Good Reads and See or Flee Flicks: A Book & Movie Review

Good Reads and See of Flee Flicks news....

Never got around to reading this though I really want to and have every intention of doing so...when I have time...

Now lets see Ghosts of Girlfriends Past...my husband made me watch this...yes..my hubs likes certain chick flicks...and he made me watch it in the fact that anytime it came on HBO he watched it. I went into the living room one afternoon to get something and it was on and I stopped to watch this one part, then I found myself sitting down to watch the whole movie.

It was okay in a cliched A Christmas Carol kind of way..that is the premise of the movie after all. Dirt bag dude revisits life and sees all he did wrong then wants to mend his dirty ways. All in all it was a cute movie, though sort of lacking on originality...however, it makes up for that for having Daniel Sunjata in it, who just so happens to be the hottie of the month..lol. I saw him in those Lifetime movies and now he's everywhere...

not that I'm complaining...

For realises...this man is seven kinds of pretty...lol

But, anywhoo...it's a good movie if you want to lose two hours...not a must see, but still a good time...

Dear John....

**SPOILER ALERT**

If you haven't read or seen Dear John and want to, do not proceed because I'm about to give it all away.

This is one of my favorite books of all time. The reason why I love it? Because John doesn't get the girl. I love stuff like that. I'm not gonna lie. Dear John, Shakespeare in Love...neither of them get the girl and they are such good stories. The first time I read Dear John I was an emotional wreck for like a week. I think my husband thought I had an emotional breakdown or something that's how broken up I was.

Then I heard that not only were they making Dear John into a movie, there were casting Chaninng Tatum as John.

Pause for ridiculously girly squees of delight.

Okay moving on. I was pretty damn excited, then I saw the trailer and cried. Yup, I'm a sap. Last night I got to see the movie and at first I was so excited. Then it started and the excitement slowly faded and was replaced with mild..no scratch that, intense irritation. Right out the gate they screwed it up. Get ready, here come the spoilers. 

Okay...the first thing they did? John gets shot...in the book John NEVER gets shot. What the heck? Looking back, I guess they needed a catalyst for him to go home (because you, I guess the fact that taking leave would have just been too difficult, because you know that's how it goes down in the book).

The next thing you see is John surfing. Um, hi. No qualms there, lol.

Then they jump right into his relationship with Savannah. My problem with her? I like Amanda Seyfried...but anytime I look at her I see the ditzy Karen from Mean Girls. I can't help it, I see her grabbing her boobs and shouting that there's a 30%  chance its already raining. Just saying.

I think they could have found someone else who fit the role better...and not to mention Savannah was a brunette. I know I'm being nit picky but whatever. 

Then they introduce Tim. Tim who Savannah marries, Tim, who in the movie, looks like Grizzly Adams. Tim in the movie supposedly lives on the beach with his son, Allen. Guess nobody told the writer of the movie that Tim lives near Savannah's parents and that Allen is his brother. I hated that they changed that. There was no point in changing that part. 

Then they totally took God out of the story. Savannah and Tim were religious and went to church in the book, none of that in the movie. I mean I know you have to appeal to a larger audience with the movie, but really? The spiritual aspect was such a huge part of their characters.

We go through the rest of the movie, their two weeks together...it didn't stick totally to the story, but they didn't totally ruin it...so I guess that's a bonus. And I cried...I won't lie...there were times when I bawled like a baby...

Then the end...ah jeez...John's dad dies and he goes home for that, then he goes to see Savannah. They go to see Tim. In the book Tim has melanoma. In the movie Tim was lymphoma. In the book Tim asks John to take care of Savannah after he passes, in the movie Tim doesn't say that. 

I will say this, Channing Tatum gives one hell of a performance in this movie. I've never seen him in anything other than the Step Up movies and G.I. Joe and I never suspected he had any emotions other than thug or wanna be gangster...which was a nice surprise to see that he does...

Finally we get to the end of the movie. 

Tim then dies...he dies for Pete's sake! He doesn't die...he lives! So then it cuts to John walking down a street with a bike, looking scruffy as all get out, he chains a bike to a parking meter and looks over his shoulder and who should happen to be sitting in the cafe? Savannah. 

Seriously?

The whole idea of the book was that these two has such a whirlwind romance, such love in such a short time and then distance and time and fate kept them apart until it was just too much and they went their separate ways until fate interjected again and sent John home after his father's passing and even though they still have feelings for one another it was just not meant to be. 

I get it, you know, when movies have to change certain things, I understand that its hard to write a script based off a book. There is so much info in the book you have to choose what to keep and what to take out and change, but to change such critical parts and plot and storyline? Why? I don't get it.

So there you have it. If you haven't read the book, watch the movie, you'll love it. If you have read the book, and loved it as much as I did, you might want to seriously consider skipping this one.

Good Reads and See or Flee Flicks: A Book & Movie Review

 This post might contain spoilers about the novel The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane and the movie Dread. Don't say I didn't warn you :)

I had an idea today as I folded laundry, The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane playing on my mp3 player. I read a lot of books and watch a lot of movie, majority of which are lamespice beyond words, that and my friend Laurie and I trade movie and books, letting each other know what was good, what was bad and what might be worth reading or watching. So for starters, we'll begin with a book I've been listening to a little each night, and a movie I watched today.

First up is Dread. I am a great lover of horror movies, that being said this movie wasn't "scary" per se. It says it was one of the "8 films to die for after dark horrofest." Horrorfest? No. Gory? You bet your ass it was - in certain parts. Nothing on the level of Saw or Hostel, but gross nonetheless. It stars Twilight hunk, Jackson Rathbone as Stephen Grace, the film's main character (well one of them). I know some might be put off because he was in Twilight, but let me tell you something - the Twilight movies do not do this kid justice. He is a better actor than the Twilight movies make him out to be. I was surprised. But moving on...

This is not a movie to watch with the kids around...it has nudity and lots of cursing. And the grody factor as well...

The whole jist of the movie is this guy wants to do a fear study, to find out what scares people...he recruits Rathbone and another girl, luring them in with the possibility of using the study for their thesis. They are film students and jump on the opportunity and the trio set out to interview people about what scares them.

Rathbone reveals what scares him, his female counterpart reveals a terrifying childhood and the guy who wanted to do the study reveals what happend to him.

At the conclusion of the study, the third guy goes a little batty, does some crazy stuff...etcetera, etcetera...don't want to give too much away.

The ending however, OMG! The ending shocked the sin out of me. I think it might have been the films one redeeming quality. It was a good concept, the movie, but somewhere something got lost in translation. The acting was good, the soundtrack was horrible and there was too much boob for me. There were also a couple of plot holes, things the crazy guy did that confused me and the only explanation I could come up with to reason why he did the things he did was because he was crazy. And that's not a good explanation.

So I give it three stars out of five. If you like sorta lamespice horror movies that aren't really scary you'll totally dig this. You'll also dig this if you think Jackson Rathbone is hot. I did not consider myself a rider of the Jackson-is-hot bandwagon, but this movie converted me.

Just saying.
lol.

Okay now onto the book part of this here post. A while back I was perusing the New York Times best-seller list, looking for an interesting book for one of my book characters to read and I happened along this book. The title grabbed my interest, so I googled and read the synopsis of the book.

Curiousity piqued!

The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe (also known as The Lost Book of Salem) is an engaging tale of a young woman, Connie Goodwin, who heads to her late grandmother's home to prepare it for sale. Once there she finds a mysterious key and an even more mysterious slip of paper bearing the name Deliverance Dane. One thing leads to another and Connie finds herself delving into centuries long gone in search of answers.

I don't want to give too much away, but when I read more reviews of the book my interest started to wane. I did not think it would interest me at all, but when I found it at the library in an audio book I thought, eh why not. I can put it on my mp3 player and listen to it while I clean and if I don't like it, no harm done.

I was intrigued from the start. The book switches points of view, going from Connie's point of view in 1991 to various points of view over various years from the late 1600's up. The novel is essentially about the Salem Witch Trials and events that spawned after that, but it's more intricate than that, a little bit of mystery, a dash of spookiness, a pinch of intrigue, and a sprinkle of romance.

I love it, and I haven't yet finished, but I'm sure the ending won't disappoint, but if it does I will be sure to pass it on. Rating it, I give it a five out of five. It's a definite must read, especially if the subject of witches and mystery intrigue you.

So have you read this book or seen this movie? Share your thoughts. Did you love it? Hate it? How come?

Next week:

The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks
and
Duplicity starring Julia Roberts and Clive Owen