Book Review: The Boy Who Fell To Earth ~Kathy Lette

{Synopsis:

Meet Merlin. He's Lucy's bright, beautiful son - who just happens to be autistic.

Since Merlin's father left them in the lurch shortly after his diagnosis, Lucy has made Merlin the centre of her world. Struggling with the joys and tribulations of raising her eccentrically adorable yet challenging child, (if only Merlin came with operating instructions) Lucy doesn't have room for any other man in her life.

By the time Merlin turns ten, Lucy is seriously worried that the Pope might start ringing her up for tips on celibacy, so resolves to dip a poorly pedicured toe back into the world of dating. Thanks to Merlin's candour and quirkiness, things don't go quite to plan... 
(Source: Goodreads- http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13277383-the-boy-who-fell-to-earth)}

Shifa's:
I really disliked the book. I was expecting a lot from the book, especially the struggles of a single parent handling a child. Not just how they struggled, but how the child also struggled or thought of things or did things, and their relationship. I did not want to read about the love life of the mother. From the cover you can understand that it was a light book, but I think this book made me uncomfortable at times. Also too much of retorting and condescending tones and too much reply-back, it did not seem real. I expected a book which would make us feel sympathy/empathy towards the mother and the child, but I did not get any of those feelings. I think the fact that I thought that the book would delve deeper into the relationship between the mother and child and the child's interaction with the world, I expected a lot more out of it, but instead, it was something else, and that made me feel uncomfortable. Further, I thought more than this book being about how the mother struggles with an autistic child, it was more about how the mother was doing in her romantic relationship, and the 'autistic' part was just thrown in to show that she had some kind of struggle. Maybe I was expecting some scenarios from the child's point of view, and that's why I'm so harsh, but the way the struggles were described seemed so meagre. I felt cheated by the book - by the small summary at the back of the book, and that is why I really disliked the book. 

Safa's:
I thoroughly enjoyed the writing style because it was witty and the use of original metaphors and similes were very entertaining. 

However, during the turmoils that the main character faced, I didn't really feel for her (because the writer didn't make us feel sad or angry or disappointed enough); so she isn't very relatable. Also, some parts were way too clichéd and that was quite irritating. Furthermore, I really and truly despised one of the characters and that was really one huge wet towel of the book, for me. 

Rating- 5.5/10

Rate-O-Meter: Yeah, whatever

If you are interested in buying this book, you can click here:

http://www.amazon.com/Boy-Fell-Earth-Lette-Kathy/dp/B00DO8TXR6/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1456583808&sr=1-2&keywords=the+boy+who+fell+to+earth

We hope you have a wonderful day!

Salam|Peace!

Film Review: Neerja

(Source: InstaBollywood.in- http://www.instabollywood.com/post/2929/neerja-hd-poster.html)

Starring: Sonam Kapoor, Shabana Azmi, Parth Akerkar, Bobby Arora
Run-time: 2h 2m

Plot:
Neerja is a portrayal on the life of the courageous Neerja Bhanot, who sacrificed her life while protecting the lives of 359 passengers on the Pan Am flight 73 in 1986. The flight was hijacked by a terrorist organization.
(Source: IMDb- http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5286444/?ref_=nv_sr_1)

I think movies/books that are based on real life situations are always good. And this movie was just wonderful. It's also a very important movie which deals with very important things such as enormous strength and bravery in times of major crises. I felt that they were able to make the movie a very natural-feeling one. The cinematography and dialogue were also very well done. There were excellent amounts of suspense, bravery and some tender parts that complemented the entire feel of the movie. 

Although I don't particularly like Sonam Kapoor's acting skills, I think she was able to do justice to this role. 

As we all know that this movie is based on real life and we know the ending, I advise you to BRING YOUR TISSUES. 

Rating: 10/10

Film Review: Deadpool

(Source: ComingSoon.net- http://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/647041-deadpool-has-officially-been-rated)

Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Morena Baccarin, T.J. Miller
Run-time: 1h 48m

Plot:
A former Special Forces operative turned mercenary is subjected to a rogue experiment that leaves him with accelerated healing powers, adopting the alter ego Deadpool.
(Source: IMDb- http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1431045/?ref_=nv_sr_1)

Everybody has been raving on about this movie was months and months, so I did go in with high expectations. I was not disappointed! The movie was funny from start to finish (including the post-credits scene) and it was a great debut film.

The movie was more of an introduction to your friendly neighbourhood badass, so don't be too sceptical about the baddie who wasn't really so bad. 

Many of the jokes were of course innuendos, a lot of profanity and pretty crass. So, HIDE YOUR MOTHERS, CHILDREN, PETS- hell, just hide everyone!

Rating: 8.5/10

Film Review: The Martian

(Source: SciFiNow- http://www.scifinow.co.uk/news/the-martian-new-poster-has-matt-damon-castaway-in-space/)

Starring: Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Sebastian Stan, Kate Mara, Michael Pena, Aksel Hennie
Run-time: 2h 24m

Plot:During a manned mission to Mars, Astronaut Mark Watney is presumed dead after a fierce storm and left behind by his crew. But Watney has survived and finds himself stranded and alone on the hostile planet. With only meager supplies, he must draw upon his ingenuity, wit and spirit to subsist and find a way to signal to Earth that he is alive.(Source: IMDb- http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3659388/)

According to movie: loved the movie; it was fantastic! The set and setting looked amazing, and the involvement of people in the movie was great - as in, everyone seemed to play an important part. Matt Damon did a fantastic role, and I think one of the characters who really stood out was Jessica Chastain as Commander Lewis. 5/5 According to book: the movie really paled in comparison to the book - I expected a lot more action - more so because everything in the movie was in a condensed form, I felt like they missed out so many important or exciting parts. The book was much more thrilling, naturally, and I think I actually felt my emotions shoot all over the place, not knowing what would happen next. I did not like the fact that they changed Venkat Kapoor, or that they made Annie kinder. I would have preferred Mark to be more sarcastic and rude(ly funny), and I did not expect Matt Damon to fit the role of Watney, but I think he did a good job. I did not expect Jessica Chastain to make a good commander Lewis, but I think she was really good! In fact, the best of all the astronauts. I also think Martinez/ and Johansson/Kate Mara had good parts, but seriously, what even were Sebastian Stan and Vogel's parts? They disappointed me a lot. At least Vogel had some substance to his part as he participated in something. It felt like Sebastian Stan did nothing, and this is terrible because he is a really good actor and he could have played Beck really well. Finally, in the last scene, I do not like the fact that they almost completely changed everything, and I don't understand why they couldn't have just stuck to the original - why did they have to make Commander Lewis in the centre of attention? She doesn't have to prove anything! Her authority and quick thinking were more than enough, but maybe I feel this way because I've read the book and felt like she had done enough for Mark and the writers don't have show as if she has to prove her worth or something to the audience. However, overall, I really did like the movie, even though as a book reader, it is a little difficult to not keep comparing the book to the movie, but I need to remind myself - what can I really expect!? 3/5 because of changing parts and not giving enough importance to other people's parts.-Shifa

After reading the book, I thought- although many great parts were omitted- the movie was successful in capturing the essence of the book, even though they didn't/weren't able to include all the details. Furthermore, I felt that Ridley Scott made the movie intelligent and kept the space jargon and elements intact, yet made it easy for a vaster majority of audience to understand and enjoy.As a movie on its own, The Martian is shot wonderfully. The CGI is fantastic and the authenticity of details related to space travel is there. Ridley Scott keeps the movie consistently entertaining. However, I don't think the relationship between Beck and Johanssen was very plausible, because it wasn't developed that well.
So, an overall rating: 9.5/10
-Safa

Film Review: Dheepan

(Source: Wikipedia- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dheepan)

Starring: Antonythasan Jesuthasan, Kalieaswari Srinivasan, Claudine Vinasithamby

Run-Time: 1h 55m

Plot:
Dheepan is a Sri Lankan Tamil warrior who flees to France and ends up working as a caretaker outside Paris.

(Source: IMDb- http://m.imdb.com/title/tt4082068/)


The trailer (of this movie) was very interesting, intense and capturing. However, it was a bit misleading with the storyline.
The acting was really something; the movie flowed really well and the whole affair was a quite engrossing. But, towards the climax, I was confused why the events unfolded in the way that they did and it was also unclear on how the protagonists, despite the circumstances, were able to settle. 
In all, the movie was a interesting but quite heavy, and not really my cup of tea. 

Rating: 5.5/10

Film Review: The 5th Wave

(Source: Moviepilot.com- http://moviepilot.com/posts/3544372)

Starring: Chloe Grace-Mortez, Nick Robinson, Alex Roe

Run-Time: 1h 25m

Plot:

Four waves of increasingly deadly alien attacks have left most of Earth decimated. Cassie is on the run, desperately trying to save her younger brother.

(source: IMDb- http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2304933/)

Characters not as I imagined (as usual) but irregardless of their looks, even their attitudes weren't right. Some characters weren't even introduced properly and so there is quite a lot of confusion. Sentiment of a lot of things was lost; emotions were diluted.

The scenes were changed too much and that just alters the dynamics- of well, everything!- and makes it the same old thing. Also, when they change/shorten the scenes, they end up missing out vital parts, which creates many plot-holes and errors.

One thing that really peeved me off was how some important revelations in the story were revealed in the most nonchalant way.I felt like the whole movie was a Wikipedia summary (of the book). Extremely disappointed. 

((Apologies if this seems like a half-hearted attempt at a review, but I was not impressed))

Rating- 4/10

Film Review: Bridge Of Spies

Starring: Tom Hanks, Mark Rylance, Austin Stowell

Run-time: 2h 21m

Plot:

During the Cold War, an American lawyer is recruited to defend an arrested Soviet spy in court, and then help the CIA facilitate an exchange of the spy for the Soviet captured American U2 spy plane pilot, Francis Gary Powers.

(Source: IMDb- http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3682448/)

I think the movie started out brilliantly. It started with the scene that made you wonder what was happening, so you were hooked from the first moment.

The movie was a serious one, but the well-timed jokes were excellent. At first, I expected it to be a dramatic-sort of movie - much like many others, where the would base the story around the war or certain events of the war, but this concentrated more on the "technical" side of the war; things that happened in the background. It took me a moment to realise that since the movie was inspired/based on true events, it couldn't have (and shouldn't have) been over-dramatic. This was one of the reasons why I thought that the movie felt very real (you realise that things from your history books are ACTUAL things that have happened).

I especially love when they make movies or shows showing under-appreciated events or people during the war times because in history lessons, you never actually learn about them apart from the events that we usually hear about. When you see success stories (or even failed stories, for that matter) during these times, it makes you realise that these are ACTUAL people and ACTUAL events.

Though the movie seemed quite long, it was really shot well and Tom Hanks, once again, played his role incredibly! (I'm not biased towards Tom Hanks, okay! :3)

-Shifa

We went in to the cinema expecting a brilliant film because of such a killer cast (not to be biased, but especially Tom Hanks!). But what we got was so much more!

I absolutely loved this film and I think it's so important because it addresses some very necessary, important and basic humanity requirements. I already knew halfway through the film that it was going to be an incredible one. 

Furthermore, I really like war movies/books because we have studied about it (the World Wars and the Cold War) in school and so, it's close to my heart. Also, this film was like Goodnight Mister Tom (novel by Michelle Magorian) in the sense that it was set in the war time, but didn't actually revolve around it all that heavily, and this made me like the movie even more. 

Lastly, I don't even have to mention this, but the acting was absolutely brilliant. I must however mention one point: they didn't give us a feel of Russian/German lawyers and their side of the story.

All in all, a brilliantly shot film. 

-Safa

Rating: 10/10