Top 5 Tuesday: Fantasy Books

Hey, guys!
It’s Tuesday, that means it’s time for a bookish favorites posts. Top 5 Tuesday is hosted by Bionic Book Worm and is quite simple: check out the topic and write a post with your picks.
I’ll do a little theme within the theme for today. It’s all about fantasy books, but I tell about the ones I haven’t read yet. Let’s see what’s on my fantasy to -read-list!

#1 Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett

I binge-watched the amazing show with David Tennant and Martin Sheen twice (so far). As I loved everything about it, I can’t wait to get my hands on the book. Already requested it at my library!

Good Omens on Goodreads

#2 The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

This book gets mentioned so often during the T5T posts. The story seems so intriguing, I really need to pick it up!

The Night Circus on Goodreads

Iron Man 3

Hello, fellow MCU enthusiasts!
Today, we’ll talk about Iron Man 3, which is set after the first Avengers movie. It also marks the final solo film for Tony Stark, so let’s get down to it!

The Plot:

Still dealing with the aftermath of the events in The Avengers, Tony Stark soon finds himself in the middle of another predicament. Terrorist Mandarin is responsible for a series of bombings. In one of those Happy Hogan was badly injured, prompting Tony to challenge the terrorist…

The Rating:

While I wasn’t too thrilled by Iron Man 2, the third movie did a better job of impressing me.

First of all, I enjoyed the film because it makes Tony Stark more human. After his close brush with death in the first Avengers movie, he is suffering from PTSD, dealing with panic and anxiety attacks. It’s amazing that even though he is a superhero, the filmmakers decided to not make him, to show he has flaws, problems, and struggles to.

Iron Man 3 may not be as good as the first film, but I like the story and thought it well-crafted. It comes with a few nice twists and turns (some of them more foreseeable than others).

There are a couple of things that really stood out for me this time. First of all, I liked that Stark teamed up with Harley, a 10-year-old boy. Some people called it the typical 90’s action movie sidekick but for me, that’s not a bad thing. I enjoyed films like Last Action Hero, and the execution in Iron Man 3 was neatly done. So why not give him an adorable little side-kick to banter with?

Marvel’s The Avengers

Hello, my darling readers!
We finally made to the first MCU that has all your favorite superheroes (and superheroines!) teaming up. So let’s talk about The Avengers!

The Plot:

Loki decided to go big or go home. With the help of the Chitauri he’s on his way to world domination. Nick Fury only sees one way to stop the Asgardian and save the earth: he reactivates the Avengers Initiative, calling upon the mightiest heroes to team up and defeat Loki…

The Rating:

I had written a brilliant review for this film, but then WordPress decided to let the post vanish. 😭 Let’s see if I can recreate my masterpiece.

The Avengers certainly comes not with a fizzle but with a bang. It’s one of the highest grossing movies of all time. If you decide to give it a shot, you’ll immediately see why.

This movie has it all. We’ll start with a star-spangled cast list, that promised nothing but greatness. There’s Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner who gives the Hulk a new vibe that is so different from the other versions we’ve seen so far and fits perfectly. We have Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark who is brilliant as usual (and to a large extent simply playing himself), Chris Evans as Captain American who has started to grow on me. Colbie Smulders is wonderful as Martina Hill and I wish we’d get to see more of her.

And then there are Jeremy Renner (Clint Barton) and Scarlett Johansson (Natasha Romanoff) who play such intricate, strong and yet vulnerable characters. I am sad that we know barely a thing about them and can’t believe they don’t have their respective movies.
(I am aware that a Black Widow film is said to hit cinemas at some point in the next years. However, it’s not here yet and I am definitely baffled that two of the original six Avengers weren’t deemed worthy of proper introduction and backstory.)

Thursday Movie Picks: Period Drama

Hey, guys!
Welcome to another entry for Thursday Movie Picks.
It’s a series hosted by Wandering through the Shelves, so if you want to join the party, head over to her blog! It’s pretty easy: check out each week’s topic and come up with 3 to 5 movies that fit the theme.
This week I’ll talk about some of my favorite period dramas. There are tons of good films out there that would fit the description, but I’ll just go with the ones that popped in my head first!

#1 Ever After

This one is absolutely magical. Starring Drew Barrymore, Ever After is a super smart take on the fairy-tale Cinderella. It’s all around enchanting, so make sure to give it a shot!

#2 Les Misérables

I’m a bit late to the party with this one, as I first watched it two months ago. However, I was hooked from the first song on. The movie was great and my Spotify playlist now consists mostly of the score!

Top 5 Tuesday: Main Males

Hey, guys!
It’s Tuesday, that means it’s time for a bookish favorites posts. Top 5 Tuesday is hosted by Bionic Book Worm and is quite simple: check out the topic and write a post with your picks.
Today I’ll share my top 5 male book characters. I tried not to go with the most obvious choices. 😉

#1 Dustfinger from the Inkworld Books

I keep mentioning the Inkworld books for these posts but honestly, they are too brilliant not to! Dustfinger had my heart from the very first moment he appeared on the pages. Just read the books, you’ll know what I mean.

Inkheart on Goodreads

#2 Remus Lupin from the Harry Potter Books

There are many great characters to be found in the Harry Potter books. Well, my favorite will forever be Remus Lupin. Not only was he the best Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, but he is also such a warm and compassionate character!

Harry Potter on Goodreads

Thor

Hey, guys!
After The Incredible Hulk, we have another new addition to the MCU franchise to discuss today. Thor is one of the original six Avengers, so let’s talk about his first film!

The Plot:

After the Asgardian God Thor fucked up big time, his father Odin exiled him to earth, stripped of his powers.
As Thor tries to settle on earth, his “brother” Loki has big plans…

The Rating:

While I wasn’t overly fond of The Incredible Hulk, Thor really did it for me.

What they did with the original Norse myths is quite surprising and I love that Marvel decided to go in that direction.

One of the biggest points that made Thor so great is the sense of humor. So many moments in this film are outright hilarious.

Apart from that, we get some impressive fighting sequences and the set design for Asgard is stunning. Anthony Hopkins stars as Odin, Rene Russo as Frigga, his queen. How could that not turn out great?