Lessons Learned and Applied - The Parallels Between Singing and Writing.

I've contributed a blog post to Gill Polack's Women's History Month blog. This is a slightly rejigged and expanded version of the one that appeared on Ruth Booth's blog last year. http://www.gillianpolack.com/jacey-bedford-womens-history-month/ and on LJ http://gillpolack.livejournal.com/1373839.html

Movie of the Week: Insurgent

I continue to be impressed by the Divergent/Insurgent franchise.  Presumably this is the middle film of three (though since trilogies seem to be expanding into four movies these days, maybe all bets are off on that one, especially since there's already a collection of short stories focusing on hero of the piece, Four.). I think Insurgent holds up pretty well as a second movie. There are bound to be parallels drawn with Hunger Games and for my money this is better.

With Hunger Games I read the books first and then saw the movies. This time I'm doing it the other way round. I read Veronica Roth's Divergent after seeing the first movie and was struck by the adherence to book-plot. I can't say whether that's the case this time because I haven't read the book yet.

Shailene Woodley and Theo James are an attractive pair of leads with good on-screen chemistry. The story takes up just a few days after the close of Divergent with Tris and Four and the escapees taking refuge in Amity - the agricultural area outside the city proper (but still inside the fence). The plot centres of Janine (the antagonist) trying to open a message from the past and finding she needs a divergent to do it - and not just any Divergent either, it has to be Tris.

No more plot spoilers. Well worth seeing if you saw the first one. I'm not suire whether it's a good entry point if you didn't. My recommendation is to get the DVD of Divergent before seeing this.

Movie of the Week: Home

A Dreamworks animated adaptation of Adam Rex's children's book, The True Meaning of Smekday featuring the voice of Jim Parsons (Sheldon from Big Bang Theory) as Oh, a somewhet incompetent but endearing alien. Given that the alien Boov have taken over Earth and moved all the humans to encampments in Australia Oh is starting several points down in the popularity poll when he meets a surviving free human girl, Tip (voiced by Rihanna), who's mother has been kidnapped along with all the other humans.

Much of the humour comes from the unlikely pairing of human and alien. As alien invasion movies go it's pretty benign, but pleasant entertainment. There are some sweet moments.

Movie of the Week: Cinderella

Bad timing. We arrived at the cinema to find it's half term week, so instead of the usual audience of half a dozen we were surrounded by tiny girls, some in fairy outfits. Ah well, at least they were well behaved.

This was a little girls' film despite being directed by Kenneth Brannagh. No surprises and few deviations from the Perrault fairy tale (though no cutting off of heels). I still have a sneaking liking for Ever After - A Cinderella Story (1998, Drew Barrymore) and, of course The Slipper and the Rose (Richard Chamberlain/Gemma Craven, 1976), but this is a perfectly servicable Cinderella interpretation with Lily James as Ella and Richard Madden (Game of Thrones) as Kit, the prince. Helena Bonham Carter is the fairy godmother while Cate Blanchett chews scenery as a suitably nasy stepmother, with her two dim, but not unattractive, daughters. Derek Jacobi steals the show as the ailing king with barely five minutes of screen time.

Richard Madden is allowed to flesh out the role of Prince Charming a little more than usual, though since the last screen wedding he attended was the Red Wedding I wanted to warn Ella that things might go awry and not to invite Walder Frey to the nuptuals.

Verdict? Perfect for eight year old girls in fairy dresses.