The Perks of Being a Wallflower : Double review.

Double as in, the book and the movie.So as most of us know, the book “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky had recently been adapted into a movie starring Logan Lerman, Emma Watson and Ezra Miller.

So in this post, I think I’m actually going to be cynical.

The book, in my opinion was terrible.

The format (letters) was awkward to read, the sentences kind of “ran on” a bit, and the general effect made it quite a hard book to get into. That, and the lack of a major plot. Or maybe it just wasn’t fictional enough for me. Either way, I really didn’t like. I couldn’t even finish it – I got halfway through the book and then gave up.

The only reason I decided to read the book was because the film looked good, and I wanted to read the book first. To be perfectly honest, If I hadn’t been looking for it, I would never have picked up this book in a store. The cover wasn’t great, and the blurb was iffy at best. 1/5.

Not exactly grabbing…

Even though the book was a disappointment, I still decided to go and see the movie. Directed by the author, Stephen Chbosky, I wasn’t expecting much, but I decided not to judge it by the book.

It was brilliant.

Ok, so at a basic level, it’s the same plot. Ok, so Emma Watson’s performance is highly over rated. Ok, so I was more excited about the trailer for “The Hobbit” (eek) than I was for the film.

It was excellent.

Obviously, the film is not in letter format. The actors covey the emotions much better than the book did. The plot was slightly changed, but it was much easier to follow than the book was. Overall it was a film that really worked.

Logan Lerman as Charlie, the main character, is great. While his performance isn’t anything to shout about, it certainly wasn’t bad. Sam, Charlie’s friend and love interest, is played by Emma Watson. It kills me to say this, but she really didn’t bring anything to the role. She seemed kind of forced, with none of the ease Miller and Logan seemed to have in their roles. I have no idea what these critics are acclaiming her for, her sub-par performance is completely overshadowed by Lerman and Miller. Ezra Miller, as Patrick, Charlie’s friend and Sam’s step-brother is truly outstanding. He really brings the character to life, in a good way. He completely steals the show, leaving Watson and Lerman to trail behind him.

Four out of five stars…

A bit plain, but it’s excellent

Brave could be better.

Pixar’s latest, Brave, isn’t half as good as it’s made out to be.

It was billed as one of the films of the summer, a guaranteed hit. And it probably was with the majority, but I didn’t think it was anything special. It was an ok movie, don’t get me wrong, but it definitely wasn’t up to Pixar’s usual standard.

A Pixar film is usually amazing. Pixar seem to understand emotion in films, in a way that other animators can only dream of. A Pixar movie can usually provoke some sort of reaction in everybody – no matter what age they are. Toy Story, Up, Wall-E – all amazing films, that are loved by millions of people around the world, of every age.

So while Brave was a good movie, it just wasn’t, in my opinion, what I have come to expect from Pixar – perfection.

Brave follows Princess Merida, a young Scottish princess, who loves archery, but doesn’t see eye to eye with her strict mother.

“Determined to make her own path in life, Princess Merida defies a custom that brings chaos to her kingdom. Granted one wish, Merida must rely on her bravery and her archery skills to undo a beastly curse. (IMDB)”

Basically, when Merida causes her mother to get turned into a bear, she has to fix her mistake. General fairy tale stuff, they have to learn to accept each other, bladibladiblah… Seen it all before.

The only aspect to Brave that is really remarkable, is the animation. Pixar really pulled out all the stops with the animation, and it really shows. Not one detail is overlooked, and it really is beautiful.

Oh, but I must congratulate the writers for actually having a strong female protagonist in a kids movie. It doesn’t happen half as often as you’d think.

So all in all, I’m giving Brave 3/5. Completely unremarkable, but the animation pulls it through.

Review: City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

The cover actually put me off it. The blurb on my copy is also dreadful…

I decided to read City of Bones, by Cassandra Clare, on a whim. I had seen a few shots of the cast – the movie is currently filming – and a friend had told me they were excellent, so when I saw a box set of the first three books in The Mortal Instruments series, I decided to buy it.

I’m not sure if this is the official poster, but it conveys the point…

I’ve just finished it, and it’s good. I wouldn’t call it the best book I’ve ever read, but it’s worth a read.

City of Bones follows the story of Clary Fray, a fifteen year old girl living in New York. One day at a club, she sees a demon being killed. Over the next few days her life gets thrown into chaos, as she realises that there’s a whole other side of the world that she hasn’t been able to see. Shadowhunters roam the streets, killing demons and keeping “the Accords” (a peace agreement). After her mother is abducted, she is taken to the Institute, a sort of headquarters for Shadowhunters in New York.

She then hears about the Uprising, a time when a Shadowhunter called Valentine attempted to rid the world of all Downworlders (demons, vampires, werewolves etc.). He is thought to be dead, along with his wife, and the Mortal Cup – a cup that can turn people into Shadowhunters.

But Clary soon discovers that Valentine’s death was not what it seemed, and that she is involved in this new world. And what part did her mother play?

It can be a little slow in places, and it certainly left me with more questions than answers, but I’m sure they’ll all be answered in the sequels. The characters are great, even if Clary is a bit of a Mary Sue, and the plot leaves nothing to be desired. There was not one, but two Star Wars moments, in about as many chapters, but that was fine – quite a big plot twist, but not completely unexpected.

All in all, City of Bones is quite a good book. It’s not amazing, but it’s certainly worth a read, and I’m a bit biased, as this sort of genre isn’t always my cup of tea. . I give it three and a half out of five.

On a different note, I recently attended the book launch of Derek Landy’s new book “Skulduggery Pleasant: Kingdom of the Wicked.” I haven’t started reading it yet, but from the blurb, and the way Derek talked about it on the day, it seems very good.

0.4 by Mike Lancaster, and my new love of Sci-Fi

 

This book is amazing. That’s not an overstatement, this book literally amazed me.

I’m not the biggest sci-fi fan – Personally I prefer Dystopian – but I can honestly say that this is one of the most thought-provoking, suspense-filled and exciting books that I have ever had the pleasure to read. One of the best things about this book, is that it’s brilliance was completely unexpected. I didn’t give much thought to the cover design – it didn’t play a huge part in drawing me towards the book – but now that I’ve read it, the cover makes a lot more sense. The cover of the edition I read showed two hands, one on the back, and one on the front of the book. These two hands were connected by what seems like strands of skin. It’s remarkably simple, but it works really well.

It was actually the name of the book “0.4” that enticed me to pick it from the shelves in the library. As with the cover design, you can’t understand the importance of this title until you have read the book. It’s quite an unusual title, which adds to the general sci-fi feeling of 0.4.

This book is set in partly in the future, and partly in present times. 0.4 is told from the perspective of a scientist in the future. In the future, a set of taped has been found, which describe the incredible story of Kyle Straker, and how his world completely changed.

One day, at his town’s annual talent show, Kyle volunteers to be hypnotised, along with his friend Lilly, and two adults called Mr Peterson and Kate.  When they wake up from their hypnosis, they find that everybody else in the town – apart from the four of them – has been frozen. The phone lines are down, as well as the internet and the television. They walk around for a while, and when they return to the site of the talent show, they find that the world has woken up again, and that the people are unfrozen.

The four of them are relieved, and go back to their separate lives, thinking that everything is back to normal. However, they couldn’t be more wrong – everything has changed. As the story is told from Kyle’s perspective, we see how he quickly figures out that there is something wrong with parents, and the other citizens of his town. The only people who haven’t been changed are the four who were hypnotised. And they are the only people who don’t know what happened. So they must find out.

Kyle preserved his story on a set of tapes, which were found in the future, and are a source of study about how people in the past acted, and about the event the Kyle describes. The book is Kyle’s story put to paper, with some commentary.

I’m still not sure why this book made such an impression on me. It may be the storyline – all the unexpected twists and turns – Or it may be the fact that, if this story was true, we wouldn’t know. Or it may just be that I’ve discovered a new love for Sci-Fi. Whatever the reason, I really enjoyed reading this unexpected gem of a book, and I hope that more people discover it. I’ve never heard of this book, or the author, so I’m presuming that it’s not hugely well-known.

In my opinion 0.4 should be a bestseller. It’s absolutely brilliant, and completely blew me away. 5/5.

 

I may or may not be suffering withdrawal symptoms from the Internet.

Having recently left the city behind me, and embraced the country life, I find myself being able to go online a lot less.

It may be because of the fresh air, and the scenery, the people, or the atmosphere.

Or it may not. Well actually, I know it’s not. There is simply no wi-fi here.

And it is quite annoying.

It just goes to show exactly how much the use of the Internet is ingrained onto our everyday lives.

For example, I was watching Olympic swimming the other day (possibly the highlight of my Summer). While watching, I found myself wondering what Twitter had to say about the races. Was Twitter sad about Phelps only getting silver in the 200fly? Or was Twitter a Le Clos fan? Was Twitter supporting Adlington, like most of the crowd seemed to be? Or was Twitter rooting for Ledecky?

Without the Internet, I couldn’t tell. I didn’t have a clue what was going on in the world of social networks. And I’m ashamed to say it bothered me.

I consider myself a reader. I value books more than the Internet or music.

So I didn’t expect myself to be missing the Internet, at least not surrounded by all my books.

But as unexpected as it was, it happened. I miss the Internet. I miss Twitter, I miss WordPress, I miss Leakynews, I miss Youtube, I (to a lesser extent) miss Facebook.

I miss being able to read the blogs I follow. I miss not being able to catch up on my Youtube subscriptions. I miss the latest casting news, the latest online news, the latest anything, to be honest.

But to be completely honest, there’s nothing I can do about it.

And yes, this was a very long and drawn out way of saying, I have no access to the Internet, and therefore, I can’t post as regularly as I’d like to.

Sorry about, but the nearest library (where I am currently sitting) is a twenty minute drive away, and there are no buses, so I have to rely on lifts.

So yeah, sorry about that.

See this? I don’t have this…