Little Talks

[Warning: This post contains spoilers] The X-Men movies have never been, shall we say, well received. They are certainly not the worst superhero movies out there, and true Marvel fans enjoy them nonetheless. Logan felt quite different from the rest of the franchise. It was missing all of the hokieness of the originals, the team atmosphere of the later films, and the overall adventure of the franchise. Logan follows in the dystopian trend of the last few years, evoking something of a Mad Max idea. The social commentary provided by the dynamic between Xavier and Magneto is evidently missing from this film, but the exploration of a future in which mutants are being hunted and killed was something that I think the franchise needed (especially since Days of Future Past spent a lot of time in the past). For so long, these films have been asking us what it means to be different and where those who are different belong. But what would really happen if the world turned on them? Of cours...

The Disney live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast appeared, from the trailers, to be nothing more than a replica of the original animated movie. The details were somewhat different (obviously), but the story clearly wasn't going to change and the scenes were done exactly the same way. Beauty and the Beast has always been one of my favourite Disney movies, or at least Belle has always been my favourite princess. I was extremely happy to see that they had cast Emma Watson in the role, because she is perfect for it! But I worried that the movie might not be that interesting if nothing changed. After all, the live-action remakes began during the height of the rewritten fairy-tale trend (see Maleficent and Cinderella , also Once Upon a Time ). As disappointed as I might be with an altered storyline, I was hoping for a new angle on things. Watching this on the plane ride home over the summer, I was happily surprised to discover that the narrative was largely unchanged, but th...

Hello internet, my old friend! It's me! After months of silence I have finally returned. I look back at the past semester and wonder how I never once found the time to write a single post. And yet, the number of books that I have read and want to discuss only grew longer. I thought that the Christmas break would certainly give me more of an opportunity, and yet this is the first time I have really been able to sit down and type out what has been on my mind. So what's the issue here? Put simply, I've become an adult, and it turns out that adulthood = busyness. I should have expected as much, right? I mean, my parents have always struggled to find time to do things for themselves. It's been years since I've seen my mom read a book just for the fun of it. The problem is that I was mislead when I went abroad. I lived on my own for months, I took care of all of my own shopping, chores, and cooking, and I believed that I had finally experienced independent living and was...

Philippa Gregory has a way of making the women in history relatable and real, and in The Red Queen she manages to make Margaret Beaufort (mother of King Henry VII) into a woman characterised by her ambition and care for her son. The thing that is so unique about Gregory's female leads is that they are likeable, but they still have flaws. Margaret is consumed by the idea of fulfilling God's calling for her son's life, to the point that she continually sends him away from her to keep him safe. She thinks she is doing the right thing, and maybe she is, but she finds it hard to be a mother to the boy who barely knows her. Instead he is loyal to his uncle, the one man she has ever loved but can never be with. But, as with all of Gregory's books in this series, there are questions and doubts about what it means to be a powerful woman in a time and place dominated by rich and powerful men. The main question of this text is this: is Margaret trying to follow God's desire...

The final movie in the Harry Potter series is largely dedicated to the Battle of Hogwarts. All you really need to know about what happens in this movie is that Voldemort and his army rise and come to attack Hogwarts, while Harry, his friends, and the Order flock to the school to protect it. You might wonder at a time like this why the biggest battle in wizarding history is essentially a lot of evil lackeys and the Dark Lord versus students, teachers, and the few people who remained loyal to Dumbledore. Somehow I hardly questioned that in the book, but the movie made me question it. Then again, there is a recurring theme in the book of adults refusing to believe what is going on, but many students are convinced by Harry and the events at their school that Voldemort is alive and coming for The Boy Who Lived. Sounds an awful lot like Jesus' speech in Mark 10 when he describes the way that children are so much more willing to believe and trust than us skeptical adults. There are more b...

I had the amazing pleasure of being able to read Philippa Greggory's Counsins' War series while being in England. I even got the chance to visit York as well as tour the Tower of London, which only made this book more real to me. I am completely in love with the way that Philippa Gregory brings history to life. Not only that, but she is able to make women who lay at the margins of history to the forefront of the story in a way that makes them strong, ambitious, gentle, loving, and real. Her portrayal of Elizabeth Woodville had me amazed and inspired by a young widow who fell in love and became Queen of England. I was touched by the love she showed for her husband, her children, and her family. But I was also wary about her ambition, and at times I was downright angry with the way that she so willingly risked everything and ignored her children's wishes in order to get what she wants. She does not seem to have been a woman who was worried about making enemies. It is bo...

I've just been thinking about end of summer, my last year of university, the future, and making the most of life. I wish I had some deeper thoughts to share with you all today, but all I can say is that you shouldn't waste your time on things that you don't enjoy. Make the most of the situations you can't change, and change whatever you need to in order to live a life that makes you happy. Make time for God, find a job you love, indulge sometimes and make healthy choices when you can. That's my advice for you. Perhaps another good piece of advice, one that I've been slowly finding on my own, comes from About Time : live every day as if you've deliberately come back to that one day to enjoy it as if it were the last full day of your life. Let the small things go, and try to be present in every moment.