Wednesday 29 October 2014

The Film Review ~ Gone Girl



Rating: 5/5

I read this book about a year ago and no book has compared since. I was really hesitant about watching the film but after reading the reviews and hearing Reese Witherspoon discussing it I had to go. 

WOW! I didn't move for two and a half hours. It was entralling. I have never seen Ben Affleck act like that. He was incredible. As for Rosamund Pike... she was PERFECT! She was terrifying. 

It was as if someone stepped into my brain and put my vision of the book onto the screen. Everyone was perfectly cast. The music was brilliant. The setting was hauntingly good. It was just ... AMAZING!

I have nothing but positives to say about it because there is nothing bad about it!

When I saw Gillian Flynn had written the script I could not wait for the movie to start. She is one amazing storytelling both in words and images. 

Saturday 25 October 2014

The Book Review ~ The Painted Girls



Rating: 5/5

The minute I handed in my thesis I dove into this book and I was not disappointed. It was recommended to me by my sisters bestie and she has good taste!

"The Painted Girls" is the story of three sisters living in Paris in the 1800s fighting against life in the slums by studying ballet at the opera house. Buchanan is a master of the time filling her novel with both fact and fiction twisting the news of the time into her story. She is a true talent for historical fiction. 

The story is narrated by the two elder sisters Antoinette and Marie. 
Marie is the young dreamer destined for the stage. Her character is based on the Degas statue 'little dancer'. She enters the opera ballet and models for Degas. When Marie realizes that she is not bringing enough money into it she begins working mornings in a bakery to feed her family. 

Antoinette is strong headed and happily speaks her mind. It has got her thrown out of the ballet and so she must find work as a walk on. She appears in Ă‰mile Zola’s Naturalist masterpiece L’Assommoir where she falls in love with a dangerous young man who leads her into a life of crime. 


 With the appearance of Degas and a glimpse into the sordid world of sponsored ballerina's the readers follow these girls through the world of their dreams and their harsh realities. 

It is unbelievably moving. As a helpless reader you must watch these beautiful young girls learn the horror of real life. 
For those readings it is a must read.