The Harry Potter book series

I recently finished reading the entire Harry Potter book series- books one through to seven.

I know this may seem a little odd to talk about it here, but even if you are not into fantasy anyone should read them just to admire the pure creative talent that is J.K Rowling.

I love all things creative (well, mostly all) and these books are simply amazing. Imagine creating an entire world of your own, complete with language, characters, animals, and then making an engaging story last the distance of seven books.

I guess the closest comparison in this respect is The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Dare I say it.... I think Harry Potter is better. The Rings books rambled on a little too much for me, and I think the Potter books is something that more of us can relate to, as they are all about real people that just happen to be wizards.

Perhaps the anti-Harry-Potters out there don't realise is that the books aren't just a fantasy, they are really more like mystery novels. Unfortunately the movies have missed this crucial piece of magic about the books, so don't expect the books to be like the movies. The books are so much better!



It is hard to pick a favourite out of them all, as books four (and the Goblet of Fire), six (and the Half Blood Prince) and seven (and the Deathly Hallows) are very close to being my favourites equally. If I had to choose, probably number seven, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows; the reason being every mystery is explained.

Note that the first two books are not the best, so they are a little tough to get through, but they are short, and important for the overall saga.

I am even going to go as far as saying that so far, the Harry Potter series is my favourite book series I have so far ever read. I am comparing that to the Twilight saga (which I love); to Dan Brown's Robert Langdon series (The Da Vinci Code, etc); to The Lord of The Rings, to Bryce Courtenay's The Power of One and Tandia, and to Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum novels. I love all of the above, but Harry stands out amongst them to me. Yes, my taste in books is certainly eclectic to say the least!

So, if you ever have some spare reading time, I recommend them. Just read them with an open mind, and they will truly surprise you!

Eclipse: My movie review of Book vs. Movie

Well, since I read the books (twice), and reviewed New Moon when it came out, it was inevitable that I was going to do the same for Eclipse.

I took the day off work to watch it with my two older sisters. We each became a little hooked on Twilight in our own way. Eclipse was my 2nd favourite book (Twilight being my fave) out of all of the Twilight saga books, so I was hoping for a great movie...



There were many things I loved about the movie...I loved the fight scenes- the special effects were amazing; loved the proposal scene and other love scenes between Bella and Edward ( what can I say, I love romance!)... The new Vampire, Riley, was fantastic playing his part- I look forward to seeing him as a baddy in other movies.

Hated Jasper's hair (for that matter, every single movie I have hated his hair) to the point of distraction, hated Rosalie's black eyebrows contrasting her blonde hair, and I was a little disappointed with how they treated the "Imprinting" and "Third Wife" and "First Werewolf story".

I think they should've taken out the dream sequence/story visions of Jasper's and Rosalie's transformation (because really, they didn't show anything more than what a few words would have told), and concentrated more on the third wife story. Then, when Bella sacrifices herself, it would be more impacting. This really was a huge theme in the book, through out each book really. Bella saves them each time, whether she believes it or not, and they just kind of brushed over it as if it didn't really happen.



For all the fuss that was made over the changing of one actress to another for the role of Victoria, I don't think it really mattered. I can't remember her uttering more than a line or two, and really, Xavier Samuel did such a good job at Riley, that he kind of stole the show for the baddy award. For what it's worth, Rachelle Leferve suited the role better to me.

There was more violence in this one (but there was always going to be it); more love scenes; more Edward versus Jacob- which is what all of us fans live for! I was happy to watch it simply because there was more Edward- and therefore more Rob Pattinson's face (and I am a Team Edward girl completely), but I was excited to watch it because there was so much more going on, and this is really where the story begins to unfold further and further.

As with any movie from book adaptation, they can never fit it all in. Like I said before with New Moon, it is the book on speed. They basically have taken the essential parts of the book (got rid of the rest), put in a few loves scenes, and bam! There's your screen play.

I would recommend this to anyone who loves the books, or who loves a bit of romance and action thrown in. I probably would say that there are too many lovey-dovey moments for the male population to endure willingly, unless they are into that. Have fun watching it! My sisters said they missed the screams and cheering whenever Jacob and Edward turned up on screen- look at my New Moon review to understand what they were talking about!

So, I would love to hear from those who have watched it. Are you a fan? What did you love? What did you hate? Were there screaming and cheers ion your cinema? Or did you manage to find a bunch of civilised fans?

"Remember Me": My Movie Review

My sister and I watched the movie, "Remember Me", starring Robert Pattinson and Emilie de Ravin, last night.



I was expecting a half decent movie, with decent people to watch... After all, Pierce Brosnan and Rob Pattinson in the one movie had to be enjoyable to watch! However, I walked away loving Remember Me, and I am still thinking about it this morning, which is why I decided to write about it. Rarely do I see a movie that I constantly think about afterwards. Perhaps the last movie that made me do that was "Avatar".



The movie concentrates on two families, and how they have been dealing with the aftermath of each of their own family tragedy. Those two families are intertwined by the two lovers in the story, Tyler (played by Rob) and Ally (played by Emilie).



I am surprised by the reviews on rottentomatoes.com... there are few that are positive, and it has a pitiful rating. I have no idea why.



The story is actually quite melancholy, and I personally wouldn't really call this a romance (it has romance in it, but to me not enough to really slide into this genre), but if you are looking for drama, then this is a great movie.



Perhaps one of the reasons why I liked it so much was that the ending was unexpected, a bit of a shock, and a little heart-wrenching. I don't want to give it away, but I thought it finished the movie and rounded-off the plot well.



Perhaps the only thing I didn't like about the movie was Pierce Brosnan's attempt at an American accent (or what sounded like he was trying)- but it seemed like he had given up by the time it had reached around half way.



I thought Rob played his character exceptionally well, and I completely forgot about him being Edward Cullen (from Twilight- one of my favourite books) after about 2 minutes into the movie. I look forward to seeing more from this actor, and seeing exactly how versatile he really is.

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New Moon: My movie review of Book vs Movie

So, I am hooked by Twilight... over the past 6 months I have become slightly addicted to the "Twilight Saga"- and I don't usually jump on the band wagon- it takes a lot for me to follow!

To tell you the truth, I went to see the "Twilight" movie a year ago, thinking: it will be so scary, so my Husband had better join me. You see, I had no idea about the books, or about the mania; so I was pleasantly surprised when I realised it was a love story! (my Husband fell asleep).

Then, as I was waiting to fly to Hamilton Island, I wanted a book to read, and the "Twilight" book just jumped out at me. I couldn't put the book down! As soon as I got home from my holiday, I went and bought "New Moon". What started as a great holiday read, ended up in being a slight obsession for a month or so! I have now read all four books.

I am actually completely surprised by the whole experience... I am not one to follow popular culture trends- never have been until now. I hate tabloid magazines and celebrity gossip, but for some reason the hype has sucked me in, and I don't mind it so much now.

What surprises me even further, and everyone else for that matter, is how it has effected so many women. Probably everyone knows someone who has read it, and when I asked my older sisters about it, both had already read them and were fans. Out of all of the women I have spoken to about it, only one has said they didn't like the books.

So my sister's and I attended the double feature lastnight, at the Randwick Ritz cinema. Imagine... a room full of approx 800 women (and about 5 brave- or stupid- men), atleast half screaming whenever Edward Cullen (Rob Pattinson) or Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner) entered the screen. It was a definite atmosphere!





The verdict?

If you like the story line of New Moon, but don't have the patience to read the book, then the movie is perfect. It is basically the book on speed. What I mean is, the movie follows the book's plot very closely- there are a few changes, however minimal- but they had to place a lot into the 2 hour time, so they crammed it in.

I did really enjoy it (with the bonus screaming in the background too!). The wolves special effects were amazing! The eye candy wasn't bad either!

I was expecting a few moments in the start of the movie for "happy Bella and Edward". I know that in the book it gets right into it, but the book explained what he meant to her clearer than the movie. I think the movie should've shown the contrast of Edward and Bella happy, then show them apart; otherwise if you just watched the movie without the book, then you wouldn't really understand the connection they have.

New Moon was a movie that I think more husbands/boyfriends, etc will like. There is more action, less love and more special effects than "twilight"- they will just have to be prepared for some missing t-shirts.



Out of all of the books, New Moon was my least favourite; Twilight was my favourite. Now, for me, the movies are on par with each other; once I have watched New Moon again (with out the bonus background screams and giggles), I no doubt will love it even further.

If you love the books, you will love the movie. If you love Taylor or Rob, then you will love the movie. If you haven't read the books and love romance novels, then you should read them... the vampire/werewolf thing is really just there for entertainment purposes. The books are not scary; Stephenie Meyer was inspired by novels such as Romeo and Juliet, Wuthering Heights, etc. Besides, we all need an escape every now and then!


You can buy the book here.


Will you be watching this film? Do you like the saga? Have you read the books?

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Updated: 7th July 2010:
I have also reviewed Eclipse: Movie vs Book on this blog. Let me know what you think!