Fangirl

Fangirl is another novel written by Rainbow Rowell I have picked up without hesitation after Eleanor and Park. It was good but not as good as E&P (which truly won my heart)

This one is about, yep a fangirl and her twin sister going off to colleage. Of course there is more to it than that, our heroine is a fanfiction writer (for a series of books similar to Harry Potter) who has a large following. Ms. Powell even put slash in it. I was amused but since I do not read fanfiction (there are so many books to read and so little time) it sort of didn't move me as much as E&P did. This doesn't mean that I didn't drop everything else just to read it further (I did).

Recommended if you like YA literature.

Before Midnight

Before Midnight  Now isn't it a wonder? I'm of the same age as the two lead characters of this triology. I was swooned by the romance in Before Sunrise, loved everything about Before Sunset and now there is Before Midnight. Not as good as the other two but still very enjoyable and relevant to the age bracket. This one ended up being a keeper still I think I like Before Sunset the best, Before Sunrise the second and Before Midnight the third. Jesse and Celine's problems, expectancies and worries and happiness are familiar. And it is good that they still keep the romance going despite everything else. 

The Troop

The Troop is among some of the books I picked up at JFK this fall (and the photo is soo bad) Anyway I like horror genre and thought to give this one a try since Uncle Steve gives it a thumbs up. Well it was OK I suppose. A very very lite Lord of the Flies (now that one is a fabulous novel) a bit some of those pandemic novels. It ended up being a decent read but not one I couldn't leave. 

Don Jon

Don Jon Yes another Joseph Gordon-Lewitt film. The trailers for this one I have seen in when in SF and it seemed like a fun film. And it is a fun film. Spoilers.

Ok first off you need to think that JGL is a hot guy. This is a bit of a strech since he is treated like Brad Pitt Leonardo Di Caprio or something in the film. His friends call him Don Jon in reference to Don Giovanni I suppose. Anyway he is a constant gym goer, goes to church on Sundays (Catholic) and dates fast and hard with beautiful women. But his true love is porn and he doesn't give it up even when dating Scarlett Johansonn. Ok Scar Jo and Christian Bale are two actors that have turned me around. I used to dislike them a lot for no reason but now I liked both of them a lot. Scarlett here plays a girl we usually see everywhere. Her character is very close to what is termed in Turkish social media as a "Turkish Girl". She is hot, likes to make up and dress trendy. She loves to take on men as projects going toward marriage. Well Scarlett hooked Jon and he follows willingly. Some of the Scarlett effects are good such as starting night class. But she is really not interested in him as a person but he seems more of a project. Anyway he meets Julienne Moore in night class and despite not finding her attractive or being drawn to her or anything, she talks to him, makes conversation and seems like cool older lady. And in the end (a happy ending) he is dumped by Scarlett for his addiction to porn and saved by Julienne who teaches him that there are better things that two people can do.

All in all I liked the film. It is written and directed by JGL which explains why Jon has to be depicted as such  hottie.  

Night Moves

Photo credit: The Guardian

Night Moves was a pleasant surprise since I saw the trailer on another dvd one night ago and was curious about it and lo and behold, there it was on Dvdigi. Environmental activism is a subject that is slowly being used in films (I have also seen and like The East) but sadly not in any of the great ones that I have seen.

Now I love Dakota Fanning. She has great talent and is superb in everything I have seen her in including this one. And I kind of like Jesse Eisenberg. Peter Skarsgaard is ok too. All in all I have had no trouble with the performances. However the film itself didn't leave me in suspense or anything similar. It was dark and slow. There was not much of a story, SPOILER   three environmental activists blow out a dam and an unlucky camper got killed. One of the activitists cracked and told others about it and when the other's involvement is exposed, he is fired from his job and felt so bad about the whole thing that he kills her (the third one stays away the whole time) and then has to leave everything and everyone behind anyway.

The two things I liked about this film were the performances and the name. 

Flags of Our Fathers

Flags of Our Fathers is one of Clint's that I was not really that eager to view. That is not because of the reviews since I really like Mr.Eastwood both on and off screen directing and script writing. But war is definitely not my thing. However, having read Winter of the World made me want to check out how Clint filmed the war in Pasific. The story is surrounded by the war in Iwo Jima and how three soldiers were recruited to contribute to the war effort by riding high on public feelings of one photo (the one on the dvd) and live advertising for war bonds. We see things through the son of one of them who tells the story of this advertising campaign and its effects on the participants. Interpersed with memories of the war.

I liked it as I like all Eastwood films but this one will not have a special place in my heart. Not becauce of war but I didn't like the structure and it was disjointed. And the actors were fine but not really impressive. Clint works best with naturally talented actors (Meryl Streep, Morgan Freeman, Hillary Swank, himself, Gene Hackman) and he is not really and actors' director (although everyone likes working with him) focused on the performance.

All in all this is not really recommended unless you are into the genre/time period etc. 

Winter of the World

Photo credit: Goodreads

Winter of the World  I had taken a screen capture from my audible but it got left in my other phone so the visual is taken from good reads. This was not as good as the Fall of Giants where more time was spent with the characters but it was a decent read with lots of action and what these two novels did for me was to not to get repulsed by the war genre anymore. I was also very affected in the Pearl Harbour scenes having been there and can imagine the location and destruction very well. I was really sad for the Von Ulrich family but applauded their resilience and strength of character.

All in all this ended up being a decent follow up and I can safely recommend the audiobook. John Lee was very good (although not as good as in Fall of Giants).