The Host (movie review)

                             Just yesterday, I was able to watch The Host on its premiere day. To be honest, I have been waiting on this movie ever since I finished the book and here is what I have to say about it:

                         The movie was fine but it was a bit less than what I expected it to be. First, I imagined the caves to be a bit more damp and dark. In the book, Wanderer/Wanda had difficulty in seeing where she was going 'cause the place was so dark. Second, I didn't really like how the relationship of Wanda and Ian escalated quickly. In the book, Ian's feelings for Wanda were gradual. He didn't feel for her immediately like how the movie portrayed it to be. Third, I didn't like how they took out the story of Walter. In my opinion, it was Walter's death that really made Wanda truly feel for the humans and understand what it is like to be one of them. It was that part that I was really disappointed not to see in the film.

                       However, there were some positive points to the film. First, I liked how they stayed true to the story of the book and didn't really change much. Second, I loved the actors and actresses in this film. Though I was particularly impressed with William Hurt, Soairse Ronan and Max Irons. William Hurt made me very much enjoy the film as he was able to full personify Uncle Jeb craziness/ingenuity.Soairse Ronan was able to portray two characters very well and I was very impressed with her. Lastly, Max Irons was able to show very strongly the pain felt by Jared when he saw Melanie (Wanda) again and how he came to terms with it. Second, I really like the sci-fi effects and props of the film. It even beat the ones I've imagined while reading the book. Third, I liked how they were able to portray the love triangle/square of the characters. It was very entertaining to watch that unfold throughout the film.

                       Over-all, it was a good film - not great but not bad eiher. If I were to rate it, I'd probably give it a 6.5/10 because the movie was promising but just missed a few things.

  

Old Movie review - Mrs. Winterbourne

    

            A few days ago, I was able to catch this movie entitled "Mrs. Winterbourne." It featured personalities such as Ricki Lake, Brendan Fraser and Shirley MacLaine. At first, I was skeptical about the film, I wasn't sure if I would like it but to my surprise, it was quite enjoyable.

           For those of you who haven't heard of this film yet, the story goes like this: Connie (Lake) has been unlucky in love. At eighteen years old, she moved in with a man who she thought loved her. After a while, she got pregnant with his child and he decided to abandon her. On a train ride to Boston, she meets Hugh Winterbourne (Fraser), who treats her with kindness by helping her escape the attendant asking for her ticket (she didn't buy a ticket for the train ride). Hugh then brings her to his room on the train where Connie meets Hugh's pregnant wife, Patricia. As Hugh leaves, Patricia and Connie bond. When Patricia's ring falls from her fingers, Connie helps her find it. As Connie finds the ring, she can't help but marvel at its beauty. Patricia notices this and tells her to put it on. Connie does this and the unthinkable happens - the train crashes. Connie wakes up at a hospital bed, surrounded by gifts. Fortunately, her baby survived and was delivered safely. Later though she realizes that they think she is Patricia Winterbourne (because she was still wearing the ring of the real Patricia Winterbourne) and the Hugh and the real Patricia Winterbourne are dead. Still confused and a little shocked, she tries to escape the hospital but then is stopped by Paco, the Winterbourne's butler. Paco says that he Winterbourne family expects her to be with them especially after the death of Hugh. With nowhere to go, she decides to use this opportunity to support her and her newborn baby. However, she didn't expect to fall for Hugh's brother, Bill (Fraser), and to develop a close relationship with Hugh and Bill's mother (MacLaine).

          What made me enjoy the movie was the unique and quirky plot of the story. I especially liked how the movie started Connie with her dead beat boyfriend. In the first few scenes, they showed their relationship and how she got pregnant in the first place. I also liked how the film gradually went to the scene wherein Connie, Hugh and Patricia get into a train accident. Lastly, I kind of enjoyed the light humor put into this film, it made watching this film so easygoing and carefree.

           Although this movie was enjoyable, there were some things that I didn't like about it. First, I didn't like how Bill and Connie fell in love. At first, Bill was apprehensive of Connie then after just a few scenes, he was suddenly head-over-heels in love with her, so much so, that he wanted to marry her immediately. For me, the relationship did not have any real basis and was too fast-paced for my liking. Second, I think the movie lacked more emotion. Although Shirley MacLaine and Brendan Fraser did very well acting, I did not like how their character was portrayed in the film. It had only been a few days since Hugh died and yet, Hugh's mother and Bill seemed to have gotten over it so quickly. There was no scene where, Shirley MacLaine's character was seen crying, and this should have been evident considering that MacLaine's character just lost her son. Finally, I found the conversation of Connie with her mother-in-law to be somewhat lacking. The mother-in-law's reaction seemed to be subdued and too unrealistic. Now I am not blaming any of the actors though I do say that the writers should have put more depth into the characters and story itself.

         Despite this though, I would give the movie a rating of 6/10 because even though, it had inconsistencies, it was still a fun film to watch. I'd recommend watching in DVD this with a bunch of your girl friends to have a great laugh and have a fun time!

Jack the Giant Slayer (movie review)

             

                    To start, I just want to say that I somewhat enjoy having the classic fairytales remade into an edgier, darker, more realistic way. So, I was excited to be able to watch this movie, particularly because the director of X-men First Class was directing it. Based on the trailer alone, it showed much potential because it had action, romance, great graphics and not to mention incredible actors such as Stanley Tucci and Ewan McGregor. The movie, itself, was very entertaining and over-all, it was a good film. I, particularly, like the start of the film, wherein we see both the characters of Jack and Isabel with their parents reading them the same story. This set a good tone for the film and also, allowed the development of their romance to be more substantial. Lastly, I found that the unexpected twist at the end quite interesting as it related to the present. So again, in my opinion, it was a really good film, one that you will truly enjoy watching with friends and family.

The Host by Stephenie Meyer (book review)

              To be honest, I've been a fan of Stephenie Meyer's work for a long time already. I loved the Twilight series so I really couldn't wait to start reading The Host. You would think that I recently just bought the book but, in truth, I've had a copy of it for quite a while. I just didn't have the time to start reading it. However with the soon release of the movie, I couldn't help myself from finding out what the story was really about so I started reading it.

               The Host surprised me a lot and made me even like it more than I liked the Twilight series. The reason for it was because I found the story quite unique and very compelling. It might have been because I haven't really read much books on Aliens (except maybe for Daniel X by James Patterson), though I would think even one who has read a lot of Alien-based story books would find this book very interesting. Anyways, just a brief background (in case you weren't familiar with the story), Wanderer is an alien inhabiting the body of this human girl, Melanie. Usually when an alien inhabits a human body, they keep the memories and past emotions of the human body, however, the human soul that used to live in that body dies. In Wanderer's case, Melanie didn't die and she is very much present inside the body. This poses a lot of problems for Wanderer, especially when it comes to controlling the body's emotions and longing for the boy named Jared. This longing for Jared, leads both characters - Wanderer and Melanie - to journey through the desert in the hope of finding Jared. Now, I will stop here because I would like you to read the book so you'd understand why I liked it a lot.

             So, just to enumerate, these are the reasons why I loved the book:

1. The realistic feel of the characters. I really liked how these characters are very different but at the same time, very diverse. Take for instance, the character of Jared. When Jared meets Wanderer, in Melanie's body, (spoiler), he presents a mix of emotions. He is happy to see the face again of the girl he loves, however, he is both sad and angry that she is inhibited by this alien. This makes it hard for Jared to physically hurt Wanderer because what he sees is Melanie or her body, to say the least. This is a very human emotion to long for a loved one that might not even be there, but it makes it all the more realistic. You could just imagine that pain Jared feels in seeing Melanie (Wanderer) again.

2.  The theme of love. Throughout the book, Meyer presents different kinds of love such as a Mother's love, love for one's kind and the romantic kind of love. These different themes of love can be seen in how the characters of the story interact with one another. Melanie protecting Jamie at all costs shows a familial bond that can be associated with the love of a mother for her child. The way the human community protects one another from any alien intruder (as seen in their reaction to Wanderer's presence). The way Ian cares for Wanderer shows the romantic kind of love; the love that can surpass all things. All these kinds of love were presented throughout the book, which made it so much more understandable and different.

3.The gradual element of the story. I have read some books, where the characters instantly jump into a relationship after one day. In this story, all the relationships developed gradually like Wanderer's love for Ian and Jared's acceptance of Wanderer. This, again, made it all the more believable because all relationships require time to develop and it cannot be solidified in just a day.

4. The unique premise of the story. I found it really intriguing that Melanie remained alive in the story, despite being possessed by an alien. Also, by the fact that through Melanie's memories, Wanderer also kinds of falls in love with Jared. It poses the question if Wanderer really loves Jared or is it just the memories of him that make it so? This question will be answered once you have read the book. This is also the reason why I like it more than Twilight (also because the story of a vampire in love with a human has been used before).

5. The message that you can't really judge anyone based on what you see. Throughout the story, the humans come to terms with this message as they see Wanderer's true self. It also reminds us, not only as readers but also as human beings that we shouldn't judge others based on what we see. There is more to a person than just the physical and this book seemed to have exemplified this point.

          These are the reasons why I loved this book and I really urge you all to go out, get yourself a copy. Lastly, I hope the movie will be just as great! Here's the poster in case you didn't see it yet.

The Fault in our Stars by John Green (book review)

        The Fault in Our Stars might be one of the most popular books nowadays and I really understand why. It tackles such a realistic situation in our society today - which is dealing with sickness, particularly cancer. This book showed such raw, believable emotions that any one of us can identify ourselves with characters such as Hazel, Gus, and maybe even the infamous Van Houten. More than that, Green was able to show the truth of life - that it almost never happens the way we want it to. This, in my opinion, made it very relatable to many readers, and also made it very interesting to read (because it did not have the "happily ever after" we expect in almost all the books we read). For those of you, who haven't read the book, I'll give you a short background on it: Hazel thought that maybe her life couldn't get any better. She was constantly on medication and though she wasn't exactly terminal, she felt like her life wasn't going in the pace it should've been. Her life changes, though, the day she meets the fun and easy going Augustus Waters. Things, however, don't go the way it was planned and a lot of unexpected things happen. Although it is through all this that Hazel realizes that life almost always doesn't go the way you want it to but it doesn't mean that you should stop living it.

        Over-all, I really did like the book and again, I really encourage you all to read it. Moreover, I'd like to add that if this book were ever considered to be a movie, I would like the following actor and actress to play the characters: Emma Watson to play Hazel and Matthew Atkinson to play Augustus.

        I picked Emma Watson for the following reasons:
1. She is probably one of the only actresses that manages to still look gorgeous in a pixie haircut (this is good for Hazel because she had short, slightly-boyish looking hair in the book but still managed to looked pretty as she was able to make the very good looking Augustus Waters fall for her)
2.   She is a good actress. I think she will be able to capture the different sides of Hazel as her character develops throughout the novel.
3. Although she is already in her twenties, Emma can pass for a sixteen year old (Hazel's age). Just give her the right hair, make-up and clothes and we're good to go.

     I picked Matthew Atkinson for the following reasons:
1. He is very good-looking (just watch him in Jane By Design). In the book Hazel describes Augustus as the "hot boy" in her cancer support group.
2. He is muscular. In the book, Hazel describes Augustus as "long and leanly muscular." If you'd look at Matthew Atkinson's pictures, you may agree with me that he seems to fit the profile of Augustus.
3. He has this easygoing smile that can come off quite genuine and if there's one thing you could describe Augustus Waters with, it is genuine.
4. He acts fairly well. I'm judging this, however, on his acting in the television show Jane bt Design. I think he deserves his big break on the big screen (if this book were ever turned into a movie)

So, just to give you a glimpse of what I imagined the poster would be, here is a photoshopped version of it, using the pictures of the actor and actress I mentioned above:

Again, this was a work done by me, Millie. It is not professional work so please don't be so critical on it.