La La Land Movie Review

La La Land Movie Review

4.9 out of 5 Stars

Holy smokes- I cannot express accurately how much I enjoyed this movie. Everything about it was simultaneously beautiful and nostalgic and yet also heart-breaking and bittersweet. The acting was great, the cinematography was fantastic, and oh my word, the music was the highlight of the show for me. If this post won't convince you of going out to see this movie, I should probably also mention that La La Land has won more than several awards already, including seven Golden Globes (Best Actor in a Musical, Best Actress in a Musical, Best Musical or Comedy, Best Director, Best Original Score, Best Screenplay), so if a personal opinion doesn't sway you, maybe that will help. :)


One of the striking things about this movie, to me at least, was that it isn't dependent on the actors. Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling were phenomenal in the film, but there were so many other incredible aspects that make this movie so great, that they all balance out and contribute equally to the success of the film. Emma, Ryan, the camera motion, the words, the music, the sets, the costumes, everything was just so seamless that it was incredibly and beautifully cohesive and amazing to watch.


I have to give a special appreciation to the music in this movie. I grew up listening to jazz around my house, and I have always enjoyed it, and it was so nice to have it shared the way it is in this movie. In one of my favorite scenes, Ryan is describing how jazz is always new and chaotic and you can never tell where it's going, and I just related to the passion in that scene so much, because I am that person. When I think of jazz, I don't think of the elevator music, I think of the artfully individualistic and collaborative effort that makes jazz jazz, and it was thrilling for me to have it represented in that way. And the scoring of the movie itself represents this too, because there were several times when I thought a chord was going to resolve one way, or a piece was going to close with the usual patterns, and they didn't. It was so refreshing and exciting to sit through and listen.

La La Land exceeded all of my expectations. It was at the same time a contemporary story, yet had such an old fashioned Hollywood feel to it, making it (probably and hopefully) an all-time classic. I am definitely going to be buying this when it comes out on DVD; I'm actually going to be seeing it in theatres again later this week; and I really hope everyone gets a chance to see it at some point.

Thanks for reading!

Movie Releases in 2017

Movies Coming Out in 2017 

This year is going to be the year that just blows my mind, both with books and movies. Here are the movies that I am really looking forward to and can't wait until they come out!

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (May 5)

Spider-Man: Homecoming (July 7)
 
Thor: Ragnarok (November 3)

Logan (March 3)

Wonder Woman (June 23)


Justice League (November 17)

Beauty and the Beast (March 17)

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (May 26)


Cars 3 (June 16)

Fifty Shades Darker (February 10)

Before I Fall (March 3)


Fallen IS COMING OUT THIS YEAR FINALLY

Let It Snow (November)

Oh my! So many movies!! Six super hero movies and three Disney movies!!!!There are a few other YA books being turned into movies at some point (Red Queen, Shadow and Bone, Looking for Alaska), but as far as I can tell, they are not going to come out this year. There are already so many though, that this is probably a good thing!

Thanks for reading!

Shadowhunters 2x02

Shadowhunters Season 2

Thoughts and Feels

Episode 2: "A Door into the Dark"

SPOILERS

So last Monday the second episode of Shadowhunters aired!! Overall, I think it was slightly better than the first episode. There were some really great moments and fight scenes, but there were also some super super weird and awkward parts that I did not understand and thought they were a bit unnecessary.  

This episode was great for character development though, and I think it was good that they started to progress into some of these developments, especially because they become critical for what's coming next. The main one that comes to mind is Jace. In the books, Jace believes that he is actually a monster and we really start to see some of that in this episode. I think Dom did a really great job showing this as well, especially with the scene when Jace and Clary jump off the boat. Jace just looks so tortured and confused and it was perfect. 

 

Strange things: Dot coming back; the adamas-parabatai-tracking-stone; "Encanto"; Jocelyn. 

 

Awesome things: Simon Lewis; Clary's character development; Jace's character development; Izzy and Alec sibling bond

Concerns for the future: Sebastian; Valentine's boat; Simon

SPOILERS FOR BOOKS

Ok, so thinking about it, it seems like they're going to put book three into this season of the show. But with book three comes Sebastian... and with Sebastian comes a lot of other major important plot and character details. I am SUPER worried about how the show is going to progress with this. For example, THEY NEED TO KEEP THE SEBASTIAN SECRET SECRET!!!! Part of what makes City of Glass so great is that this character comes from nowhere and subtlety starts to reveal that he is actually a piece of shit. And then the actual truth is revealed in such an epic way, and I really want the show to embody that and not give away obvious teasers that will ruin it. They seem to have a tendency to ruin the set ups for these moments. The set up is great, but then there's something else that comes up and it's like an obvious wink to the audience that that isn't what's real.

The next two things I think will be fine... that boat needs to blow and Simon needs to become a Daylighter. I think they'll be able to do it, I just really want to see it.  

The next episode airs this upcoming Monday, January 16 so catch up online and watch!! :)

Thanks for reading!

Review: Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy

 Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy by Cassandra Clare

My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

(overall and with no spoilers)

 

I remember back when these were being published individually as ebooks, and I remember thinking that there was no way that they could be anywhere near as good as The Mortal Instruments or The Infernal Devices. Of course, I had to read them though, especially after reading Lady Midnight, and I really REALLY enjoyed them. Simon Lewis has grown to be one of my favorite characters from the series-es- I had always loved his character's humor and personality, but know he has climbed even higher on my list.

Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy have all of the humor and character greatness as the rest of Cassandra Clare's books. There may not have been as much of a plot line, but I think it was totally ok. It really was more of an anthology, and I appreciated that it was done this way instead of trying to make it another great overarching plot. I'm not sure if many people would be looking at this if they haven't been already introduced to the Shadowhunter world, but if they are- Cassandra Clare's books are some of my all time favorites and I highly recommend reading them, starting with City of Bones. If you have read the others, I recommend trying to read this one before reading Lady Midnight. I read it after reading Lady Midnight, I still loved both of them tremendously.

Thanks for reading!

View all my reviews

Shadowhunters Season 2

Shadowhunters Season 2

Thoughts and Feels

Episode 1: "This Guilty Blood"

SPOILERS

Shadowhunters is finally back and I am SUPER PUMPED for this season! The first episode for this season came out January 2, 2017 and it went right into it, which I greatly appreciated. This episode was pretty good in my opinion and had some really great lines (lol, of course, by none other than Simon Lewis). Overall, I think that this season is going to run much better than season one did. Not only do I think this based on the first episode, but also because the cast was saying that this season is going to be much more dark and gritty, which I think is part of what was missing in season one.


The acting was so much better in this first episode than it was in the first season. Of course, there was probably a gigantic learning curve where the actors and actresses needed to learn how to become their characters and how those characters were going to develop. They did a very nice job in this episode though, which makes me very optimistic for the rest of the show. Some of the lines in the script are still super awkward (maybe not as much as before), but I think overall the plot for the episode was smoother and I think they have the capability to really create an impressive adaptation of the show.

Two big things I missed from this episode (only as a die-hard Shadowhunter fangirl, not really a viewer): the greenhouse scene, and the pasta-bathtub-story. I know there was no real chance for the greenhouse scene to happen, but having a greenhouse in the show made me really miss it!! Perhaps they'll find a way to sneak the scene into a later episode???? And there was a PERFECT OPPORTUNITY to put in the little anecdote of how Jace took a bath in spaghetti when he was a child. PERFECT! But instead, there was this kinda awkward line about making pasta.....???

SIDE NOTE: One of the reasons I am super excited for this season is because, supposedly, we might be getting a chance to see Sebastien toward the end? (Source) I won't say anything about him in case there are readers who have not read the books, but for those of us who have.... OH. MA. GAWD. That actor needs to be spot-on. I'm scared to say more because I don't want to accidentally spoil people.



Only a week until the next episode!!!! Seven days? Gonna feel more like seven years.....

Thanks for reading!

Sherlock Season 4 Episode 1

Thoughts and Feels from

Sherlock

Season 4 Episode 1

"The Six Thatchers"

I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS DAY FOR TWO YEARS!!!!!!!!!!!
3.8 out of 5 Stars

 I am so excited to have a new season of Sherlock airing this year; last year's Christmas special was lovely, but I need a full three-episode season to at least temporarily sate my craving for this show. And then after these three episodes..... well, we'll cross that bridge when we get there.  

SPOILERS AHEAD

Writing this after just seeing the show, my thoughts are running all over the place, so the organization of this post is as the things rotate to the front of my mind.

Sherrinford: "Please put me through to Sherrinford" (Mycroft). Um. Ummmmm. UMMMMMM??!!!?!?!? ARE WE FINALLY GOING TO SEE THE THIRD HOLMES BROTHER? Who's playing him? Is there a chance that it's Tom Hiddleston???

Mary..... I did not see that coming. Obviously, with a background as dangerous as hers, there was always a big chance of it happening, so it wasn't too too alarming, but still. With the baby, and John, and she was just getting settled... that was rough to watch. And now John is angry with Sherlock! I'm not sure if I fully agree with him on that point, because on the one hand, Sherlock is not responsible for Mary's actions. On the other hand, it was Sherlock that asked Mary to be involved in the case which led her to be there in the first place. And he provoked her, but John didn't know that did he?

As reluctant as I am to say it, I was not as thrilled with this episode as I was the others. It seemed very scattered in a way and there was so much in the episode that it was slightly crowded. There was still great humor though, and the mystery of the episode itself was great. It just didn't seem like the focus to me; rather, there were so many tangents (The baby, Moriarty, the woman John meets) that it seemed slightly forced.


We have two more episodes to look forward to!!! I am thrilled to see what is coming next and what the makers of the show are going to put into it. Sherlock is phenomenal and I adore this show. Instead of waiting two years, I only have to wait another week to see another episode! :):):)

Thanks for reading!

January TBR Pile

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

I'm hoping to start out this new year with lots and lots o' books before I head back to school. Some of the titles are books I wasn't able to get to last year, some are coming out this month, and some are good old favorites. I also just set my reading challenge on Goodreads to 101 books for the year of 2017, so to keep on track with that, I need to read about 8 or 9 books per month. If you have not reset your reading challenge, or do not have a Goodreads account, I highly recommend it. I adore goodreads.com and this challenge is a great way to motivate yourself and keep your reading organized.

So Without further ado....

My January 2017 TBR Pile

Carve the Mark by Veronica Roth
I love Veronica Roth's books. I cried back when this book was announced and I will be going to the book store the day it comes out and finishing it the night I get it.
 
Voyager by Diana Gabaldon
I started this a few month ago and haven't finished it yet..... I really need to.

Rook by Sharon Cameron
A friend loaned my their copy and I haven't gotten it back to them yet!!!

Heartless by Marissa Meyer
I'm really looking forward to this one. I had planned on reading it last year, but alas, 'twas not meant to be.

The Queen of the Night by Alexander Chee
I actually am in the middle of this one, and I sort of picked it up by chance, but it's really good!

Twilight by Stephanie Meyer
I'm just in the mood for some Twilight.... not really sure why....


Wayfarer by Alexandra Bracken
This book comes out TWO DAYS and I NEED TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS!!!

Scrappy Little Nobody by Anna Kendrick 
Remember those celebrity books I talked about before?? (Click here) Finally reading some. ;)

Thanks for reading and good luck in your new year of reading!