Little Talks

As a huge fan of the Jeremy Brett and Benedict Cumberbatch version of Sherlock Holmes, I'll admit that I was extremely hesitant to watch this movie. I love Ian McKellan, believe me, but I wasn't sure if his Sherlock would match my image of such an iconic character. I was pleasantly surprised to find that he did a good job at portraying Sherlock in a way that fit the character (especially as he is described in the books) but with his own twist. Also, Ian was able to play with it because he had the advantage of being able to portray an aged Sherlock Holmes, which is something we never really get to see. Mr. Holmes  sees Sherlock late in his life, where he is enjoying retirement practicing beekeeping in Sussex. Watson has passed away, and Sherlock decides that he would like to write down his last case, so that he can tell it from his own perspective. He is also doing this because he is losing his memory, and wants to make sure that this case does not escape him.  His struggles to...

So I usually try to pick quotations that have something to do with what is going on in my life, or how I feel, or what I have been thinking about, although they are occasionally just quotations that I find interesting or profound and that I think might be interesting for anyone just popping by the site to read quickly. Today's is one of the latter. I wasn't entirely sure what I wanted this one to be, but I was never intending to find this. Still, it's a good one. And I am (still) in the process of reading Les Miserables , so this seems fitting.

This movie has to be one of Disney's more unique ideas. The story is about girl whose family moves to a new city, and she has to learn to deal with the things that are changing in her life, including herself. What makes this film so special is that it is told mostly through the perspective of her emotions. This is a whimsical and, though clearly fictional, effective representation of how we process things in our minds. Riley is the girl, and her emotions are Joy, Sadness, Disgust, Anger, and Fear. Growing up and moving makes her feel differently about her past. Memories that were once happy become sad, because she misses them. But in her mind, the sadness is invading her memories because Sadness wants to help out and keeps touching things that the other emotions tell her not to. They don't accept Sadness, and they are afraid that she is going to mess things up. Meanwhile, Riley's whole world falls apart and the islands of her personality separate from head quarters. Joy and...

Long Division  by Kiese Laymon I am still unsure how I feel about this book. What I can say for sure is that it is a unique book, and really interesting if you're looking for something that will make you think. Long Division  is about a teenager named City. It introduces him as a student in a mainly African-American community in Mississippi. The story opens in 2013 where City, a promising student at his school, is chosen to compete in a sentence-making contest, similar to a spelling bee. He realizes how his race affects and melts down on live television, becoming an overnight internet celebrity. City begins to read a book he got from his principal, only to find that the character is him. In Long Division (the book within the book, which has the same name just to complicate matters) City lives in the same town, but in 1975. 1975 City discovers a hole out in the woods which his crush has learned can allow people to travel in time. In this world, the book Long Division...

Tonight was the end of an era. Tonight we said goodbye to Castle with its eighth and final finale. It is only now sinking in as I sit here writing that the journey I have been on with Richard Castle and Kate Beckett for the last few years has reached an end. I'm choking back the tears so that I don't draw attention to myself while I write this (my sister is in the room with me). I wanted desperately to post something when I heard about Stana leaving the show, but I decided to wait until her role on Castle had officially come to a close, and I am glad that I did because now I can pay tribute to all of the amazing characters on this show, who have become a part of myself; and I'm sure they have become as much a part of all of the other fans. Castle , like many other police shows, was inspired by our good old friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes. But it was so much more. The writers took that classic format and made it all their own. Stephen J. Cannell no doubt played a large part i...

I found The Princess Diaries  movies on television this weekend, and rediscovered the awesomeness that is Mia Thermopolis. And so I would like to take some time to remember how amazing these movies were. For starters, these are quintessential early 2000s teen/rom-com movies. They have the right level of comedy, childishness, teen drama, and romance. And the love stories are good. They're not just love at first site. The characters are somewhat eccentric, but totally relatable to everyone who grew up in that decade. Seriously, we all made those questionable clothing choices, and we all thought cheerleaders were stupid and/or mean. Don't ask me why. But I'm getting no off topic. I especially love the second movie in this series, and I'll tell you why. These films are perfect because they made all girls believe that they could be a princess. Mia was nothing like what any of us pictured when we thought of a princess, especially having grown up with the classic Disney prince...

Inspired by watching The Princess Diaries I picked two because I couldn't decide which I liked more.

So I wrote the post for this one a few weeks ago, and published the whole thing (I thought), but somehow most of it got lost so I deleted it and forgot about blogging for a while. Now that I have taken a break, I would like to be more active on here again. So let's talk about Skim  by Jillian and Mariko Tamaki. This is a graphic novel written for teens. The author is from Toronto (yeah Toronto!) so the story is also set there. Skim  is about an Asian-Canadian teenaged girl dealing with depression and the isolation that comes from being different. Her race has always made her stand out, and her interest in Wicca has made her an outsider at her Catholic high school. Furthermore, she has a broken arm so she is unable to do what the other girls can do. The storyline is centred on the death of a star volleyball player from a nearby all-boys school. His recent ex-girlfriend, Katie, is one of Skim's classmates. His death begins to change a lot of things in Skim's life ...