Five Things Friday: Five stars who completely changed my opinion about them in the last few months.

Happiest of Happies, dear readers! I do hope that you had an amazing NYE and had loads of fun.

Today, for our first FTF post this year, I bring a list of actors and actresses that changed my opinion of them during the last few months. I might have disliked them for their bratty appearance or been indifferent to them overall, but hey, ladies and gents, you can rest assured now that Natasha of LOTCG likes you know (I do know that they can’t sleep at night knowing I disliked them :D)

Angelina Jolie

I mainly hated Jolie because my ex boyfriend loved her (yeah, I was real grown up back then), so when I went to see Maleficent I was like “Okay fine, I will just take a gracious hit for the team”.* The movie isn’t really her best movie, but she is good in it, and I really enjoyed her as the evil woman I had always secretly been fascinated by in the Disney world.

Chloe Grace Moretz

Ah, Chloe Grace. I thought you were such a brat. Well, you probably are, but since I based my perception of you on the character you played in the disastrous Barnabas Collins: Dark Shadows, I do apologise and am sorry. Carrie and If I Stay are both movies that endeared her to me. Her performances are solid and I could find nothing wrong or irritating about it. You go girl!

James McAvoy

I do think Bkushi would defriend me if I ever hated on McAvoy, so I am so relieved that I never did, although I was very indifferent to him. Then, I saw X-Men, and I felt glorious sunshine over my face as I was awakened to his brilliance.

One of my favorite genres are superhero movies, there is no two ways about it. However, save a few exceptions, they are not overly deep and the characters are very one dimensional. James McAvoy takes his Professor and makes you believe that he is who he says he is, not just some oke wanting a paycheck. Anything with his name on is what I will be watching next, because this guy is heading to my favorite actors list so fast it’s not even funny.

Scarlett Johansson

Despite the fact that I can’t ever manage to type her surname correctly, and always have to go back and effing fix it, I realized that Scarlett (note lack of use of damn surname) isn’t nearly as bad or talentless as I always said she was. I really, really liked her kick ass retaliation retribution in Lucy, and her Black Widow in Captain America, Winter Soldier, was better than the annoying Black Widow she sometimes plays.

Shia LaBeouf

What is it with these ridiculous surnames? Anyhow, I read a lot of celebrity news on the internet (as a vice and when I don’t want to work). The Beefster REALLY loves his attention so I felt very MEH about him because I hate attention ho’s. I watched Lawless and was reminded that even though he was a twat and probably a bit of a narcissist, he could act at the end of the day.

What is your opinion about these stars? Do you have anyone else you would like to add to this list? Let me know! 🙂

January 2, 2015January 1, 2015 by Natasha Categories: Five Things Friday, MoviesTags: Angelina Jolie, Black Widow, Carrie, Chloe Grace Moretz, If I Stay, James McAvoy, Lucy, Maleficent, Scarlett Johansson, Shia LaBeouf 10 Comments

Movie Review: Carrie (2013)

Based on the Stephen King novel, Carrie tells the story about a seventeen year old girl, Carrie White (Chloe Grace Moretz) who lives with her very scary religious fantasist of a mother (played excellently by Julianne Moore).

Carrie is removed from society, shunned on the basis of the rules her mother enforces on her. She has no friends, wears clothes that don’t fit into modern society, and has no clue to what it even feels like to be normal. She doesn’t want this, but it is hard to rebel against a mother who locks you in a small closet for hours if you disobey her.

Carrie’s miserable life becomes worse when she gets her first period after gym class in the showers. The teenage girls lose their heads and follow the orders of Chris (Portia Doubleday), the school bully, and starts throwing Carrie with tampons. The coach (Judy Greer) shows up and help Carrie recover some dignity and modesty, and no one notices the one light explode in the showers, or no one thinks much of it.

Carrie is punished by her mother for having her first period and spends some time in the closet, and when the door gets a crack in Carrie seems to become aware that she has some form of magic ability, and the following day she starts researching what it might be, trying to ignore the ridiculing she is subjected to.

Sue Snell (Gabriella Wilde), one of the tampon throwers is feeling horrible about herself. She doesn’t know what came over her, because she really isn’t such a bad girl. Coach punishes the girls by giving them rigorous training as punishment, and everyone but Chris does it, and when she yells at the girls to side with her, not even Sue does it because they know how wrong they were. Chris is expelled from school and banned from Prom, and vows revenge on everyone, including Carrie.

Sue is still feeling horrible about what she did and decides that Carrie deserves one normal, happy night, to go to prom with a handsome guy. Sue convinces her boyfriend Tommy (Anse lElgort) to take Carrie, and he is reluctant, but agrees to do so because Sue is beating herself up horribly about it. Tommy asks and Carrie naturally thinks it is a trap, but she is convinced eventually by Tommy that his offer is sincere.

Back at home, Carrie’s mom freaks out, sure that Tommy wants to defile her daughter. Carrie’s powers has now progressed immensely, and through her telekinesis she starts controlling her mother, and says that she will go to prom.

Prom night arrives, with Chris planning revenge, and Carrie unaware of it. Will Carrie be able to survive yet another embarrassment at school? What will she do to Chris when she is thrown with pig’s blood? Is Carrie, already unstable, capable of controlling her powers under such strain?

Rating: 7/10

I watched this movie to see how the adaption went since I read the iconic King novel sometime last year. I thought that it was rather decently done, and although there were some minor details that were changed, it didn’t deduct from the whole story.

I really pitied Carrie. This girl had so much against her, and that particular horror in the shower would have cracked any girl. She had no support at home and her mother was a lunatic, and she had no friends to even help her. Her eventual revenge on the school felt like justice and especially on Chris – who might just make it into the famed hall of asses of all time. Moretz did well as Carrie and I think it might be the first time where she didn’t irritate me senseless. I didn’t catch anything of her characteristic snottiness in this movie and she seemed genuinely unstable as Carrie is supposed to be.

I do think that Chris could have been better developed. The movie didn’t really show how awful, cruel and spoiled she is. Also, I thought the movie Sue Snell was better than the book version – she is somewhat condescendingly written I’ve perceived.

Ansel Elgort is really a very cute guy deservedly on the rise. He was perfect as Tommy – capturing the high school popular jock who isn’t a bad kid (a bit of a moron, but not bad) and on the way to becoming a good man.

Recommendation: not too much guts and gore to put you off bacon for weeks, so you can watch it for some horror street cred.

June 27, 2014June 25, 2014 by Natasha Categories: Movies, ReviewsTags: Carrie, Chloe Grace Moretz, Gabriella Wilde, horror, Judy Greer, Julianne Moore, Movies, Portia Doubleday, Review, Stephen King 6 Comments

Book challenge: Progress part 3

Happy Wednesday everyone! Guess who is going on study leave again from tomorrow? ME! I will be posting, but just not as much as usual.

Here is my book challenge progress so far – one of the reasons I do these posts is to keep track… it is really hard to remember everything!

Here is my completed reading list so far:

1. Chasing Fire- Nora Roberts
2. The Search- Nora Roberts
3. Hidden Star- Nora Roberts
4. Fallen Star- Nora Roberts
5. Captive star- Nora Roberts
6. Richelle Mead – Bloodlines
7. Richelle Mead – The Golden Lily
8. Richelle Mead – The Fiery Heart
9. Nicholas Sparks – The Guardian
10. Stephen King – Carrie
11. Lewis Carrol – Alice in Wonderland
12. Nora Roberts – Montana Sky
13. JK Rowling – Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone
14. JK Rowling – Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
15. JK Rowling – Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
16. JK Rowling – Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
17. JK Rowling – Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
18. JK Rowling – Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
19. JK Rowling – Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
20. Nora Roberts – High Noon
21. Nora Roberts – Carolina Moon

Currently reading:

Nora Roberts –Tribute

Planning to read:

Susan Collins: Hunger Games

Susan Collins: Catching Fire

Susan Collins: Mockingjay

Stephen King: The Green Mile

Lewis Carrol – Through the Looking Glass

JK Rowling: The Casual Vacancy

Marian Keyes: The Mystery of Mercy Close

Khaled Hosseini: A thousand splendid suns

Richelle Mead: Vampire Academy (Books 1-7)

Nora Roberts: Three Sisters Trilogy

Let me know if you have other good books I should try!

May 8, 2013 by Natasha Categories: UncategorizedTags: Bloodlines, Captive Star, Carrie, Chasing Fire, Fallen Star, Fiery Heart, harry potter series, Hidden Star, high noon nora roberts, Hunger Games, JK Rowling, lewis carrol alice in wonderland, Nicholas Sparks, Nora Roberts, nora roberts carolina moon, nora roberts high noon, nora roberts montana sky, Richelle Mead, Stephen King, stephen king carrie, SusanCollins, the golden lily, The Guardian, The Search Leave a comment

Weekend books

When my laptop broke this weekend, I knew I would have to catch up on my reading, seeing as there were no other distractions. So, in between the major Poker playing that took over everything, and studying, I finished two books. Sunday were especially made for reading, with its rainy weather.

Carrie (Stephen King)

Book 8/100

I started reading the book after my good friend recommend I start reading some Stephen King. See, I had mistakenly believed that Stephen King only wrote horrors (and I don’t read horrors). I was so surprised and shocked when I read the book! Basically, it is about a young girl, Carrie White, who has frightening power and not the stability to deal with it. Raised by her fanatical Christian mother, Carrie is an outcast at school. Her telekinetic abilities are activated when her first menstrual cycle begins, in front of her school mates. Bullied and humiliated at school, and terrorised at home, she finds the power comforting and soon starts to use it to protect herself against her mother. Susan Snell, a girl who was involved with Carrie’s humiliation, soothes her conscience by getting her boyfriend to take Carrie to the prom, thinking if such a popular guy asks the outcast, Carrie will be accepted by everyone, and her horrors would be forgotten. Chris Hargensen, one of the school’s most atrocious girls, decides that she needs to embarrass Carrie even further; not knowing the power her victim is capable of. At the prom, she throws pig blood on Carrie, and the girl finally cracks. She sets fire to the gymnasium with her power, killing most of her classmates. She walks through town, steadily destroying everything, with a final destination: her mother. Her fanatical mother believes she should kill Carrie, and when she is arrives at home, she critically injures her daughter. Carrie kills her mom, fleeing the house, and finally dies with Susan Snell sitting with her.

Rating: 7/10

What a mesmerising book! Stephen King is an obvious genius. The book gripped me. I enjoyed the style of the book – jumping between reports, interviews and the true story. I felt like true justice was served when Chris Hargensen died, as she was the worst bully I had read about in a while. The next Stephen King book I will read is the Green Mile (I first want a hardback copy of it). I suspect I will love it just as much.

Alice in Wonderland (Lewis Carrol)

Book 9/100

For someone who reads everything she can find, it is surprising and strange that I had never read one of the greatest fairy tales of all time. If I had read Alice in Wonderland as a child, it would probably be right with Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings for me (in the thoroughly-addicted-to-it section). Now, I think it is a good book, exceptionally written, and very strange. A few times I wondered whether Lewis Carrol went on a drug-induced writing spree, because like I said, the tale is STRANGE. I found myself thinking of the similar writing styles between this book and the Hobbit. I am not sure if I am the only one who noticed it, but to me it was like reading different books by the same writer (obviously it wasn’t written by the same person). I would rate this book a 6.5/10 – truly fantastic, but I am a bit old for it now.

I can’t believe that I am done with a tenth of the challenge. I still have to blog about a few of the books I have already read as part of it and that will take me past the 10 book mark. It is fun to track how many books I read in a year, and find new reads and authors.

What did you read this weekend?

March 18, 2013March 18, 2013 by Natasha Categories: Books, ReviewsTags: 100 books, Alice in Wonderland, Carrie, Lewis Carrol, Reading, Stephen King, Weekend 2 Comments