I started this movie thinking of the book and how much I loved it. To my disappointment, the movie wasn’t I would have expected it to be. First of all, Kyle, the main character, wasn’t even turned into a hairy beast, like in the book. He was transformed into a weirdly tattooed, veiny and scarred Voldemort-type guy. I feel like that really let go of it being a modern Beauty and the Beast. Another reason why this movie just wasn’t my cup of tea is that it was just kind of plain old boring. After halfway through the film, I had no desire to watch the rest. It just wasn’t grabbing and keeping a hold on my attention.
The one thing I really liked about this film was Neil Patrick Harris. He played Kyle’s tutor, Will, who also happens to be blind. I feel like he did the best job out of the whole cast. Yes, even better than Vanessa Hudgens.
If you read the book and loved it, I’d suggest not watching this film. It doesn’t do the book justice.
Okay, here we go. I had been waiting for the moment I’d see this movie for four years. I was lucky enough to see it at midnight, and I couldn’t believe it was happening. I got to see the movie in 3D, and it was my first time seeing a movie in the theater in 3D. Although the 3D didn’t really add much to the movie, it was still interesting and worked for a lot of the parts. I enjoyed it. Also, the 3D glasses were shaped like Harry’s glasses.
I have mixed emotions about this film. First of all, it is the last Harry Potter film. I never imagined that it would actually happen. Since I basically grew up with Harry, it was weird finally realizing there was nothing more Harry Potter related to look forward to. I will honestly say I was a little disappointed with this movie. There were many changes to the plotline, especially at the end of the movie. I just felt that the events leading up to the overall end shouldn’t be changed. It all felt rushed. I felt like I was in and out of the theater in no time. Part 1 seemed longer. Also, there were those certain moments and quotes from the books that I just couldn’t wait to see and hear and just find out how it was interpreted. A lot of significant and important quotes weren’t included. I was pretty upset about that. I waiting so long to see certain parts, and they weren’t even included. Maybe I just expected too much?
But, this was a Harry potter movie. There is no way I could say that I disliked it in anyway. This movie was action-packed from start to finish. It had everyone in the theater laughing, crying, and cheering and on the edge of their seats as the movie played. It was a truly great film. Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint were absolutely fantastic. Alan Rickman stole the show. He was amazing. The whole cast was fabulous. I can’t believe this is the last Harry Potter movie. And I won’t doubt that I’ll be at the theater to see it again.
Ever since the first Harry Potter book came out in 1997, the whole world has been captivated by J.K. Rowling’s intricate plotline and the magical world she created.
It’s honestly hard to remember a time where I wasn’t absolutely in love with everything to do with Harry Potter. I was around the age of eight when I first read the books, around the year of 2004. At first, I wasn’t going to read them, to be honest. I got them for Christmas and they sat on the floor in my bedroom for a few months before I first decided to pick them up. And that was definitely the best decision I have ever made.
As soon as I read the first chapter of the Sorcerer’s Stone, I was hooked. I wanted to be a part of that magical world; I wanted to be told “You’re a wizard” and receive my Hogwarts acceptance letter on my 11th birthday. I wanted to walk the streets of Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade and attend Hogwarts. There was nothing more I wanted.
J.K. Rowling’s words had taken me captive, and weren’t letting me go any time soon. I was amazed by the world she made and the characters she pulled out of her mind. The fact that one person was able to do that is absolutely amazing. I wanted to be able to do that. I wanted to write books and create a whole new world of my own. The way I was able to escape from the world and enter a different world just by opening a book…I wanted to do that for someone else. I wanted to string words together and create a new place filled with new people and tell a story. I thought it was the best thing anyone could do with their imagination.
I became obsessed with reading as I got older. I just kept reading and reading. Since I read so much, I decided to use it to my advantage and create my own book review blog. Bookberdblog.com has been running since October of 2009 and I love it so much. I love talking about books as much as I love reading about them. I love giving my opinion on the plotlines of different novels and book series. I plan on writing and publishing my own book one day.
Growing up with these books definitely shaped my childhood. I wouldn’t be who I am today if I did not have these books. The Potter books are not just about Harry’s journey to defeat the Dark Lord, Voldemort, some of the biggest life lessons and very important topics are discussed in these books. Alongside Harry, we learn the true meanings of loyalty, friendship, sacrifice and love. We see the battle of good versus evil. We learn that to find out what a man is like, look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals. We accept that death is the next great adventure. We explore topics such as gender, race, social class and prejudice. We are taught that it is not good to dwell on dreams and forget to live.
The faces of Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint are not only the faces of my favorite characters, but they are also the faces of my childhood. I grew up with Harry, Ron and Hermione. Seeing them moving on and doing different things, even if it is just going to college, kind of represents the ending on my childhood, in a way. I saw Daniel Radcliffe in the Broadway musical, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying and finally realized there are going to be no more movies. He moved on. I guess it’s time for me to grow up now…
It’s weird to think that this whole phenomenon wouldn’t have happened if J.K. Rowling didn’t get the idea to write a magical fantasy about a boy named Harry on the train from Manchester to London in 1990. I don’t even want to think of what my life would be like without Harry Potter in it.
No matter what anyone says to me, Harry Potter is not over. It will never be over. The legacy will live on. Harry Potter is a story I will carry with me for the rest of my life. Harry will forever live in my heart and the hearts of children, teenagers and even adults all around the world. J.K. Rowling will continue to be an inspiration. People from all over will continue to read the books and watch the movies.
And I know that Hogwarts will always be there to welcome us home.
My mom had read this book and seen the movie a while ago and I was in the mood for some Leonardo DiCaprio, so I decided to watch this today. Basically, Leonardo DiCaprio plays a U.S. marshal named Teddy Daniels and his partner, Chuck Aule, who are both U.S. marshals go to Ashecliffe Hospital for the criminally insane on Shutter Island to find a missing patient, Rachel Solando. Shutter Island is located in Boston Harbor. Rachel was one of the more dangerous patients, for she was in the mental hospital in the first place for murdering her three children. Teddy Daniels has some problems of his own, too: his wife died in a fire, and he is searching for the man who deliberately set the house on fire.
The plot of this movie has so many twists and half of it is totally unexpected, especially the ending. It made me want to read the book. At first, the movie was really confusing and a little hard to follow, but in the end I really loved it. If you watch it, remember: everything is not what it seems.
We don’t know where he’s from, we don’t know his real name and we don’t who he is writing to, but we know his whole life. A teenage boy under the alias of “Charlie” is writing letters to a “friend” who he knows will listen to his problems. He talks about life as a teenager and what he does to deal with it. He talks about his friends and family and doesn’t tell us their real names or where they live. Charlie talks about his past and what made him who he is today. Charlie’s letters are more intimate than a diary and each letter is unique. He is caught between living his life and running from it. Through Charlie, we learn that ‘all you need is that perfect song on that perfect drive to feel infinite’.
I’ve heard a lot of good things about this book so I finally decided to read it, and I’m really glad I did. It’s not what I expected though. I didn’t expect the whole letter format, but I ended up liking it a lot and might try writing a story that way. I thought Charlie seemed a little immature at first, but it kind of makes sense at the end why he acts the way he does. It still bothers me that it really is never revealed who Charlie is writing his letters to. He always just writes “dear friend” at the beginning of each letter. Though, overall, this book was very interesting and very hard to put down and very inspirational.
Also, I’m pretty sure this is going to be a movie sometime soon!
*Don’t read if you haven’t read the previous book*
After everything that happened last year with her sister, Kasey, Alexis thought life in her new home would be easy. And obviously, she was wrong. Kasey starts her first year of high school, and right away she makes a new group of friends. It’s really unexpected that these girls start hanging out, considering most of them are polar opposites on the ‘popularity scale’. Though a little doubtful, Alexis is thrilled that her sister made new friends, it’s exactly what she needs after being in a mental hospital for a year. But when the girls of the ‘Sunshine Club’ start transforming from antisocial and nerdy to beautiful and popular in a matter of days, Alexis starts to worry. Apparently the Sunshine Club is a self-improvement club for young girls, but when Alexis investigates, she realizes the girls swore on an oath to a spirit names Aralt. Alexis joins the group herself to figure out what’s going on and hopefully destroy the book before everything turns worse. She then starts making changes in herself just like the others: she gets rid of her pink hair and punk clothes for a more mainstream fashion. And she can’t remember why she wanted to destroy the book in the first place, why would she destroy a spirit who is giving so much to her and her new friends? With Alexis and the other girls under Aralt’s spell, everything goes from bad to cursed.
Katie Alender never disappoints, does she? I absolutely loved this book, just like the first one. Every chapter threw in something new to the plot and kept me completely hooked. It was like a rollercoaster ride. It had its moments where it freaked me out a bit, too! I actually thought this book would be a continuation of the whole ‘possessed-doll’ thing that went on in the first book, so I was happily surprised when there was a whole new ordeal introduced in this book. I am in love with the concept of Aralt and his book. From Bad to Cursed was a fantastic book, and I cannot wait for the next one!
She had everything. She was a fashion model who had the perfect boyfriend, best friend and the career she had always wanted. Then a sudden accident leaves her face disfigured and incapable of speech, everything goes downhill. She goes from being the center of attention, as a model, to being invisible. Not only is she just invisible, she is an invisible monster. She then goes on a journey around the country with Brandy Alexander – “Queen Supreme”, to learn that ‘reinventing yourself means erasing your past and making up something better’.
When I first started reading this book, I honestly hated it. The whole story started off at the end, and then the narrator looked back and told how she got to that point. The story itself jumps around to different points. In fact, each part starts off with “Jump to…” It took me a while to get used to Palahniuk’s writing style. It’s so unique and different, but I ended up loving it. One of the reasons I didn’t like it at first was because it didn’t really make sense. It would jump around to different times and it wasn’t always in chronological order. But towards the middle of the book, I finally got a hang of it and everything started making sense. The whole book is honestly pretty weird, but it’s how everything ends and how everything is connected that really wins me over. Everything about the ending is amazing. There are so many good quotes from this book; I actually had to highlight them to remember them all. I can’t wait to read more books by Chuck Palahniuk. Invisible Monsters will always be one of my favorite novels.
On October 31st, 1984, a fifteen year old girl who is half Hindu and half Sikh is travelling to New Delhi, India from Canada with her father. She only has two things with her: a new journal and her mother’s ashes. On the night Maya and her father arrive in New Delhi, Indira Gandhi, the Prime Minister of India was gunned down in her garden, sending the whole city into chaos. While thousands are being murdered, Maya find herself alone in the middle of one of the bloodiest massacres in the country’s history. She is unable to find her father and must go under disguise, only depending on the help of a boy named Sandeep to stay alive. Throughout her journey, Maya learns the true meaning of love, forgiveness, home and karma.
I started off this book really excited. On the cover it said it was written in verse, which is kind of like poetry. I picked it up in the first place because it reminded me of the Ellen Hopkins books. Also, I had just learned about the murder of Indira Gandhi in school. I am so glad I found this book. I love the history element of it; it was so realistic and honest. The main character, Maya, felt so real. I think the one thing I didn’t life at first was the point of view switch from Maya to Sandeep in the middle of the book, because I was so caught up in what was happening to Maya and wanted to see what was going to happen. But after awhile I got used to it and realized the purpose of the switch. I love Cathy Ostlere’s writing style, I love this book and I wish it didn’t end.
Lady Gaga. What do you think of when you hear that name? What comes to mind when someone says those two simple words? I think of the exotic outfits, the pieces of art she calls clothing. The group dance numbers, forever fun and refreshing. I think of her promotion of equality and loving yourself. The Fame, Gaga’s first studio album, which made her who she is today. I think of The Fame Monster, an eight-track EP that turned me into one of Gaga’s “Little Monsters”.
But most importantly, I think of Born This Way.
I remember when Lady Gaga announced the title of her second studio album at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards. Born This Way was a self-declared phenomenon before it was even an album. I really wasn’t sure what to expect, considering how bizarre Lady Gaga is. All I knew was that this album was guaranteed to be amazing.
Thankfully, I was not let down. As soon as I pulled the CD out of its Gaga-as-a-motorcycle-clad cover, and slid it into my stereo, I was greeted with the sweet sound of the first song on the album, “Marry the Night”. This song is definitely a great, strong opening to an album that had so much hype. The first line of lyrics are: “I’m gonna marry the night, I won’t give up on my life” and it set the perfect vibe for the overall theme of Born This Way which is to basically love and be happy with yourself and who you are.
Honestly, I love every song on the album, but when I first listened to it, there were a few songs that stuck in my head and made me want to go back for a second listen. “Americano” was one of those songs. Gaga actually sings part of this song in Spanish. It has that type of uplifting beat that make me tap me feet and want to get up and dance with someone.
The ninth song on the album, “Bad Kids” is definitely one of my favorites off the album. It opens with: “We don’t care what people say, we know the truth” which is another perfect example of what Born This Way stands for: accepting yourself, including your flaws and what makes you a ‘bad kid’ and not caring about what others say about you. I think this is one of the most inspiring songs on the album.
The closing song to the album, “The Edge of Glory” is just utterly fantastic. Although this song is about Gaga’s grandfather who recently passed away, it has an upbeat melody and catchy lyrics that are always stuck in my head. While all the other artists are adding fast beats to their songs, Gaga is adding a saxophone solo. My interpretation of the song is Gaga sending out a message to her grandfather saying “I’m on the edge with you”, kind of like saying that even though he is gone (at the edge of his life) that she is still with him and always will keep him in her heart. This song was a perfect way to end the album.
Overall, I believe Born This Way reached everyone’s expectations. I feel like all the Little Monsters around the world are cheering for Gaga and celebrating all her hard work. I’m sure this album turned some people into Little Monsters, too. What I really want people to know is that there is more to the album than the song “Born This Way” which was criticized for being too much like Madonna and “Judas” which was labeled as anti-Catholic. The album is just so much more than that.
With Born This Way, Gaga definitely left her sparkly footprint on the world.
The face that was once behind the circular glasses and brandishing a wand at the evils of the Wizarding World is now up on a Broadway stage wearing a suit and an electric-blue bowtie. Daniel Radcliffe, who played Harry Potter, known as the “Boy Who Lived”, on the big screen adaptations of J.K. Rowling’s best-selling novels for just about a decade, has now taken up a new trade: singing and dancing.
Radcliffe plays the main role in the 2011 revival of the musical comedy, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. How to Succeed has been around for a long time. It was originally created by playwrights Willie Gilbert and Jack Weinstock based on Shepard Mead’s original book in 1952. The musical went years without being produced, until it finally reached the stage for its first production on Broadway in 1961.
Since then, there have been many different versions and revivals of this musical. In 1963, the West End production opened in March of that year, playing five hundred and twenty performances. The West End is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London’s ‘Theatreland’. Along with Broadway, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest end of commercial in the English speaking world.
A long time after the West End productions, there was a Broadway revival which spanned from 1995 to 1996. After the first revival, the national tour of How to Succeed began in Baltimore in May of 1996 and ended in Milwaukee in June of 1997. And finally, the second and most recent revival of the musical, with Daniel Radcliffe as the main role, opened on March 27th, 2011. The production is currently nominated for 11 Tony Awards.
On May 21st, I got the pleasure to travel to New York City for the day and see How to Succeed In Business Without Really Trying. Seeing that musical was probably one of the best experiences ever, not only did I get to see Daniel Radcliffe, who I’ve admired since I was about eight, the whole production was fantastic.
As soon as the lights go out in the theatre, a rope chair drops down from way up above the stage and drops down into the orchestra area. After a few minutes of the orchestra playing, the rope rises slowly, and Daniel Radcliffe appears, holding the “How to Succeed” book. The book itself is one of the main influences on the plot. The main character, J. Pierrepont Finch, uses the book to move up on the business ladder from window washer to Chairman of the Board of the World Wide Wicket Company. While at work, Finch meets Rosemary, his love interest later in the play. Rosemary tries multiple times to get Finch to agree to a date with her, though he is completely oblivious and focused on succeeding.
Throughout the whole play, Radcliffe and the cast have moments of singing and dancing. At first, I was really surprised Radcliffe could sing. His voice is fantastic! The whole cast sounded so great together and the dance numbers were choreographed amazingly.
Not only was this a chance for me to see my first play on Broadway, but I got to see Daniel Radcliffe. Seeing Radcliffe in this musical meant a lot of different things for me. Seeing Radcliffe involved in something new and different basically symbolized the end of the Harry Potter phenomenon. Harry Potter was my childhood, so it was kind of like finally realizing that my childhood was ending and I had to grow up. Although I am sad that Radcliffe is done with Harry Potter, I am so happy for him. He is so successful and talented.
Overall, I think this musical was incredible. All the great reviews it is getting are absolutely correct. Daniel Radcliffe and the whole cast are amazing. If I had the opportunity to see it again, I would. I could have sat in that theatre all day! So, if you’re in the mood for a good laugh and catchy music, take a drive up to New York and see How to Succeed at the Al Hirschfield Theatre.
