A Monster Calls Movie Review| It'sCarenzaB

Hey Guys!
How are you?

So on January 19th, I went and saw the movie adaptation of A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness. I loved it so much, I thought I would review it for you guys. If you haven't read the book or seen the movie, you won't be able to read this review as I am going to be discussing spoilers.

A Monster Calls Movie Review- Contains Spoilers

Poster Review

I really like this poster as it is quite simple but it is also quite powerful.

Opinions

This was probably one of the best book-movie adaptations I have ever seen. It does help that Patrick Ness, who wrote the book, wrote the script for the movie. It kept all the important parts of the story and made you feel as though you are part of the story. While it was a good adaptation, as a bookworm I want every single detail from the book, so I was a bit sad that Connor's friend from the book wasn't included in the film.

The movie was just as emotional as the book. I genuinely sat in the cinema and cried at the end of the film. Not once, but twice. I think I was the only one crying in the cinema. Even though I knew Connor's mum was going to die, I still cried.

The cinematography was really beautiful and the special effects were amazing. The Monster (Liam Neeson) was amazing and super detailed. I also loved how the stories the Monster told were in a watercolour style. It was nice seeing Jim Kay's art being used in the film as his images in the book were what made the story even more perfect.

I gave this movie 5/5 stars and I can't wait to watch it again when it comes out on DVD as it was such a good film. I still can't believe I cried in the cinema. I haven't done that since I saw Half Blood Prince in 2009.

So that was my review of the A Monster Calls movie. Let me know what you thought of the movie.
Love,
Carenza x

Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them Movie Review| It'sCarenzaB

Hey Guys!
How are you?
As I'm sure most of you know, the movie Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them movie and script came out on November 18th. It's safe to say that the Potterheads went a little bit mad over having a new Harry Potter movie. I went and saw it on the 20th and I have fallen in love with the Fantastic Beasts universe. Like my last movie review, I will split it into sections: Non-Spoiler Thoughts, Poster Review, Outline of the plot, Character Chat and Opinions, which I am going to merge into one section. This post will contain spoilers, so if you have not seen the Movie or read the script, please do not read this post! Go watch the movie and then come and read this.

Non-Spoiler Thoughts

When I saw the trailer for this movie, I had very low standards. I loved the Harry Potter movies and was skeptical that they would be of the same standard. While I was happy to have more in this universe, I felt that turning Fantastic Beasts into a movie was stretching it a bit. Also in my head, Newt was an old man and was from the 1600's not the 1920's. 

But once I had saw the movie, my thoughts changed. I really enjoyed it. I feel as though it's appropriate for all ages. You can watch it if you haven't read the Harry Potter books or seen the movies (which you should!). I found it interesting how it showed the wizarding world in a different era and a different country. I gave it 5/5 stars and am hoping that I can go and see it again.

Poster Review

 I know there is more than one version of the poster, but I would have to say that this is my favourite. It shows Newt (Eddie Redmayne) in the American Ministry of Magic,  the Magical Congress of the United States of America (MACUSA). I love the design of MACUSA, it fits very nicely with the 1920's period. It also shows how big and grand America is compared to Britain.

I thought I should show you how pretty the script is. The dust jacket is a matte navy blue with gold details. I love the 1920's style of the gold details (in case you can't tell, I love the 1920's style in general). But under the dust jacket is this super cute detail of a Niffler! I love this so much! I can't put into words how much I love it!
Also, the inside of the book is just as beautiful. To break up the scenes, we have pictures of the different creatures. This is the prettiest script I own.

Plot Overview

The year is 1926, and Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) has just completed a global excursion to find and document an extraordinary array of magical creatures. Arriving in New York for a brief stopover, he might have come and gone without incident, were it not for a No-Maj (American for Muggle) named Jacob, a misplaced magical case, and the escape of some of Newt's fantastic beasts, which could spell trouble for both the wizarding and No-Maj worlds.

This summary was taken from Google

J.K. Rowling's screenwriting debut is captured in this exciting hardcover edition of the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them screenplay. 

When Magizoologist Newt Scamander arrives in New York, he intends his stay to be just a brief stopover. However, when his magical case is misplaced and some of Newt's fantastic beasts escape, it spells trouble for everyone…

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them marks the screenwriting debut of J.K. Rowling, author of the beloved and internationally bestselling Harry Potter books. Featuring a cast of remarkable characters, this is epic, adventure-packed storytelling at its very best. 

Whether an existing fan or new to the wizarding world, this is a perfect addition to any reader's bookshelf.

This summary was taken from Goodreads and is the description for the script.

Character Chat and Opinions

This section is going to be split up into 4 sections which are going to be: Newt and his creatures, Supporting Characters, The Wizarding World and the production and plot- this section will contain spoilers, you have been warned.

Newt and His Creatures

Newt is now one of my favourite characters that J K Rowling has created. I love his enthusiasm for his creatures. It was nice seeing a wizard who had left Hogwarts and getting a sense of the world from an adults perspective. His devotion to his creatures was the main reason I fell for his character. He cared about them and would do anything to protect them. He seemed to be a wizard who cared about creatures more than magic. He also had other great qualities. I liked seeing a wizard who was unafraid to mingle with the muggles (or No-Maj) and wasn't afraid to show them the Wizarding World. It was nice seeing a main character who was a Hufflepuff. I feel as though Hufflepuffs get a bad rep in the fandom. I personally don't see being a Hufflepuff as anything bad, Hufflepuff is often referred to as "the duff house" or "the house for everyone else". I think that being loyal is a good quality and we see that in Newt.

My favourite thing about this film were the creatures. I loved every single one of them. But by far my favourite was the Niffler (I think the whole fandom has fallen for the Niffler). I want every single piece of Niffler Merch I can get my hands on. I loved the wide variety of creatures that Newt had. To me, it was like he had a creature to represent the elements and nature itself. For example, Pickett is part of a tree. The animation of the creatures was beyond amazing and I was blown away by the quality. I also think that almost all the creatures have animals that they are based off. For example, I've seen this a lot on Twitter that Puggles (which are baby Echidnas) are Nifflers, here's a photo to show you the similarity. I'm linking an article from the Express that talks about the similarity between the two creatures.  

Left: A baby Echidna, Right: Niffler 

Newt's case was a truly amazing edition to the film. I guess it's like Hermione's bag in Book 7 and has an undetectable extension charm. It was a really nice way to look after the beasts. I also really liked how Newt had a little house in there so he could be close to his creatures, but also he would just have to jump in and he'd be able to check on the beasts. I really hope they add this set to the Warner Bros Studio Tour as I could spend all day exploring it. 

Supporting Characters

 As you've probably guessed, I love Newt, but I also loved our supporting characters. I'm only going to talk about 3 and they are Jacob Kowalski, Tina Goldstien and Queenie Goldstien.

Jacob Kowalski definitely added the humor to this film (I'm going to talk humor in a separate point). It was nice that they included a No Maj. I loved seeing his awe at the magical world and his eagerness to help his new friends. I love seeing qualities like that in characters. I'm interested to see where his story goes after he lost his memory of the wizarding world. Jacob was played by Dan Fogler.

Tina Goldstien was another character I loved. Her determination to help MACUSA was a really strong part of her character. I loved that she was also really loyal to Newt, her sister Queenie and Credence. I would like to see more of her and learn more about her job in MACUSA. I really liked her relationship with her sister and that you could see she was the big sister.  Tina was played by Katherine Waterston.

Queenie Goldstien also added humor to the film, because of her ability to read peoples minds. She had a way of making characters feel awkward when she saw their thoughts. I liked how she was able to use here ability to help the group when she needed it. My favourite thing about her was her relationship with Jacob. I could sense that they really cared for each other and that she was sad that he lost his memories. Queenie was played by Alison Sudol.

The Wizarding World

Like I said at the start of my review, I loved seeing the Wizarding World in a different time era. It was nice to go into a story and know that the villein wasn't going to be Voldemort. It was nice to visit this world we know so well through the Harry Potter books but in a different era. I really liked how they fitted the theme of World War One in with the Wizarding World. Newt served on the Eastern Front with dragons. It was also interesting seeing how they showed the Wizarding World struggling with the Great Depression. I liked how they were threatened with persecutions from the muggles and how it tied in with what was happening at history at that time. 

I also really loved seeing the Wizarding World in a different country. We've spent so much time in Britain that it was nice seeing the Wizarding Community in America. Although the different eras makes it hard to compare the two at the same time, I loved seeing how the American Magical Community was run. I could sense that MACUSA was very different to the Ministry of Magic. To me it felt a lot stricter but also a lot grander than M.O.M. 

Production and Plot

Like I've already said, I loved the humor in this film. I feel as though it was a lot more humorous than the Harry Potter. There were moments where you were supposed to laugh (the Niffler being caught stealing) and subtle moments ( Jacob). I really liked the humor and I hope we get more humor in the next film (s).

While I am no film expert, I do appreciate good cinematography. The quality of this film was amazing. The animation and special effects were fantastic. The way it was filmed was really nice and it it flowed really well. I just love the quality of this film and I can't put it into words because I'm not a film expert.

I didn't see Credence (Ezra Miller) being the Obscurus (is that how you spell it?). I had expected it to be the little sister, but J K Rowling always has a surprise up her sleeve. I did feel genuinely sorry for his character and I found it odd how Graves (Colin Farrell) was interested in him.

I was shocked by the ending. I didn't see Grindelwald (Johnny Deep) being involved as much as he was. I know we got the announcement that we will see the duel between Dumbledore and Grindelwald in this series, but I didn't expect to see him in the first film. I also which he didn't have to replace Graves' character as I really liked Graves. Also, I'm not that bothered by Johnny Deep playing Grindelwald. I know a lot of the fandom were angry when it was announced that Deep was going to be in the franchise, but it doesn't bother me that much.

I'm excited to see where they take the story. At first I was unsure if I wanted 5 Fantastic Beasts movies, but now I know I want more from this era. I really enjoyed it and I can't wait for the next film!

So that concludes my very long review of Fantastic Beasts review, let me know what your thoughts were.
Love,
Carenza x

Miss Peregrines Home for Peculiar Children Movie Review| It'sCarenzaB

Hey Guys!
How are you?

As some of you may know, the Miss Peregrines Home for Peculiar Children movie came out on September 30th. It's safe to say it is being talked about in the book community a lot. Some people all ready have their reviews out as they were invited to previews of the movie. Although I wasn't invited to see the movie early, I was lucky enough to go to a preview screening at my local cinema as part of a charitable event late on September 29th. It was one of the best decisions I have made. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie and am 100% going to see it again. I have never reviewed a movie before but I thought that this would be a good place to start. The layout will be similar to my Book Reviews: non-spoiler thoughts,poster review, plot, character chat, differences from the book and opinions. If you want to read my Book Review of Miss Peregrines, click here.

Disclaimer

Just a quick disclaimer- in no way, shape or form am I saying that I know better than the people who made this movie. I am talking about as a book-movie adaptation, I am not trying to critique the cast and crew and say I know better because I don't.
Also this review contains spoilers for the books as well as the movie so if you haven't read the books I would advise you don't read this review.

Miss Peregrines Home for Peculiar Children Movie Review- Contains Spoilers 

Non-Spoiler Thoughts

I gave Miss Peregrines 4/5 stars as a movie and for accuracy I gave it 3.5/5 stars. There were a lot of changes from the book, some of which enhanced the story, others which made no sense and didn't add to the story. I went into this movie with high expectations and left feeling that most of my expectations had been met.

When I heard this was going to be a movie, TBH I thought here we go again, another failed book-movie adaptation. However once I heard that Tim Burton was going to be directing it, I immediately changed my opinion. I knew that this story was the perfect story for Tim Burton to turn into a movie. Then I saw who the cast were and I got thoroughly excited. We had the perfect director and cast for this fantastically spooky story.

Poster Review

I really like the poster as it shows you all of the peculiar children and Miss Peregrine protecting them. I think it links really nicely to the theme of the story. 

Plot

The first three quarters of the movie follow the plot of the book so I am going to explain the last quarter of the film as I am assuming most people who have seen the movie have read the books. 

So in the last quarter of the movie, the Peculiar children and Jacob have had to leave their loop in 1943 and are escaping to a loop in 2016 via a new loop. They arrive at Blackpool in 1943 and go through an abandoned ghost train ride on the pier. They are then transported to 2016 Blackpool in January. Jacob, Emma and the rest of the Peculiar children head over to were the Baron and the rest of the Hollows are keeping Miss Peregrine captive. They threaten the Baron and start a fight, which takes place on the pier. Enoch has brought back all the dead skeletons on the ship they used to travel from Wales and are now using them as an army. This is the scene where we see Tim Burton's cameo. Somehow the Peculiar children win and kill all the full blown Hollows. They then have to defeat the Hollows that look like people. We have a scene were chaos rains and Olive gets frozen. Emma uses her power to hold back the Baron but runs out of air, while this is happening Jacob is trying to free Miss Peregrine and the rest of the captured carers. The Baron slips in and transforms into Jacob. Emma and Enoch burst in and have to confront to Jacobs. They only find out that the Baron is Jacob when he reacts to being picked up by another Hollow and having his eyes eaten. Jacob frees Miss Peregrine but she is injured. The Peculiars head back to 1943 while Jacob stays in 2016. He travels back to Florida and finds his grandfather alive, who then persuades Jacob to go and find the Peculiar children. After some travelling he finds them. When he meets Emma, he tells her his story but she stops him and kisses him. From Blackpool Tower Miss Peregrine watches as they sail of on their adventures.   

Character Chat

I am going to talk about 4 characters from the movie and they are Jacob "Jake" Portman, Emma Bloom, Miss Peregrine and The Baron.

Jacob "Jake" Portman 

 

Asa Butterfield portrayed Jake in the movie. I think that he was the perfect person to play Jacob as this is what I imagined Jacob would look like when I read the books. I feel like in the movie we got to see more of Jacob's excitement about discovering the world of the peculiar's. I  felt like I could relate to Jacob a bit more in movie than in the book as the movie was set in 2016. There were lots of moments when you could tell that Jacob was an outsider and Asa did these scenes perfectly. I also loved how protective Jacob was of the children and you could tell that Asa had put a lot of effort into these scenes. I was very happy with his performance as Jacob and I really loved his on screen relationship with his dad. Chris O'Dowd (who played Jacob's father) and Asa's scenes were so funny, especially the scene were they see Miss Peregrine and Jacob starts shouting to her. I also loved his on screen relationship with his grandfather and Emma, they were very realistic scenes. 

Ella Purnell portrayed Emma Bloom in the movie. I had never heard of Ella Purnell before the movie so I was looking forward to seeing her performance. Most of you will know that Emma and Olive's powers were swapped, which is something I go into more detail later. I felt as though Emma in the movie didn't care when Abe died, but in the book she gets very upset. I also imagined Emma to be this fiery character and in the movie I felt as though she was too nice. Maybe this was something to do with the power swap, but I didn't like Emma as much in the movie as I did in the books. I still think that Ella was a fantastic Emma and I loved her on screen relationship with Asa as Jake.     

Eva Green portrayed Miss Peregrine in the movie. I know that Eva and Tim have worked together before and was really happy when I heard she had been cast as Miss Peregrine. She was fantastic as Miss Peregrine, defiantly more bad-ass than in the books but it's something I preferred. I also loved how she made her movements bird-like, I felt like this was a really nice and subtle touch to the character. Miss Peregrine in the movie was defiantly more in control of situations and almost dominated the scenes she was in. You could sense that her character really cared about the children she had to look after. I loved the scene when the Baron invaded the home and she was like "no you listen to me" and totally bossed Baron around. 

Samuel L Jackson portrayed The Baron in the movie. I was surprised when I heard they had cast Samuel as The Baron as in the books I felt as though he was a bit of a push over, I was never really scared of him. However, once I saw the movie my opinion changed. The costume and special effects/ costume and make up made The Baron look really scary. I really didn't like the white eyes as they freaked me out a bit. I loved how sassy Samuel made The Baron, I never imagined him as a sassy character but it really worked. 

Differences from the book

Obviously when we get a book to movie adaptation, there are bound to be changes. Some changes are for the better and enhance the story, others not so much. Here are some changes from the book to the movie and my opinions. This is in no particular order.

The Hollows eating children's eyes

I thought that this was a good change as it made the Hollows seem more scary. Also the way they ate the eyeballs was horrible. I liked the idea that if you ate enough eyeballs you became more "human"

Emma and Olive's power swap

I personally felt as though this swap was unnecessary. Emma and Olive are two great individuals, why did they need each others powers? Also when I imagined Olive I always saw her as a little girl rather than a teenager. The swap didn't add anything to the story.

Jacob's grandfather never dying

Again, I felt as though this was an odd decision. Abe plays a part in this story but his part is to introduce Jacob to the Peculiars. I felt as though him never dying was a bit of a paradox as if he hadn't died Jacob wouldn't have gone to the island and prevented his death.

Blackpool

This was a new addition to the story in which the last quarter of the movie in which Jacob and the Peculiars fought the hollows and one. I personally really liked this scene as it allowed us to see a lot of the Peculiars in a battle type situation. They got to show off their powers which was quite cool. Also Tim Burton had a cameo here, which was a nice touch.

Miss Peregrine's Recovery

At the end of the movie we see that the Peculiars have got Miss Peregrine back. This is a big inconsistency with the story of the next book as they spend most of the next book trying to get Miss Peregrine back. I would be interested to see where they take the Hollow City story line from here.

Opinions

As I said at the start of my review, I gave Miss Peregrines 4/5 stars as a movie and 3.5/5 stars for accuracy. I have to say that this was one of the best book-movie adaptations I have seen. It kept the main essence of the story which drew fans in while adding some new things. I couldn't have been happier with the cast as they portrayed the characters wonderfully. Yes some of the people they cast weren't the way I pictured them myself but I was still happy with them. I was so happy that Tim Burton directed this movie as he added his Gothic, crazy touches to this amazing story. I loved the humor in this film. There were moments when I laughed out loud which was something I didn't do while reading the book. Like I already mentioned, I especially loved the scene were Jacob and his father arrive in Wales and they see a Peregrine and Jacob starts shouting at it saying "Don't crap on us!". I will be honest, I am interested to see how they go into a second film if they make a second film as I feel like it would be hard to start the Hollow City story with where they left it. Overall I am very happy with this adaptation and I will definitely try and see it again in the cinema, I've also bought the companion book that goes along with the movie and tells you how they made the movie.      

Note: all pictures in this post are taken from Google and I do not own them/ take credit for them.