by | 15.12.2014 · 19:39

Disney’s ”Frozen”

The movie Frozen is an animated movie, loosely adapted from the tale ’The Snow Queen“ by Hans-Christian Andersen. With this movie, Walt Disney Pictures created a new great box office hit, directed by Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee. As it is an animated movie, there are just synchron speakers, but with Kirsten Bell, Idina Menzel and Jonathan Groff it has a good cast anyway.

The movie tells the story about two princess orphans, Elsa, who has the power of conjuring ice, and Anna. Elsa can’t really control her power, so after a accident she excludes her sister and every other human except her parents, who drowned at a boat trip, from her life and at her crowning day she can’t hold herself back anymore, exposes her power and runs away. The movie differs from other animated, and especially other Disney Movies in that way, that one time, it’s not all about the big love which need to be found, it’s about the importance and strength of family, when Anna goes after her sister to bring her back home, while teaming up with the mountain man Kristof and taking a lot of risks. On her way, she meets speaking stones, a snow monster and snowman Olaf.

Considering the pressure that lays on a child movie to facilitate children the right values, Frozen was a comprehensive victory. With the snowman Olaf, who is on my opinion the real star of the movie, Disney brings along a lot of humour, and makes the movie a real success. But it also tells the story about betray and that you cannot trust everyone, even if he claims to be the big love of your life. Apart from the story, the whole animation and details are just stunning, for example, right on the beginning the workers on the ice or the sea storm scene, where the princesses parents are drowned, the kings town itself, the dresses, or the hairstyles, which are my favourite. The songs in this movie didn’t annoyed me, as it happens often when I watch child movies, I really wanted to join and sing with them. All in all, Frozen brings together important childhood lessons, emotional highs and a funny event for the whole family, in a light format where you can just have fun, no matter your age.

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by | 14.12.2014 · 19:48

The Impossible

The Impossible film is based on true story of a tourist family in Thailand 2004 when the tsunami hit there. It is directed by Juan Antonio Bayona and written by Sergio G. Sánchez and María Belón. The genre is drama/thriller.The movie is also Oscar nominated for the best performance by an Actress in a leading role Naomi Watts. It is realised in 2012.

In the film there is a family including mother Maria (Naomi Watts), father Henry (Ewan McGregor) and three sons, Lucas (Tom Holland), Thomas (Samuel Joslin) and Simon (Oaklee Pendergast).They are spending their Christmas holiday in Thailand in Khao Lak. At the day three which was the Christmas day  they were at the pool enjoying from the sun and suddenly the weather turns windy and animals started acting weird. It took only a few seconds when the water of tsunami hit to the hotel where the family were.

After water had hit the hotel the family drifted apart. Luckily Maria who was wounded from trash in the water and Lucas found each other. They struggled in the water until some people found them and got them to the hospital. While at the same time Henry was with Thomas and Simon searching Maria and Lucas. In the end of the movie the family luckily got together and they got home.

 It was breathtaking to watch the movie and think of the people who were actually there when it happened 2004. The movie was so well made that you could imagine that you were there at the same situation fighting for your life and searching for your family. In my opinion it was very rough but worth of watching. I recommend this movie to everyone because I really liked it and it was so realistic and touching.There was a bit of special effects and they were realistic and amazing.

 

Source:  imdb.com

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by | 7.12.2014 · 22:33

Mockingjay part 1

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay part 1 (directed by Francis Lawrence) is the third part of The Hunger Games –trilogy. The film is based on the novel Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins.

 

I had also read the novels and, to be honest, at first I found it a bit odd, that the third part would be released in two parts. It almost seemed like that the producers were only thinking about the money.

The plot simplified is that Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) struggles with the question, wheather she should be the Mockingjay –the symbol of a rebellion- or not. She understands that if she stood for rebels, the President Snow (Donald Sutherland) would hurt her loved ones. This dilemma is the main theme of the film: is it right to reject the person you love for the common good?

In my opinion the film was suprisingly violent and rough. There wasn’t lack of big booms and special effects in the film. For sure that did the trick in the movie teather, but I’m not so sure how it works in small televisions  for example. There were also lots of bones, wars and dead human bodies in the movie. That was weird for the film, which is almost phenomenon among lots of teenagers. The love triangle between the main characters Katniss, Peeta (Josh Hucherson) and Gale (Liam Hemsworth) received less attention in this part of the trilogy.

I was pretty satisfied with the acting of the leading stars. Especially Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hucherson managed to make their characters seem like they were about to go out of control.

The soundtrack of the Mockingjay part 1 was really good. Actually, the scene, were Katniss sang The Hanging Three –song, was the best part of the movie. The melody of the song was simple, and even a bit out of tune. It starts only Jennifer Lawrence singing the melody, but then a huge choir will join singing. Same time in the big screen a crowd of rebels marches towards the viewer. I think that was spectacular. I also found myself humming the song various times after waching the film.

To conclude, I think that Mockingjay part 1 had some good and touching scenes, along with the various effects and war parts. On the other hand, I’m still not convinced, why they wouldn’t have fitted with the rest of the scenes (that will be released in part two) into a one good movie.

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by | 28.1.2014 · 23:23

Slam

Slam is a novel written by Nick Hornby. It tells a story about a young, troubled 16-year-old boy called Sam. The book is written from his point of view. Sam’s passion is skateboarding, and Tony Hawk is his huge idol.  He has a poster of him to whom he talks about skate tricks and his life and Tony responds him with a quote from his book. It gives him comfort as he faces struggles in his life. Sam and his mother are happy enough, but they’re barely getting by. Sam isn’t optimistic about what awaits him in the future. The biggest struggles start when he meets a girl named Alicia at her mother’s birthday party. Their relationship get off to an awkward start because of Sam’s obvious flirting, but soon they start dating. After a while Sam gets bored of this relationship and they break up. A while later Alicia calls him to meet her so they can talk. Alicia tells Sam that she’s pregnant and refuses to make an abortion. Now he and Alicia must find a way to cooperate with each other, their families and a child.

Sam keeps having flashes into the future. It makes this book interesting. It is somewhat relatable to déjà vous. There are a few instances in which Sam wakes up in the future, which he explains that Tony Hawk has sent him to the future. In these instances everyone around him knows exactly what is going on while he is clueless. These glimpses into the future are not simply dreams, but they are actual events that will take place.

The best thing about this book is that it has the potential to be moving and relatable for any teen or young adult. Though it’s not the main point of this book, but it also teaches a very important lesson for teenagers. Hornby respects the seriousness of this subject, but he manages to deal them with humor and in a heartfelt style. There are issues which are real and dramatic and he describes them honestly.

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by | 25.1.2014 · 17:59

Macbeth The Graphic Novel

The original Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare, was created in the beginning of the 1600.This graphic novel was produced at 2008.  Macbeth is very famous play, based on the Scotland’s king Macbeth’s life. The graphic novel version is presented at its original and unabridged format. Its fully colored and extraordinary entertaining novel. Novel is adapted by the John McDonald, designed by Jo Wheeler and the character design is produced Jon Haward. William Shakespeare is perhaps the most well known playwright in the history and the play of Macbeth is considered one of his most darkest tragedies. Other famous tragedies from William Shakespeare are for example: Hamlet, and Othello.

The novels theme is, as I mentioned before, tragedy. And thats exactly how I saw it when I was reading. A lot of action-scenes and the whole atmosphere of the novel is tense and treacherous.

Though the novel was in the graphic form, like the comic book, it was extremely hard to read and assimilate what you have read, because of the language. For example: ”I will not yield, to kiss the ground before young Malcolm’s feet and to be baited with the rabble’s curse. Though Birnam wood be come to dunsinane, and thou oppos’d being of no woman born, yet I will try the last: before my body I throw my warlike shield”. And thats why I don’t recommend this novel for people who hadn’t read any this kind of literature in english before.

 

The novel was after all insanely great. It took me over two weeks to read the novel through, though it has less than 200 pages and a lot of pictures. That was mainly because of the hard language and strange words, and of course because I’m a lazy reader. But after all that reading was chiefly pleasant experience, and it was delightful to read a classic literature in the form of comic book. I would gladly do it again, and I truly recommend it for anybody who is interested about reading high-class literature in the modern form.

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by | · 17:33

The Hobbit or There And Back Again

The Hobbit is a fantasy novel written by an english author, J.R.R. Tolkien. Considered as the father of contemporary fantasy, he aimed at creating a whole new world for his books. The book was released in 1937, and it has stood the test of time.

Tolkien introduces us to Middle-Earth and the small and jubilant Hobbits. The story starts off in the Shire: the home of Hobbits. Hobbits aren’t really fond of adventures. They like to live in peace and potter around in their everyday lives. Bilbo, our main character, is visited by Gandalf, a great wizard. He needs a burglar to steal the symbol of authority, the Arkenstone, from a dragon. Therefore, the themes of this book are the safe ordinary life, versus new experiences and adventures.

Bilbo is aversed upon the thought of joining an adventure. The dwarves doubt that the small hobbit has the spirit in him. Bilbo proves them wrong by promising to do what is told, just so they would think of bilbo as a fierce and a bold hobbit. Bilbo has two sides. The first is the brave and adventurous side, from the line of the Tuk family. The other side is earth-bound and peaceful, from the line of Baggins. Bilbo’s relationship with Gandalf, the lingering wizard, is warm and almost fatherly to Bilbo towards the book’s end.

The dwarves are a warmhearted and a proud race. They are friendly with Bilbo, like naturally with all hobbits in Tolkien’s books. Their favorite things to do are singing, protecting their reputation and eating.

I myself liked the book very much. The narration drags you into Middle-Earth. This book has pretty much everything: tension and fright, drama and action.

 

 

 

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by | 23.1.2014 · 00:12

Lord of the flies

Lord of the flies (1954) is a novel by William Golding. It tells about a british boys stuck on an uninhabitated island. They tried to create their own rules, but it didn’t work out and they became savages. Eventually human nature leads to disastrous results.

I liked this book a lot. The story is  good and it teaches much about life. Civilized persons can easily become monsters, when they need to survive in bad conditions and finally they need to survive from eachother. Lord of the flies is a great example of this.

Ralph, Jack, Piggy and Simon counts to the main characters. Ralph represents sophistication and is voted to the leader. The opposite of Ralph is Jack, who is an antagonist. Piggy is the wise guy. He thinks like an adult and isn’t very popular. The last main character is Simon, who is very thoughtful person and understands the evilness that lives inside humans.

Different personalities can’t stand each others surviving methods and it causes horrible things to happen in this island. People just loses their temper and start behaving like an animal.

I suggest this book to everybody, who likes excitement and wants to read a different kind of surviving story.

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by | 22.1.2014 · 19:45

Glee – the Beginning

Glee – the Beginning is a warm-up book for the TV series Glee, which is a musical comedy about McKinley high school’s teenagers. The book was released in 2010 (same year as the show came up), and it was written by Sophia Lowell.

The main characters of this book are the Glee members Rachel Berry, Kurt Hummel, Mercedes Jones, Artie Abrams and Tina Cohen-Chang. For them high school isn’t easy. Especially when the popular kids of the school are trying to ruin all the good things they have in school. For example choir, Glee club. That makes even harder to make glee success. Glee is also known as musical TV series, where the actors and actresses sing nearly the whole time. Of course that’s a little hard to include in a book, but still you can feel the music around you almost the whole time while reading the book.

Besides the Glee members, the book is about the popular kids in McKinley high ; cheerleaders and footballers. As all of you who have ever watched Glee might now many of the footballers and Cheerios are eventually joining Glee club. But during this book almost everyone of them is trying to ruin glee members’ life. They still have their own problems. Finn Hudson the quarterback of the football team, who is dating Quinn Fabray, the head cheerleader, has a secret crush on Rachel Berry. Quinn in turn doesn’t actually even like Finn, just the picture of him together with her. Quinn’s actual love is the football team’s bad boy Noah ”Puck” Puckerman, which doesn’t quite picture Quinn’s dream boyfriend, so that’s why she is dating Finn. It was exciting to see how these relationships were before the series. And especially how the relationships move ahead.

For me it’s easy to imagine these characters because I’ve watched the TV series also. And I have really began to like them. But for a person who have never heard about glee might these characters be a little weird, at least I felt that way at first. But I’m sure everybody can find a character to identify with glee. Glee has every kind of students; latin, gay, black, white etc. And it tells about everyone’s secrets and fears which makes it easy to identify with.

The narration of this book changes from time to time. Usually one chapter is told by one of the main character; thoughts, feelings and words. Chapters were named according to the place and time were something was about to happen. Because of that you could usually guess who was the chapter about to tell. For instance choir room was often told by some of the glee kids. Like Rachel trying to train the other Glee kids look better on the stage.

I would recommend this book to a reader who likes comedy. And especially a teenager who likes to read about same kind of things are happening into her/his life. It was also easy to read at least for me, because I think the american accent the whole book is using is easy to understand because of present day’s big selection of american TV series. And even though it sometimes includes hard to understand words you eventually learn who to filter the less necessary words and you still get the main point.

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by | · 01:34

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Stevensons

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is Robert Stevensons most known novel. It was originally published in 1886. The book was psychologically profound, like many of his books, even to the extent that its popularity has been going on for a long time after the death of Stevenson. Stevenson were Scottish writer and he lived 1850-1894.

The main character is of course the honored, friendly and upright Dr. Jekyll who has a lot of friends, one of whom is a lawyer Mr. Utterson whose point of view the story proceeds. D. Jekyll have also a bad side, Mr. hyde, who is just completely the opposite to Mr Hyde. Dr. Jekyll is a vicious and inhuman, and he differs from Mr. Hyde even of the appearance: Jekyll is long and vigorous while the Hyde posture is stooped to fit his personality (at the time it was though that apparance would represent personality). Hyde is result of Jekylls laboratory experimenta which result he was able to release his evil side. Of course something went wrong and Jekyll can not control himself from become Hyde.
We follow the progres of plot through the eyes of Mr. Utterson who gets worried of Jekylls new companionship with Mr. Hyde.

This novella is a classic horror novel of struggle between good and evil in human mind and it leads to many questions of humanity and our tendency of evil.
I enjoyd reading this book. I liked the fact that this was a bit like a horror story but without blood and pieces of bodys all over the places that you cant miss in the current horror storys and movies. Horror was creaded by ambiace and skillfully describing characters and events not with slaughtered humans.
Even though the book is written more than a hundred years ago it is still timeless and modern. I might recommend this book for people who dont mind that text is not easiest to reading becouse of dated language.

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by | · 01:30

Book review of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone

Well, everybody knows Harry Potter. Everybody also knows J.K. Rowling, the plot and the characters. What is there left to tell about this book? Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone is the first book in the Harry Potter series, followed by six others. It was published in 1997, and immediately became a bestseller.

Harry Potters are traditional fantasy books for children and pre-teens. They are filled with witches, wizards, magic and mythical creatures such as unicorns and hippogriffs. The books are written skillfully, and every detail is carefully thought. I think this is the key to their huge success.

The main character is, -of course, Harry Potter. He’s an eleven-year-old boy living with the Dursleys, the family of his mother’s sister. His parents are dead, and the Dursleys seem to dislike him more than anything. Harry’s journey begins when he gets a letter from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (delivered by a giant called Hagrid).  At Hogwarts Harry becomes friends with Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. Ron’s whole family are wizards, whereas Hermione’s parents are muggles like the Dursleys, meaning that they cannot use magic. The principal of Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore is portrayed as a stereotypical wizard; wise, old, tall man with a long, grey hair and beard, the leader of the good ones. All proper stories need a bad guy, too. Lord Voldemort is the most powerful dark wizard of all times, and Harry is the only known survivor of his attacks. Voldemort killed Harry’s parents when he was just a baby, but wasn’t able to kill him. Voldemort disappeared, leaving Harry alive and called ”the boy who lived”. The omniscient narrator also introduces the reader to many other characters, like students and teachers from Hogwarts.

The language in the Philosopher’s Stone is easy to read and understand. The style is kind of ”old-fashioned” and sophisticated, using constructions and vocabulary that don’t occur in the places where I usually read English (schoolbooks, social media and magazines). Although I know the book is written by J.K. Rowling, in my mind the narrator is a British man in his late sixties, sitting in an armchair by the fireplace and sipping a cup of tea with his little finger up.

 

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