Movies of 2018

The Movies of 2018 I'm Excited About

 

****means that this movie is an adaptation of a book****

Avengers: Infinity War- May 4

Black Panther- February 16

Ready Player One- March 30****

The Incredibles 2- June 15

A Wrinkle in Time- March 9****

12 Strong- January 19

The Post- January 12

Love, Simon- March 16****

Fifty Shades Freed- February 9****

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald- November 16

Red Sparrow- March 2

The Nutcracker and the Four Realms- November 2

Ocean's 8- June 8

The Darkest Minds- September 14****

There are probably a TON more movies coming out this year that I either do not have on this list or do not know about, so please let me know which you are really looking forward to!!!

Thanks for reading!

12 Hour Reading Challenge

A Challenge That Is Exactly What It Sounds Like: 

Reading for 12 Hours Straight

Hello! I hope 2018 is off to a great start for all of you. I thought that I would start mine by doing a sort of beginner's level of the 24 Hour Reading Challenge that is around online. Instead of reading for the whole of 24 hours, I decided to set aside a day and only do it for 12 hours, thus ensuring that I can get some sleep in because I couldn't afford a day of reading AND a day of catching up sleeping. Anywho, I think it was a huge success! Here's the breakdown:

Start: 12 noon

First book (had already started): Arcadia by Tom Stoppard
pages: 57
Second book: Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt
pages: 139
Third book: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling
pages: 332
Fourth book (did not finish): The Strange Case of Dr. Jeykll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
pages: 12

End: 12 midnight

Total books read: 2.5-2.75 
Total pages read: 540

I don't think that's too shabby of a 12 hour reading session. And it's roughly 12 hours- I took breaks to eat, shower, talk, etc. It was a lot of fun though and really relaxing. The best part is, I got to sleep like a normal person and here I am today perfectly functional.

So there you have it! My 12 Hour Reading Challenge- highly recommended!!!!


Thanks for reading and happy belated New Year!

Noah Shaw

The Becoming of Noah Shaw

by Michelle Hodkin

SPOILER FREE
The Becoming of Noah Shaw, while being as wonderfully written as The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer series, carries a slightly different tone to it. This series, at least this book, really dives into the mentality of Noah, who is much more grounded in his reality though that alone comes with it's own darkness. This creates a more stable narrator though. Because there is the Mara Dyer series before this one too, the reader (should they read this after the Mara Dyer series) already knows about what is going on with the group, which also changes the tone of the novel from the first series. The great thing that this book does though, is that even as the reader has gained so much knowledge from the previous series, the pace of the story is still engaging and intriguing. We all thought that the answers were solved with the end of The Retribution of Mara Dyer, but here we find that it was only the tip of the iceberg.

The plot of the novel picks up almost immediately after the The Retribution of Mara Dyer, and I am not entirely sure that you can read this one without having read the others (The Unbecoming, The Evolution, The Retribution... of Mara Dyer). All of these books are fantastic though so, trust me, you won't regret reading them. Unless you get freaked easily... then you might. Coming back to this novel though, I think the plot is really well created: it is not the same as the previous books- there is no way that it could have been- but instead builds on it in a way that smoothly transitions from the last book to this one. We find out in this story that there is still so much that we do not know; but the pieces start to come into place in this book.

Another thing that was different in this book was the narration. I already touched on this, but seeing the story through Noah's point of view is vastly different from Mara's. All of the characters are slightly different, yet the same, now that they are seen through Noah's perspective, and holy moley does it make a difference. For me, the biggest difference was seeing Mara and her actions and words as opposed to being in her head. Also, she has some insane character development that kinda freaks me out, but I'm also looking forward to seeing more of.


This book is a great start to what I really think is going to be a great series. It is not the same twisty, dark, and psychologically freaky story as The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer series, but The Becoming of Noah Shaw still very chilling and darkly themed, which I love. Plus, Noah Shaw is there the entire freaking time.

Thanks for reading!

Review of The Becoming of Noah Shaw by Michelle Hodkin

Be Prepared for the Roller Coaster that is 

The Becoming of Noah Shaw

By Michelle Hodkin

THERE IS LESS THAN A WEEK UNTIL THE RELEASE OF NOAH SHAW!!!!!

My rating: 

 

This is not an automatic rating because I love the Mara Dyer books. I am so so so so so happy and lucky to say that I got to read a copy of the book- yes, THE book!!!- before the release and it is absolutely incredible.

*THANK YOU to Simon & Schuster Books for a digital copy through Edelweiss+*

110% this book is going onto my favorites shelf and I'm giving it five stars. THERE WILL BE NO SPOILERS IN THIS POST. So for those of you who are just hunting for those, you will not find any here.


From Goodreads:
"In the first book of the Shaw Confessions, the companion series to the New York Times bestselling Mara Dyer novels, old skeletons are laid bare and new promises prove deadly. This is what happens after happily ever after.

Everyone thinks seventeen-year-old Noah Shaw has the world on a string.

They’re wrong.

Mara Dyer is the only one he trusts with his secrets and his future.

He shouldn’t.

And both are scared that uncovering the truth about themselves will force them apart.

They’re right."

Chances are, if you are reading this post you may have already seen this Goodreads page, but I just wanted to give you a refresher of what is going to be happening.

I absolutely loved the Mara Dyer series, and I really think that I am going to love this series as well if not more because I think that having it be a companion series allows there to be so much more depth, even just by nature of it being a companion to something that already exists. There are some new characters, but the main group is composed of people that we already know from the other books and the background to this novel is the Mara Dyer series; so it goes straight into the action of the plot and further development of these characters. 

One of the great things about the Mara Dyer series is the unreliable narration in my opinion. While that is not an element in this book, I still think that Noah was a strong narrator and that there is still a very creepy and Gothic vibe to the book that matches the others that have come before it. There is still a very strong and important theme running throughout the book of what these characters can do beyond the natural, but the tone of the novel takes a slightly different tune as the reader hears a story from Noah and his mind as opposed to Mara and her strange combination of PTSD and supernatural abilities. 

MADNESS: the real cause of excitement for most people I would imagine. Oh my. I think that is the most comprehensive and accurate summary of what I can say without spoiling anything. Good luck interpreting, but please for the sake of the fandom and myself READ THIS BOOK ASAP. Also, cover love. All of the Mara Dyer books have water on the covers and this one has like flames and embers and I am totally obsessed with the opposites here.

I'm honestly terrified to keep going because I don't want to accidentally spoil anything. The excitement and feels for this book though are SO strong and if I go on I may actually slip up on something. It is at that level of amazing to me. Michelle Hodkin's writing is just as beautiful and wonderfully intricate in this book and The Becoming of Noah Shaw is a phenomenal and strong start to the beginning of what I believe will be a great companion series.

ONLY 6 MORE DAYS AND THEN YOU CAN BUY THE BECOMING OF NOAH SHAW!!!!!

Thanks for reading and I cannot wait until I can share my full thoughts with you all!!!!!

Dunkirk Movie Review

Dunkirk Movie Review 

4.97 out of 5 Stars

I went into this movie knowing pretty much only that it was written and directed by Christopher Nolan with a score from Hans Zimmer. The other bare minimum information in my head going into previews was that it took place in France during World War II, and that Kenneth Branagh, Cillian Murphy, and Harry Styles were in it. Even with my sparse knowledge of the film, I was blown away. It is different from any other movie that I can think of in that it doesn't seem to have been made primarily for the stories it tells; but rather, it seems to have been made to educate both historically and emotionally what this event was like.


The experience of watching Dunkirk reminds me of the first time I rode a roller coaster. There was this great anticipation of what was about to happen followed by this adrenaline rush fueled by a combination of fear and thrill. It was a bit rocky and hard to adjust at first, but then by the end I did not want the experience to be over.


Without a doubt, the part that sits in my mind the strongest is the shooting of the film itself. Some of the angles and view points that were used are beautifully done and brilliantly clever. The cinematography of this film is stunning in my opinion and it made me feel like I was there. Especially with the shots that were either from the view of a pilot or were shot underwater while the ships were going down really pinned me to my seat. This in combination with the point directly below about the stories followed makes this movie more of an experience of Dunkirk than anything else.

Switching constantly between three different stories that all started at different times makes for a strange time frame that admittedly was hard to follow at first. But I quickly realized what was going on, and it became a fascinating way to see how these all overlapped each other and came together at the end. Looking online, there are some mixed reviews because it can be confusing at times, but I really liked this aspect. It gave the viewers insight to so many different elements that were all being played out at once or near to the same time. Slightly risky, considering how the scenes needed to jump from one abruptly to another, but overall it paid off because the viewer experienced multiple angles of this tragedy.


Contributing greatly to this experience is without a doubt the sound effects and score. I am a huge fan of Hans Zimmer's work (I really do not care how nerdy that sounds), and I really think he pulled off another fantastic score. Between that and the sound effects there were times when the theater seemed to be shaking or the reverberations of the sounds could be felt. Everything just came together so wonderfully, and I liked the balance between sound effect, score, and other miscellaneous things. It was all orchestrated without a single flaw and it made me feel the wide range of emotions even stronger than without it.


Fanfreakingtastic acting. While it was very heavy on the male cast, I can't even say anything about that because it is so realistic as to who would have actually been there and I would much rather have accuracy in a movie like this. For the actors who are in this movie, I thoroughly enjoyed their work and efforts. To me, there was no one person that stood out as the best actor. They all played out their role amazingly and I do not think I can come up with a single complaint. The one person I will point out is Fionn Whitehead, because I had never heard of him before, but he did just as great of a job as everyone else and I'm interested to see where his career takes him.

The only thing I actually do want to point out is that I have no idea what most of the characters' names are. There's George, and Farrier, and Mr. Dawson, and I think that's all I got. It was just so strange to go through a movie like this and not even be able to tell what someone is called; I'm not even sure if the other characters were given names- I'll have to check the credits. That being said, there wasn't much talking in general, which really is also a statement about Christopher Nolan's ability to tell a story without much dialogue. Name issue aside, I don't think the film suffered from being mostly action based. I actually think it helped the movie because so much more was able to be shown and said in the actions and silences of the soldiers.



Another note to add to this movie (outside of the story itself) is the timing of its release, which seems very early on in the movie season. Personally, I like this time for it because I can let it sit in my mind for awhile and steep instead of having to immediately jump to another train of thought for school or for any reason. And this is definitely a film that demands your thoughts and attention, so I highly recommend going to see it, (because everything about it is amazing and stunning) and then re-watching it on DVD going into award season because I would be very surprised if this film does not receive any nominations and/or wins.

Thanks for reading!

Wonder Woman Movie Review

Wonder Woman Movie Review

4.9 out of 5 Stars

 

Before this movie, I would always tell people, "I love Marvel heroes and DC villains." Wonder Woman though was so great that I may have to reconsider that statement. I have not read any super hero comics of any kind, but I really love watching the movies and I think that this may be one of my favorite movies of the genre. It was the perfect balance of humor, badassery, and plot line and all done in a way that made it fit in seamlessly with every other super hero movie while standing out because it is a female hero. I'm so glad that there is this movie for people to look toward for a woman super hero.

Another thing that I really loved about this movie was the tie in with mythology. Again, I have not read the comics, so I didn't really know too much about the movie going into it. But I was really pleasantly surprised with all of the different elements that were incorporated from the gods all the way to the different weapons that the Amazons used. It made my nerdy heart smile.

Looking at our heroine herself, there are two big things that stuck out to me. First, I think Gal Gadot did an amazing job. Her acting was phenomenal from start to finish and I am really looking forward to seeing her in Justice League. Second, I read online somewhere (sorry! I forget!) about how the costumes for the women in this movie, including for Wonder Woman, were so much more legitimate in this movie in comparison to the other renditions of it. I have not seen these other adaptations of WW, but from watching this movie, I could totally see how these women were wearing armor. That was the sole primary purpose of their outfits, inspired by ancient armor so that it both protected and provided flexibility. I just thought it was really interesting and that on screen it all came together really well.

Chris Pine. I am so glad that he has (sort of) reemerged back into my movie viewing world. I know he hasn't been sitting around doing nothing- heck, he is kinda important in the Star Trek movies, right? But I don't watch those. At least, at this moment, I am not really into them, so to be able to experience his acting again was really nice and I really enjoy his work. I cannot wait to see what he does with his role in A Wrinkle in Time that is coming out next year. On a fun(ish) side note: Steves and planes do not go well together in super hero movies.


I probably should not do this, but overall the movie was very reminiscent of Captain America: The First Avenger. Now, I do not consider this a bad thing. I loved that movie, and I loved this movie. I love learning about World War II, which may indeed having something to do with it. But for the most part I think what these two movies share is that their protagonists share a genuine goodness to them. Yes, heroes and heroines save the world which kinda makes them good automatically, but for Steve and Diana it is more than that. Viewers can tell that they both just care so much for every person around them and show amazing bravery in the great risks they take without fear, not because they aren't afraid, but because they believe that they are doing something important and right.

The hardest part I would imagine in making a really good movie is the climax and how the story is going to get there. For Wonder Woman, I think they hit the nail on the head for this. There was such a good build to the final battle between Diana and Ares, especially I think because of the death of the German officer that Diana originally thought was Ares. This was something where it was believable that he was Ares, but then when there was the reveal that he was not, it also didn't seem too surprising or like it was too far of a stretch. There was just enough groundwork there for that moment for the disbelief to remain suspended without seeming completely random and out of the blue.

I liked how there wasn't a super strong romance element to this movie too. Of course, Christ and Gal did a great job with the development of the feelings of their characters, but it was subtle enough not to choke the rest of the story or become an obstacle. It was barely even a side plot because constantly the attention was always on finding and killing Ares to stop the war. However, this did not stop me from getting teary eyed when the plane blew up because they had created that relationship; it just wasn't front and center in the movie.

In the midst of all of the greatness though, I feel like DC movies still have to master the art of not being incredibly dark. I do not mean content; I do not mean language; I do not mean theme; I mean the lighting. Except for the scenes on the island, everything seemed a shade or two too dark. There was great improvement- I will give them that. But it still seemed unnecessarily grey or the tones a bit too dark at times.


I can't image how busy Gal must have been lately between this and Justice League coming out in November, but I do know that I am looking forward to see her play this role again in this movie and how her character interacts with the others in it and what kind of awesome music they do it to because this score was pretty great and I have high hopes for JL.

Thanks for reading!

Shadowhunters 2x16

Shadowhunters 2x16

"Day of Atonement"

Thoughts and Feels

I think the biggest thing that I want to address from this episode is the reveal of Sebastien's background and how he fits into the world in relationship to the other characters. My huge question mark moment concerning all of this is that Sebastien was in hell? Even for Valentine, that seems extreme. For awhile during the episode too, I had no idea where they were going with it. But then, with the conversation that Seb had with Val it sort of makes sense- it's like Seb was sent there for a time-out. And by the end of the episode, I like this backstory because I think it will transition well for where the story needs to go. For those who have read the books, there is a connection to Lilith later that seems a bit out of the blue in the book, but this alternate story in the show creates a bridge that will make this connection much smoother and believable. So while it is a different backstory, I think it was well done and is a good set up for what I hope/believe is to come.


The single issue that I have with the Sebastien development is the line, "I've never given a damn about your mortal instruments, I never had." Um.....well shit. Am I remembering this wrong from the books? Maybe at this point in the show they're angling for a fatherly connection but Seb will eventually grow into caring about the Instruments so that he can make a psycho demon army. If this is the case, I actually think it will be really interesting for the development of the character. It will definitely make Seb more sympathetic to viewers which could be very interesting given what I hope will happen by the end of this season (cough*deaths*cough). I think Will Tudor could also do a really good job with this development. I am really enjoying his work with the character so far. His portrayal of Seb at the Institute versus in the cabin with Valentine is fantastic, so I definitely think he could handle a development like this.

Only question: are they cutting the sick sibling attraction Seb has for Clary? If so i think I'm OK with that one. We already had the weird maybe-incest stuff back when Clary and Jace thought that they were related, so I don't think we really needed the Seb stuff in the book. And while it was 100% more character development for Seb in that context, I think if the show handles his character in the way I described above, they might have enough for his character as it is. On the other hand, I don't think I'll ever complain for them sticking to canon book content. It would be hard for them to go wrong either way on this matter.

Switching gears away from the psychopathic demon-shadowhunter villain of the series, I really enjoyed the scenes with Simon and Maia. They have a really great relationship growing between them and the show is making it seem so natural and easy, which I really appreciate. The moments that they had during and after Yom Kippur made the feels come to the surface. I know that they probably won't last too long if they go along with the books for Simon's love interest, but it still is a very crucial element to the development of both of their characters. The each learn and get so much out of the relationship that they have with each other, and I think it's really nice for the show to have this included and I think they will do a good job with it. All that being said, it also makes me really excited because this means we are some steps closer to A) meeting Jordan (I really hope they get a Jordan on this show...maybe season 3?) and B) SIZZY- aka the more adorkable ship to every grace the YA community.



On the shipping note, I absolutely love how they are taking their time developing Clace. They aren't jumping straight from Simon to Jace, which is perfect because I don't think Clary and Simon have even officially broken up yet. But there was definitely a major Clace moment in this episode where Clary was hallucinating about Jace's safety after she swallowed the Lake Lyn water and OH MY WORD I LOVED IT. It was a moment that was so fuzzy-feely and it shows the growing feelings between them without them acting on it and I really really think it was done well. A+ scene. Another very entertaining piece to the episode was that Jace's sass was spot on. I don't if it was the screenwriting or if Dom delivered them differently or if it was simply the context of when they were said, but dang the sass was tangible. Perfect classic Herondale sass that I sincerely hope we see more of.

A big thing that circulated this episode was that it was directed by Paul Wesley, and I think he did a really amazing job. Even if you were to ignore all of the amazing shots that captured the indirect developments of the characters, Idris was stunning. I know that is something that may/probably was chosen by someone in set design, but the shoots and angles that were done in the episode showed it off beautifully. I am really looking forward to going back to Alicante so that we can see more of it. Back to the Paul Wesley thing, I think I am missing something: why is it such a big deal that he directed? Because there was a lot of hype around him directing this episode. I know him from the Vampire Diaries, but I haven't seen all of the episodes yet and I know for a fact that I have not gotten to the point where he has directed any of the episodes. He is a fantastic actor in my opinion, and after watching this episode I think he is just as good at directing, if not better (from a viewer POV only obviously). Did people know this from watching the episodes of VD that he directed? Is that what I'm missing? I think so.... either way, I really appreciate the work that he did with this episode.

At the point of writing this, I have seen a few interviews of the cast from Comic Con, and they have revealed that more than one person is going to die by the end of season 2. My predictions: Max, Valentine, and Ithuriel. These are all the characters that either should be dead already or will be dying according to the books. There is absolutely no way they are going to kill a main character, and I can come up with reasons why they won't kill each of the minor characters. Robert dies in another book, Malec is eternal, Rafael is needed later on, etc. etc. And while this news is terrifying, because character deaths always are, it is simultaneously relieving because I will say it again, Valentine needs to die. This probably sounds super harsh or aggressive, but for the sake of the plot and character developments this needs to happen. The villain focus needs to shift from Valentine over to Sebastien because if it doesn't then it will have a negative effect on not just the main characters, but the development of the Shadowhunting community.



There are only four episodes left of this season! I found something online too that said season 3 will be centered on City of Fallen Angels, which makes me think that my death predictions are probably right. Also, I think that season 3 will dip into City of Lost Souls a bit too, because CoFA isn't too long, and I don't recall it having too much happening in it.... there are definitely some big moments, but not enough I think for a whole season of TV shows.

Thanks for reading!