MOVIE REVIEW | The Martian

I went and saw The Martian last night with my boyfriend and I absolutely loved it.

I did read the book (listened to it on audiobook) a couple months ago so I knew what was coming.  I have to say that I was disappointed with the previews because it told you the entire story and all the surprises I don't understand why they did that but what can you do.

With that aside, walking into the theater I was a little nervous about Matt Damon.  Mark Watney (the main character) is very funny in the books - sarcastic mostly but he made me laugh throughout the story - and I was nervous about Matt Damon making the role too serious.  The story is intense, I mean he was left on Mars alone for over a year (almost two? more than two?) but there are so many funny moments in the book I didn't want those to get lost.

And he pulled it off! The movie did do a great job of including other funny people.  Jessica Chastain's character, the commander of the Hermes ship, is also hilarious along with most of the team.  Vincent Kapoor also has many moments with the girl who finds Watney via satellite that made me giggle.  So overall I think they did a great job mixing humor with the intensity of the story.

I was also surprised by the casting of Kristin Wiig. She plays Annie, the person overseeing all of the press in relation to NASA and the Mark Watney situation, and she does have a really good line toward the beginning which I loved but they really cut down her role a lot in the movie. In the book she is constantly pointing out things and how the people of the world will see the choices being made, but for the most part she's just a background figure in the movie, and I wish they had utilized her more.

The one thing I didn't like about the book was the long drawn out explanations of how things worked and how Mark Watney was going to do things to help him survive. That got a little old and a little boring. So I was glad to see that a lot of that was cut out; the movie was much faster paced than the book and I enjoyed that!

I was disappointed that they took out one of the most intense parts of the book - the storm that Watney drives into on his way to the Hermes 4 mav in the crater.  That was probably the part of the book where I was most anxious while reading and they completely cut it.  Obviously I understand that time was a key factor in this - they didn't need a three hour movie - and so I get WHY it wasn't in it, but I'm also so sad that THAT is what they chose to get rid of.

This movie gets a 5 star rating for me, I would probably see it again in theater!

p.s. I saw it in 3D which I usually hate but they didn't over utilize the 3D aspects, it just barely added a little depth and that was pretty cool.

TV REVIEW | American Horror Story: Hotel (S5E1)

So as always American Horror Story has been pumping us up for the season premiere of "Hotel" with sneak peaks, small excerpts, and the introduction credits.

I was so ready for this show to prove itself.

SOME BACKSTORY.

I binge watched Seasons 1 & 2 right before "Coven" premiered and I loved them both so much. They both are amazing seasons!

And then "Coven" happened and I wanted so badly to love it but it was a bit of a let down.  My favorite scenes were the scenes of the past about Kathy Bates' character, and then they stopped doing that and it was just a little lame.

And then "Freak Show" happened and once again I had high hopes for redemption! They were going to do great! That credit introduction is divine.  I was ready to be creeped out!

And it just wasn't that creepy. Did it even have a real plot line? Questionable.

So here I am waiting for "Hotel" wondering if AHS can redeem itself after two (in my opinion) horrible seasons in a row.  But my main issue with the last two seasons was the weird Jessica Lange is singing and is also the same exact character in both and she's not in this season so maybe I have hope for a new plot line. -- literal jumbled thoughts heading into S5E1.

(Spoilers Ahead.)

So I watched episode one of AHS: Hotel.  And we're getting some definite creepy "wtf" moments and then the detective comes into a crime scene and its so cheesy how he notices things I actually rolled my eyes. AND THE DUDE WAS STILL ALIVE UNDER THE GIRL'S DEAD BODY and the police are all just chillin' like what? That whole scene just destroyed the show because I was completely taken out of the story because its not even close to how real life works.

And then this detective just continues to be a shitty actor as he talks to his daughter on FaceTime (I THOUGHT THIS SEASON WAS GOING TO BE SET IN THE PAST. WHY DO THEY HAVE IPHONES) and I continued to roll my eyes.

Then we get Lady GaGa. Her introduction without seeing her face at first was pretty damn cool.  And the not talking the entire time their picking up that couple at the movie and then taking them to their suite. That whole little spot was perfect.  And then they just killed them with their pointy nails AND I LAUGHED.  AHS is NOT supposed to make me LAUGH.

So then I'm thinking well is this season supposed to be campy? with the detective in the crime scene and then this I'm thinking that could be a possibility so at least they're doing it right even if I hate it.

The only part of the entire episode that gave me chills was when we see that the son of the detective went missing at the carousel. That was good.

But then it ends with that weird video game room (and GaGa trying to act) and I'm still upset that this isn't set in the past.  Like MOST of the show feels like this is not present day and then they show us ear buds and a video game room (where all they play is tetris and other 80's games what is happening why)

All I can say is Sarah Paulsen was great and I don't understand why she's doing this show anymore or why they haven't decided to use her as the main character because she's fucking amazing.


Sooooo what did you think of the episode?