved it!
I laughed a lot. Now, anyone who knows me or has read my writing knows that I don't curse much in real life, except perhaps in jest and then not with much vulgarity, and I write little if any cussing into my writing. Despite all that, there's just something about it when Bruce Willis curses that tickles the funny bone. It's hysterical.
Warning! This film is rated R and for good reason. There are plenty of yippee-kie-yie-yah-esque lines, if you get my drift, so the language is a bit over the top, and there was also more gore than I expected. Granted, the last Die Hard movie was only rated PG-13, so maybe I should have expected more guts, but let's just say there will never be a graceful sword form entitled Man dives head first into helicopter propeller. Trust me on that.
csmonitor.com
Other than that, the film was very enjoyable. I have to say that I thought the plot of Live Free or Die Hard was a bit better than this movie's was, but it was still pretty dang good. (What can I say? Timothy Oliphant always makes a movie better. :D) Bruce Willis's "son" looked absolutely nothing like him. In fact, I thought the guy looked more Russian than American, which was weird because the story took place in Moscow. And of course there was plenty of getting stabbed or going through glass windows, then jumping right back up to fight twenty more bad guys with automatic weapons.
Good times.
In short, if you enjoy Die Hard films, Bruce Willis films, or funny actions films of any kind, you'll like A Good Day to Die Hard. If not, it may not be for you. Personally, I thought it was an enjoyable way to spend Single's Appreciation Day, but that's just me.
Yippee Kie-Yie-Yay, Awesome Readers! And Happy Wednesday!
So yesterday was my birthday and I went to see the film Warm Bodies. This one was based on a book--which I never read--but I totally loved it! It was way funny and the ending was totally warm-fuzzy inducing!
This is a zombie movie, but not a typical one. The main character is a zombie. He roams around a post-apocalyptic airport, looking for food with all his zombie buddies. He doesn't know why he is the way he is, but he goes with it. His internal dialogue is what's so funny most of the time! It's very contemporary. ("Don't be creepy. Don't be creepy...")
Enter pretty girl that makes his dead-and-rotting heart beat again. She stimulates life in his rotting corpse, which begins to infect the other corpses around him.
While the premise is very unique, it's also a why-hasn't-anyone-thought-of-this-before sort of thing. It wasn't particularly deep or tragic or anything--perhaps even a bit predictable, but it was an endearing kind of predictable. It hit all the major beats to make an awesome story. (I checked.)
In my opinion, R's (the main character's) friend M sort of stole the show, as did Julie's nurse-wannabe friend. I thought the sidekicks in this story were fresh and real and hilarious.
Overall, a great movie. Very light and fun. A surprisingly touching ending. Would be a great date movie, but not too gory or scary for the kids, either. (There is one f-bomb, just to warn ya.) Totally loved it! Go see it if you haven't. It'll make you smile and look forward to the zombie apocalypse. :D
Thoughts for Thursday is a new meme hosted by Musings on Fantasia and LKHill.In this meme, we share thoughts or quotes that we know or have recently come across. Each week there is a specific subject or theme. These can be quotes from books, quotes by famous people, (quotes by YOU, perhaps ;D). Anything from anywhere is game, though we do ask that you keep your quote to a few sentences at most. Don't quote, for example, entire passages of a book or essay. These can be funny quips, cool sayings, hair-raising antidotes, movie lines, any kind of quote you can think of!
Readers may respond by either commenting on the quotes I put forward or contributing a quote of their own. Leave it in the comments or a link to your quote in the linky. Whoever comes up with the best one will get some swag and be entered to win a bigger prize later on!
Just have fun, collect awesome sayings by awesome people, and try to be inspired! This week's theme is Office Humor!
I was SO excited to see Lincoln and the movie did not disappoint. First of all, Daniel Day-Lewis. Need I say more? In my opinion he's one of the more talented actors working today. But this film was replete with awesome actors: Tommy Lee Jones, Joseph Gordan-Levitt (apparently one requirement for this film was that the main roles be filled by actors with three names) and Sally Field. Even the supporting roles were full of familiar faces including David Strathairn (love him!) John Hawkes, James Spader, Hal Holbrook (who played Lincoln in the 1986 mini-series North and South) and Jackie Earle Haley (as a southern ambassador working for Jefferson Davis, no less). All of them did an excellent job and I hope a few of them are recognized by my pal Oscar this year.
The story the film covered was not what I thought it would be. It was not a life-long biography about the U.S.'s favorite president. Rather, it only comprised about a month of his life--the last month--during which he was busy trying to ratify the 13th Amendment. The war was nearly at an end and they simply needed the constitution to reflect the changing beliefs of the nation.
The politics were, of necessity, simplified and many nuances left out. But Lincoln, in all his tranquility and gentle story-telling was superb. He felt real and alive in Lewis' portrayal of him. In a lot of ways, he reminded me of my grandfather, a gentle soul from an earlier time.
There were only two things I disliked about the film:
1) The portrayal of Lincoln's relationship to his wife (played by Sally Field) and how tumultuous it was. I don't know enough about their relationship to speak about it with any authority, and the loss of a child will challenge any relationship, but I do know something about Lincoln, and he was not the sort to be rough with his wife or threaten to throw her into an insane asylum, whether it was warranted or not. Furthermore, I simply don't believe that anyone could do as great things as Lincoln did without a solid support system at home. The way it was portrayed in the film, his wife was just as against him as the slave owners were. I'm sure there are people who have researched the relationship more than I who would be happy to contradict me, but this is just not something I believe to be true.
2) The film was a little rough-and-tumble with Lincoln himself. There's the above example of his insensitive treatment of his wife, but they also had him cursing a lot. Understand that many of today's cuss word weren't in effect back then, and the ones we take for granted and put even in low rated films were considered scandalously bad back then. Not only would Lincoln not have dropped the f-bomb (not even sure it existed back then) but I don't think he would have cursed God's name either. He was far too religious. Finally, there was a scene where, in a lashing-out of fear and sorrow, he slaps his eldest son. Even anti-Lincoln historians agree that that would NEVER have happened. I've found several reviews already that have said as much.
I totally get that certain liberties are always taken to make for better drama, but I didn't particularly appreciate this historical deviance from truth.
That said, they were relatively minor things and overall I was tremendously impressed with the film. It gives a good general idea of what went on and how it was accomplished, and it's inspirational and patriotic like nothing I've seen come out of Hollywood in years. I loved the politics of it. I loved Lincoln and the way he was portrayed. I even teared up a few times. (Shocking for me, I know. :D)
Overall, I would highly recommend the film. It's great for it's history and the importance of the events it portrays. It's sweet and inspirational and one I think everyone should see! :D
Top Ten Tuesday!!!
Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created here at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because we are particularly fond of lists here at The Broke and the Bookish. We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!
Each week we will post a new Top Ten list that one of our bloggers here at The Broke and the Bookish will answer. Everyone is welcome to join. All we ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND add your name to the Linky widget so that everyone can check out other bloggers lists! If you don't have a blog, just post your answers as a comment. Have fun with it! It's a fun way to get to know your fellow bloggers.
Top Ten Favorite New-to-Me Authors I read in 2012
Okay, this is kind of terrible but I don't think I read ten new authors in 2012. What can I say? Most of the books I read were either re-reads or (more often) new books by authors I like and had definitely read before. As such, these were not necessarily my "favorite" new authors. (If you click through to my reviews you can see whether or not I raved about them.) These were just the only new authors I could think of for this year.
**If it helps, I'm planning to really delve into my TBR pile in 2013, so hopefully I'll be able to answer this question much more satisfactorily next year. ;D **
4. Leo Tolstoy--I tackled Anna Karenina this year. I'm actually not quite done with it but I'm close and I'll definitely finish by the end of the month. This is one that's a difficult read, but I see it as an accomplishment to have gotten through it (even if it did take me most of the year). :D My reward when I finish will be to treat myself to the Kiera Knightly movie version currently in theaters!
Will review this one soon!
7. Katie McGarry--I'm usually not much into contemporary or YA, but I couldn't put Pushing the Limits down! This is a read-along-questions post but I never actually reviewed this one because I was doing a read-along. :D
8. Gary C. King--Gary's novel, Blood Lust: Portrait of a Serial Killer, is very detailed (translation: very adult) but it's also true crime at its best. He's also fun to read because he's also a very accessible author. My review here.
9. Phil Jordan--His novel, Praise of Motherhood is a different sort of read but ends up being a beautiful tribute to his complex mother. My review here.
**All pictures courtesy of Goodreads.com
That it for me! How about YOU? What new authors did YOU read this year?
Random Movie Quotes (RMQ)
Don't know what this is? Check the tab at the top of the page.
zorrolegend.com
Last time's RMQ was, "There is a saying, a very old saying: when the pupil is ready the master will appear." This was said by Anthony Hopkins in 1998's The Mask of Zorro. No one guessed it. Today's RMQ is:
"If you want to receive emails about my upcoming shows, then please give me money so I can buy a computer."
Who said it? One point for character, one for actor, one for show. Good luck and Happy Tuesday! :D
