Movie: Sing Street
My Rating: ★★★★★
TV Show: Last Tango In Halifax
My Rating: ★★★☆☆
Book: Invincible
My Rating: ★★★★☆
Music: Double Dare
My Rating: ★★★☆☆
Sunday, January 29, 2017
Monthly Amusements: January 2017
As the first month of 2017 comes to a close, I wanted to take a quick look back at some of the things in the entertainment world that I enjoyed in January. Overall, this month pleasantly surprised me considering that January is typically a lackluster month for entertainment. Just a quick note, the items on my list do not have to be released in January 2017. They are simply things that I've happened to stumble upon for the first time in this particular month. So with that being said, here are the things that I've enjoyed most in January 2017.
Sing Street was a film that thoroughly took me by surprise. I had no expectations for this movie, but it delivered a heartwarming story about an Irish teen who starts a band to win over the girl of his dreams. I actually did a full review for this film (read it here) where I go into more detail, but the bottom line is that Sing Street was by far the best film that I had the pleasure of watching this month.
My Rating: ★★★★★
TV Show: Last Tango In Halifax
The BBC dramedy Last Tango In Halifax wound up being my favorite TV show for the month of January 2017. I will be the first to admit that this show goes more than a little overboard on the family drama, rendering its plot apocryphal and characters measurably unrelatable. However, because of this it became my guilty pleasure and I quickly blew through all three seasons of Last Tango In Halifax. It's certainly not the best show to ever be made but it delivers on creating an enticing, albeit over-the-top plot that is hard to stop watching.
My Rating: ★★★☆☆
Book: Invincible
Invincible, Amy Reed's saga about a teenager dealing with cancer, was my favorite read of this month. I found this story to be incredibly raw and honest, giving a touching portrayal of a girl struggling to find herself in a world where she is known as "the cancer girl." Feeling suffocated, she runs away from her old friends and family into the arms of Marcus, the only person who really understands her. I loved just about everything that this book delivered and I am looking forward to reading Unforgivable, Reed's followup novel to Invincible. I would definitively recommend this read and it's my favorite book from this month.
My Rating: ★★★★☆
Music: Double Dare
Double Dare, the debut album by the pop punk band Waterparks, has had a prominent presence on my playlist this month. It delivered some great tunes that just got stuck in my head, such as Royal and Gloom Boys. A few of the songs did miss the mark for me personally, but overall it was a great album to rev myself up with at the start of the new year.
My Rating: ★★★☆☆
My Rating: ★★★★★
TV Show: Last Tango In Halifax
My Rating: ★★★☆☆
Book: Invincible
My Rating: ★★★★☆
Music: Double Dare
My Rating: ★★★☆☆
Sunday, January 22, 2017
Book Review: Tonight The Streets Are Ours
A while ago I read This Song Will Save Your Life by Leila Sales and quite liked it. I wanted to give some of her other books a try, so I picked up Tonight The Streets Are Ours from my local library. Unfortunately I was somewhat letdown by this book, and wanted to share my reasoning as to why it missed the mark.
To give a quick synopsis, Tonight The Streets Are Ours is about a girl called Arden who considers herself "recklessly loyal." She has always made sacrifices for others, often to the point of undermining herself. One day she stumbles upon an online blog called Tonight The Streets Are Ours, written by a teenage boy living in New York City called Peter. Through his blog, Peter expresses many emotions that resonate closely with Arden. She realizes that she has to meet him, and so embarks on a crazy road trip to the city on a quest to find him.
My main issue with this book is that it has absolutely no idea what it wants to be. There's a confusing smorgasbord of parental woes, friendship strains, and romance that frankly made my head hurt at times. Each individual aspect of this book has potential, but when all of the pieces are mashed together into an attempt at a cohesive story, things fall apart. To make things worse, the already convoluted plot is carried by characters that I found to be rather unlikable. The main character of Arden was annoyingly spineless, and things only got worse when Peter was introduced into the story. I found him to be obsessively egotistical and because of this I really couldn't connect with his character at all.
My one high praise for Tonight The Streets Are Ours is that it carries two very true messages: that there is always more than one side to every story, and that the best way to help others is to help yourself first. The author did a great job of delivering both of these concepts in this book, but unfortunately their potential influence on readers was muddled by the rest of the plot.
To rap up this review, I will simply say that Tonight The Streets Are Ours just has too many elements going on at once. This is its Achilles heel; what potential this book did have is almost entirely lost in the absurdity of the plot. Tonight The Streets Are Ours is readable, but is certainly not memorable. However, this should not be reason to avoid all of Leila Sales' books, as I can attest that some of her other projects such as This Song Will Save Your Life are wonderfully executed. Perhaps just think about bypassing Tonight The Streets Are Ours though, and invest your time in a more worthwhile read.
Author: Leila Sales
Genre: Drama/Romance/Teen Fiction
To give a quick synopsis, Tonight The Streets Are Ours is about a girl called Arden who considers herself "recklessly loyal." She has always made sacrifices for others, often to the point of undermining herself. One day she stumbles upon an online blog called Tonight The Streets Are Ours, written by a teenage boy living in New York City called Peter. Through his blog, Peter expresses many emotions that resonate closely with Arden. She realizes that she has to meet him, and so embarks on a crazy road trip to the city on a quest to find him.
My main issue with this book is that it has absolutely no idea what it wants to be. There's a confusing smorgasbord of parental woes, friendship strains, and romance that frankly made my head hurt at times. Each individual aspect of this book has potential, but when all of the pieces are mashed together into an attempt at a cohesive story, things fall apart. To make things worse, the already convoluted plot is carried by characters that I found to be rather unlikable. The main character of Arden was annoyingly spineless, and things only got worse when Peter was introduced into the story. I found him to be obsessively egotistical and because of this I really couldn't connect with his character at all.
My one high praise for Tonight The Streets Are Ours is that it carries two very true messages: that there is always more than one side to every story, and that the best way to help others is to help yourself first. The author did a great job of delivering both of these concepts in this book, but unfortunately their potential influence on readers was muddled by the rest of the plot.
To rap up this review, I will simply say that Tonight The Streets Are Ours just has too many elements going on at once. This is its Achilles heel; what potential this book did have is almost entirely lost in the absurdity of the plot. Tonight The Streets Are Ours is readable, but is certainly not memorable. However, this should not be reason to avoid all of Leila Sales' books, as I can attest that some of her other projects such as This Song Will Save Your Life are wonderfully executed. Perhaps just think about bypassing Tonight The Streets Are Ours though, and invest your time in a more worthwhile read.
Author: Leila Sales
Genre: Drama/Romance/Teen Fiction
Pages: 342
Year Published: 2015
My Rating: ★★☆☆☆
Saturday, January 7, 2017
Movie Review: Sing Street
Sing Street is a delightful film that I hadn't even heard of until very recently. It seemed to completely slip under just about everyone's radar despite the fact that it is easily accessible to many viewers on Netflix. It's easy to say that Sing Street is one of the most surprising movies that I've seen recently. I had few expectations at the movie's start, but it was quick to impress as the plot unfolded.
Sing Street is set in 1980's Ireland during the burgeoning era of pop music and music videos. Conor, a teenager living in Dublin with his family, is transferred to a less expensive school by his parents. He struggles with his new environment and the mistreatment that he faces there from bullies and his new principle. One day, he sees a girl standing across the street from the school and is immediately captivated by her. In order to get her attention, Conor asks her to appear in a music video for his band and she agrees. With the help of several other misfits from his school, Conor assembles a band in the hopes of winning the affection of his new crush.
Sing Street is a deftly executed motion picture that immediately captures the hearts of viewers. It dives so much deeper than its romantic plot as Conor comes to terms with his parents divorce, finds his strength to be his true self and defy his oppressors, and builds the courage to follow his dreams. It's Conor's relationship with his older brother that especially makes this movie shine. These elements combined help transport Sing Street beyond the story of a clichéd romance into a nuanced film that is very relatable among viewers. The characters add even more to this movie, providing a variety of different personalities on screen. Every actor does a stellar job at portraying their role at a perfect volume so to speak, with the whole film relying on the relationships between characters rather than on the shoulders of a single protagonist. I also want to give note to the great soundtrack that Sing Street offers. The score provides a great mix of upbeat pop tracks and melodic ballads that really complete this film. Although Sing Street is a musical, it's done in a way where the soundtrack doesn't completely dilute the plot. Instead, the music perfectly complements the storyline as it unfolds and it provides Sing Street with a bittersweet feeling as the film ends.
In conclusion, Sing Street is a humble film that is made great by interesting characters, a finely woven plot with varying elements that work together well, and a soundtrack that provides the cherry on top. I racked my brain trying to come up with negative aspects of this film, but Sing Street provides a seemingly flawless coming-of-age narrative that is quick to captivate and hard to forget.
Rating: PG-13
Sing Street is set in 1980's Ireland during the burgeoning era of pop music and music videos. Conor, a teenager living in Dublin with his family, is transferred to a less expensive school by his parents. He struggles with his new environment and the mistreatment that he faces there from bullies and his new principle. One day, he sees a girl standing across the street from the school and is immediately captivated by her. In order to get her attention, Conor asks her to appear in a music video for his band and she agrees. With the help of several other misfits from his school, Conor assembles a band in the hopes of winning the affection of his new crush.
Sing Street is a deftly executed motion picture that immediately captures the hearts of viewers. It dives so much deeper than its romantic plot as Conor comes to terms with his parents divorce, finds his strength to be his true self and defy his oppressors, and builds the courage to follow his dreams. It's Conor's relationship with his older brother that especially makes this movie shine. These elements combined help transport Sing Street beyond the story of a clichéd romance into a nuanced film that is very relatable among viewers. The characters add even more to this movie, providing a variety of different personalities on screen. Every actor does a stellar job at portraying their role at a perfect volume so to speak, with the whole film relying on the relationships between characters rather than on the shoulders of a single protagonist. I also want to give note to the great soundtrack that Sing Street offers. The score provides a great mix of upbeat pop tracks and melodic ballads that really complete this film. Although Sing Street is a musical, it's done in a way where the soundtrack doesn't completely dilute the plot. Instead, the music perfectly complements the storyline as it unfolds and it provides Sing Street with a bittersweet feeling as the film ends.
In conclusion, Sing Street is a humble film that is made great by interesting characters, a finely woven plot with varying elements that work together well, and a soundtrack that provides the cherry on top. I racked my brain trying to come up with negative aspects of this film, but Sing Street provides a seemingly flawless coming-of-age narrative that is quick to captivate and hard to forget.
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Drama/Musical
Run Time: 106 minutes
Release Date: April 15, 2016
My Rating: ★★★★★
Saturday, December 31, 2016
The Shortlist: Best Of 2016
Another year has just about passed, and so yet again I tasked myself with compiling a list of my favorite things from 2016. Although this year was a bit disappointing in terms of what was released, there were a few gems that I managed to uncover. I finally settled on choosing my top three books, top three movies, as well as my top ten songs from the year. The only rules that I set for myself while creating this list were that every book, movie and song had to be released/published in 2016, and I only selected one song per artist to allow for diversity. So here it is, my final list of my favorite things from 2016. Enjoy, and let me know what you read, watched and listened to this past year!
BEST BOOKS OF 2016:
Dark Matter
Blake Crouch
The Way I Used To Be
Amber Smith
If I Was Your Girl
Meredith Russo
BEST MOVIES OF 2016:
Arrival
Denis Villeneuve
Jason Bourne
Paul Greengrass
Tallulah
Sian Heder
BEST SONGS OF 2016:
Somebody Else
The 1975
[listen]
Full Circle
HÆLOS
[listen]
Underwater
HANA
[listen]
You Don't Get Me High Anymore
Phantogram
[listen]
Hurts So Good
Astrid S
[listen]
I Remember
AlunaGeorge
[listen]
Shore
Daniela Andrade
[listen]
Cry
Carly Rae Jepsen
[listen]
Elizabeth Taylor
Clare Maguire
[listen]
Mind Games
BANKS
[listen]
Tuesday, December 27, 2016
Book Review: Dark Matter
David Crouch's newest novel Dark Matter was easily my favorite book that I read in 2016. This science fiction thriller follows the character of Jason, a physics professor who lives in Chicago with his wife and teenage son. One night he is abducted by a mysterious man wearing a mask and wakes up in a world that is not his. In this new world, he is an esteemed physicist who has an amazing career. Jason must figure out how to get back home to his family, but to do this he will have to embark on a seemingly impossible journey that will unleash an enemy he never thought possible.
What Crouch does incredibly well with Dark Matter is blends a multitude of varying genres together into a cohesive story. This book has elements of science fiction, romance, action, and drama that allows for a wide audience to enjoy reading it. The plot is also fast-paced and there is not a single moment where the storyline is vapid. Dark Matter is written incredibly well, with the words smoothly flowing from page to page; there is no clunkiness slowing it down. I also really appreciated how unique this book is; I've never read anything quite like it before. It is not afraid to branch away from the many cliches that authors often fall on to support their material. Dark Matter is a book that makes readers question life and our ultimate existence, which is something that I personally love.
The only hangup that I had with Dark Matter is that it ended with some elements still up in the air. For example, what happens to the character of Amanda is never explained. There are just some loose ends that leave the reader questioning what will happen next. The ending of this book almost makes me think that Crouch might be considering a sequel, and I certainly hope that this is the case.
Overall, I would strongly recommend reading Dark Matter if you have the chance. I am personally not a huge fan of science fiction, yet really enjoyed this book because it blends a lot of genres together. Between its uniqueness, expeditiously constructed plot, and the ability to make readers critically think about the world as they know it, this book pretty much has it all.
Author: David Crouch
Genre: Thriller/Science Fiction
What Crouch does incredibly well with Dark Matter is blends a multitude of varying genres together into a cohesive story. This book has elements of science fiction, romance, action, and drama that allows for a wide audience to enjoy reading it. The plot is also fast-paced and there is not a single moment where the storyline is vapid. Dark Matter is written incredibly well, with the words smoothly flowing from page to page; there is no clunkiness slowing it down. I also really appreciated how unique this book is; I've never read anything quite like it before. It is not afraid to branch away from the many cliches that authors often fall on to support their material. Dark Matter is a book that makes readers question life and our ultimate existence, which is something that I personally love.
The only hangup that I had with Dark Matter is that it ended with some elements still up in the air. For example, what happens to the character of Amanda is never explained. There are just some loose ends that leave the reader questioning what will happen next. The ending of this book almost makes me think that Crouch might be considering a sequel, and I certainly hope that this is the case.
Overall, I would strongly recommend reading Dark Matter if you have the chance. I am personally not a huge fan of science fiction, yet really enjoyed this book because it blends a lot of genres together. Between its uniqueness, expeditiously constructed plot, and the ability to make readers critically think about the world as they know it, this book pretty much has it all.
Author: David Crouch
Genre: Thriller/Science Fiction
Pages: 342
Year Published: 2016
My Rating: ★★★★☆
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