The First Time (2012)

The past week or so, I’m been in kind of a rut.  Why? I guess it primarily comes from stress but its also the fact that I’m highly competitive and I haven’t really had much inspiration for this Nanowrimo so everyday passes by and I write like 300 words on the bus and stop.  Its hard to write a romance and be stressed at the same time.  I usually don’t go seeking out anything romantic but I figured what better time to watch a teen movie, my mind thinks about Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist and how that was quite quirky and cute. Still, it seems recently, I always dive back into older movies for this sort of fun, cute teen romance thing but The First Time has caught my eye since it hit Netflix so I decided to check that out.

Director & writer: Jonathan Kasdan

Cast: Dylan O’Brien, Britt Robertson, Craig Roberts, James Frecheville, Victoria Justice, Lamarcus Tinker, Joshua Malina, Christine Taylor, Maggie Elizabeth Jones

Aubrey (Britt Robertson) and Dave (Dylan O’Brien) meet under awkward circumstances outside of a crazy party that they were both dragged two for different reasons.  As they sat down to know each other, they feel more and more attracted to each other. However, Dave is pining over this beautiful girl Jane (Victoria Justice) who only treats him like a good friend that she can talk to about everything and Aubrey is dating Ronny (James Frecheville) an older emo sort of rock band guy. As their feelings take a hold over them, they experience an eventful weekend together.

This is how they started: meeting in an back alley of a party when she startles him as he’s trying to figure out how to tell the girl of his dreams how he feels.  The First Time is sweet, cute and so magnetic to watch.  Its been a few days that I’ve seen it and I can’t get it out of my mind.  In a certain way, its real but not sure how high school real it is.  Love is something that changes to everyone so this sort of movie probably won’t appeal to everyone especially if your romantic experiences are different.  For me, high school felt like how the character Dave was: unrequited love. His was a girl of course while I had this guy that wasn’t all that great (now I know) but we were good friends but essentially it was unrequited love.

At the same time, I could relate to Aubrey because man, was it scary to think about stepping into the world and really have enough of this high school thing, even if I wasn’t sure what I really wanted to do.  Although it didn’t happen in high school but man, what the hell is love was what I thought back then also, up to college, even after having short relationships and lets not even talk about elusive “the first time.” But thats what makes this movie fantastic because regardless if it all happened over a weekend and whether it was in high school, the time frame doesn’t matter.  Its about the feelings this movie invokes making it feel real.

Although, there’s this subtle awkwardness that shows up between them, which is normal when you meet this guy randomly for such a short time, Aubrey and Dave, portrayed by Britt Robertson and Dylan O’Brien, have this amazing chemistry.  Teen romances are simple and that gives this extra points because thats what being in high school should be.  Thats what makes it great also.  Nothing in the romance has to be overly complicated especially in chance meetings like this, where emotions take the best of you.  I’m going off on a tangent but thats really to support why I think chemistry is the most important in these sort of movies.  Man, do they pull it off? When the movie ended, and perfectly where it should in my opinion, I actually connected with Dave and Aubrey so much that I wanted to know whats next. I was kind of all touched and getting misty by the last few parts when they were talking about meeting that right person and all that.

There’s so much to love about The First Time: the great chemistry, the cheesy moments (because you know they have it), the awkwardness, taking chances, being young and in love, being passionate.  Just a mountain of that surge of emotions that there is.  Its smart, cute, sweet and the connection is so real and so honest.  The characters are lovable.  Its done with so much awesomeness and I totally hope that you give this a chance. There’s going be cliches, but you know what, Britt Robertson and Dylan O’Brien will make you fall in love right along with them (at least I know I did).

Have you seen The First Time?

The Maze Runner (2014)

Last night, I finally made my way to the theatres again.  This time its with my girl friends.  We gathered to go see The Maze Runner.  3 of us (myself included) are avid readers so we’ve heard or read the book.  I actually reviewed it right HERE if you’d like to check it out. I actually liked it so much that I went to look for the trailer and was pretty intrigued by it so I went off and did a post in my other blog, Days Nights and Daydreams for my Out of This World Travels (which unfortunately hasn’t had a new location yet) but that post is right HERE!

Now that I’m shamelessly linked up all that I could, its time to head over to one of the book to big screen adaptation that I’ve been desperately anticipating (and hoping that gets it right) since I finished reading that book, while holding back from reading the next one because I don’t know how the movie will end.  Keep in mind that despite the anticipation, I really didn’t know what to expect.

Lets check it out!

Director: Wes Ball

Cast: Dylan O’Brien, Aml Ameen, Ki Hong Lee, Kaya Scodelario, Blake Cooper, Will Poulter, Thomas Brodie-Sangster

Thomas (Dylan O’Brien) wakes up going up a dark elevator and at the top is welcomed by a bunch of boys called The Gladers and a enclosed area surrounded by a maze.  Every boy went through the same thing: they have no idea what this place is, how they got there or anything else except their names.  For the last 3 years, the only ones allowed are the Runners and they explore the maze outside between sunrise and sunset when the doors are open to find a way out, except they haven’t had any luck.  Thomas’s arrival changes a lot when things start happening out of order and a few days after, a girl, Teresa (Kaya Scodelario) sent up saying that she is the last one ever and wakes up calling Thomas’s name.   Together with Alby (Aml Ameen), the leader of the pack; Newt (Thomas Brodie-Sangster) the second in command; Minho (Ki Hong Lee), the keeper of the Runners; the maze and the Glades dynamics start changing and Thomas convinces the boys that the only hope for them now is to find a way out and maybe get some answers along the way.

The Maze Runner, as mentioned before, is based on the book with the same name written by James Dashner.  It is part of a trilogy and from my research of the director and actors, they seem to be in pre-production for the sequel.  Movie adaptations of books are pretty tricky especially since you are trying to appeal to the reader’s imagination of what they have interpreted.  The Maze Runner does shift a few details around to help the story flow better as a movie and also the ending has a few changes.  I’m really bad with remembering details so if you remember something differently that was changed, you can always share that with me. I never expect a movie to be a carbon copy of the book so to be honest, I really enjoyed The Maze Runner.  The changes they made, the cast and the whole set-up of The Glades and even the Griever may not have been reflected exactly as I had expected but it all worked well together. I read the book only 2 months before and still I was still feeling the danger in the situation even if I knew where all this was headed. That is a very good thing.

One of the best points of the movie is The Glades.  If anything, that should fulfill the imagination of the readers because its fairly close to the book (at least how I interpreted it).  The Glades is simple and the mechanics of it all.  It really gives a good idea of how things are.  As Thomas goes into the maze (because you know he will or The Maze Runner wouldn’t exist), the maze also matches a lot of how the book describes it.  Pat on the back to the production team for having this set because for me, when you adapt any source material, the one thing that should stay the same is where it was set.  You can swap anything around but at the very least, keep that. The Glades were gloomy but simple and self-sustaining while the maze was dark and mysterious.  Those are the feelings you should have when you see it.

The cast are fairly unknown to me, with the exception of Will Poulter. Everyone does fairly well and falls into believable characters.  The main guy is Thomas played by Dylan O’Brien and he does a great job.  For some guy that I’ve never seen before, he picks up this role, doesn’t exaggerate and delivers a pretty good character.  Thomas is the key to the puzzle and we watch as he mans up to the unknown that he’s tossed in but he also knows that somehow he is connected to the whole situation along with Teresa, the leading girl played by Kaya Scodelario, who is also unknown to me.  Funny enough, I think that Kaya Scodelario’s Teresa still needs a little work because her character didn’t do much for me, just like something was missing.  It could also be that she was introduced fairly later in the movie.  However, thanks to the rest of the boys especially Minho (played by Ki Hong Lee), Newt (Thomas Brodie-Sangster) and Chuck (Blake Cooper), who are fantastic characters both on screen and in the book, they all bring a touch of something different to balance out the whole story.  And then we have Will Poulter who is something of the opposition/resistance of change (some would say the antagonist) of the story and he does a fine job as well. In this whole crowd, I think the best performance goes to Thomas Brodie-Sangster and Dylan O’Brien followed closely by Ki Hong Lee.

The Maze Runner is another dystopian story set in the future when the world has literally collapsed.  However, it also holds a dangerous and thrilling premise that has been adapted quite well onto the big screen.  With a good adaptation, strong performances and a dark and mysterious setting and a handful of unanswered questions plus an ending ripe for a sequel, it proves to be one of the better adaptations I’ve seen in the recent years.  It shows a lot of promise (despite some minor flaws) and it was a pretty thrilling movie experience to be absorbed into this story.  I definitely hope that the sequel does happen because I look forward to it.  Meanwhile, I’m going to be getting that sequel in the trilogy to read 😉

As a closing thought, one we discussed with the girls, if our world were to be completely in dystopia in the future, doesn’t the future of teens look so grim? They always get thrown into this life-threatening ordeals from The Hunger Games, Divergent and now the Maze Runner.  They never catch a break, eh? But then, I guess it is the target market, right? Its helps young adults bond with the characters more. Maybe?

Have you seen or read The Maze Runner? What did you think about it? If you haven’t seen it, does it sound appealing to you?