“That's what normal people do when they love each other, when one of them is acting like a brat. Now would you please stop raining on me?!"

Hello Everyone :-)

You know the saying ‘the best things in life are free’? Well I agree with that statement.

Way back in January I went to see ‘Pitch Perfect’ with my friend from work. We bought our tickets, took our seats and our viewing pleasure was disrupted not once, not twice but three times by power cuts. By way of an apology the lovely staff at Showcase gave us two free cinema tickets!

I decided to let her choose what we went to see for our second ‘date night’ and she chose something I’d never usually pick for myself, ‘Beautiful Creatures’.

‘Beautiful Creatures’ is the story of Ethan Wate (Alden Ehrenreich) from Gatlin, South Carolina. Ethan has a recurring dream that features a girl he doesn't know until one day Lena Duchannes (Alice Englert) arrives at his school and appears to be the girl he has been dreaming about. The pair are drawn to each other and embark on a relationship complicated by the fact that Lena possesses magical powers that on her 16^th Birthday will be claimed for good or evil.

I always said that I would go to my grave having never seen a Twilight film. Unfortunately curiosity got the better of me and a couple of months ago my Aunty (a dyed in the wool Twi-hard) lent my Mum and I the entire Twilight Saga and we watched it... all of it...  in the space of a week. I’m glad I did actually because now I can say with the full courage of my convictions that The Twilight Saga is absolutely awful (I  had a bit of a mini break down as a result of my concentrated Twi-exposure which is well documented because I decided to live-tweet the whole god damn thing).

What makes me sad is that, due to the insane popularity of ‘Twilight’, production companies are jumping on teen-fiction book series’ (lest we forget that ‘The Twilight Saga’ started life as a series of appallingly written books) of a similar ilk in order to try and emulate that success. This is disheartening for a number of reasons. Reason 1: in the mad dash to catch the ‘Twi-hards’ as their beloved saga ends there is the potential that some genuinely good stories will be done a disservice by a rush job adaptation. Reason 2: in an attempt to convey our distain at how god awful ‘Twilight’ is, judgemental people like myself will dismiss anything that gets a ‘Twilight’ marketing makeover in order to appeal to that audience. It’s this second point that makes me feel a little bit guilty.

I often tell people that they can’t judge films unless they’ve actually seen them and yet when I first saw the trailer for ‘Beautiful Creatures’ I poo-pooed it as a ‘Twi-wannabe’ franchise rubbish like the massive hypocrite I am. This was a big mistake on my part because when I actually sat and watched the film I really rather enjoyed it.

It’s set in the Deep South and isn’t shy about expressing it’s feelings regarding the judgemental, preachy inhabitants of Gatlin. Ethan wastes no time in telling us that Gatlin has “twelve churches and one library” and this ‘liberal idealist vs. the world’ attitude carries throughout the film. It’s a lot less prude-ish than ‘Twilight’ (at one point Ethan and Lena are having a full-on snog and she unintentionally causes a lightning strike) and generally a lot more honest about the decisions that have to be made in life. There’s a scene where Macon (Jeremy Irons on top brooding form) enchants Ethan and makes him talk about a future that he could be heading for if he doesn’t get out of Gatlin. This scene just adds to the sense that Gatlin is a place that could suffocate you but sacrifices have to be made if you want to get out.

The characters are great. Well rounded, realistic (relatively speaking) and most importantly likable characters. The central pairing of Ehrenreich and Englert is absolutely adorable, funny and they are the lynchpin for the whole drama. I like the inversion of the relationship dynamic; the story is told from Ethan’s point of view (I’m not sure why more films aimed at girls aren’t told from the male point of view) , he is the one that pursues Lena and it’s her that’s been brushed by the supernatural rather than the other way round.

It’s wonderfully picturesque, the Southern States captured in all their humid glory. The historical flashbacks work really nicely, especially the scene where Lena and Ethan go to the cinema; that is done particularly well.

Fans of the book will notice quite a few changes. I read the book after seeing the film and was surprised at the amount of things that were changed; they’ve removed whole characters and scenes. This isn’t really at any detriment to the film because it and the source material are different beasts. There is space in the world for both and, as long as you’re not a purist, I see no reason why fans of the book won’t like this adaptation.

‘Beautiful Creatures’ does peter out instead of end in a full-on show down which is a shame because it could have been brilliant.  Unfortunately the film ends with an obvious open door invitation for a sequel that looks unlikely to be made.

 ‘Beautiful Creatures’ works because of it’s humour and the believable central relationship. I hate to compare it to ‘Twilight’ but where that is sullen and serious  from start to finish ‘Beautiful Creatures’ allows some light heartedness to peak though the gothic, angst ridden teen-romance.  There’s nothing earth shattering here but if you want to watch something romantic of a Friday night, you could do a lot worse than this.

Beautiful Creatures is available on Blu-Ray and DVD from 17^th June.

I think it’s time for…

Reasons to be Cheerful :-)

1. OMG!!! POTENTIAL MUPPET BROADWAY SHOW!!! Nothing is set in stone yet but if this does come to fruition it may well be the best thing that has ever happened. I would move heaven and earth to get tickets.

2. F1 fans rejoice! The Trailer for ‘Rush’ is here. Fast cars, Chris Hemsworth, VROOOOM! Can't wait :-)

3. All the pictures from 'Catching Fire'! I’m so excited about this, all the pictures look brilliant :-) 'Catching Fire' is due for release on 22nd November.

That’s everything I have for today!

Goodbye till next time :-)

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