Excellent movies that should be watched at the next possible opportunity.

So fact, it has been a while. I don't really have a good excuse for that, maybe just that the 'dedicated' part has not quite hit me yet.
Anyway, it is spring break this week. At least for me. Or rather, half-break. I have a somewhat unique school situation. I'm home-schooled but I also usually take at least one class at the community college per semester and I also attend an early morning scripture study class. Both of which are on completely different schedules. So while this week provides me with a temporary respite from my college class, I still have to wake before the sun and attend scripture study. And in about a month or so it will be spring break for my scripture study class but I will still be attending my college class. Kind of an inconvenient set up, but it hasn't killed me yet and I guess this way I get two breaks, right?

But back to what this is really about. In the last month or two I have seen some absolutely fabulous movies.


1. Courageous - The people who make these movies are seriously awesome. I've seen and loved some of the others they've done (i.e. Facing the Giants, and Fireproof) however, I think I enjoyed this one almost more. It was so great. One of those feel-good movies that isn't too cheesy. As this one is about police officers it's a little more intense (it is rated PG-13) so it may be a little much for smaller children, but still very family friendly. It's all about the impact a good father (and the lack thereof) can have on his children, and encourages all fathers to make the decision to be a good one and always be there for their wives and children. A must-see in my opinion.

 
2. Sense & Sensibility - I so love the BBC. And Jane Austen. And together? Perfection. Probably a good five years ago, at least, I saw another version of S&S that really was quite awful, and it quite lacked Jane Austen's magic. Since then I have not endeavored to read the book or watch any other version of it. All I could see were the similarities to Pride & Prejudice and bad fake-crying. Needless to say I was turned off. It really made me kind of sad because up until that point everything Jane Austen that I had encountered (which I must admit was very limited) was lovely and enchanting, and this just wasn't. But then, I came across this version. Ohhhh...'tis so very beautiful! I ought to warn you that in the first minute or two of the movie there is a somewhat disturbing scene which I would recommend skipping through or editing out or whatever you prefer. The rest of the movie is so worth it. Almost all of the Dashwoods are quite endearing in their own little quirkiness. I positively loved Margaret, could relate to Marianne, could see my older sister (and myself) in Elinor, and their mother was so very charming. And dear Mr. Weasley is in it! Or rather whoever plays him. And everything turns out SO beautifully in the end!


3. North & South - Again, BBC! However, this one is not Jane Austen as you probably know (although it's just as fabulous, or close anyway). It's actually based off of a novel by Elizabeth Gaskell which I am dying to get my hands on now. This mini-series has thoroughly and completely captured my heart. My mother and I started watching it last week and by the end of episode two I was hooked. The main characters are similar to Elizabeth and Darcy from P&P but not so much as to make you feel like you're watching the same movie under a different title (or at least I don't think so). I felt that the ending left a little to be desired, but I loved it just the same. And the really great news: this is not Gaskell's only novel. She wrote five others (at least one of which has been made into a mini-series as well) along with an assortment of short stories and novellas. You can thank me later! ;)

 
4. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close -
I don't think I can possibly describe this movie in words. It was beyond amazing. Emotionally taxing, but so wonderful. The characters are delightfully quirky, the story is intriguing, and the acting is phenomenal. Of course with Sandra Bullock and Tom Hanks you couldn't really expect less, could you? It made me feel and think about so many different things. It's not the type of movie you watch a million times but I am so glad to have to seen it. By the way, this one is also based on a book which I have not yet read but am also looking forward to.


5. Gnomeo & Juliet -
If after all of the dramatic, serious stuff on here you are looking for something a little lighter, this one is amusing. With Emily Blunt (The Young Victoria) and James McAvoy (Chronicles of Narnia) how can you go wrong?

Also, today I finished reading a book written by a friend of mine called Only the Stars Know. It's paranormal romance-ish which should interest you if you're a Twilight fan, but should not turn you off if you're not. You should check it/her out if you get the chance because they're awesome! http://shannonahiner.blogspot.com/


Thanks for reading, and have a remarkable week everyone!

Review: Possession by Elana Johnson

Format: Hardback

Number of Pages: 416

Genre: YA Dystopian

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Publication Date: June 7, 2011

ISBN: 1442417617

Received from: Borrowed from a friend

Description: Vi knows the Rule: Girls don't walk with boys, and they never even thinkabout kissing them. But no one makes Vi want to break the Rules more than Zenn...and since the Thinkers have chosen him as Vi's future match, how much trouble can one kiss cause? The Thinkers may have brainwashed the rest of the population, but Vi is determined to think for herself.

But the Thinkers are unusually persuasive, and they're set on convincing Vi to become one of them...starting by brainwashing Zenn. Vi can't leave Zenn in the Thinkers' hands, but she's wary of joining the rebellion, especially since that means teaming up with Jag. Jag is egotistical, charismatic, and dangerous--everything Zenn's not. Vi can't quite trust Jag and can't quite resist him, but she also can't give up on Zenn.

This is a game of control or be controlled. And Vi has no choice but to play.

My Thoughts:

I was so looking forward to reading this book. I entered every giveaway that I could, I changed my profile picture on facebook to the little "tagged" icon, having NO idea what it was about, I started following several blogs of people I had never even heard of before, all in hopes that I might be the lucky one. Well... I wasn't. And my library didn't have it yet (and to the best of my knowledge, still doesn't!) and I kind of have a policy concerning buying books. I don't generally buy a book, unless I have already read it and loved it, or am 105% sure that I will love it. And while I was pretty sure, I wasn't 105% sure...so that was that. Fortunately, one of my book buddies had bought it, and loaned it to me. :)

So I started reading it some afternoon and got through almost half of it before I finally put it down and told myself to go to bed. However the following days were kinda busy what with school starting and stuff with friends, so it was a little while before I got to finish it. But I finally did, and it was insane!

I think this book could get a 5 star rating just because of Vi. She should win like, Best Character of the Year award or something. She was amazing. And, unlike a lot of female protagonists in love stories, she wasn't totally swoony. And when Jag or Zenn messes up, she doesn't instantly forgive them for it.

One of my favorite lines from Vi:

"The sun is supposed to drain a person of life, allow for more sicknesses, yet Jag appeared perfectly healthy. He radiated life like no one I'd ever met. "

I spent most of the book chuckling over the witty dialogue(and interior monologue) and gasping in shock(or in awe @teleportation!!) at the twists and turns of the plot, especially the end! I totally was NOT expecting that. I couldn't help disliking Elana just a little at that point, because how could she leave it like that?!?

Because there's going to be another book, silly. Book 2: Surrender comes out summer 2012. That's a long time!! But the good news is, that in the meantime there are like, fifty billion other books we can read. That makes the waiting a little more bearable, right?

Thanks for an awesome read Elana! I look forward to Surrender!

And, now to my dedicated followers: Have you read Possession? What did you think of it? And for the sake of cheesy teenybopperness: Are you Team Jag or Team Zenn? (Honestly, I don't think there's even a question here. If you have all your brains intact then you'll say--never mind, I guess that's mean...but seriously?)

Review: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

First Published: 1847

Publisher(of the edition I read): Barnes & Noble, Inc.

Number of Pages: 466

ISBN: 156619024X

I felt a myriad of different things about this book. First, I should probably let you know that I saw the new movie (which is now available on DVD! YAY! :D) before reading the book *gasp!* Shocking, I know. I really wanted to read it first, because that's kind of a big thing with me. And well, I did read the first 30-50 pages before seeing it, so that counts for something, right?

Anyway... I finally read it! It took forever. But it was totally worth it. It was definitely one of the best love stories I've ever read! But I think one of the disadvantages to having seen the movie first was that I would get to a certain part and think that it was the part where everything gets better (y'know before it gets worse) and then it wasn't! But on the other hand, I think being able to read it with the knowledge that it WAS going to get better was part of what made me want to keep reading.

Is it a light read? No, not really. And there are several reasons:

1) The characters speak in french not infrequently and most of the time with little or no explanation. So unless you know french, that could be a little frustrating. A few times I was able to guess a couple words here and there because of my knowledge of spanish, but not much.

2) Charlotte Bronte's diction is INTENSE. That's all there is to it. I'd like to think that I have a pretty good vocabulary and thus do not require the aid of a dictionary in most of my literary adventures. And I really don't mind(and even sometimes enjoy) looking up a word here and there. But I can't even tell you how many times I had to pull out a pocket dictionary and then a bigger one because it didn't have the word in it, and then finally just give up because I couldn't find the word anywhere. After a while I just abandoned the whole process and had to be content with not knowing.

3) For most of the book Jane is unhappy. Like, excruciatingly unhappy. And of course you feel a certain amount of that because she is the main character and you are in her head. And this is really a good thing because we don't read books to be passive, right? We read because we want to be there and to feel what the characters are feeling. It's an essential element of good storytelling because if it's not there, your reader is--more likely than not--going to get bored and put your book down, because they simply do not care whether your character gets eaten by a great white shark or is thrown over a cliff by his/her best friend. So that's definitely one of the book's strong points.

So if you are majorly depressed or insanely happy, I'd wait a little while to read it. But you should read it. Really. Because it's amazing! And I guess if you're like me, the fact that it's a classic might be part of what motivates you to read it, too.