A Monster Calls Film, Book to Film Adaption

A Monster Calls book review

This 2016 adaption of Patrick Ness's A Monster Calls was alright. I'll make this quick review based on my thoughts about it being shown in a library or having it in the collection. 

Library Showing

I think the problem with this film is similar to what I also believe is an issue with the book (perhaps): most adults can enjoy it, because adults can theoretically relate to dying before their children. Teens, though, I think the book might not connect with everyone unless they are dealing with a parent that is ill. Honestly, I don't think I would have connected with the book at all when I was the target demographic. I'm fairly certain I would have found it childish. Like the film, there's something childish about Conor that I found off-putting. But as an adult, I can appreciate what he's going through. 

Ultimately, I don't think it would hold the interest of teens, unless you can find a group of them that WANT to see it together.

Library Collection 

Why not? I suppose someone might be upset by the bullying. It wouldn't go in the children's department, and I never hear of teens' sections having AV materials. There shouldn't be too much trouble putting it in the regular film collection. 

Other Thoughts

The three stories are animated instead of live action. I think the animation is good, but it's jarring. I get why they did it for the narrative, though. 

The monster was interesting. I suppose it is like most films where you get to see the monster up close and regularly: it becomes familiar and no longer frightening. 

There's a lot of scenes that adults get how good they were filmed.

I felt that it was an ok film, and I'm a little disappointed, but it did convey the story nicely. No reason not to include it in your collection, though it is a few years old now. I'm waiting on the Chaos Walking Trilogy to be filmed. 

Insurgent Film Review

The Divergent Trilogy Reviews

Divergent, Insurgent, and Allegiant

The Divergent Film Reviews

Divergent, Insurgent

Way back in March when Insurgent was in theatres, I went with a teen and another adult to see it. We didn't see it in 3D, and I don't mind, as I hate putting 3D glasses over my regular glasses (and I don't see very far with my contacts). Though there were a few scenes that would have been very cool in 3D, I don't think I missed much. This "review" is more some of my quick notes that I made when I saw the film .

Spoilers Ahead!

The Not So Good or Changes

• Marcus fell off the face of the film. He was important in the book, and the film was just like, nope.
• Johanna fell off the face of the film. She was involved throughout the book, but she just stays home, I guess.
• Amity isn't so strict on wearing their faction colours (according to the internet anyway), but they don't even try. 
• Where is the drug bread?!
• Four mom is not supposed to be white (according to Roth, she's a "POC"). The film lost a huge aspect that could have enriched the film.

Four's mom is really pretty, though.

• The hard drive from Insurgent has been replaced…with a box that has to be unlocked via simulations. This makes the film much more like a video game. I do have to say that with the previous film, that she could manipulate the simulations, there is a natural progression between the films.

The magic box.

• The one who delivers the final message to the society…is not named. Of course, the next book is being split between two films, so they have lots of time to "discover" the identity. 
• Jeanine is killed by someone different. In the film, to me, it makes more sense. In the book, yeah, it's satisfying, but considering all that Jeanine has done, the film did it right. It will have huge implications for the next two films.
• Still no Edward (but see my note at the end of this review).
• In the book, she cuts her hair shoulder length, by herself. In the film, she gives herself a perfect close cut using her reflection in a window. The other adult we went with is a male, and he was like, wow, she did the back really well. 

Got a window? That's all you need!

Who needs hairdressers? I like the front btw, just not...anything
else from it.

The Good

•   The picnic table!

I wish I had a better picture of this!

• The film had a lot of action, which the book didn't have much of. 
• Tris got a few more tattoos. In Divergent, she got more than the bird tattoos. However, when did she get these? It’s doubtful that Amity has tattoo shacks in between the vegetable gardens and the stables.

That's all I got for Insurgent. BUT I want to mention that a complaint I had with the Divergent film was that the butter knife scene was absent. The scene was filmed and didn't make the final cut. I put a link in my original film, but I'll also post it here: 

The Fault in our Stars Film

The Fault in our Stars Book Review

I managed to finish reading the book and see the film in the same day. Here are some of my thoughts about the book to film adaption of John Green's The Fault in our Stars.

Spoilers Ahead!

Lol

Imagine if that went to her spam filter.

The texting that happens throughout the book is animated bubbles on the screen. While I dislike it because it looks juvenile, I also can’t suggest a better way to show the audience what they are texting. The emails were jarring as well, but you don’t want a camera zooming in on all those emails, either.  

Hazel’s thoughts are absent, and for me, that is a huge plus. They seem more like normal people on an adventure that most of us will never experience. Occasionally their dialogue quotes the book, but it doesn’t always work when two people actually try to say these words to each other. 

I’m glad they kept Hazel’s cannula. I wondered if they would cut that detail out because it is a constant reminder that she is very ill, and it is difficult to give the audience the standard of beauty they are used to. I don’t want to imply that people with cannulas can’t be pretty, but the all-powerful media doesn't usually associate them with beauty. They associate it with sickness, and then we tend to treat people as a different class of citizen that is completely unsexual.

Caroline is absent in the film, and I can say that I don’t mind. To me, she didn’t add much to the book. Yes, Hazel sees how traumatic it was for everyone when Caroline died. But she doesn’t need to be aware of Caroline to understand how people will be affected when she dies. She knew that before.

Kaitlyn is also cut from the film, and I think it works better. Hazel’s friendlessness solidifies that she has been placed in this separate group, the ill, the temporary inhabitants of this earth, and she is depressed. Or she possibly removed herself from her old friends. Either way, it works.

Most of the videogame scenes are gone. As a videogamer and reviewer, I am disappointed. Although Hazel doesn’t play (or at least that I can recall), she bonds with both Augustus and Isaac when they play. Plus, we got to see how Isaac gets to play after his surgery.

Their meeting is different: in the film, they just bump into each other. I thought it was awkward, but it is less awkward then noticing a guy staring at you relentlessly like Edward Cullen.

John Green had a cameo appearance in the film, but it was cut to maintain a better narrative flow. Good news is, you can still see the small clip:

The film has to hurry along events that transpire over days or weeks, but that is normal for films. It even works to its benefit, as I liked how Van Houten gave Hazel the pages. Yet we don’t really see Augustus’s decline, apart from the G-tube infection.

The best scene is when Isaac throws the eggs. Luckily, I have a clip of that too:

They cut the scene where Augustus’s illness is foreshadowed! This is what stood out to me the most after the film.Why cut the foreshadowing? I read that part of the book, and I wondered if Augustus's parents didn't want him to get involved with another terminal girl. Even though I joked to myself that I knew where the plot was headed and how the book would end, I didn't see exactly that when Hazel and her mom accidentally hear Augustus and his mom fighting.

Unfortunately, I have already seen Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort play brother and sister in the Divergent film, so I kept thinking of that. In The Fault in our Stars they also look alike to a degree, especially with Hazel's short hair.

Should you go see the film?

Do you like to get the warm and fuzzies when a young couple is in love?

Do you like your heart to be broken/do you think the world is just too bloody cheerful?

Do you like Amsterdam (aside from the red light districts)?

If you answered "yes" or "sure" or "sometimes", then YES! Go see the film. Go cry like a baby.