The Vow

So just been to the cinema this evening to watch this, and as much as I adore the film simply because it is a girly film and is just lovely...I have to say it is not as good as other adaptations of novels by Nicholas Sparks.


There is no doubt in my mind that all, if not most of you, have either heard of or watched The Notebook. Heartbreaking and beautiful. A DVD that must be in every girls DVD collection (sorry about the typical stereotyping!) The Notebook is my favourite adaptation from Nicholas Sparks. Then follows Dear John. The book is great and everything you want from a book. The film on the other hand...kinda falls short half way through. Good film, don't get me wrong! But could have been done a lot better in my opinion. Then we come to The Vow...

I still find the type casting of this film absolutely hilarious...but so perfect at the same time. You have Racheal McAdams who plays Paige in The Vow...and who also played Ally in The Notebook. And Channing Tatum playing Leo in The Vow...and John in Dear John. Hey, I guess these guys just capture the characters that Nicholas Sparks creates really well.

Now for the review...

First 30 minutes of the film were great. Perfect actually. Not a flaw at all. The characters are set up beautifully and their life and how it changes are all done very well and tastefully. Then the film begins to throw its audience around...and not in the way we like! There's none of that "will they, wont they" as you are constantly shown different things. Maybe that's accurate for a depiction of someone with amnesia, maybe not. But personally, it made me feel a little uncomfortable. So you go through this stage for the majority of the film. Then in the last half an hour, things got flipped tits up once again...just for the film to end (in a rush) in the complete opposite way! It isn't a satisfying ending, but the story itself is satisfying. The acting is superb and you end up sympathising for Leo more than you do Paige (or maybe that's just because he is played by Channing Tatum and he's just too pretty to hate on).

All in all, I did like the film. Well, I liked the story and I now want to go and read the book. Although it is obviously a romance film, there are little snippets of comedy in there. But I mean little. The odd joke from Tatum to be honest. It's definitely not as upsetting as I was told it is...although there were a few points in the film where I did well up a tad! It's nothing compared to The Notebook though. So I recommend that if you are going to see it, then don't go in thinking "well the story was written by the same guy who wrote The Notebook, so it's going to be good" because you will just leave disappointed. And if you didn't know about Nicholas Sparks and that he wrote all of these different stories...well now you do! 

Heads up for any future Sparks adaptations...always take a tissue for tears in the cinema. None of his stories have a happy ending! 

I rate this film a 7/10 :] thanks for reading! Share around and leave your comments below.

The Hunger Games Trilogy

I'd heard a lot about this series of books, and after a few weeks of contemplating whether to read them or not, I figured I would give them a go.

PART 1

The Hunger Games is the first book in the trilogy. You follow the story of Katniss Everdeen as she battles her way through the rules that her society sets, being The Hunger Games. Whenever I described this book to someone, I always used the analogy "think of a Big Brother style show...except you are made to go on it and have to become a murderer".
I had this book bought for me on last Monday Evening. I had it finished by Tuesday night. I believe the book is 500+ plus pages in length...so not too much that you feel swamped down by the vast amount of story, but not too little that you feel as if you are reading a toddlers book.
Speaking of ages, there are moments in the book where you feel as if the writing style is more aimed at a young teen audience. The targeted age range is young adults...but this is only reflected in the writing style in my opinion. The story and the ideologies that it presents is a very mature theme. 
There are moments in the book that are very moving and touching. Trust me, this book does give the audience a sense of emotions and you will begin to feel for the characters and begin to place yourself in their shoes.
Being strictly honest, there are a few moments in the book where Suzanna Collins' (author) editor must have had a bit too much to drink or drifted off to sleep, as there are a few spelling and grammatical errors (and the odd random word/letter thrown in for laughs apparently).
Saying all of that though, I really did enjoy this book. Once you start reading, there isn't a "boring" moment where you think it is a good place to stop reading for the night. You just have to bite the bullet and read it all in one go, or you have to persevere against the withdrawal symptoms.
The Hunger Games is currently in the process of becoming a motion picture. It is due for release (in the UK) on the 23rd of March 2012. Here are the 3 trailers that have currently been released.

So there it is. Definitely recommend this book and cannot wait for the film to be released. Judging by the trailers, the story line has wandered from the books a bit (at the beginning of the  3rd trailer, you see Katniss give a mockingjay pin to her sister, Prim, when in the book the pin was given to Katniss by the mayors daughter before Katniss entered the games.)


Go read it!