The Silver Linings Playbook Book/Movie Adaptation Review

Hello guys! I know this was supposed to go up on Sunday, but I've been having trouble with my Mac and this is the first time I was able to get to a different computer to type this up! Anyway, today I am bringing you my Silver Linings Playbook Book/Movie Adaptation Dual-Review.

So, let's talk about the book first. It was really good. It was the first book that I read that had anything to do with Adult Mental Illness. And, speaking from personal experience, I know how mental illness is perceived. I thought the way it was handled in this book was done really well.

We meet our main character, Pat, the day his mother checks him out of a Mental Institution. He has the idea in his head that he must get back into shape and look good so that his wife will get back together with him. All we know at the beginning of the book is that they are having "apart-time".

Pat begins to see a therapist as one of the conditions on him being released from the "bad place" as he calls it. Pat and his therapist really bond and they become close friends. Especially over their favorite football team, the Eagles. Turns out, Pat's brother has season tickets to the home games and so does the therapist. They aren't therapist and patient when they are talking about football, they are friends. That was something I really enjoyed.

But then, Pat meets Tiffany. Tiffany is Pat's best friend's wife's sister. They are trying to set Pat up on a date with Tiffany because Tiffany's husband was killed and Pat's wife has divorced him, though Pat doesn't know. (I don't know if you would count that as a spoiler or not... It's hinted at right in the beginning of the book...). The two have a special kind of friendship. They bond over the fact that they are both seeing a therapist. Tiffany says she can get a letter to Pat's wife for him and he takes her up on this offer. But, she has an ultimatum for him. Pat must help Tiffany in a dance competition.

Pat agrees to this and then he begins writing the letters to his wife. Tiffany reads them to her over the phone and then writes her replies to Pat and then delivers them to Pat. The only problem is that it doesn't go so well in the end.

At the end of the story, things aren't all hunky-dory for Pat, but they're all right. It's not a happy ending per-say, but it's satisfying. I gave the story a four out of five stars.

Now, the movie on the other hand, really bothered me. It was practically nothing like the book. It had the same basic story line, and same characters. But things were in a mixed up order. And they didn't spend as much time obsessed with football (which I liked because I'm not a football person). I think I would give the movie a three maybe three and a half star out of five. It really wasn't one of the best.

But, I think that's all for now.

I'll type at you later!

Shea

Insurgent Review/End of the Week Update!

Hello all! Well, I've finally been to see Insurgent! I went to a showing today. I must say that it was really good, but there were a couple of things that bothered me. And correct me if I'm wrong here, it's been a while since I've read the books.

Okay, first off, I will always have a love-hate relationship with Ansel. How can the same person play Agustus Waters AND Caleb Pryor????? My aunt went with me to the movie and I told her that Caleb was only playing the nice guy. She was shocked to find out that he returns to Euridite and becomes Janine's left hand guy.... ish.

Next, isn't Johanna's face scarred? Don't get me wrong, Octavia Spencer is a beautiful woman, but I think Johanna's character needed the scars to show her strength.

Okay, this is one I'm a bit fuzzy on and may need to be corrected. But, doesn't Four's mom and the factionless come in in mostly the third book?

Also, I wish they showed a little bit more of FourTris' relationship because I ship them so hard.

Other than my discrepancies, I think the movie was pretty good. The sims were put together really well and Peter lived up to his character as always. It didn't match the books very well and I could go on and on and on about how I felt about that, but I won't. If it matched the book, it would have been a solid five out of five star movie. But since it wasn't, I give it a three/three and a half star rating.

Okay, now I'm going onto my end of the week reading update!

So this past week, I finished the Harry Potter series. You can see my responses to the Ultimate Harry Potter Tag in my previous post.

The day after I finished the Harry Potter series, I picked up Wicked by Gregory Mcquire. I haven't gotten very far in, and I seem to have misplaced the book somewhere in my bed............. But, it is a great story so far. So far, Elphaba is still a baby. I can't wait to see what happens as the story goes on.

I'll keep you updated!

Type at you later!

Shea

Movie Review: Cinderella

Guys, let me premise this by saying that this may be completely biased as Cinderella has been and will always be my favorite Disney Princess. :)

So, this weekend, I went to see the new live-action Cinderella movie. And it was AMAZING!!! I laughed, I cried. It was beautiful and totally renewed my childhood fantasy of wanting to attend a ball and wear an amazing dress! :)

The movie strayed a little from the original classic, but I expected that. But the things they added, may have made the film better. One of my favorite things that they changed was the way they set up the coach. They still used a pumpkin, but the pumpkin was in a green house. And when the pumpkin turned into a carriage...... let's just say the green house was no more.

Also, Helena Bonham Carter as the Fairy Godmother? Perfection! It's really kind of weird to see her as Bellatrix Lestrange and then see her in a ball gown and say Bibidi bobidi boo. :)

I don't want to give to much away, but the dress for the ball... was beautiful. It centered around butterflies, which are my favorite animals ever. The blue was just a perfect shade that made her eyes pop. I loved how the glass slippers looked. And the fact that they had a butterfly on the toe, just made it even more perfect.

I loved how they portrayed the mice. True, they didn't talk, but they still had so much character. Their shining moment came at the end when the prince was looking for Cinderella. I won't say much about that because it's something that they changed. But it really made me smile. :)

The ugly step-sisters were ugly. Their fashion statements were very questionable. Especially for people who claimed to be fashionable. :P

The only thing I wish there was more of was singing. They threw in a few songs, but I really was looking forward to hearing some of my favorites like, "A Dream is A Wish Your Heart Makes" and "Bibbidi bobidi boo". But the songs they threw in there were beautiful.

I give it a 5 out of 5 stars, would recommend all the way! I actually can't wait to see it again and will definitely be buying it when it comes out on DVD. And iTunes. And any other way I can support it!

I always wanted to be a princess, and now I want to be one even more.

Type at you later,

Shea