Wanderlust. It's the call of a trip or an adventure that just pulls you in. I love movies and books where the characters set out on a journey. A drive, a trip, a challenge. Whether it's searching for a mysterious love or the final goodbye between friends before heading to college, it's the adventure - not the destination - that makes me smile. The latest movie hitting theatres is based on a young adult book that combines both of those ideas together for a heartwarming coming-of-age flick: Paper Towns.
The Premise: Quentin (Nat Wolff) is an awkward boy going through his last few boring weeks of high school before graduating. He's kept a low key life thus far, that is until his neighbour and former childhood best-friend, Margo (Cara Delevinge), surprises him one night with a plan for an infamous Margo adventure. The former friends have a memorable night but soon Quentin is pulled into another mystery: Margo disappears. Quentin and his rag tag group of friends set out on a mission to solve the clues and find the elusive Margo Roth Spiegelman.
The Good: Paper Towns does well with giving depth and emotion to its group of cast and characters. Most times when a book is adapted to the big screen, the words and the feelings written into the novel aren't translated well to the final movie. The script did a great job with making each character their own, albeit a little cliche at times. I came to care about these characters and I felt the emotional backstory of why this trip was important to Quentin and his friends.
Four words can describe the next point best: Cara Delevigne is amazing! While her character didn't have a lot of screen time (she is missing after all), every second that she WAS on screen is perfect. Her character is captivating, she has effortless timing with witty dialogue, and she felt like a breath of fresh air in terms of character types. I understood Margo as a person yet felt completely out of the loop about who she was. Cara Delevigne did a great job and she's a good addition to an already great cast.
The Bad: Did the movie's plot seem small to anyone else? With exception to the beginning adventure and the resulting trip, I'm not sure if anything else really happened in Paper Towns. It could be from the book-to-movie adaptation process or just the plot itself, but Quentin and his friends didn't do much in their hunt for Margo. The stakes didn't feel real except for a looming prom deadline. Also, as I mentioned this before, there were a few points in the film where the dialogue did feel cheesy and cliche, especially when it came to the character of Ben (Austin Abrams). I get that this is a coming-of-age flick, but it didn't need to be too on the nose.
The Results: 3.75/5!
Paper Towns is exactly what a teen flick should be. It's fun, it's cute, the characters try to shake off their former personas to grow, and there's a mysterious character pulling them into a new adventure. I liked the film and as a book-to-movie adaptation, it did a good job. The dialogue was a tad cheesy and the plot did tread familiar territory with the typical "coming-of-age" tropes. Seriously, how many party, virginity, and finding lost love storylines can there be? There wasn't anything new added to the genre. Though, if you're a fan of the book and enjoy a story about friends heading out on an adventure, Paper Towns could be your type of flick.
Hey all!
Sorry for the delay in uploading a new post. There are just a few things happening in my life right now that I need to focus on and think about. The break might be for a short while, but I will be back soon and I will try to get a new post up soon. Don't worry! I'm fine and everything is good; it's just one of those months.
Until then!
I grew up watching reality television. I became hooked on the many TV shows of people competing to win a prize - it may have been the reason I grew my love of TV and lead me to where I am today. Like, for instance, I write this blog!
When I was a child, I spent most of my time watching cartoons and young adult shows like Digimon, Power Rangers, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. But, as I grew into the double digits, reality TV was just being introduced and I couldn't help but follow shows like Survivor, Big Brother, and The Mole. UnReal on Lifetime sounded like a great concept and a perfect show to recap for its first season.
This week on UnReal, the hit reality dating show Everlasting begins production on another season, Rachel returns to set after last year's breakdown, and the production crew pick early favourites.
THE QUEEN OF DRAMA RETURNS
It's lights, camera and action for another season of the popular dating show, Everlasting. As the production crew watches from their office, a carriage arrives bringing the first contestant - Shamiqua, a clerk for a Supreme Court Justice - to meet British bachelor (and hotel-chain heir) Adam Cromwell. Quinn, the executive producer, calls cut as she is in disbelief that the first contestant revealed is African American; she thinks the first girl should be "wifey" material and she doesn't think Shamiqua has a chance. She wants to see the remaining girls for potential.
Rachel, the disgraced former producer who had a nervous breakdown last season, returns as a freelancer with five more girls. Everyone on set has seen Rachel's breakdown on TV and they're shocked she's returned, even her competing producers Shia and Jay and her former boyfriend Jeremy are surprised she's back. Quinn has faith in Rachel and agreed to drop the charges if Rachel came back to work. Unfortunately, Rachel has no choice in the matter - she needs to work and not go to jail.
RUNAWAY PRINCE
There is one thing clear as the cameras film: Adam doesn't look happy. Adam is bored with the reality show process; it's beneath him and he's doing it merely for an image improvement. As the cameras turn away for a split second, he makes a run for it and leaves the set, abandoning everyone in disbelief. Quinn pulls Rachel and forces her to find Adam - it turns out that their bachelor didn't sign the season contract, which means EVERYTHING they filmed is useless and they can't force him to film. Rachel is shocked, but she knows she has a job to do.
She finds Adam sitting next to a lake; he's refusing to return. Rachel calls him out for his media reputation and knows why he's really doing the show - it's not to find love but to restore his image for his family. She bluffs about having a back-up bachelor ready to take his place and reap the rewards. However, after a quick negotiation, Adam signs on board for the season.
THE GAME BEGINS
With Adam returning to the set, the competition resumes with the remaining girls meeting the suitor. Quinn and the production team have early season favourites for inciting drama: there's Britney, their potential villain, Grace the vivacious model, Mary the cradle-robbing mother, and obvious first elimination Faith. The team has (for the most part) planned out the rest of the night for the first episode.
With a little bit of manipulation, the producers (Rachel, Shia and Jay) start interacting with the contestants to cause some TV-worthy drama. Britney takes the idea and comes onto Adam a bit too strong, openly flirting and seducing him sexually in front of everyone. Rachel coaxes Mary into sharing her daughter's bear while Shia upsets Faith by discussing her virginity. Rachel ends up saving the day and gets Faith some alone time with the British beau.
A WRENCH IN THE PLAN
Before Adam begins his first elimination of the season, he strolls out for a chat with Rachel. He can tell that the production team is merely using Faith as a joke character for the first episode; he isn't a fan of that. Rachel comes up with an idea to stick it to Quinn and the entire show.
As the first Everlasting elimination commences, Adam must eliminate five girls from the show. The drama is really between Faith and Britney (sorry unknown extras!) - the team is positive Britney will be saved while Faith will get the boot. Unfortunately for them, Adam saves Faith and eliminates Britney from the show - Quinn is pissed! She heads onto the set and confronts Adam and Rachel, knowing full well that they planned something. Now that their villain is eliminated, they NEED footage from Britney to save the first episode.
WHO'S THE REAL VILLAIN?!
Britney is upset and nearly in tears from her surprising boot. Rachel pulls the camera crew and tries to get her to do her exit interview, but Britney isn't taking the bait - she isn't saying anything mean about Adam. In a feat of pure manipulation, Rachel convinces Britney to have a few drinks with her and starts saying negative comments about her. Britney, now aware of Rachel's true intentions, calls her out with vile words and spits in her face. Everyone is shocked (but impressed) that Rachel could get the dramatic scene they needed. It's going to be a great first episode.
Will Faith survive the next episode? Who will be the villain now that Britney is gone? Is Rachel doomed for another dramatic Everlasting season? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
In honour of the day that spans the galaxy, I'm going to be doing a short post today for Trailer Madness. It's May 4th and all the Star Wars fans out there are sharing their favourite pictures and tweets on social media. This is going to be a big year for Star Wars fans! Everyone is excited for the latest installment set to premiere this year. I'm a fan of the movie series, but there are definitely large quantities of people who are more ingrained in the fandom and nuances.
Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens isn't coming out for a while now. But, for all the fans out there, here's the latest teaser trailer again to relive the magic.