February Wrap-Up 2018

Books

Book and Author: Words from a Wanderer: Notes and Love Poems by Alexandra Elle Format: Physical Paperback Age Demographic and Genre: Adult Poetry Anthology Pages: 49 Rating: Read for the 18 Reads of 2018 reading challenge: A book of poems. Click the link to read my book review.

Book and Author: Dear Martin by Nic Stone Format: Physical Hardback Age Demographic and Genre: Young Adult Contemporary Pages: 208 Rating: Read for the 18 Reads of 2018 reading challenge: A bestseller from last year. Click the link to read my book review.

Book and Author: The Help by Kathryn Stockett Format: Audiobook, Physical Paperback Age Demographic and Genre: Adult Historical Fiction Pages: 522 Rating: Click the link to read my book review.

Book and Author: When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon Format: Audiobook, Physical Paperback Age Demographic and Genre: Young Adult Contemporary Pages: 378 Rating: Click the link to read my book review.

Movies and TV

Movie: Spider-Man: Homecoming Source: DVD Genre: Action Adventure Rating: The only Avengers movie I’ve ever watched was the first one that came out in 2012, so I’m happy that I didn’t have to watch Captain American: Civil War to understand the context of Spider-Man: Homecoming. All viewers need to know is that Homecoming chronicles the aftermath of Civil War through Peter Parker’s point of view. Tom Holland is the best cinematic Spider-Man so far, capturing the goofy, insecure, and nerdy spirit of a teenager without inducing an immense amount of cringe. His snarky comments during fight scenes stem from his inner fanboy and general gratitude for the opportunity to fight menacing villains, making him the perfect combination of funny and charming. The representation for Aunt May was underwhelming and I wish Uncle Ben was at the very least mentioned rather than being eradicated altogether. However, it was nice to sit through a Spider-Man movie without hearing “with great power comes great responsibility” (or some close variation) for the sixth time. With an amazingly diverse cast, along with a clever and tightly knit narrative, Spider-Man: Homecoming has the potential to be a favorite among lovers of the wall-crawler.

Play: The Lion King Source: Theater Genre: Musical Adventure Rating: This obviously isn’t a movie, but how else am I supposed to categorize this? My parents bought me tickets to this play for my birthday last month. I took my best friend with me since her birthday was the weekend of the performance. There are bound to be some differences between the movie and the play, seeing that the formats are different. The main change was the added songs (one of which is featured in The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride). The play incorporated more Swahili into the music and most of Rafiki’s dialogue. The costuming and puppetry were impeccable, and though they stood on their feet during the performance, the actors reflected the mannerisms of the animals they portrayed. The child actors had incredible range, conveying every emotion perfectly. I enjoyed Young Simba’s performance a little more than his adult counterpart. The cast did a great job utilizing their sources considering the size of the stage, which is significantly smaller than the ones in Broadway theaters. The execution of each scene, especially the wildebeest chase, invoked more emotion in me than the movie ever did.

Movie: Fifty Shades Freed Source: Theater Genre: “Romantic” Drama Rating: Two of my friends share a birthday, so the weekend of, the three of us went to see the last Fifty Shades movie to celebrate (much to my dismay). I didn’t bother to watch the second movie, but I knew the highlights before going to the theater because of a CinemaSins video. Ana and Christian finally have some level of sense to their characters, though they each resort back to their fatal flaws sporadically (i.e. oversensitivity and being controlling). There were a lot of continuity issues with the apex of the story and the montage at the end was so cheesy! The movie tried too hard to be a thriller and ended like a Nicholas Sparks movie.

Movie: The Little Mermaid Source: DVD Genre: Animated Fantasy Rating: The last time I watched The Little Mermaid it was recorded on my sister’s old VHS tape and played on a white, twelve-inch, box-shaped TV. Obviously, it’s been a while, but my obsession with Disney themed YouTube videos refused to let me forget a single lyric or overlook any glaring issues with the plot. As an “adult” (legally I am, but mentally I’m not) I noticed all of the character and continuity flaws with this movie: the lack of range in the skin tones of the mermaid kingdom, the fact that Ariel didn’t even get a full 72-hours with Eric before marrying him (she showed up just in time for dinner; that’s not three days, it’s two and a half!), and there’s no way that sunken ship can work properly enough to float and then pierce Ursula in the gut. But I can look past all those flaws because of the childish joy this movie brought.

Movie: Black Panther Source: Theater Genre: Action Adventure Rating: I was on the fence about seeing this movie in theaters. The hype was overwhelming and I didn’t want other people’s opinions to taint my expectations and judgment. But my dad wanted to go see it, and my ticket was free so I figured, why not? Black Panther is good, but not as good as everyone says it is. While I admire Wakanda’s impeccably detailed culture, the plot is so complicated that I couldn’t completely digest it until I left the theater. I also wasn’t happy with the fates of some characters’ lives, and all but two relationships weren’t developed that well. However, as individuals, the characters are well-rounded, smart, and selfless, and for once there is a Marvel movie with no damsel in distress archetype. It’s not perfect, but worth watching at least once.

Movie: The Help Source: DVD Genre: Historical Drama Rating: The movie isn’t over-saturated with unnecessary details like the book. The screenwriter knew how to make the scattered plot into a concise story that preserves and improves the best parts of the book. I think the character execution is much better here, but unless one started to analyze the movie scene by scene I’m afraid the book’s message won’t come across as well to most viewers.

New Music

Album: The Lion King Source: Spotify Genre: Musical Cast Recording Rating: Maybe I was blinded by my love for the visuals and acting, but I liked the singing in the play I saw more than the singing in the original cast recording. There’s no particular reason for my dislike; the tone of some of the voices just sounded…off. This mainly applies to the voices of Simba (both young and old). “The Morning Report”, my least favorite song, wasn’t included in the performance I saw. I’m glad that it wasn’t because it doesn’t match the musical style of the rest of the soundtrack. Heather Headley, who portrayed Nala, gave me goosebumps with her performance of “Shadowland”, reinforced my love for the song. Samuel E. Wright (aka Mufasa; and the voice of Sebastian in The Little Mermaid) had the same effect on me with his rendition of “They Live in You”.

Song: “Want You Back” by 5 Seconds of Summer Source: YouTube Genre: Alternative Rock Rating: 5 Seconds of Summer hasn’t released new music since their single for the 2016 Ghostbusters film, but they finally released the first single from their third album this month. I’ve been in this odd phase of listening to sad songs that sound happy, and this song perfectly caters to that demographic. Like with “Girls Talk Boys” (the Ghostbusters single), there’s more piano and less guitar in “Want You Back”.  From those two songs alone, I can tell the band is migrating towards a more melancholy sound rather than the angsty rock of Sounds Good, Feels Good, and I’m not mad at it. This song was worth waiting a year and seven months for, and I can’t wait for the new album.

Haul

Due to various circumstances, I only went to the thrift store once this month. I found the two Shakespeare books in two different Salvation Army Family Store locations. Though my copy of To Kill a Mockingbird is a little battered, I decided to buy it because of a note written in the front flap:

I’m too sentimental to resist a book that’s been loved this much.