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

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!!

Mockingjay Part One

We went and saw Mockingjay the day it premiered because we absolutely COULD.NOT.WAIT. We got tickets to the first showing possible so we were able to get in at 8pm to see it. After a little bit of theater drama (bought tickets for the wrong theater so had to basically fly to the other theater to make it on time), we made it and got good seats. The whole time we were waiting we were both FREAKING out with nervousness and excitement.

We won't say too much because we don't want to spoil it for anyway else, but THIS MOVIE WAS AWESOME. It was super action packed and had me on the edge of my seat the whole time. I was so stressed and was reliving all of the emotions that I felt when reading the book.. All of the drama from the rebellion, the fear/hatred of President Snow, and the worry for Peeta.

The biggest change that I saw that I remember being different from the book (granted it has been a little bit since I finished the series so my memory is spotty) is Effie. I don't remember her being in District 13 at all in the book, but in the movie she plays a major role. In the movie she basically does for Katniss what she does in the other movies, she advises her and helps her be beautiful and fashionable. Personally I LOVE Effie's character. I love how dramatic and ridiculous she is. Even in District 13 where everyone is made to look alike and wear ugly jumpsuits, Effie finds ways to add sparkle and still look like she could walk down a runway. I love how sassy she is, but she knows how to get the job done.

Also, another big change that I remember is when Katniss is listing off her conditions for her to be the Mockingjay, she leaves out the part about how she is the one that is going to kill President Snow. She names all of the others- rescue the victors, pardon the victors of all their crimes, and Prim gets to keep her cat. I've read a few articles that have said that they may have left this part out since it is a two part movie and they may focus more on it in the big finale part two.

Overall, the movie really exceeded my expectations. I laughed, I teared up, and I nearly bit off all my fingernails in anticipation. I can't wait to see it again!!

Have you seen it yet? What are your thoughts? Did you notice anything else that was changed? Leave us a comment!

Maze Runner Movie Review

Haven’t seen The Maze Runner movie yet??!! Loved the books yet contemplating if your love will carry over to the soon to be movie trilogy… Have no fear Leah and I are here with all the skinny on the book to movie.

Much like the Divergent movie it was a film that you know you're going to go in to comparing with the book, but you just need to keep an open mind and try to remember one is a movie and one is the book. Another thing is that it was just around two hours long and should have been two and a half hours with them adding those tiny little extras that would have really take this movie to the next level. There were so pretty big and some small changes from the book. A few I noticed were these…

 • Thomas starts to remember things from his past almost right away. He smacks his head against the ground and wham he remembers the past and starts having flashbacks. It even shows him flashing back to being in the lab with Teresa and speaking with the Creators, when in the book that comes way later.
 • In the book the serum to save people from the stings is kind of taken for granted and even though it’s not readily available they do have it. To keep from using it they just keep from the grievers.
• Teresa doesn’t spend like anytime in a coma. (side-note: she is probably the only person I didn’t like who they choose to play her. She basically is like Kristen Stewart's cousin).
 • A device which Minho and Thomas take from a Griever they kill helps them find the Grievers entrance and unlocks hidden parts of the maze. There is no cliff to jump off either.
 • Teresa and Thomas aren’t telepathic
 • In the movie Alby and Thomas get along fairly well, which I didn’t really like. Alby didn't nearly come off as the BA leader that he does in the book.
 • Minho is more of a BA in the movie than in the book. (which we approve of). They left out the scene where Minho tries to make Thomas the Keeper of the Runners which I really thought would've added to the film.
 • The maze is constructed of 8 marked areas each which open up on different days. The patterns in the maze are different and the codes the kids need to use to escape is found in the numbers of the areas rather than the words spelled out by the maze over a long period of time. This did as far as watching the movie make it easier to follow.
 • There weren’t as many Griever attacks in the movie as there were in the book. Probably do to time constraints. Instead of them just taking kids here and there when they came they came hard. They were super scary too. I (Leah) kind of envisioned them in the book to be like robotic cow things whereas in the movie they are these robotic spider Predator creatures.
 • Gally takes over as the leader for a quick little minute. (side note- Gally's eyebrows are on point the whole movie. Why can't my eyebrows naturally arch like that?)
 • AND THE BIGGEST DIFFERENCE… THE ENDING!!! I don’t want to give away all the spoils but there were so big chunks of the ending missing.

But the good news is that there has been such a good turn out for the movie that The Scorch Trials already has a premiere date. Don't make any plans for September 18, 2015!

And if you needed any convincing whether you should see the movie or not... Well, I'm just going to leave this here:



Dylan O'Brien

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-A & L