Book Talk

2 Comments Posted on September 12, 2014September 12, 2014 by Mata Film Reviews, Movie Talk, The Maze Runner

The Maze Runner Film Review

<br /> The walls will haunt them until they find a way out.

Rarely do I say a movie is better than the book, however I must admit that I did enjoy The Maze Runner film more than I did its source material. The director Wes Ball (with the help of script writer Noah Oppenheim) takes a few creative liberties, while remaining rather faithful to the book, which streamlines the plot and helps to flesh out some characters in a way that was unfortunately absent in the novel. The premise is intriguing enough to hook in non-readers of the series, everyone knows dystopian post-apocalyptic themes are all the rage right now.

We open with our protagonist (played by Dylan O’Brien) in the dodge looking elevator (the box), moving slowly- before gaining momentum- upward. He’s disorientated and freaking out, understandably, as the lift moves faster. When the box grinds to a halt and the doors open, he finds himself with a colony of boys who welcome him to the Glade – a large open field surrounded by enormous concrete walls. He has no knowledge of where he is, doesn’t know where he came from, and he can’t remember his parents, his past, or even his own name. I like that his name literally gets knocked back into him- it takes getting punched out for him to remember that his name is Thomas.

Thomas is just getting used to working without asking too many questions with the seemingly-wise Newt (Thomas Brodie-Sangster), tolerating the douchetastically brutish Gally (Will Poulter), and becoming fond of the adorkable Chuck (Blake Cooper) when he’s attacked by someone stung by a griever (biomechanical creatures in the maze) and his questions come right back. Back with such force that in a moment of sheer adrenalin he breaks protocol and runs into the maze after my fav- I mean- Minho (Ki Hong Lee) and Alby (Aml Ameen) as the huge walls close.

The arrival of Teresa (Kaya Scodelario), a girl with links to Thomas’s past, delivered via the box bearing a note saying she’s the last one ever, alerts you to the fact that the proverbial ‘it’ is indeed about to go down. Soon enough the boys aren’t just fighting against the grievers and institutionalisation but amongst themselves with regard to rules, power and the pecking order. William Golding would be stroking his beard with keen interest. The film doesn’t shy away from doing its darned best to elicit feelings of concern for the characters, even if you’ve read the book there are enough differences to warrant you wondering if they’re going to go full rogue with the storyline.

I’m liking the direction they’ve taken with the plot and our characters, especially Thomas and Teresa. Thomas doesn’t annoy me as much as he did in the book. If at all. Teresa is given much more agency, seriously the changes to the plot to allow Kaya more screen time and Teresa a bit more growth worked wonders for the character. They’ve done away with the telepathic link between the two, which I liked. It forces the script to be tighter and not waft about with two characters talking to each other in their heads as everyone else looks on as the awkward silence lengthens.

Visually the movie’s rather pretty, and I’m not just talking about the cast. The film is prettily shot, making the glade appear rather lovely and the maze is as ominous and colossal as you would imagine it to be with the grievers being the perfect mix of terrifying and disgusting. The cast had excellent chemistry, believable comradeship and the budding bromances, with enough moments of tension-relieving humour to allow you space to breathe. However the movie does suffer slightly from pacing problems, starting off a bit slow before suddenly kicking it up about 400 notches so that everything in the second half of the film feels like it’s happening all at once. They hit you with a whole lot of exposition at the end, but I suppose it’s either that or you and the gladers leave utterly confused about everything- not that there’s too much clarity for our protagonists when they leave. The whirlwind explanation of WCKD leaves you slightly breathless before the final twists that punch you right in the feels. WCKD is good…?

The Maze Runner opens in NZ theaters on Sept 25th.

Check out the extended trailer

Leave a comment Posted on September 5, 2014September 5, 2014 by Mata Film Reviews, Movie Talk, The Maze Runner

Maze Runner Film Reaction and Scorch Trials is a GO!

While we can’t post our full review just yet we had to express our feels a bit after seeing The Maze Runner (because you know we had our qualms about the series in the past). And yet we weren’t too apprehensive going in, the concept is awesome and the cast is great, even if the book series made me want to punch puppies? Right? RIGHT? SO, it’s with great joy I report that the film, in my most humble opinion, is so worth the emotional turmoil of the series. The film was was pretty darn good. They even managed to make me like the characters I wanted to punch repeatedly in the books (no really, check out our spoilerous reviews) cough Thomas and Teresa cough. Also, excellent news about the sequel after our feelsplosion. Without further ado…JawkwardLOL’s reaction to The Maze Runner.

At the start we were like:

And then that thing happened (yeah you know what it is if you’ve read the book) and we were like:

At one point we punched the air like:

And then felt punched in the gut:

And we just sat there like:

But by the end all we wanted to know was…when’s The Scorch Trials coming out?

Well, great news! Apparently they’ve already got preproduction underway (with filming scheduled to start soon) in New Mexico… two weeks before The Maze Runner even hits theaters in the US. We’re freakin’ out over here, because that means the sequel is a go. We repeat, the sequel is a GO! But uh, we already knew that didn’t we? Because…c’mon. Unfortunately for us Kiwis our film’s release date is a week after ‘Murica. Get thee to a cinema on the 25th of September!

There are many reasons to. Many reasons.

Maze Runner :):):):):):):):):):)

Check out this clip from the film:

Leave a comment Posted on July 29, 2014July 29, 2014 by Mata Book Reviews, Book Talk, Daughter of Smoke and Bone

Dreams of Gods and Monsters - Book Review

Title: Dreams of Gods and Monsters

Series: Daughter of Smoke and Bone Trilogy

Author: Laini Taylor

Publisher: Little, Brown & Company

What an end! And a beginning? Dreams of Gods and Monsters does what all good closers do, leave room for the imagination. With 600+ pages to work with Taylor weaves an, at times dizzying, conclusion to a rather elaborately constructed narrative. There’s a satisfactory end, I suppose, even though we’re left with the sense that the story is far from over.

We were left in a lurch, following the events of the Days of Blood and Starlight and it seemed like Taylor wanted to extend that suspense, setting us up for some grade A plot-twists. Taylor has a flair for ornate prose which, while undeniably gorgeous, can at times become slightly finicky.

Chimaera and the Seraphs face an even bigger danger than themselves, human weapons- Jael is trying to acquire weapons of mass destruction all the while there’s an even bigger danger on the grandest of scales.

We’re going to be honest with you, this has been sitting here in drafts for a long time- so it’s time for a super-fast-rundown of my feels and a super-fast-post because I’m sure you’re dying to know what I thought about the conclusion to DoSaB Trilogy.

- The beginning was confusing, like who introduces a finale with a completely new character that seemingly has nothing to do with the story so far? Of course all is revealed in a way that makes you go ‘oooooh deus ex machina’ much?

- There were enough moments where you wanted to punch both Karou and Akiva in the face.

- The villains were sufficiently villainous. Well done.

- Ziri was the best.

All in all this book did what it was supposed to do, the ending was left open to show that everything wasn’t neatly tied up but things were mending- or on the mend. However I can’t say I loved it as much as the first or second book.

shrug animated GIF

Spoiler Corner:

- I sorta saw Ziri and Liraz coming, it made complete sense tbh.

Leave a comment Posted on June 23, 2014June 23, 2014 by Mata Book Reviews, Book Talk

Book Review: Thief’s Magic

From Trudi Canavan, the bestselling author of The Black Magician trilogy, comes Thief’s Magic. The first in an entirely new trilogy, Millenium’s Rule. A friend of mine told me about The Black Magician which she found too ambitious and limited on its delivery, and while not the only factor in my decision to give it a miss- it was a main one. So once again I went into a bestselling author’s new series without having read their previous work.

Better blind than not at all, I always say.

Initial thoughts? I found it rather so-so. It took me a while to get into it- I do apologise- because the book’s a slow-starter. Sure there are some great sequences of adventure, but it isn’t as engaging as you’d like it to be. You’re introduced to one of the main characters, Tyen, an archeology and magic student at a magic academy in an industrial world powered by magic (sounds steam-punk with magic but not really) when he discovers a sentient book, Vella, who used to be a woman. No, really, she made some bad life choices, got in with the wrong guy, and got turned into a book- made from her flesh and bone no less. Not the best way to end a relationship.

The 15 Most Awkward Things That Happen When You're Binge Dating

Then you’re introduced to Rielle, who’s the other protagonist, stuck in an oppressive universe where you can’t use magic if you’re not a Priest. If you do, you’re technically stealing from the Angels and that’s a huge no-no. The society’s a lot more stuffy, and there’s a lot of ‘your reputation this, your reputation that’ to be had. Which would have been cool had there been a point to it other than reinforcing the ‘this is a primative world’ but both Tyen and Rielle’s worlds are rather primative in regards to social equality of men and women in all classes. Tyen’s school won’t teach girls magic, Rielle’s society don’t recognise women as artists and none of this is changed by the end of the book.

I can say that Canavan’s worldbuilding is top notch, you can almost feel the paint textures described by Rielle, or want to cough from imaginary dust in the tomb Tyen initially finds Vella. The problem is that it feels like you’re only really scratching the surface of both Tyen and Rielle’s worlds. And as far as characters in a ‘coming-of-age’ story go? I can’t say that either Tyen or Rielle were at all relateable or sympathetic.

You want to root for Tyen, but then he gets hung up on that book and you think- dude just put the book down for a moment and really assess your situation here. Or use the knowledge Vella can get from other people intelligently. And Rielle? Honey, no. As someone who loves strong heroines who take their destinies into their own hands, I felt that Rielle lacked that element of self-possession. She was ruled by her situation, tugged along by the plot, and any decision she made a reaction to her surroundings.

The plot itself had all the makings of a great fantasy, but while the story itself was verbose, you didn’t feel much of anything save for frustration at some poor decision-making on both characters’ parts. If you’re looking for something to keep you occupied I believe this is your kind of book, but don’t expect satisfaction. The anti-climax is strong in this one.

Beyond this point SPOILERS lie in wait for you, so if you haven’t yet read it maybe steer clear.

Right, so the fact that Tyen and Rielle never meet really annoyed me. You keep expecting them to but they don’t. There are a heck of a lot of pages to this book, and I understand that this is the first in the trilogy so there should be a lot of setting up in order to really allow the author to develop characters and plot in the next book, however it sort of feels like you’re left abruptly at the end there. There’s no payoff to some of the events that ocurr come that abrupt ending. The anti-climax is strong in this one.

And because of this I NEED to know what’s going to happen next, does Tyen ever get Vella changed back into a woman? Do he and Rielle actually ever cross paths? It felt as though you were reading two different novels, with no real connection between the two save for the protagonists getting betrayed by people they trusted. So if you’re to take away one thing from this novel it’s that you’re better off trusting no one.

Honourable Mentions:

- The romance factor had me shaking my head quite a bit. From Tyen’s lack of game to Rielle’s ‘straight out of an afterschool special’ romance arcs. I shipped the two antagonists in Tyen’s storyline more than I did Rielle and her lover. And Tyen’s in love with a book- a true bibliophile. So I’ll patiently wait for the next book.

- I bet the ‘angel’ at the end there in Rielle’s story is but a sorcerer from Tyen’s world, or another.

Look out for our next fantasy book review: Oversight by Charlie Fletcher.

Leave a comment Posted on June 4, 2014June 4, 2014 by Mata Film Reviews, Movie Talk, The Fault In Our Stars

The Fault In Our Stars - Film Review

The Fault In Our Stars
Directed by Josh Boone
20th Century Fox
Worldwide Release: June 5th/6th 2014

We fell in love with this movie the way you fall asleep, slowly… and then all at once. Fans of John Green’s young adult novel of the same name have been patiently awaiting the release of The Fault In Our Stars since a division of 20th Century Fox optioned the rights to adapt it in early 2012. We attended the screening in May and upon entering the theater, cleverly filled with critics and fans, the audience exuded a genuine sense of anticipation. As the lights dimmed and the opening credits began there were a few squeals of excitement. I don’t know what I expected of Josh Boone’s endeavour, but I do know that I came away rather satisfied with the outcome.

The adaptation was a thoroughly enjoyable, rather faithful, rendering of John Green’s work. The casting was ace, the music on point and although there were a few scenes that I discovered didn’t translate well onto the big screen- the film didn’t suffer for it. In fact the omission of some aspects in the novel served to streamline the storyline in the film.

For those who haven’t heard of this ‘sick love story’ (have you been living under a rock?) the plot follows the life of one Hazel Grace Lancaster (played by Tris Prior, I mean Shailene Woodley) who meets Augustus Waters (Caleb Prior- I thought I’d finish the joke but now I just feel cheap- Ansel Elgort) at her cancer support group in the ‘literal heart of Jesus’. The Fault In Our Stars isn’t just about the relationship between two teenagers living with cancer, it’s about their ability to keep on keepin’ on despite having the weight of their mortality on their shoulders. The potentially mawkish subject matter was treated with just the right amount of honest humour, and bursts of tragic realism, that there was only an ever-so-slight teetering on the edge of over-sentimentality. It really was saved by moments of light-hardhearted self-deprecating humour. It’s always good when a movie doesn’t take itself too seriously.

eggs

A lot of this humour came in the form of one Isaac, (portrayed by the delightful Nat Wolff) Gus and Hazel’s friend also in cancer support group, who benefited from a well-written script that granted him some excellent lines. Laura Dern and Sam Trammell, Mrs and Mr Lancaster, were the perfect combination of fun[ny] and loving if weary (just below the surface) parents. Willem Dafoe made a formidable Peter van Houten- infusing the abhorrent character with just enough repugnance as to ramp up the author’s hateability. However the onus fell upon Woodley and Elgort to give us that chemistry we needed in order to believe the opinionated Hazel-Grace and pretentious Augustus were worth watching on the big screen- and boy did they deliver. There isn’t a moment that you don’t believe their emotion, from their first awkward exchanges and laughter to the tears and pain of heartache- there’s no escaping that belief.

It helped that we had an excellent soundtrack, with the right songs for the right moments, loud enough to drown out some of the sniffling in the audience. With artists like Ed Sheeran and Birdy contributing music written especially for the movie it was a wonder that there were any dry eyes in the house. While I can’t say that I, myself, allowed a tear to drop there were plenty buckets of creys around me to assure me that normal humans with emotions were suitably affected.

We gave it a FOUR out of FIVE Silent LOLS. Because while I can’t say that everything translated over well, the movie did the book justice where it really mattered. The film managed to make us laugh, cry and more importantly walk out of the cinema with a new found sense of life and what it means to truly live. The film had the potential to be a real Debbie-Downer but instead managed to instil a sense of hope that transcended the heartbreak. Proof that although the world may not be a wish-granting factory there were some things, and people, in it that you’d feel privileged to be heartbroken by. [Re]watch the trailer below and make sure you’re (mentally, emotionally and physically) ready by reading ‘A Fangirl’s Tale’. Okay? Okay.

Honourable Mentions:

- That’s the thing about pain, it demands to be felt.

- So I now know why I didn’t see John Green’s cameo, the scene was cut from the film. While it seems he would have replaced the mum who pulls her daughter away after the girl asks Hazel about her cannula, I was really hoping it’d be just a glimpse of him in the background in the airport against a wall vlogging. Oh well.

Leave a comment Posted on June 3, 2014June 3, 2014 by Motu Music Talk, The Fault In Our Stars

Charli XCX - “Boom Clap” Video Release

Charlie XCX’s new song Boom Clap features in The Fault In Our Stars soundtrack. The official video clip was released a few hours ago, showing various clips from the film which is released in New Zealand on June 5th.

The Fault In Our Stars is sure to be a hit with the tween/teen audience, and a similar reaction to the music is highly expected.

Boom Clap by Charli XCX features on the soundtrack that will also present tracks from Ed Sheeran, Birdy, Grouplove and Lykke Li.

1 Comment Posted on June 2, 2014 by Motu Book Talk, Fandom, Movie Talk, The Fault In Our Stars

The Fault In Our Stars - A Fangirl’s Tale

Seeing The Fault In Our Stars last month had to be a highlight of this year, especially since I saw it before a ton of people. Yasssss, I felt so boss. Continue to read and you’ll understand why. Also be sure to look out for our review which will be posted closer to the release date.

The Fault In Our Stars is not a movie for the light-hearted, but for those with the heart of a warrior! Just look at all the people who read the books! True survivors, who experienced the pain of being in a fandom such as this one. But like so many other tfios-stans, I was lined up to watch this film, accepting the emotional scarring, even before I knew it was being made into a movie!