Something There That Wasn't There Before - a review of Beauty and the Beast (2017)

Tale as old as time, song as old as rhyme.  Any Disney fan knows these words and the ones that follow in the classic title song for ‘Beauty and the Beast’.  It’s a wonderful classic tale of a beautiful girl and a cursed selfish prince, destined to spend his days as a hideous beast unless he can find love before the final petal falls from the enchanted rose.  We all know the story, we’ve all fell in love with the award winning animated film but Disney have know remade the classic as a live action film as it has been doing with many of them lately (Cinderella, Jungle Book etc).  

I had big expectations going into this and I was not disappointed.  I was delighted as the cast was announced, many of my favourite actors and actresses signing up for roles.  Much had been made of Emma Watson being cast as Belle and for me, she did a bang up job.  Yes she can sing, yes she can act and thanks to her role as Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter film series, she was perfectly suited to bookish Belle, always with her nose in a book but highly intelligent and resourceful as well, not one to step away from a fight.  In the latter point she was probably a lot more proactive in that than the animated Belle but it was all in keeping with the familiar story.

The Beast was always one of my favourite characters but I have said to people many times before that I always felt Disney got it wrong in the animated film as the Beast was much more handsome as a beast than when he was changed back into the Prince. For me, I just didn’t feel he had that Disney Prince quality that many of the others did.  However this time they got it spot on by casting the gorgeous Dan Stevens (Downton Abbey’s Matthew Crawley) in the title role.  Yes when we first see him, he’s not all that handsome which fits in with his vain, selfish and arrogant young self and as a beast he can be at times truly terrifying.  But when the curse is lifted and he is returned to human form, wow what a handsome prince he makes.  He has a mighty fine voice too, and is given a solo in a new song written for this movie and not from the original soundtrack entitled ‘Evermore’ .

The supporting cast are wonderful, Ian McKellen as the pompous Cogsworth, Ewan McGregor as the charming Lumiere and Emma Thompson as the kindly Mrs Potts. Back in the village Kevin Kline gives a charming performance as Maurice, Belle’s father, going from mad professor to caring father with ease.  Even Gaston is devilishly handsome and I can see why the girls would fall for him, if he wasn’t such an evil swine (in the back Gaston? Not good form).  Luke Evans brings a handsome villainy to the proceedings and Josh Gad is delightful as his ever adoring sidekick Le Fou, although in a change from the animated version it’s nice to see the little guy get a happy ending too.  

The soundtrack is pretty much as the original movie with classics such as Something There, The Mob Song, Belle, Gaston and a fabulous version of Be Our Guest.  However as mentioned before there are a couple of new numbers inserted in, but there is no 'Human Again', the song which was written for the original movie then cut then reinserted again following the inclusion in the musical.  I was fully expecting to see it in this version but sadly it was not to be. Instead there was a new number called ‘Days in the Sun’ but it’s not as good as ‘Human Again’.

I don’t want to dwell on the whole Stockholm Syndrome issue as I have always viewed this film (and indeed the original fairytale) for the romantic story it was designed to be and nothing more. As for the controversy surrounding the character of Le Fou being gay, I couldn’t give a flying fig and whilst it is certainly implied, it’s nothing more than a dance.

To summarise, I was enchanted by this movie just as much as I was by the 1991 animated version and despite some little tweaks to the storyline, I am eagerly anticipating the DVD release of this, so I can watch it as many times as I have watched the original and get lost in the fairytale once again.



Rating:



A worthy remake and enchanting

'If people want to know who I am, it is all in the work' - Alan Rickman Remembered

A man who seemed to gain a reputation for playing villains that we all love to hate, there was much more to Alan Rickman than being good at being bad.  It has been one year to the day since the passing of this great British actor who died 14th January 2016 at the age of 69 following a short battle with cancer.  I remember being at work when one of my colleagues emailed me to say he had died and I remember reading it with a kind of disbelief because how could someone I had admired as an actor for many years suddenly no longer be around to make any more films.

Alan Rickman was a very accomplished stage actor but as this is my personal tribute, it is how I remember him as a film actor that I will be talking about.  Film fans of many different genres will remember him as he covered a wide range of roles, some villains, but others were good guys.  His first big film role came as the delightful Hans Gruber in Die Hard.  I mean, who even wants Bruce Willis to win when you have Alan taunting him? Not me! I don’t even like Bruce Willis.  However, the first film I saw him in was Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves as the deliciously evil Sheriff of Nottingham and I loved him in it.  

Putting aside the dodgy accents from the other cast members (yes Kevin Costner I mean you), the Sheriff was perfectly British, his quips about calling off Christmas, cutting hearts out with a spoon and just his general flamboyant flouncing around was perfectly played by Rickman, so much so that most of the deleted scenes on the DVD Special Edition were his. Rumour has it Costner felt Rickman acted him off the screen (and he did).

My signature from when I roleplayed Snape

Despite being so good at bad guy roles, Rickman also took on other types of roles such as Sci-Fi (Galaxy Quest), romantic (Sense and Sensibility), comedy (Love Actually) and musical (Sweeney Todd).  He did voice work as well such as the lesser known Help I’m A Fish and the more well-known Alice in Wonderland and the sequel Alice Through The Looking Glass as the Blue Caterpillar Absolem, his final role.  He had a voice that you could recognise without even being told who it was and he also had this wonderful talent to able to make one sentence last for half an hour. It was a delight to watch and hear.

It was in his best-loved role for me that this talent showed itself best.  He delighted and terrorised in equal measure children and adults alike as the mean yet misunderstood Potions Master Professor Severus Snape in the Harry Potter series of films.   He was one of only thirteen actors or actresses that appeared in all eight of the film adaptations.  So pivotal was his role that he was let into a much-guarded secret by JK Rowling herself (that Snape had loved Lily, Harry’s mother, since childhood) as she trusted him with the information to enhance his performance.  It is in this role that I will remember him most fondly and I will always be grateful that all eight films were released before his sad death as I could never imagine anyone else playing that role to such perfection. Snape will forever be Alan Rickman and Alan Rickman will be forever Snape.

I lament the fact that I will never see him in anything new but rejoice in his legacy of the wonderful films that remain with us.  

Always.

My Top Five Christmas Movies

After spending all of Christmas Day watching films (all Disney I have to point out) I felt the urge to list my favourite five Christmas films of all time. I haven’t watched any of them today, although Frozen does feel like a Christmas film as it’s all snowy and wintery but as it’s not actually set at Christmas I don’t consider it a Christmas film.

So here are my top five in reverse order.

5. Arthur Christmas.  

I saw this at the pictures when it first came out and it was the first film me and my sister took my niece to see.  I haven’t actually seen it since until this year when I won a copy in a competition and fell in love with it all over again.  It tells the story of Santa and his sons Steve and Arthur.  Steve is the eldest son and hotly tipped amongst the elves to take over as Santa when his father retires.  Arthur is the youngest and works in letters, answering all the letters sent to Santa by the children over the world.  He is a total believer in Christmas, whereas to Steve it is just a case of proving how efficient he can be.  When a child’s present is accidentally undelivered, Arthur sets off to make sure no child is forgotten and deliver the gift in time for Christmas morning.  To do this, he enlists the help of his grandfather who is determined to prove the old way with a sleigh and reindeer is better than all the modern technology used by the current Santa and Steve.  Also along for the ride is a wrapping elf Bryony, who has a good heart but no delivery experience.  It’s a warm hearted tale that encourages children to never stop believing.

4. Beauty and the Beast Enchanted Christmas

It’s a Disney sequel and I usually don’t include these in any lists as generally they don’t live up to the magic of the first one.  Now although the animation isn’t as polished as the first, the voice casting is the same and it is included here mainly for the music it features.  I love the songs from this film, particularly As Long As There’s Christmas.  It’s a great song and the reprise is a touching moment towards the end of the film when Belle is giving up hope and Angelique the castle decorator (in the enchanted form of a Christmas angel tree topper) reminds her of her earlier words that As Long As There’s Christmas, hope is the greatest gift a person can receive.  It’s a sweet tie in movie that doesn’t take anything away from the original film and is a sweet story within a story made for Christmas.

3. Home Alone

What festive movie list would be complete without Home Alone featuring on it somewhere.  I have seen four out of the five movies that have been released and although each one has it’s plus points, the first and original one stands out above all others.  Kevin is accidentally forgotten by his family when they go on holiday for Christmas leaving him home alone.  At first he has a whale of a time, eating junk food, watching bad movies and raiding his brother Buzz’s bedroom for money and other goodies.  However soon he starts to miss his family as he realises just how much they mean to him.  If that wasn’t traumatic enough, two burglars Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern try to break into the house knowing the family is away so Kevin sets multiple traps around the house causing them injuries and eventually getting them arrested.  As he wakes up on Christmas morning having successfully defended his home and preparing himself for Christmas alone, he finds his mother has finally made it back to him, closely followed by his father and his siblings for the obligatory happy ending.

2.  The Snowman

It’s hard to believe this short animated film is 34 years old but it has never lost its simple and childlike appeal for me.  It’s based on a children’s story by Raymond Briggs and tells the tale of a young boy James who wakes up to find his garden covered in snow and goes out to play, eventually building the perfect snowman.  He goes to bed but is unable to sleep and on the stroke of midnight he creeps downstairs and opens the door to see the snowman come to life.  After inviting him inside and showing the snowman the wonders of the human world, the snowman takes the young boy by the hand and flies up into the air and off around the world  accompanied by the lovely song Walking In The Air (sang in the movie by Peter Auty, NOT Aled Jones who shot to fame by releasing his own version of the song as a single).  Finally they arrive at the North Pole and are greeted by many other snowmen and Father Christmas himself. After a jolly party and a visit to the reindeer, it’s time to leave and head back home.  The Snowman leaves James at the door to go to bed and he finally goes off into a happy sleep and the snowman returns to his inanimate form.  The next morning James rushes downstairs to see his new friend for more adventures but alas he has melted away, leaving James downhearted with just the scarf he received as a gift from Father Christmas as a reminder that it wasn’t just a dream.  That ending gets me every single time and I think I have watched this film every year since 1982, I do remember watching it the first time it was released.  This story never ever goes out of date, I recommend every child should watch this and be enchanted just like I was.

1.  Muppet Christmas Carol

Oh where do I begin, words cannot describe how much I love this movie.  Obviously I love the Muppets so I was always going to love this film but everything in this film appeals to me so much.  I love Michael Caine as an actor and he is wonderful as Scrooge, with great comic acting alongside a zany muppet cast.  The songs are wonderful and I know every single one word for word, it’s so hard to pick my favourite from them as they are all fab.  The only thing I could have ever complained about was the song ‘When Love Has Gone’ which was sung by Belle when she broke off her engagement with Scrooge.  However since the DVD was released they cut this song from the film as it was considered to lose the interest of the audience (and I quite agree) so it was removed and if you didn’t know it used to be there, you’d never know as the film flows fine without it.  I especially like the little attention to detail in the film, little things which you pick up after watching it many times.  Little in jokes which give  a nod to the original Muppet Show, such as Stadler and Waldorf as Jacob Marley and his brother Robert (Bob Marley, geddit?) telling Scrooge to leave comedy to the bears, referring to them as hecklers for Fozzie’s act in the original show.  There’s little nods to Michael Caine such as a shop in the village called Micklewhites, in reference to Michael Caine’s real name Maurice Micklewhite and another called Stadler & Waldorf in tribute to the grumpy old curmudgeons.  The film itself was praised for how much of Charles Dicken’s original text was in the script as Gonzo portrays Dickens himself narrating the story and Rizzo accompanies him for some brilliant comic moments (Hey hey hey, light the lamp not the rat!)  

As such I can find myself watching this film many times throughout December each and every year and I am not averse to watching it at any other time of the year either, such is its appeal for me.I hope you enjoyed my top five Christmas movies.  How many of them would make it onto your list and which of your favourites have I not mentioned?  Do let me know in the comments section.  I’m off to watch the Muppets, just talking about them make me miss them, it’s been at least 24 hours since I last saw the film.  Cold turkey anyone?

Happy Christmas everyone!

In A Galaxy Far Far Away (spoiler free Rogue One review)

On December 16th I was transported back to a galaxy far far away as I went to see the latest installment in the Star Wars franchise, the newly released Rogue One. It’s a stand alone adventure which fits neatly before the events occurring in Episode IV: A New Hope.  It was going to be interesting to see how all the new characters fit in and how they were going to tie it in with a film that was released almost 40 years ago.

So we settled back into the action right away.  The beginning is a little bit choppy and bitty as we are introduced to many new and interesting characters such as new heroine Jyn Erso and her scientist father Galen (Felicity Jones and Mads Mikkelsen respectively).  There’s our dashing new hero Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) and sassy new droid K-2SO (voiced by Alan Tudyk).  We also have our supporting cast of Chirrut Imwe, a blind spiritual warrior who believes strongly in the Force and his sceptical companion Baze Malbus, pilot Bodhi Rook and Rebel extremist Saw Gerrera.  Then you have your bad guys of course and here it is Ben Mendelsohn’s Director Orson Krennic.  

There are some surprising cameo’s as well helping to tie the whole piece and drag it in line with the original stories.  Once the introduction segments are out of the way and everything starts running in some sort of order, the action is non stop and fast paced.  The plot is centered around the building of the infamous Death Star and the rebels plans to destroy it.

The cast really make you care about their characters. You straightaway get gripped by their plight and are constantly willing them on in their quests, all of which seem to be at odds with each other until finally reuniting in the third and most thrilling act which continues to cut between the different characters as they race against time to find the plans for the Death Star. My favourite has to be K-2SO, he has no social filter, he just says whatever comes into his head, often quoting high odds for failure and is extremely comical.  His line to Jyn made me chuckle out loud when he says “I’ll be there for you…..Cassian said I had to.”  And Cassian himself is very adequate eye candy however he does have a very stirring speech which really makes you feel everything he is fighting for.

The film was visually beautiful with wonderful new planet locations and the final battle took place on a wonderfully tropical planet of Scarif, filmed on location in the Maldives and provides a deceptively contrasting paradise setting for a storming final battle. The other locations are all again visually stunning, all with the right setup and look for the Star Wars universe.

The ending was surprising and I wasn’t expecting it at all given the Star Wars franchise but I was happy with it and Rogue One was a welcome addition to the Star Wars storyline and I can’t wait to see it again, especially if watched in chronological order with the other 7 films.

A wholly enjoyable experience all round and may the force be with this franchise as long as it continues at this standard.

#Blogmas 2016 - Day 15 - My 5 favourite Christmas movies

Today on Blogmas, a list of my top 5 Christmas movies.

1. Home Alone (1990) directed by Chris Columbus

I think this is the quintessential 90s kid Christmas movie. This is the film that started my crush on Macaulay Culkin. It's a kiddie action comedy and it balances both perfectly. Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern make perfect villains and perfect foils to Macaulay. It's just such a fun movie to watch. It never fails to make me laugh and smile. You know what else makes me smile? The fact that thanks to Chris Columbus there only 2 degrees of separation between Kevin McCallister and Harry Potter.

2. Lethal Weapon (1987) directed by Richard Donner

It's set at Christmas therefore it is a Christmas movie, same as Die Hard (which would also be on this list if I'd actually ever sat down and watched it from beginning to end instead of just watching parts of it). I love action movies, always have. I remember the first Danny Glover movie I ever saw, Operation Dumbo Drop. Those were the two reasons I watched Lethal Weapon the first time, and now I've seen it so many times I could probably quote the entire thing without actually watching it.

3. Home Alone 2 : Lost in New York (1992) directed by Chris Columbus

I was going to invoke franchise rules and only name one of the Home Alone films and use Jingle All the Way as my alternate 5th title but then I remembered that I like the idea of Jingle all the Way more than the actual film - the only reason I ever watched it was because I am a Schwarzenegger fan. Besides why shouldn't I include Home Alone 2? It has everything to make a perfect action comedy Christmas film just like it's predecessor. With the original cast and director back it really would have been hard for this film to be a miss, and thankfully it wasn't.

4. Iron Man 3 (2013) directed by Shane Black

This may or may not be an unpopular option but I do like Iron Man 3 (I know popular opinion is to bash it hard). I love Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man/Tony Stark and he is still spot on and perfect in this film. I am willing to admit that this film had HORRIBLE flaws, but I still find it enjoyable. And like with Lethal Weapon, it's set at Christmas and therefore is totally a Christmas film. One of the key scenes even takes place at a Christmas party!

5. Elf (2003) directed by Jon Favreau

Huh, 2 Chris Columbus/John Hughes movies on my list and 2 Jon Favreau's, how interesting! Anyway, it's kine of hard NOT to love Elf it's just such a joyful and heartfelt Christmas film. Obviously with it being a Will Ferrell vehicle it is also obviously hilarious. I had never seen it until about 5 years ago when my cousin Bill put it on for me and the little ones at Christmas. It was such a funny film. Now I want to watch it because thinking about it makes me want to see it again.

What are your favourite Christmas films?

A Fantastic return to the Wizarding World (spoiler free review of Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them)

The wait is over, the long long wait.  Finally we can be drawn back into the Wizarding World created by J.K Rowling as the cinema release of Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them is finally here.   We’ve had trailers, we’ve had teasers, we’ve even had casting releases for the sequel before the first film is released, such is the confidence in the box office pull that Harry Potter and the Wizarding World has.

Of course Harry Potter isn’t anywhere near this film, he’s not even a twinkle, even his parents aren’t born yet.  Instead we follow the adventures of Newt Scamander, a delightfully charming Eddie Redmayne.  He is a Magizoologist, a person who studies magical creatures and as the film begins he has come to America with a suitcase full of, well Fantastic Beasts. He has been travelling all around the world in search of different species to study and has many specimens in his magically expanding case (just wait until you see inside it).

He has arrived at a time when wizards are forced to hide from the No-Maj (non magic folk, the American equivalent of muggles).  Something is terrorising the streets of New York and everyone in the American Ministry MACUSA, is convinced that one of Newt’s recently escaped creatures is to blame.  

Newt teams up with Porpentina Goldstein (no spoilers who she is but those who have the original book will know her), her sister Queenie and a No-Maj called Jakob Kowalski and the four of them set out to prove that it isn’t one of the creatures to blame but something else.

I enjoyed the film from the moment it started to the satisfying yet open end.  Despite being part of the children’s series this film had a much more adult feel to it given that the leading characters were adults this time rather than school children.   The characters were all engaging and well developed.  Newt himself was sweet and naive, genuinely caring and at ease with the creatures he had discovered and a little awkward around humans.  Other than the main four characters, they were at odds with the President Seraphna Picquery who seems likeable enough but she is determined to keep wizards in hiding. There is also head Auror Graves, a charming and smooth Colin Farrell, one can never be sure who’s side he is on.  We also meet some sinister No-Maj’s who are fighting to rid the world of wizards and witches.  The thoroughly wicked Mary Lou Barebone and her children Modesty, an eight year old girl who constantly sings about dead witches, her older sister Chastity although we know little of her,  and the son Credence who gave me the shivers, a very mysterious young man.

Then of course there are the Beasts themselves and what a wonderful array of creatures we meet in this first of five films.  I’m sure there are many more to come and I’m hoping we get more dragons, although they were featured quite prominently in the Potter movies so the other creatures may get to feature more this time. However they have always been my favourite mythical creatures.  But the new lineup is rich and diverse, just to name a few here.  We have Frank, a glorious Thunderbird, native to America and has a very important role to play in the movie.  The Niffler is adorable, he resembles a mole and is attracted to anything shiny (mainly coins and expensive jewellery). Newt has a pet Bowtruckle which is pretty much a moving green twig but it is pretty cute.  There were some beautiful serpent-like creatures called Occury’s.  They hatch from pure silver eggs and can grow or shrink in size to fit the available space, we see them very tiny in a teapot up to huge dragon size filling an attic in Macy’s department store.  My favourite had to be the Demiguise, Dougal the Demiguise.  They are said to resemble a silver gibbon or ape but to me, he reminded me of a sloth.  They can make themselves invisible so are very hard to find, but we did get a glimpse of him and I adored him.

All in all I enjoyed my journey back into J.K Rowling’s world and I eagerly await the next film with great anticipation given the revealings of this first film.  There is so much more to come before this film ties in with the films we already know and love, although we did have a couple of familiar names mentioned already.  I already love Newt as a character and I’m sure we’ve not seen the last of Jakob, despite what happens in the film to him.   I also can’t wait to see what other Beasts Newt has in store for us but I’m sure I won’t be disappointed.

I already have the film on my wish list for when it is released, no self respecting Potterhead can miss this film.  You won’t be disappointed.

Bridget's Back - a review of Bridget Jones Baby (no spoilers)

So I spent last Sunday getting reacquainted with Bridget Jones by watching the first two films, namely Bridget Jones’ Diary and Bridget Jones The Edge of Reason.  Both excellent films although the first will always remain the greatest.  The reason for revisiting these fabulous films was that yesterday evening my sister and I went to see the latest instalment of Bridget’s life, Bridget Jones’ Baby.

It’s been 10 years in the life of Bridget (Renee Zellwegger) since we last saw her catching the bouquet at her parents wedding vows renewal.  Once you get over the initial shock of the ageing actors (can’t help the passage of time) and the new slimline Bridget, we soon fall back into the craziness of Bridget’s world.  She hasn’t changed much.  She’s no longer with Mark Darcy (Colin Firth) but once again single and back in her old flat.  What makes it so easy to reconnect is that everyone is back, with the notable exception of Hugh Grant as womaniser Daniel Cleaver, gone but definitely not forgotten.  However everyone else is there, Jim Broadbent and Gemma Jones as her parents, along with Celia Imrie as Aunt Una. She is still working alongside Richard (Neal Pearson) and her old friends Jude, Shazza and Tom are still around although all of them are already on the baby wagon which makes Bridget feel a bit left behind so she spends a lot of time with Miranda, the anchor of the TV news show.

Miranda takes her to a music festival where Bridget hooks up with the handsome Jack (Patrick Dempsey) and one thing leads to another but Bridget leaves the next morning without leaving a contact number for Jack.  A couple of weeks later she meets up with Mark Darcy again at the christening of Jude’s latest child where they are both godparents and they reconnect and spend the night together.  However Bridget leaves before he wakes up after remembering how his work always came before she did, hence the reason they broke up in the first place.

Three months later and Bridget is gaining weight and can’t understand why. A quick pregnancy test later and Bridget has the quandary of all quandaries: Who’s The Daddy?  Without giving away any spoilers here, the film continues in a way that sets both candidates up to be ideal prospects.  On the one hand you have Mark, the love of Bridget's life and you kind of want it to be him because he’s been there from the start.  However in the blue corner you have Jack, the sexy newcomer who is a seemingly perfect match for Bridget and has an instant closeness with Bridget that Mark always seemed to be pushing away or fighting for.  I was pretty pleased with how the film finally resolved itself although there was a nice potential alternative that my sister and myself both thought might be coming but didn’t.

Everything that made the first two films such a success is repeated in this film.  You have the two men in Bridget’s life fighting each other for her attentions, although no actual physical fights this time round.  In one particular scene where the potential daddies step outside I was just waiting for the familiar strains of ‘It’s Raining Men’ but alas there was no scratching and kicking as there was between Mark and Daniel in the first films.  

Bridget’s parents are just as delightful as they were previously.  In the first film you had her mother running off with a perma-tanned home shopping goon, in the second they renewed their wedding vows in a haze of lavender coloured everything. This time round you have her mother running in the local parish council elections promoting ‘Family Values’.  A bit tricky when your daughter turns up pregnant, unmarried and not exactly sure who the father is.

And there’s even a wedding thrown in but I won’t say who’s it is.

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed the trip back into the life of the girl who made over-sized knickers popular again.  It was a laugh out loud, feel good film that has withstood the test of time and survived the long gap between instalments.

Welcome back Bridget, the world’s favourite singleton.

Into the Jungle - Review of Disney's The Jungle Book (2016)

This is the Law of the Jungle — as old and as true as the sky;
And the Wolf that shall keep it may prosper, but the Wolf that shall break it must die.

As the creeper that girdles the tree-trunk the Law runneth forward and back —

For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack. - Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936)

On April 22nd 2016, my friend Andy and I went to the pictures to see the new live action version of Disney’s The Jungle Book.  I thoroughly enjoyed it, despite my initial reservations about a live action remake of such a classic film.  It had been done before and not very well but I thought I would give it a chance and I’m glad I did.  I have never read the book of Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling so I can’t compare it to that like many reviews I have read, however I am a huge fan of the animated version from 1967 and was interested to see how it differed.

First of all, the wolf pack that adopts Mowgli at the start of the film has a much bigger role in this version.  They feature throughout the film and are integral to the plot, rather than just letting Mowgli go off with Bagheera and never seen again.  Their wolf law of the jungle is also featured to bring the animals together in unison against the tiger.

Which leads me on to Shere Khan, the tiger in question.  In the cartoon version he is comical, although less so than Kaa, and polite and charming although mean and unkind and he isn’t particularly ferocious.  In this new adaptation, he is exceptionally ruthless and dangerous, he kills for sport rather than the need to eat and he does not appear to have a single redeeming quality or anything that might evoke sympathy from the audience.  Even the fact he is hunting Mowgli out of revenge for his father blinding Shere Khan and burning him with fire is down to the fact he attacked Mowgli and his father in the first place.  He invokes fear and terror in both the other jungle residents and the audience and his voice is dangerous silky thanks to the velvet tones of Idris Elba.  He is also petty in his killing of Akela just to lure Mowgli back to the wolves. He’s not content that Mowgli has left which is seemingly what he wanted, he wants to kill Mowgli just for the hell of it.  

Baloo and Bagheera, there are no major differences in the characters of these two.  Bagheera continues to be the straight man to Baloo’s comical antics, but both of them clearly have Mowgli’s best interests at heart (well after Baloo has gotten his honey stash that is).

King Louie, oh where do I start? First of all he’s been changed from an orangutan (because they aren’t native to India) to a Gigantopithecus.  He is HUGE, bigger than any other animal in the film.  He is also much less comical than his animated counterpart, Christopher Walken sounds almost like he comes from a 1950's mob and is pretty intimidating.  His genial attitude towards Mowgli quickly vanishes when Mowgli tells him he can’t give him the fire he craves.   He’s also pretty cold when informing Mowgli of Akela’s death and he brings the ruins down on top of him by angrily chasing Mowgli, not being tickled by Baloo.  It also appears that he is killed by being buried whereas the cartoon simply has the ruins fall down all about him yet leaving him unscathed.

Finally let’s talk about Kaa. In this adaptation, Kaa is a female and again, like Louie she is absolutely enormous.  I thought Nagini from the Harry Potter films was huge but Kaa could eat her as an entree.  She is voiced by Scarlett Johansson and she has a sultry, almost sexy sound.  She is enticing and alluring and I can clearly see how Mowgli was hypnotised by her.  Her eyes have the same hypnotic qualities as the cartoon version but this Kaa is much more sinister.  My only complaint about Kaa is she isn’t given enough screen time.  In fact for anyone who has ophidiophobia, simply skip scene 8 on the DVD as this is her only scene in the film and her fate is unknown following Baloo’s rescue of Mowgli.

The voice castings are perfect.  Ben Kingsley brings a calming presence to Bagheera and the comic genius of Bill Murray is perfect for the amiable Baloo. Lupita Nyong’o and Giancarlo Esposito are well suited as the wolves who raised Mowgli and I’ve already mentioned the others.  

The only things that bring the movie down for me are Mowgli himself and the songs.  Mowgli is played by Neel Sethi and he isn’t the best child actor I’ve seen.  However to be fair, this is his first movie and can be forgiven a little for this, after all everyone has to learn their trade at first so maybe he can improve. But at times he is wooden and not nearly as engaging as the CGI animals he interacts with.

As for the songs in the movie, oh please! Fortunately there are only two (not including the end credits).  Christopher Walken has a terrible rendition of I Wanna Be Like You, it’s simply horrible and as for the version of The Bare Necessities, well just no. It’s unarguably the most well know song of the film, which is probably the reason Jon Favreau felt the need to include it but whilst Bill Murray is passable (although he’s no Phil Harris who voiced the 1967 version of Baloo), Neel Sethi is dreadful, out of tune and doesn’t seem to know the words.  The film is no better off for including these songs and would work by just including an instrumental in the background.  However over the end credits there is a beautiful rendition of Trust In Me by Scarlett Johansson which I now prefer this to the 1967 version.

All in all, I enjoyed this movie and consider it an acceptable live action adaptation of an old favourite and as a Disney fan, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it to other fans and don’t feel it spoils the original in any way.

Musing Mondays - Book Haul & Books-to-Movies Gone Wrong

Musing Mondays - July 11, 2016

Musing Mondays is a weekly meme that asks you to choose one of the following prompts to answer:

• I’m currently reading…

• Up next I think I’ll read…

• I bought the following book(s) in the past week…

• I’m super excited to tell you about (book/author/bookish-news)…

• I’m really upset by (book/author/bookish-news)…

• I can’t wait to get a copy of…

• I wish I could read ___, but…

• I blogged about ____ this past week…

I bought the following book(s) in the past week:

Today I had to go into Toronto for a doctor's appointment. On the way back home I wanted to stop into Yorkdale Mall and visit the Disney Store (I bought a blind box vinyl tsumtsum hoping for the Cheshire Cat and sadly got Marie instead, boo, clearly I need Angie to pick my blind boxes she manages to pick the ones I want.) and on the way back to the car I decided I wanted to go into Chapters, the big book store in the mall. I really should know better than to go into a book store when I have so many books I need to read already, but there was one book I really wanted and I can never resist having a browse. I buy books all the time online, but for exploration and finding something unexpected nothing beats the library or a bookstore. I could easily, easily have spent well over $100.00 and indeed I kept picking books up, waffling about them and putting them back down. In addition to the one book I actually planned on buying I picked up 2 more, and then even though I kept picking up more I forced myself to cute myself off at 3. In the end I ended up with a comic book, the first book in a science fiction series, and a YA alternate WWII history.

My haul:

Faith, Vol 1: Hollywood & Vine

Valiant's most demanded hero steps out of harbinger and into an all-new adventure!
Orphaned at a young age, Faith Herbert - a psionically gifted "psiot" discovered by the Harbinger Foundation - has always aspired to greatness. But now this once ordinary teenager is taking control of her destiny and becoming the hard-hitting hero she's always known she can be - complete with a mild-mannered secret identity, unsuspecting colleagues, and a day job as a reporter that routinely throws into her harms way! Well, at least she thought it would When she's not typing up listicles about cat videos, Faith makes a secret transformation to patrol the night as the City of Angels' own leading superhero - the sky-soaring Zephyr! But flying solo is going to be tougher than she ever thought when Zephyr uncovers a deep-rooted alien conspiracy. Two-bit burglars and car thieves are one thing, but when the world needs a hero to stave off an full-blown extraterrestrial invasion, will Faith find herself in over her head or ready for her biggest challenge yet?

Rising star Jody Houser (Orphan Black) and explosive artists Francis Portela (Green Lantern) and Marguerite Sauvage (DC Comics Bombshells) pilot a new chapter for the high-flying hero that People Magazine calls "a superhero we can all admire."

Collecting: Faith 1-4

This is the book I knew I was going to buy because I have been jazzed about it for months since I first heard about it. Last Saturday I got an email from NetGalley about the books it was promoting ahead of SDCC and I saw that there was a partial galley of Faith available I promptly donwloaded it and read it and I was immediately hooked. Now that I have the entire book I shall devour it and then I will write a review here about it. 

Leviathan Wakes (The Expanse #1)

Humanity has colonized the solar system - Mars, the Moon, the Asteroid Belt and beyond - but the stars are still out of our reach.
Jim Holden is XO of an ice miner making runs from the rings of Saturn to the mining stations of the Belt. When he and his crew stumble upon a derelict ship, "The Scopuli," they find themselves in possession of a secret they never wanted. A secret that someone is willing to kill for - and kill on a scale unfathomable to Jim and his crew. War is brewing in the system unless he can find out who left the ship and why.
Detective Miller is looking for a girl. One girl in a system of billions, but her parents have money and money talks. When the trail leads him to "The Scopuli" and rebel sympathizer Holden, he realizes that this girl may be the key to everything.
Holden and Miller must thread the needle between the Earth government, the Outer Planet revolutionaries, and secretive corporations - and the odds are against them. But out in the Belt, the rules are different, and one small ship can change the fate of the universe.

I came across this book when I saw the latest book in the series on one of the "hot reads" tables, and the summary on that one sounded interesting so when I saw it was part of a series I decided to look at the series while browsing in the Sci-Fi/Fantasy section. The summary of this book sounded interesting but what really sealed its fate in coming home with me was two of the review blurbs on the cover, io9's claim that it's a "Hollywood blockbuster in book form" because I do enjoy me some Hollywood sci-fi blockbusters; and also the fact that George R.R. Martin had two blurbs recommending it, one on the front and one on the back. I figured if GRRM enjoyed it, and I enjoy his stuff, then I might possibly enjoy a book that he enjoys, so we'll find out if that supposition is true when I read it.

Front Lines (Soldier Girl #1)

1942. World War II. The most terrible war in human history. Millions are dead; millions more are still to die. The Nazis rampage across Europe and eye far-off America.
The green, untested American army is going up against the greatest fighting force ever assembled—the armed forces of Nazi Germany.
But something has changed. A court decision makes females subject to the draft and eligible for service. So in this World War II, women and girls fight, too.
As the fate of the world hangs in the balance, three girls sign up to fight. Rio Richlin, Frangie Marr, and Rainy Schulterman are average girls, girls with dreams and aspirations, at the start of their lives, at the start of their loves. Each has her own reasons for volunteering. Not one expects to see actual combat. Not one expects to be on the front lines.
Rio, Frangie, and Rainy will play their parts in the war to defeat evil and save the human race. They will fear and they will rage; they will suffer and they will inflict suffering; they will hate and they will love. They will fight the greatest war the world has ever known.
New York Times bestselling author Michael Grant has created a masterful alternate history of World War II in Front Lines, the first volume in a groundbreaking series. 

Saw this one as I was browsing the YA section. I walked by an endcap display unit labelled "Not just for Teens" and the title caught my eye and made me wonder what war it would be about. I didn't even notice the tagline or the lipstick at first so it was a complete surprise when I opened up the cover and read the blurb from the dust jacket. I love alternate histories so just everything about this got me really excited. So instead of finally picking up a copy of Rainbow Rowell's Carry On (which I still desperately want...) I decided to make this one my 3rd book; probably a good choice I explained it to my mum and she said she wants to read it when I'm done because it sounds appealing to her too.

          THIS WEEK’S RANDOM QUESTION: Name a book that was turned into a movie, and completely desecrated (in your opinion).

I have, and used to wear often (especially when I was working as a Page at the public library) a shirt that reads "the book was better" which is in reality usually the way I feel about books that have been adapted into movies. That's not to say I don't enjoy movie adaptations, there are some, like the Harry Potter series that I thoroughly enjoy (not more than the books but I do enjoy them), the Hunger Games films are another good set of book-to-movie adaptations I enjoy. However I am supposed to be telling you about a book that was turned into my movie which in my opinion completely desecrated the book, so I will, but I wanted you to know I do tend to have strong feelings about book-to-movie adaptations. Specifically there are 2 that come to mind right away when I am asked this question. Those two are Eragon and The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians #1)and their film adaptations.

I love the Percy Jackson books after the Harry Potter books finished coming out it was a nice series to begin digging my way into and Rick Riordan is a really fun writer. I love his world. I've read all of his books. So when the film adaptation Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief came out in 2010 right after I'd started reading the books I decided to watch it. I'd known that it was getting bad press for being a rather bad adaptation of the book but I watched it anyway. I definitely like a lot of other people (as evidenced by it's 49% Rotten Tomatoes score) had a few problems with it. My number 1 problem with it was the fact that the kids were all a good 4-5 years older than they were supposed to be in the book. That's supremely frustrating because them doing what they did at the age of about 12 was incredibly impressive. I also had a problem with the fact that they didn't even try to give Annabeth blonde hair. That being said I did like the casting of Logan Lerman as Percy, I just thought he was too old. They also cut some really great aspects, and really changed a lot of things (sometimes very important); this page does a really great job of outlining all the differences, and they are many. Overall though I wouldn't say it desecrated the book but it let's the book (and the book's fans in my opinion) down that's for sure. If you didn't read the book it's a good movie that can stand on its own as a fun popcorn flick, and I personally enjoy it as such instead of enjoying it as an adaptation of a book I like.

Eragon, oh Eragon. The book itself is not without its faults and flaws, it is not a perfect book but it is a good book and I did enjoy it once I got into it. And one day I will get off my butt and finish reading the series. One thing I will never, ever, do again though is watch Eragon the movie. Once was enough. It was just bad, painfully bad. I realised in the process of writing this that I threw away or donated the DVD at some point in the past because it was just so bad. The best part about the film was the CGI work on the dragons. I don't know how much stock a lot of people put into this, but it's only got a 16% on Rotten Tomatoes which to me is pretty telling and I really wish I'd known that before I'd decided to watch it. What's so sad is that it's got an absolutely fantastic cast, there's nothing at all wrong with any of the casting. But aside from good casting and good CGI there's not much else good about it. FanPop has a really good breakdown of all the differences so I'm not going to duplicate their work. This movie was definitely a butcher job in my opinion, so it's also not surprising that they decided not to make anymore films of the other books in the cycle.

Lauren