Films for Thoughts on Thursday: The Scorch Trials

This is a weekly meme that I am hosting here at Reviews from a Bookworm. To take part all you have to do is share a movie review once a week, link back to Reviews from a Bookworm and add your link to the linky tool.

This weeks movie review will be for:

The Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials

I went to see The Scorch Trials last week, and I am happy that I can say I really enjoyed it. I was excited, but also very nervous, about seeing it. I had really enjoyed the first film, but I was scared because I didn't want this to be a disastrous sequel like Insurgent was. But it wasn't. It was really good and I can't wait for the final movie...

The DUFF by Kody Keplinger: Book & Movie Review

Title: The DUFF
Author: Kody Keplinger
Publisher: Hodder Children's Books
Buy this book: Amazon (US) / Amazon (UK) / Book Depository

Seventeen-year-old Bianca Piper is cynical and loyal, and she doesn't think she's the prettiest of her friends by a long shot. She's also way too smart to fall for the charms of man-slut and slimy school hottie Wesley Rush. In fact, Bianca hates him. And when he nicknames her "the Duff," she throws her Coke in his face. But things aren't so great at home right now, and Bianca is desperate for a distraction. She ends up kissing Wesley. Worse, she likes it. Eager for escape, Bianca throws herself into a closeted enemies-with-benefits relationship with him. Until it all goes horribly awry. It turns out Wesley isn't such a bad listener, and his life is pretty screwed up, too. Suddenly Bianca realizes with absolute horror that she's falling for the guy she thought she hated more than anyone. And eventually, through this realization, Bianca begins to see how harmful her unhealthy way of dealing with her problems has been, and finds a way to confront them head on.

I am the first to admit that I have a problem with buying books and then just leaving them unread on my shelves for years. The DUFF was one of those books, and I am so mad at myself for waiting so long to read this book. I'd keep looking at it on my shelf and thinking that I should really hurry up and get to it, but four years went past and it just never happened. That is until the film trailer dropped. The movie looked like it was going to be so much fun and I knew I just had to read the book before I went to see it. I am so glad that I did because I ended up absolutely loving this one, even if it turned out to be completely different to what I was expecting.

The trailer for this books movie adaptation had me expecting this book to be quite a light, funny but somewhat predictable and clichéd read. But you quickly realise that the book is going to be a lot different from the 'geek girl works with popular jock guy to become less of a DUFF and score the guy!' type storyline that the movie is obviously going for. I am so glad that turned out to be the case because this book brought so much more to the table. It's been one of the stand out reads for me this year and I really wish more YA books were like this.

Films for Thoughts on Thursday: Insurgent

This is a weekly meme that I am hosting here at Reviews from a Bookworm. To take part all you have to do is share a movie review once a week, link back to Reviews from a Bookworm and add your link to the linky tool.

This weeks movie review will be for:


Insurgent

Look, most of the time I don't feel like getting straight to the point when it comes to movie reviews. I like to talk about the movie in general and then give my final verdict. But I need to just get this out of the way... Insurgent was absolutely terrible. I want to be able to lie and tell you that I enjoyed it... but I really didn't. I was expecting to quite enjoy it, considering how much I enjoyed the first film. But I admit to going into the movie with the lowest of expectations, which really should have meant that it couldn't be anywhere near as disappointing as I was expecting it to be. The movie proved me wrong!

I should have known after seeing the advert that this really wasn't going to be the sequel I had hoped for. It just looked so very different to the first movie and absolutely nothing like the book. But that wasn't necessarily a bad thing, considering the fact that I didn't enjoy the second book as much as Divergent. But I saw the trailer for Insurgent and my only thought was:

And my reaction didn't really change when I went and saw the actual film. I just didn't understand, where did this mysterious fucking box had come from? And what the hell were these cables that could snake down and somehow suspend a rather heavy human being in the air? What was all this futuristic technology that had appeared out of nowhere? Anyone who read the books knows that most of the city was basic. The trailer hadn't won me over but I'd hoped the film was going to surprise me in the same way Divergent did... It didn't. 

It seems like the film studio were in too much of a hurry to get this movie made and out into theatres. Everything about it ends up feeling rushed and the film suffers tremendously because of it. Everything about it feels rather weak when compared to other YA dystopian films recently, and even in comparison to Divergent. This was released almost exactly a year after Divergent, but I felt they should have taken a bit longer and wrote a stronger script first. The best sequel I've seen in a long time was Catching Fire, you can see why the studio took a year and a half to release that one. They actually listened to critics of the first film and worked hard to make a sequel that was better than the first film in every way. Sadly that wasn't the case with the Insurgent sequel. 

How I'd feel if I were a part of this movie.

I absolutely adore Shailene Woodley, I think she is one incredibly talented actress. She's incredible in everything she does, but her talent is just completed wasted here. She's given such a weak script that it's hard for even someone as talented as her to make it seem even half decent. I feel bad that her talent seems to be wasted on a series that's probably only going to get worse as it goes on. I mean, seriously, how can you split the snooze fest of Allegiant into two movies and make it seem even slightly interesting? 

I have to admit something here that I know a lot of people probably won't understand. I have never really gotten what all the fuss is about when it comes to Theo James. I've just never really seen what the appeal is. He kind of won me over in Divergent, but he has never felt like a realistic Four to me and I could never really find him believable in the role. This got worse with the sequel, especially since the chemistry between Four and Tris is lacking so much in this movie. 

This perfectly sums up Peter in this film!!!

There is one thing you definitely need to know though... Peter is amazing! Yes, I mean Peter. Peter, the guy who I spent most of the book series absolutely despising and wishing death upon. Well he is the only thing in this movie that I liked. Heck, I didn't even like him... I loved him. He brought so much comic relief to this film and it was exactly what it needed. It needed far more than they gave it. Miles Teller was just fantastic in this film and he made Peter suddenly become my favourite character in the film. That guy has all of the greatest lines in the entire film. I bow down to Teller! 

This movie was just confusing, and that's coming from someone who has read the book. I understand their reasons for adding the box to the movie, but it just felt so stupid. And what's with them suddenly having scanners that can instantly tell what percentage Divergent you are or what your faction is. How is someone a faction? They get the choice to pick! That was just stupid. Then we have the box itself which still makes no sense to me. Especially the ridiculous wires that come down from the ceiling and magically suspend Tris. I found myself laughing at this movie for all the wrong reasons. 

Me and the boyfriend during
 this whole film!

My biggest issue with the whole film was probably how poorly it flowed. The pace just felt all wrong because they'd gone for action over storytelling. The plot got confusing and lacked a lot because they just concentrated on action scenes. The movie basically went: walking, action scene, walk somewhere else, action scene, more walking, action scene, dragged somewhere, action scene, action scene. It was just packed full of special effects and that doesn't make up for the poor script. You can't just throw in a million action sequences and think that will suddenly make it a good movie. It doesn't.

4/10 Butterflies

This movie was just one big hot mess! Yes, we'd all like to be able to see a sequel to a movie as soon as possible but it shouldn't be rushed. They should have worked more on the script rather than trying to fit in as many action sequences and special effects as they possibly could. As if special effects were really going to make up for the lack of story. The only saving grace in this movie is Peter. Peter brings much needed comic relief to what is, essentially, a special effects ridden piece of drivel. 

The Disney Princess Book Tag

Top Ten Tuesday: Characters I'd Like To Check In With

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas: Spoiler Free Review

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Films for Thoughts on Thursday: Fifty Shades of Grey Review & Discussion

This is a weekly meme that I am hosting here at Reviews from a Bookworm. To take part all you have to do is share a movie review once a week, link back to Reviews from a Bookworm and add your link to the linky tool.

This weeks movie review will be for:


Fifty Shades of Grey

That's right people, I have actually watched the Fifty Shades of Grey movie. Now this is a big deal. I consider this a big deal because I have read the books and I absolutely hated them. They were so poorly written that they were actually painful to get through. Not to mention that it started as Twilight fanfiction means it has far too many similarities to it, and it also has one of the most useless and unlikeable lead characters of all time. When I heard the movie was coming out I had absolutely 0 interest in seeing it. None at all. There was no way I was going to pay to sit in a cinema and watch that movie. So what changed? Well there were two things... 1. Christina's review where she basically laughed the whole way through, whilst still admitting it was enjoyable to watch. She got me so intrigued and made me actually consider seeing it. & 2. I didn't have to go to the cinema to see it.

So.... How was it?

It's actually surprising me that I can write the following sentence.

FIFTY SHADES WASN'T THE WORST MOVIE OF ALL TIME!!!

Shocking, I know!

Now I am going to warn you that this is probably going to be a long post. That's because it's not only a review, but also a discussion. I have a few issues that I have with things that are being said about this movie and I really want to address them. But I also want your opinions on them. So get ready, one long ass review/discussion is about to go down right now. 

Would I recommend it?!? 

I'm going to do something I don't usually do with my reviews, I'm going to start straight away with whether or not I would recommend this movie or not. The honest answer is that it is going to entirely depend on you as an individual. If you have zero interest in seeing this film then I'd suggest skipping it. If you're kind of curious like I was then I'd probably say give it a try, but wait for the DVD or when you can stream from the comfort of your own home. And if you're one of those people who were desperate to see it, then I'm certain you already have and can tell me what you thought in the comments below. Movies are just like books in the way that they split opinions, some will loath it, some will love it and many people will fall somewhere between the two. I'm a faller, it wasn't amazing but I've seen way worse movies in my life.

It's rather shocking to me that I didn't absolutely hate this movie, I was so convinced that I was going to hate it. But then I didn't! It's not a cinematic masterpiece and it's not something I'd probably rush to watch again, but I was suitably entertained. I actually laughed at this movie and only cringed a couple of times. I feel like my ridiculously low expectations might have had something to do with this. It's hard for a movie to ever be as bad as I was imagining this movie would be. I think going in with the lowest of expectations is probably the best way to go into this movie because then it's only up from there.

"Anal fisting... cross that out!"

Dakota Johnson was most definitely my favourite thing in this movie and probably the reason why I didn't end up hating this. She is HILARIOUS! Seriously, she brings all the much needed humour to this movie that I needed. I hated Ana in the books, she was just so incredibly useless and wound me up so much. Dakota makes her a likeable character. It probably helps that she doesn't say Oh my god! every five seconds or talk constantly about her 'inner goddess' like she does in the book. I laughed so much at her character in this movie, something that I was not expecting at all. My favourite scene would probably have to be during her 'business meeting' with Christian, where they are discussing the terms of the contract. It's not every day that an actress will have me in fits of giggles whilst she discusses fisting.

Ana shows a lot of growth over the course of this movie. She's a huge pushover in the beginning and continues that way for most of the movie. And people seem to have a weird habit of stealing her food. I literally have no idea how she handles that. There's literally a scene where she makes a sandwich, after asking her friend if she wanted one and her saying no, for her friend to then come and take the sandwich. And she says NOTHING! What's wrong with her? I would have a total Joey moment and have to be like 'Bitch, seriously put down my sandwich or I will hurt you!'.

It's only fair to give my take on Jamie Dornan as Christian Grey, and I admit that I fall into the category of people that don't really get it. I didn't find the character at all attractive or sexy in the book and I still don't when it comes to the movie. It doesn't help that Jamie Dornan is very wooden in this movie, and not the kind of wooden that Christian Grey spends most of the book being. I was also put off by his weird accent, which I'm still not sure what it was supposed to be. He's an Irish actor so I think it just sounds weird because he hasn't managed to perfect an American accent yet. It just sounds like he's in pain every time he talks. 

I felt that the movie plays out a lot more light and fluffy in comparison to the book. Well, as light and fluffy as a movie with a red room of pain can possibly get. It's main problem is that there really isn't much of a plot, it's just all about Christian and Ana trying to make the relationship work. But that is rather dull and boring and doesn't really work to keep you interested. This is why I recommended watching it from the comfort of your own home if you do want to watch it. It means during the slower, duller parts that you can keep yourself amused with something else. If I'd paid to see this in the cinema then I would probably have been a lot more annoyed with this film, constantly checking the time to see how much more of it I had to endure.

When you're reading the book and watching the movie it is very clear that this started as Twilight fanfiction. You can easily see which Fifty Shades character is based on which Twilight character. From Anastasia's insistence of 'it's just Ana', to her ridiculous clumsiness that see's her literally fall into Christians office. Then we have Christian, the broody guy who is always insisting that Ana should stay away from him because he's no good for her! But that one thing that this has in common with the Twilight films that is actually a good thing is the fact it has a really good soundtrack. It's probably my second favourite thing about this movie, after Dakota Johnson's hilarious turn as Ana.

The sex scenes? I've seen worse on GoT

I can't review Fifty Shades without talking about the sex, this is something that has to happen. I have to admit to feeling really bad for any fans of the book going in to see this movie, they must have been quite disappointed. You probably see more graphic sex scenes in a fifty minute episode of Game of Thrones than you do in this 2 hour long film. It's very light on the sex, and what sex there is  is very tame compared to what you see in the books. And it's all very tastefully done and pretty tame for a film that's supposed to be exploring a dom/sub relationship.

Not only will you laugh at the intentionally funny lines that come out of Anas mouth, you'll also be laughing at all the total cringe worthy moments and cheesy moments. From scenes where Ana leaves a meeting with Christian and seems to basically orgasm in the rain to the fact that you'll lose count of how many times Ana bites her lip. You might be like me and get rather bored by the 1hr 10min mark, but at least you'll find yourself laughing quite a bit at just how ridiculous the movie is.

But now is the part where I get to the issue that I really feel I need to discuss when it comes to this movie. I am part of a Colleen Hoover group on Facebook - because CH is an auto-buy author for me and I love her - and I'd seen so many people talking about all the crap they were getting for wanting to see this film. Now not just in a 'Oh my god, why would you want to watch that trash?' kind of way, which was kind of how I was judging most people who were willing to pay to go see it in the cinema. Nope, they were getting actual threatening emails and messages from people, they were being told that they were supporting rape and domestic violence by going to see this movie. SERIOUSLY?!? Are you kidding me? I can sum up my feelings for this with one gif:

I think this may actually be one of the stupidest things that I have ever heard people say before, and that's saying a lot. These comments and emails were coming from people who hadn't even seen the movie. Some of them might not have even read the books. And whilst I feel they have the right to say that in terms of the vomit inducing books and the stuff I had to read in those, I really feel they shouldn't be saying that without seeing the movie first. I have seen the film and can tell you that that's one of the most insulting things I have ever heard. Not for this movie, which deserves all the luke warm reviews it's getting, but for people who have actually been victims of rape. The movie portrays a consensual sexual relationship between two people, so how can someone ever actually try to compare that to someone being raped. The two are vastly different things!

To anyone comparing it to rape.

And this is really where I wanted to ask you guys where you stood on this whole thing. Have you seen the movie and did you think it was the same as rape? I'm going to go into a little more detail here because in my first draft I really didn't. Sorry, but it was 2am by the time I finished, I needed sleep and was knackered. Would your judgements on the movie and anyone seeing it be based solely on the books? Or what you've heard/read about them? I am not saying that the relationship that Ana and Christian have in this film is normal or healthy. It isn't/ Christian is not wrong when he says that he's a fucked up individual, he really is. But the relationship in the movie is always consensual. CONSENSUAL! So, please, for the love of all that is holy, do not try comparing it to rape and telling people who want to see it that they support rape. That's a rather twisted thing to say to someone and not true in terms of the film. The way the sub/dom relationship is portrayed in the movie is still not entirely accurate of a BDSM relationship, but it's a hell of a lot closer than the book. I used to work with a guy who would only have those types of relationships, but he would be the sub whilst the women in his life were always the dom. Now he'd talk to a lot of us about it and the things he liked being done to him will never seem normal to me. But they were to him and he enjoyed it. That's his prerogative and it's not up to me to tell someone how they should be conducting their relationship. If you get off on someone spanking you till you bleed then go for it, I'll never understand the appeal myself but such is life. That's not to say that movie Christian Grey isn't still a creepy stalker because he so is. Their relationships is not normal or healthy and I'm still 110% certain Ana is insane for even wanting to be in a relationship with him. But I'm also 110% sure that Christian is not a rapist - well, at least as far as the movies concerned. Book Christian was a total rapist... just to be clear on that point.

4/10 Butterflies

Like I have said already, this wasn't the worst movie that I have ever seen but it most definitely wasn't the best. I'm not even sure it could be described as good. But I was suitably entertained and think they did a great job when you consider the source material. I absolutely loved Johnson as Ana, she brought much needed humour to the story as well as finally given Ana a back bone and the ability to stick up for herself. She was a much stronger character in the film than she ever was in the movie. Sam Taylor-Johnson definitely brings a lot to this film, which is why it disappoints me that she won't be doing the sequel. But, in all honesty, her talent is kind of wasted on this kind of movie. This isn't a movie that I would ever recommend to someone, but if you want to see it then by all means do. I was suitably entertained and it has me thinking that I will now actually see the sequel. Partly out of curiosity to see if they continue making the changes or start to follow the book a lot more. I HOPE NOT! I really wanted to hate this movie as much as I hated the book, but I just couldn't. They made big changes and made sure that consent was something that was emphasised, something that never was in the books. 

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug: My Thoughts

It's back to Middle Earth and time to pull out the one ring again. It's about time!

I love, love, love The Lord of the Rings. So you can probably imagine my excitement when I first found out that Peter Jackson was making The Hobbit. I did, however, get very nervous when I found out he was turning a 300 and so page book into three 2 1/2 hour movies. It didn't seem to make any sense to me, but more Middle Earth is always a good thing. Or so I thought.

The first Hobbit film was quite enjoyable; I liked it but I didn't love it, not in the same way I loved LOTR. It did immerse me back into the world of Middle Earth, which Peter Jackson does so well. But it left me feeling like I just really wanted to watch the original trilogy. I did love the dwarves though, all of them but especially the introduction of the ridiculously attractive, yet ridiculously elf-like, Kili. It must be something to do with long, dark hair and beards because I felt the same way about Aragorn in the original trilogy. But I don't find either actor attractive with their usual clean cut, short hair appearance. Strange! The power of Middle Earth. 

I am soooo glad they included elves in this. Mainly because, LEGOLAS! I had such a crush on him in the first three films but it seems to have all gone down hill since then. I think it's the weird freaky eyes. In the first films his eyes were sometimes light blue and sometimes brown, but in Hobbit they just look creepy. They're very elfish but I'd rather they looked similar to the other films as it really threw me off. He still kicks ass with a bow, and Evangeline Lily was really great at that too. I felt a lot of his scenes kind of stole the film, I'd missed all the Elf action!

I think the hard thing to deal with is how much of this movie is just made up. Tauriel's character was one that didn't exist in the original book, and I didn't really get why she was needed. Her moments with Kili were just a bit odd, where she seemed to be doing him with her eyes. I thought she was going to be a love interest for Legolas, if I am completely honest. She kind of was but kind of wasn't and it was all rather strange to me. But, as I have said, she does provide some amazing fighting sequences and is nifty with a bow.

Now I have seen rave reviews for The Hobbit. Some say it is so much better than the first movie, that they feel the first film had so many issues. I have to believe that we were seeing a different film. Both myself and my friend were bored to death by the end. It starts of strong but begins to drag. Peter Jackson should have stuck to two movies at the most, there quite clearly wasn't enough material to go around. It takes Smaug about an hour just to get a sentence out and that grows old really quick.

This had a lot of promise, but as soon as the dwarves reach Lake-town it really slows down and I got really bored. I started doing a lot of googling of random Hobbit related things on my phone because I was that bored. I was so excited to see this and was left feeling really disappointed.

I'm hoping it's just a case of not having enough material for three films and this is like the filler film. I'm hoping the third film is such an epic conclusion that I forget all about the horror that was Desolation of Smaug. If you've seen it then I would love to know what you thought? If you loved it, then what did I miss?

Now to cheer myself up!

The Host: Movie Review

The Host 

This is based on the novel of the same name by Stephanie Meyer. I did read this book but it was a very long time ago. I remember enjoying it but I can't really remember my feelings. Have checked my old Shelfari account though and I gave it 4 stars, so I must have enjoyed it. I haven't picked it up since. I was intrigued by the movie and wondered how it would pull it off, as some of the book just doesn't seem like it would translate well to screen. It doesn't.

I got around to watching this last night because I was sick and Netflix is evil and keeps me up at night. So I literally began watching this at about 3.30am and didn't finish till gone 5.30. By that time my boyfriends alarm was going off to wake him up for work and I realised I have a serious Netflix problem.

Now the movie, to me, was just okay, nothing special and not something I will be getting around to watching again. But it was 4am and I'm not sure if my sleep deprived brain didn't mind it too much because it wasn't really paying attention, or because it's actually an okay film. This is definitely not an amazing movie, it won't be winning any awards but for a one time watch it was enjoyable.

The main storyline of The Host is that some form of alien species has come to earth and is taking over the bodies of the humans, erasing their memories and then living as them. They are a gentle race, they don't lie or kill but are essentially wiping out an entire species, which is kind of the same thing in my books. Melanie Stryder, one of only a few humans remaining, has been captured and had Wanderer/Wanda put inside of her. But Melanie is fighting back from inside, and although she has almost no control of her body she is still present and able to talk to Wanda. She leads Wanda back to her family, her boyfriend Jared and her little brother Jamie. Here she tries to gain their trust and get them to realise that Melanie is still alive inside of her.

Now it sounds a little crazy and it is, it translates better in book form but in the movie it is really laughable. There is some weird love triangle of sorts, Melanie loves Jared but Wanda falls for another guy and it's all very confusing. The amount of scenes of Wanda kissing people and Melanie shouting at her in her head is kind of ridiculous and I found myself laughing at the movie, not with it. I have to admit to really liking Saoirse Ronan, I think she's really talented and she doesn't disappoint here. Her acting is really amazing but the problem is that the content is so laughable that it feels like a wasted effort.

Certain things don't work well at all on screen. The Melanie inside of Wanda's head and talking at her all the time thing doesn't really work. The souls and how that works doesn't translate well at all and the scene where they remove one from the body of The Host actually had me in fits of giggles, it was that ridiculous.  On the plus side I thought Max Irons was rather nice to look at, especially as an incentive to keep my eyes open at 5am and finish this movie. Saoirse Ronan does give a great performance, despite what she has to work with.

An okay film, enjoyable enough but don't think I'd watch it again.

3/5 Stars

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire - The Movie & My Thoughts!

Hello!

I have been slightly absent on the blog this week, apologies! It has been a rather hectic week for me. I have had work and if I wasn't working than I was having a Harry Potter movie marathon with my friend, to distract us from the wait to The Hunger Games double bill last night. I am seeing Catching Fire again tomorrow after work and so blogging won't resume like normal until Saturday.

So luckily I am from the UK and was able to see Catching Fire at midnight last night. It was actually incredible. I have to admit that the first time I saw The Hunger Games movie, I was actually really disappointed. It just missed out so many great things from the book but it also just seemed to lack something. It didn't completely capture the magic of the book, nor did it show the true horror of the games. But the more I have watched that movie, the more I can appreciate how good it actually is. Catching Fire, it impressed me from the beginning.

They miss things out, which is always the case with movie adaptations, but got so much right that I forgave the things that had been omitted. Watching the movie, you were able to see why they had left it out or changed things. They worked so well in the book; but those same things wouldn't have worked so well on screen. This movie had my heart pounding with fear one moment, then laughing, then on the verge of tears; just like the book.

This movie did the book justice so much that I am sure I will see it multiple times in the cinema. I'm actually going to see the movie again tomorrow! I love the new characters, they are all played really well. Personal favourites were Johanna and Finnick; they were really great and lived up to how much I loved them in the books. 

Johanna was especially well played. She had the right attitude and had me laughing as much in the movie, if not more so, than she did in the book. I was so happy they kept in the lift scene with her, I was so worried they would cut it from the movie! 

The whole love triangle aspect of the book is played out perfectly on screen. My friend and I, we found ourselves switching from Gale to Peeta so fast our heads began to hurt. The movie did a great job of showing just how easily Katniss could find herself with either of them. 

The Games are done a lot better in this. In contrast to the book, the first film made the Games seem much less brutal. This isn't the case here, you feel it a lot more; the fear and panic of the tributes. I don't even really know where to begin with expressing my love for this film. I am just so happy they did such a good job. One of my all time favourite book to movie adaptations, ever!

GO SEE IT!