Robyn Schneider’s Extraordinary Means is a beautiful story that reminds us why it’s important to take risks and enjoy life to the fullest. It was published in 2015 by Harper Collins, and is a stand alone contemporary. Schneider introduces us to Lane, a seventeen year old who just started his senior year of high school only to find out that he has a drug resistant strain of tuberculosis — therefore he has to be quarantined. He is sent to a sanatorium called Latham House where

Baby Driver is a heist type film written and directed by Edgar Wright - the mind behind Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (screenplay and directing credits), Ant-Man (screenplay credits), and Shaun of the Dead (directing credits). Wright takes us into the world of heists through the eyes of a getaway driver, Baby (Ansel Elgort), who got into the heist business because he stole a car from the man behind the heists, Doc (Kevin Spacey). But Baby wants to get out of that lifestyle as s

Will is TNT's taken on the life of William Shakespeare. It has Laurie Davidson in the role of Shakespeare. The series was created by Craig Pearce - the mind behind Moulin Rouge, the 2013 edition of The Great Gatsby, and the 1996 edition of Romeo + Juliet. At the start of episode one we get to meet the dreamer that is Will Shakespeare before he became the great Shakespeare that we know in literature. It's obvious that he is unhappy with the life he presently had and desired m

I cannot say that I understand when people say that this is the movie that we need right now. Maybe from the angle of it being a female dominated piece (even in the crew arena), because of all of the equality stuff that is going on right now. But just looking at the piece as it is - it really just tells another story of another superhero. It's good and I enjoyed it, but I cannot say that I completely understand the "this is what we need" comments that I see circulating throug

I am really late to the party on this, but I have finally seen Rouge One. It was released back in December 2016, and it is meant to fill in the gap between Episode 3 - Revenge of the Sith - and Episode 4 - A New Hope. Overall, I enjoyed the piece. It is a nice filler story in the saga that is Star Wars. I adore Felicity Jones - first saw her in an adaptation of Northanger Abbey and she is wonderful in this film. I did feel like they didn't balance Jyn's story with the rest

I know I'm tardy to the party on this novel because it was published in 2007, but...Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher. Oh my. Such a powerful read! It deals with so many things that are considered heavy topics, but it's done in such a way that is beautiful and it keeps you turning the pages. The novel is about Clay Jensen finding out what really happened pushed his classmate, Hannah Baker to the point where she decided that ending her life was the best choice. Asher wrote t

Today is the release date for Steen Jones' debut novel, The Door Keeper!!! This is a New Adult, Fantasy novel that revolves around the life of Eden Saunders. She is a single mother, a gallery co-owner, and apparently a Door Keeper. Throughout the novel we get to learn along with Eden what it means to be a Door Keeper and follow her own journey of self-discovery. Typically the theme of self-discovery is something that you see in a Young Adult novel, but honestly we are alway

The CW has taken on the series that was inspired by - and created by - Yulin Kuang's short film I Ship It. We get to watch a different set of characters embark on the journey that all begins with the leading lady's broken heart - and it's all surrounded by fandom and nerd rock culture. Episode 1 Notes We are introduced to Ella and see that she is down in the dumped dumpster. We get a little montage of the relationship that just ended - much like the first few minutes of Zoe'

The Sisterhood of the Night is based on the short story of the same title by Steven Millhauser. The short story was originally published in 1994 in Harper magazine and published again in a collection of Millhauser short stories in 1998 titled, Knife Thrower and Other Stories. The screenplay was written by Marylin Fu and it was directed by Caryn Waechter. The film was released in 2014; starring Georgie Henley (The Chronicles of Narnia), Kara Hayward (Moonrise Kingdom), Willa C

i can't even is such a charming web series that captures the essence of fandom life. It is essentially Tumblr in video form. The story surrounds two friends, Em and Lex, who share an apartment, who are both super fans of just about everything. It does not appear to have a specific order as to which episodes you watch, but they cover Star Wars, Doctor Who, Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, Twilight, Lord of the Rings, and the general struggles of getting invested in a book serie

Rex is a web series based on Arthurian Legend. It specifically looks at the lives of Arthur, Lancelot, and Merlin. It was made by the same people who created the web series In Earnest which is based on Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest. If the goal was for me to not like Arthur, then that was definitely achieved. I understand that in this modern world, having him go through the Foster Care system made sense, but I almost felt like it was used as an excuse for the

Now You See Me 2 is the second installment in the story of "The Four Horsemen", a group of "elite" magicians. Initially I was not sure what to expect from this sequel. A pattern I have noticed lately, is that most sequels are worse than the initial film (and I'm sure there are plenty out there who would say that is the case with 99% of sequels ever). This one wasn't all that bad. It had it's rough patches, but overall it was an engaging film. I'm not sure who's choice this

Half Upon a Time is the first in the series by James Riley. He takes fairy tales and pushes them to the future a bit. We get to follow the adventures of May, who is the granddaughter of Snow White, and Jack, the son of Jack of Jack in the Beanstalk. May is part of our world and only believes the fairy tales to be exactly that - fairy tales. Jack, on the other hand, lives in the world where these stories are reality. And his reality is not all that great considering who is fa

The writers of Jules & Monty have returned with another web series. Pantheon University takes some of the big names in Greek Mythology and places them in a college setting. We are given thirteen episodes - twelve that are specific to each individual and one finale that sums them all up. The characters we get to meet are: Zeus, Athena, Aphrodite, Poseidon, Hades, Dionysus, Artemis, Hephaestus, Ares, Apollo, Hercules, and Hera. Each episode has its own style that helps emphasi

The Princess, The Scoundrel, and The Farm Boy is a kind of retelling of the beloved first film in the original Star Wars Trilogy. I say "kind of" because it is the exact same story as Star Wars Episode IV, but it has a different way of telling it because - *gasp* - it's a book. This is part of a project that Disney-Lucasfilm Press created and has each of the origial trilogy written by a different author. This one was written by Alexandra Bracken - most well known for her tril

Neflix's newest superhero struggles to see herself as a superhero. I think that is what helps make her easily identifyable. The whole angle of doubt is what helps make any character easily identifyable. This series deals with some serious topics. It appears to me that the main story arc is about Jessica dealing with and overcoming her abusive relationship with Kilgrave. The fact that they have qualities that make them more supernatural does not take away from the topic of abu

CBS has brought a new hero to the small screen. The story of Superman, Kal El, has been told over and over again. It's about time for Kara Zor-El's story to be told. I apologize in advance for the brokenness of the following, but these are the thoughts I had during the pilot episode of this series. Kara...quirky. I think she tries a bit too hard to hide her connection to Kal. Her attempts to blend in match those who try way too hard to fit in. I like how her motivation

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a Janeite is always on the look out for new ways to experience Jane Austen's novels. Laura Riley and Jennifer Teska's The Jane Games is a reality style webseries that gives one story line of each of Jane Austen's novels in a modern setting. Through the completion of certain tasks, the contestants are given the chance to win her soulmate, a month long vacation, and $100,000. The contestants are: Pride & Prejudice's Elizabeth Bennett

Story Thieves by James Riley is a reader's paradise. What could be better than day dreaming about hopping in and out of our favorite stories? Riley takes us on a journey of 'what if' by showing us what could possibly happen if we had the ability to hop in and out of our favorite stories. Things could go completely awry if we joined our favorite heroes and heroines in their already written stories. Synopsis: Bethany is a half-fictional girl who just wants to see her fictional

This is post is going to cover both versions of Disney’s musical Newsies. Check out the vlog where I talk about the stage adaptation mostly. Historical Background: Newsies is based on the Newsboys Strike of 1899 in New York City. Big name newspapers Hearst’s Journal and Pulitzer's World (the titles differ from source to source. The only thing they could agree on was Journal and World) increased the price of papers from fifty cents to sixty cents per bundle. Not to mention