Movie and Books Girl

Book: Heartbreak Hotel Author: Deborah Moggach Genre: Fiction, romance, comedy Published By: Penguin Published Year: 2013 As part of a book group I had the challenge of reading a book with the word "HOTEL" in it. As a result I picked up Heartbreak Hotel by Deborah Moggach at my local library without knowing what the book was about and having never read anything by the author before. The book is about a man called Buffy who when his friend Bridie dies and gives him in her will her BnB in Wales he decides to move from London to take over the BnB. When realising that the place isn't making any money Buffy decides to do classes for those who are recently broken up or divorced so that they could learn the skills in which their partners always done for the couples. However, it brings a lot of different things to the hotel instead in terms of friendships, love and even drama. The book does follow ten different characters which does make this novel rather confusing an...

Film: The Little Mermaid Year: 2018 Genre: Adventure, Drama, Fantasy Directed By: Blake Harris, Chris Bouchard Starring: William Moseley, Poppy Drayton, Loreto Peralta About:  A young reporter and his niece discover a beautiful and enchanting creature they believe to be the real little mermaid. Trailer:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4LfNLtVQqE My Review: Noticing that Netflix has made an adaptation of The Little Mermaid and it looking different movies that I had seen based on the classic fairy tale I couldn't resist but to give this a watch. I really liked that the movie opened with the story of The Little Mermaid in which everyone already knows which did show that this movie was not going to be the tradition version of the film. I thought by having the child from the very beginning ill and her uncle going to any length to try and get her help even if it meant trying medicine he didn't believe in showed how much he cared for his niece and that he would try an...

Book: List of 13 Author: E.A. Comiskey Genre: Fantasy Published By: Nuff Said Pubishing Published Year: 2018 About:  Alice and her adult daughter, Claire, created a “bucket list” of thirteen experiences they would seek out before Alice died from cancer. They never expected to die in a plane crash attempting to cross off number three. Now, mother and daughter are stuck in the underworld, unable to move on to their ultimate destiny until they finish the list, but finding an Irish Pub near the Fields of Asphodel, or swimming naked in the ocean while being pursued by bloodthirsty Aztecs and a smitten Egyptian god is as hard as it sounds. When everything they ever thought they knew is challenged, will faith be enough to carry them through? My review: Having received an advance reader's copy from the author in return for an honest review I was happy to start reading this book which was very different from what I expected when I first picked it up. The story is told from Ali...

Film: Bird Box Year: 2018 Genre: Drama, Horror, Sci-fi Directed By: Susanne Bier Starring: Sandra Bullock, Trevante Rhodes, John Malkovich About:  Five years after an ominous unseen presence drives most of society to suicide, a mother and her two children make a desperate bid to reach safety. Trailer:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INJ2bPFy108 My Review: Having wanted to see this from the moment I saw the first trailer a couple of months ago I was glad to realise that Netflix had released it and thought that this would be a good film to watch with my mother. I am very glad I did watch this as although it left some questions to be answered I ended up liking this film a lot more than I thought I was going to. Having the movie start with urgency and telling children not to take their blindfolds off I thought was a great way of starting the movie as it started rather fast and made the watcher from the very beginning wonder what was going on and why they were to kee...

Film: Christmas With The Coopers Year: 2015 Genre: Comedy, Romance Directed By: Jessie Nelson Starring: Steve Martin, Diane Keaton, John Goodman About:  The intertwined stories of four generations of Coopers unfold right before the annual family reunion on Christmas Eve Trailer:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAfBULcwCPM My Review: Letting my mum choose the movie for Christmas Eve she decided to put on Christmas With The Coopers as we had both never seen it before. This was a film in which I feel I personally wouldn't watch again however was one that is different for the Christmas period. I thought this movie was great to show how families try to please each other over the Christmas period and try and pretend everything is really happy and great even if things really are the opposite. By also showing how different family members were going through different situations I thought was a good way of making everyone who was watching able to associate themselves with...

Film: The Christmas Chronicles Year: 2018 Genre: Adventure, Comedy, Family Directed By: Clay Kaytis Starring: Kurt Russell, Darby Camp, Judah Lewis About:  The story of sister and brother, Kate and Teddy Pierce, whose Christmas Eve plan to catch Santa Claus on camera turns into an unexpected journey that most kids could only dream about. Trailer:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YaeDa_Uempk My Review: With less than a week till Christmas and hearing a lot of good things about this movie I thought that I should check out The Christmas Chronicles and I am so glad I did as it is one of the best Christmas movies that I have ever seen. This film was brilliant in showing how Santa worked and how the elves was able to help Santa bring all of the presents all around the world. As well as this by having the mum's Christmas wish from the beginning coming true by bringing the bother and sister together was a great way of bringing this movie together and also giving this fil...

Film: A Monster Calls Year: 2016 Genre: Animation, Drama, Fantasy Directed By: J.A. Bayona Starring: Lewis McDougall, Sigourney Weaver, Felicity Jones About:  A boy seeks the help of a tree monster to cope with his single mother's terminal illness Trailer:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2Xbo-irtBA My Review: Having been meaning to watch this for a while I was glad that I noticed this was on Netflix and as a result decided to give this a watch and I am so glad that I did. The film follows a boy named Connor and when his mother starts getting worse while being ill with cancer starts the grieving process and gets the help from a monster who helps him with the first four stages of the grieving process. I thought that this film was done really well and had the animation work really well with the stories in which the tree monster was showing Connor and showed the four stages very tastefully. This made me enjoy the movie more as I feel that they were not pushing the ...

Film: Cam Year: 2018 Genre: Horror, Mystery, Thriller Directed By: Daniel Goldhaber Starring: Madeline Brewer, Patch Darragh, Melora Walters About:  Alice, an ambitious camgirl, wakes up one day to discover she's been replaced on her show with an exact replica of herself. Trailer:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pN8xZ5WDonk My Review:  Wanting something different to watch I thought I would go for the movie Cam which is available to watch on Netflix and although it kept my attention this film did rather disappoint me. With the film being about a camgirl I was rather intrigued about how this would end up as a horror and was looking forward to the development of the movie and did keep my interest in that she gets taken over by someone who looks like her even though not herself. I also liked that through this the watcher was able to see how Lola was reacting to someone impersonating her and the trouble in which she was going through by having the tech support no...

Book: Flood and Fang Author: Marcus Sedgwick Genre: Children's, Fantasy, Gothic Published By: Orion Children's Books Published Year: 2009 Having read others in the series for The Raven Mysteries by Marcus Sedgwick I thought I would read the first book in the series for the first time and I am glad that I did. This book is perfect for children and one that I enjoyed reading. This book coming from the ravens perspective instead of from a human is a great way of changing the way this book is written compared to others of it's kind. Having it also more of a gothic read is great and appeals to children who are looking for something a little darker than other stories. I do find the mystery is great and not having the answer till the end of the book keeps the attention of the reader and makes them want to carry on reading to see what happens next also by adding suspense it created a need to continue the novel. Also by having short chapters it is easy to only have smal...

Film: The Holiday Calendar Year: 2018 Genre: Drama, Romance Directed By: Bradley Walsh Starring: Kat Graham, Quincy Brown, Ethan Peck About:  A struggling but talented photographer inherits an antique holiday advent calendar, the contents of which seem to predict the future. Will this magical calendar lead her to love this holiday season? Trailer:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=km7gv28_uX0 My Review: Wanting to get in the Christmas spirit my mum decided to put on The Holiday Calendar which is currently available to watch on Netflix. This film did end up surprising us both with how much we ended up enjoying it and it did bring me some holiday cheer. I thought that this film was good in that it showed how the main character Abby wasn't really happy with how her life was and felt like the photography in which she was doing wasn't the kind in which she wanted to do but needed the job so kept at it. Not only this but by having her grandfather notice she needed somet...

Book: Icefire Author: Chris D'Lacey Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult, Fiction Published By: Orchard Books Published Year: 2003 Having liked the first book in The Last Dragon Chronicles I thought I would read the second book in the series which is Icefire . This is a book in which is different to most dragon typed books and one that is still very enjoyable to read. I liked how the book started off where the last book did which led to the reader not being confused or wondering what has been happening since the first book ended. Having also kept the same characters however introducing new ones throughout the novel did make it exciting and keeping some of the mystery till near the end keeps the reader wanting to know more throughout. I did think by having David in this book able to see the dragons move and interact rather than just as statues made of clay was a brilliant way of letting the reader see into the world of dragons more and understand the personalities of some of the dr...

Film: Balto Year: 1995 Genre: Animation, Adventure, Drama Directed By: Simon Wells Starring: Kevin Bacon, Bob Hoskins, Bridget Fonda About:  An outcast half-wolf risks his life to prevent a deadly epidemic from ravaging Nome, Alaska. Trailer:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJwvbmRXym4 My Review: Having never seen this movie before and having a love for Alaska, dogs and wolves I thought that this would be the perfect movie for me to watch and relax to and I was not mistaken. At the end finding out that this was also based on true events made me like this film a little more as it made the film more enjoyable for the younger audiences and could teach them about an event which happened in a way they would like. I found this film very enjoyable and rather funny especially with the goose in which is rather moody and caring but so relateable for those who are adults, by also having the polar bears which both Balto and the goose are very good friends with added a more ...

Book: The Secret Teachings of All Ages Author: Manly P. Hall Genre: Non-Fiction, Philosophy, History Published By: Start Publishing LLC  Published Year: 1928 Having been requested The Secret Teachings of All Ages I thought I would pick it up and it did take me a lot longer than I thought it would to get through this book by taking almost three months to read and finish. This book I did find very interesting in places and had some topics in which I found myself really enjoying such as: The Zodiac and Its Signs, The Pythagorean Theory of Music and Colour, Stones, Metals and Gems. I did find these alongside other chapters o the book and learning new things which was a great thing for me as it did give me more knowledge in which I would not have known any other way. There was certain parts of the book however which did not interest me and did make me rather bored of reading even though certain aspects of chapters would be more interesting than others. As well as this I fou...