News: Pat Rothfuss’ The Kingkiller Chronicles

This might be the first time I’ve written about a series of books on this blog, but admittedly, I don’t read as much as I either should or would like to. I have a very addictive personality but a short attention span, which means I have a very small book collection that I tend to re-read every couple of years, and I can’t bare to add to it! With the exception of the Harry Potter books which I grew up with, my favourite series in the last 6 years has been Pat Rothfuss’s Kingkiller Chronicles.

Let me start by saying that Pat is the coolest author I know. Well, I don’t know him, but I’ve followed his blog for about 4 years, and so it feels like I know him! He’s also a tabletop gamer like me, and played Lords of Waterdeep with Wil Wheaton and Felicia Day on Wil’s show Tabletop. Like seriously, can this guy be any cooler? Pat, please come to the UK someday. I promise I won’t beg for book 3...more than once.

Anyway, The Kingkiller Chronicles is a fantasy trilogy revolving around a central character, Kvothe, a world famous adventurer and musician. When I say world, I mean the fictional world of Temerant, created by Pat Rothfuss. The first book in the series, titled The Name of the Wind, was published in 2007, and I read it the year after when my local Waterstone’s had it featured. I don’t think I’ve devoured a book faster, and I re-read it several times before book 2, The Wise Man’s Fear came out in 2011.

The stories begin in a quiet inn, ran by Kvothe (or Kote, as he calls himself, trying to hide his identity) and his assistant Bast. During the night, Kvothe saves a Chronicler, a travelling scribe who asks Kvothe to recount his story, and here lies the format of the trilogy. Each book covers one day of Kvothe telling his life’s tale, and it’s a long one indeed. Although book 3’s release will mark the end of Kvothe’s tale, us readers often get glimpses into the troubles stirring in the ‘present day’, and I’m really hopeful this will lead to a new series.

The point of my ramble is this. At Comic-Con this year (2015) a bidding war broke out for the rights to Pat Rothfuss’ trilogy. Poor Pat was completely out his comfort zone, but still held his ground. He told them Kvothe’s story couldn’t be told in a movie, or even a series of movies, and as much as I would love to see it on the big screen, I do agree with him. However, what Pat actually said to these giant companies was along the lines of, if you offer me a movie AND a TV series, I would be interested in that.

Comic-Con came to an end, and then on 1st October Pat posted a huge update on his blog. Lionsgate had got back in touch with him, and as much as I could paraphrase Pat’s own words, it’s much cooler to quote him directly:

Then Lionsgate got in touch. “About that whole TV-show-and-a-movie thing you mentioned,” they said. “If we’re going to do some sort of big narratively intertwined multi-platform development deal based on your books, wouldn’t it make more sense to do a video game along with the TV show and movies? Because seriously, why wouldn’t we want to do a video game too?” (I’m paraphrasing a little here you understand.)

So not only are we now getting a TV show...we’re getting a movie...and a game!!! Best. News. Ever. Oh, and if you want to read the full story, the link to Pat's blog post is here.

Review: The Equalizer (2014)

Sometimes, I watch a trailer and think ‘ooh, I absolutely must see this film!’ and then completely forget about it. I think my brain just gets so full at times that things just have to fall out to make room for new things! Anyway, I’d seen that Jenna had watched The Equalizer recently, and that jogged my memory of how much I wanted to see it last year.

The Equalizer is based on a 1980’s TV Series of the same name, (didn't know this!) in which Denzel Washington plays Robert McCall, a man with a mysterious and dangerous past who has so far put behind him in favour of a simpler, quieter life. By day he works at a local DIY store and is well liked amongst his colleagues, and by night he works his way through a bucket list of sorts of books at a 24hr diner near his apartment. After meeting a young girl there, Teri (Chloe Grace Moretz), who is under control of a group of violent Russian gangsters, he decides he can’t stand by idly and watch her get hurt.

This isn’t my usual go-to genre, but I’m a big fan of Chloe Grace Moretz and I’m yet to see a performance of Denzel Washington’s that I haven’t enjoyed, and so that’s why I wanted to see The Equalizer originally. I have to say, I thought they did a cracking job. Chloe Grace Moretz never ceases to amaze me, and I read that she really had to fight for her role as the director wanted an older woman to play Teri. Denzel Washington met and interviewed several people with OCD in preparation for his role, and that showed. I have spent a long time trying to like Chloe Grace Moretz after really disliking her role in Kick-ass (I know everyone loved her in that and I can't really explain why I didn't so I'm not going to try!!) and finally,  I think I'm starting to warm to her again!

Although I can’t pinpoint anything wrong in particular with the film, I just didn’t enjoy it as much as I thought I would. Teri’s situation is certainly what kicks McCall into gear, but I thought she would feature much more than she does. Obviously there’s nothing wrong with that, and in fact the unexpected additions to McCall’s story were really interesting! 

I loved Denzel Washington in this, he plays the dark and mysterious McCall perfectly and you are itching to find out where he learnt his tricks.  The violent actions sequences are played out perfectly with many eye covering moments.

There’s a great scene very near the end of the film which I can only describe as being like a grown up’s version of Home Alone. It had these violent moments that make you jump, cringe and chuckle at the same time. I can’t work out the scene with McCall and the dirty cop inside the car, though. Is it possible to be locked inside your own car? Or any car, in fact? I don’t actually know! I loved the 'Home Alone' scene, I think I said exactly the same when I watched it...great minds ay!

I also learnt whilst writing this review that The Equalizer 2 has been confirmed! So there you have it, it’s clearly a great film, it was just lost on me. I enjoyed it, don’t get me wrong, but I didn’t love it.

I remember really enjoying this when I watched it but ultimately, I think its very forgettable. I can't really recall any particular scenes (unless Allie or Google have reminded me!) - maybe this has something to do with my age over the movie itself!

Review: Vacation (2015)

Just when you thought I couldn’t talk anymore about Vacation on this blog, bam! Sequel/remake time. I’m in my prime right now. On a serious note though, the original Vacation was my whole childhood, and since the very recent passing of my Granny I’ve felt even more of a connection to it. Every Bank Holiday as a child would be spent at my grandparents with a KFC, and National Lampoon’s Vacation would be played.  I only watched the original Vacation once as a child so I don't have the same connection to it as Allie but I did enjoy it (even if I don't like Chevy Chase - Sorry Allie!!)

I’ve been waiting for this film for about 2 years now since it was announced. In fact, Jenna and I still worked together when it was announced! I think I had a celebratory Subway for lunch that day. I do however realise that sequels are very rarely as good as their originals, and by the time I bought my cinema ticket I was mainly just hoping it wouldn’t suck.

Rusty Griswold (Ed Helms) is all grown up now and with his family life stuck in a bit of a rut, he remembers the fun he had as a child on his family road trip and vacation to Walley World. Clearly he didn’t remember it very well, as it was a disaster, but nonetheless he decides to take his wife Debbie (Christina Applegate), and two sons James (Skyler Gisondo) and Kevin (Steele Stebbins) on the same road trip. As James wisely points out, he’s never even heard of the original vacation, but that’s okay, Rusty says it will stand on its own.  This was a great scene where they basically explained that you didn't need to see the original to enjoy this one...very clever!!

Whilst Vacation is never going to win any real awards, can I just award it an honourary ‘best opening credits ever’ award? Seriously, I was in stitches! Before I let this post turn into gushing praise though, I do accept that it’s not the best comedy in the world. No, it’s not better than the original and there are jokes that fall flat. Kevin was really irritating, and a lot of his bad language was just unnecessary.   I don't even remember the opening credits - is that bad?!  I don't think at any point I laughed hysterically, all the jokes were set up so you could see what was going to happen, which limited the surprise laughs to be had!

Other jokes though are making me laugh while I type this just thinking about it. The rocket button on the car’s key fob? I don’t even know what it was about that scene that made me laugh so hard, but my sides hurt after it! The Korean sat-nav joke never got old either, and completely caught me off guard every time. Even if you aren’t a fan of the film itself, this has got to be fun just to spot all the cameos! I didn’t even know half of them, but my friends did and we all know how fun it is to spot one of our favourite actors or actresses when we weren’t expecting them to turn up.  Thanks Allie for the reminder, I did laugh out loud a few times and they were all related to that car/key fob.  Although the fob joke was set up really early, I never had any idea what was going to happen to the car when they pressed any of the buttons so that did keep me entertained!

Hmmm...what was I saying again?

For fans of the original, there are plenty homages to spot. I think I confused everyone around me when I chuckled as the Griswold’s drove over that bridge. The biggest throwback for me though is the Holiday Road song that was played multiple times. It doesn’t matter where I am or what mood I’m in, that song will make me smile.  I think I missed most of the homages, as it has been a looooooong time since I saw the original - Allie we'll have to watch this together and you'll have to enlighten me!

I accept I may be alone in my praise of Vacation, but that’s okay. 

In this particular post, yes you are alone....

You don't understand!!

Review: The Pursuit of Happyness (2006)

I’ve had a real hankering for feel-good movies recently whilst I’ve been feeling a bit down in the dumps, so when I spotted The Pursuit of Happyness in our draft list I tracked it down without giving it another thought. I remembered that Will Smith was in it, and I assumed with a title like that, it was bound to make me feel fuzzy inside. Perhaps I was expecting something more like Hector and the Search for Happiness…

The Pursuit of Happyness is based on the real life story of Chris Gardner (Will Smith) who invested heavily in a large supply of Bone Density Scanning machines. Unfortunately he’s had great difficulty in selling them, as they are only marginally better than existing equipment, at double the price. As Chris and his wife Linda (Thandie Newton) spiral into debt, tensions rise and Linda leaves, although Chris demands that their son Christopher (Jaden Smith) stays with him.

This is one of those films where just when you think things couldn’t get any worse, they do. Then they get even worse than that. It might just be the most depressing film I’ve ever seen. The scene in the subway bathroom broke my heart into a million pieces, and it’s without a doubt the best performance I’ve ever seen from Will Smith.  I cried the first time I saw that scene, it was just so heartbreaking.  I was just screaming at the screen for life to give him a break and let him succeed.  The fact that its based on a true story, just made it so much more emotional and it stuck with me for months after I first watched it.  I did however do some googling and Chris Gardner is extremely successful now as a motivational speaker!

Despite the gloom, it did make me laugh several times. If you’ve seen it, do you remember the scene in the elevator at the Stockbroker’s after Chris takes the intern exam? He tells a colleague how much he struggled with the essay question on the back of the exam, and the intern panics and runs back to the exam room. I still can’t work out if Chris was teasing and the essay never existed! I assumed it did exist, it just proved that Chris was so far ahead of everyone else he did it all and still finished early....

One thing I wanted to know was why 'happyness' was spelled the way it was. I thought the answer was simply because of the graffiti on the wall that featured quite heavily throughout the film, but there's a much deeper explanation to do with an essay written in 1776 that I just can't wrap my head around right now!  I assumed it was because of the graffiti as well, I might have to have a look into this further....

The Pursuit of Happyness is one of those rare films that I loved, but would never want to watch again. Maybe if I was in the right kind of mood, but I don’t think I would call this a ‘feel-good film’. That’s not a criticism by any means!  I watched this for the second time a few weeks ago, the first time I watched it was when it was released, it took me that long to forget how heartbreaking it was.  Once I started it again, I quickly remembered why I didn't watch it again!!

Looking Forward to Seeing in the Cinema....October 2015

We say this every month but I really can't believe its nearly October, nearing the countdown to Christmas.  I'm in full swing of preparing my Christmas gifts (I'm usually skint so I make rather than buy my presents!) as I need plenty of time to get ready!!  Anyway back to what I'm supposed to be writing about... what I'm looking forward to seeing in October.

It's obviously the end of Blockbuster season because there is hardly anything worth mentioning being released in October.  However, I am looking forward to The Intern because it seems like something I would like - maybe like a cross between The Devil Wears Prada and The Proposal?!

If you haven't seen the trailer, here it is:

The Intern is released in UK Cinemas on Friday 2nd October

After taking a blogging break throughout August I've felt completely out of the loop with new movie releases, so when I checked the UK's October release schedule my reaction was nothing short of 'what?!' as I didn't recognise anything other than Spectre, which I could honestly care less about. Hence an hour session on IMDB catching up on all the trailers I've missed. One movie in particular really caught my eye and I hope I can catch it in the cinema this month!

At face value, the plot didn't sound like anything groundbreaking to me. An FBI Agent played by Emily Blunt is enlisted to a government task force to aid in the war against drugs at the border between the USA and Mexico. Then, I realised that Sicario is directed by Denis Villeneuve, who also directed Prisoners (2013), Enemy (2013) and Incendies (2010). I love all three of those movies. Sicario is going to be dark and gritty, and I'm so excited to see it now!

Sicario is released in UK cinemas on 8th October 2015.