After my classes ended on Friday I took the opportunity to watch "Mirror Mirror". I originally wanted to watch "Wrath of the Titans" but I wasn't in the mood for a 3D flick (as much as I like to see Liam Neeson in action). I'll try not to spoil it too much but I may let a thing or two slip out so YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!
So the trailer for this movie is:
The movie is directed by Tarsem Singh who has done a Pepsi commercial with Caesar Enrique, trippy film "The Cell" which stars Jennifer Lopez, and a film I have yet to see based on Greek mythology "The Immortals". If you've seen any of these films I guess it's safe to say the cinematography is the same but "Mirror Mirror" is more of a happier flick.
So basically it's a take on the Snow White tale, featuring the titular princess played by Lily Collins left under the care of the vain and wicked stepmother (a.k.a the queen) played by Julia Roberts. The kingdom under the queen has gone bankrupt so in order to save the kingdom from bankruptcy (and fuel her vanity) she makes it her life goal to marry someone who is rich which comes in the form of Prince Alcott played by Armie Hammer. Things do not go well for the queen as the prince takes interest in Snow White so the queen tries to kill off Snow White, only for Snow White to end up with the seven dwarves.
Now this does not follow the traditional tale where you have the damsel in distress where she has to be awaken by the kiss of a prince to be free of some spell. Snow White here actually kicks some ass (and there's a nifty montage. What film that features a character learning how to fight does not have a montage?). I'd personally put the prince in the "damsel in distress" position and from the trailer (and those who have seen it) may or may not prove my point.
As for who I recommend to see this film: everyone. There's action in the form of sword fights. There are also some things in the film that kids may not understand but will appeal to the adults (fan service maybe?). It's not" laughing by the seat of your pants funny" (though this could be due to my taste in humor) but you'll laugh (and the kids will do to as I was sitting next to a couple while watching this). Also it's an alternative take on the traditional story.
Overall I did enjoy the film. Don't forget to stay for the Bollywood number during the credits.
Showing posts with label review. Show all posts
Showing posts with label review. Show all posts
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Sunday, May 1, 2011
(I hope this turns out okay) Commentary on "Unnatural" by Michael Griffo
It been weeks since I read this book but before I am consumed by playing Pokemon Black and struggling with my web browsers while playing Frontierville on Facebook I might as well get this out of the way before I forget about it. (And for those who think that it's weird for someone that's over 20 to read books for a teen/young adult audience, who cares!) Plot points will be revealed (Just a spoiler warning for those who don't like these things).
Anyways I came across this book on a trip to Wal-Mart and what drew me to it was the cover, then the blurb at the back (It mentioned something about vampires). I usually dread books that are over 400 pages but I was able to read through Sergei Lukyanenko's Watch series and Becca Fitzpatrick's Hush, Hush books so I took a stab at it.
The first book in this Archangel Academy series by Michael Griffo is titled Unnatural. The story follows Michael Howard (and many other characters), a teenaged boy from Nebraska, USA who is gay. Not only does Michael face bullying from his high school he also has to deal with his mother's ailing mental health. Once his mother commits suicide his father somewhat come back into his life and enrolls Michael in Archangel Academy: an all-male private Christian (could be Catholic or Anglican as buildings are named after saints) boarding school in the fictional England town of Eden. Archangel Academy (referred mostly as Double A) is where Michael meets boy of his dreams Ronan. Ronan on the other hand is a vampire but he's not your normal average vampire (with so many different incarnations of the vampire in fiction and in folklore, what is the normal vampire anyway?). Michael and Ronan are madly into each other but this is not the reason why Michael was intentionally brought to Eden.
I personally haven't read much fiction that features gay males as main characters, unless you want to count in mangas Tokyo Babylon (up to volume 4 I've read) and Loveless (I think I've read up to volume 4 for this as well). So for me this was something fresh (an a change of pace) while for those who read a lot more books than I do will have a different approach to this.
As for the vampires, I am open to different takes on the lore (except for the ones in Twilight. Reading the books/seeing the films may change my opinion on this). Here the normal vampires do drink blood, have retractable fangs, are sensitive to sunlight and have some form in aniridia. Ronan's type of vampire is mixed with some sort of sea creature which allows him to not be sensitive to sunlight, his eyes to look normal (by human standards) and require less blood as he feeds once a month (with the exception of also having to drink from a special well-spring).
There are some themes to go with this and the one that I can pick out as the overall theme is acceptance. Both characters are seen as outcasts as Michael is gay and his family is not to easy on accepting that and Ronan among the vampires for being a mixed-race vampire. The other is love knows no boundaries.
The cast of characters is fairly large. With that, there are some subplots within the main plot. The narration is third person but it's omniscient so the reader will know what everyone is thinking. I found that the change of scene within a chapter was kind of confusing at times, possibly having to do with my preference for first person narration and third person limited, but it sort of reminded me of a televised screenplay or movie where there one scene juxtaposed with another that's occurring at the same time.
Overall if you're interested in gay, teen romance and vampires without being prejudiced to what vampires should be and shouldn't be, I'd say go for it. A bit of a warning about the content in the later chapters (and dream sequences) this would be best suited for 16 and above (unless you consider yourself a mature reader). I also not a big fan of the rating system (#stars, #/5, etc.) and I'm not a big book reader to give much criticism to every little detail but I'm gonna say this: there were nights when I stayed up late just to finish a chapter or two.
(and now for something random) Songs listened to while reading the book/planning out this post: "Your Decision" by Alice in Chains, "Firework" by Katy Perry, "Beautiful Blue" by Holly McNarland
Not sure who even reads this but if anyone is interested in (or has read) the book the author's website can be found here.
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| I have a copy of the book by the way |
The first book in this Archangel Academy series by Michael Griffo is titled Unnatural. The story follows Michael Howard (and many other characters), a teenaged boy from Nebraska, USA who is gay. Not only does Michael face bullying from his high school he also has to deal with his mother's ailing mental health. Once his mother commits suicide his father somewhat come back into his life and enrolls Michael in Archangel Academy: an all-male private Christian (could be Catholic or Anglican as buildings are named after saints) boarding school in the fictional England town of Eden. Archangel Academy (referred mostly as Double A) is where Michael meets boy of his dreams Ronan. Ronan on the other hand is a vampire but he's not your normal average vampire (with so many different incarnations of the vampire in fiction and in folklore, what is the normal vampire anyway?). Michael and Ronan are madly into each other but this is not the reason why Michael was intentionally brought to Eden.
I personally haven't read much fiction that features gay males as main characters, unless you want to count in mangas Tokyo Babylon (up to volume 4 I've read) and Loveless (I think I've read up to volume 4 for this as well). So for me this was something fresh (an a change of pace) while for those who read a lot more books than I do will have a different approach to this.
As for the vampires, I am open to different takes on the lore (except for the ones in Twilight. Reading the books/seeing the films may change my opinion on this). Here the normal vampires do drink blood, have retractable fangs, are sensitive to sunlight and have some form in aniridia. Ronan's type of vampire is mixed with some sort of sea creature which allows him to not be sensitive to sunlight, his eyes to look normal (by human standards) and require less blood as he feeds once a month (with the exception of also having to drink from a special well-spring).
There are some themes to go with this and the one that I can pick out as the overall theme is acceptance. Both characters are seen as outcasts as Michael is gay and his family is not to easy on accepting that and Ronan among the vampires for being a mixed-race vampire. The other is love knows no boundaries.
The cast of characters is fairly large. With that, there are some subplots within the main plot. The narration is third person but it's omniscient so the reader will know what everyone is thinking. I found that the change of scene within a chapter was kind of confusing at times, possibly having to do with my preference for first person narration and third person limited, but it sort of reminded me of a televised screenplay or movie where there one scene juxtaposed with another that's occurring at the same time.
Overall if you're interested in gay, teen romance and vampires without being prejudiced to what vampires should be and shouldn't be, I'd say go for it. A bit of a warning about the content in the later chapters (and dream sequences) this would be best suited for 16 and above (unless you consider yourself a mature reader). I also not a big fan of the rating system (#stars, #/5, etc.) and I'm not a big book reader to give much criticism to every little detail but I'm gonna say this: there were nights when I stayed up late just to finish a chapter or two.
(and now for something random) Songs listened to while reading the book/planning out this post: "Your Decision" by Alice in Chains, "Firework" by Katy Perry, "Beautiful Blue" by Holly McNarland
Not sure who even reads this but if anyone is interested in (or has read) the book the author's website can be found here.
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