The Amazing Spiderman 2 - my electric web of loves and hates

Okay so I'm hoping that the dreadful title which was wholly unamusing and not in the slightest bit witty, grabbed your attention because this is my filmtalk for the new spiderman film that I pray you take a few minutes of your time to observe, will be electrifying...

So I'll get the ball rolling by just fangirling over Andrew Garfield for a bit. What a guy. His acting for this role was absolutely effortless, he gets the geeky-hot-emotionally damaged-outgoing character to a T, literally felt this spiderman was so much better played than Toby Maguire, even though he put his own spin on it, I always saw him ACTING spiderman whereas Garfield just IS spiderman, if that makes any sense at all?

I love the chemistry between Emma Stone and Andrew Garfield, I know the couple are/were/haven't researched it lately, a relationship in real life, and this transferred onto the screen effortlessly. I was crying when they broke up for gods sake and it wasn't even that sad!

Dane DeHaan (the guy who played Harry Osborn) was an interesting casting. At first I wasn't sure about him, I thought his acting was quite rigid and forced but then as the film progressed I feel he grew into his character and then all that awkwardness began to work for him and ultimately brought the Green Goblin to life!

Jamie Fox was equally awesome, but I think that he was pretty much guaranteed to be amazing anyway..

I know so far it sounds like the best thing about the movie was the actors/actresses and that's because it was, I couldn't ever imagine or put together a better cast and I don't say that often!

Now the niggly bits about the movie... 

I'm not sure I liked how the green goblin was thrown in right towards the end, I know that he's a massive character in the series but I would have liked to have seen some more character development of Harry before he turned into the villain, now all we'll see him as is the green goblin and this will take up the whole of the next movie!

Also, it all got a bit confusing at times. I didn't really understand Peter's fathers experiments and why only his bloodline could be infected with the spider venom! I like this adaptation more than the first mainly because they go into the science behind spiderman's condition a lot more but I wish this was better explained, but regardless, it was nothing a quick google didn't clear up for me!

Now for the big spoiler, if you haven't watched the film then stop reading!

Gwen Stacey's death was literally heartbreaking, I have not cried that much over a film in a while! I'm not entirely sure it was necessary, I know Mary-Jane is a big part of the series and will probably replace Gwen but I don't think Andrew Garfield will get the same chemistry with any other actress and so any new relationship will just seem to me superficial! I saw her death coming, the second he mentioned he would follow her to Oxford, I knew she would get killed off, the actual scene broke my heart nonetheless.

Overall, I prefer this adaptation of spiderman to the first and admittedly this is kinda controversial as it does just seem like Hollywood is trying to make more money but so far I've been impressed and don't think the remake has done at all as badly as I first thought it would. 

Much love homies x

Divergent - Film review

Seeing this film was one of the best £4.30 I have ever spent, and did not even deserve an orange wednesday visit, I would have paid full price, VIP and even for the bloody popcorn to see this film, and if I wasn't a student, I'd treat my whole family to a trip to the IMAX or something, such a successful adaptation.

I had my speculations about this film after watching the trailer, I do not think Shailene Woodley came across as Tris Prior in the trailer and I honestly thought Four (Tobias Eaton) was going to be one of those brooding love interests who I don't believe comes across as desirable at all. This is possibly my favourite book of all time (NOTE: not trilogy), so obviously I am very protective over it so was reluctant in some ways to see the film, but I am so glad I did!

The first thing that struck me was the way they did not shy away from any of the brutality in the fight scenes and Eric was just as cruel as I hoped he would be. The casting was actually perfect, I couldn't tell that half the actors were English (though Marcus may as well as just have been made Irish because there was no masking that accent) and no one made me cringe into my seat the way some actors do who act in Young Adult movies like this.

The film was well explained, even for viewers who may not have read the book, I feel would have been able to understand it, the Dauntless compound was just as I pictured it to be and the film ran at a good pace; no parts were rushed and nor do I think any were dragged out, the right scenes were cut and the screenplay was just right.

Now lets talk about Theo James. I was devastated when he was cast, I know I was being waaaay over-dramatic which I have a large tendency to do but I did not like him, did not think he would fit the part and did not admire any of his other work. It's safe to say that's changed now, do I think someone else should have played Four? Yes, don't ask me who but I still feel there was something just missing from Theo that I can't really explain but his casting wasn't a disaster. He has a good acting ability and is very easy on the eye, I believed there was chemistry between him and Shailene and honestly think there is more to come for him in the future, he's like a new Rupert Grint, massively underrated but no one can deny he has talent.

The only thing I would have liked to have seen was a more dramatic transformation from Tris, I noticed that she was wearing pretty heavy eye make-up whilst she was in Abegnation which I didn't think was accurate and I would have liked to have seen the scene where she chooses out some new Dauntless clothes and wears make-up for the first time, would have signposted her character's development nicely!

I have heard a lot of controversy about the 'intimacy scene' in Tris' fear landscape. I've heard it comes across that she is afraid of rape and after watching the film I understand why it's been interpreted in that way. I feel the director crossed the line between force and submission, it does look like Four is trying to force Tris to have sex with him even though that's not exactly what happens in the book. I don't think the director knew it would come across in this way so I don't blame him, but what do you guys think? Do you think it's a completely inappropriate addition to the film?

Nevertheless, I believe all other aspects were perfect. I was so happy when almost every song was by Ellie Goulding because she is literally my idol and the kissing scene was made that much better by her haunting voice. 

I would recommend anyone reading this goes to see it and I hope I haven't given too much away!

Over and out x

Love and honor - Film review

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I know this film came out quite a while ago but it just popped up on my skymovies and I thought I'd give it a watch. I'm not going to say I didn't enjoy this film, because what I was looking for was a film that was easy viewing and didn't get me too emotionally attached, however judging by the title of the film, I'm guessing this was the wrong thing to take away from it. Basically, this was an awful film.

Firstly, the poster for this film shows two of the main characters however I would say the character 'Joiner' was equally as important in the plot, if not the character who carries the story forward... but regardless as to this fault, he was dreadfully cast. Austin Stowell lacked the conviction of a Vietnam soldier and his facial expressions and false emotions made me cringe so much I genuinely think he needs to take up a role on the Disney channel asap...

Furthermore, the war in Vietnam was literally depicted as one massive ride. The soldiers seemed to spend more time chatting than actually fighting any enemies and not once in the whole film did we get a sense of why the war was actually going on... for anyone watching the film who has no knowledge of the Vietnam war, don't take this depiction as real PLEASE. The film needed way more protest and way more adult themes, the 60s were not so subtle and the film didn't really give this era any justice.

All I wanted was a more original storyline. How typical but yet wholly unconvincing that a soldier go back to America for THREE days and then suddenly fall in love with someone and completely change the person that he is. Even Dear John gave the couple a little over two weeks to kindle their romance but this 'love' which I'm assuming they are referring to in the title was quite frankly boring and unexhilarating (potentially made up a word there).

Liam Hemsworth was the best thing about this film, he is a talented actor and brings life to the characters he is given rather than just reproduce lines however I don't believe the character he was given was all that interesting either. At some points I just literally thought, WTF... 'loveliest angel'? Not a single girl I know would ever fall for that line in a million years, he'd be walking away with a sore cheek if he tried it with me.

I don't think any of the characters knew anything about honor, fair enough Hemsworth went back to the front line but Joiner pretty much admitted that he had more honor for his girlfriend than he did for the war effort which I think was a really negative message to put across... being a soldier demands way more loyalty to your country than to your loved ones.

Oh and just one last thing, I hate Aimee Teegarden.

The Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare Booktalk & battle between TID and TMI

Synopsis: The Clockwork Price is Cassandra Clare's final installment in her The Infernal Devices trilogy. It follows Tessa's journey towards marriage and the troubling illness which seems to be catching up to her fiancée with haste. After a few shocking discoveries about Mortmain's whereabouts and his intentions, and after a sudden kidnapping of a much loved Downworlder, the race begins to save Tessa's life whilst Jem's progressively nears the end. The members of the London Institute face a big decision to make, betray the Clave or betray each other?

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So I just finished reading Clockwork Princess and was left literally shattered. The book throws so many different emotions at you that it's seriously too much to deal with. When Jem died, or when we at least thought he had, I cried for about 3 hours straight. The way Cassandra described Will's pain and then Tessa's grief made me feel like I myself had lost someone and without him in the story it kind of felt like I had! Admittedly, I think Cassandra should have left Jem dead. He had said his goodbyes and made peace without everyone (except maybe Tessa) and I had just about managed to stop crying when WHOOPS JEM POPS UP AGAIN. I was so confused at first and felt kind of angry to be honest because I didn't want some miraculous cure to have popped up last minute which would have been completely cliché and predictable. I didn't expect him to become a silent brother, he never really mentioned even considering it before and I'm sure he told Tessa he would never wish that life for himself? What changed? We never really found out...

I don't mean to rant because I genuinely did love this book but I did not like the epilogue. I thought the ending was perfect; Tessa was going to marry Will which was what I had been rooting for since the very first chapters of Clockwork Angel, basically everything ended happily. The epilogue was sad, the description of Will's death was heartbreaking but it was expected. I half expected Tessa to make some big gesture of suicide so she would not have to see all her loved ones die but it because obvious pretty quickly that that wouldn't happen. The description of modern day London was strange, I was so absorbed in the 1800s that i'm not entirely sure I liked the transition to 2008. When Jem turned up as his old self, I knew I would be irritated by what came next. How could Tessa simply swap the love of her life like that? I felt it was a kind of betrayal of Will's memory but I do understand that she loved both of them.

Overall however, this was an amazing end to the trilogy. The way Mortmain was defeated was suprising and a realllllly bizarre plot twist which I loved! I'm glad that everyone was together with someone in the end, Sophie had Gideon and Cecily had Gabriel. I really liked the character development of the Lightwood brothers in this book, I felt it was convincing and a nice addition to the Institute family. Cecily was also a really likeable character, she reminded me of Will and I simply love him and she was just really straightforward and likeable.

Now to the second part of this blog post, which was better, The Infernal Devices or The Mortal Instruments?

I loved the The Infernal Devices probably because it was set in London, it was set in one of my favourite periods of history and the characters were really well developed because there were less of them.

The two books obviously shared the same characters but the storyline in The Mortal Instruments was much more detailed and in depth simply because it is spread out over more books. I found myself surprised more in The Mortal Instruments, there were more shocking twists and more subplots within the overarching plot.

The Mortal Instruments however was not perfect, some books in the series were better than others, City of Glass being the best and City of Ashes being the worst in my opinion but I feel The Infernal Devices generally sustained the same level of quality.

The Infernal Devices was definitely written better, I feel Cassandra gets better at writing with every book she publishes and this trilogy was well thought out, the storyline of all three books was clearly carefully planned and it was generally a very easy read without too many unanswered questions.

Overall, I feel The Infernal Devices was better because the characters were more convincing and a story is nothing without its characters. The research for this book was extensive; Cassandra must be well travelled and well read to be able to write about places in London which I myself have not even heard of despite living there for 18 years. With the release of City of Heavenly Fire being released in a matter of months, my opinion may change depending on how the series in rounded up and how heartbroken Cassandra's ruthless and inevitable slaughter of main characters will leave me.

Please let me know which you think is better, TID or TMI?

What to watch out for in 2014

So I recently started writing for my campus newspaper and so thought I would share whatever I write for them, with you also who probably won't have a chance to read it otherwise!

What to watch out for in 2014...

There are not many things that can bring a grown man to tears, but I have witnessed John Green's book, The Fault in our Stars do just that. This year, the New York bestselling novel will hit the screens on June the 6^th and it promises to be HUGE.

Long awaited by fans, the film's production was actually largely in the control of the author himself. John Green had a hands on approach will most aspects of filming and promises that the film does the story and the characters justice. He even gave us a cheeky hint that most, if not every single line of dialogue spoken in the book has a place in the script somewhere meaning the film will likely be a hit amongst its fan base; and what a fan base that is! The book remained at the top of the bestseller list for 7 consecutive weeks and as of January 2013 had sold over 1 million copies; I predict the film will see similar success.

Granted, this book does contain heart melting dialogue and exceptional character development, which, if you have not read it, be warned will likely send you into emotional turmoil for a few weeks afterwards, however, this will not be the only reason that people find themselves queuing up for tickets or buying in advance, I expect that people will also want to see the likes of leading characters Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort work some on screen magic.

Shailene Woodley has been one of the rising stars of the past few years, having started out on the big screen starring in Oscar winning 'The Descendants' alongside George Clooney, she has simply progressed upwards. She is slowly becoming a Young Adult idol, also starring in another New York bestseller adaptation, Divergent, as the female lead alongside her co-star Ansel Elgort who is equally as upcoming and very easy on the eye. If there is one thing I find strange about this pair it's that they are going from playing siblings in one film and lovers in the next, bear in mind that the films are released within a mere matter of months from each other and have exactly the same fan base...

Regardless, Divergent is another one to watch out for, likely to see as much success as the Hunger Games franchise, I believe Young Adult dystopian movies will be one of the defining aspects of this movie generation. 

The Infernal Devices: Clockwork Angel/Prince Booktalk

Synopsis:

Clockwork Angel: 16-year-old Tessa Grey finds herself far from home in a world she never imagined existed, while she learns more about the circumstances which brought her to a Shadowhunter's Institute in London, England, she also learns to love the people who have adopted her into their family, some more than others. While in pursuit of the mysterious villain who seems determined to get his hands on her, she finds herself surprised at how strong she is as a person and how she can utilise her new-found powers.

Clockwork Prince: After her brother's betrayal of her, Tessa sets her sights on protecting her new family and her new home in the Institute. The search for Mortmain continues and reaches new levels as it is slowly revealed how deep his poison has spread. Tessa finds herself drawn to two best friends, Will and Jem. Whilst Jem offers security, Will exposes passion and electricity in Tessa she cannot help. Will proves just how far he will go to make Tessa love him whilst coming to terms with his own inner torment which is heightened after a surprise encounter with a few old flames...

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So I have recently extended my love for The Mortal Instruments series and bought the first two books in the Infernal Devices Trilogy and I definitely do not regret it!

Dare I say I find this trilogy better than its sequel? (There will be a separate Booktalk on this once I have read the final book!)

I seriously love this trilogy so far, my only disposition being that it is a love triangle and I just find these slightly predictable, but in this case, the two boys are parabatai which means they love each other possibly more than either of them loves Tessa.

Clockwork Angel started out pretty abruptly, I was confused for like the first 2 chapters but I think this was the intended effect... we found out what was going on slowly, to mirror Tessa's understanding? Or maybe just to get the reader engaged in the book just so they could find out what all the madness was about!

Okay so Tessa has some sort of shape changing ability? To be honest, when reading about this book in reviews and such forth, I was given no inclination to this so was completely surprised! Quite frankly I find it interesting, it's a power no one possessed in the sequel and it means Tessa can take part in all sorts of secret missions, which she does!

The heroine, Will Herondale, who of course, I imagine to be beautiful, is introduced briskly as well, saving Tessa from the Dark Sister's home. At first I thought I would hate him because of his arrogant demeanour but then I kind of learned to love him, just as Tessa did I suppose.

Jem never really appealed to me in this book, fair enough he was lovely and kind and whatnot but he was the safe option, there's got to be a 'safe option' and a 'risk option' wherever a love triangle is concerned and usually the female will choose the riskier one because otherwise there would not be an as compelling story to build upon.

The storyline in this prequel is much simpler. We have a villain who is actually a mundane, with no real aspirations other than to rid the world of all Shadowhunters but that's what I quite like, how the storyline is simple and easy to follow. It means that we get to know each of the characters in much greater depth because there isn't as much going on as in the Mortal Instruments.

I loved how all the families remain the same, I recognise all the surnames and scandals which are mentioned in the sequel and so I feel prequels like these, such as The Hobbit, are valuable in furthering the creation of a magical world.

The Clockwork Prince was much better I feel, much more happened and I found myself shocked and surprised and generally just glued to this book.

When Jessamine betrayed the Institute I literally could not believe it, I thought she was sneaking out at night to undergo secret Shadowhunter training or something I had no idea she was still in touch with Nate!

I like how we haven't heard anything from Mortmain this book; it increases the mystery behind his character and the suspense for what he is planning in the background while his lessers do his dirty work.

Will is by far one of my favourite literary characters ever (next to Simon Lewis), the whole business with his curse and not being able to love anyone was such a unique plot twist and added more depth to his character than going down the road of a 'tormented soul' or 'low self esteem' would have achieved. I was literally heartbroken on his behalf when Tessa said she was engaged to Jem, a part of me hoped they would still have some sort of a steamy moment to show her she feels more passion for Will. Personally, I don't think she will end up marrying Jem. As harsh as it sounds, either he will die first in the next book or she will come to her senses.

I love the storyline between Sophie and Gideon and I reckon Sophie will try to become a Shadowhunters in the next book, which will be an interesting sub-plot for her!

Not going to lie, these automatons freak the hell out of me and recently I've been watching loads of films about robots and robots on YouTube and argh it's all just a bit close to home because we probably will see robots on the future so it's a scary scenario which could actually come true!

Most of all, I love that this book is set in the 1800s. It is far more interesting reading about a time so different to ours in the present day and gives the illusion of being a different world when in reality this is not the case! It is also set in London, where I live, so all the places Cassie describes ring a bell in my mind and I've more than likely been to most of them. This series makes me want to be a Shadowhunter so much!

A few things die annoy me about these two books. Firstly, how Tessa can be so naive about understanding Will's feelings towards her after he kisses her and embraces her bewilders me. Also, the fact that she doesn't use her powers more to access other people's thoughts confuse me! Surely she could access the thoughts of Will and understand why he is the way he is? Or access Jessamine's thoughts sooner to know why she was sneaking out? (At this point Tessa was unaware that Jessie had a block on her mind). Overall however, this series is DEFINITELY worth a read, even more so if you're already a fan of the Shadowhunter world. If you've never read any of Cassie's books before however, it may be fun to start by reading this trilogy, then move on to the sequel? Just an idea.

If you've got this far, thanks for reading!

Allegiant Booktalk

Synopsis: The third instalment in Veronica Roth's 'Divergent' trilogy. Told in dual perspective from the two protagonists, it follows the journey of our much loved characters to a place outside of the City they didn't know existed until the shocking conclusion of the last book. After learning that their beloved City was not all they thought it was and after finding that everywhere they go seems to be ruled by corruption, Tris decides that steps have to be taken to save her City and her relationship. A truly brilliant conclusion, if you haven't read the first two books, STOP READING THIS AND GET YOUR PRIORITIES STRAIGHT. 

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This book has broken me. Like seriously, I stopped reading it last night and was too much of an emotional mess to formulate a sentence let alone write the booktalk straight away like I usually do. 

I haven't read anything for a while because I've been at uni and have had A LOT of work so I found it hard to fit in time to read anything but when Allegiant came out I knew that everything else would have to be put aside for a few days. It may be because my mind was preoccupied or because I could only sit down for an hour at a time before I had something else to do, but I didn't find it as easy to get into this book as I did for the other two. When it got to 2/3rds in, I couldn't put it down, but up to this point I feel nothing really happened. Tobias' involvement in the mini-rebellion was the only bit of action that got the pages turning however this scene was over way too quickly. The other parts of the book up to this point were mainly explanatory, describing what the world outside the City was really about which took a lot of explaining. It was just a bit less exciting than the first book which had a cliffhanger at the end of EVERY BLOODY CHAPTER.

The concept was really confusing, I got really confused about who was Divergent and who wasn't and what the difference was between GD and GP and the Allegiant and WAHH MINDFUCK. 

This was the first book that we saw a dual perspective between Tris and Tobias. I loved this because Tobias is one of my favourite characters but in a way I feel it was unnecessary to a certain extent, Tobias' perspective didn't really tell us anything that Tris' perspective couldn't have and Tris' chapters were always more exciting. After reading the end though I know that Tobias' perspective was needed :'(

There was a lot of death in this book, I didn't really care about Edward but I don't think Tori needed to die, and her death was so quick and sudden, it was almost like everything she had done for Tris in the previous books didn't matter because Tris seemed so unfased by her death. THEN THERE WAS URIAH's DEATH:'( He was by far my favourite character so as soon as the explosion went off, I knew this book would send me into emotional turmoil. His death was really prolonged for some reason, I know it was probably to build suspense but what with everything else going on, I kind of just assumed he was already dead. 

And then,

There was Tris' death.

OMG. Why the actual fuck would she let Caleb live after what he did. I understand that it was a selfless act that she had been preparing herself for in all three of the books, as in she had never really understood what proper sacrifice meant but why did she have to die :( When she survived the death serum I was like 'YESSS SHE HAS SURVIVED' but the sacrifice still held the same weight because Caleb surely would have died. BUT THEN DAVID HAD TO COME AND FUCK SHIT UP. I was literally in bits when her Mum came to take her away, like I couldn't even see the page through my tears anymore and I just had to take like half an hour to compose myself. Then Tobias found out and it set me off again, I always saw Tris and Tobias as a pair, like they couldn't survive without each other so in a way I could see how devastated Tobias must have been. 

I genuinely thought that the scene where Tobias spread Tris' ashes was the most beautiful scene in this whole trilogy, possibly in any dystopian book I have ever read. It was perfect and I feel that is exactly what Tris would have wanted. I was glad as well that there was the 'two-and-a-half-years-later' epilogue because I would have been so sad ending the book knowing Tobias was still devastated, it was nice to see that he had found at least some peace with her death but that her memory was still not forgotton. 

I am actually talking about them like they're real people LOL.

What I liked about this book is that we were able to see outside the City, outside the story we were already familiar with. I feel like there's still so more than could be explored, another 10 books could be made out of this concept easily but now we only have the films to look forward to :'(

If you want me to review anything or have anything to say about this post that you agree or disagee with, comment below or send me a message on my Tumblr account http://www.tumblr.com/blog/readwithsophie

I'll try to review more regularly, and I will DEFINITELY write a review of Catching Fire as I am seeing it THE DAY BEFORE THE RELEASE DATE BITCHESSSSS. NOT LONG NOW!