Thursday At the Movies: SUICIDE SQUAD

I love the Super Hero movies. Spiderman. Iron Man. The Avengers - and the individual character movies as well. Batman (I loved Christian Bale as Batman. And I have to admit Ben Affleck killed it too!) All of them.

So the idea of a movie about all the "Bad Guys" was more than intriguing.

Bring in the August release - SUICIDE SQUAD.


Heli Dad and I went to see this movie for our anniversary last month and we loved it. There were a couple bits that elicited a questioning "Huh?" from one or the other of us, or both... cough Will Smith - great guy, we're both just getting tired of seeing him on the big screen in action movies cough. I haven't decided whether I prefer Jared Leto as Joker, over Heath Ledger's version of the villian in 2008's The Dark Knight, but I still enjoyed his take on the character. The music and soundtrack were killer - Tuesdays Tune, HEATHENS was one of the singles from the soundtrack album in fact. And can I say... Harley Quinn - you crazy, psycho loving killer chic, I love you.

But you know, overall it was a pretty kick ass movie. One we will definitely be getting on blu-ray and dvd when it comes out in that format.

So have you seen it? Did you like it, hate it? Are you ambivalent?

Going To The Movies

Anyone who spends any amount of time here on this page knows that I’m an absolute fan of romance (I’m talking in books/TV/Movies here). I love everything about it. I love the twists and turns a relationship can take, it’s hardships and it’s joys. I enjoy all the varied subgenres and muddled plots that come along with the love and romance of a couple. And to be quite perfectly honest, I simply can’t get enough.

When my kids were younger I decided that I wanted to promote, encourage and help to facilitate (in them) rich imaginations, sensitivity and non-typical gender roles. So whenever a child-appropriate movie comes out I always try to take both my girls and my son to see them. It doesn’t matter if it’s a princess movie (Cinderella), a fantasy (Hobbit or Harry Potter), an action-adventure (X-Men, Avengers, Transformers) or a good hearted family film (Paddington), all the kids go – and quite often we’ll have tag-along’s as well. 

Sometimes we may do ‘Mommy/Daddy/Parents & Me’ dates with just one kid at a time but it’s rare when we don’t end up watching a movie altogether. And when it comes to not-kid-appropriate movies… Well let’s just say that Heli-Dad and I enjoy our date nights out as well.

Now you’re probably wondering, where the hell is she going with this?

Suggestions and Recommendations

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Book and/or Book Series suggestions can now be submitted by filling in the short form found HERE or by emailing apalusalight@gmail.com.
 

Movie and TV suggestions should be emailed to apalusalight@gmail.com - not all suggestions can be viewed and are subject to the local availability of the shows.

50 Shades of.... Hmmm

First things first, I have to preface everything I’m about to say with this statement: I have not, yet, read the ’50 Shades’ trilogy.  Nothing.  Not a word, not an excerpt.  Nothing but the blurbs on the back of the books.  To a certain degree I’ve even avoided reading too many reviews about the books (and the movie), though I will admit that I have read a few – some good, some bad, and even some that made me cringe.  I have my reasons for this but primarily, it’s that I didn’t really hear much of anything about the books until sometime after they were published and by then rumors had begun flying that a movie was going to be made. 
See, I’ve got this issue about books that are made into movies – especially if they’re books that I particularly like.  To me, the movies can be outstandingly well done but they just can’t rate as good as the book(s).  When I read a book the settings and scenes are built in my imagination, the characters are painted in all their glory in my fantasies, and the pages of the story flip through my mind like the frames on a reel.  I don’t need a movie to see the story, all I have to do is read it.  Yet at the same time, I do love a good movie.

So let’s get to the point...

Dakota Johnson.  Jamie Dornan.  And Fifty Shades of Grey. 

It’s been one of the most talked about movies of the year so far – for reasons both good and bad.  It’s been the topic of countless talk show segments, blogs, human and women's’ rights debates, and God knows what else.  Even I have written about it here on Ups, Downs, Ins and Outs.  It opened in theatres just before Valentine’s Day and has been leading in box office sales since, despite, or maybe because of the controversial nature of the movies content.

Still living under that rock? Here we go: The movie is about recent university graduate and incredibly innocent and naïve Anastasia Steele (played by Johnson), who meets Christian Grey (obviously played by Dornan) when she’s helping a friend out by doing an interview about him for their school newspaper.  Grey is a young, successful (to the billions) businessman, who Anastasia jokingly refers to as a “control freak” after listening to him describe himself.  Unknowingly, she’s exactly and entirely right.  Grey’s controlling tendencies in the business world follow him into his personal life, where he’s a Dominant, of the BDSM variety.  Anastasia’s innocence draws Christian like a moth to a flame and she quickly finds herself the focus of his rather intense interest.  This movie, based on the first book (of the same name) in the ’50 Shades’ trilogy, basically follows them in the beginning stages of their arrangement and relationship - as Anastasia learns about the BDSM lifestyle, especially the dominant/submissive parts of it, and Christian is forced to realize that Anastasia isn’t the only one with something to learn. 

That’s my, ha, $0.50 synopsis, and here are my feelings about it after seeing the movie.

The movie’s good.  It was decent.  For me, it was neither really great, nor completely horrible.  There are really great bits and there are some parts that appeared very awkwardly done – and surprisingly they weren’t the sexual scenes.  (I’ve read interviews done with both lead characters and both described filming the sex scenes as uncomfortable and difficult. No real surprise there.)  To be perfectly honest, the thing that sorta killed parts of the movie for me, was the lack of solid on-screen chemistry between Dornan and Johnson. The baffling part is that their connection wasn’t lacking in every scene, but ironically was missing in the scenes that should have been the simplest for them to perform. (Granted, this could be explained by the actors’ apparent dislike of each other, something I’ve also seen reported in recent weeks.) The cinematography and music were extremely well done, and the casting of the actors in their particular roles was, I believe, also well done – it’s just that somehow these things just didn’t all mesh together to make the movie that I think many of us were expecting. 

And what about those sex scenes, you’re probably wondering? After all, it was the erotic nature of the sex, the BDSM lifestyle, and the supposed “pornographic” extremes of the film that were causing the loud outcry and vast extent of debate and criticism for the movie.  In the 2 hour movie there was roughly 20 minutes of sex – and this includes everything from the most vanilla, to the most harshly erotic of the scenes.  And of the scenes depicting BDSM behaviors, these really weren’t all that extreme.  Not if you really know anything about BDSM, anyways.  Also, as the first (at least to my knowledge) movie in mainstream cinema to really broach the BDSM topic, I just don’t think they did a very good job of really depicting the way a BDSM relationship works or would work.  They tried, sure, but, to me anyways, I feel they missed more than a few key tenants of the relationship, and since a good part of the movie is supposed to be explaining a BDSM relationship/arrangement to Anastasia, I see no reason and no excuse why they should have.  My only conclusion as far as this is concerned is that the writers were either lazy or ignorant.  Or both.  There’s really no other plausible excuse.

So when all is said and done, I did like Fifty Shades of Grey – the movie, and yes, I would probably recommend it to interested and/or like-minded friends.  I may even buy it when it comes out on DVD.  But it’s not a movie I’ll pay to go see in theatres again. 

Do with this what you will.  It’s just my opinion.

... And now I’m off to read the book.

A Call for Suggestions

Since it’s been almost a year since I’ve posted any reviews - not that I haven’t read (literally) dozens of books, scoured the FanFiction.net archives in several different areas, watched lots of movies and hours upon hours of TV – I wanted to give everyone a chance to make suggestions and recommendations.  I’m going to get started working on some reviews, commentaries and discussions about some of the stuff I’ve taken in during the last year but I’d love to hear what everyone else is interested in too.

Here are some guidelines as far as what I can get my hands on and may be able to review:

Movies – I can more or less get a hold of any new or old movies, and as I’ve seen a few really good ones during 2012 I intend to talk about them at some point in the near future.

TV – like with movies, I can generally get my hands on any TV shows out there; though I am somewhat limited to those shows that air or are available in Canada right now.  That doesn’t mean I can’t get my hands on shows that don’t normally air in Canada but I know there can be issues with some HBO series.

Books – I can be game for anything.  Obviously my usual interests lie in romance, paranormal, sci-fi, fantasy and/or some combination of all of the above, but I can be convinced to read books and stories that are outside of those genres.

FanFiction – if you’re a writer of or just an avid fan of FF, feel free to make recommendations.  My posts about FF aren’t as common but when I find something really good or an author that I think has an intriquing style I will talk about it.

Other Stuff of Interest - and don't be afraid to suggest other interesting things you've come across that you'd like to share or have shared: new/old songs, YouTube videos, blogs, poetry, authors, places, etc.  I like neat, cool, weird, interesting things - you may just put me on to something new!

As always, you can make your recommendations and suggestions here on this blog by commenting on this post or on the specific page – Books, TV and Movies, or FanFiction.  You can also email your suggestions to: apalusalight@gmail.com

The Deathly Hallows Part 1

Image by moby74 via Flickr

Admittedly its been a while since I've read the seventh book in the Harry Potter series, a sad fact that I've already begun to remedy, but after watching Part 1 of the final books movies, I think I can see why WB and the production crew decided to split Deathly Hallows into 2 films.  In the past movies we've seen the details of the books somewhat pared down and weeded through.  The movies for years 1-6 have been well done - not many would argue with that - but I think most would concede that in those first 6 movies there have been a lot of things from the books that were left out.  Sure, in and of themselves those details are not greatly significant but taken together over the yars, they do play towards fully understanding the entire Harry Potter story.

And THAT I think is where the difference with the Deathly Hallows Parts 1 & 2 comes in.  By seperating the book into 2 movies, we get to keep far more of those little details, and hopefully when July 2011 rolls around and Part 2 goes to the big screen, the true end of the Harry Potter series will be far more impressive.

As for the Part 1 movie... It was actually pretty good.  Well done, certainly, and as I said for the portion of the book that it portrays, it keeps far closer to the book details then the older movies.  If I were to make any complaint about it - it was difficult to really keep track of time.  Even at the end of the movie it was only based on a few lines that we were given any real indication that months had passed for the wizard world.  Time passing is something that we've always seen in the other movies (think the Whomping Willow shaking off it's leaves as autumn draws to a close and winter takes hold of Hogwarts for example, though I can't remember which one of the movies that came from) but in Deathly Hallows Part 1 it wasn't really that apparent.  Maybe it was just me, maybe I didn't pick up on the more subtle hints - they must have been there.  Maybe I need to see it again... Hhhmmm, I wonder if I can swing that any time soon?

The hints/indication that I caught:

"Harry, I think it's Christmas Eve. Listen." (Hermione)

"We met a couple of months ago Mr. Lovegood." (Harry)

"All this time we've followed him.  I thought he knew what he was doing!" (Ron, though this one is slightly paraphrased - my recall isn't always perfect!)

So now I'm off to continue reading the book again.  Maybe I'll be back when I finish and I'll have more to say about the book vs. the movie... Maybe I'll watch the movie again after I've finished reading it again... Maybe not.  

Till next time -- Happy Reading.  Happy Watching.  Happy Writing.  And Happy Holidays.

Here We Go...

So we're starting the final leg on the journey of the Harry Potter saga tonight.  Although saga may not be an entirely appropriate term... I mean, really, does 8 movies in a series really qualify as a saga??

Whatever the case may be, tonight Husband and I are taking Kid 1 to the movie.  After I've seen it, I'll be back to let you know my thoughts, so until then here is another sneek peek at the Deathly Hallows - Part 1.

It's Coming!!!

You've read the books.  You've watched the movies.  Finally, the end is here.  The first part of it anyways. ;)

HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS - PART 1  

coming November 19, 2010

There has been a lot of chatter over whether 'year 7' really needs to be split in to two parts.  I'm really not sure either way.  If you look strictly at the book and try to divide it up, it seems like you'd end up with one whole movie of Harry, Ron and Hermione camping, with the little bit that happens prior to that to start with.  And then the second movie would be all the other stuff.  The action.  Having now seen the trailers I'm still unsure.  There is so much in Deathly Hallows that I can understand why it might be a good idea but... But. 

We've lived through 3hrs+ movies already during this series, and Lord of the Rings, which you really can't say isn't as involved and action filled as the Harry Potters, didn't end up split into more than just the three movies to match the 3 books.   So is it really necessary? Or is this just another way that Warner Bros. can make more money from the HP franchise?  I guess I can't really make any hard and fast decision, or any decision at all, until I've seen the first movie.  And probably the second too. 

But alas, the end is near.  With just over a week till Deathly Hallows - Part 1 is released tickets are already selling fast! Die hards are pulling out their costumes and Pottermania is already exploding into the stores.  Book sales for the entire series, and the individual books, will probably rise again too.  But what happens when D.H. - Part 2 releases next July and the whole Harry Potter world comes to a close?  Honestly makes a person wonder what comes next... (food for thought!!)

Anyways, here's a sneak peek at a combined trailer for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Parts 1 & 2.  I found this on YouTube but there are also the trailers for the individual parts as well.  I don't think WB has issued an 'official' trailer for part two yet, but I think I saw a couple 'unofficial' ones on there.  So take a peek and enjoy!