300: Rise of an Empire - Movie Review

300 Rise of an Empire

Well... what can I say about this movie.  Well for one if you don't like blood, nudity, and didn't like the first 300 movie well you won't like this one.  I do like the look and feel of the first 300 so we went and saw this one in IMAX.  Basically this is the movie 300 but instead of on land we are now on water.  Who knew ship fights could be so bloody?

In Rise of an Empire there is a lot more plot then what we saw in 300, which actually makes the film move slowly along.  Rise of an Empire is based on a still to be published graphic novel by Frank Miller (who wrote the original 300 graphic novel).  We lose some of the cool mystical images in the backgrounds of the set in Rise.   The movie doesn't have any amazing quotes like THIS IS SPARTA!

To be honest if you didn't love 300 then this film is probably a rental for you.. though unless you have a home theater you will lose out on the amazing CGI.  I rate this a B-.

Sunday Post

Let's chat about what's going on this week... on my blog.. on other blogs... on the internet... and just everywhere!    I link up my post to Sunday Post and Stacking the Shelves.

On the blog:
-Let's talk... is your blog a secret???
- Time to chat about comic books again!!
-A new Project Disney... this week I talk about  The Aristocats .
- I review The Princess Bride and compare it to the classic movie. 

Around the blogspere:
-Does anyone read books the right way anymore?  via i09
-How to read one book a week via the Huffington Post .. I need to do this!
-Defining a Classic what do you think one is? by Reading is Fun Again
-Are you a fussy blog follower?  I like this post from Ransom Reads because it is a nice post.  A lot of time when I see posts from people talking about blogs they just yell about what they don't like about your blog.  But this one puts it nice.
- Is there room for more book bloggers?? This is great advice for new and old book bloggers by Candace's Book Blog.
-Unique places to buy books.. I especially love the link where you can personalize books like Dracula with your own name, via Eastern Sunset Reads. 

Internet:
This week's internet video is for my fellow video game players... it's the trailer for the new Batman Arkham Knight Video game.  I can't wait for this one.. but it is only on the Xbox One, and PS4 so I guess I better upgrade sooner then later.



Books Books Books:
This week was another good week where I didn't get too many books.  I am about to start reading The Madman's Daughter by Megan Shepherd.  Excited about that book! I have seen lots of good reviews on it.  I am reading the Before Watchmen comic book series.  I don't think it's as good as the original Watchmen Graphic Novel.

The Princess Bride by William Goldman- Review

The Princess Bride by William Goldman

I have finally read The Princess Bride!  I have always loved this movie and wanted to read the book.  This month my Young Adult book Club is reading it for our book club pick. Nominating classic books was crazy in the group.  The reaction from the teens in the group about reading classics was astounding.  No one seemed to want to.   Here is the goodreads description: 

What happens when the most beautiful girl in the world marries the handsomest prince of all time and he turns out to be...well...a lot less than the man of her dreams? As a boy, William Goldman claims, he loved to hear his father read the S. Morgenstern classic, The Princess Bride. But as a grown-up he discovered that the boring parts were left out of good old Dad's recitation, and only the "good parts" reached his ears. Now Goldman does Dad one better. He's reconstructed the "Good Parts Version" to delight wise kids and wide-eyed grownups everywhere. What's it about? Fencing. Fighting. True Love. Strong Hate. Harsh Revenge. A Few Giants. Lots of Bad Men. Lots of Good Men. Five or Six Beautiful Women. Beasties Monstrous and Gentle. Some Swell Escapes and Captures. Death, Lies, Truth, Miracles, and a Little Sex. In short, it's about everything  

The Princess Bride was only a so-so book to me.  The book does have some fun parts.. fencing, rhyming, torture, giants, true love, poison, miracles, spiders,  and soooo much more.  It is the perfect fantasy! It is written in a way I didn't enjoy so much.  At first I read the two introductions in the edition I was reading (the 30th I think) and was confused.  I finally looked up the book and it's written kind of like a book within a book.  The main narrator has re-written a book that some other fictional author wrote (all fake).  This narrator does try to be funny but it just wasn't my sense of humor.  Honestly if the book was only the Princess Bride parts I would've enjoyed it more.  The real title of this book is: The Princess Bride: S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure: The "Good Parts" Version Abridged by William Goldman.  So as you can see this is the story within the story.

The story parts in the novel are almost exactly like in the movie.  This is because the author of the book also wrote the screenplay for the movie. My husband loves this movie so much!  He is always watching it.  In this instance (and I never say this) I enjoyed the movie better then the book.  The book does give us the back story of each character (Inigo, Fezzik, and Vizzini) which I did enjoy that part.  We learn how the three assassins end up together and really I just love Inigo even more now. 

 
One thing in the book I was curious about was the letter.  There is a part in the book when the narrator who is supposed to be writing the book says there is a part in the book he wasn't allowed by the publishers to put in, so if you as a read want to see it you need to write a letter to the publishers and they will send you the cut scene.  There is even an address provided in the book to write to.  I was curious whether or not you actually get a Princess Bride Letter and apparently you do!! That is pretty fun.

There is another story in this book called Buttercup's Baby.  Honestly I didn't bother to read it. It's the first chapter of the sequel. There was another long introduction to it and yet again I was a little confused. It's a made up introduction stating that Morgenstern's family is suing William Goldman and won't let him do a sequel.  I googled it and really Goldman doesn't know what to make the sequel about. There is also information that the sequel  involves how Stephen King was actually going to do the abridgement, but left it up to Goldman. I guess I just don't get these introductions. I also looked this up and King says it's not true.  I don't know confusing. 

Really though the story itself is great!  A wonderful woman... what woman wouldn't want Wesley coming and saving them no matter what!  Even after the Machine.  I wouldn't read this again but I am glad I read it at least once.  The movie though is a classic!

The crystal ball says:

Fog is coming.....  in the middle of the road on this book!

Project Disney- The Aristocats

Project Disney: The plan is to tackle all of the Disney films, re-reading the classic stories and tales that inspired many of them and to look at how the changes the filmmakers made, the new elements they introduced and the essential elements they kept. We will, of course, be talking about the films as movies as well, saying why we enjoy them and what some of our favorite moments are, but our focus will be on looking at them as adaptations. For the films that are not drawn from any one work we’ll be looking at some of the possible literary influences that we see in the stories. I am participating in Project Disney inspired by Picture Me Reading!  

This week's Project Disney is The Aristocats based off the short story by Tom Mcgowan and Tom Rowe. It has been really hard to find the source story.  I read that it is one of the few Disney films to have an original story for the premise of the film. I can't find the story anywhere, there is information on the internet on how it all went about.  It took a few years and few rejections to get this project under way.  This was the last film to be approved by Walt Disney himself before he passed away.

The Aristocats was a movie I adored growing up.  I know all the songs and can quote along with the film.  I think a lot of people tend to forget about this film.  Yes the villain Edgar is one of the weakest villains in Disney history in my opinion.  But otherwise a good film.  He is not scary, he is not a criminal mastermind with minions.  No he is a butler who has devoted his whole life to his madam (Adelaide Bonfamille) and he discovers that she is going to leave him her fortune in her will only after he takes care of her cats.  He's afraid that he will die before this happens and so then he decides to get rid of the cats.  The odd thing about this is I guess he doesn't realize that while taking care of the cats he'd have access to the fortune anyways.. but hey some plot holes have to happen right?

Now to the kitties.  The are Duchess the mother cat, then Marie, Berlioz, and Toulouse the kittens.  I love Marie so much.  Marie thinks she is such a proper little kitten and is always telling her brothers about being a lady.  I know that some people have a problem with this and would say it's not a good example for girls that Marie is always having the men do things for her.  But I just think it's fun to be a girly girl sometimes.  Edgar takes the cats to the country sides and leaves them there. Of course Duchess doesn't know what to do and ends up meeting an alley cat name Thomas O'Malley.  O'Malley agrees to help Duchess and the kittens get back to Paris.

 

While heading to Paris the cats meet some fun friends of O'Malley's.  This is the part of the movie where we get to hear some wonderful jazz music.  The song "Everybody Wants to Be a Cat" is a song I still sing to this day.  So catchy. Duchess and O'Malley fall in love but Duchess decides that she needs to get back to Madame.  I think having the film take place in France is fun too.. listening to all the French accents the cats have!   Though let's be honest.  Why are there American jazz artists in France in 1910? The film has a lot of plot holes but if you just watch it for the cats you will be fine. Eventually the cats do make it back to their house and of course O'Malley is accepted into the family. 

I am sorry I didn't have the story to compare the film to it this time around in Project Disney.  I think there will be a few more films coming up with original stores where it will be the same situation (Lilo and Stitch I think is one).  

Be sure to check out my other Project Disney:

Snow White

Cinderella
Peter Pan
Treasure Planet
Sleeping Beauty
The Great Mouse Detective 
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
The Princess and the Frog
Pinocchio 
Fantasia 
Beauty and the Beast
Lady and the Tramp
Alice in Wonderland
The Rescuers
The Rescuers Down Under
Tangled
Oliver and Company
Mulan
The Little Mermaid
Bambi
101 Dalmatians
Frozen
Fantasia 2000
The Jungle Book
The Emperor's New Groove
The Sword in the Stone
Aladdin
Atlantis
The Lion King
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
Winnie the Pooh (2011)
Robin Hood
Hercules
Pocahontas
Dumbo
The Black Cauldron 
Mary Poppins
Lilo and Stitch
The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad
Make Mine Music
Tarzan
Fox and the Hound
Melody Time 

Comic Adventures Issue #6

I read a lot of comics and rarely review them here on the blog. That's because I really don't have a lot to say for an entire post.  So I thought I would review several comics on one post.  I will still review graphic novels on their own now and then, but this is where I will talk about super-hero type comics (DC/Marvel) or sequels to some that I have already reviewed.

This issue I talk about Catwoman Volume 3 Death of the Family, Birds of Prey Volume 3 A Clash of Daggers, Batman Detective Comics Volume 3 Emperor Penguin, and Green Lantern Volume 3 The End.

Well... I was really loving Catwoman.  The first two volumes were excellent.  Then the authors changed. This was one of those volumes that kind of went all over the place. I loved the Joker part (which is apart of the DC arc Death of the Family) but then after that the volume didn't really mesh. I am happy to see Catwoman and Batman back together in this comic but it was out of nowhere.  Just looking at the review for this one and most people feel the same way.  Bummer because this is one of the DC new 52 I was loving.  2 out 5

I love Birds of Prey so much.  Volume 3 is fabulous! There is a great Court of Owls issue in this that includes Catwoman.  We are introduced to two new members in this book too.  Including a man, Condor.  I am looking forward to where that goes. A Court of Owl member also joins the team, Strix, which I really love.  To see a Court of Owl member become more human is neat.  We also see Black Canary losing control of her powers and trying to discover why this is happening.  5 out of 5

 I am really enjoying the Batman Detective Comics.  This one has a big arc from the big Death of the Family story but also includes some good side stories.  These include stories about Poison Ivy and Clayface, and Emperor Penguin.  I like seeing Batman when he is interacting with woman.  It's fun to see Poison Ivy flirt with him.  The Joker story kind of takes away from the Penguin story but I am sure that is going to pick up big time in Volume 4.  I am starting to get caught up in all the comics I am reading to their current release date so I will actually have to wait for that issue!  NOOO!! The art work is amazing in this too.. Batman looks so dark.  We get a little Nightwing and Damion action in it too. 4 out of 5

This is the last Green Lantern book that Geoff Johns writes.  Which is too bad, he is a great writer and has done a fantastic job.  In this volume we go to the all out war with the first lantern.  I actually read a little bit about this in the Volume 3 of the Red Lantern series.  This book introduces us to Simon Baz is a Lebanese American who talks about racism in America after 9/11.  I love that they have introduced a character experiencing this (not that I love it's happening to him). He is a funny character, the Justice League comes to stop him and find out who he is and the way he gets away is hilarious!  This is a great comic.  Lots going on but a good ending.  I'll have to see how the new writer does.  5 out of 5.




Well that's it for comics this time around... can't wait to read what comics come into the library next!!

I am now up to 22 books towards my Graphic Novel Reading Challenge!




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Is your blog a secret????

Do you keep your blog a secret from your family and friends? Recently I read a post on another blog (Laura Plus Books) where the blogger asked whether or not her fellow blog readers use their real names on their blogs and twitter and what not.  I went and read her post and what surprised me the most were in the comments.  People who didn't use their whole real names really didn't always do it just for privacy, they also kept private because they didn't want their friends and family knowing that they blog.

Personally I love to share my blog with everyone.  For me it is such enjoyment.  I have even tried to get friends and family to do guest posts on my blog whether about video games, movies or books.  Though no one has taken me up on that offer.  If facebook didn't block my blog as spam I would share my posts on there as well.  When I first started blogging I did read this post at Cuddlebuggery about blogging anonymously and how to do it.  You can't always hide... someone can find you if they dig enough. 

I suppose though that perhaps people don't want their co-workers to know about their blog.  Especially if it is a personal blog.  Some employers even frown on people sharing information publicly. It's hard to know where exactly to draw the line.  Do you post pictures of yourself?  Your real name? Tell your friends and family?  I do think for book bloggers it's not as bad as some other types of blogs.  Really I suppose it would only be to hide that you are really into reading.  Though the people who know me always see me with a book so it should come as no surprise to them. What about you?  Is your blog a secret? 

Sunday Post

Let's chat about what's going on this week... on my blog.. on other blogs... on the internet... and just everywhere!    I link up my post to Sunday Post, Bought, Borrowed & Bagged, and Stacking the Shelves.

On the Blog:
-A New Project Disney this week.. Atlantis!  Such an unloved more but should get more love!
-Top Ten Book Covers I'd hang in my house.   I actually did two Top Ten's this month!  WHOA!
-I review Chapion by Marie Lu
-I review the classic 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne... Love it!
-I pick new faces for Mount Rushmore by picked my favorite book to movie adaptations. Also here is the link up to all the great blogs that participated.  If you have time you should really check it out... lots of neat Mount Rushmore's to see!
-I talk about Mr. Mercedes, Stephen King's new book.  Can't wait.
-Check in time for #bookblogwalkers ! Do you want to get motivated to work out with the bookish community??

In the Blogospere
-Eastern Sunset Reads has an amazing book giveaway from The Big Book Club Getaway event.
-Have you seen the new app that gets you to read super fast?  You can read Harry Potter in 77 minutes.  There is even an example of what it will look like while you read via Huffington Post. 
-Are you a One Sitting Reader?  Book Blog Bake talks all about it.
-Have you thought about colors for your blog?  I have been wanting to give my blog an entire overhaul and will use this when I do: Parajunkie talks about colors. 
-THIS post about why the Eagles didn't fly Frodo into Mount Doom!! By Snobbery  
-Bloggiesta is coming everyone!!  This month!!!  YEAH!

Internet:
As some of you may know I love NASCAR and I Love Jeff Gordon.  This video is hilarious and you don't even have to like racing to get a laugh out of it. 



Books Books Books 

This week I didn't get anything from the library.  YEAH PARTY! If you wonder why I say this well read about when all the books come into the library at once.  I did get though  Cinder and Scarlet by Marissa Meyer from the lovely ladies at My Shelf Confessions.  I also won another book from their Wicked Readathon that I'll post about soon.  Thanks guys!  I am currently reading the Princess Bride for my bookclub so be on the lookout for that review to come.

 

What's happening in your world???