Netflix Friday - Volume 16

Some Netflix film tips for the weekend! And there is something for everyone, since I picked a movie for all the different genres.

Action: Kick-Ass (2010)
Dave Lizewski (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) is an unnoticed high school student and comic book fan who one day decides to become a superhero, even though he has no powers, training or meaningful reason to do so.

Drama: Rescue Dawn (2006)
A U.S. fighter pilot’s (Christian Bale) epic struggle of survival after being shot down on a mission over Laos during the Vietnam war.

Comedy: Hail, Caesar! (2016)
A Hollywood fixer (Josh Brolin) in the 1950s works to keep the studio’s star in line.

Animation: Whisper of the Heart (1995)
A love story between a girl (Brittany Snow) who lives reading books, and a boy (David Gallagher) who has previously hjecked out all the library books she chooses.

Romance: The Age of Adeline (2015)
A young woman (Blake Lively), born at the turn of the 20th century, is rendered ageless after an accident. After many solitary years, she meets a man (Michiel Huisman) who complicated the eternal life she has settled into.

Horror: Child’s Play (2019)
A mother (Aubrey Plaza) gives her 13-year-old son a toy doll for his birthday, unaware of its more sinister nature.

Science Fiction: Divergent (2014)
In a world divided by factions based on virtues, Tris (Shailene Woodley) learns she’s Divergent and won’t fit in. when she discovers a plot to destroy Divergents, Tris and the mysterious Four (Theo James) must find out what makes Divergents dangerous before it’s too late.

Crime: The Bourne Identity (2002)
A man (Matt Damon) is picked up by a fishing boat, bullet-riddled and suffering from amnesia, before racing to elude assassins and attempting to regain his memory.

Thriller: Panic Room (2002)
A divorced woman (Jodie Foster) and her diabetic daughter (Kristen Stewart) take refuge in their newly-purchased house’s safe room, when three men break-in, searching for a missing fortune.

Documentary: Audrie & Daisy (2016)
A look at the effects that online bullying has on the lives of teenagers and their community.

Family: The Cat Returns (2002)
After helping a cat, a seventeen-year-old girl (Anna Hathaway) finds herself involuntarily engaged to a cat Prince in a magical world where her only hope of freedom lies with a dapper cat statuette (Carey Elwes) coming to life.

100 Movie Challenge 2015 - # 44: Divergent

Director: Neil Burger

Genre: Action/ Adventure/ Science Fiction

Runtime: 140 minutes

Year: 2014

Starring: Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Miles Teller, Kate Winslet, Ansel Elgort, Zoë Kravitz, Ray Stevenson, Maggie Q, Ashley Judd, Tony Goldwyn, Mekhi Phifer

Description: In a world divided by factions based on virtues, Tris (Shailene Woodley) learns she's Divergent and won't fit in. When she discovers a plot to destroy Divergents, Tris and the mysterious Four (Theo James) must find out what makes Divergents dangerous before it's too late.

Review: The young adult film has, in a short period of time, settled down in Hollywood. Movies like the “Harry Potter” series and “The Hunger Games” series started this all. The movies, mostly adaptations from books, focus on young adults. Friendship, love and the battle between good and evil are central themes in these stories. “Divergent”, based on a book by Veronica Roth, isn’t an exception.

In a futuristic Chicago, five factions fight for power over the city. The factions are divided based on virtues: abnegation, candor, amity, dauntless and erudite. The choice for your faction is made when you’re sixteen. Tris is at that point in her life. Is she going to stay in the faction she grew up in or will she choose another faction? During her test something unusual happens. It appears she doesn’t fit in any of the faction. She is divergent.

Not a lot happens in “Divergent”. A thin plot between political power between the different factions and the place the divergents take in that society. Friendships are made and enemies are formed. Tris has to undergo a tough training and the underdog becomes the hero. And there is also a love story. Not a lot of originality, but time does fly. This is a good sign, because the movie is very entertaining.

That the book is often better than the movie, is also the case here. I feel that some important scenes are cut down. For instance the test. It’s a very important part of the story, but it goes so fast in the film. For people who haven’t read the book, it could have gone too fast.

Shailene Woodley does a good job and is a good leading lady. “Divergent” is a movie that you can’t help to compare to “The Hunger Games”. It’s not as good, but still very entertaining and I did enjoy it.

Rating: 3/ 5

Movie Trailer Sunday (113)

Here are this weeks trailers.

Maleficent
Description: The "Sleeping Beauty" tale is told from the perspective of the villainous Maleficent (Angelina Jolie) and looks at the events that hardened her heart and drove her to curse young Princess Aurora (Elle Fanning).
Director: RObert Stromberg
Starring: Angelina Jolie, Elle Fanning, Sharlto Copley, Sam Riley, Imelda Staunton, Juno Temple, Lesly Manville
Trailer: Trailer "Maleficent"
Comment: Spooky...

Divergent
Description: Beatrice Prior (Shailene Woodley), a teenager with a special mind, finds her life threatened when an authoritarian leader seeks to exterminate her kind in her effort to seize control of their divided society.
Director: Neil Burger
Starring: Shailene Woodley, Kate Winslet, Theo James, Ray Stevenson, Mekhi Phifer, Maggie W, Jai Courtney, Miles Teller, Zoë Kravitz, Ashley Judd, Ansel Elgort, Ben Lloyd-Hughes, Ben Lamb, Christian Madsen, Amy Newbold, Tony Goldwyn
Trailer: Trailer "Divergent"
Comment: I think the book was fantastic, so I hope they do it justice. It looks pretty cool.

Noah
Description: The Biblical Noah (Russell Crowe) suffers visions of an apocalyptic deluge and takes measures to protect his family from the coming flood.
Director: Darren Aronofsky
Starring: Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, Emma Watson, Anthony Hopkins, Ray Winstone, Logan Lerman
Trailer: Trailer "Noah"
Comment: Darren Aronofsky is a great director and it's a wonderful cast.

Cuban Fury
Description: 1987, A 13 year old natural born dancer with fire in his heels and snakes in his hips is working himself up to explode all over the UK Junior Salsa Championships. But then a freakish bullying incident on the mean streets of London robs him of his confidence, and our young hero finds his life diverted down a very different path. So it is that 22 years later, an adult Bruce Garrett (Nick Frost) finds himself out-of-shape and unloved - trapped in a downward spiral of self-pity, repression and Nando's take-outs. Only Julia (Rashida Jones), his smart, funny, gorgeous new American boss, gives him reason to live. But she's untouchable. Out of his league, so he imagines, with her perfect smile and perfect life. Unknown to Bruce however, Julia has issues all of her own. Luckily for him, she also has a secret passion. Then there's Drew (Chris O'Dowd), his alpha male colleague and horny king-monkey of the office. With Drew making no secret of his desire to get (his words) "all up inside Julia",...
Director: James Griffiths
Starring: Nick Frost, Chris O'Dowd, Rashida Jones, Ian McShane
Trailer: Trailer "Cuban Fury"
Comment: It's fun to finally see Nick Frost as the leading man.

Heaven is for Real
Description: A small-town father (Greg Kinnear) must find the courage and conviction to share his son's extraordinary, life-changing experience with the world.
Director: Randall Wallace
Starring: Greg Kinnear, Kelly Reilly, Thomas Haden Church, Connor Corum
Trailer: Trailer "Heaven is for Real
Comment: The trailer gave me goosebumps...

50 Books Challenge 2013 - # 9: Insurgent by Veronica Roth (Divergent # 2)

Title: Insurgent (Divergent # 2)
Author: Veronica Roth
Story: One choice can transform you--or it can destroy you. But every choice has consequences, and as unrest surges in the factions all around her, Tris Prior must continue trying to save those she loves--and herself--while grappling with haunting questions of grief and forgiveness, identity and loyalty, politics and love. Tris's initiation day should have been marked by celebration and victory with her chosen faction; instead, the day ended with unspeakable horrors. War now looms as conflict between the factions and their ideologies grows. And in times of war, sides must be chosen, secrets will emerge, and choices will become even more irrevocable--and even more powerful. Transformed by her own decisions but also by haunting grief and guilt, radical new discoveries, and shifting relationships, Tris must fully embrace her Divergence, even if she does not know what she may lose by doing so.
Start: march 11th 2013
End: march 23rd 2013
Comment: I devoured the first book in this series, so I was really expecting a lot from "Insurgent". Always dangerous. The book picks up where "Divergent" left off and Tris and Tobias are left running for their lives. We are still trying to figure out what the big mystery is everyone has been hiding and how this will play a role in the coming war. The reason I gave it a three star rating is because it's a bit bland and not much happened until towards the end of the book. That's where things started unfolding, revelations, action, betrayal, help when you least expected. I'm glad the ending was good, which makes me want to read the next book. I didn't enjoy reading about Tris and Four together, that relationship lost its spark, but I liked them seperately. Although Tris acts before she thinks and that's annoying, she is an interesting character to read about. What I liked the most is learning about all the different factions, but I still want to know why there are those factions. Although "Insurgent" wasn't as fast paced as its first installment, I did enjoy it and I can't wait for the third book in this series.
Rating: 3/ 5

50 Books Challenge 2012 - # 19: Divergent (Divergent # 1) by Veronica Roth (Divergent # 1)

Title: Divergent (Divergent # 1)
Author: Veronica Roth
Story: In a future Chicago, 16-year-old Beatrice Prior must choose among five predetermined factions to define her identity for the rest of her life, a decision made more difficult when she discovers that she is an anomaly who does not fit into any one group, and that the society she lives in is not perfect after all.
Start: may 1st 2012
End: may 5th 2012
Comment: I bumped on this book by accident,I didn't know this book already came out in my country. So I was super thrilled and excited to read this because I only heard great things about "Divergent". That's always dangerous, because when you start with such high expectations, it often disappoints. I'm glad that wasn't the issue here. I literally couldn't stop reading this book. I forgot everything around me while reading. The story was so interesting, fast paced, action packed and it was very original. Beatrice Prior is the main character, she is so strong but underrated because she is so small. Tris wasn't perfect and that makes her believable as a character. The main male character was Four, he was very likeable. He was both tough and kind and also had a vulnerable side. Four is a well written character and probably my favorite in "Divergent". If you like "The Hunger Games", you definitely love this one as well. And I can't wait for the second book to come out in the Netherlands.
Rating: 5/ 5