The Fault In Our Stars

Cassius:
"The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,
But in ourselves, that we are underlings."

Julius Caesar (I, ii, 140-141)

In his novel The Fault In Our Stars, John Green sets out to prove Cassius wrong (which I applaud, because from what I remember from 10th grade English, Cassius is a total poop-face).  Hazel and Augustus' story is not one about cancer, which has at least at some point been a major fault in their stars, yet has not been the maker of who they are.  Many people have said this story isn't about cancer, and after reading the book and seeing the movie for myself, I must concur.  Hazel's voice throughout is authentic, and honest, and realistic - without becoming pessimistic.  While I'll freely admit that although I have spent a lifetime consuming the sappiest kind of romances that Hollywood and authors have to offer, it was refreshing to experience the tragic yet truthful storytelling in The Fault In Our Stars.

Even though there are plenty of heartbreaking aspects to TFIOS, I found a surprising amount of humor as well.  The characters are funny people, people whom I believe I would genuinely enjoy hanging out with if they were real.  If the romance between Hazel and Gus isn't Hollywood-perfect (turns out the world isn't a wish-granting factory), it is still a beautiful and well-developed relationship.  There are a multitude of really great lines and moments woven throughout TFIOS.  One moment in particular is when Augustus explains to Hazel why he always has a cigarette in his mouth without lighting it: "It's a metaphor, see: You put the killing thing between your teeth, but you don't give it the power to do its killing."  Augustus is really big on metaphors, which as a literary geek I can definitely resonate with.

Finally, there's the matter of Movie vs. Book, the Battle of the Ages.  It's rare when I find the film to be a good/accurate adaptation of the book: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, The Hunger Games, and most recently The Fault In Our Stars.  There are some details changed, but they are minute and do not make or break the movie.  The most interesting thing was that both my Grandma and I cried at different parts in the movie than in the book.  I suppose you experience scenes and emotions differently when you see them take place on the screen instead of a foggy corner of your mind.

So all in all, I'd say both the book and the movie are genuinely great, and as long as you have a box of tissues nearby, I say you should definitely go to experience both.

How To Train Your Dragon 2

Let me say right off the bat that if How To Train Your Dragon 2 isn't better than the original as a lot of people have been saying, it is at the very least on par with it.  It's been too long since I've seen the first one for me to give a definitive opinion on which is better, but I can say each movie is great in its own way.  In the thrilling, heart-squeezing sequel that I saw this past week, Hiccup is trying to figure out who he is as he's caught between his father's expectation of the perfect future chief and the mystery of a mother that he's never met.  While he's having identity issues, a new villain is gathering a dragon army, rivaling Hiccup's unofficial status as the master of dragons.

As cool as all the action is, this movie had a way of making my heartstrings sing (with all kinds of emotions, and in all kinds of ways).  Be prepared for things to get emotional, my readers.  I won't say anything else for fear of giving away spoilers.  I wasn't laughing my butt off for the whole movie or anything (in fact it was a preview of Penguins of Madagascar that really had me cracking up), but if the movie is not primarily known for its comedy I think that's okay.  I know I at least laughed a few times.  Hiccup and Astrid's interactions were cute, although they didn't have as much as they did in the first movie.  I can definitely forgive that though, because there was so much else going on that there was really no time or energy to have more Hiccup/Astrid stuff.

The coolest part for me was the continued parallelism between Hiccup and Toothless that you could see in the first HTTYD.  You can see both of them coming into their own as the movie progresses, which I really appreciate.  Fun fact: they are actually the same age!  No wonder they get along so well, am I right?  So, if you haven't seen the epic sequel to How To Train Your Dragon yet, what are you doing still reading a movie review on a screen?  Go, watch it, and tell me what you think!  This is Bridgette signing off, but stay tuned for when I review. . .

THE FAULT IN OUR STARS *weeps hysterically because I already know the emotional wreck I'm going to be after seeing this*

Maleficent

Do you know how long I was looking forward to Maleficent?  I had big expectations for Disney's rewrite of its own film of Sleeping Beauty, and let me tell you, I was not disappointed!  There are so many things I want to rave about but can't without giving away spoilers, so I'm doing a compromise: the first part of this review will be spoiler free, and the second part will be SPOILERS GALORE.  I will give a warning before the shift happens.  So the first rewrite is the character of Maleficent, the famous villainess turned sympathetic anti-villainess.  There is not a moment in this movie that I dislike Maleficent, because even though she does bad things, I understand why.  My mother and I noticed that after the big betrayal that hardens Maleficent's heart, her costume changes from earthy brown colors to midnight black.  It's a great symbolic representation of the shift in Maleficent's attitude, but at the same time there are still many hints that she has not lost her inner goodness despite her pain.

Even though she calls Aurora a "beastie," she is shown to be the one who really watches over and takes care of the princess, not the three (incompetent) other fairies.  Maleficent (and her crow friend whose name I'm sorry not to remember) work behind the scenes to make sure Aurora is safe.  Meanwhile, I laughed out loud several times during this movie, which I hadn't expected but I was pleasantly surprised by. Maleficent has all the good comedic lines, which thrills me.  In so many ways, the movie reverses the traditional roles of fairy tales that Disney itself has promoted in the past.  Y'all know how much I appreciated that after taking Core 2: Approaches to the Fairy Tale at Scripps.  In the fairy tales, any woman with power is evil and ugly, while all the good women are beautiful but entirely passive.  With Maleficent, things get a little more (way) complicated than that.  Between her character arc, the amazing special effects, and total revamp of the tale we used to know, I'd say Maleficent is a MUST-SEE.

SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT

At this point, probably only my dad is reading this because Maleficent literally just came out this weekend and so he's the only one following me who's probably seen it.  That's okay.  Hey, Dad.  Anyway, so the best part for me is actually something that I really loved about Frozen: namely, the true love's kiss being turned on its head.  I was really hoping that we wouldn't get a regurgitation of Prince Philip's kiss saving Aurora, so I was glad that Maleficent was the one who ended up doing the rescuing.  Not only was it an ironic twist that the one who cast the spell breaks the spell, but also, it is a delineation of feminine power in a much more positive light in comparison to fairy tales and old Disney princess movies.  In the meantime, the ambitious Stefan becomes the villain that's very reminiscent of Macbeth.  His doomed romance with Maleficent and his slow descent into insanity leave me nothing to sympathize with by the movie's end.  Unlike Maleficent, he was a relatively flat character that really isn't worthy of further comment.  I think I've at last finished my ranting about Maleficent, so I'll end the post with this: the movie is awesome, and DOWN WITH THE PATRIARCHY! :P

Million Dollar Arm

BAM, look who's back with another movie review!  My mom and I saw Million Dollar Arm today, and I just had to post about it.  So, I'm not a fan of sports (anyone who knows me is probably making a fake gasp of surprise right now), but I have to say I still enjoyed this baseball movie.  Of course it was about more than just the game of baseball, which I will now get into, while trying to stay away from spoilers.  Million Dollar Arm is based on a true story of how sports agent J.B. Bernstein recruits a couple of Indian boys named Dinesh and Rinku to learn to play baseball on a short time (and financial) budget.

The fish-out-of-water scenarios that ensue when Dinesh and Rinku first arrive to America were a source of multiple laughs; those scenes make the movie humorous, though not overly so and not in a particularly witty kind of way.  I really sympathize with Dinesh and Rinku, although frankly I did not like J.B. all that much for most of the movie.  But that's J.B.'s character.  He starts of as a playboy who only cares about business deals and continuing his comfortable bachelor's life, but he does shape up as the movie progresses (perhaps predictably, but I'm glad he redeems himself).  The most interesting part was that the romantic subplot between J.B. and his next-door neighbor Brenda is based on their real-life relationship.  I thought that was just mixed into the movie to make it interesting.  The movie's not a documentary, so obviously not all the details are accurate, but at the very least, J.B. and Brenda's relationship is.

There were a few really cool shots, especially when the boys are pitching, and the way those scenes were set up made me feel really tense/nervous for them.  The fall-down-get-back-up-again theme, paired with the message of family and working hard, come together for the inspirational story that I'm sure they were aiming for.  All in all, I don't have any real complaints about this movie and genuinely enjoyed myself despite it not being the typical kind of genre I go for.  You should check it out if you head to the theater any time soon.  Meanwhile, be on the lookout for my review of Maleficent, which I'll be seeing next Saturday with my family.

Double Movie Review

Last Saturday, I had an awesome double sequel premier which I have not had the time to post about until tonight.  I kicked off the morning with a sensory friendly showing of Rio 2, which, frankly was not quite as good as the original.  But they never are anyway.  I would say Rio 2 is a movie meant for kids, so if you aren't one, I wouldn't particularly recommend it.  However, if you're a parent, I will tell you that the movie is probably entertaining enough to get you through the day.  Also, the bird villain from the first Rio movie (I can't remember his name) was (for me at least) surprisingly more comedic relief than a source of true antagonism like in the first movie.  I found that to be an amusing twist, and his frog friend was absolutely adorable.  Also, Bruno Mars' voice is in this movie.  I think that bumped up my rating for this movie by about 10%.

Saturday afternoon, I had the privilege of seeing Captain America 2 with Grace, Sophia, and Jennifer at Edwards Cinema.  There were many things that I liked about this movie, including: the bits of humor, Natasha's sassy banter with Steve, the cameo appearance of Peggy Carter, and the introduction of Falcon (finally, an Avenger who's a person of color!).  The winter soldier was super bad-ass pardon my French, but there is no better way to describe him, and if you read the comic books you'll know why seeing him interact with Steve made my heart ache a little actually a lot.  What I didn't love about this movie was that it was really, and I mean really violent in comparison to the other Marvel movies I've seen.  If your name is Elijah Jones, I can see why that would actually be a bonus, but for a girl who generally likes to see rainbows and sunshine in movies… not so much.  It's an action movie, so if you like that, Captain America 2 definitely for you.  And finally, confession time: Chris Evans speaking French is the sexiest thing I have ever heard… and I feel absolutely no shame in saying that.

Footprints

If you've been following me since the beginning, you probably remember my poem "Like Footprints" (if not, just click here).  I have progressed a lot since the day I posted it, and after a semester of poetry at Pomona College, I've decided to do a complete rewrite.  In fact, I'm not even sure if it's fair to call it that, since the only thing I've kept in this new poem is the idea of footprints in the sand.  Something that I miss from the original is the rhythm that it had to it, but I think there are some great things about this poem as well.  Some changes are probably going to be made to this poem after the poetry workshop on Tuesday, but I thought I'd just post the most recent version I have now.

Footprints

Your footprints in the sand
Are swallowed by the seawater

Palm-palm touch
My hand hangs in the air, waiting

I miss your sticky fingers
Glued onto mine in a flesh mesh

My soles slap-slap the pavement
The echo of your footsteps ping-pongs

My hand ventures into the casket
You're frozen in all kinds of ways

One day these black-clad figures
Will live, forget life, but

I can't unremember
Your print's still stamped on me

An Announcement

Hey readers, just a quick announcement that I am making a small alteration to this blog.  Tomorrow I am changing the privacy settings so that only select readers can log in to read my blog posts.  I want to give you the heads up before I actually change the settings.  If there are any technical problems and you can't log in, shoot me an email and we'll figure things out.  Happy Internet surfing!