Friday, 19 February 2016
Wednesday, 10 February 2016
Good Deadpool? Bad Deadpool? GOOD DEADPOOL!
I've literally just come back from watching Deadpool and I have to get out my feelings right now, because my God Deadpool is amazing! I loved every single second of this madcap, fourth-wall breaking, swearing, gory, laugh out loud funny origin film, and I'd highly recommend that everybody go and see it... Unless you're squeamish, or have a delicate disposition, then I'd say stay away as far as possible. If you're into this sort of stuff, then you're going to LOVE this film.
Going into Deadpool, all I knew about him was the basics - he breaks the fourth wall, swears a lot, and is known as the 'Merc With A Mouth,' other than that, I knew nothing. I'd seen Wolverine Origins (which gets ripped to shreds in this film, or at least Hugh Jackman does anyway) but my knowledge was so skin thin I could have gone in completely ignorant. What I got in return was absolute genius - a completely new take on the 'hero origin' story, where the hero doesn't even want to be a hero. Wade Wilson (the man behind the mask) just wants revenge on the man who gave him his powers and destroyed his skin, and to save his girlfriend from the same man, he doesn't want to be a hero, and he makes sure everybody knows it.
To be honest, this is more of a revenge story than anything else, it's nearly two hours of Wade seeking revenge, with pieces of flashback to explain why Wade is after this guy in the first place. And somehow, that works, and more importantly, you fall in love with Wade as he does this.
From the opening scene, Wade Wilson is having gory shoot outs with his enemies henchman, destroying cars and turning one guy into a shish-kabob. The audience knows straight away that Wade is not a good person at all, and yet, as his story is told, you fall in love with him. It's all through his wise cracks and his love for his girlfriend Vanessa. He's ridiculous in so many ways, but absolutely lovable, not in a way that you'd take him home to meet your mum, but still very lovable. His jokes about Hugh Jackman (of which there are many), the X-Men in general, and pop culture are completely on point and hilarious.
At points, he gets a bit near the mark with his sex jokes, but that was the whole point of Deadpool in the first place - he's not supposed to be correct all the time. He's supposed to be absolutely insane, rude and dangerous, the antithesis of the anti-hero. And in this film, it's perfect for him. No other hero could pull this off at all, Wade Wilson is the least politically correct super hero ever, and it's absolutely perfect.
Deadpool in fact doesn't pull any punches, or hold back in any shape or form. The fourth wall breaks are everywhere, some so subtle you nearly miss them, and others right in your face. Swear words fly around so damn often you forget that this is a Marvel film, they're not at all bleeped out like they are in the comics. The blood and guts are absolutely everywhere, hell even the naked shots aren't held back either. Where other films would use tasteful angles to avoid showing someone's manhood in the middle of a fight, Deadpool doesn't shy away at all. Nothing in Deadpool is shy, or chaste, or anything of the sort. It's loud, in your face, hilarious, and absolutely brilliant. I only have two objections - 1) Hugh Jackman doesn't actually turn up, and neither does Wolverine, even though both are mentioned, and 2) Deadpool never physically meets Stan Lee, which could have been epic. Oh well, there's always next time for these two wishes!
In all seriousness though, Deadpool is an incredible film, and the perfect way to start this year's superhero offerings from Marvel. I can't wait to see what Wade will get up to next, all I can say is that it'll be absolutely epic.
Going into Deadpool, all I knew about him was the basics - he breaks the fourth wall, swears a lot, and is known as the 'Merc With A Mouth,' other than that, I knew nothing. I'd seen Wolverine Origins (which gets ripped to shreds in this film, or at least Hugh Jackman does anyway) but my knowledge was so skin thin I could have gone in completely ignorant. What I got in return was absolute genius - a completely new take on the 'hero origin' story, where the hero doesn't even want to be a hero. Wade Wilson (the man behind the mask) just wants revenge on the man who gave him his powers and destroyed his skin, and to save his girlfriend from the same man, he doesn't want to be a hero, and he makes sure everybody knows it.
To be honest, this is more of a revenge story than anything else, it's nearly two hours of Wade seeking revenge, with pieces of flashback to explain why Wade is after this guy in the first place. And somehow, that works, and more importantly, you fall in love with Wade as he does this.
From the opening scene, Wade Wilson is having gory shoot outs with his enemies henchman, destroying cars and turning one guy into a shish-kabob. The audience knows straight away that Wade is not a good person at all, and yet, as his story is told, you fall in love with him. It's all through his wise cracks and his love for his girlfriend Vanessa. He's ridiculous in so many ways, but absolutely lovable, not in a way that you'd take him home to meet your mum, but still very lovable. His jokes about Hugh Jackman (of which there are many), the X-Men in general, and pop culture are completely on point and hilarious.
At points, he gets a bit near the mark with his sex jokes, but that was the whole point of Deadpool in the first place - he's not supposed to be correct all the time. He's supposed to be absolutely insane, rude and dangerous, the antithesis of the anti-hero. And in this film, it's perfect for him. No other hero could pull this off at all, Wade Wilson is the least politically correct super hero ever, and it's absolutely perfect.
Deadpool in fact doesn't pull any punches, or hold back in any shape or form. The fourth wall breaks are everywhere, some so subtle you nearly miss them, and others right in your face. Swear words fly around so damn often you forget that this is a Marvel film, they're not at all bleeped out like they are in the comics. The blood and guts are absolutely everywhere, hell even the naked shots aren't held back either. Where other films would use tasteful angles to avoid showing someone's manhood in the middle of a fight, Deadpool doesn't shy away at all. Nothing in Deadpool is shy, or chaste, or anything of the sort. It's loud, in your face, hilarious, and absolutely brilliant. I only have two objections - 1) Hugh Jackman doesn't actually turn up, and neither does Wolverine, even though both are mentioned, and 2) Deadpool never physically meets Stan Lee, which could have been epic. Oh well, there's always next time for these two wishes!
In all seriousness though, Deadpool is an incredible film, and the perfect way to start this year's superhero offerings from Marvel. I can't wait to see what Wade will get up to next, all I can say is that it'll be absolutely epic.
Friday, 5 February 2016
Thursday, 21 January 2016
Top 5 Most Important Editing Points
Hey, so here’s the start of my series of blogs/vlogs on editing
your novels! I thought I’d start off with a check list of the most important
things you need to check for in your work. It’s so important that you get these
things right, as these are the basics of a novel that you have to get right in
order to get anywhere else.
11)
Check for spelling and grammar mistakes. That’s
an obvious one really, because spelling and grammar are very important things.
Spelling should be relatively easy thanks to spell check, but grammar is a bit
harder to deal with, but there’s a few things you can do to help yourself out.
One is to read your work allowed to yourself, speaking and reading engages
different parts of the brain, so you pick up more mistakes if you’re reading
aloud. It sounds nuts, I know, but it actually works. I’ve done it before, and
have had it recommended by several tutors so I know it works a treat. And two, you can use a website called
Hemingway, which checks through your work and clearly highlights sentences that
need improving. I’ve used it loads and it works great.
22)
Check your story for coherency. Make sure that
your story makes sense and that it is easy to understand. I’m not saying you
can’t have a convoluted plot, if you want that, go for it, but you have to make
it easy to understand, or you will lose your readers. Make sure that you’ve
explained your plot fully in your story as you’ve gone along, and not suddenly
including an important element with no explanation as to how it got there.
33)
Make sure you have tied up all loose ends.
Unless you’re writing a series and are planning on tying up loose ends in a
further book, all the fragments of the story have to come together to make
sense by the end. Go through and make a list of all your plot points, and check
off each thing you resolve and see if you have anything left over by the end.
If you do, you’re probably going to have to go back and resolve that point
somewhere. Obviously, if you’re planning a series out, you can resolve plot
points in a further book, but make sure that by the end of the series you have
actually done that. As for one off books, then you have to resolve all plot points
or you’re going to anger a lot of readers, as they will want answers.
44)
Make sure you’re consistent. If you’ve started
writing in first person, make sure you’ve stayed in first person throughout,
unless you have a specific reason to change it. Check to make sure your
characters physical attributes are consistent and haven’t suddenly changed for
no reason, make sure you’ve kept to the same tense throughout (a
flashback/memory is mostly where a change from present to past tense is
allowed, everything else should be in the same tense). All of these things are
really important, and you have to make sure you have kept everything like that
the exact same way throughout the novel, unless there’s reason for things to
change. If there’s no need for things to suddenly jump from present to past
tense, then make sure you’ve stayed in the original tense.
55)
Keep your story line on the right track. You have
to be certain that you’ve kept to your story line from the beginning until the
end. A story is going to go nowhere if your character starts off trying to find
their parents at the beginning, and ends up battling demons by the end, unless
they have been drawn into doing that while on their original quest. If they’ve
completed their original quest and have had to go on another straight away, fair
enough, but you have to make sure that that original quest has come to
completion by the end.
It’s all about consistency people;
every single thing has to be consistent and kept on a similar path. And yes,
editing is boring, I know. But it’s
an incredibly important part of the writing process, and will be the thing that
sharpens your story into the incredible epic it can be. The editing is so, so
important, and you have to check for these things and change anything that is
wrong, or your novel won’t go anywhere.
If you guys have anything else
you check for when you’re editing your stories, please comment below, I’ll add
anything to this main post, or start a new one, so we can create one massive
checklist of editing!
Wednesday, 13 January 2016
Get To Know My Reading Habits!
Well hey there, it's been a while! Christmas and New Years wiped me out, and then I had a tonne of essays and assignments to do. But as of last Monday, they're all over now, or at least they are until March, so I thought I'd make another blog post.
Now as I said in my latest video, which you can watch here:
I want to make more blog posts about writing, and not just reviews. I would start with some writing tips, but my brain has fallen out of my ears thanks to my assignments, so I thought I'd do a tag I found on readerwriterzoe's blog. It's about reading and books, so it counts... Mostly... Don't judge me, I'm TIRED! I'll be back with proper writing blogs soon.
Do you remember how you developed a love for reading?
I can't remember because I was too young, but apparently I was talking before I was walking because I had health problems as a child. I spent a lot of time in hospital, not walking around, instead listening to everyone around me talking, so I picked up words very quickly. That soon descended into my falling for words and all things literary, and because I come from a family of big readers, I was fed books my entire childhood, and I loved it!
Where do you usually read?
In my chair in my front room, and on the bus and train journey's to uni. Though journey reading is generally saved for things I need to read for whatever lecture I'm having that day. At home it's almost purely for enjoyment, though I have also been known to read fiction for fun on long car journey's too.
Do you prefer to read one book at a time or several at once?
Weirdly, both. If I'm reading a book/ebook, only one at a time. I get confused far too easily otherwise. But if we're talking fan fiction, I can easily jump all over the place, even when it's all in the same fandom. Don't ask why I can't do that with more traditional books, but I can't!
What is your favourite genre?
Oh, that's tough. I like most genre's, though I am fond of Young Adult and a bit of sci-fi.
What genre will you not read?
I'm really, really not fond of anything that's Victorian, I've been completely put off thanks to reading and analysing Dickens etc for uni. I'm not fond of romance either.
Do you have a favourite book?
That's like choosing your favourite child! I love The Hogfather by Terry Pratchett (if you hadn't guessed by me talking about it constantly, and I really like Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell, I'm so like Kath it's actually physically painful at times.
What is the worst book you've ever read?
Jesus, that's tough. Most recently, I really did not enjoy Wide Sargasso Sea, but I think the worst, and please don't kill me for this, but Alice In Wonderland. I read it for English A Level and wanted to slap Alice for most of the book, I know she's a small child, but I really cannot stand characters who cry at everything and accept everything so easily without questioning it.
What is the biggest book you've ever read?
Er... I have absolutely no idea. I've read some quite thick ones in the past but I can't think of anything that big right now. Ask me some other day, I may remember!
What was the last book you bought?
Nocturnes At Nohant - The Decade Of Chopin And Sand by Helen Farrish. I had to buy it for part of my uni course, and I wish I could say I've bought a book recently for my own reading pleasure, but I simply haven't had the time as of late! My best friend did get my a Doctor Who trivia book for Christmas though if that counts?
Which do you prefer? Library books or buying books?
BUYING! I love libraries too, but there is nothing better than staring at all the books you have bought and feeling incredibly proud that you have read them all. It's like a badge of honour, or several walls of them.
What are you reading now?
Unfortunately, nothing at the moment! I'm too busy to read! If I had time, I would be either finishing Fangirl, working my way further through the Discworld or finishing off the Buffy The Vampire Slayer comics. Or starting on the Marvel comic universe, because I want to know EVERYTHING these films are going to give me in the future!
What are the disadvantages of being a book-lover?
Having absolutely no money thanks to books, running out of space on kindle/bookshelves and bad movie adaptations ruining perfectly good stories with bad casting choices/leaving out important details.
Now as I said in my latest video, which you can watch here:
Do you remember how you developed a love for reading?
I can't remember because I was too young, but apparently I was talking before I was walking because I had health problems as a child. I spent a lot of time in hospital, not walking around, instead listening to everyone around me talking, so I picked up words very quickly. That soon descended into my falling for words and all things literary, and because I come from a family of big readers, I was fed books my entire childhood, and I loved it!
Where do you usually read?
In my chair in my front room, and on the bus and train journey's to uni. Though journey reading is generally saved for things I need to read for whatever lecture I'm having that day. At home it's almost purely for enjoyment, though I have also been known to read fiction for fun on long car journey's too.
Do you prefer to read one book at a time or several at once?
Weirdly, both. If I'm reading a book/ebook, only one at a time. I get confused far too easily otherwise. But if we're talking fan fiction, I can easily jump all over the place, even when it's all in the same fandom. Don't ask why I can't do that with more traditional books, but I can't!
What is your favourite genre?
Oh, that's tough. I like most genre's, though I am fond of Young Adult and a bit of sci-fi.
What genre will you not read?
I'm really, really not fond of anything that's Victorian, I've been completely put off thanks to reading and analysing Dickens etc for uni. I'm not fond of romance either.
Do you have a favourite book?
That's like choosing your favourite child! I love The Hogfather by Terry Pratchett (if you hadn't guessed by me talking about it constantly, and I really like Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell, I'm so like Kath it's actually physically painful at times.
What is the worst book you've ever read?
Jesus, that's tough. Most recently, I really did not enjoy Wide Sargasso Sea, but I think the worst, and please don't kill me for this, but Alice In Wonderland. I read it for English A Level and wanted to slap Alice for most of the book, I know she's a small child, but I really cannot stand characters who cry at everything and accept everything so easily without questioning it.
What is the biggest book you've ever read?
Er... I have absolutely no idea. I've read some quite thick ones in the past but I can't think of anything that big right now. Ask me some other day, I may remember!
What was the last book you bought?
Nocturnes At Nohant - The Decade Of Chopin And Sand by Helen Farrish. I had to buy it for part of my uni course, and I wish I could say I've bought a book recently for my own reading pleasure, but I simply haven't had the time as of late! My best friend did get my a Doctor Who trivia book for Christmas though if that counts?
Which do you prefer? Library books or buying books?
BUYING! I love libraries too, but there is nothing better than staring at all the books you have bought and feeling incredibly proud that you have read them all. It's like a badge of honour, or several walls of them.
What are you reading now?
Unfortunately, nothing at the moment! I'm too busy to read! If I had time, I would be either finishing Fangirl, working my way further through the Discworld or finishing off the Buffy The Vampire Slayer comics. Or starting on the Marvel comic universe, because I want to know EVERYTHING these films are going to give me in the future!
What are the disadvantages of being a book-lover?
Having absolutely no money thanks to books, running out of space on kindle/bookshelves and bad movie adaptations ruining perfectly good stories with bad casting choices/leaving out important details.
Tuesday, 29 December 2015
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!
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!
Saturday, 19 December 2015
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)