And Then There Was One Massive Plot Twist

Hey everyone, I hope your Christmas' were fun and you got everything you wanted! I had a pretty good time, and have mostly been sitting on my arse doing nothing all week. Well, when I say nothing, I mean watching TV, and my God did I stumble upon one hell of a TV special.
Of course, I'm talking about And Then There Were None, the BBC's latest adaption of Agatha Christie's novel, and over three nights I was utterly hooked on it. I'd been looking forward to watching this show ever since I saw the advert for it a while back, to be honest, I probably would have watched anyway because a) Aiden Turner is in it and I love that man a lot, and b) it's a murder mystery. If there's one thing I love to watch, it's a murder mystery, or really anything to do with murder. So, I sat down and watched it, and I fallen in love.
First of all, the plot is amazing, ten strangers are invited to an island, each one with a secret, and slowly they get killed off one by one, not knowing who is behind it. Each person is killed according to poem that hangs in every persons room in the house, and when a body is found, the ten statues in the dining room reduce numbers. This could have gotten very monotonous after the third murder, possibly even predictable, but it never did. I was on tender hooks the entire time, wondering who was going to die next, and how it was going to be done. For the first two episodes, I resisted looking up the whole poem, but I had to by the end episode, just to see if I could get any clues from it, all I got instead was the creepy factor amping up further.
Secondly, the characters were incredibly cleverly written. Each one is hiding a common secret - they're all guilty of murder in some way or other, and none of them have been caught for it. Between a doctor who drunk on the job during a surgery, to a cop who killed a gay man simply for being gay, every single one has killed at least one person and none feel the least bit guilty for it. And while some characters are sort of likable, you as the audience don't really warm to anyone. Not to say that they all deserved to die (though let's be honest, Douglas' Booth's character was a complete asshole and was pegged to be 'the first to go' from the start) but you don't actually route for anybody, not really. I found myself liking Aiden's character, not just for his face (or his body, dear lord that towel scene was a nice edition, thank you producers that one) but because he was honest. He admitted to his killings, and while showing no sign of remorse, he did show some brain, and some kindness at times. He didn't just think of getting himself off the island, he did try to help the others he trusted to. So I liked him. Which (spoiler alert) made his death quite painful in the end, at least he was second to last to go, so it wasn't too bad.
Nothing is all too obvious in plot line either, nothing is revealed straight away. You have to watch all three episodes to get everyone's story, and to figure out who is behind all this. It is never made clear, or even hinted at, whether the killer is part of the ten or if they is another player in the mix. Trying to figure it out is nigh impossible, as at every turn you find out something new that creates a new theory. I had so many I lost count, and never once was I right in my deductions. At one point I went so far as to think that maybe this was all happening in someone's head, and that this was some sort of psychotic break Shutter Island style, which seemed very plausible. Every theory seemed plausible as I went along, and I never expected the plot twist at the end.
Now, I'm going warn you SPOILERS AHEAD. IF YOU HAVE NOT WATCHED AND THEN THERE WERE NONE, SCROLL PAST THIS BIT RIGHT NOW. I HAVE WARNED YOU.

At the end, just when I thought I would never find out who was behind all the murder (let me tell you right now, if that had happened, I would have hit the roof in anger and this review would be very different) to find out that it was the judge all along - I never saw that coming in a million years! In hindsight, I probably should have, judge/jury/executioner and all that, but I honestly didn't! I immediately discounted him after he faked his death, thinking him as just another victim, and possibly the sanest one of the lot. So to see him actually reveal that he was behind all of it, as a sort of 'get the uncaught bad guys' before dying himself, wow I had never even considered it. I actually screamed a little when I did if I'm honest.

SPOILER FREE ZONE STARTS AGAIN HERE.
Truly, And Then There Were None was a brilliant thrill ride of a TV show. Combing suspense, gore, murder and wonderful plot twists into a beautiful three hours. It distinctly reminded me of an old fashioned How To Get Away With Murder mini series, set in the space of a few days instead of a few months. I love every single second of it, and wish to see more things like this in the future! BBC get right on it, I need more!
Did anybody else see anything good over the holidays? If so, let me know, I need more things to watch to distract me from my essays and currently not much is working. Also, if you watched this show, let me know some of your theories, were you as shocked as I was when the killer was revealed? Let's start a discussion going, I sure as hell don't want to let this show end so soon!

Disliking Literary Classics

Frankenstein Is Alive And Well!

I’m a bit late to the party here, but last night I watched Victor Frankenstein, starring James McAvoy and Daniel Radcliffe, and I have to say, it was amazing!

I had high hopes for this film, for several reasons. One, because it’s Frankenstein and so I know the story pretty well, two, the trailer looked pretty damn good, and three it’s James McAvoy and Daniel Radcliffe. I was not disappointed in the slightest; the film completely lived up to expectations and then some!

With most cinematic adaption’s of classics like Frankenstein, the story either falls flat, or there’s something missing from the piece, but this one didn't. There was the right amount of humour, the right amount of gore, and the right amount of plot. Usually, one of those things are missing - take the recent adaptation of Jekyll and Hyde, it was poorly acted with cartoon violence at best, and a completely obvious plot line it was almost laughable. Frankenstein Chronicles looks good but I feel like the story is going to drag itself out (and isn’t focusing on the mad scientist, who is arguably the most important character of the entire story). But Victor Frankenstein actually focuses on Frankenstein himself (and Igor obviously) and tells the story of his first attempts at making the famous monster.

This film, instead of going down the same old route of ‘Frankenstein creates monster, monster goes on rampage, Frankenstein gets killed in the end by the monster in supposedly dramatic but ultimately predictable way,’ goes down a rarely trodden story line. Victor Frankenstein tells the story of how Victor met Igor, and more importantly, the steps he took to create the monster. How the man started with bringing animals back before moving onto humans, how in the well known story, he got it all right first time, and how he didn’t escape notice from the police.

It’s an interesting route, one I didn't expect after seeing the trailer. I was expecting the usual story line of Frankenstein creating the fully made monster, but this was far more interesting. This showed his steps to creating that famous monster, where his funding originally came from, where Igor came from in the first place, and how the two went about creating a man out of various body parts. All the while having the right amount of gore to be disgusting, yet not off putting, which is perfect for this type of film!

James McAvoy is a brilliant Frankenstein; he’s rude and brilliant enough for the scientist, while still giving Victor the undercurrent of madness that would eventually be his undoing. More importantly, he made him sympathetic, in other versions I haven’t felt an ounce of sympathy for Frankenstein, because he’s generally been a complete ass with no redeeming qualities. James pulls of an enjoyable mad genius, who is still an ass, but he’s a loveable one, which makes all the difference.
Daniel Radcliffe is fantastic as Igor, going nowhere near the ‘yessssss master’ stereotype usually associated with Igor. Even the hunchback is dismissed within the first twenty minutes (in a gross fashion that even had me saying ‘ewwww’). I loved him as Igor, and loved the story the writers gave him, lifting the character from being a subservient slave to a well spoken, clever partner.

Andrew Scott’s detective character was the right amount of creepy, evil and just a tad bit mad too. I loved to hate him throughout, yet I still managed to feel a bit sympathetic for him too in places. Also the bit with his hand (won’t say what, in case of spoilers) had me cringing in pain for him. Andrew nailed the role.

There were a few cameos too, coming from a few other actors related to Andrew and director Paul McGuigan, which will make a lot of Sherlock fans happy. Mark Gattiss, Louise Brealey and Alister Petrie, also known as Mycroft Holmes, Molly Hooper and James Sholto. I knew all were coming into the film, yet each was a pleasant surprise. Paul McGuigan used similar editing techniques used on Sherlock, in terms of showing body parts under skin, topping the whole thing off beautifully. Any Sherlock fan will be pleased to see the familiar faces and techniques, and even if you aren’t a fan of the show, then you’ll still certainly love the film on the whole.

I’d highly recommend this film to anybody looking for a decent retelling of Frankenstein; it’s got everything - humour and gore in just the right amounts, storyline that for once doesn’t drag, and no completely obvious plot hole in sight! Better yet, the end leaves it open for a sequel, and I for one would be delighted to see another outing with Victor Frankenstein and Igor! 

Pro-Tips - Research

NANOWRIMO IS OVER

THAT'S IT! WE ARE DONE PEOPLE! IT'S THE FIRST OF DECEMBER, NATIONAL NOVEL WRITING IS DONE!
And if nobody minds, I'm going to go and pass out now, because DAMN, that was one hell of a month! Between uni work, distractions and a thousand and one different fandom explosions, I'm surprised I managed to get through this month.
Thing is, I didn't just get through NaNoWriMo, I smashed it to pieces. As in, I went nine thousand words over target. Have a look yourself at this madness!

If you're asking how I did that, the answer is that I have absolutely no idea whatsoever. Literally, I don't have the faintest clue how I managed. I'm going to call it a complete fluke, considering for the rest of the year my average daily word count has been around 800. But this month I managed to double (some days triple) that. 

It was definitely a fluke, a complete fluke. One I'm very proud of, but still, FLUKE! 

There is also one person I'd like to shout out to this month, and that's my best friend Charlie who also smashed it this year. She finished an entire week early this year, doubling (and then some) her last two NaNoWriMo word counts! I'm a very proud, and very, very jealous, best friend this year!

Anyway, I hope everybody who took part got the word count they wanted, or at least got some more words than normal done, because that's what NaNo is all about. So I hope it all went swimmingly for you, and if not, hey there's always next year, and nothing to stop you practicing throughout the year!

But now, I feel that the real hard bit has arrived. It's time to decide what to do next with your project. There are three options for this, and it's up to you to figure out what you want to do next. 

Number One: Pass out, ignore the novel until next year, possibly never open the file again, leaving it to gather dust.

Number Two: Finish the story off if it is not completed.

Or Number Three: Start editing this mammoth.

All options are scary (yes, even running away. Think of the missed opportunities if you leave it to gather dust for the rust of time!) but if I may, I'd like to suggest something. In my opinion, I think you should try all three options. 

Hear me out a minute when I say this, because I know that sounds mental, but trust me, I've done this before. It's December, aka Holiday Season, and you've trapped yourself a way to write for a month. Go out and do that dreaded thing known as socialising for a bit, take a break from the writing and do something else for a bit. And when you've done refreshing yourself, come back to your novel, if you haven't finished it yet, you'll hopefully have a tonne of ideas and stamina to finish it off. If you need to start editing, it'll be easier now that you've had a break. You've been staring at your screen for ages now, completely consumed by every word you've typed, editing will be near impossible under those circumstances. But if you take that break, you'll be looking at the novel with fresher eyes, there will be bits you have forgotten about, things to surprise you, it makes it so much easier to look over things when you're refreshed. 

If you're stuck for ideas on how to edit things down, I will hopefully have some videos up soon to help you with that, for now, think about sorting out spelling/grammar mistakes, possibly start thinking up ways to solve anything that's bugging you with your story. That'll give you a good editing starting point. 

So in conclusion, YAY NaNo is over so we can breathe, I hope you all hit your word goal (if not, don't be disappointed), take a break before you break your poor overworked fingers, and allow yourself some time to yourself! It's been a great month, and I'm already looking forward to next year! 

Don't Doubt Your Words!

The Mockingjay Lives!

Okay, nothing to do with NaNoWriMo today, I'll vlog about that instead at some point in the next couple of days. Instead, let's talk Mockingjay part 2 - the final installment of The Hunger Games series.
I've been a fan of the series ever since the first came out several years ago, and I've been looking forward to the final for quite a while, desperate to see the conclusion to Katniss' revolution. I could have read the books, but I've been so damn busy recently with writing and university, I haven't had the chance to get past chapter 7 of Catching Fire. I knew enough though, thanks to conversations with my best friend/cinema buddy Charlie, and several spoiler filled posts on the internet. So I knew that this was going to be a painful film, I packed tissues especially, just in case.
And trust me, Mockingjay part 2 does not disappoint. The film follows straight on from the end of Mockingjay part 1, after Katniss discovers that Peeta has been hijacked and had all of his memories twisted until he wants to kill Katniss. I especially liked that Katniss' first words in the film were 'I am Katniss Everdeen, I'm from District 12' reflecting the first one beautifully. From there the film follows the revolution against the Capital, specifically on Katniss and her troop going off to kill Snow.
Admittedly, I was a little worried when Katniss and co head off through the city to get to Snow, thinking that it could have been boring or repetitive. It was anything but, the troop are constantly in danger, fighting against the traps the game makers have set up around the city. I was on the edge of my seat for several of these, knowing that people were going to start dying at any moment. The danger is palpable through the screen, between the troops fighting for their lives against the traps, and the fear that Peeta would be triggered into trying to kill Katniss again.
Peeta's struggle with figuring out what was real and what wasn't was painful to watch, and seeing how it hurt Katniss too was heartbreaking. Before this film I was still on the fence on the Peeta/Gale argument, but I think I've now been fully converted to team Peeta, if not because of him, but because of how much Katniss needs him, and how much she cares for him through all this. Peeta and Finnick's interactions were also a joy and made me fall for their friendship, it was a subtle, almost background thing, but still a lovely thing to watch. It didn't need to be shoved in our faces, but it was still a clear connection between the two being established.
I won't give too much away about who dies and how, but let's just say it's very close to the book. There are a great many rumours about a certain character living instead of dying, and I'm sad to report that they aren't true. The character still dies. Now I'll be honest again, I was certain that their death was going to be gut wrenching Battle-Of-The-Five-Armies-Oakenshield-death levels of agony, hence the packing of tissues, but it wasn't. I was incredibly sad to see them go, but it wasn't too painful. Maybe it's just me who's gotten scarred thanks to Tolkien and Shonda Rhimes over the years, but I was expecting more of an agonising end to this characters life.
Overall though, Mockingjay part 2 is a very, very good film. It's emotional and filled the peril, leaving you on the edge of your seat. The plot twists make you hate characters you didn't think you'd hate and realise that war makes people do truly terrible things. Watching Katniss grieve was so real it nearly brought a tear to my eye, and to think that the character is supposed to still be a teenager is devastating.
Everything is tied up beautifully by the end, we find out where all of our characters have ended up, and finally see Katniss and Peeta living the life they deserved together. My only suggestion for the ending would have been to have one last look at the fallen Victors and characters from the last four films, or one last listen to Mockingjay call, or even possibly the Mockingjay pin evolution, like the previous films have done.
But overall, the film is beautifully shot, edited and acted, I loved every minute of it. Mockingjay part 2 is a very, very good ending to a truly epic series, and I for one am very sad to see it go.

Avoiding NaNoWriMo Distractions

I'VE HIT 10,000 WORDS!

HELLO! I'm super excited to announce that I HIT 10,000 WORDS ABOUT 10 MINUTES AGO! And I am SO HAPPY about this (if you couldn't tell by all the capitalisation!)
This week has been a pain to say the least in terms of writing, three days this week I've been at uni, and that means getting up at 6.15am in the morning, so by the time I get home I'm exhausted and really not ready to do any writing! But I've pushed through every time, ignoring all distractions and everything I possibly can to get my 1667 words done, even if that means I'm stretching out my writing time to 4 hours!
To give you context on how painfully slow that is for me usually, I can usually whack out 800 words in about half an hour. So in practice, 1667 should only take an hour, but that hasn't happened this week! This week has carried on in the same vein as last week, where I've been distracted/busy/uninspired for most of it, so it's been a long, hard slog. But it's worth it, because I've somehow managed to push myself almost an entire day ahead of schedule (don't worry, I haven't miscounted, I've checked... three times) and hit 10,000 words at the same time! I'm ecstatic!
To be perfectly honest, I was fully expecting to be miles behind already, or to have run out of steam, but currently I seem to be wanting to keep on going. That could be because at this current moment, I'm being distracted by a) the idea that the band Busted are getting back together and are announcing a new single in 4 days and b) Doctor Strange set pictures and both those things are hyping me up, but I reckon it's mostly down to the fact that the first 10,000 words are now written down for my projects.
I've now officially gotten one fifth of the way through, I just have to continue this pattern just four more time and then I'm there! It doesn't seem as difficult when you get through the first 10,000!
But on a serious note, if you're behind target or really struggling, all is not lost. This week could just be a bad week for you, getting into the swing of 1667 words a day is hard, and more importantly, it's exhausting. Nobody can judge you for that, and you are trying incredibly hard, and that is all that matters.
Think of it this way, you've still got words down, which is more than you had before the start of the month. You're still giving this challenge a good shot, and if you don't reach the 50.000 target, then that's okay. You gave it your absolute best, and still got so much written, you can continue at your own pace for the rest of the year until you make it to the end of your project. Writing is a process and it can't be rushed, 50,000 words in 30 days is mental, and not reaching it is absolutely nothing to be ashamed of. The rest of the year is still yours to write in, as is the next year, and the next, and the next. You have all the time in the world to finish your novel, and while the rest of us are stuck in the painful editing process, you're still in the fun bit of writing the story!
So if you're behind then don't worry, if you're ahead like me then go party, and if you're on time, congratulations! But remember, we all go at our own pace, and sometimes life gets in the way of writing, this challenge is insane, and we should all be proud of everything we achieve in this month! Even if we only manage 5000 words by the end of it!

Worst NaNoWriMo Prep Ever!

So it's the first of November, which only means one thing... National Novel Writing Month has begun, and I am NOT prepared!
Usually, the last week of October is spent preparing for NaNoWriMo, meaning getting some writing playlists ready, planning which days I may have trouble getting 1667 words written, getting my projects planned out so I can just write steadily throughout the month. This year thought, to say the least, that didn't happen.
This past week has been a reading week at uni, so I've been off lectures, which is great, more time to spend planning. Yet that didn't happen, somehow I've either been incredibly busy, the day itself has run away, or I've been incredibly ill. Literally, I've had a week of busy days (which never happens), days that go so fast I haven't had time to do anything significant, or I've been so ill I haven't been able to move. And I have no idea why this has happened! Usually I manage really well, I can get stuff done and get myself properly prepared for a month of novel writing madness. This year though, it seems as if the world decided to go 'NOPE, YOU'RE SCREWED SUCKERRRRRRRRR' at me!
So yesterday was spent having a mad scramble to get everything sorted, while also enjoying Halloween to some extent. It was not an easy task I can tell you, and now I've had to spill prep into today, which is the first day of NaNoWriMo! Ahhhhh!
But, in good news, I think I have sorted myself out. I've got a rough idea about where both my stories are going, I've had some time to have a good stab at my word count (currently 400 off but that'll soon be fixed) so I think I'm going to do okay. If I'm lucky. And I'm determined, which I am. I think.
Basically, I think I'm going to be okay, if I hit writers block I'm screwed, but I have a vague plan for my projects and a best friend to bounce ideas off of, I can manage. If that fails, I'll built up word count by writing blogs about my progress over here, because I'm a terrible cheat when it comes to word count!
Hopefully, all is going to go to plan, I'll write blog posts anyway, but won't need to add them to my daily word count, as I'll reach the daily goal with my usual projects. If not, well, never mind, I'll still have written 1667 words a day for 30 days, which is the point of this challenge anyway. At some point, I may even have time to upload a vlog or two this month, though that is currently looking very doubtful, so I wouldn't hold my breath on that one. Blogs should be okay though, as that doesn't require me moving from my seat, or breaking the flow of typing.
Let's just wait and see what happens, shall we? May be easily than all this guessing!
To anybody else doing NaNoWriMo, good luck and I hope your prep was easier than mine!

The Scariest Night Of The Year

Jekyll And Hyde Under The Sofa... Not.

I'm slightly late, blame being busy this week, but I finally got round to watching the pilot of ITV's Jekyll And Hyde... And I hated it.
Well, hate is a strong word, let's say I was... very disappointed. I saw the trailer for the show months ago and got ridiculously excited, I'd read the book at A Level and really enjoyed it, so a TV show should surely be great, right? The trailer looked good, lots of murder and dark themes, Jekyll and Hyde, what could go wrong?
Apparently, everything. The first mistake was putting the show on at 6pm on a Sunday, making it 'family viewing,' with such shows, writers can't go too scary, can't get too dark. The show has to be sanitised so children don't get traumatised, and there is nothing wrong with that. But when it's applied to concepts such as Jekyll and Hyde, it's a recipe for disaster. Half of the creepy nature, blood, guts and gore is immediately taken out so the entire show is family friendly, meaning some of the main themes of the story is watered down.
Now I usually don't mind that so much, I can handle watered down family friendly murder. But the writers of Jekyll and Hyde have missed the mark of watering down by a mile, instead making the show an incredibly cheap imitation of the original story, filled with cartoon violence (not one punch actually landed on a character, yet they still went flying every time) and very sanitised murder (I either missed the blood or it simply wasn't there). To say the least, it made the show laughable.
And if the lack of violence wasn't bad enough, the story line was somehow worse. Cliche doesn't begin to cover it (oh I ran into a girl, I'm instantly attracted to her, oh look she dropped her purse I must run after her) and the acting was horrendous. I couldn't take Jekyll seriously, or anybody else for that matter. Even Richard E Grant couldn't save the cast's bad acting. The only physical change in Jekyll when he switches to Hyde is an appearance of eyeliner and a few veins, despite the fact that you hear bones cracking. The shots of the original Hyde show a deformed man, I was expecting something like that, not just some eyeliner. Eyeliner doesn't make a man evil, it barely even makes a noticable change in face.
Even the idea of Jekyll being the decent of the original isn't that interesting. Wow, Jekyll or Hyde had descendants who inherited the curse, and this one doesn't know it until the lawyer tells him. How interesting. Totally intriguing. I'm hooked. NOT. The writers were clearly trying to put a spin on the original so it's not just another Jekyll and Hyde remake, but they missed the mark but a very, very long mile.
To be perfectly honest, the show could have been brilliant, writing a show about the descendant of Jekyll or Hyde, cursed with the same condition as the originals could be amazing, but the writers didn't quite get the right tone for it. And I think I know why.
It's back to the show timing again. Shows like this should not be put on during a Sunday afternoon, they should be on post the watershed, where the real story can come out, with no need to worry about scaring young children. Putting the show on during mid-afternoon is a terrible idea. To do a show like this right, post-watershed with a twisty plot line, with murder and mayhem is honestly the best way to go. Otherwise you have a show with all the right ideas, but it gets so watered down so it turns cliche and predictable, which is a real shame when it could be such a great show.

I Liked Shakespeare!

A blog and a vlog in the space of a week?! During a university term?! My God the world is ending!

The Play's The Thing... To Get Me Into Shakespeare

Yes, yes alright, I've had another month long absence from blog writing. In my defense, uni is kicking my arse very hard currently, I've forgotten what day of the week it's been at least four times since going back. A frazzled brain is not exactly useful when blog writing!
But, I have found something to blog about, and it's Hamlet, currently being performed at the Barbican in London. And oh my God, was it incredible!
I've never been a fan of Shakespeare, reading Macbeth and Romeo and Juliet nearly bored me to tears in school, but I figured that I'd go along to see Hamlet when it was broadcast to cinema's, partly because I enjoy plots filled with madness and murder, partly to help me in my play writing module for uni, and partly because of Benedict Cumberbatch. If you didn't already know, I'm a very big fan of the actor, and have been since he burst onto our screens as Sherlock Holmes in 2010, he's very quickly become my favourite actor, and I always try to see whatever he's in because I know he'll give one hell of a performance.
So, I went along, thinking I'd just about follow the story line, and enjoy a bit of murder (I'm really quite morbid when I want to be) but that wasn't the case. I understood what was going on, which has never happened before. Hell I laughed at points, and never in my life have I laughed at Shakespeare. As far as I can tell, the dialogue wasn't changed from the original, but somehow, this production was understandable to a complete novice like myself, and while there were some points that lost me, I caught up again very quick. It didn't take me much time to translate what was being said into contemporary English, and after I got into the flow of doing it, I found myself following along quite easily. Coming from someone who's only previous experience of Hamlet is The Lion King, I count that as a rip roaring success!
That isn't even mentioning the story line itself. I loved the story line and it's characters, I loved to see Hamlet's desperation to avenge his father, and how it made him lose his mind, loved to hate his uncle who's name currently escapes me, loved figuring out if his mother was in on the murder plot, all of it. The sarcastic wit was something I was not expecting at all (the father/uncle, mother/aunt line was brilliant) I was expecting deep tragedy with no let  up, and yet I did find myself laughing throughout too. Be it at Hamlet's sarcasm, or some of the mad things he was doing (the mucking about on the table was brilliant) or whatever else, it was genuinely funny, and lifted some of the heavier scenes beautifully. While this is such a popular play, the twists and turns were brilliant, watching Hamlet's murderous uncle set him up to die was a classic move, yet still slightly shocking to watch.
What really makes this play work though, was the acting, I have to admit. The writing can be the best in the world, but the acting is what brings it to life. Benedict and the rest of the cast gave it their all, in every single scene, they're acting was so good I forgot they were acting half the time! If you'll excuse the fan girl moment, but Benedict was incredible as Hamlet. With some actors, you see traces of some other characters they've played while they're performing, but with him, I didn't see a trace. While he's obviously the same human being, with the same face/expressions/voice etc, I never saw a hint of Sherlock, Khan, or any other character I've seen him play. I just saw Hamlet, completely forgetting every other role I've seen him in. He owns the stage and demands attention, you can't take your eyes off him for a second, not very many actors hold my attention like he does, but wow, he outdid himself last night.
The energy the cast have too is commendable, running around the huge stage, up and down stairs, weaving through other people, moving props, fighting, dancing, all of it was incredible. To keep up that level of energy for four hours is no mean feat, I certainly couldn't have done it, so to watch so many people keep on going and going like that was outstanding. The cast were incredible, every single one, they really transported the audience to Denmark and didn't let us lose interest for a second. I left wanting to watch again straight away, and twenty four hours later the play hasn't left my mind much at all.
More importantly, it's made me want to find more Shakespeare (Macbeth with Michael Fassbender is currently at the top of my list to watch now) because if all productions were like this one's, they're going to be incredible.

Pro Tips - Taking Time

Said Is Dead!

The Importance Of Comments

Too Much To Write!

I currently have a serious problem, I have far too much to write! To a writer, that may sound like a really good thing, so there's always something to write. But currently it's causing a problem for me - I can't figure out what to write and more importantly, when. 
Currently, I have this blog, my vlog channel, two fan fics and my Wattpad one shots to write, and it is scary to think about. Really, it's scaring me a bit to think about it all! Now, as a rule, I prioritize my fan fics, as I'm posting them on a regular basis. This means that both of those are my go-to with writing, but then that means I forget about everything else. Take this blog for example, it's been three weeks since I wrote an actual post, which is not what I wanted for this! I wanted to write a blog post a week, yet this hasn't happened. The same can be said for my youtube channel, and my Wattpad story.
The youtube channel is fairing a bit better, as I've managed to (for the most part) get a vlog up a week for a while, but the Wattpad story is suffering like this blog. And I hate it.
One of my pet hates is leaving these things for weeks on end, leaving anybody possibly interested wondering if I will ever update again. As a general rule, I don't post anything I don't plan on finishing, but others don't know that, so I am potentially losing readers by not updating regularly. But I really do forget to write these things, and if I do remember, I have nothing to write! It's a terrible catch 22, but that's how my brain is working right now.
So what do I do? Do I dedicate a day to write each thing? Do I set myself reminders? That's no promise for me to get something up. I don't know what to do! AHHHHHH!
Currently, I'm just hoping this problem doesn't get worse when I get back to uni, when I'm so exhausted I can barely think straight. Though, alternatively, I could be given some inspiration from whatever my lecture has been about, or something else that has happened in the day. Also, I'll be on long train journeys, so I could have some time before I get too tired to write. Who knows? I sure as hell don't! I'm hoping for the best, but there's no promises, as there never is.
Oh, the writer's life, such hardship...

I Can't Read Books!

Pro Tips - Inspiration

Finally got this video uploaded! The trouble I've had with my protips series!

Why Beta Readers Are Important

I know what you're thinking 'ah, having my work BETA read isn't important, I've checked it over myself, I don't need anybody else,' and I'm very sorry to tell you that actually, BETA's are really important. They read your work through and give you a second opinion, make sure you haven't left anything out or gone off track, check spelling/grammar mistakes, all of it. They're invaluable to writers, I should know, I suffered for years without one.
I've been writing whatever I could for years, and I've been posting it, otherwise this blog wouldn't be here, and I was rereading through everything before I posted it. But I always missed something, because inevitably we all miss mistakes when we're reading things we've written, and I never had it pointed it out to me. Usually, the case was that I would find the mistake, weeks after I had posted the piece of writing somewhere, and I would spend the rest of the day kicking myself for missing an apostrophe or completely screwing up a sentence. What makes this worse, is that I'm dyslexic, which affects my spelling and grammar terribly. I'm truly awful with it all, and I always feel paranoid, no matter how many times I check a piece of work, that there's a mistake in there. This is where my BETA comes in.
I have two separate BETA readers, for two separate stories. For fan fic, I have a wonderful woman called Nita, who reads through two chapters at a time and tells me every time I've put a wrong word in somewhere. She's brilliant, and picks up everything I miss on my own reads. For original fiction I post on Wattpad, my best friend Charlie BETA's for me, mostly because she has read all my original work, and a lot of my fan fic, and understands my brain process, so when I get complicated, she can see where I'm coming from. She also gives me a kick up the bum to get me to post said original fiction too, because I sometimes get too chicken to post it, but that isn't what this post is about, so I digress.
Anyway, the reason why I allow them to BETA my work is so I have the peace of mind that what I am posting makes sense and has everything spelled correctly. Without it, I would quite frankly, suck, and would push away potential readers with all my mistakes and sometimes complicated ideas. So when I have them read my work, I know that it is exactly how I want to present it. Everything makes sense, there are no overly complicated sentences, no words are spelled incorrectly, all the correct grammar is in place. It's all there, and I don't have to worry myself silly about it and distract myself from writing the rest of the story.
That is why BETA readers are so important, so you can have peace of mind about your own work, you can know for sure that everything you post is clear and easy to understand. Having misspelled words and grammatically incorrect sentences puts readers off, as they have to spend half their time deciphering what you have written. For them, they want to come in and read, not rewrite the entire piece of work! So if you have someone there who can do that before you post up your work, you're more likely to keep people reading, as they can simply enjoy your work without rewriting it. It's a win win situation for everybody!
There is generally only one problem with this, finding a BETA reader is hard. Nita offered to do the job for me months ago, and I asked Charlie because I was doing a similar thing for her. So I was lucky with finding my two, for others it will be difficult. But, there are ways to find BETA's, so don't fret!
An easy way to find a BETA if you are on Wattpad is to simply go into the 'Improve Your Writing' section of the discussion boards and look around for a dedicated thread to help. If you can't find one there, start a thread up yourself, asking if anybody would like to do it! Wattpad is filled with people who want to help fellow writers, so you're bound to at least be pointed in the right direction!
If you are on a different site, then you can put a message at the bottom of your piece, asking if anybody would be kind enough to BETA for you. That isn't as guaranteed, but it can't hurt to try!
Writing forums are generally also a good place to look. Though with all these methods, I should say that you may have to offer a BETA for BETA deal. So you read through someone else's work, and they'll do the same for you. It's an easy enough thing to do, and a good, free way to read someone else's work before anybody else!
But if you really are stuck for finding BETA readers, there is one website which will do half the work for you. It's called Hemingway, and it's a completely free website which helps improve your writing. You just have to copy and paste in your work, and it'll check the entire thing, and highlight every mistake you make. It'll point out hard to read sentences, passive voice (a bad thing for writing) and other such mistakes. And while it can't tell you if you've forgotten to add something in or you've gone off track, it'll at least help you make your writing easier to read, and that is something!
So don't sit back and think you can simply write and post, try and find someone to help you with your work, you'll become a better writer for it, and keep readers too. BETA's are a great recourse - never skip out on them!

The Wattpad Experience

Whoa, can it be, a blog post that isn't a film review?! My God, call the presses, this is news worthy!
But yes, I'm going to blog about something that isn't a film review, as I feel like I've exhausted that for the past couple of weeks. Instead, today I'm going to talk about my experience with the website Wattpad.
Now I'm fairly new to Wattpad (as in, only a few months into my exploration of the site) but I feel like I've got a bit of experience with it, or at least enough to talk about my awakening to the site. I'd been hearing about it for years, and decided to give it a go when I wanted to start posting some 'world building' short stories to do with a novel series I have planned. I wanted to post them to see how audiences reacted, as the idea is quite complicated at first, to see if I should go ahead with writing this novel or not. So I made an account, wrote the first piece, and posted it, expecting it to magically gain readers like my work has done in the past.
You see, for six years now, I've been posting on official forums, fanfiction.net and AO3, and there I've barely had to do any advertising to get readers. I simply posted my work and watched the view count rise, only really bothering to tweet and post links to tumblr simply to inform anybody who followed me that things like that were available if they wanted to check out my writing. But most of my readership came from the website itself, they just somehow discovered my work, and that was that.
With Wattpad though, it's different. The website has a far, far larger readership than I could have possibly imagined, and so many more books out there too. This means that finding readers is incredibly difficult, new authors get lost in a sea of more popular and experienced authors, and generally don't get noticed without some serious self promotion. The thought was very daunting, as I didn't have a clue on where to start with that, but I've started to figure it out.
Here's what I've learnt so far:
Firstly, tagging your work is important. When posting stories to Wattpad, tags work a treat, as your story is then put in with all the other stories also tagged with that thing. So when someone is searching for, let's say, vampire work, yours will also come up with the rest of that work. That's half your job sorted already.
Second, an interesting cover and blurb go a long way. Even after tagging, nobody is going to click on a book and start reading if they don't know what it's about. So putting an eye catching blurb will help draw people in. The cover is a great advert too, it draws people in, be it by the colours, or the images on it. Nobody clicks on work which is simply the blurred out version of the author's profile picture. But before you all start shouting I CAN'T PHOTOSHOP! at me, there's an app to help out, I'm not sure if it's on android, but at least on apple products, there's an app specifically for Wattpad which allows you to make covers. It provides with thousands of images, text fonts and effects for your work, so it's easy to whip up a cover. I did mine in five minutes flat, and I have never touched photoshop in my life, so anyone can do it!
Thirdly, get involved with the clubs. There's a club section on Wattpad, where you can talk to other readers and writers about anything you want. So get in there and start talking to people, from my experience they're very accommodating and lovely people, who will accept anybody. All you do is start replying on threads, and soon you'll have people talking back to you, just like anywhere else on the internet. The difference is that here, you can talk about your work, talk about the bits you find difficult, the bits you find the best to write, and also get help when you need it too. With these comments, it is possibly to interest someone enough to see what you're writing, and you may just get a reader out of it. At the very least you'll find some like-minded writers, which is still a huge resource in your arsenal as a writer. A word of warning though - do NOT just post comments saying READ MY WORK, READY MY WORK or anything of the sort, you will soon become very, very unpopular and possibly kicked off the site. Be polite and respectful, discuss your work, but don't shamelessly post pleads for people to read your story everywhere.
Fourthly, join a book club. There's literally hundreds of book clubs on Wattpad, where other authors will read chapters of your work and comment on them, providing you do the same for them. They can provide constructive criticism when it is needed, and offer opinions which can really help you with your story. It's better to know that something isn't working and fix it, than stare at it and not figure out why you don't have anybody reading your work. The book clubs also work as an advertising agent too, and gets people reading your story, a lot of the time, people who read your story as part of the book club stay on to read more, continuing to leave comments. And when others who find it by chance see that it has a lot of reads/comments/votes, they'll be more likely to read it too. Book clubs are basically a win win situation, giving you views and comments on your stories, and that can never be a bad thing!
Fifthly, read and comment on other's work. Reading and comment on other people's work gains you friends, and lets others know that you're out there. Some may see your profile in the comments and click on your profile to check you out, and then go on to read your story. Some writers do it too, they see someone who loves their story and decide to check out yours. Also, just commenting on other people's work makes them feel good, and there's some amazing stories out there, so go and read them so you don't miss out.
And lastly, post the links online everywhere! I've said this before in a video on my youtube channel, but seriously, post the links everywhere. Post on twitter and tumblr, tag them in both places too! Post the link to your story on all your social media, so as many people see it as possible. There will be people out there who will click the link to see what you're posting about, and so will gain you some readers, or at least some reads. Give it a go, it can't hurt to try.
I've tried all those things and it's actually not going too badly for me at the moment, I'm not currently getting the viewership I had hoped for, but I am getting there, and that's the main thing. It's making me appreciate the process more than ever, before readers almost dropped into my lap, now I'm working for it, which I feel is better for me (and possibly my ego). It's a steady process, and I must say I'm enjoying it.
So if you were thinking of joining Wattpad and posting stuff yourself, I would recommend you do it, but be prepared to spend a lot of time advertising and networking. It takes up a lot of time, but it is worth it in the end. I hope this blog helps in some small way or other.
Oh, and if you want to check out my Wattpad profile, it's here.

Tearing My Heart Inside Out

You know I promised to not do a review for my next blog post? Yeah, this doesn't count, as it's a video blog and not a written one... That's my story and I'm sticking with it!

Finding Inspiration

Ant Man - Small Hero, Big Film

I know this blog is supposed to be reviews, writing tips and generally about writing, but currently I seem to be on a bit of a reviewing trip. Blame the fact that I've been watching a lot of films recently, next week I'll write something about writing, deal? Deal. 

Anyway, yesterday I saw Marvel's latest release - Ant Man. And I'm seeing it again. Tonight. Because it's really, really good. 

It's safe to say that I automatically love anything Marvel ever releases, but I do love each film in various degrees. Age Of Ultron, Assemble and Guardians Of The Galaxy are my absolute favourites, for their story lines, characters, and general awesomeness. Then everything else falls into place afterwards, each Marvel release holding a special place in my heart. Ant Man has now joined his fellow heroes, and did so within ten minutes of the film's opening.

The film follows the story of of Scott, an ex-con trying to go straight for his daughter, as he's ex-wife isn't going to allow him to see her until he has a stable job and a flat. But then he hears of a 'big score' and falls back into cat burgling, and without giving too much away, falls into becoming the Ant Man to basically save the world from The Yellow Jacket, all while having quite a good laugh. 

Some critics say that Ant Man is as funny as Guardians Of The Galaxy, and while I wouldn't go as far as that, I would say the film is very funny in places. Namely, when Ant Man fights Captain America's friend Falcon. I was nearly crying I was laughing so hard as I watched the two fight, and nearly screamed when I first saw Falcon turn up, even though I knew he was making a guest appearance. The pairs fight was incredibly funny, mostly because of what they were saying to each other (and well, watching a full grown man get beaten up by someone the size of an ant is pretty damn funny) and I'm now sure it's my favourite scene of the entire film. It was comedy gold, and classic Marvel. 

Now, to address the big elephant in the room regarding Ant Man, the thing that has sent a lot of Marvel fans into uproar. Wasp being written out of the film. For those who don't know, Wasp is Ant Man's friend, and she possesses a similar suit, which can make her shrink and resize just like Ant Man. In the comic world, the two go out on missions together all the time, and helped found The Avengers themselves. Yet in this film, Wasp has been written out of it almost entirely. Lots of fans were disappointed in the revelation that Wasp would not be in this film, and I must say I was as well. I'm a firm believer in Woman Power and strong female characters kicking ass with the good (and bad) guys, just like Black Widow. I haven't read the comics so I can't say that I loved Wasp before watching the film or anything, but I was a bit disappointed to know we wouldn't get another female superhero. 

And then I wasn't disappointed. After watching the film I understand completely why it was necessary to write Wasp out, as it would have made Ant Man's mission pointless. There was no need for more than one person to shrink to steal the Yellow Jacket. If Wasp had been there originally, Scott wouldn't have needed to become the Ant Man. So I can completely understand why Marvel decided to change her story line and have her in an alternative dimension after a previous mission went wrong twenty years ago. But I think Marvel will pleasantly surprise you in the first end credits scene, because again, without spoiling the film for others, they give scope for Wasp to return. By Ant Man 2, we'll have Wasp, and one who has already proven herself to be a brilliant fighter and a brilliant superhero who can hold herself up with the big boys. 

I would end this review there, but there's just one other scene I want to talk about. The finale end credit scene, involving a tie in to Captain America: Civil War. That's right, at the end of this film, CAPTAIN AMERICA AND BUCKY BARNES TURN UP. It took all I had to not scream at the sight of them, I'm a huge fan of Bucky Barnes, and love Captain America, and am getting ridiculously excited for Civil War. So to see them, and have a small hint of trouble in Camp Avenger, oh it ended the film perfectly. The scene is literally about two minutes long, and Bucky doesn't say a word, but oh it's giving me so much more excitement for Civil War! It may even mean that Ant Man turns up for Civil War to help Steve with Bucky, as for some reason Steve can't help Bucky by himself. It's already stated that The Avengers need Ant Man at the end of the main film, but the question is : why does Steve need Scott to help Bucky? and why can't Tony help? It's all very intriguing and I for one cannot wait for the next film Marvel throws at me! 

Links And A Magical Consulting Detective.

So... it's been a while... I apologise for that, for some reason things got busy and when I did have the time for blogging, I had no inspiration. Current story of my life - 'I have time to write, yet I have no ideas/doubt my ideas... well damn, guess I'll just read all day.'
Anyway, I've decided to combine three blog posts into one, because I have time, and because I want to. My blog, my rules!
First things first, on Sunday, I finally bit the bullet and started uploading original fiction to Wattpad. I've been debating this for months, but have decided that it's a good idea to start uploading, because what have I got to lose? I've got ideas in my head, a novel series world to build, and the perfect place to start posting some short stories to hopefully gain some interest in my writing. So, I wrote my first 'worldbuilding' short story to my original novel series, and will hopefully continue to do so whenever I get the chance. If you want to check it out, the link is here. I've possibly not done everything I should have with posting it, but hey, I'm new, I'll work it out eventually. If anyone has some tips on how to use Wattpad though, please do drop me a message - I'm useless with new websites!
Another thing I've recently posted is my new vlog, this time about 'Beating Writers Block' which is a bit appropriate considering how blocked I've been lately. So I figured I'd make a vlog to a) lift my own block and b) help others with it too. I hope some of the tips in there help you guys out!
Finally on the links front, I've also set up an account on PeoplePerHour, where anybody can hire me (for a small fee) to proofread their work/write 'about me' pages, or anything like that. So if there's anything you need proofing, or written, come hire me.
Now that business is attended to, let's talk Magic Mike XXL and Mr Holmes. Two very different films, and two films I thoroughly enjoyed for completely different reasons.
I watched both yesterday back to back in the cinema with my best friend, because we love a bit of Sherlock Holmes (even though I'm die hard BBC and she's Elementary... I won't go into that, I'd be here forever) and we loved the first Magic Mike. So we thought, why not? Let's have a cinema day! And that's how we found ourselves in the cinema for six hours to watch two films of completely different genre.
I'll start first with Mr Holmes, because we saw that one first. To say that I wasn't expecting what I saw is an understatement. In my head, I expected Ian McKellin's version of Mr Holmes to be well, like my Sherlock Holmes, brash, bold, beautifully flawed. But instead, what we see is an old man, a very ill old man, trying to figure out one last case with the help of his housekeeper's son. At 93, Sherlock Holmes hasn't solved a case in thirty years, after one fateful case, yet he can't remember why it was his last case, just that it was. John wrote it down of course, as he did with all of their cases, but the ending to this particular one doesn't feel right to Mr Holmes. So he tries to remember and write it down himself, in between tending to his bees and recalling his trip to Japan for a Prickly Ash plant.
I won't tell you why he wants that particular tree, or what happens in the case, but I will say this. Mr Holmes is an incredibly sad film if you're a die hard Sherlock Holmes fan who loves the character. If you're like me, and have enough time on your hands to analyse whichever source material you love most (for me it's BBC all the way), coming to the conclusion that Sherlock Holmes is an incredibly lonely man, then this film was be just a tad bit devastating, and then some. The writers have admittedly messed with canon a lot, leading to only mentions and shots of John from the neck down, a two minute scene with Mycroft and a Mrs Hudson who never speaks. All of which makes Sherlock the centre of this film, instead of it being Sherlock-and-ensemble cast. In that sense, it was a new take on the original canon, yet at the same time, I want to condemn the writers for doing that, as I know in canon John retires with Sherlock in Sussex, Mrs Hudson does talk and while Mycroft is more in the shadows, he's still there, instead of leaving his poor brother to fend for himself in this big, dark world.
Yet, despite this, I did enjoy the film greatly. Having only seen modern BBC Sherlock and Robert Downey Jnr's versions (don't sue me Sherlockian purists) until the long awaited Victorian Christmas Special comes out, it was great to see this great character as Arthur Conan Doyle intended, just quite a few years older, and without his usual team behind him. Ian McKellin did not disappoint as Sherlock Holmes either, something I never doubted he would for a second. There was not one minute of Gandalf The Grey or Magneto reflected in his performance, I almost completely forgot he was also those characters. Ian really was Sherlock Holmes, and dare I say it, more believable than Robert Downey Jnr. Maybe because he was English and subtle in his deductions, maybe because I wasn't expecting him to turn into Iron Man at any given moment, either way, I thoroughly enjoyed Ian's performance as Sherlock Holmes.
So, while the film is incredibly sad for people who believe Sherlock Holmes to be a very isolated character in their own canon, and also had me begging to see a little bit of Sherlock's interactions with John Watson, I did enjoy it. Little Roger was a joy to watch, and the way they treat Sherlock's illness is heartbreaking and beautifully written. The little tie-ins to the canon are perfect (seeing Phil Davis - the killer in BBC's A Study In Pink was a lovely little touch to the BBC's most famous production of the stories) and the film did just enough to make it stand out against the masses of other adaptions. Well done Mr Holmes!
Magic Mike on the other hand, was a whole different ballgame. Whole different genre, whole different universe to Mr Holmes. Obviously set in the present, Magic Mike XXL focuses back on ex-stripper Mike, taking one last trip to Myrtle Beach with his old stripper gang to take part in the stripper convention. The entire crew have decided to pack in stripping and get normal jobs, and so have decided to go out on a high together, having one last dance together before they say goodbye to dancing and hello to the 9-5 grind (no pun intended).
Again, I won't give away too much, but the plot surprised me again, as the first one did too. When I walked in to both Magic Mike films, I was expecting a whole lot of hot naked men, lots of dancing and not much plot (not that I was complaining) but instead I got hot men with depth and differing personalities, a bit of stripping and a real plot line. This is not about a group of men who don't want anything but to strip for their entire lives, this is a group of men who love stripping, but want real jobs, real girlfriends, and to follow their passions.
What surprised me even more, was just how respectful this film was to women. I really was not expecting this film to be so respectful to women, instead I was expecting us females to be used as basically props to hold up every male character. And while there aren't that many, given big parts, there are a few who jump in and out, all of whom aren't treated like props. They have thoughts and feelings, are witty and have desires. A group of middle aged women are not treated as throw-away women who are 'past their prime' they're treated with respect by Mike and his friends. They are told repeatedly that they deserve love and respect, that they deserve to be romanced and taken to cloud 9 by their man. Another female character does not back down to Mike once, instead puts him through his paces, and when she MCs for him and his team, she never stops telling the girls around them that they are queens and goddesses, that they are beautiful and deserve the attention these strippers are given them.
Hell, even the girls in the dances at the end aren't all stick thin models either. At least two plus sized women are given huge amounts of attention by our strippers, WOC were given huge amounts of attention, so many body types were included. I never expected that, it's subtle, but it's there, and I loved that about Magic Mike XXL.
The actual story line of the film is a good one too, the dialogue is witty again, and gives each character their own depth and personality. They're all given an opportunity to explore what they want their act to be, what they're going to do after their weekend of fun is over. It's bittersweet to watch, and more compelling than I thought. I expected pretty faces and no personality, I got pretty faces and personalities to match.
So while I wanted a tad bit more stripping (a girl does have needs) what I got was a film about beautiful men with real personalities, diverse amounts of women, and a whole lot of laughs. The Twilight and Matrix send ups were a fantastic surprise, Matt Bomer singing had me nearly falling out of my chair in surprise, and the end stripping scene more than made up for the lack throughout the rest of the film.
If you made me choose between Magic Mike XXL and Mr Holmes, I physically couldn't do it, I loved both equally for entirely different reasons. Mr Holmes was poignant and intriguing, Magic Mike was funny and a whole lot more inclusive than first thought. I'd recommend seeing both films, though just maybe not back to back, it's a culture shock to see both within the same day!

Harry Potter Studio Tour

Jurassic World Stomping To Life

As of yesterday, I have watched Jurassic World twice, so I figured I should probably write a review for it, because my GOD is it good!
Jurassic World is the fourth film in the Jurassic Park franchise, and has been a long time in the making. Originally, a fourth film was supposed to be made in 2004, but was scrapped for many reasons, but following the sad death of Richard Attenborough, the actor who played park owner John Hammond, Jurassic World was commissioned in his honour. Fans of the original three films have been hesitant to see what this film could bring to the franchise, scared it would be a giant flop that wrecked the magic of the trilogy.
Let me tell you, they have nothing to fear. Jurassic World is possibly the best film of the franchise, and not just because of the new special effects. The story line is better, the dinosaurs are better, it's like everything got stepped up a notch and got kicked into hyper drive, creating the incredible film that is Jurassic World.
So what exactly happens in this film? Is it the same as the previous three? Dinosaurs get loose, people get eaten, hero saves the day? Well, yes, but what else is Jurassic Park for? The dinosaurs aren't going to win, the film also isn't going to be a family visiting to the park, having a lovely time without a single hitch. These films are about the park failing, people getting eaten in gory ways and well, cool dinosaurs. The franchise has never strayed from that, and I doubt it ever will, it's what it does best, and it's what people love.
Yet, even though it's a similar story line to the first three, this one is different. Things such as the fact that the park is working at the beginning of the film, has been since 2005, and business is booming. Thousands of people flock to Jurassic World every day to see the dinosaurs, and nothing has gone wrong yet.
Until the scientists make a bigger, scarier dinosaur to keep the people coming in. They've created the Indomonous Rex (if that's how you spell it, let's just say it's scary in 3d and 2d) a dinosaur bigger than a T-Rex, created specifically to be bigger, scarier and to 'have more teeth.' And what happens when it's eight weeks away from being revealed to the public? It gets loose, breaks out of it's cage and causes havoc! People are eaten, dinosaurs are killed, yet more dinosaurs are set loose to try and take this thing down. Nothing is taking it down, and it's up to Owen (Chris Pratt) to save the park and figure out how to stop this monster from destroying everything.
Now I can't tell you much about how they stop the rampage, who lives or who dies, what other beasties come into play (you can probably guess though, it's Jurassic Park we're on about) but I can say this: the final showdown is incredible. The dinosaur attacks are fantastic. And overall this film is just plain amazing. I loved every single second. I laughed, I cheered, I nearly hid behind my best friend in fear in several places. Jurassic World doesn't pull it's punches, it's a thrill ride from the first second, without straying too far from the original trilogy.
References to it's predecessors are peppered throughout, some of the old tropes are back (as in, children screaming, everyone gets covered in mud etc) without making the film feel like a throwback. This is without a doubt a homage to the original trilogy, but doesn't seem like it's trying too hard to recapture the magic, it just does it effortlessly.
From beginning to end, this film grips you and takes you on a thrill ride that only Jurassic Park can do, while making you fall in love with dinosaurs all over again. I've seen it twice now, and I can't wait to own the DVD to watch repeatedly in the comfort of my own home,
If you get the chance, go and watch Jurassic World, it is without a doubt one of the best films coming out this year. And don't forget, if you see a dinosaur, run. 

RIP The Works

Not a writing tip or review, but a mourning of a good book shop instead.
Some of you may have heard, but The Works bookshop was hit with an arson attack in Maidstone recently, in the hour before another 5 cars were also set alight. The cars survived mostly and the owners are on their way to replacing their vehicles.
But The Works, oh The Works is wrecked. There is nothing left of the shop, I've seen it for myself, just a few hours ago. All that is left of the book shop is the charred shell, reminding me far too much of the Baudelaire Mansion from A Series Of Unfortunate Events. Shops on either side of the building have also lost their roofs, leaving most of the street cordoned off for safety of the public.
Luckily nobody was hurt in this terrible attack, apart from all the book fan's hearts. Everybody loves a cheap book, and that was The Works for us, good quality, first hand, cheap books. It's probably the single biggest threat to my best friend and my Mum's bank balance, with many trips in there ending up with a new bag filled with new stories to explore.
But now we have been robbed of that, because someone decided that they wanted to set the place alight and burn it down. Countless precious books have been lost, Harry Potter, Hunger Games, Sherlock Holmes, hundreds of other classics, have been destroyed by fire. This has then subsequently robbed many of the chance to buy and then read these books at a lower price to normal. Sure, we still have a Waterstones, WH Smith and Amazon to order from, but there's nowhere for those of us on a tight budget to shop. And that is a tragedy. 
Not everyone can afford to buy full price books, and book lovers like myself relied on The Works to give ourselves books are a discounted rate. Sometimes places like Waterstones proved too expensive when buying an entire series of books, whereas The Works provided the same series in the same great condition for a fraction of the cost. That was a Godsend to us, it meant we could buy our books and not break the bank as much as a shop at another retailer would have.
The shop also proved useful when buying books for our education too. Not all of them (I can't say I found any of my uni course books in there) but I did find many of my A Level books in there. There was no wait time or P&P costs from Amazon, and they were generally cheaper there than at any other book store, which was useful as a 16 year old.
Book lovers aren't the only ones affected either, artists who bought their supplies at The Works now have look elsewhere, others looking for notepads and school supplies have to trek somewhere else to buy them. The people who worked in the shop are now out of a job, all because someone felt the need to set something on fire. What I'm trying to say is that the shop was a life line for many, and now it's gone for a long time.
And for what? Entertainment? A sick need to see flames? What was the point? 
There wasn't one, now people have lost their jobs, others have lost a shop filled with their passions, and a building has been destroyed. It's going to take years to get that back to normal, and it's because someone likes to light things on fire. The only positive in this situation is that nobody was physically hurt in the blaze. Instead we've lost a big part of our lives.
So to whoever did this, fuck you, if you like fire so much, get your kicks by lighting candles and fireplaces. Stay away from buildings and places of enjoyment for so many, you've robbed so many from their cheap book and art outlet, and took away several people's jobs.

Expanding Your Writing Empire

New video at last!

The Liebster Award

I'm horribly late doing this, but Cameron didn't tell me he'd tagged me in this until yesterday!
Thanks to him for tagging me in this, and here we go:

1. What’s your favourite movie/tv series?

• Are you sure you're ready for this answer? Currently I'm loving How To Get Away With Murder and Agents Of SHIELD, but my main ones have to be BBC Sherlock, Marvel, and Buffy The Vampire Slayer! 

1. Do you love reading? If yes, what is your favourite book?

• Hell yes! I'm always reading! Well currently I'm loving All I Know Now by Carrie Hope Fletcher, but the book I'm REALLY loving is Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell 

1. How would you describe yourself in 5 words?

• Writer, Vlogger, fangirl, tired and... nerdy 

1. Who’s your favourite band/artist?

• MCFLY! I adore McFly and McBusted! They got me into writing and I adore their music! 

1. If you could have 3 wishes, what would they be?

• To make a success book, to be able to own my own house, and to help people with their writing through my channel! 

1. If you could have a superpower, what would it be?

• Ohhhh, superspeed I think! It would save me a tonne of money in travel costs, and help me to not be late all the time!

1. What’s your all-time favourite food?

• Toad in the hole (I'm eating some now) or Chinese chicken balls, I could live on either! 

1. Where’s your favourite place to shop?

• Anywhere that sells geeky things, like redbubble, amazon, geektown, anywhere like that!

1. What’s your favourite colour?

• Black!

1. What is your future plan?

• See above wishes, with added moving in with my best friend and making our super awesome house! :)

1. Who do you admire most?

• Joss Whedon for writing, McFly for general life strength, Carrie Hope Fletcher for general life strength again, Benedict Cumberbatch for again life strength, the list goes on!

What Is The Right Word Count For Me?

Okay, okay, I know I said I'd actually going to start blogging properly and then went AWOL for eleven days, but I got busy alright? I'm here, now, that's what matters here.
So, here we go, first bit of writing advise I'm imparting in blog form - What Is The Right Word Count For Me? - following on from my last Pro Tips video.
What I mean by that is, what kind of word count should you be aiming for when you have a writing session? For some of you out there, you'll be reading this thinking 'but I just go with whatever I can manage that day and move on' and that's great, I envy you laid back people greatly. For the rest of us, we set daily word counts to either challenge ourselves every day, or to make sure we have a reasonable amount down on paper.
So what should be a good, obtainable daily word goal? The short answer is that it's different for everybody. There is no 'one word count fits all' solution, and to be honest, it is up to you to figure out how much you want to get down on a daily basis.
There are some professional writers out there who write over five thousand words a day, there are some who decide that just six hundred is enough. So really, there's a huge range you can go for here. Personally, I like to aim for somewhere between six hundred and a thousand, depending on what project I'm working on. For one story I'm working on, the six hundred is about a page worth of writing, and can get across my current ideas well without me losing momentum. For my other story, a thousand is needed to fully explain what I want to get across that day. In short, I like to reach at least six hundred words or I feel like my day has been wasted.
How did I get to this number? By trial and error mostly. I started out by making sure I wrote five paragraphs, consisting of at least five lines, every day. But that was in the days before I set things out properly and put speech on new lines (those were dark days my friends, I do not speak of those days any more). Once I did start to set things out properly, it meant my five paragraph rule went out the window, so I had to find a new system to work with. I counted how many words were in my paragraphs, and that came out at about six hundred on average, so I figured that that was a nice minimum to aim for.
Six hundred felt right as it was the number I could get out comfortably without straining myself, so I rolled with it, and has worked well for me over the years. Of course, if I go over that word count then I'm ecstatic and feel very, very proud of myself (and usually find myself some chocolatey treat to reward my wordy little brain). I regularly do go over that word count on a story whenever I write it, which brings me onto another point I want to bring up in this post.
Changing word counts for changing projects.
As I said before, everybody is different, so they have different ideas about what productivity is. And like how every person is different, every project is different too. Some are easier than others to write, which means that some projects make hitting your preferred daily word count easier. You might want to consider changing your word count goals if this happens, to keep the challenge up. If you're writing something you're struggling with but really want to continue it, try lowering your word count a bit, so you're not struggling to reach what seems like an impossible target every day. At the same time, if you're project feels easy to write and flows excellently, maybe try increasing your target, to give yourself a challenge and keep you on your toes. It's up to you though, whatever you feel like is a good productive goal you'd like to reach every day.
In summary, choose your word count wisely. Go with something you can obtain relatively easily without pushing yourself too far, and don't be afraid to change that number if your project needs it. Word goals should not feel like a chore, it should be a nice challenge to yourself, so choose wisely!

This blog is going through come changes!

I've neglected this blog FAR too much ever since... well, ever since I got it if I'm honest. But that's all going to change, this blog isn't just for film reviews anymore! This blog is going to be much more like my vlog channel, which is HERE if you haven't already seen it. From now on, this blog is going to be an extension of my vlog channel, where I'm going to post things about my writing, writing in general, and possibly a few reviews too.
Mainly, what I want this blog to be is a blog about writing. Good writing, bad writing, semi-reasonable writing, all of it. I want to talk in detail about amazing plot lines, beautiful dialogue, the things I wished I'd thought of in the past. Anything like that, I want to praise good writers from the rooftops and encourage others out there to start writing too. Being a writer is a lonely thing for most of us, I want to close that gap and start up discussions about the wonderful thing that is story telling.
Another thing I want to start here is a 'Things I Would Have Done Differently' because not all writing is infallible. For so long now, I've been sprouting nonsense about 'if I was the showrunner/author/writer I would have done it this way instead of like this' so I'm actually going to start doing that. If I think someone could have handled a story line, or a character, or anything like that, better, I will be pointing it out in a hopefully amusing way. Only time will tell if that's true, but for now, I'm hoping for amusement, if not agreement.
So currently that's the changes to this blog, to hopefully bring it to life and get some content on it, and add another facet to my youtube channel.
I hope you enjoy what is to come.

Age Of Ultron Is A Marvel

Again, long time, no see. There hasn't really been a film or TV show I've wanted to review for a while, but right now, I have to get my feelings out about Marvel's latest Avengers film - Age Of Ultron.
I was lucky enough to go to the midnight showing of the film last night, and having only just woken up, I'm still in a state of shock. Last night there were no words to describe just how incredible the Age Of Ultron is, but today, I think I can manage some at the least. Let's start with the obvious:
THIS FILM IS THE BEST THING MARVEL HAVE EVER DONE!
I'm not even overstating this either, Age Of Ultron is a masterpiece of cinema, possibly Joss Whedon's best work (and there's a lot of amazing work to compare to). This film revolves around obviously The Avengers from the original characters, and their fight against AI robot Ultron. Ultron was created by Tony, wanting to protect the world from more Chitari and other alien attacks, so New York doesn't happen again. But Ultron goes wrong in the process, deciding that The Avengers, and the entire human race, is destroying the planet, so we must all die so robots can take over. All the while fighting of the Maximoff twins, otherwise known as Quicksilver and Scarlett Witch, before they team up together, which the help of a few others.
I won't give much else about the plot away because that would be too spoilery, but my God, this film packs a powerful punch. Plot twists coming from all manner of angles, beautifully written characters, hilarious one liners, Age Of Ultron is pure Joss Whedon with a Marvel twist. I was on the edge of my seat for the entire film, clinging to my best friend's hand for half of it, giggling for the rest.
Everything is beautifully written and executed, with an incredible plot to sink your teeth into. Ultron is an incredible mix of psychotic killer and confused child (and if you watch The Blacklist, bits of James Spader's Reddington come through, though it's not obvious unless you were watching for it) Quicksilver and Scarlett Witch made you care for them despite how they are so quickly introduced and thrown into the middle of the chaos. The Hulk and Black Widow break your heart. Hawkeye swings one hell of a plot twist (while perfectly explaining where the hell he was when SHIELD went down in Captain America 2 - The Winter Soldier). Thor bumbles through social interaction in a hilariously cute way. Tony Stark is well, Tony Stark in the perfectly sarky way he is known for. Rhodey aka War Machine (or Iron Patriot, depending on who you're talking to) and Sam aka Falcon make wonderful surprise cameos. The Vision is a beautiful addition too, one I hope to continue to see in the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The entire cast twists together beautifully, almost like one big, insane family, complete with in jokes and running jokes (all I'm saying right now is watch your language) emotions and clashing heads.
There is still the fights from the original Avengers Assemble, but this film makes it all seem slicker. The tone of the entire film is darker, more complex. Gone are the days of Loki causing trouble because he wants to be a king, here comes the morals and a lot more adult themes. Yet the film manages to be funnier than the original, lightening the mood without taking away from the tone. It's a beautiful film, that will make you cry and laugh, and quite possibly scream DAMN YOU JOSS WHEDON at least twice. And all in all, I'm in love with this film, my only complaint would be that it needs to be LONGER. There's so much plot and plot twist to cram in that some things have had to be shortened, there could have easily been an extra half hour added onto this film and it would not have dragged at all. I never wanted this film to end, and because it did end, I'm going to have to see it at least three more times before it comes out on DVD, just to keep my Marvel fix going.
All in all, Marvel has done it again and made an incredible film for us to enjoy. Go and watch this film as soon as you can because it is a masterpiece of superhero cinema. If Marvel continue on this path, I cannot wait to see where they will go next!