Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi (Book Review)

Under the Never Sky

by Veronica Rossi

374 Pages
HarperCollins, 1/3/2012
Young Adult
Finished in 5 days
Another Review…

My Rating: ★★★★

Amazon.com / BN.com

 

"They called the world beyond the walls of the Pod "the Death Shop."

My Review: Although this has a bit of a love story towards the tail end of the book it isn't overwhelming at all. It took me longer than usual (five days) to finish this book but only because my entire life cannot be devoted to reading books. I wish it could be!

Back to the story, it's written from the third person but the point-of-view goes back and forth between the main characters. Aria, the Dweller girl, who starts out a scared, weak and naive girl, but who quickly finds herself becoming a strong and independent woman in the end. Then there's Peregrine, Perry, the Savage and worlds away in attitude and personality from Aria.

They live on the same planet but two different worlds. Aria has lived underground all her life with the rest of society which went down there to stay away from the 'aether sky' which appears to be destroying the planet in more ways than one. It is this sky that Aria dubs the 'never sky' because it never does what you need or expect it to do. In any event, their paths cross, more than once, and although they seem to hate each other, they quickly realize they need each other to get what they want.

Of course you can easily guess they end up falling each other. And as most tragic love stories go, they really shouldn't be together.

Aria is seeking her mother as well as answers to questions that keep piling up along the journey. Perry is searching for his nephew as well as retribution for the guilt he's held inside for as long as he's been alive. Together they will get some answers and as the reader I was glued to wanting to take the journey with them every step of the way. I'll probably add Through the Ever Night as a February read now.

Synopsis: Since she’d been on the outside, she’d survived an Aether storm, she’d had a knife held to her throat, and she’d seen men murdered. This was worse.

Exiled from her home, the enclosed city of Reverie, Aria knows her chances of surviving in the outer wasteland—known as The Death Shop—are slim. If the cannibals don’t get her, the violent, electrified energy storms will. She’s been taught that the very air she breathes can kill her. Then Aria meets an Outsider named Perry. He’s wild—a savage—and her only hope of staying alive.

A hunter for his tribe in a merciless landscape, Perry views Aria as sheltered and fragile—everything he would expect from a Dweller. But he needs Aria’s help too; she alone holds the key to his redemption. Opposites in nearly every way, Aria and Perry must accept each other to survive. Their unlikely alliance forges a bond that will determine the fate of all who live under the never sky.

In her enthralling debut, Veronica Rossi sends readers on an unforgettable adventure set in a world brimming with harshness and beauty.

To learn more about Veronica Rossi please visit her official website.

My Overstuffed Bookshelf Challenge, 52 Books in 52 Weeks & A to Z Challenge

Les Miserables (Musical) (2012) (Movie Review)

Director: Tom Hooper
Screenwriter(s): Claude-Michel Schonberg, Alain Boublil, Victor Hugo
Starring: Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe & Anne Hathaway
Genre(s): drama/musical/romance
Premiere: December 25th, 2012
Run Time: 160 minutes
Producer(s): Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Debra Hayward, & Cameron Mackintosh
Distributor: Universal Pictures
My Rating: ★★★★

Taglines: Fight. Dream. Hope. Love.
 
[mantra-button-color url="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1707386/" color="#47AFFF"]IMDb[/mantra-button-color]
 
 
Movie Trailer:


Storyline: Prisoner 24601, known as Jean Valjean, is released from prison and breaks parole to create a new life for himself while evading the grip of the persistent Inspector Javert. Set post-revolutionary France, the story reaches resolution against the background of the June Rebellion.

My Review: There are few movies that get me so emotionally involved I cry more than once. I think the last movie that brought me to tears (whether they be of joy or happiness) was Don't Back Down and The Help before that one. This movie made me cry half a dozen times at least!

For those who know very little about the background of this movie: it is based off of the Broadway play NOT the book! However, the Broadway play is based off the book by Victor Hugo. The movie is like Evita in that it's continuous singing and music from beginning to end. There are a few moments where the characters are talking not in a "sing-song" fashion but those are so few and far between you'd hardly notice it. 

A few words on the characters singing voices: they all were amazing. From the obvious stars of the show, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway and Hugh Jackman, to the minor players, they all were superb. And it must be noted that the director, Tom Hooper, in order to make the movie seem as authentic as possible, had the cast sing live while filming the movie instead of in a soundstage. Also, let it be noted that Anne Hathaway's mother played Fantine back in her "hay-day" so Anne did not want to play that role. She wanted to play Cossette but unfortunately is too old for the part. Personally, I think she's played her best role as Fantine. Her two important songs, I Dreamed a Dream and the Epilogue.

As a story goes, the telling of it was smooth and transitioned well. I did not feel like I was sitting in the theater for three hours. There are some heartbreaking moments, but if you know the translation of Les Miserables, loosely meaning the poor and forgotten souls, you have a certain understanding of the despair. Amongst the depression are some funny moments, but they are few and far between. It was ripe with key elements that make a movie great. Music, lyrics, characters, story-lines  and believability. Do not go into this movie expecting a happy ending or a happy feeling. The young loves remain young and in love but that is a small token compared to what happens around them.

**SPOILER ALERT**
There is a young boy in the movie. It is hard not to look at him and see the children from Stony Hook Elementary School in his eyes. His character is deeply involved in the Resistance during the time of the French Revolution in the early 1800's. When you are first introduced to him you can't help but fall in love quickly. He sings of rising up against a corrupt society who speaks of helping the poor but never truly do. To me, he is the glue that keeps the boys of the Revolution together and helps them to remember what they are fighting for. You forget he is only a child. You forget, until the fighting gets serious. The army's are surrounding the young boys fighting for freedom and there is little hope of survival in everyone's eyes. Their only hope is to go to the bodies of the dead and retrieve what little gun powder they have. The young boy sees this as an opportunity to use his small size to go within the line of fire to retrieve what is needed to help. He feels, as I'm sure we all watching did, that the enemy would not stoop so low as to kill a child. How wrong we all were. The first shot gets him in the leg and our hearts collectively skip a beat. He continues on with his task braving the pain of having been shot by the enemy. Almost daring them to shoot him again. They do. This time it is fatal. This time, our hearts break. The sight of his lifeless body laying there after being shot dead was unexpected to me. There wasn't a dry eye in the house. And then afterwards, when Marius, half of the young lovers, is the only survivor of the massacre of all his friends, returns to where the fighting started and ended, he sings a song that again brought tears to everyone's eyes. They went like this:

There's a grief that can't be spoken.
There's a pain goes on and on.
Empty chairs at empty tables
Now my friends are dead and gone.
**END OF SPOILER ALERT**

The common theme, evident throughout the movie, is God. He is everywhere and in everyone. There is much to be said for the power of forgiveness as well as the power of guilt and sense of duty. God is behind it all. And no one says it (or sings it) better than Fantine and Jean Valjean near the end of the movie:

And remember the truth that once was spoken
To love another person is to see the face of God

TCM Presents... Kings Row (1942)

Director: Sam Wood

Screenwriter(s): Casey Robinson

Producer: Hal B. Wallis

Distributor: Warner Bros.

In Theaters: February 2, 1942

Run Time: 127 minutes

Starring: Ann Sheridan, Robert Cummings, Ronald Reagan & Claude Rains

Genre(s): drama/mystery/romance

Storyline: Five children in an apparently ideal American small town find their lives changing as the years pass near the turn of the century in 1900. Parris and Drake, both of whom have lost their parents, are best friends; Parris dreams of becoming a doctor, studying under the father of his sweetheart Cassie, while Drake plans on becoming a local businessman when he receives his full inheritance - juggling girlfriends in the meantime. As they become adults, the revelations of local secrets threaten to ruin their hopes and dreams. (from imdb.com)

Movie Trailer:

http://youtu.be/LxmseMP9eFo

My Review: This is one of those movies you have to give some credit to for trying. In the 1940’s a lot of the movies made discussed controversial subjects but could never come right out and say what they were otherwise the movie would not be allowed an audience. I enjoy watching movies from this time period the most because it shows you just how clever the writers and directors had to be to get away with depicting certain subjects we still can’t quite get right today. Now, you might find this movie a bit juvenile with what the movie industry found untouchable back then, but the 1940’s was a very private time and a very tense time especially with WWII looming in the backdrop. A great movie had to be one that could distract you from what was going on in your own life.

Here we see a seemingly “good town” as it professes to right from the beginning when it shows you the towns motto. I think the word “good” is there about 5 times at least! Well good it is not. We all know there are skeletons in every families closet and this town was full of families with secrets. Some of which are insanity. This plays a big part in the movie since it’s around the time that psychiatry is being accepted by the medical profession and taught in schools in Europe. The medical profession is also delved into in a most diabolical way. Imagine a doctor who performs gruesome surgeries on patients he feels have sinned and therefore their penance is to go through life in pain, sometimes death? What if that doctor was highly respected by the community he serves, therefore his methods are never questioned?

I watched this movie on a day where Claude Rains was being showcased. Granted he isn’t in the movie for very long, his performance was stellar. He plays the dark and deceptive doctor who turns out to have done all he did for the betterment of his family.

My only criticism is the movie left me with a lot of “what ifs” as well as unanswered (or perhaps unanswerable) questions. I could see so many angles they could have taken in truly depicting this town as “sinful” (the description of the movie). Yet they played it safe and in doing so left me unsatisfied with the end result. If not for discovering (during the closing credits) that Ronald Reagan was in it (yes, this is the first movie I’ve seen of his) and Ann Sheridan as well, I probably would have given it a lesser grade.

My Rating: C-

Step Up Revolution (2012) (Movie Review)

Director: Scott Speer

Screenwriter(s): Jenny Mayer

Producer: Jon M. Chu

Distributor: Summit Entertainment

In Theaters: July 27^th, 2012

Run Time: 99 minutes

Starring: Kathryn McCormick, Ryan Guzman, & Cleopatra Coleman

Genre(s): drama/music/romance

Storyline: The Mob sets the dancing against the vibrant backdrop of Miami. Emily arrives in Miami with aspirations of becoming a professional dancer and soon falls in love with Sean, a young man who leads a dance crew in elaborate, cutting-edge flash mobs, called “The Mob”. When a wealthy business man threatens to develop The Mob’s historic neighborhood and displace thousands-of people, Emily must work together with Sean and The Mob to turn their performance art into protest art, and risk losing their dreams to fight for a greater cause. (From IMBD.com)

Movie Trailer:


My Review: What can I say about a movie that has managed to completely dissapoint me on many levels? Let me start by my choice of movie posters you see above. I chose that poster specifically because 1. I can’t stand the one with the “love interest” as the main picture and 2. It’s a fabrication of the truth in order to get those of us who love Moose and the last 2 Step Up movies HE HAS ACTUALLY BEEN IN to go see this one. Well, SPOILER ALERT, if you’re planning on seeing this movie in hopes of seeing more Moose moves, I suggest you buy Step Up 2 & 3 because he’s in this movie for all of about 3 minutes. I actually think it’s less than that, but I’m rounding up here. He’s in the very tail end of the movie and gets very little camera time. While I love Moose and was very upset he wasn’t in the movie at all I was even more upset that neither was MSA or the Pirates. With the exception of 2 representatives from each crew, this needed all the help it could get!

What differed so much for me was also the lack of a competition mixed into the story. At least with the last two movies (I refuse to acknowledge the first Step Up movie) there was a true purpose and goal. This movie, while it did not lack in dialogue (more talking than dancing for sure) did not connect with me whatsoever. I did not feel their desire to make statements with their dancing, something I felt they did more of with their opening dance routine than when they decided (towards the end) to make statements through dance.

The routines were interesting and definitely showcased a lot of other dances that we wouldn’t normally consider cool and that worked. But being there was only 5 dances in this movie and each one was at most 5 minutes long that still left about 75 minutes of dialogue. Are you cringing yet? I sure was sitting in the movie theater. Now, I’ve been told there were the same amount of dances in the other two movies I happened to love. I have not verified if this is true. But if it is, I’d argue the element that was missing then was bringing back the old familiar faces. Cause as far as I’m concerned there was nothing memorable about The Mob. If you were to ask me to name let alone describe any of the dancers from this new crew, all I got for you is the smokin’ hot DJ, the graffiti dude, and Twitch (not his name in the movie I know). The latter also doesn’t count because he’s from Step Up 3-D, an original from The Pirates crew.

The love interest was even more corny than the first movie and her ambition to join that ballet company was a joke that shouldn’t even have been a story line since it falls flat in the end. The only mention we get of that whole unnecessary ordeal is when she, in passing, tells someone (probably her father or love interest) that she didn’t make it into the dance company. What?! After you made me suffer through Mia Michaels character acting like she’s all that and a bag of chips you left it like that? The least you could have done was had her among the crowd when Emily (I think that was her characters name) danced that dumb number with her love interest at the end of the movie. What was the point? it was an odd place and time especially since she wasn’t there to see it, love it, and open up a spot for her. That would have made the movie score a “C+” with me at least!

If they dare to do a 5th Step Up movie, I will need MSA and The Pirates to be in it and for more than just a few minutes before I’d even consider going to see it.

My Rating: C-

The Women (Movie Review)

Title: The Women

Director: George Cukor


Screenwriter(s): Anita Loos, Jane Murfin & Clare Boothe Luce (play)


Producer: Hunt Stromberg


Distributor: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer


In Theaters: September 1st, 1939


Run Time: 133 minutes


Color: Black & White


Starring: Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, Rosalind Russell


Genre(s): comedy/drama


Storyline: Wealthy Mary Haines is unaware her husband is having an affair with shopgirl Crystal Allen. Sylvia Fowler and Edith Potter discover this from a manicurist and arrange for Mary to hear the gossip. On the train taking her to a Reno divorce Mary meets the Countess and Miriam (in an affair with Fowler's husband). While they are at Lucy's dude ranch, Fowler arrives for her own divorce and the Countess meets fifth husband-to-be Buck. Back in New York, Mary's ex is now unhappily married to Crystal who is already in an affair with Buck. When Sylvia lets this story slip at a country club dinner, Crystal brags of her plans for a still wealthier marriage, only to find the Countess is the source of all Buck's money. Crystal must return to the perfume counter and Mary runs back to her husband. Written by Ed Stephan


Movie Trailer:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZV0k77ih8Q]

My Review: Whenever I see an old movie in the movie theater it's an experience. Especially when I'm going to the Chelsea Clearview Cinemas where..."dreams come true!" You have to have attended a screening to get that. Also, the added bonus to seeing these Clearview Classics is if you go to the 7pm showing you get a pre-show well worth the price of admission and then some! Ms. Hedda Lettuce is phenomenal in her opening act of banter and pure insults that she dishes with such panache you'd wish she were a part of your deranged family.

This movie was extra special because not only did Ms. Lettuce watch the entire movie with us but she kept her mic on and had hilarious quips throughout the movie that added a little lightheartedness to the seriousness of this movie. Don't get me wrong, this movie is a comedy. Who doesn't like a good chick fight? And the insults that the women of this movie throw back and forth at each other is enough to make you angry with revenge.

The movie, in short, is about the lives a group of women lead in a short period of time. Some are friends with each other and others are just friendly to each other in order to better stab you in the back later. Just because they are of the upper class does not mean you can't bring their persona down to your level and be able to understand their strife. There main character is the woman scorned. And although Norma Shearer tries to play cool and unaffected by her husbands cheating on her with the girl at the perfume counter, it isn't until she realizes she's got nothing left to lose that her claws come out for revenge. I've never seen her act in any other movie but from what I've seen of her in this movie she isn't half bad.

Honestly, of all the women of the 1930's and 40's who I felt was missing from this movie, it was Bette Davis. I think she would have done and Oscar worthy performance of Mary. Especially when she transitioned from complacent wife to hell cat after her man! But I digress...

My favorite actresses in this all female cast (no men are ever shown, just mentioned, A LOT!) were Rosalind Russell who plays Sylvia and Mary Boland who plays the Countess that Norma Shearer character meets while on the train headed to Vegas. Apparently that's where you went away to hide while the paper work was going through on the divorce back then. You would go away on "holiday" and go back home a new woman once the divorce was all settled. How convenient? The Countess has been through countless husbands. I believe she says she's either on husband number four or five when she befriends Mary. Her experience has left her far wiser than her years.

Countess DeLave: Oh, l'amour, l'amour, how it can let you down. Hmm. How it can pick you up again.

If you're looking for a feel good chick flick movie, check this one out because it will make you laugh, it will make you cry, but most of all, it will leave you feeling that all too lacking empowerment of women! Oh, but don't bother with the Meg Ryan remake. This original is always the best.

My Rating: A

The Bishop's Wife (1948) (Movie Review)

The Bishop’s Wife (109 minutes, B&W)

directed by Henry Koster

Robert Nathan (novel), Writer

Samuel Goldwyn, Producer

RKO Radio Pictures, Distributor

February 16th, 1948 (in theaters)

comedy/drama/fantasy/romance

My Rating:

Starring

Cary Grant, Loretta Young, David Niven, Monty Woolley, Elsa Lanchester

Storyline: (IMDb.com) An Episcopal Bishop, Henry Brougham, has been working for months on the plans for an elaborate new cathedral which he hopes will be paid for primarily by a wealthy, stubborn widow. He is losing sight of his family and of why he became a churchman in the first place. Enter Dudley, an angel sent to help him. Dudley does help everyone he meets, but not necessarily in the way they would have preferred. With the exception of Henry, everyone loves him, but Henry begins to believe that Dudley is there to replace him, both at work and in his family’s affections, as Christmas approaches.


Movie Trailer:
 

My Review: From the moment I started this movie I was hooked. I’ve always been an admirer of Cary Grant’s work. If you’ve seen any of his movies, his comedies are my favorite. And although this movie does have some laughs and humor, it’s underlying theme that miracles can and do actually happen, is present from beginning to end. To me, this will easily become a timeless classic. How I’ve never seen this movie before is beyond me.

I am not familiar with Loretta Young’s work but when Monty Woolley appeared on the screen I gasped and smiled simultaneously! His portrayal of Mr. Whiteside, alongside Bette Davis, in The Man Who Came to Dinner is a riot on so many levels! But I’m straying off topic.

The other surprise “star” in this movie was Elsa Lanchester. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her in a starring role but she is a presence in any movie that demands to be recognized, and do I ever! This is one of the smallest roles I’ve seen her play but her eyes are what make her scenes all the more important to the movie.

Movies from the 1940’s were about more than what we over use today in movies. Back then you HAD to be a good actor! And every person in this cast was great. Now onto the movie itself!

David Niven who plays the Bishop seems to be battling his own “demons” if you will when an angel comes to him. The Bishop thinks he’s there to help him secure his precious cathedral he’s been working on, but when he feels everything is NOT going his way he quickly tries to “pray away” this angel. Little does he realize it’s his wife that brought the angel there and it is only she who can send him on.

The most memorable scene for me in this movie would have to be when Cary Grant, who as you may have guessed, plays the angel, is telling little Debby (the daughter of the bishop and his wife) a story. I’ve never heard a bible story told quite like that before and I was hanging on his every word the entire time he told it. I won’t spoil it for you by telling you which story he tells the little girl. Just watch the movie and witness the miracles that unfold in all the lives the angel touches.