Movie and Books Girl

Film: I Am Wrath Year: 2016 Genre: Action, Crime, Drama Directed By: Chuck Russell Starring: John Travolta, Christopher Meloni, Amanda Schull About:  A man is out for justice after a group of corrupt police officers are unable to catch his wife's killer. Trailer:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwiQCDpYzjE My Review: When my mum came home with this movie I had no idea what to expect as I had never heard of it before but liking a lot of movies with John Travolta I had high hopes that I would enjoy it. This film did surprise me a lot and something in which I enjoyed a lot more than I had expected. Starting I Am Wrath with Stanley's wife dying and how he went out for revenge made me think that this was somewhat based off of a John Wick movie, however as a fan of the trilogy this didn't bother me at all. Showing how the police and people higher up didn't care about who killed his wife and even let the killer go as he was part of a gang in which the police wer...

Film: The 5th Wave Year: 2016 Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama Directed By: J Blakeson Starring: Chloe Grace Moretz, Matthew Zuk, Gabriela Lopez About:  Four waves of increasingly deadly alien attacks have left most of Earth in ruin. Cassie is on the run, desperately trying to save her younger brother Trailer:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmxLybfGNC4 My Review: Having not seen The 5th Wave in a while and continuously being drawn to it in my movie collection I decided to give this a watch. Gutted that they decided not to continue on the franchise as it left a lot of questions however I do find this film enjoyable. Showing the background to the film and the different waves in which The Others seemed to take when eliminating the human race was something which helped the audience understand what was happening with the waves of Darkness; Destruction; Infection; Invasion and Child Education. With each wave killing humanity on the Earth so that the aliens are able to...

Film: Storks Year: 2016 Genre: Animation, Adventure, Comedy Directed By: Nicholas Stoller, Doug Sweetland Starring: Andy Samberg, Katie Crown, Kelsey Grammer About:  Storks have moved on from delivering babies to packages. But when an order for a baby appears, the best delivery stork must scramble to fix the error by delivering the baby. Trailer:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZENmkJk9fBM My Review: Having a movie day I couldn't decide what film to review however one film stood out to me more than the others have and that was Storks which made me laugh as well as kept me entertained all the way through the movie. As a result I thought that this would be the perfect film for me to review. Personally I liked how this film showed how Storks carried babies like what children are told when they are little however decided to change to just delivering parcels due to one of them wanting to steal a baby and as a result has lived in their warehouse her whole life. I did ...

Book: Devastation Author: M.J. Haag Genre: Fantasy, Romance, Retelling Published By: Shattered Glass Publishing LLC Published Year: 2016 My Review: Having read the first two books in this trilogy  Depravity  and  Deceit  I needed to know how the trilogy ended so picked up  Devastation  pretty much the moment I finished Deceit. I really enjoyed this trilogy and feel that this was the perfect way for me to get introduced to M.J. Haag as an author as I ended up loving these books more than I expected. The book follows on from the second book perfectly and shows what happens next to Alec (The Beast) and Benella once the curse has been broken upon the manor. Having Benella's name and confidence tarnished due to the baker in the last book and Alec struggling to keep on top of the manor and land. Benella and her father end up living at the estate and help Alec to bring his land back to it's rightful ways which has Alec trying to prove that he loves Ben...

Film: The Girl With All The Gifts Year: 2016 Genre: Drama, Horror, Sci-fi Directed By: Colm McCarthy Starring: Sennia Nanua, Fisayo Akinade, Dominique Tipper About:  A scientist and a teacher living in a dystopian future embark on a journey of survival with a special young girl named Melanie. Trailer:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjGkB_oWTe0 My Review: Having been interested in this movie for a while and it really catching my eye lately especially with it being on Netflix I couldn't resist but to give this a watch. This is something in which I had better expectations for than it gave me and seemed a rather forgettable movie even though it wasn't a bad watch. I liked that The Girl With All The Gifts started with showing how the children were taught and kept in separate rooms however made the audience wonder why they were kept that way when they seemed like normal children. Later discovering that they were zombies and that there was a zombie break all over the ...

Film: Pup Star Year: 2016 Genre: Comedy, Family Directed By: Robert Vince Starring: Carla Jimenez, Mackenzie Moss, Susie Wall About:  A Yorkshire Terrier, competing in a televised singing competition, is separated from her owner by an opportunist dog pound worker. Trailer:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8u7iu_AJs0 My Review: Having never heard of this movie before and knowing nothing about it before I watched it I thought that I would choose something in which looked rather cute to me and with being a lover of dogs this seemed to meet the criteria. This film was a good watch and one that I am glad that I decided to put on thanks to Netflix. I really liked how this film at the beginning showed how humans were able to talk to dogs and how that evolution took place in order to understand how dogs were able to talk to humans and be able to understood. This really helped to set up the film and with it having to do with a dog singing competition helped to show how h...

Book: The Hidden People Author: Alison Littlewood Genre: Horror, Fantasy, Historical Published By: Jo Fletcher Books Published Year: 2016 My Review: Taking part in the OWL'S Readathon I needed a book which met the prompt of "Plant on the Cover" and after putting a poll on Twitter which had the choice of three different books this is the one that came out on top. As a result I ended up with this book and although seeming interested in it from the back of the book I found that this book did not grab me as much as I wish it did. The book is about a man who's cousin dies so he goes to try and find out the truth about her death and upon getting to the village of Halfoak finds that the people are really into superstition and believed his cousin to be a fairy and not of this world. However, when his wife gets there he starts to think that maybe there is some truth in the tales the people were saying. I found that this book was really slow for my personal taste ...

Film: Moana Year: 2016 Genre: Animation, Adventure, Comedy Directed By: Ron Clements, John Musker Starring: Auli'i Cravalho, Dwayne Johnson, Rachel House About:  In Ancient Polynesia, when a terrible curse incurred by the Demigod Maui reaches Moana's island, she answers the Ocean's call to seek out the Demigod to set things right. Trailer:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKFuXETZUsI My Review: Having seen this movie loads of times before and being a fan of Disney I was so happy to give this another watch and review it. This is a film in which I always enjoy, makes me laugh and has songs in which I always find myself singing along to. I love that this film has the traditional Disney set up however has the girl as someone who is in charge and tying to save her people by going to the Gods and putting the heart back. I love that this has her having to find out the true history of her people in order to understand why it is so crucial for her to go and find the De...

Film: Ballerina Year: 2016 Genre: Animation, Adventure, Comedy Directed By: Eric Summer, Eric Warin Starring: Elle Fanning, Dane DeHaan, Carly Rae Jepsen About:  An orphan girl dreams of becoming a ballerina and flees her rural Brittany for Paris, where she passes for someone else and accedes to the position of pupil at the Grand Opera house. Trailer:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmK7X0swHrE My Review: Having saw this on my recommended for me list on Netflix I thought I would give it a watch and see if this movie was any good. As someone who loves dance movies and animation I was hoping for this to be better than it was and it did let me down a little bit as a result. I did like that Ballerina showed how both children were best friends and didn't give up on their dreams and wanted to achieve them together by running away to Paris. By showing the lengths both of the children will go to in order to make their dreams come true was also nice to see with the boy d...

Book: Cogheart Author: Peter Bunzl Genre: Fantasy, Steampunk, Children's Published By: Usborne Published Year: 2016 My Review: Having received a copy from Netgalley in return for an honest review I was happy to have been able to give this a read. The book captured me with it's blurb and with it's beautiful cover. Cogheart is about a girl who is told that her father has gone missing and  everyone thinks that he is dead over a machine called Cogheart. Not knowing anything about this but with the police trying to capture her and having killed in the past in order to get their hands on it will Lily be able to get herself to safety and find out the truth about the Cogheart and what happened to her father? I don't usually read steampunk novels so I was excited to read into a genre in which I am not used to. I thought by also having it as an adventure book that this would keep me really engaged with the book and have me unable to put it down. However although thi...

Film: Face 2 Face Year: 2016 Genre: Drama Directed By: Matthew Toronto Starring: Daniela Bobadilla, Daniel Amerman, Kevin McCorkle About:  Over a series of video chats, a teenage outcast reaches out to his childhood friend, but finds that behind the veneer of popularity and a seemingly perfect life, she hides a disturbing secret. Trailer:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6msoCKNKoME My Review: Looking through Netflix this movie grabbed my attention so knowing nothing about it I decided that this would be a good movie to watch. Heading into this initially thinking that it would be a horror I was gladly surprised that it wasn't and how real this movie felt. I really liked how Face 2 Face showed how people can look happy and like everything is okay when really there is hidden darkness within people and unless someone wants you to see that side of them you wouldn't be able to see it. Showing how the friends reconnect and try to help each other is such a sweet thing to...

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: The Darkness Year: 2016 Genre: Horror, Thriller Directed By: Greg McLean Starring: Kevin Bacon, Radha Mitchell, David Mazouz About:  A family unknowingly awakens an ancient supernatural entity on a Grand Canyon vacation, and must fight for survival when it follows them home. Trailer:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDhoqY1grJY My Review: Wanting a horror movie to watch, my mum decided to choose the film The Darkness. Knowing nothing about the film prior to seeing it and having not seen it before I was rather excited to see this. The Darkness is about a family who goes to the Grand Canyon and when their son comes across some stones decides to take them home with him. However the stones end up having a much darker purpose than they intended and could end up killing or breaking the family apart. I thought that this film was brilliant and I really enjoyed how the movie showed right away how the son found the stones in which ends up making all of the problems...

Film: The Purge: Election Year Year: 2016 Genre: Action, Horror, Sci-fi Directed By: James DeMonaco Starring: Frank Grillo, Elizabeth Mitchell, Mykelti Williamson About:  Former Police Sergeant Barnes becomes head of security for Senator Charlie Roan, a Presidential candidate targeted for death on Purge night due to her vow to eliminate the Purge. Trailer:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rqIJcY9hMc My Review: Having seen the first two in the Purge series and it coming ever closer to Halloween I thought that it would be good to watch The Purge: Election Year . I thought that this film was good as it showed at the very beginning why the Senator wanted to get rid of the Purge and that on the lead up the annual Purge made it legal for everyone to become a target including the government and the New Founding Fathers which created the annual Purge. I liked that this film although not being as scary as the first two movies showed a story and how some people are still ...

Film: How To Be Single Year: 2016 Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance Directed By: Christian Ditter Starring: Dakota Johnson, Rebel Wilson, Leslie Mann About:  A group of young adults navigate love and relationships in New York City. Trailer:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrDI4-BSovs My Review: Wanting something for easy watching I decided to look through Netflix and came across How To Be Single which looked interesting and like it would be something which you wouldn't need a lot of effort to watch. The film is about a girl who when she leaves her boyfriend to go on a break to discover who she really is while also discovering that she doesn't need love to be who she really is and sometimes being alone is better Alongside this the watcher meets her sister who is a workaholic but decides to have a baby and after meeting a man keeps pushing him away from her. I thought that How To Be Single was different to most of the romance style movies as it doesn't focus on g...

Film: Kubo and the Two Strings Year: 2016 Genre: Animation, Action, Adventure Directed By: Travis Knight Starring: Charlize Theron, Art Parkinson, Matthew McConaughey About:  A young boy named Kubo must locate a magical suit of armour worn by his late father in order to defeat a vengeful spirit from the past. Trailer:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4-6qJzeb3A My Review: While watching movies with my mum it got to my turn to decide the movie and having had this movie catching my eye for the last month gave it a watch which I was pleased I did as it did make me enjoy it a lot more than I expected. Kubo and the Two Strings is about a boy who after disobeying his mother in staying out past the dark has his evil aunts and grandfather trying to capture him and take his other eye. However, the mother transports him to another land where with the help of a monkey and a beetle he is trying to defeat his grandfather and find out more about his father. I found that thi...

Film: Miracles from Heaven Year: 2016 Genre: Biography, Drama, Family Directed By: Patricia Riggen Starring: Jennifer Garner, Kylie Rodgers, Martin Henderson About:  MIRACLES FROM HEAVEN is based on the incredible true story of the Beam family. When Christy (Jennifer Garner) discovers her 10-year-old daughter Anna (Kylie Rogers) has a rare, incurable disease, she becomes a ferocious advocate for her daughter's healing as she searches for a solution. Trailer:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CldGTG6iVrU My Review: Wanting a tearjerker film to watch Miracles from Heaven came to my attention and seeing that it was based on a true story made me want to watch this even more. The film is about a girl who ends up getting a rare stomach disease which could make her no longer able to digest food and is dying the parents go through trying to save their daughter no matter what it takes and how the mother goes through losing her faith and how she manages to get it back. I ...

Film: The Secret Life of Pets Year: 2016 Genre: Animation, Adventure, Comedy Directed By: Chris Renaud Starring: Louis C.K, Eric Stonestreet, Kevin Hart About:  The quiet life of a terrier named Max is upended when his owner takes in Duke, a stray whom Max instantly dislikes. Trailer:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-80SGWfEjM My Review: Having wanted to see this for years I was glad that Netflix added it as a title and couldn't resist giving it a watch and I was really glad that I did. The Secret Life of Pets is about a dog named Max who ends up with a new dog living with him called Duke. As the two don't get along they plan to get rid of each other however this leads to them going on an adventure together to get back home and creating a friendship. I thought that this was really relateable for pet owners to see how the different pets reacted to when the owner left and how they came home from work. I also thought that it was good in showing how sometimes you...

Film: Meet the Blacks Year: 2016 Genre: Comedy, Horror Directed By: Deon Taylor Starring: Mike Epps, Zulay Henao, Alex Henderson About:  As Carl Black gets the opportunity to move his family out of Chicago in hope of a better life, their arrival in Beverly Hills is timed with that city's annual purge, where all crime is legal for twelve hours. Trailer:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivqhlpUCnZY My Review: Having seen this come up on Netflix and that it was a comedy version of The Purge I couldn't resist giving this a watch and seeing if it was any good. Although this was a good watch it wasn't amazing. Meet the Blacks is about a family who move to Beverly Hills from Chicago after having gained a lot of money and how at the Purge for the next twelve hours people from their past in Chicago are after them and so are the people from the new neighbourhood in which they just moved to. I thought that this film had some realistic qualities of how people would be w...

Film: Pete's Dragon Year: 2016 Genre: Action, Adventure, Family Directed By: David Lowery Starring: Bryce Dallas Howard, Robert Redford, Oakes Fegley About: The adventures of an orphaned boy named Pete and his best friend Elliot, who just so happens to be a dragon. Trailer:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPOamb6d_20 My Rating: Having never seen the original version of Pete's Dragon or the remake this was a film I felt I needed to see and was glad to see that it was on Netflix. The movie is about a boy called Pete who after the death of his parents is saved by a dragon and lives in the forest with him for six years before being found out by a ranger. By doing so Pete tells them about his dragon Elliot and start to believe him after hunters try to capture him. I found this film amazing and couldn't look away from the screen with a lot of emotion into the movie to make the audience love the dragon and hate the hunters who are coming for Elliot this film was a...