My Top 20 Favourite Movies of All Time

                                      

A while ago, I did the book equivalent of this list (with the Top 10) and I thought it was about time I did this version. You may have noticed that this list has twice as many items. I tried, I really did, to just have a top 10, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. In fact, I have a runners up list that is almost as long as this main list.

Now, this list is not a "Best Movies of all Time" list. I need to make that clear. I am well aware that not all the movies on this list can even be categorised as "good", but call them my guilty pleasures. So without further ado here are my "Top 20" movies that I just can't say no to (in no particular order).

1. Back to the Future

I don't know what it is about these movies (especially the first), but I can't take my eyes off them. There just so fun and wacky. What's not to love about Christopher Lloyd and Michael J. Fox blundering around different time periods. It's like Doctor Who without the aliens.

2. Clue

Tim Curry. Murder mystery. Parody of a murder mystery. Shout outs to the game. Multiple endings. What's not to love? Definitely in my Top 10 underrated films of all time.

                                                                                      

 3. Spirited Away

I'm enchanted with most of Studio Ghibli's movies to be honest. But Spirited Away has always been one of my favourites. I almost had Grave of the Fireflies on this list too, but it's such a sad movie that I might not watch it to stop myself getting depressed. I recommend it though, just be aware that you'll probably end up moping around the house in a funk for a week after. Spirited Away on the other-hand  is a good combination of light-hearted, whimsical and dark aspects. There are definitely some incredibly terrifying moments in it if you look too closely, but I will never turn down this movie.

4. The Road to El Dorado

Again this one beat out another (The Quest for Camelot) for a spot. Both of the films are ones that my friends and I enjoy and will watch almost anytime we meet. It's usually just a toss up between the two, however I chose El Dorado simply because I prefer it when watching alone. (By now, you're probably very aware of my love for adventure-comedies).

5. Jaws

As well as adventure-comedies I am a huge fan of shark movies. And what kind of fan would I be if Jaws wasn't my favourite. I'm also a fan of Deep Blue Sea, but Jaws wins hands-down. Not to mention, Jaws has Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw and Richard Dreyfuss. On a side note, I do like the second Jaws movie. I'm not saying it can compare to the first, but on its own it is enjoyable. The third is terrible, easily the worst Jaws film (other than the the rip-offs) and finally the fourth movie is okay. It has huge plot holes and is really not a great movie, but compare it to other shark movies and it makes a competent b-movie.

6. Kung Fu Panda

Jack Black as a fan-boy panda who loves kung-fu. What part of that sentence is not awesome?! I do prefer the second movie, as it is a little darker and I prefer the villain. Also, all the characters have already been established so they just get straight into the story. But, I put the first on my list, because it was the reason I fell in love with the movie series.

7. Little Shop of Horrors

The tagline says it all- "A Singing Plant. A Daring Hero. A Sweet Girl. A Demented Dentist." All with musical numbers. I love these kinds of movies. I know that a lot of people prefer Rocky Horror to Little Shop, but I find the former to be just too weird. Whereas this movie has a plot, Rocky Horror is a sort of very adult version of Alice in Wonderland, with a demented, transvestite Tim Curry. Little Shop has Rick Moranis and a sadistic dentist played by Steve Martin. Plus a carnivorous alien plant that tempts you to feed it human flesh by singing. I love this movie.

  

                                                                                            

8. The Mummy

Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz, John Hannah team up to fight a mummy. A brief cameo by Omid Djalili. Ha, a dream movie. The second is still good, not as good as the first, but still okay. The third? Let's never speak of it again.

9. Rango

Johnny Depp as a thespian-loving chameleon. Do I even need to add anything?

10. The Secret Garden

I am still as enchanted with this film as when I was a child. However, a warning to all those who watch this film- it will make you want to find your own secret garden and start talking to woodland animals.

11. The Swan Princess

This was one of the first films I remember watching. It was right up there with Disney. My memory was of the French version (I grew up partly in Paris) and I didn't even watch the English version until my early teens. I still love this film just as much as I always have. In fact, this is the film my friends and I put on when we've had a horror movie marathon. A bit of mood whiplash maybe, but you should know that neither myself nor my friends are good with horror. Maybe we should just stop renting them?

             

12. Thoroughly Modern Millie/ Auntie Mame

Yes, this is a bit of a cheat, but oh well. If I had to choose it would be Auntie Mame, but I love the style of both of these films. If you haven't seen these classics please do. But be aware, they're long- Auntie Mame is about 2 and a half hours long.

13. Bugsy Malone

I have nothing bad to say about this film. I adore it. On a side note, I always wanted one of the cars they "drive".

14. Cats Don't Dance

One of my top favourite children's' films. I remember having a very old VHS tape of this, back when you could still get them. Still very charming.

15.  Coraline

I adore these kinds of films. The odd mix of fantasy, adventure and some dark aspects paired with the absolutely stunning animation. I actually own both the 2D and 3D versions of this movie. The 3D does actually work fyi, though it can be a little jarring in some places.

16. Fantastic Mr. Fox

This was one of my sister's favourite books as a child and, while I didn't love it quite so much, I still have a lot of nostalgia for the book. Now the movie could easily be argued to be a completely different story altogether. The basic premise is the same, but of course they had to expand on the story to make it movie length, using a huge amount of creative license and a lot of adaptations. However, while this doesn't always work, this time I think the movie works great with the changes. When I watch Matilda the movie based off the book, I can't help feeling that it's lost a lot of what made the story so great (most of the dark elements and a lot of the characters' personalities are changed slightly) to make it more kid friendly and add in a few extra laughs. Fantastic Mr. Fox  has a more adult method and works so much better because of it. The characters are all memorable, the animation is great and the added quirks are hilarious. I would say younger viewers may be a little bored watching this though, just because there isn't always a huge amount going on.

17. Chicken Run

I don't know why I love movie. I really don't. All I know is that I can't take my eyes off it when it's on.

18. A Perfect Getaway/ Fear Island

Yes I know, another cheat, but they're basically the same movie. I adore thrillers. And murder mystery thrillers especially. I am aware that these films are not great films by any means, but they're entertaining and that's all I ask for. If I had to choose one, it would be A Perfect Getaway, mostly just because I love Steve Zahn.

19. Lake Placid

And to some extent the second as well. Yes, these are definitely B-movies. Maybe you're wondering what makes these croc films any better than the army of others out there. Simple- the characters. Yes, some of them are unbelievably annoying and the acting is hammy, etc, etc. But what I love is that absolutely EVERYONE in these films have some form of sarcasm going on. And this makes the interactions between the characters entertaining enough. Then if you start to get annoyed by a character, they're usually killed off pretty quickly. Win, win.

20. Meet the Robinsons

"I know! I'll turn him into a duck! Hahaha! It's so deliciously evil!....But I don't know how to do that. And I don't really need a duck."

Enough said. Entertaining nonsense at its best.

Runners Up

1. The Neverending Story

2. Down with Love

3. Monsters Inc

4. The BFG

5. The Wind in the Willows (1995 version with Alan Bennett, Michael Palin and Michael Gambon)

6. The Secret of Nihm

7. Sahara (I love Steve Zahn okay)

8. The Adventures of Tintin (I love Tintin. Read the comics all the time when I was younger. I love Jamie Bell. Jamie Bell as Tintin. The perfect combination.)

9. Frozen (the soundtrack is a huge part of why this film is so good. I know a lot of people said it was unrealistic, but 1. if you look up the details it's really not and 2. creative license. The only reason it's not in my top list is because it's a hard movie to watch. There are some pretty horrific scenes, so it's not the kind of film you want to watch often.)

10. Grave of the Fireflies (again didn't make it onto the list because it's a hard to film to watch. This is one of the saddest films I have ever watched.)

11.Deep Blue Sea

12. The Prince of Egypt

13. West Side Story

14. Get Smart (with Steve Carell and Anne Hathaway)

15. Lilo and Stitch (a very realistic- except for the aliens- portrayal of a broken family and a little girl's journey to find a friend.)

16. The Great Mouse Detective (dark, funny and very entertaining. Disney at its best.)

17. The Bourne Identity

18. Finding Nemo

19. Kiki's Delivery Service (very much a feel-good film).

And there we have it. My Top 20 Favourite Movies of All Time, plus 19 extra. Hope you enjoyed reading.

Tenacious Vogons, Time Travel and the Search for a Good Cup of Tea (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Series)

Well it's been a while and this series is why. I'm going to warn you all now- this is going to be an immensely long review. There are 6 (or 5-we'll get to that later) books after all.

So a little background to start with. The Hitchhiker's series started out as a BBC radio show written by Douglas Adams. The broadcast was so popular that Pan Books commissioned Adams to create a book equivalent (published on the 12th of October, 1979), which immediately became a #1 best seller.

Through the years the media forms increased, through more books, tv series and a couple of films.

And for those wondering, the Hitchhiker's book was named after the 'Hitchhiker's Guide to Europe' that Adams was carrying when backpacking. The idea for the actual series formed when Adams was drunk in a field in Innsbruck, Austria. He then passed out and forgot about it for 6 years.

There are 6 (again we will go into that later) books in the series:

1. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
2. The Restaurant at the End of the Universe
3. Life, the Universe and Everything
4. So Long and Thanks For All the Fish
5. Mostly Harmless

6. And Another Thing...

Instead of doing individual reviews for each book, I'm going to do a more general review of the series. So let's get into it then.

Amazon / Amazon.co.uk

   Amazon / Amazon.co.uk                                                Amazon / Amazon.co.uk

First Paragraph: (From Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy)

"Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the Western Spiral Arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun."

Our main character is Arthur Dent, who is pretty much your "Average Joe" and is cynical, but has a good heart. He is our vessel of discovery. It is through him that we first view Space and all the crazy things that happen in it. When things are explained to him, we learn through his revelations. He is also amazingly unlucky and never seems to be able to catch a break.

Having Arthur as someone we can relate to is a key element in the series. Mostly nothing makes sense or even exists in the world as we know it. The writing style is clever enough though, to describe and phrase things in such a way that your mind never stops to think, "Hang on, this is all gobble-de-goop", which of course it is. It evens makes sense that nothing makes sense. But, having Arthur there helps us assimilate into the world. If he's confused, we must be too. Human is as human does.

I personally think that Adams was spot on with Arthur's character. He is so deliciously sarcastic and, throughout a majority of the series, just wants a nice cup of tea. And I really think he takes all the events pretty well considering all he goes through and has to endure.

Also in the group of main characters are Ford Prefect (named after a car), Trillian (Tricia McMillan), Zaphod Beeblebrox (ex-president of the galaxy) and Marvin (the manically depressed robot) and a couple more that don't appear until later and would be considered spoilers. All the characters are very well written and you really do care what happens to them. They all have their own character traits and are far from generic. And (though only 2 of the main characters are) they are all so intrinsically human. Or more rather, realistic. They have good qualities, but they also have vices and can even be annoying at times. Sometimes, they can even be childlike, whether through lack of self-control or just through various antics.

It can sometimes be hard to understand the characters' relationships with one another and their intentions though. As an example, sometimes Ford seems to care about Arthur and his safety and at other times it's like he couldn't care less.

Most of the characters in this series (and definitely all our main characters) are so wonderfully sarcastic. The banter that goes on between them is very cleverly written. In fact, the entire book is written very cleverly.

On a quick side note, some of the aspects in this series are a little dated (for example, everyone thinking digital watches are the latest big thing), but that's to be expected and they don't occur frequently.

The writing style is charming in its ridiculousness, and also incredibly well done. There are numerous seemingly random side-stories that may occasionally tie into the main story later and it's almost impossible to know which ones will.

Just a little point, I'm not the biggest sci-fi fan. I like some aspects of the genre (like Futurama and Doctor Who), but I haven't seen more than two Star Wars movies- just so you can see where I am on the sci-fi love scale. But this series is so perfectly written the I can't help but love it.

Now, the way the books are written is very English (I mean in what the characters do and their views of the world, etc.), but will still work universally. Adams gives a very interesting and insightful look at humanity through this series. With his cynical, yet somehow positive, writing that is so enjoyably odd. We get phrases such as :
"It's unpleasantly like being drunk."
"What's so unpleasant about being drunk?"
"You ask a glass of water."
and you can see how clever the wording is. Adams has a brilliant way of combining seemingly insignificant events that last for less than a page and then come back as a key part of the story. And all without letting you know there was even something to guess. So much randomness goes on that you never know if any of it is significant. It is so intricately done. For example, something as mundane as looking for a cup of tea can cause a monumental occurrence, whilst being a perfectly sensible and believable outcome.

I do find that the series does show signs of being converted from a radio series though. There is the feeling that is was written more as one book, split into 5 separate parts. This is made even more prominent by the mini-recaps they have at the beginning of some of the books. You can almost hear the, "Previously on...". I do like that the characters do have their own side story adventures a lot and how all the characters (no matter how often they're separated) will eventually meet up again.

The first book is mostly an introduction to the settings and the characters, and is more of an "Arthur in Wonderland" story, as there is little to no plot. Mostly just a series of occurrences that the characters go through. I would almost say that the first 2 books can be read as their own contained stories, independent to the main plot. For me, this did make the 2nd book drag a little. The first as the introduction where we get to know what's in store for the rest of the series, but the 2nd book is also mainly that, just in different parts of the Universe. It's not that it isn't interesting or entertaining, it can just drag a little at times.

There were times where once I'd put the book down, I wasn't dying to pick it back up again. It wasn't that I was never going to, just that I saw no immediate need. This is mostly down to the lack of plot, mainly being a lot of mini-stories that are tied together with a few thin connections, one being the same characters that are doing something in Space. It can read very episodically, which is, of course, what is was written from.

In a way, it can be like watching Doctor Who (Adams actually helped write a few episodes for the old series). You don't necessarily want to watch every episode. Otherwise, it can feel a bit laboured and intense. You can have too much of a good thing. The series is a quirky, fun and enjoyable ride, but there's only so many mini adventures you can read about in one go.

I think another part of this is that nothing really changes in the characters themselves. They don't evolve. Sure, Arthur becomes more used to the galaxy and the things thrown at him (though not entirely), but -like I said earlier- it is mainly the same characters doing the same things in different places.

There are moments where it seems the characters will grow and change (maybe they meet someone or find something significant), but then these things just get written out of the story somehow and the characters go back to square 1. Well, not quite square 1, more like square 1.1. When you look at the characters at the start of the book, they're really not much different from those at the end. It's not that they're not well written (because even secondary or passing characters are very well written), they're all interesting, they just don't really grow.

Going back to episode-like plots, when one book ends there are no cliffhangers that will keep you reading for the plot. On a similar note, there never really feels like there's any threat to the characters in the series. I don't know why this is, you want the characters to survive, but it's almost like you don't care enough about them to find their death tragic or unsettling if it happened. Don't get me wrong, you don't want the characters to die- in fact quite the opposite, but it's almost like you never expect anything fatal to actually happen to them. They get into infinite amounts of dangerous and life-threatening situations, but you never think they won't make it out. My theory is that Adams writes the threats and tragedies in such a way that they're either an annoyance, a way to get from one scene to the next or both. It may also be that every time a threat appears we get a long explanation going off on an amusing tangent, revolving around pointless trivia that somehow connects with the threat (in the form of Guide entries). And in doing so, you almost forget there was a threat at all. It breaks up the flow of the story.

There are some genuinely sad moments in the series though. I'm not sure if I would go as far as to say they were heartbreaking, but they are nothing if not tragic moments in the lives of the characters.

The third book is more of a recap. And I don't mean that in any sense of the word recap. It's more that there's a feeling of backtracking, while going in completely the other direction. This is a very Arthur and Ford heavy book, with Zaphod and Trillian barely in it. As always, there are some new characters and the return of some old characters (even if just as a cameo).

What does change in this book is that it no longer has such an "Arthur in Wonderland" feel. By this point he's pretty used to space and the strange ways in which it works. Obviously he still gets shocked and still has the same personality, but (unlike the first two books) this one has a plot from the get-go, which I personally think is a good change. Yes, the first two books keep you interested with all the crazy, random things thrown at you, but they are predominantly an introduction to the world Douglas Adams has created and the characters that live in it.

There are still some slow-moving aspects to it, but the plot develops, thickens and, of course, resolves itself by the end.

In the fourth book we get some series backtracking, right back to the beginning of it all, going even so far as to use the exact segment from the start of the first book to begin this one. It's not that all that has happened never happened, but more like the particular place Arthur ends up has gone back in time. He's aged, while it hasn't.

Again, this book has an actual plot, with development and conclusion. There are even a few romances thrown in. And the series only continues to get better.

And again, this book is very light on Trillian and Zaphod moments and is mostly Arthur, with a few Ford moments thrown in. However, this works well because it was always Arthur's story. Besides which it would be hard to fit in what was happening to all the other characters and still have a cohesive plot.

The 5th book can be argued to be the last series, but there is another. We'll get back to that later though.
The book is written as though it was the last in the series (which it was) and so we get the finale. The gang reuniting and reach the final end of their story with a lot happening in-between. And I mean a lot. We even get a new main character who plays very well of others in the main cast.

Anyway, the first thing you notice starting the 4th and 5th books is that a fair amount of time has passed in the lives of the characters. The books do usually open a while after the end of the last book and then go back and fill in the gaps later. Mostly Harmless starts out almost 2 decades after the end of the last book. So, obviously, there are a lot of gaps to fill.

The plot can get a little confusing as there are some parallel universes present, but on the whole everything fits together nicely. It can be a little hard to discern if all of the book is set in the future, or just some areas, and there's a lot of parallel universe jumping involved, so it can be hard to figure out if all the characters are even in the same universe. Especially when the plot flits back and forth between both time and dimensions. There are also one or two parallel characters going around, which just adds to the melee.

Throughout this book, there is also a looming sense of impending doom. Slowly, you start to feel all the little things building up in a way that can't end well. Of course, the characters have all been in fatal seeming situations before, but in this book, that nagging sensation that all is not well is at its strongest.

The ending itself is pretty abrupt, but more than that, it's unexpected (at least for me). I won't spoil the ending, but for me personally, I'm torn between thinking it was a good (if ironic) ending to it all and desperately wishing it had ended any other way. There is a very clever full-circle manner to the ending. And you feel the annoyance of that along with the characters. As I said no spoilers, but the ingenuity of the 5th book's ending is amazing. It's so very clever and would be an absolutely mind-blowing ending if it weren't for one factor (that I won't mention). Anyone who has read any of the books in this series will know that Adams is the master of "Butterfly Effect" plot lines and he pulls another for the ending.

There are some questions unanswered (like the famous 42), but they were questions we never expected an answer to. Most loose threads are tied up in the end and in a very brilliant manner. The ending is pretty disheartening though and now we finally get into the 5th or 6th book ending debate.

In 2001 Douglas Adams very sadly passed away. His wife then commissioned Eoin Colfer (author of the Artemis Fowl series- among others) to write a 6th book, published in 2009.

Normally I'm pretty firm in my belief that if the original author didn't write it it doesn't count as part of the original series. Maybe as a spin-off, parody or homage (whichever it may be) at most. But, with this series I almost longed for a different ending and here was Eoin Colfer offering me one. It probably helped that I already knew and loved him, but still I was held back (and still am) from including it as part of the series.

I think you could easily argue either point and it will ultimately just come down to the individual's preferences. When I re-read the series, I do read And Another Thing after. I like the option of choosing between the two endings and continuing Arthur and co's adventures.

Anyway, onto the 6th book itself. We pick up immediately after the ending of the last book (well almost). And those who missed Zaphod in the last few books, you'll be happy to know he's back in this one.

Now one of the major issues with the 6th book is whether Adams meant for any of it to happen. Eoin Colfer has cleverly linked plot points from previous books, but there are a few continuity issues, and can it still be calle "pure" Hitchhiker's Guide?

The writing style has, obviously, also changed. I do miss Adams' ingenious writing style, but I have also always loved Colfer's. And he does try to mimic Adams' style a bit, but more in the manner of an homage than actually trying to replicate it. Which I prefer. There will only ever be one Douglas Adams and it would have been a little insulting almost to try and copy his writing.

The characters themselves also change a little- or more the way they think changes. It's not a huge difference, but it is noticeable. For example, Ford is more optimistic and Arthur is a bit more cynical. Basically, they will say and do things that I don't quite see the original cast doing. And back to consistently, in the previous books we find out that Zaphod was born with his two heads (as were his ancestors/descendants), but in this book he apparently wasn't. Nobody knows when he first got his second head and it was first the head of a woman.

And somethings are not explained. For example, Zaphod has been pretty much absent from the series for a while, so he's missed a lot that has happened. Yet he seems to instantly be up to date with everything that's happened and one particular addition ( for those of you who have read the series, you'll know what I'm talking about- hint RFFD). How does he know?

As to the ending, I felt it was a little rushed (as was the 5th book's), but not too much. Again, I would've liked a different ending, mostly because we almost get a very good (if cliche) ending, that then gets replaced only about 2 pages from the ending and leaves you almost groaning for one of the characters.

I'm aware that I haven't really mentioned the individual plots of each book, or much about them at all, but past the first book all the plots would contain spoilers. Here is the plot of the first book though, for those interested (very late into the review):

One Thursday lunchtime Earth is unexpectedly demolished to make way for a new hyperspace bypass. For Arthur Dent, who has only just had his house demolished that morning, this is already more than he can cope with. Sadly, however, the weekend has only just begun. And the Galaxy is a very, very large and startling place indeed.
-Amazon.co.uk

So, what do I think of the series? I really love it. It was just not in my Top 10 Books barely. The characters are very likeable and believable. The plots are brilliantly clever and the writing style is enjoyably eclectic. If you haven't read the series I would seriously recommend it. If you do read it, make sure you have a nice cup of tea and a hardy towel nearby.

My Top "10" Favourite Books of All Time

So, since you guys are all waiting patiently for my next review (which I promise is on its way- it is a series and there is a LOT to write about it), I decided to just make a mini-post. I know, I know, the oh-so-cliche "Top 10" list. Oh well.

I'm going to write this in basic list form I guess. So, I'm not going to really go into much detail for each book. I might just put a few thoughts about each one down, but each and every book on this list will someday have its own review, so I just want to keep this very simple.

So, let's get to it. My "Top 10 Favourite Books of All Time", and yes I did top favourite, because "Best Books of All Time" is pretty subjective and I think pretty much comes down to the same thing. Oh, and I have 11 plus a couple of authors that I wanted to mention). Also, remember these are my favourite books "of all time", so the age demographics will vary. So, some of them will be books I read when I was younger, but still love to read just as much today. And I tried to keep it pretty pure in terms of the criteria that the books could fall into. So, no childrens' books (though tween and teen are ok), no "did-you-know" books, no manga, no annuals, no guide books, etc, etc. Anyway, here is my list (in no particular order);

1. A Gathering Light by Jennifer Donnelly    

                         




















2. Hunted by N.M. Browne

A book I have loved since I was much younger. It still holds its charms for me.


















3. Cupid and Psyche "by" Apuleius    

Now, I'm not sure if this should count, but I really love the story and I just couldn't help myself. I don't know why this particular myth stands out more than any other to me, but it's just very "pure" almost. And you wouldn't think it would be, what with everything that goes on in this short little fable, but somehow it's very innocent. Maybe it's just my romantic side coming out for the "true love conquers all" morale, but there are plenty of those and most of them don't make even half of the impression this one did for me.













4. Fire Bringer by David Clement-Davies      

This is a book that has been in my "Top" list since the moment I read it, years ago. For anyone who likes Watership Down, you will probably love this book. The only regret I have when reading it, is that David Clement-Davies hasn't written more. I love this author so much, I can't get enough.
















5. You Might Be a Zombie and Other Bad News  by the Editors of Cracked.com                                


Now, this might be technically cheating, given my criteria, but I had to include it. This is the best "did-you-know" book I have ever read (and I read a lot of those things). It's all done with such terrific humour and it really is factual.













6. The Ingo Series by Helen Dunmore    

The first time I came upon this series was years ago
at a school book fair and I was instantly mesmerised by the magic and charm of the story. It's a very nicely written tale and every year I went looking for the next instalment.














7. The Stones are Hatching by Geraldine McCaughrean    

This is another book that has never not been on my "Top" list (whoa double negative). Again, it has such a magical quality about it. It's a little similar to David Almond's "Heaven Eyes", but not that much. It's got the same kind of feel to it. It is a pretty dark book for the age group it's aimed at. Not in the traditional meaning of the word, maybe it's more accurate to say it has dark aspects to it.      













8. The Swallow and the Hummingbird by Santa Montefiore                                                   

I cannot for the life of me remember how I came across this book, but I am so glad I did. The story is so intricate and pretty realistic, and often in a very gritty way. In its purest element it's a romance, but it's also a coming of age story, which is rare to see in adult fiction and it is done beautifully. The descriptions and the interactions the characters have with one another make for fantastic reading.                











9. The Old Kingdom Series by Garth Nix

Garth Nix is definitely one of my "Top 10" favourite authors of all time, and this series is one of the main reasons why. Again, this can be pretty dark, I mean you have a lot of what are basically zombies running around, but that's not the focus of the book. That's just the plot point that enables the rest of the book to occur. What I love about Garth Nix's books are his characters. They're just so..good. To my immediate memory, there is nothing I don't like about how any of the characters are written and that includes minor characters as well. I think my favourite book in the series is Abhorsen, just because I feel like we see more interaction between all the characters. In the first two books, it is mainly the protagonist and their (at max) couple of companions, at least one of which will be some kind of animal. But, that is by no means a criticism.









10. The Ruby in the Smoke Series by Philip Pullman

Now, I know when you hear Philip Pullman you think Northern Lights, etc, etc, but, in my opinion, this series is much better. They both have the same kind of writing style (what with both being written by the same author) and they both have that feeling of a kind of muted despair or darkness, but the Ruby in the Smoke has better characters (as least I think so). It's not so much of a coming of age story with the "loss of innocence" undertone, but more of a victorian mystery, I guess. And as always, Pullman writes the most chilling villains and the Ruby in the Smoke is no exception.













11. In Harm's Way by Doug Stanton      

The story of the USS Indianapolis, as told through survivors' accounts. I have always been a fan of 'survival' stories, because I like to know that people have been in these terrible situations that no one should ever have to go through and have beaten the odds. The history of the USS Indianapolis is infamous and rightly so, but the truth told by the soldiers who were there is harrowing. A very sad story about the tragic deaths of 879 men.









Lastly, I just wanted to mention a few authors that I couldn't pick just one favourite book for. They are Ann Halam, Darren Shan and Alex Shearer. I hadn't noticed until just now, but they all write books that are aimed at teen or young adults and they all write ghost stories in a way. Ann Halam is the epitome of ghost stories and every book I read of hers is spine-tinglingly chilling. You definitely have to read them all in one go. Darren Shan of course writes dark, horror books that are more muted than adult horror fiction (which is good for me as , strangely considering these authors, I am not a fan of horror), but will leave your blood running cold by the end. More so with his latest "Demonata" series, which is almost pure gore, than with his "Darren Shan" series. And finally, Alex Shearer who is maybe more of a thriller writer, but with elements of horror weaved into his stories.

So, that's my "Top 10" list. Hope you all liked it and feel free to let me know your favourites books in a comment below. If you want me to do a film version of this list just let me know.                                                                          

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

Where Have I Been?

Hi guys,

so I'm sorry that I've been absent for the past week or so, but I had a huge workload (that is now finished) and I've been thinking up new ideas for my blog (which I will start to introduce shortly). Mainly they are mostly sub-sections that I think there are enough of to deserve their own section. I don't know how often these sections will be used. I'm thinking of having them as specials, so they won't be replacing a review or interrupting the book-movie-book-movie flow. Maybe one a month I might add into that section (there will be more than one sub-section), so at the moment that would be 10 extra reviews a month (that's how many new sub-sections I'm introducing). So, it may just be that once a month I'll have an allocated day or week where I add to one particular section and that would happen 10 times a month. Or, maybe I should do 5 a month and alternate between 2 sets. So, any section I haven't added to in one month gets added to in the next, and so on.

Anyway, my next review is coming soon and I'm not going to give it away (because what's the fun in knowing, right?), but I will give you a small (very vague) clue. It is a series of 5 (though you could easily argue 6) books. Very well known (at least with the people I know) and has been out for a while. There you go, that's your clue. Feel free to guess, though I won't let you know either way.

Look forward to the knew additions that will be appearing shortly.

Even Aliens Have Showdowns in the Wild West

Today I'm reviewing the  2011 film Cowboys and Aliens. Directed by Jon Favreau and based on the 2006 graphic novel with the same name, written by Scott Mitchell Rosenberg.

Trailer:

Now the main plot revolves around a man (played by Daniel Craig) who wakes up in the middle of the desert with amnesia and has no idea who or where he is. All he has is a photo of a woman and a strange wristband (that all the characters call a "bracelet"). He then heads into the nearest town and meets the rest of the main cast, namely Ella (Olivia Wilde),  cattleman Woodrow (Harrison Ford),  saloon owner Doc (Sam Rockwell) and young boy Emmett (Noah Ringer). Then aliens show up and start taking people and those who remain go after the aliens to try get them back.

So, what did I think of the actual movie? Well to be honest, I think it was very flawed and not very interesting. There are so many plot holes and the film is pretty predictable. The characters are hard to identify with, as none of them seem to have much of a personality- especially our main man- who I swear only has one facial expression throughout this entire film. And the rest of the characters aren't much better. Scenes that you'd think would be filled with emotion feel lacking in it. You don't really care about ANY of the people at all. This probably isn't helped by the use of entirely generic characters. Seriously, there's the wealthy man who basically controls the entire town, who has a son whose far too big for his boots and painfully obnoxious. There's the kindly preacher, the mysterious love interest, a very brief interaction with the funny sidekick, an innocent young boy and even a dog whose sole purpose is to bark when an alien is near. I mean, one or two generic characters could maybe be forgiven, but the ENTIRE cast is just ridiculous! 

Speaking of generic- the main man has amnesia. That's right, it's an amnesia story. However, the main issue with his amnesia is not that the concept is overdone already. It's more that it serves no purpose to the story whatsoever.    

And there is no reason why he should have amnesia anyway. Why would aliens give people amnesia? Are they expecting them to escape? Do they not want them to tell other people about their existence? And, if that's the reason, why then immediately attack everyone in the area? Seriously, there is no point in him (or anyone else in this film) having amnesia.

Onto the aliens themselves. Sigh, I didn't think there design was awful, but it was nowhere near great either. There are very few shots where the aliens are stationary and in full view (as opposed to just their faces or upper bodies), but when they are, if you look closely, you can see that it almost looks like people in costumes or dummies. Maybe that's what they actually were, but the filmmakers could have made more of an attempt to hide it. All the fast action scenes are, of course, CGI, but (like I said) the stationary shots make the aliens look fake. Maybe that was just me.

There are also some weird script problems. An example would be when Emmett is calling for the dog the day after it ran off barking towards an alien, then we hear yelping and the dog doesn't come back. Surely, this means the dog died right? Otherwise, what? Did it just find the alien and run away yelping? It's just weird that he would call the dog when it would seem that it was dead, and the day afterwards as well. Not right after. Not at all during the night. No, just as they're about to continue on the journey. Now, I don't think this is really a spoiler, but skip this sentence if you don't want to know, but just before the end of the film the dog does come back. Or, rather I should say, we see it with a gang. Is this explained? Do we find out what happened or why it's with the gang? No. There is no explanation at all as to where the dog has been all this time. 

There's there the "romance" between the main character and Ella. If you can call it that. They barely say anything to each other. For the first half of the film he's telling her to go away. Also, he keeps having flashbacks of the woman that he obviously loves or loved. It's just weird. They have very little actual interaction, other than just riding horses next to each other and occasionally sharing a line.

I know I keep on knocking this film, but that's because there is so much to knock. Maybe I went into this film with too high of expectations. The trailer looked awesome and I expected the same out of the film. It's always sad when we find out the reality in a bad way. Oh well, on with the review. Another major flaw that I have with the film is that every time our main character/s get into trouble, either the mysterious "bracelet" on our main man's wrist or the aliens get him/them out of trouble. Fair enough the aliens aren't purposefully helping him/them, but EVERY time. Without fail. There are so many scenes where escape (and therefore life) seems highly unlikely, and then aliens show up and take all the bad people away or his wristband randomly blows them away. This means that the audience never really believe there's any threat to the main cast. So there's no tension and the film drops a few notches on the exciting and enjoyably scale.

The film is also painfully predictable at times. I guessed the entire ending down to almost every last detail and never had a moment where I was like, "What?!". Okay, once. But again, that plot point had no relevance whatsoever to the story. If you've seen the film, I'm sure you know which one I mean. I'll give you a hint, it involves fire and a character. Now think. Did it make any kind of difference to the story? Would the ending have been any different really?

And I have to mention it. The random "filler feeling" scenes, whose sole purposes are just to gather more people in one place, so that the aliens can come back and take them without further diminishing the main cast. No other reason. Speaking of which. At the start of the film there's some character development in some of the secondary characters, then a lot of them get taken and no further development happens during the rest of the film. To ANY characters. It's just weird. It's like, okay he's this person and his role is this- oh never mind, he's gone. Oh well. The rest of the characters don't grow. Yeah, some of them learn to use weapons and the wealthy cattleman learns to care about other people, but that actually happens pretty early on in the film. I mean, right after they set out, he's already giving the little kid a pep talk and giving him a knife that was his father's. Which reminds me, the saloon owner learns to use a gun throughout the duration of the film and the boy gets given a knife and told that in the moment, he should just kill and not think about it. (Is that a good lesson?) And you just know that at some point in the film, they're going to have to use these new skills. 

Also, the reason why the aliens are taking people? What they want? Truly awful. I don't understand it at all. You may say, fair enough what they were after was a valuable resource, but my point is more, why do they have to even involve humanity in their quest? Seriously? Nobody knew where their lair was- they could have just stayed there and taken what they wanted without anyone ever knowing. They didn't need people for that.

On a side note, a lot of the plot holes or character issues are never explained or gone into. The scene I mentioned earlier involving fire. Why aren't any of the other characters interested in it? Why don't they want to know more? Why is it never mentioned again? You'd think it would be a big revelation, but the film just passes it off like, yeah, that's right, and now it's irrelevant. And one of my major plot holes? How did our main man escape in the first place? What he just managed to elude every single alien on his way out? Had he already lost his memory? How did he come to be lying in the middle of the desert with no memory? Surely he must have remembered escaping?

Like I said, the ending is predictable, right down to individual battles and the death of one particular character with their predictable cheesy death speech. And the battles with our main man are done in a very video game like way. He just points the wristband and shoots and something dies. And that's the whole battle. I will admit that when he fights other humans it's pretty cool. Daniel Craig's James Bond training really comes through and it looks great. But there's very little of these scenes once the wristband takes over as weapon of choice.

And one final plot hole. It is implied during the film that the aliens have attacked other places in the universe. Wouldn't this mean that there's probably more than one spaceship? The universe is a big place and you'd think you'd need more requirements- but maybe I'm just over analysing now.

Overall, I think the plot was predictable, the ending anticlimactic and the characters underdeveloped and hard to identify with. It's a shame because I think they could have done so much more with the characters- what with the amazing cast they had to play them. Instead we have emotionless and almost irrelevant seeming characters. I didn't hate this film, but it's doesn't score very high with me. Maybe 4 or 5 out of ten, just because the sets do look amazing. Being out in the West, they do have a lot of big landscapes and amazing scenery, but I'm not sure this is ever going to be a film that I'd have no reservations about re watching. Obviously, I can't say never, but I don't think my life would suffer at all if I never got round to watching this movie again. I haven't read the original graphic novel, so I don't know what there was for the filmmakers to work with, but you'd think that even if the graphic novel wasn't that developed the film writers could have filled those holes in. As it stands, I'm going to stick by my theory (and feel free to tell me otherwise if you've read the book) that the book is usually always better than the movie. At least I hope so.