The Other Boleyn Girl

I decided that I would watch this movie last night- because I like movies that are historical but in a cinematic way- like Elizabeth (a must see, Kate Blanchett is amazing!) or Martin Luther (also an excellent must see!), but this movie, to me, was just TERRIBLE!

I apologize if people liked this movie, but I just could not stand it after awhile. The performance by Scarlett, Natalie and Eric are all quite well done but there was no way they could salvage a terribly written, script that has almost NO basis on the facts of these two sister's lives and the life of King Henry the VIII. I have taken an AP European History class- so I do know the basic story of King Henry the VIII and his split from the Catholic Church and Rome, and then of my own volition I sought out more information about him, as he is a very interesting and famous King. From the beginning of this movie I knew that it was going to be a fictionalized horror for me. Everything from the true status of Mary- she was never considered modest, actually know as a "whore" to most of the English, to Ann's begging of her brother to impregnate her! It was absolutely LUDICROUS! The only reason charges of incest were brought against Ann was to discredit her and have her put to death, there was absolutely NO BASIS in fact of this claim, nor do any of the historians or the accounts of her trial give any evidence to this effect. The fact that a scene like that was in the movie was absolutely ridiculous!

So enough of my historical rant- I did like a couple of things about this movie. I thought that George was ADORABLE, he was likable and funny and just a very fun character- while his ultimate fate is tragic I thought that Jim Sturgess was excellent in his role, he's most famous for playing the lead in the movie 21. I also thought that the costuming in this movie was very well done and was able to paint an interesting picture of the time in which King Henry the VIII lived. The only true historical point I enjoyed that they pointed out was that Ann's daughter would everntual rise to be the famous Queen Elizabeth the I- although the idea that Mary had ANYTHING to do with raising her is RIDICULOUS and the absolute fabrication of hollywood.

When I began this review I was going to give the movie a 2.5/5 but after actually getting my feelings out about it I give it a 1.5/5. It has absolutely no historical fact- if it were painted as a completely FICTIONAL story there might be some potential, but its attempt to remain an at least semi-factual movie just destories any chance it had of being a good movie.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

So I just finished rereading Harry Potter 3 today for the 3rd time and I loved it- yet again! I have been on a stint lately rereading the Harry Potter series. To me those books are classics and comforts. Ya know how some people have comfort food like cheesecake or mash potatoes? Well I have comfort books- those cleverly woven tales that I can always turn to, to take me away to another time, place, and just forget everything that is going wrong and allow me to become apart of their story. I think that the third Harry Potter book is amazing- the only one of the books to not have Voldemort in it. This clever tale takes you on a journey- I find myself anxious every time I read this book to discover if it will all work out in the end- will Harry survive? What is Sirius Black's true purpose? All these questions I find wondering my mind in the midst of my reading.

This is an excellent book, a comfort, and destined to be a classic. I would give this a 10/5 any day of the week, it is magnificent and I love it.

~Katie

Just Like Heaven

I am currently in the middle of watching the movie Just Like Heaven and will post my review later this afternoon.

So I just finished watching Just Like Heaven- this would be my second viewing of this movie. I think that its just a cute story. It talks about being broken and finding yourself and discovering the right priorities in life- all of which I find to be cool topics. I think that this is very much a romantic comedy in its most common sense. It doesn't even reach 90 minutes in length but is cute for the amount of time it does last. I enjoy this movie for what its worth but its not that type of movie that profoundly changes one's life or that one will watch over and over again, but if you are looking for a good romantic comedy for a girls night or for hanging out and watching alone its pretty good.

Overall I'd give this movie a 3.75/5 because I think that Mark and Reese have good chemistry and its a very entertaining film.

American Gangster and Slumdog Millionaire

So Saturday night- I like many went out and saw Slumdog Millionaire because of all the hype it has gained after winning the Best Drama Golden Gold and the fact that all my friends who had seen it gave it rave reviews. While I must join them in proclaiming that this is an amazing movie that is well worth seeing! It is very well done drama, with heart and suspense. The actors do amazing jobs in their roles and you just become immersed into their world for the length of the movie.

Another notable aspect of this movie is its amazing soundtrack! The moment the movie finished I knew I wanted to get the soundtrack- which I did today, lol. It is amazing and helps you to be apart of the movie and its just a lot of really well done songs that I personally enjoy listening to.

So overall I give Slumdog a 5/5 and the soundtrack another 5/5

I am a movie addict as you'll come to see by how often I update this blog- so I borrowed the movie American Gangster from my friend because he had it and told me it was quite good. I having not seen it yet decided that I'd go for the watching of it since I believe Denzel Washington is am amazing actor ( if you haven't seen The Pelican Brief or Remember the Titans you should!). At the onset of this movie I was given the option between the unrated, extended edition and the theatrical edition- and I figured since I was going to put the effort in and watch a movie that was almost three hours long I might as well go for it, so I choose the unrated, extended edition which is what I will be reviewing.

First off this is a LONG movie- if you don't have patience for long movies then you won't like this movie. While it is action packed- it does get to be quite long after a while. I thought that both Washington and Crowe gave excellent performances in their roles and that it was a well done movie. I don't mind a bit of violence and there was definently a bit and then some in this movie- which was what I was expecting in a "gangster movie". I thought that the plot line was draw well but had some room for cutting- I feel like I would have enjoyed this movie more if it had been 2 hrs long or even 2 15 rather then 2 38 or 2 53. I was a little disappointed when IMDBing (IMDB stands for internet movie database and is an AMAZING movie website- if you haven't been there before you should check it out! imdb.com) and looking at the real story of Frank Lucas, who Denzel Washington portrays in the movie, I was a little disappointed by the differences and the way that the end of the movie just glides over some of the real facts about his life. Overall I found it to be a well done movie that creates a very solid gangster image of the 1960s when a black man had never ridden above the American mobsters before.

I would definently give American Gangster a solid 4.25/5 for reasons of time and factuality.

Thats all for today- I'll most likely be covering some old movies as I go as I have watched more than most and if I go a time period without watching any new ones.

Hope someone's reading this-

~Katie

Hello Everyone!

So I just created this blog so that I could keep track of the Movies and Books that I read and tell people what I think about them, or so that I myself can remember what I thought of them. I doubt many will come across this blog but if you do I hope you enjoy it or find it mildly insightful or whatever, so there we go that is my opening statement.

~Katie