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Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Teen Spirit (2019) in Movies

Jul 2, 2019  
Teen Spirit (2019)
Teen Spirit (2019)
2019 | Drama, Music
6
4.3 (3 Ratings)
Movie Rating Watch
Seventeen year old Violet (Elle Fanning) loves to sing. She spends every free moment listening to her iPod or singing. But since her father left Violet and her mother alone, Marla (Agnieszka Grochowska), on a small farm on Isle of Wight, she has very little free time. Each morning, she feeds and cares for the animals on the farm before she heads to school. After school and every weekend she waits tables. Each night secretly she heads to a bar to sing for extra money to help save the farm, but also to have a chance to sing. When she sees a billboard advertising Teen Spirit, a singing competition show, she sees an opportunity to do the one thing that brings her joy and also help get her a better life. The only problem is that she will have to do it without her mother finding out. Since she is under eighteen she has to convince someone to act as her guardian. She asks an old drunk at the bar, Vlad (Zlatko Buric), who loves her singing to go with her. She soon finds out that the disheveled looking old Vlad used to be a famous opera singer. When she finds out she makes it to the second round Vlad helps convince her mother that she should continue chasing her dream with his help. Even though Violet is going against much more experienced and refined competition she is focus on continuing to chase her dream and make it to the Finals in London.

Teen Spirit is the directorial debut for Max Minghella who also wrote the film (written also The 9th Life of Louis Drax, actor in TVs The Handmaid’s Tale). The story was familiar, a small town girl with big dreams and talent trying to overcome overwhelming odds to accomplish a goal. But it is told in a unique way and I would call it a fresh take on the “Cinderella” story. The visuals were unique and interesting. Most of the singing scenes, and not just Violet, were up close or focused on the singer with the background out of focus. It was an original and interesting way to visually tell the story. Elle Fanning does a good job as the protagonist. She is both bold and vulnerable in the film. Zlatko Buric did a marvelous job and brought some much needed light moments in an overall darker film. I thought the music was good but maybe not my cup of tea.

I thought that overall this was an enjoyable film. Not really something I would generally seek out to watch but was originally made and had interesting characters. It is the same old story though and minus some originality in how it gets through the story the outcome is predictable. My wife enjoyed it a little more than I did so it would be a good date movie. Personally worth a stream or rental but not really theater prices.
  
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Veronica Pena (690 KP) rated A Stolen Life: A Memoir in Books

Feb 5, 2020  
A Stolen Life: A Memoir
A Stolen Life: A Memoir
Jaycee Dugard | 2011 | Fiction & Poetry
10
8.1 (9 Ratings)
Book Rating
I don't remember the first time I read this book. I think it was some point after Jaycee Lee Dugard had been found, but I was probably in late middle school, early high school - though I could be entirely wrong. I remember reading it the first time and having to stop every once in a while because it was so much. What she went through was so grueling and heartbreaking and to read her words, unfiltered, with all of her raw emotions, it's hard. That doesn't even feel like a good enough word for it.

More than anything, this memoir gives you hope. It gives you strength. It pulls your heart out to be reminded that there are these people in this world - the kind that could do this to people, let alone an 11-year-old girl. But despite all that, Jaycee remains somewhat positive. She knows that she has work to do on herself, on her relationships with her family, with the world, with life, but she also knows that she's going to be okay. I love that she never thinks that the recovery process is done and while this book was written several years ago, I can't imagine that mindset has changed much.

I think this book is phenomenal. Her story is insane, but her triumph is what wins you over in the end. I'm eager to read her other book and see where she is now and how she's doing. I would 1000% recommend this book.
  
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Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2340 KP) rated Finn and the Intergalactic Lunchbox in Books

Feb 16, 2021 (Updated Feb 16, 2021)  
Finn and the Intergalactic Lunchbox
Finn and the Intergalactic Lunchbox
Michael Buckley | 2020 | Children
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Traveling the Galaxy via…a Lunchbox?
Finn is a typical almost twelve-year-old. He’s got a younger sister who annoys him, he’s struggling to make friends at his new school, he’s being picked on by a bully, and he has a crush on a classmate. His life changes when he accidentally takes his sister’s lunchbox to school one day. When it starts to glow, he discovers that it’s become a portal to another part of our galaxy. On, and this portal is the key to a battle against a race called The Plague that destroys planets. With The Plague now looking at Earth as their next target, Finn is going to have to come up with some kind of plan to save the world.

It’s been a few years since I picked up one of Michael Buckley’s books, so I was thrilled to see he had a new series out. As you might suspect from the description, this is a wild, fast-paced right that I found hard to put down. And I haven’t even mentioned the seven-foot-tall robot yet. I did feel it got a little too apocalyptic for me at times, but that’s a matter of personal taste. The characters are good, although the one that got the most development here was a cliché. The creativity that went into this book is outstanding with lots of details that are fun. Kids will eat this book up and be anxious for the next one when they are done.