Mommy and Me Movie Review: Maleficent

As the school year comes to an end this week for the schools in our area, summer movie time is just beginning!

My daughter, Sophia, and I decided to get a head start on our summer movie viewing yesterday afternoon, after a day of shopping and lunch together, when I surprised her with a trip to see Disney's Maleficent.

We both LOVED it!

Angelina Jolie is breathtaking and perfect as Maleficent, and the special effects, sets, and makeup are beyond amazing. The rest of the cast does a phenomenal job, too. And how cute is Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt's daughter Vivienne as toddler-Aurora?! Adorable!

There are a few "holes" in the script, I thought, where things didn't just flow, seemed like they were added as an afterthought, or felt a bit rushed, but I loved that it was a twist on the story of Sleeping Beauty that we all know so well, similar to what Wicked did for the Wizard of Oz story.

 Sophia, who is 8 years old, wrote her own review too, which included tidbits like "Maleficent is a fairy that is human size. She has wings that drag on the ground. Maleficent can not be next to iron. She has a crow that she can turn into animals that are bird like..." and then she goes on to give away the whole movie, so I won't print it here, so as not to spoil it for everyone.

But she gives it an A.

 

 

There are some pretty dark and violent moments (for a PG rated film), so I would recommend Maleficent to kids ages 7 or 8 and up, but there were kids in the theater much younger than that had no problem with the somewhat scary elements, so just use your own judgement, as you obviously know your kids better than I. Overall I give it a B+.

So if you combine our ratings, we give it an A-. Not bad Disney. Not bad at all.

And, just for the record, we'd totally see it again.

Book review: Gone Girl

 

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

I’d heard so much about this book, that when my book club decided to read it, I was pretty excited.

Gone Girl is the story of Nick and Amy Dunne, a seemingly happy couple that moves from Amy’s native N.Y.C. to Nick’s hometown of North Carthay, Missouri after they both lose their jobs in journalism. But when Amy goes missing on their 5th anniversary, Nick, of course, is the main suspect.

Being a fan of murder mysteries/true crime stories, I enjoyed the psychology of what could possibly have been “the perfect crime”. The length which the characters go to prove both guilt and innocence is fascinating, and keeps the story flowing well. However, although the characters are developed well, it was hard to find any character that was actually likable.

I recommend this one if you’re a fan of the mystery/suspense genre, and enjoy a good plot twist!
I give Gone Girl a B-.

The movie version, starring Ben Affleck, is supposed to be in theaters this October.

Book Review: The Forgotten Garden

 

The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton

The Forgotten Garden is the story of Nell, a little girl found in a shipyard in Australia with no memory of how she got there. The dock master and his wife raise her as their own, but on her 21st birthday, Nell discovers that she isn’t biologically related to her family, and she suffers deeply from it. She leaves her family, and begins to search for clues to her past, and where she might have come from, and eventually her granddaughter, Cassandra, takes over solving the family mystery.

This was the type of book I would read again. If you like anything having to do with mysteries, romance, or historical fiction, The Forgotten Garden does not disappoint. The only issue I had with this book was that the dates jumped around from 1913 to 2005, and all over in between, which made getting into it difficult at first, but otherwise I could hardly put it down.

I give this book an “A”.

 If you liked this book, I recommend The House at Riverton by Kate Morton, and also The Secret Garden by Francis Hodgson Burnett, because of its many parallels to this book.

Book Review: The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones

The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

After Clary Fray witnesses  the murder of a demon by a group of teenagers called Shadowhunters , her seemingly normal life is turned upside down. Now  the Shadowhunters, whom she has a strange connection to, especially their sometimes-leader Jace,  will have to help Clary find her kidnapped mother, get back a sacred cup, and figure out why she can all of a sudden see things that she once though only found in stories.

Although it's not a literary classic by any means, this book was actually pretty enjoyable, save for the plot twist at the end that grossed me out a little. I'm looking forward to the next books in this series, though there are definitely other books on my-to-read list I'm going to get to first.

I give this book a B-

If you enjoyed this  book, check out the next in installment in The Mortal Instruments series, City of Ashes.