The Little Prince (2015)

Have you ever read The Little Prince? I remember it being one of the first books my mom gave me when I was young.  Its been so many years that I haven’t read it.  From the moment I saw the trailer of The Little Prince, I just fell in love with it and it shot up my list of to-see films.  The problem was that The Little Prince didn’t have a set date as to when it was hitting theatres in the Montreal area.  By accident, I was checking out hours for Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and it had hit theatres just this past Friday.  Imagine the joy I had! Hello, movie theatre and the best part is my husband volunteered to go with me even if its not really something he knows anything about.  Right before we went to the theatres, I even found time to read the book also! On that note, you should be expecting a review of that soon.

Let’s check it out! 🙂

The Little Prince (2015)

Director: Mark Osborne

Voice Cast: Jeff Bridges, Mackenzie Foy, Rachel McAdams, Marion Cotillard, Riley Osborne, James Franco, Paul Rudd, Benicio Del Toro, Ricky Gervais, Paul Giamatti

A little girl lives in a very grown-up world with her mother, who tries to make sure she’s prepared for it. Her neighbor, The Aviator, introduces the girl to an extraordinary world where anything is possible, the world of The Little Prince. – IMDB

I don’t think any story has ever captured youth and being a child like The Little Prince.  The novel, I mean.  I guess its why I was a little nervous about how this would turn out.  Reading the novel before I went to see this movie was a good move though.  It wasn’t necessary to understand the story at all but it does justify the need for having a side story of the Little Girl and her meeting The Aviator next door who tells her the story.  Some of the art was taken from the book which helps us connect the stories.  The best part of The Little Prince has to go to using CGI for the modern day story and The Little Prince’s story of his travels was done with stop motion animation. I loved the contrast of that because it gives it a storybook feeling for the recounting of the story.  It was a lovely touch.

Before we talk about the next point, go back up to the voice cast names up there. The talent embedded in this movie is amazing.  Marion Cotillard played The Rose and her elegant voice matches that role completely.  Then we have The Fox who was James Franco.  I feel like Jeff Bridges hasn’t been in any commendable live-action movies in a while but his voice for The Aviator was just fantastic.  As was the voices for young actors doing The Little Prince, Riley Osborne and The Little Girl  by Mackenzie Foy.

Another aspect that was done really well for The Little Prince was the music.  It was beautiful from the score to the soundtrack. My favorite has to be this one called Equation.  I watched it in English so it had the English version but I love this French one even more!

Light-hearted, soft, warm, sweet, cute.  These are all terms I’d associate with The Little Prince.  It knows when to tug at our heartstrings also with the little side story regardless of its The Little Prince or the parallel of The Little Girl finding her youth when her mom has truly been raising her to look into the future as a grown-up before she’s even experienced enjoyed being a child. The Little Girl really finds herself with the story of The Little Prince and spending time with The Aviator.  Their friendship together is really a sweet one and grows in a beautiful way.  It uses gentle hints at the more dreary things that as an adult we can understand.  The Little Prince plays around a little with the original though by inserting their own little adventure of The Little Girl and The Aviator and extends to her going out to find The Little Prince.  I won’t expand on what happens after there as to keep it fresh.  I’m a little hesitant on how that part is contributing to the story itself but it did hold its message well enough.  I’m not sure if it keeps the subtle message that the novel The Little Prince was trying to say and for that, I’m not exactly sure die hard fans of the book might like this change, but while I question that decision, it didn’t stop me from fully falling in love with the characters and catch myself tearing up at certain parts. I’m not one to nitpick on making adaptations exactly like their source material and for that, I could enjoy this one quite a bit.  It adds something extra while telling the beautiful story of The Little Prince that we are familiar with.

Overall, The Little Prince is a beautiful animation.  It handles the source material well and adds something different to help us resonate the message it holds.  With a masterful mix of computer graphics and stop motion animation, it brings a new touch. The voice cast is stellar and brings life to each of its character.  The unexpected friendship between The Little Girl and The Aviator is a special one that connects well. At the same time, it never makes us forget about the heart and imagination of being a child.  While I feel that the last segment felt a little weird and the part where maybe it might make some fans of the book hesitate to enjoy this movie as much as others, it did its best to expand upon the source material in their own way and for that I enjoyed the heart behind it. The Little Prince is definitely worth a watch if you enjoy beautiful animation and soundtracks mixed with an imaginative story.

Have you seen The Little Prince? Did you ever read the novel? What are your thoughts on it?

The Fabulous Baker Boys (1989)

Originally, I  had watched The Fabulous Baker Boys for Valentine’s Day marathon but that’s until I realized its more of a drama than a romantic comedy.  It also was also hitting a Netflix expiration and seeing as I have a Michelle Pffeifer crush since forever, I wanted to see this one.  Not knowing the plot or anything about the Fabulous Baker Boys, I turned it on…almost a month ago.

Side note, this is my kind of new plan.  I’m tracking my movies and there will always be movies that I don’t review right away but when I’m short on time with other priorities, I’ll dig the one I’d like to write about and do a post on it. Let me tell you, that list is long, maybe I’ll do some double features also.

Let’s check out The Fabulous Baker Boys, shall we?

THE FABULOUS BAKER BOYS (1989)

Director and writer: Steve Kloves

Cast: Jeff Bridges, Michelle Pfeiffer, Beau Bridges

 Frank (Beau Bridges) and Jack Baker (Jeff Bridges) are known as the Fabulous Baker Boys who are a long time piano duo who performs at lounges.  Times are changing and Frank feels that the two of them are no longer enough to thrive in their business.  They now need to audition and find a third person: a classy girl who can sing to their music.  Thats when they meet Susie Diamond (Michelle Pfeiffer), a former escort girl who is not only pretty but has a magnetic voice.  With Susie, their act is revived and everyone wants to book dates with them.  Eventually, the younger and less committed Jack start feeling attracted to Susie while the latter tries to keep their relationship strictly professional.

The Fabulous Baker Boys was really quite a treat.  The whole story wasn’t anything spectacular but then its hard to find a script thats going to not have been used or predictable, whatnot.  The Fabulous Baker Boys starts with Frank and Jack who are quite opposite from each other.  Jack is the more talented and less committed younger brother.  For him, this duo is a part of his life to survive but his passion isn’t in playing lounges.  While Frank, being more responsible and having a family to take care of, is the logic and reason behind their gigs.  He is less talented but he makes up for it in his management and social abilities.  Being brothers in real life, Beau Bridges and Jeff Bridges are extremely great together.  They pull off the right chemistry and dynamic that they need to make this whole story about them seem convincing.  I’m going to be honest here and say that, I’m not exactly sure I’ve seen a lot of Jeff Bridges but his role here is really great.  It makes the decision to forego watching all those not to good looking movies he’s been in lately feel like a good decision because I’d like to remember him as Jack Baker.

Alert: massive girl crush here! Michelle Pfeiffer… What a talented lady! Susie Diamond is an amazing character.  I mean, Michelle Pfeiffer was awesome as Catwoman, Velma Von Tussle (Hairspray) or Ingrid Magnussen (White Oleander), which are all extremely memorable roles. But Susie Diamond is right there on top of the list. Right off, she brings in a much more relaxed feeling to the duo.  In a way, the Baker boys needs to transform her into a lady suitable for their classy acts. They need to guide her to learn the songs and lyrics.  There’s little clumsy bits on her performance and then when she finally finds herself completely, Michelle Pfeiffer is absolutely sexy in that performance there.  Plus, her and Jeff Bridges has this really great connection and chemistry going on. There’s the one scene (and if you’ve seen this, you’ll know which one I’m talking about) that is just breathtakingly romantic and passionate all at the same time (or maybe there’s a few more).

Thats what makes The Fabulous Baker Boys good, I believe.  These characters are believable and real.  They struggle and fight and need to find the courage to follow their heart.  There’s a bit of romance, really classy music, lots of great piano playing, a little brotherly drama and just great characters and performance all around.

This is a charming movie and I’m telling you, I never thought it possible but I think even I fell in love with Jeff Bridges just a little. Well, 1989 Jack Baker version of him at least 😉

Have you seen The Fabulous Baker Boys? What did you think of it?

May & June Reading Recap!

Its been a while since I’ve done a reading recap and I’ve been way behind with my reading challenge.  I’m hoping that as work slows down, my energy will return and my focus on reading will pick up.  It also helps when I have a captivating book in my hands.  I’m starting to think that as I read more.  I’m becoming a harder audience to please.  Or maybe I just didn’t like the style of the book.  That can happen, right?

Lets get started 🙂

Dead Ever After (Sookie Stackhouse #13) by Charlaine Harris

It took 13 books but Sookie Stackhouse finally came to an end.  The last few books have been a chore to get through with more meaningless parts than actually good stuff.  But, the writing style is always so easy to read that it doesn’t take much effort to go through it quickly.  Dead Ever After is the final book and I guess the question is how does Charlaine Harris wrap this up.  She has to pack Sookie’s dangerous, crazy and romantic life all up. In the foreword or whatnot, she justifies that its how she’s wanted this to end.  Right off, the setup of the novel is different, featuring a mysterious side story which reveals itself in the end, supposedly maybe wanting to give it a little thriller-esque sort of feeling.  Except, its become so predictable that although this last book wasn’t bad, I wasn’t exactly enthused. After having some time to digest it, I really didn’t like the ending at all.  It wasn’t just that it didn’t meet my expectations but it faded out some pretty important characters.

Seeing as True Blood was what got me into this, I’m more curious as to how this last season will go.  Will they change the ending from the novel? Lets just say, if they do keep it the same, I won’t be quite so pleased. I just don’t really see how the series would build itself to that ending.

Divergent by Veronica Roth

I bought this book in hopes of reading it before going to see the movie.  Obviously, that didn’t happen as I planned.  But thats okay, because apparently, the movie was really good and that comes from friends that actually read this and enjoyed it.

I had extremely low expectations when I first started this book. I honestly have no idea why.  Maybe its the worry that all these teenage books (Harry Potter aside) might end up like Twilight.  Still, this one did well.  I made it through the whole book in a rather quick pace.

Divergent has a great premise.  The concept behind the whole story works really well and the characters were developed decently.  At least the main characters were done well.  It might have benefited from having a little more emphasis on some key characters rather than just our main characters Tris and Four.  While there is a lot to like, I can remember the beginning taking me time to adapt to because the writing style seemed so amateur, maybe. It had something I didn’t quite like but I couldn’t really figure out what it was but that only lasts for a few chapters until it picks itself up and carried me straight to the end.

I don’t know how bad the movie can be but when I get a chance to see this, I’m going in with an open mind.  Plus, I’m already planning out when to get the second book and continue with the series.

The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling

I can’t say for other people who read this but I definitely picked up this one and hesitated and hesitated over an over again because I was not only curious to see how J.K .Rowling would do in the books for an older audience but also I had my doubts.  What eventually made me pick up the courage and read it was that it was unfair that I knew nothing of the plot and I had already judged it.  I’m just that kind of person and I won’t be that kind of person.

For the record, I wanted this book to be good.  It was just so damn long and the pace was so slow.  The story itself touches on morals, integrity and just so many social issues as well all embedded in a little town.  It sets off by one character’s death which allows us to see a bunch of characters and their lives, viewpoints and how there’s a lot of friction and just how self-centred and ugly everyone was.  I spent a good part of it really hating on the characters and in the beginning its a bit confusing because there’s a mountain of names and characters introduced throughout the first few chapters.

I don’t remember this book a lot other than the surprisingly good ending but I do also remember thinking how J.K. Rowling had gotten really sexually explicit in some descriptions.  I didn’t really think she would go there.  I’m not saying its a bad thing but I guess thats what makes her stand out.

I just can’t help but wonder if maybe she just needs more practice as its just her first step into the books for adults or maybe she’s more geared for books for the younger audience?

The Giver (The Giver Quartet #1) by Lois Lowry

When I was in elementary/high school, I know that some classes got to read The Giver.  However, my English teachers never did so I never knew what it was about either.  Now, The Giver is a short novel. Its a bit over hundred pages.  Its also the first I knew that its actually part of a series.  Believe me, you will know also when you reach the end of this book.

The Giver is about a dystopian world which is the opposite of what we have now.  Its in a space of Sameness where everyone has their life planned out for them and in routine.  This world is emotionless and colorless and painless.  Our main character,Jonas has one of the rare jobs which no one had got chosen for since 10 years ago called The Receiver.  His job is to work with The Giver who will pass him memories.  They are the ones who others believe see beyond and carry the burdens and knowledge that others do not have.

The Giver is a great book.  I loved it a lot and I read through it extremely fast because everyone was written well and developed in a good way.  Of course, the book being short also makes certain details blurred over but in general, the events that went on and just the inner struggle of our character is one that is intriguing all on its own.  Its about seeing a world living in ignorance.

From my Goodreads review, I end it asking this question: Can you imagine a life without memories and everything is simply black and white? Simplicity has its pros but it also strips away the desires and wants that are what motivates us everyday. However, remembering more and feeling more also brings on more pain so would you choose to fully experience life or be in a simple and protected world where your choices are made for you?

The movie looks like its going to be good with a decent cast.  Jeff Bridges possibly in a more serious and heavy role.  This one I have to see.  I’m not sure how anyone can ruin this book adaptation and my fingers are crossed that they won’t.

The Wild Beasts of Wuhan (Ava Lee #3) by Ian Hamilton

Jumping into the third book of this Ava Lee series, all the complaints from the second one has pretty much subsided in this one.  Ava Lee is sent on a mission to recuperate money on some fake paintings which takes her around the world to Wuhan, Hong Kong, London and New York.

All in all, this one is quick-paced and fun to read.  Its a definite page-turner and reminds me of the Ava Lee that made me fall in love in the first book.  It carries suspense and less violence but at the same time, she carries intelligence and this time around, we get a good look at her personal thoughts on her relationship and her family.  We dive into her awkward family and I’m pretty sure the next book is going to be head-on involved with a family member.

There really is nothing to complain about in this one because its a satisfying read and I’m hoping the next books will have the same greatness to it 🙂

OVERALL…

As I was writing this up, I realized how many novels are actually series.  Its really amazing how there isn’t really any standalone books anymore.  I mean here’s 80% series.  Of course, there are good and bad but for the most part, Sookie Stackhouse kind of overstayed her welcome whereas Ava Lee is still a work in progress.  I’m only the third book in and there’s probably already a few more if I’m not mistaken. However, that is a series that I think deserves more attention and would make a pretty awesome TV series or movie.

On that note, I can’t wait to see The Giver in theatres and I’m hoping its a wide release, but I’m willing to travel further to see that since I’m so in love with the book. I also just finished another book that will be adapted into a movie soon but I will post about that in the next recap.

I’m on a reading spree and I have a bunch of books lined up with a few independent writers in the mix once my tablet behaves and lets me load my ebooks again.  I’m working on that while I read some physical books 🙂

What movie adaptation are you looking forward to this year? Did you read any of these books? What are your thoughts on it? Any interesting reads that you’d like to share?