Movie Review: Twilight

Title: Twilight 
Based On: Stephanie Meyer's - Twilight 
Running Time: 122 minutes 
Director: Catherine Hardwicke 
Writer: Melissa Rosenberg 
Stars: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Billy Burke 

'Bella Swan has always been a little bit different. Never one to run with the crowd, Bella never cared about fitting in with the trendy, plastic girls at her Phoenix, Arizona high school. When her mother remarried and Bella chooses to live with her father in the rainy little town of Forks, Washington, she didn't expect much of anything to change. But things do change when she meets the mysterious and dazzlingly beautiful Edward Cullen. For Edward is nothing like any boy she's ever met. 

He's nothing like anyone she's ever met, period. He's intelligent and witty, and he seems to see straight into her soul. In no time at all, they are swept up in a passionate and decidedly unorthodox romance - unorthodox because Edward really isn't like the other boys. He can run faster than a mountain lion. He can stop a moving car with his bare hands. Oh, and he hasn't aged since 1918. Like all vampires, he's immortal. That's right - vampire. But he doesn't have fangs - that's just in the movies. And he doesn't drink human blood, though Edward and his family are unique among vampires in that lifestyle choice. 

To Edward, Bella is that thing he has waited 90 years for - a soul mate. But the closer they get, the more Edward must struggle to resist the primal pull of her scent, which could send him into an uncontrollable frenzy. Somehow or other, they will have to manage their unmanageable love. But when unexpected visitors come to town and realize that there is a human among them Edward must fight to save Bella? A modern, visual, and visceral Romeo and Juliet story of the ultimate forbidden love affair - between vampire and mortal.'

Movie Review: Water For Elephants

Title: Water For Elephants 
Based On: Sara Gruen's - 'Water For Elephants' 
Running Time: 120 minutes
Director: Francis Lawrence 
Writer: Richard LaGravenese
Stars: Robert Pattinson, Reese Witherspoon, Christoph Waltz

'After his parents' death. Jacob Jankowski is left penniless and homeless. Events lead to him joining the circus as their vet, working under their unstable boss, August, whose violent tendencies give everyone reason to be cautious around him, including his beautiful and quiet wife, Marlena, who August is very possessive of and who Jacob finds himself soon falling in love with.'

Movie Review: Mockingjay - Part One

Title: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part One
Based On: Suzanne Collins' - Mockingjay
Running Time: 123 minutes
Director: Francis Lawrence 
Writers: Peter Craig & Danny Strong
Stars: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson & Liam Hemsworth 

'With the Games no destroyed and in pieces, Katniss Everdeen, along with Gale, Finnick and Beetee, now end up in the so though "destroyed" District 13. Under the leadership of President Coin and the advice of her friends, Katniss becomes the "Mockingjay" and the symbol of rebellion for the people.' 

I pretty excited to watch this film and yet at the same time I was slightly sceptical about watching it since I knew that there was going to be a split in the middle and I didn't know how action packed this film was actually going to be. The day of gong I saw a few reviews of people saying that they loved it more than 'Catching Fire' and it made me more excited to watch it.

This movie had me drawn in from the very start. The scenery of the movie was fantastic. It was exactly what I had pictured in my head when I was reading the book an so much better. You could tell that there was a lot of effort that was put into it all and it made everything seem very realistic considering what the scenes were trying to show. 

Josh Hutcherson's acting deserved a standing ovation. I know a lot of people are speaking about Jennifer Lawrence's acting but Hutcherson's acting was absolutely amazing. Filming the scenes would have been emotionally draining but he did a fantastic job to the point my chest was hurting from watching the movie. Julianne Moore did a great job as President Coin. Although I did have reservation about her when the casting was first released she was the perfect Coin.

I won't lie, the split did annoy me a lot but that didn't affect how much I loved the movie. With the return of some of my favourite characters in the movie. It was great how the writers managed to balance the movie and add some comedy to what otherwise would have been a very serious plot line. Having the odd line slipped in here and there really did relax the atmosphere of the cinema. 

Although the movie did stray from the book in a few parts it still stuck to it quite a bit which I was extremely happy about. It's not very often I want to watch a movie again after watching it in the cinema already but I would definitely go back to watch 'Mockingjay'. 

I cannot hesitate to give this film this rating. 

Rating: ★★★★★

Movie Review: The Fault in Our Stars

Title: The Fault in Our Stars 
Based On: John Green's: 'The Fault In Our Stars'
Director: Josh Boone 
Writers: Scott Neustadter, Michael H. Weber
Stars: Shailene Woodley, Ansel Elgort, Nat Wolff

'Hazel and Gus are two teenagers who share an acerbic wit, a disdain for the conventional and a love that sweeps them on a journey. Their relationship is all the more miraculous given that Hazel's other constant companion is an oxygen tank, Gus jokes about his prosthetic leg, and they met and fell in love at a cancer support group.'

What can I tell you about this movie, other than the fact that it made me cry so many times and it left me emotionally drained by the end of it? 

This was a book-to-movie adaptation that I had been dying to watch and you have no idea how happy I am that I went to watch it. There were so many people.who said that the movie stayed true to the book and I just wanted to find out for myself if that was the case. These people were right. The movie was absolutely amazing and stuck with the book so well. 

I really don't know where to start here, there were so many scenes that I really did just fall in love with. All the scenery was everything I pictured it to be and I loved the skeleton that the kids were playing on. All of the Amsterdam scenes were just beautiful to watch. It was really nice seeing the scene where Hazel and Augustus went up to Anne Frank's Annex and how they played out the whole Van Houten scene. I hated him just as much as I did in the book and possibly more. 

There was no doubt that I though Woodley and Elgort did a fantastic but I have to say and even though he wasn't on the screen as much as the two of them, Nat Wolff was the person who I really though did an absolutely terrific job as playing Isaac. I really do think he captured the character perfectly and did an amazing job of bringing some humour to a film that can be extremely upsetting. 

That was the thing about this film, it is heart-breaking and there are times that you will be balling your eyes out, because I lost count of the times where I had tears streaming down my face, there were so many times where everyone watching the movie just burst out into laughter because you just couldn't help it. The humorous parts of the movie really just helped the atmosphere of the screening. People wanted to laugh along when the characters were laughing and cry when they were as well. 

There were some scenes which I really did wish were in the move from the book but I understand that they couldn't fit everything in there as much as they probably wanted to. It didn't take away from what was already in the movie though. There were a few lines that they put into the movie as expected and usually I feel like they never seem to fit in as well but if anything, they just added to the characters. 

As much as Augustus and Hazel's story really got to me, the scenes in the movie that really made me not stop crying were the scenes between Hazel and her parents. They seemed so realistic and it was all done in a way where you couldn't help but think about the position they were in and what they had to deal with and the fact that this is the reality for a lot of people out there. 

It was a fantastic movie though and whether you've read the book or not, if you're looking for a movie that will make you laugh and cry all within the space of two hours then this really is the movie for you. 

Rating: ★★★★ 1/2

Movie Review: Divergent

Title: Divergent
Based on: Veronica Roth’s ‘Divergent’ 
Running Time: 139 minutes
Director: Neil Burger 
Writers: Evan Daugherty & Vanessa Taylor
Stars: Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Kate Winslet 

‘In a world divided by factions based on virtues, Tris learns she’s Divergent and won’t fit in. When she discovers a plot to destroy Divergents, Tris and the mysterious Four must find out what makes Divergents dangerous before it’s too late.’

I don’t tend to post on weekend unless there’s a post I really want to publish or it’s my music challenge but I just went to see Divergent with my sister and I needed to write a review on it for so many reasons! 

I was really looking forward to watching this film, I loved the books and after seeing book bloggers come back from the première and rave about it I couldn’t wait to see it. So, I went. And did I regret it? Not one bit! 

I get slightly worried about book to movie adaptations because I never know what they’re going to end up doing and what they’ll cut out. This was one thing that I was slightly worried about with Divergent but about a third into the movie I could see that they were trying to stick with the book as much as possible. All the big scenes that I was anticipating and hoping wouldn’t be left out were in the movie. They did real justice to the book which just made the movie ten times better. 

The acting was absolutely amazing! A huge well done to Kate Winslet who was pregnant with the whole time while filming was happening. She did an amazing job with Janine’s part and I hated her the whole time! I think Shailene Woodley and Theo James both did an amazing part with their roles. There’s a certain scene towards the end of the film that I don’t want to spoil for anyone who hasn’t read the books, where Woodley’s acting was just amazing and made me feel for Tris so much. If possible I fell in love with Fourtris even more after seeing them on screen together and it makes me want to just keep them together forever (or fourever…) 

The whole cinematography was amazing. The scenery looked gorgeous and I loved seeing the Dauntless faction. It was exactly how I was picturing it in my head. The stunts that were in the movie were amazing and just made me want to get up and do something like that! I loved the way each faction was portrayed and they was they were dressed seemed to match up with what I was thinking they would wear. The editing of the movie was stunning, I really could not fault it. 

I am a huge fan of movie soundtrack and I absolutely loved all the music that was in this movie. It’s a soundtrack that I am definitely going to end up picking up. I loved the music when they were showing the Dauntless and everything just seemed to fit together so well. The music was really well thought out and you could tell by watching. The picked the perfect parts of songs to go with the perfect parts of scenes. 

There are two scene in the movie that I loved watching. The first had to be when they’re all playing Capture the Flag. I was looking forward to this scene so much and it was just brilliant to watch and ended up being filmed so well. The second scene was when we got to see Four’s fears, yet another scene that I was looking forward to and where I just felt almost part of the scene. 

This is a movie I am more than sure I am going to watch again and buy when it comes out on DVD. It’s one of those movies that has left me completely content and I have anything negative to say about it really. I hope they make the next two movies because I don’t think I’ve had enough. Whether you’ve read the book or not, if you are a fan of dystopian get yourself to the nearest cinema because you really won’t regret watching this movie! 

Rating: ★★★★★

Movie Review: Letters To Juliet

Title: Letters To Juliet

Running Time: 105 minutes
Director: Gary Winick
Writers: Jose Rivera, Tim Sullivan 
Stars: Amanda Seyfried, Gael García Bernal, Vanessa Redgrave 

'An American girl discovers a love letter than changes her life in this romantic comedy, starring Amanda Seyfried and Vanessa Redgrave. The setting is Verona, Italy – this city where Rome and Juliet first met. In Verona, there’s a wall where they lovelorn leave notes, hoping that Juliet will answer their inquiries about love. Sophie (played by Amanda Seyfried) is a part of a team of volunteers who respond to the letters. When Sophie answers a letter from 1957, the woman who wrote it (played by Vanessa Redgrave) decides to seek out the one who got away, and romance starts to blossom all around.'

I had this movie for Christmas a few years back and it has never stopped being one of my favourite feel-good movies to watch. It’s the type of movie that makes you want to just sit and forget about everything else that is going on as you get engrossed in the beautiful streets of Italy. 

You watch all the characters develop within themselves and relationships and one of the nicest things about this movie is that you can see that it isn’t solely based on the romance but it’s also about the way you see both Sophie and Charlie grow as people separately and you can watch as they start to realise the things that they really want in life and why things have happened the way that they have. 

The whole scenery throughout the movie was absolutely amazing and put such a nice ethos to the movie. The soundtrack that was played throughout the background of the movie made me fall in love with it a little bit more. It fitted perfectly with the whole movie and had a romantic feel to it. 

Sometimes I find in movies there are always a few loose threads that they seem to forget to tie up, no matter how big or small, but this movie seemed to have made sure that it tied everything up and it was all consistent. 

The whole movie just showed you about how to let things go and move on from them. How to know when things just need to come to an end and have some closure. It shows you how to put yourself first as well and that it’s not a bad thing to do that. 

There were some parts of the movie though that I thought could have ran a bit smoother as it seemed a little choppy in some parts. Especially when they were switching between scenes. There were times as well that I felt as though the speech could have a ran a little better as well because there seemed to be some parts where the conversation didn’t seem to flow as well as it could have. 

Overall, I do absolutely love this movie. It’s one that I always go to if I’m not having a good day and can watch time and time again. 

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