Movie Review - The Life of Pi

This movie is based on Yann Martel's 2001 novel of the same name.

My friend read the book and thought it would be interesting to see the movie adaptation.

The story is about Pi, an Indian boy, whose family run the local zoo at the botanical gardens in India.  When economic and political times turn tough in India, his parents decide to sell all the animals and migrate to Canada for a better and safer life.  The family board a Japanese freight ship with the animals.  While out at sea, a cyclone is encountered and the ship sinks, with everyone on board, except Pi and a few additional "passengers".

This is where it starts to get interesting.  Because my friend read the book first, she told me that the book is very philosophical and religion based.  This translation was somewhat lost in the movie, even though the creators tried to emphasise the many different religions, eg Christian, Hindu & Islam, sampled by Pi during his lifetime.

The story is told by Pi, played by Suraj Sharma.  He tells the story as the only human survivor of the shipwreck and he explains his journey and how he survived the 227 days lost at sea with only a Bengal tiger, named Richard Parker, as his companion.

Generally, the movie was well directed, by Ang Lee, and I found the actors quite good.  However, I think the story itself was not movie worthy.  This is my opinion - sorry if I offended anyone.  My friend told me after the movie that the book is a lot more graphic than the movie and while the producers cut a lot of the gore out of the movie I was still surprised at some of the scenes and wondered how it managed to get a PG rating in Australia.

While the movie was initially quite slow to start, it was nevertheless an interesting story and I have to admit that I shed a few tears towards the end, especially when Richard Parker and Pi finally make proper land.

Other stars of the movie include Gerard Depardieu, who played the evil, rude french cook and Irrfan Khan, who played the older, post shipwreck survivor, Pi.

I had my 11 year old son with me and I think the concepts and ideas of the movie were a little bit too mature for him and some of the meaning went way over his head.

My friend and I had a thorough discussion about the ending.  I won't put up a spoiler here, but if anyone has seen it please let me know your thoughts?  Which story do you think is the true story?  Or rather which story do you prefer?

If you haven't seen it, you can go to Screen Rant for a thorough in depth discussion of the movie and the book.

http://www.bookdepository.com/?a_aid=pinkacquarius

Movie Review - Skyfall!

I went to the movies last night with a friend and saw Skyfall the latest instalment in the James Bond movies.

I think both of us thoroughly enjoyed this movie.  I personally enjoyed it because it had a little bit more depth to it then some of the other more recent ones.

Without giving too much away - in this instalment James Bond actually looks like he dies at the very beginning of the movie while fighting with the villain on top of an express train trying to retrieve a computer chip which names all the MI6 agents around the world.  Bond fails to retrieve the disk when he falls off the train and into water and the disk and names on the disk are revealed, which contributes to a number of undercover MI6 agents' deaths.  Upon hearing this news Bond resurfaces in some third world looking country as a drunk womanising gambler - in other words his usual self.

Unfortunately, the movie doesn't cover exactly how he survives his fall off the train bridge down several hundred meters into icy cold water and then an equally tall waterfall, but needless to say he does.  The movie also doesn't show where he got shot, because for those who remember this, he was initially shot by the bad guy in the shoulder and the movie keeps showing how this wound aches, but makes no reference to the wound which propels him off the train and into the water????

The general gist of the movie; however is that M is the target of the bad guy, who is hell bent on revenge.  I am not going to reveal who and why as this would give away the exciting parts of the movie.  Following a ministerial hearing, Bond is sent out by M to find the villain and stop him.

The focus in this movie is very much on doing things the good old fashioned way and how the modern and new ways are not always the best ways.

This movie is about M, her history and the impact of her decisions and her strange, almost mother/son relationship with Bond.

Daniel Craig portrays Bond very well.

I think this movie has just the right amount of action, unlike Casino Royale, which I felt was just way too much action and not enough depth to the story.

The Bond series was originally created by Ian Fleming in 1964.  The entire collection of books can be purchased from the Book Depository.

http://www.bookdepository.com/?a_aid=pinkacquarius

eBook Review - One of Us by Antonia Adams

I picked another book to read from my successful free downloads from iTunes.

This time I picked 'One of Us' by Antonia Adams.  

Antonia Adams joined the Xcite team in 2010, but she is no stranger to writing.  She uses various pseudonyms and her work has been published extensively in the UK and abroad for the last 25 years. She also lectures in creative writing at events around the country.

This book is a small one, comprising only of 136 pages on my iPhone 5.

The story is about successful 35 year old artist Natalie Crane who meets handsome, independent and spirited Will Falcon at her art exhibition.  A romance is quickly formed with the secretive Will, only to end in heartbreak and betrayal, so Natalie thinks.  As Natalie's art show comes to a close, so does her relationship with Will, especially since he stands her up on her last day in Dorset.

While the romance is in full swing the sex is hot and steamy and very well written.

While in Dorset, Natalie's most beloved and treasured painting, 'Waiting for her Lover' is stolen and Natalie jumps to the conclusion that it was the enigmatic Mr Falcon, who only recently was found to be admiring it too closely.

When Natalie goes back to Dorset to confront Will...a different surprise awaits her....

It is a well written story and I enjoyed it thoroughly even if it was a really quick read.

Other books written & edited by Antonia Adams include:

• Hungarian Rhapsody
• The One Thousand and One nights
• Silk Stockings
• The Game
• Foreign Affairs: Erotic Relations in Exotic Locations
• Past Pleasures: Erotica Set in Times Past
• Santa's Hot Secrets - available in 10 days - pre order now!

http://www.bookdepository.com/?a_aid=pinkacquarius