I just wanted to take this chance wish all of my blog readers a…
And to say that…
And I hope you have a holiday filled with your favorite things…
And that may…
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!
My Top 10 Movie Anticipations for 2015
Hopefully early next month I’ll be ready to reveal the rankings of the movies I saw this year (it looks like so far I’ve seen 10 2014 releases, but I want to squeeze in a few more before I make that post), but for now I want to continue my tradition of sharing my most anticipated films for the upcoming year. It’s interesting to go back and look at the lists; my most anticipated films do tend to be ones I see and enjoy, but sometimes I end up not seeing something, being disappointed, or end up enjoying a movie I was unaware of when I made the list. But based on what I know now, here’s what I look forward to seeing in 2015…
10. Tomorrowland, Coming May 2015
This one looks interesting and it’s directed by Brad Bird, and I love not only his work with Pixar but also Mission: Impossible 4, so I’m hoping it’ll be good!
9. Kingsman: The Secret Service, Coming February 2015
This movie just looks like fun to me, and feels like it could be the premise of a YA novel.
8. The Jungle Book, Coming October 2015
So I was gonna be all like… “OMG, this movie’s going to be awesome because Benedict Cumberbatch is voicing Shere Khan!” and then I checked the IMDB page and found out it’s actually Idris Elba. Don’t get me wrong, I like Idris Elba and I think he’ll do a great job, but where did that come from? Was the Benny (I have no idea why I just typed that as his name) thing a rumor? Did he drop out? Did I just make that up in my head? Well, whatever, I’m still looking forward to seeing more about this one. Jon Favreau is directing (he did the first two Iron Man films) so that’ll be interesting.
*EDIT* I have been informed there is a 2017 Jungle Book with Benedict Cumberbatch and Christian Bale and Andy Serkis and Cate Blanchett so now that is really the one I am looking forward to! But hopefully this one will still be good. Though why two Jungle Book movies in two years?
7. Ant-Man, Coming July 2015
About all I know is that Paul Rudd is playing a character named Ant-Man and this is a Marvel movie so yeah… I’m hoping it will be great, but I would like more details! (Oh, and Peggy Carter’s in it! That’s always a win!)
6. Mission: Impossible 5, Coming December 2015
There is no revealed plot for this movie yet, but I really, really liked M:I 4, way more than the first three M:I movies (though I do like them fine, some more than others), and I’m hoping this one will be just as strong. At least Jeremy Renner’s character is back (and Luther and Benji!), yay!
5. Peanuts, Coming June 2015
As long as I can remember I have had a deep love for the Peanuts so yes, I will be watching this, and I will probably (hopefully) love it.
4. Inside Out, Coming June 2015
First off, thanks to Maggie @ Macaroons & Paperbacks to tipping me off on this film before I started seeing stuff about it on Facebook, but FINALLY we’re getting a Pixar film that isn’t a freaking sequel! I just hope it turns out better than Brave… not my favorite.
3. Mockingjay: Part Two, Coming November 2015
I will probably cry all the tears, but I need to see Peeta be OK and Katniss finally love him.
2. Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens, Coming December 2015
Um, because it’s Star Wars. I think this will be good. Allow me to be nerdy here for a moment… I’m just a tiny bit mad at JJ for what he did with the Star Trek timeline, though it IS an alternate universe and the films have a very wide appeal, both which I am grateful for, but also I do think it was rude of him to kill the Star Wars extended universe because of this film. But really, do you think this will be worse than Jar Jar? No, it won’t. I think it looks interesting (hello fun droids and strange lightsabers and helmetless Stormtroopers!) I’m looking forward to it!
1. Avengers: Age of Ultron, Coming May 2015
I have no words for this. I need to see this movie now.
Honorable Mentions: Insurgent (does the trailer make anyone else question if this is actually based off the book or not?) and Cinderella. I’m also mildly curious about Minions, Jupiter Ascending, Pan, and Jurassic World. I know everyone’s freaking out about seeing Chris Pratt with dinosaurs but I’m not particularly in love with either. Besides, I’ve only seen about 85% of one of the Jurassic Park movies and I don’t even know which one it was.
What 2015 movies are you eagerly anticipating?
Top Ten Books I Read In 2014
Top Ten Tuesday topic is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Today’s topic is Top Ten Books I Read In 2014, and this list is counting up to my favorite read of the year.
10. Code Name Verity
8. The 5th Wave
5. Harry Potter (Books 1-3)
Review for The Sorcerer’s Stone/Review for The Chamber of Secrets
4. Seraphina
Mini Review for Shadow and Bone/Double Review for Siege and Storm & Ruin and Rising
1. Cress
What were your favorite books of the year?
Mini Movie Reviews: Maleficent and Mockingjay Part 1
I didn’t have a lot of interest in Maleficent, initially. It looked like one of those movies that could be good, but could also be pretty bad. After hearing a couple of co-workers praise it, I decided to check it, and to my relief it was pretty good. It has nice visuals, the acting is good (Angelina Jolie of course steal the shows in the title role, but Elle Fanning was also good), and the plot and writing aren’t lacking the way Snow White and The Huntsman was (though there is a pretty major plot hole that my husband and I basically facepalmed over). I think my favorite part was watching the various transformations of Maleficent. Also, you think there’s going to be insta-love in the movie, and then it actually ends up sort of poking fun at it and proving to be just insta-attraction, which is totally viable. The movie is definitely worth at least one watch.
I have to say that I have been really surprised to see a lot of mixed feelings about Mockingjay Part One among book bloggers. Before I dig into my thoughts on how the movie turned out, let me lay out my expectations…
– Mockingjay is my least favorite book of the trilogy because I think the pacing is weird and it’s just a lot of bad stuff happening. Plus Peeta is missing for a good chunk of it and if you read my blog regularly you know he’s my favorite.
– I have immense respect for how Francis Lawrence picked up where Gary Ross left off and was able to maintain the look and feel of the first movie while improving it as well as staying more true to the book than the predecessor. I thought Catching Fire the movie was so good that I might even like it more than the book, though it’s hard to say for sure without rereading it.
So in conclusion, while part of me wondered how Mockingjay could possible be made into two decent movies, I actually had a lot of faith in Francis Lawrence.
And personally, I think he nailed it.
I’m not going to get into a deep analysis of the movie, but what I will say is that the parts of the movie that were added and not from the book, everything with Effie, the portrayal of Katniss dealing with PTSD, all the propo stuff, and then that RESCUE OPERATION SCENE, were pretty close to perfect to me. Seriously. Given the source material, I don’t know if Francis Lawrence could have done much better. It is a slow-paced movie, and it’s not filled with the same sort of action, excitement, and romance as the first two, BUT IT’S NOT SUPPOSED TO BE. The third book is very different from the first two. It’s all about Katniss’s struggle and I think I felt closer to it in the movie than I did in the book. The only complaint I have is the omission of this conversation-
Haymitch takes the seat across from me. “We’re going to have to work together again. So, go ahead. Just say it.”
… All I can say is “I can’t believe you didn’t rescue Peeta.”
“I know,” he replies.
There’s a sense of incompleteness. And not because he hasn’t apologized. But because we were a team. We had a deal to keep Peeta safe. A drunken, unrealistic deal made in the dark of night, but a deal just the same. And in my heart of hearts, I know we both failed.
“Now you say it,” I tell him.
“I can’t believe you let him out of your sight that night,” says Haymitch.
I nod. That’s it.
It’s not necessarily an enjoyable watch, per se, because it is two hours of Katniss with PTSD, but there are some lighter moments and overall, I found it extremely worthwhile and a very worthy adaptation.
What are your thoughts on these movies?
The Top 10 New-To-Me Authors I Read In 2014
Top Ten Tuesday topic is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Today’s topic is Top Ten New-To-Me Authors I Read In 2014, and this list is in order from least likely to seek out a new book by this author to most likely, based mostly on their writing style and the subjects/stories they choose and not taking into account sequels I am anticipating.
Noteworthy runner-up for this list: Elizabeth Wein, Code Name Verity
10. Kate Morton, The Distant Hours
Kate Morton’s The Distant Hours was different from my typical YA fare, but that’s one of the reasons why I think I might seek out more of her works in the future. Sometimes, you just need something different.
9. Jennifer Lynn Barnes, The Naturals
I like that Jennifer actually knows about psychology and uses that in her writing, but when I was reading the blurbs for her other books I felt sort of meh about them. Plus, I’d be worried about more love interests that I could care less about. But there’s still a pretty decent chance I’d pick up a another (non-The Naturals) book by her one day.
8. Marie Rutkoski, The Winner’s Curse
I really enjoyed the mind games of The Winner’s Curse, so if Marie offered more of that in another book, I’d definitely be game for it.
7. Scott Westerfeld, The Leviathan trilogy
I have to say, I want to read more Scott Westerfeld, but at the same time, I’m not really interested in his other already published works. I thought I might want to read Uglies and/or Afterworlds, but there are things I have heard about both that make me less sure. Maybe I will, but I would really like to see him do more alternate history/steampunk!
6. Lauren Miller, Parallel and Free to Fall
Even though her characters always drive me crazy, the intriguing plots keep me coming, so I’m going to keep trying Miller’s writing out.
5. Keely Brooke Keith, The Land Uncharted
I just finished Keith’s debut and I think it’s safe to say I will want to read more by her. She definitely has room to grow as a writer, but the sweet romance and interesting world in The Land Uncharted is leaving me wanting more.
4. J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter (1-3)
This surprises no one who has read J.K. Rowling.
3. Brandon Sanderson, Steelheart
Even though Steelheart was just a four star read for me, I think I’ll like some of Sanderson’s other books more, plus, there was definitely plenty I did like in Steelheart. I also want to continue to support the writer whose podcast (Writing Excuses) has encouraged me in my writing!
2. Rachel Hartman, Seraphina
OK, I sort of lied. Rachel Hartman is this high on the list because I need Shadow Scale yesterday. But considering she created characters I loved so freaking much, I’ll be happy to read anything she puts out.
1. Leigh Bardugo, The Grisha Trilogy
One of the rare few to make my elusive auto-buy author list.
Which new-to-you authors have you discovered this year?