Mid Year Review 2013

So it's now coming up to the middle point of 2013 and i think this is the best time to look back on the films seen and books read so far. Below is my current top 5 lists. This could be completely different come Christmas time but who knows.

My top 5 movies of 2013 (so far) 

Iron Man 3 

Despicable Me 2 

Man Of Steel 

Star Trek Into Darkness 

Warm Bodies 

My Top 5 books of 2013 (so far) 

Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett 

Discount Armageddon - Seanan McGuire 

Kitty's House Of Horrors - Carrie Vaughn 

Warm Bodies - Isaac Marion 

Blood Circle - P. N. Elrod

Film Review: Despicable Me 2 (2013)

Despicable Me advertisements 2010

I love Despicable Me! There, i said it! I'm in my twenties and i don't care, i love it! I saw the first movie in the cinema more than once and i know for a fact that i'll see this one again and again.

You were looking for an unbiased opinion of this movie? Sorry, you aren't really getting one here sadly. But i'll try.

As i write this, Despicable Me 2 isn't actually out in the cinemas yet. I went to the preview screening. Of course i was going to, it shouldn't be that surprising.

Minions, Gru and Myself back in 2010

Anyway, there wasn't really a plot released for this movie, up until a couple of months ago. The first two trailers gave nothing away. It wasn't until trailer 3 when we see the Anti Villain League, Lucy and the plot. Strangely enough (minor spoiler), the second trailer with the minions being kidnapped is actually part of the movie! I wasn't too sure if it would be or not, but it worked it's way in perfectly. Out of context advertisements work sometimes.
So what is the plot? Gru is a family man now and has given up his evil ways. However, when a new villain plots world domination, the Anti Villain League turn to Gru for help. Being an ex-villain, he should prove a useful asset. He is teamed up with Lucy Wilde, a spy for the AVL, in order to take down this villain. And yes, before you ask, there is a couple of references to him stealing the moon throughout the movie (and he still has his handy FreezeRay too)

So how does it hold up against the first movie? It keeps to the idea of the importance of family, which i liked. Though the girls are older, there isn't much difference in their characters. In fact, we see more of their personalities come out, especially with Edith. Gru has to face reality with his girls, in the way that they will grow up and want to go on dates etc. He's very protective of them. Agnes is as cute as ever! And she still has that unicorn! :) But in my opinion, we didn't see enough of them, like we did in the first movie. The first movie was based around them. This time, it's based around Gru and Lucy. Its the only thing i could say that i didn't like about this, i would liked to have seen a bit more of the girls.

Stealing Stuart's Cupcake

The voice acting was a good as ever. Still think it's strange that though Al Pacino pulled out and was replaced, his name still appeared in the trailers. But oh well. It's as funny as the first. The minions are great. They get more screen time around this time too. I don't know if its because they are so popular or because a minion movie is in the works or both, but i'm not complaining since i love them!

Overall, it's a fun family movie that will entertain children and adults alike (The number of adults outweighed the number of children in the screen i was in). If you liked the first one, you will like this one.

Viewer Tip: See it in 3D and once the film is over, wait! Fans of the first movie will remember the end credit scenes with the minions trying to get out the screen. They do something along the same lines this time and it's brilliant in 3D!!

Film Review: Man Of Steel (2013)

WARNING: CONTAINS MINOR SPOILERS

I'm a Marvel girl. I don't hate DC but i'm not a huge fan. Thinking about it (please don't hate me for my lack of DC knowledge if i'm wrong), they only have two main heroes - Batman and Superman. While Marvel have the X-Men, Fantastic Four and the many heroes that make up the Avengers. This could be because DC hasn't have that many successful movies over the past couple of years, apart from the Dark Knight trilogy. But i'm not sure. What i can say is this, with the success of Marvel's Phase One, DC are trying to go down the same road. Summer 2015 is gonna be a big one with the planned releases of not only the Avengers 2 but also the Justice League!!! FIGHT!!!! Only kidding.

So with this in mind and the fact that Batman has already been rebooted, the next step was clearly Superman. Which leads us to this review. We all know Superman and his story. Even the people who don't like comics/comic movies, still know the story. So the writers had to find a new and interesting way to tell it, while also keeping the same tone as the Dark Knight trilogy (since it's meant to all be connected). Keeping Nolan on was a great idea and Snyder is a great director. You can see his personal style coming though with a little mix of Nolan throughout the movie. The only thing i didn't like about the direction was that i felt the camera was too shaky at the start of the movie (i really hope the director from the Hunger Games hasn't started a trend! Please!)

Another thing i wasn't keen on was the order of the movie once Superman lands on Earth. I felt the next 20 mins were all over the place. Clark saves some people..flashback....he's walking along the street.....flashback.......he's in a bar ........ flashback. I liked seeing him as a child, but it was a bit all over the place. In a way, it could be a good thing, since they talk about him being a shadow and not staying in one place long enough for people to get to know him. He has a habit of disappearing. If that was the point of the order, then it kind of makes sense, but personally, i didn't like it.

The acting was okay. The writers tried to add more logic into the movie which i liked. I did have a moment when i felt sorry for General Zod, since everything that happened wasn't totally his fault, he was just doing what he thought was right, but so were the other characters. And just because you think it's right, doesn't always mean that it is.
The action scenes were good but army were a little stupid. Can't you see your bullets have no effect??? Stop shooting, you idiot! It serves no purpose! AAAHHH!
Finally, i loved the stuff on Krypton and Clark has two awesome fathers!

It's not my favorite movie of the year so far, but it will definitely be in the Top 10, if not the Top 5. It's well worth a look.

Film Review - The Great Gatsby (2013)

I'm going to open by saying that i have never read the book or seen any other versions of the Great Gatsby. So i'm a new viewer to this story. I do have the book and will read it and when i do, i'll write up a Book vs Movie but that won't be for a long while (have you seen my to-read pile?) If you want that review sooner, drop me a note, and i'll move it up the pile.

But anyway, the new 2013 version of the movie? What did I think?

It was strange. As I've said, I'm new to this story so wasn't sure what to expect. Is it silly for me to say that I thought his big secret was something a lot darker than being poor and in love? I know I sound naive but I really didnt know anything about this story. I studied 1984 and Lord of the Flies in school! But taking that in mind, It didn't effect my enjoyment of the movie. In a way, it was a good thing. I remember watching the movie versions of 1984 and Lord of the Flies and knowing what to expect and it not shocking me as much as those stories are meant to. Watching this without history meant I could enjoy it more and not compare it to other versions or the book. I hate watching a movie based off a book I enjoyed and it's nothing like it and i can't enjoy it as a movie due to that.

Moving on. The stylising of this movie was brilliant. Very classy yet bright and colourful. It had some humor in the middle of, what I would say, is a serious movie. Easy to follow. Music was a bit a head of its time but who cares! Gatsby's parties looked fun. On a side note, how bad would it be, to be a cleaner at Gatsby's? Bad times! The acting was pretty good. I'm a fan of DiCaprio though.

Overall, it was a really enjoyable movie. How it compares to other versions, i can't tell you, but I enjoyed this one. At the end, my friend turned to me and said "you didn't enjoy it, did you? It's not a Sam movie" since I normally wouldn't pick this kind of movie to watch but I was like no, I enjoyed it. It makes you think as well. It's worth a look.

4/5 

Let The Old Dreams Die - Review

Let the Old Dreams Die by John Ajvide Lindqvist
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Like most books of short stories, some stories were better than others. Being Lindqvist, you never know what the next story holds. Though I enjoyed pretty much all the stories, I particularly enjoyed "Equinox" and "Let The Old Dreams Die". The only story I didn't like was "To Hold You While The Music Plays" which is perfectly normally according to the afterwards - "They've all had their own favourite. Except "To Hold You While The Music Plays". Nobody likes that one, apart from me." - I normally don't bother with the Afterwards but I love Lindqvist and his afterwards to this book was informal and fun :)

I loved having sequels to Let The Right One In and Handling The Undead. LTROI is my favourite Lindqvist story and I'm so happy to discover what really happened to Oskar and Eli :)

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