The Scorch Trials Movie Review

We have a lot to talk about when it comes to The Scorch Trials movie. I think we both can agree on three things. First that we were both very excited to see this movie because of all three books it was our favorite. Second that we were both very nervous about how this was going to play out on the big screen. Third that when the movie ended we were both very surprised about how we felt about it. Of course we went on a date last night to see the early screening of it. 

This review might be a ramble jamble insanely unorganized review but whatever that is kind of our thing... So here we go.

First TST had a lot, A LOT of changes from the book. We knew going into it that this was going to be happening. The fact that things would be changed was never hidden from us. There were clear and present changes in: How they spent their time in the WICKED compound, some of the events that played out while there, where they end up after the compound, what happens when they are in the scorch, what happens when they meet up with the rebels, what the infected look like, characters deaths, characters relationships, and pretty much the entire ending. These are only some of the changes as well. However, don't let that get you down, these changes were good ones! Some of the scenes in the book can be a little confusing, but it was all adapted so well for the big screen.  Plus there are still a lot of things that were present from the book as well. TST movie also goes a lot darker than the book and a lot of other YA adaptions. Almost receiving an R rating. The language is more "mature" along with stepping up the amount of violence and gore.

We know that a lot of people were worried about the cranks and what they would end up being like. It has been a good minute since either of us have read the books, but if we're not mistaken we believe in the book they were more human with a side of wonky infected brain.We remember them walking a more normal pace and being able to speak. In the movie they took it in a World War Z direction and were straight up one step away from The Walking Dead. WE LOVED THIS. It had us so stressed out and waiting on the edge of our seats for when they would come out. They were so scary! There is one scene in particular when Brenda and Thomas go down into the tunnels.... Even in the book it sounded scary, but the movie takes it to another level. There are a lot of moments were you don't know WTF is going on and then these crazy things just pop out from no where. Good thing Dylan O'Brien was there to protect us.

The cast was a surprise too. It turned out to be super star packed. We have of course one of the stars from Teen Wolf play Thomas (Dylan O'Brien). Who was originally a worry for a lot of people because everyone seemed to think he looked "too MTV" (why is this a bad thing again?). He continues to make a Thomas. The other crazy actors we got were: Clary from the soon to be Shadow
Hunters TV show, the Los Pollos guy from Breaking Bad, a girl who looks like Zoey Kravitz (she's apparently a British model?), Little finger from GOT (and yes he's as big a dick in this as he is in that), and that's not our only GOT star, we got Jojen Reed (he is so adorable it hurts). No wait there's more... We get this guy from Arrest Development (the second you see him you'll say "how the F do I know this guy") and then to round it all we get the motha effin sniper from Saving Private Ryan. Seriously it's one scene after another of "wait a second... is that Los Pollos the freaking chicken meth dealer from Breaking Bad.... Yes Yes it is.... OMG SAVING PRIVATE RYAN!" We were freaking dying with laughter when we finally figured out who half the people were and why they looked so familiar. Each character brings SO much to the table and does a killer job with their role.

It's been awhile since We've had this much fun watching a movie. Think a lot of extreme and professional movie critics have been way too harsh on this film. We both really enjoyed it. There's a lot more holes filled in in this one than the first, there's a butt ton more action, and the changes made increased the story-line. Let's be real though, it is pretty dang hard to translate something from print to screen. Especially when it comes to a YA dystopian fantasy where you have crazy scenes from James Dashner's head. Like when they first enter the Scorch and the one kid's head gets popped off by some lead balloon thing... How the F were they going to translate that to the big screen? The director and screenwriters did a great job deciding what was important and what could be changed to be a little easier for a movie. Overall, it was fantastic. Fast paced, gripping, and a ton of fun. The Scorch Trials in our opinion was better than the first. Yes, again there are a lot of changes. Yes, this plot is again super fast paced. Yes, a lot of information is thrown at you. No, this movie might not be for everyone. But the both of us as fans of the series really enjoyed this adaptation and left the theater both happy and satisfied. To us the opinion of fellow book readers, no matter if they loved or hated the books, matters more to us than movie critics opinions.

We've said this before and we'll say it again; we had the pleasure of meeting James Dashner at an event last year. Since it was an event were only a limited number of people could attend we got to actually spend time with him and talk. We have met a lot of authors and he is hands-down still one of our favorites. He took so much time talking, signing everything you brought, answering questions, and has such a bright personality. He was everything you hope an author will be when you meet them. Trust us when we say that not all authors who we've met having the same success he is, are as pleasent to be around *Cough Veronica Roth Cough*. The fact that he fangirled with us about Dylan O'Brien also had us sold. He has us very excited to see what they do with The Death Cure.

-8.5/10 Stars
A&L

Dark Places Movie Review

I love any and all of Gillian Flynn’s novels because they are creep as F. Seriously, how does she come up with this stuff? Anyway, I have had the premiere for Dark Places marked on my calendar for MONTHS. One day I was browsing the On Demand section of DirecTV and noticed that Dark Places was listed as a new release. I was really confused because per my calendar, it wasn’t due to come out for several weeks. Turns out, DirecTV had some doing in the production so it came out on DirecTV first. Awesome for me! I got to see it way earlier than what I expected. I balked at the price of it at first ($7.99 for a 3 day rental), but then remembered that I originally planned on seeing it in theaters (where a ticket would be at least $10).

The cool thing about the movie is that it was a lot easier to figure out who did it. My husband has never read Dark Places (or any Gillian Flynn novel, for that matter), so he had no idea what he was getting into. Let me preface this by saying that he really isn’t a big movie watcher or book reader because he hates sitting still for long periods of time because he has a short attention span. While watching Dark Places, he was HOOKED. I only had to do minimal explaining regarding the plot, but he was able to get a good solid theory of who the murder was about half way through. When I read the book, I honestly couldn’t make heads from tails with what was going on because it was SO much. I love the way Gillian Flynn writes because she throws in so many little details that you get confused and forget about small things, then the ending happens and BAM all that stuff you forgot is right there in your face. Overall, the book translated very well to screen. Even if you haven’t read the book (which you need to RIGHT NOW) or plan on watching the movie with someone who hasn’t read it, it is still a good choice. Some things may be slightly confusing, but if you really pay attention (especially to the flash backs) then you can figure things out pretty easily.

One of my favorite things about the movie is how they handled present time versus flashbacks. There are a LOT of different POVs when it comes to the flashbacks, so it could have easily gotten muddled and confusing. It was directed very well and is easy to follow if you are watching Libby’s mom, Libby, or Ben’s flashback. For present time, it stays in Libby’s POV. In the book, I really liked how Gillian Flynn counted down to the night of the murder from the beginning. In the movie, it isn’t as clear as that (for example, in the book it would say Two Days before the murder) but you don’t feel like you are missing anything.

Charlize Theron killed it as Libby. I really had my doubts about her, because in the book, Libby is described as being this small statured angry woman. Charlize Theron is very tall, and I personally have not seen her in a dark role like this. SHE KILLED IT. She completely embodied Libby and all the anger that she carried. She was able to show all the emotions that Libby carried in her head, but never really showed on the outside. I think overall I really liked all of the casting. Chloe Grace Mortez was creepy as F as Deondra. I really love where her acting career is going and think this movie only added to her already stellar resume.

4/5 stars

xoxox 
-Leah

This Movie That Book

So we just left spin class and figured before we die we would post this little nugget. Posting this a few days before we wanted too because coincidentally I (Angela) got asked twice today about bookish movie recommendations online.
 
A lot of times when were talking to someone about books they say things like... "Yeah I'll just wait till the movie comes out" or "I don't know, I think it's hard getting into books, maybe if they were more like movies I wouldn't have trouble.". And tons of other reason like that too why they want to read but haven't really gotten into it yet. We've even had people ask what book they should read if they like certain movies. So that gave us the idea to do something new on our blog... Today we give you our first "That book" post. We came up with a list of 25 movies and books that are similar to them. We picked movies from all genres and books that would match them. Some of the movies chosen are movies that came from a book so we decided to give you alternative books for those as well. 

The title of the movie will be listed below the picture and the title of the book and author will be listed below that. If we have posted any reviews on our blog for that book as usual just click the titles and it'll take you straight to the review.

 

 Carrie 

Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkins

  Gladiator

Blood Red Road by Moira Young

The Mortal Instruments 

Fallen by Lauren Kate

 P.S I Love You

 Love, Rosie by Cecelia Ahern

Book of Eli

Not a Drop to Drink by Mindy McGinnis

 Cinderella

 Cinder by Marissa Meyer

The Fault in Our Stars

The Beginning of Everything by Robyn Schneider

X-Men

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

 Never Been Kissed 

Losing It by Cora Carmack

Juno

Eleanor and Parks by Rainbow Rowell

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

The Program by Suzanne Young

 Pans Labyrinth

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
 

The Hunger Games

Fire and Flood by Victoria Scott 
 

Girl Interrupted

Pretty Girl-13 by Liz Coley

Bourne Identity 

Altered by Jennifer Rush

X-Men 

The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken

The Craft

Merciless by Danielle Vega

War of the Worlds

The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey

 Flowers in the Attic

 Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma

 Daybreakers

The Hunt by Andrew Fukuda

 Seven

Branded by Abi Ketner & Missy Kalicicki

Coneheads

Alienated by  Melissa Landers

 

 Titanic

These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner

Man in the Iron Mask

Pawn by Aimee Carter

Underworld

 Black City by Elizabeth Richards

Paper Towns by John Green

I want to start by saying that I think it is impossible for John Green to write a bad book. Seriously, everything I've read by him makes me feels all sorts of stuff and makes me fall even more in love with his writing style. He is witty and the story is full of dry humor.

Q is an ordinary guy that is about to graduate high school. He makes good grades and stays out of trouble. He is planning on leaving Florida behind and going to college at Duke. Every thing is going as planned until one night his next door neighbor of almost all of his life, Margo Roth Spiegelman, knocks on his bedroom window and persuades him into coming with her for a night of mischief. The two spend the night righting wrongs and wronging rights of their classmates who they will soon be saying goodbye to soon after graduation. At the end of the night, Margo says her goodbyes to Q as well. She then disappears, and when she doesn't come to school the following week it is apparent that she has runaway from her life. Q spends the rest of the book on a treasure hunt of sorts trying to find out if Margo is leading him to her, whether it be her dead or alive.

I'll be honest, I had a lot of ups and downs with this book. Mostly ups, but there is a chunk of the book where Q is on the hunt following clues that he thinks will lead him closer to Margo, but really he is just chasing his tail in a circle. His friends get frustrated with him, he gets frustrated with himself, everyone gets frustrated with Margo, and I just wanted someone to get to the point. I feel like John Green was trying to do a lot of character building during this chunk, which I appreciate, but it didn't really add much to the plot. You get some deep insights on how to view people and why people do things the way they do them, and you also learn a lot about Walt Whitman.
The characters are pretty amazing. I think my favorite character is Radar because he is the person in their group of friends who is the most logical. He is also the one that is there when Q needs him, despite whatever else is going on. I love the comedic relief that Ben brings, but he is that friend who dumps you as soon as they get a girlfriend and they're that friend that fixates on wanting do whatever it takes to move up the social ladder and be cool. Ben is still a good friend to Q, but I feel like neither one of them are the best friends that they could be to each other.

I spent most of the book disliking Margo, to be honest. I really, really loved her at the beginning of the book during her adventure with Q, but as the book went on, I found myself disliking her. I felt like what she was putting everyone through was so selfish. When we started to learn more about the why's, I felt more sympathetic towards her but in the end, I still think she behaves like a child who can't handle life and needs to get away. Lacy on the other hand really surprised me and went from being one of the token mean girls to really coming and being an integral part of the ending of the book. I really wish Angela, Radar's girlfriend, would have had more air time. She was really funny and witty, so I think she could have added a lot to the characters.

My favorite parts of the book is the adventure between Q and Margo at the beginning. Right from the get go it pulls you in and gets you hooked. After that, my other favorite part is the the road trip that the group takes. I was laughing with tears coming down my face with a certain incident that required Ben to use a bottle. The cow incident was also pretty hilarious in a morbid, poop your pants kind of way.

Overall, I think this is a great book. If you like John Green's writing, then this book will be no exception. It is a great contemporary novel that focuses on angsty teens and lessons they have to learn in order to grow. I'd also like to recommend The Beginning of Everything by Robyn Schneider. It reminds me SO much of Paper Towns. The main female character, Cassidy, is very much like Margo and I found myself feeling the same things towards both of them. These are both great books, and I think they should be on everyone's TBR list because I think everyone will pull away different things from the stories depending on their own life experiences.

Also, Paper Towns will be released as a movie in June of this year. I checked out the actors that are going to be in it, and I think it is spot on! I LOVE the actress (Cara Delevingne) that is cast for Margo. I think she is going to do an excellent job. I really can't wait to see this movie. I hope all John Green books get made into movies.

4/5 stars

The Mortal Instruments Movie Review

One of the Christmas presents that Angela gave me was The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones DVD because she wanted me to be able to be on the same level of fangirl as her when it comes to TMI. I watched it this afternoon with my hubby (seeing his reactions to everything was the best btw), and OMG SO GOOD. There are a LOT of changes from the book, but most of them I understand why they had to do it (wouldn't translate as well on screen).

The biggest change for me was the scene at the vampire hotel. First, Raphael isn't in the movie at all. If you remember, in the book he meets them outside of the hotel and helps them get inside when he is pretending to just be a rando teenager. When he gets them inside that is when it is revealed that he is a vamp. He isn't even mentioned in the movie. Second, Simon doesn't get turned into a rat! He drinks the juice at Magnus Bane's party, but he doesn't turn. When Clary and the gang come to rescue him at the hotel, he is just tied up and suspended in the air, but there is no rat anything. I get why this was changed in the movie. It would be pretty hard to explain everything in the movie if it happened the way that it did in the book. So, I get it. I still wish it happened, but I get it.

I really liked all the casting for the characters. I'll admit, Jamie Campbell Bower was not my first for Jace, but I think he did the role justice. JBC is what we like to call ugly hot. At first glance, you're like this dude is UGLY, but as time goes on you can't stop looking at him and then BAM you don't even realize that now you're strangely attracted to this scrawny British dude with Jesus abs.

My favorite character in the book and in the movie is Simon. I love love love Simon. He is so adorbs and I want to punch Clary in the face everytime she friendzones him. I also LOVE Magnus. The actor they picked for him is super hot and had me totes jealous of Alec.

All in all, I really really liked the movie. This series is so kick ass and I loved seeing it translated on screen. I'm sad that other movies won't be made, but hopefully other stuff will happen in the future (like the rumored possible TV show). I'm glad this is in my DVD collection and I can't wait to rewatch it!!

Ugly Love: Colleen Hoover

Ugly Love: Colleen Hoover 

When Tate Collins meets airline pilot Miles Archer, in a drunken blaze of glory, she knows it isn’t love at first sight. But that doesn't stop them from being attracted to one another. Once their desires are out in the open, they realize they have the perfect set-up. He doesn’t want love, she doesn’t have time for it, so that just leaves the sex. This arrangement could really work out for the both of them, as long as Tate can stick to the only two rules Miles has for her: Never ask about the past and don’t expect a future.
They think they can handle it, but realize almost immediately they can’t handle it at all. So where will this leave them..?

HOLY CRAP ON A CRACKER!!!! MY HEART IS SO PERFECTLY BROKEN! I DON'T THINK I TOOK A BREATH THE WHOLE TIME I READ THIS BOOK! WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME COLLEEN HOOVER!!! I HATE YOU BUT I LOVE YOU! YOU RUINED ME AND I CAN'T THANK YOU ENOUGH! 

IF YOU CAN'T GUESS IT BY MY NON STOP CAPS THEN I DON'T KNOW WHAT ELSE TO DO THAN SCREAM "I LOVED THIS BOOK!!!!". 

WOW JUST WOW! I DON'T KNOW HOW OR WHEN I'LL GET OVER THIS BOOK HANGOVER.

Ugly Love was nothing like I expected it to be. I excepted it too be like a 50 Shades of Grey fan fiction with just a butt ton of thrown together steamy scenes... No, it wasn't it was so much more. I knew I was going to like Miles (because he sounded so hot), but I had no idea that I was going to love him. That he was going to have an actual back story... That he was going to be actually interesting in a realistic way... I had no idea he was going to break my heart.

All that being said I have a few bookish confessions to make before I really get into the review, I choose to read this book 1) because I heard it was becoming a movie and if there's anything I love nearly as much as reading it's seeing movies 2) because this is who they have playing Miles:

Yeah I didn't notice the dog at first either...

and 3) I also need to admit that I didn't get what was so appealing about this book that it was actually going to become a movie... I get it now. I get all the hype and talk surrounding this book. I have NEVER, EVER, EVER cried so hard in a book. That's the very last thing I thought this book was going to make me do.

The characters in this book felt so real. Tate was naive and normally that would make me wanna punch a B, in her case it made me love her. Unlike most leading ladies she isn't overly sassy, or has incredible lol rebuttals, she was realistic. Her brother Corbin, OMG CORBIN, I loved every single thing about him. He has to be one of my favorite sub characters ever. He was what I imagined a brother would be and even with him not being a constant character just his presence had me. Then there's Miles and he is hands-down the star of this book. The moment you meet him you hate him. He is a mysterious mess and I thought he was going to annoy me fast. He won me over once they started going into his back story. The further they went into it the more I could feel what was coming... Yes, I knew where this story was going and what was going to happen but in no way, shape, or form was I actually prepared for it. I was a blubbering weeping ball of emotions.

The switch between time and POVs was done flawlessly and revealed the perfect information at the perfect time to keep you hooked and wanting more. Colleen set up this story so at first you would only like Miles because of his looks (which I've already made clear I was guilty of)...

"his shirt isn't buttoned. I'm staring at his stomach. Oh my word he has the V. Those beautiful indentations on men that run the length of their outer abdominal muscles, disappearing beneath their jeans as if the indentations are pointing to a secret bull's-eye."

And yes, he is a looker, but by the end I could have cared less about what he looked like. He could have worn a bag over his abs for the last half of the book and my heart would have still been his. The relationship between Tate and Miles is like nothing I have read before. It was something else that really surprised me about this book. Saying it was complicated would be an understatement. I thought that the steamy scenes were going to take up most of this book, but it didn't... Normally that would be something that would make me rank a book lower, but the scenes were so well written and again realistic. They were well placed and well thought out. Just enough to make this book not "too much" which is what had me falling hard for this read, way harder than I anticipated. The scenes are hot though like dump a bucket of water on your head hot. Miles and Tate's conversations roll so smoothly and the moments between them are so; I don't even know a word for them, they're just perfect (that word really doesn't do justice). Not only is he romantic but he made average things so hot.

Orange juice is hot, rugs are hot, scrubs are hot, and curtains are so so hot. whoosh. 

Honestly though the scenes that turned out to be my favorite were just "average scenes", like when they all go and visit Tate and Corbin's family for Thanksgiving. That whole section had to of been my favorite. I loved how I thought this story was going to be Tate's but turned out to be Miles'. I love how I thought this book was going to be a light sexy read but turned out to be a heartbreaking love story. I just loved how everything came together while falling apart.. Because when all Miles story is finally shown and is laid out in it's fullest I was basically like this...

I want to rant and rave even more about this book, but this is something you really need to read and experience for yourself. Ugly Love might just be the biggest surprise read I've had all year. I can't express enough how impressive the characters, plot, and play out of this story are. I didn't think that this book was going to be so hard on me... And yes, it hurt. And yes, it was a total sobbing fest, but that ending... Good golly miss molly.. That ending was perfection. I don't know if I can ever forgive Colleen Hoover for what she did to me, but God dang it I love her so much for it. I didn't see this coming and I've never been so happy to be emotionally slapped in the face like I was reading this.  

THANK YOU COLLEEN HOOVER! You gave me a book hangover that even the strongest ibuprofen couldn't cure.

*please give her a round of applause people* 

10/10 Stars 

-Angela