Game of Thrones: Season 7 – A Review

Hey Guys!
As all Game of Thrones fans out there know, we’ll have to wait another year before we finally get to see season 8. So in the meantime I decided to re-watch the other 7 seasons and do my long overdue review on the last one!

 

The Plot:
Winter is coming and it’s getting closer. Daenerys finally made it to Westeros, so we get to see who she teams up with. Meanwhile Cersei has taken control over Kingslanding and crowned herself Queen. In the North, John still knows nothing but has a hard time fending off the White Walkers and the Night King…

 

The Rating:
Well, well…
Ever since the show surpassed the books written by George R. R. Martin, I noticed a slight deterioration.
Those of you who read the novels know that many of the conversation were featured almost word by word in the show. Martin took (and still takes) a long time to come up with this intricate world and made sure everything is close to perfect. However, the show runners didn’t seem to tell the story as detailed and definitely weren’t taking as much time.

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Movie Mania: The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)

Hey guys!
I’ve been re-watching some Disney classics lately. This time it was the Hunchback of Notre Dame, one of the darker productions. Let’s see whether it’s still good after so many years!

 

The Plot:
You all know the story. Quasimodo, the titular hunchback lives at the cathedral. He is an orphan, his mother was killed by Judge Frollo, an evil man with a hatred for gypsies.
Quasimodo is a shy yet kind guy, who is usually forbidden from leaving the cathedral. But for the festival of fools he dares to venture outside – and promptly falls for Esmeralda, right before the townsfolk shun him for his deformity…

 

The Rating:
I honestly didn’t remember much about his particular Disney production. But when I re-watched the film recently I surprised how dark the tone is. The film basically starts with Frollo killing Quasimodo’s mother and then planning on drowning the baby. That’s not exactly family friendly, right?
However, Disney did an amazing job with Victor Hugo’s story that had been even darker. They managed to create a version that is palpable, colorful, sometimes even funny but never distasteful. It’s tricky to keep the balance when dealing with the topics featured and simplifying and smoothing things for children. This could have gone downhill easily.

Book vs. Movie: The Dressmaker

Hey Guys!
It’s book vs. movie time. This time I took a look at Rosalie Ham’s and the 2015 adaptation starring Kate Winslet!

 

The Plot:
Tilly returns to her home in the Australian outback after 25 years. She’s an entirely different person than she was when she left. However, the only thing that’s changed about the town is her mother being ill. Tilly still struggles with a dramatic event that occurred in her youth and wonders whether she might have been cursed since then.
While she tries to figure out her past, dressmaker Tilly will certainly bring some fresh wind to this dusty bit of world.

 

Book vs. Movie:
I usually read the book first, but in this case I stumbled upon this flick on TV and only found out later that there actually is a novel. So today, I’m gonna kick off with the film!
First of all, Kate Winslet is absolutely wonderful. We all know that she certainly knows what she’s doing and doesn’t fail us with this performance. She has some great additional cast, but Kate is the shining star here.
Let me warn you. This movie might not be what you expect. It has some dark moments but also some rather weird humor. It’s the kind of thing you either love or hate as it can be somewhat irritating. However, it’s exactly down my alley. 

Orphan Black: Season 5 – A Review

Hey Guys!
I just realized that I have so far completely neglected to write a review on season 5 of Orphan Black. It was the final season of this phenomenal show and aired in 2017. So let’s see whether it was a worthy end!

 

The Plot:
Cosima finds herself on a weird island, run by the ominous PT Westmoreland. Is that man really immortal? But far more important: what is he up to?
But Cosima isn’t the only one facing difficulties. Helena is pregnant and it gets harder to protect her unborn babies from Dyad.
In the mean time Sarah and Rachel battle over Kyra, the former trying to protect her, while the latter wants to use the girl for experiments.
But the big fight is yet to come…

 

The Rating:
They certainly ended the show not with a fizzle but with a bang.
The plot was beyond intriguing. It was impossible to figure out what would happen next or even predict the ending. In this season, a few things felt a bit far-fetched, but I’m more than prepared to overlook that little flaw. The atmosphere is giving you goosebumps, you will be holding your breath many times throughout this season. With every episode I was even more impressed by the writers to come up with something this intricate.

Book vs. Movie: Allegiant

Hello my lovely readers!
I finally made it to the end of both Veronica Roth’s series of novel as well as the movie adaptations. So let’s see how the final installment turned out!

 

The Plot:
Tris and her friends escaped the only world they ever knew which turned out to be nothing but an experiment. They try to adapt to the real world but of course, things aren’t perfect here either…

 

Book vs. Movie:
Well, you probably know by now that I wasn’t too fond of the series so far. However, I had hoped that the final part would turn things around as I saw a lot of potential in the story.
But I ended up disappointed. I’ll begin with the novel. First of all, I felt like even Veronica Roth had given up on the whole thing by now. For a long stretch of the final book she wasn’t making an effort at all. She decided to split the chapters in two points of view. Some chapters are told from Tris’ view, some from Four’s. However, the chapter were barely distinguishable. Often I had already read half the chapter before I realized that it’s not a Tris but a Four chapter.
In general there’s still a lot of whining going on – now not only by Tris but also to a large extent by her annoying boyfriend. I can’t bring myself to like any of the two characters and they both make for terrible heroes.

TV Show Spotlight: Downton Abbey

Hey guys!
I know I’m a bit late to the party but I finally finished watching Downton Abbey. Let’s see what it’s about!

 

The Plot:
The show is a historical period drama set in England from 1912 to 1926. The stories revolve around the family Grantham who lives at Downton Abbey with their domestic stuff. Over the course of six season, hearts are broken, marriages are celebrated, wars are waged. Each member of the family and the staff has his or her very own story in this fascinating time…

 

Why should you check it out?
To be honest, my feelings about the show are a bit ambivalent. But I’ll start with the positive aspects!
The biggest reason to watch Downton Abbey is Maggie Smith. She plays the Dowager Countess and is absolutely divine. Even in the most serious moments of the show she will make a sharp, sarcastic or witty remark that will leave you laughing out loud. By far my favourite character on the show!
Furthermore, I appreciate that Downton Abbey focuses equally on the upper and the lower class. The staff gets interesting stories with depth and character development. Not only does it really add to the show in general and make the whole thing more broad, I am certain I wouldn’t have enjoyed it nearly as much, had there only been the upper class plotlines.