23 Wednesday Dec 2015
Posted in Eliabeth
Please forgive the language, I didn’t create the graphic–I found it on Facebook.
Speaking of, I just watched If I Stay. My review of the book posted in June and I’m just now getting to the movie because the book was so wildly depressing. However, after listening to high school students murder each other in Battle Royale, I was desensitized enough to take on this movie.
14 Saturday Feb 2015
Tags
book, book review, books, Germany, historical fiction, Marcus Zusak, movies, review, reviews, The Book Thief, war, WWII
genre: historical fiction
The movie stays quite true to the book, which I really appreciated. The cast was not entirely comprised of super models, something I found quite refreshing. Max and Rudy’s father were exactly how I pictured them though Max should have been more scruffy. The reading wall and snowball fight was incredibly well done–two of my favorite moments in the book. It gave a much needed comic relief to an otherwise depressing tale.
There was only one scene where the movie deviated drastically from the book. Liesel keeps Max’s secret through the entire book, but Rudy figures it out in the movie. I had such faith and respect for Liesel in the book that turned to disappointment in the movie. The rest of the changes were subtle and added some tension, especially for any who haven’t read it yet.
18 Monday Aug 2014
Posted in Eliabeth
Tags
When I watch a movie, I don’t usually notice plot holes. They have to be pretty glaring because otherwise, I just suspend disbelief long enough to enjoy the fictional tale. I realize I am in the minority on this, especially for certain fandoms.
For example, I didn’t realize how big a fuss people made about the Eagles in Lord of the Rings until I showed the following pin to my roommate (who has read the Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, and The Silmarillion multiple times).
12 Wednesday Mar 2014
Posted in Eliabeth
Tags
book, books, divergent, J.R.R. Tolkien, James Dashner, Mockingjay, movie, movies, reading, review, Richelle Mead, suzanne collins, The Hobbit, The Maze Runner, Vampire Academy, veronica roth
The writers at POPSUGAR put together a fantastic list of 35 books to read before they are turned into movies this year. I’ve read some of them:
…that I apparently need to review. Ermisenda also reviewed Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn.
I’m interested in Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead and The Maze Runner by James Dashner. To be honest, I wasn’t going to read Divergent until I saw the movie trailer and hadn’t heard of Vampire Academy before its trailer. That’s one bonus for movies, they can on occasion allow us to discover books we might not have explored otherwise.
The full list of 36 Books Becoming 2014 Movies is also a convenient pin, so stash it on your TBR board and let’s get reading!
-Eliabeth
PS Are any of you participating in the Goodreads Challenge? How many books did you pledge and how far are you?
24 Monday Jun 2013
Posted in Ermisenda
Tags
books, carnivorous island, discussion, life, life of pi, movie, movies, religion, religious, richard parter, second story in life of pi, stories, symbolism, symbolism in life of pi, two stories in life of pi, what does the carnivorous island mean, writing, yann martel
Before I begin this little discussion, I will be discussing the movie Life of Pi and there will be spoilers. For those who have not read the book or seen the movie, it’s advised to not read this post further.
So, what do I want to discuss in particular? The carnivorous island in Life of Pi.
I watched this movie when I was in The Netherlands in February earlier this year. Many months have passed and I didn’t have the urge to write a little discussion piece until now. My partner recently asked me what I thought the ‘carnivorous island’ meant in the second of the two stories told in Life of Pi. Continue reading
22 Friday Mar 2013
Posted in Eliabeth
I’m referring to story lines that start in the middle, then go back and explain everything leading up to that point, then continue to the end of the story.
While I can appreciate plot lines that break out of the conventional chronological timeline, I find that I become disinterested. The suspense is missing when I know what will happen, even if the writer has done a good job and tricked me. I’m disconnected from the character or story because I think I know what happens, whether or not I’m right.
There’s only one that I thought did it well, Tangled. Looking back, that’s because it was pretty much a one-liner that simply gave away that Flynn dies. By the end, I had forgotten, so in some ways it doesn’t count. I had the same problem watching Revenge, even though the character you are lead to believe dies is still alive at the end of the season, I never connected with him because of his impending doom.
Right now, I’m reading a James Patterson novel that uses this middle, beginning, end plot line. Even though the story is wonderful, there’s no suspense through the first 40+ chapters. I’m not invested in the court case because I know the verdict within the first chapter. It’s interesting, and I enjoyed the little twists, but it wasn’t as interesting as if it had started in the beginning, leaving me to wonder if they would take the plea bargain or if they would be found guilty.
What about you? Love ’em or hate ’em?
-Eliabeth
16 Wednesday Jan 2013
Posted in Eliabeth
Twilight vs Tangled
I have a huge problem with Twilight, not because of the content, but because of the target audience. I’m actually more comfortable with Fifty Shades of Grey than Twilight because Fifty Shades is targeting adults who know better than to think:
They understand it’s fiction and read it as such. Twilight targets young impressionable girls who won’t understand that controlling “protective” men should who stalk “protect” them are not ideal boyfriends. So, this sums up my feelings perfectly. Plus, I love the movie Tangled. Fell free to agree or disagree below.
-Eliabeth
05 Wednesday Sep 2012
Posted in Eliabeth
Tags
Slightly unrelated, because The Hunger Games movie did a very good job of staying true to the book…
I saw The Hunger Games trailer and rushed out to read the book. I wanted to make sure I read it before seeing the movie, and I’m so glad I did. Not only was the book better (when is it not?), I’m starting to think it made the movie better.
My friends who read the book liked the movie more than my friends who did not. I’m curious if that’s true for everyone, or just my limited sample, so please comment and let us know if you read the book and what you thought of the movie.
Thanks!
-Eliabeth
20 Friday Jul 2012
Posted in Announcements
I wasn’t born in 1984, but I wonder if this is how people in 1984 felt when looking back at George Orwell’s novel. Mind you, Back to the future had a much nicer opinion of what the future would look like.
-Eliabeth
Was anyone geeky enough to catch this on the actual day? I found it on Facebook a day late thanks to SciFi Movie Channel: https://www.facebook.com/SciFiMovieChannel
03 Tuesday Jul 2012
Posted in Eliabeth
The Hunger Games movie had a very thought provoking scene in it where Gale and Katniss briefly discuss how the annual Hunger Games affect on the balance of power. For anyone who hasn’t read the books or seen the movie, the Hunger Games is an annual competition where one boy and one girl (from now on referred to as “tributes”) are selected out of each of the twelve districts to compete to the death for the title “Champion” and a surplus of food for their district for one year. This is the Capitol’s way of punishing the districts for rebelling several decades ago. The people in the districts are forced to watch the games and anyone with money is able to sponsor a tribute. Sponsors are often the difference between life and death during the games, because a sponsor’s money can be used to buy medicine, water, or other supplies.
Before the games start, Gale states that if no one watches, they don’t have a game and it would be all over. Katniss laughs and tells him it would never happen. At first, I thought only Katniss was right. It goes against our nature to ignore something like that, and to ignore a tribute from the poorer districts would be to condemn them to death since the richer districts actually train and volunteer for the Games. But, after some thought, Gale is correct too, IF everyone were to stop watching, the Capitol would no longer be able to use intimidation to control the districts through the Games and the Games would no longer exist, but would it really be better?
Ermilia 