The Fault In Our Stars Casting News

Shailene Woodley who stars on the soon to be ending teen dramedy Secret Life, and charmed critics with her role as a grieving teen in The Descendants has landed the lead role in the much anticipated teen love story The Fault In Our Stars.

The Fault In Our Stars is based on a best selling YA novel by John Green and centers around two teens dying from cancer who fall in love. When I read the book I must say I saw Hailee Steinfeld as the lead, but Shailene has proven she has the chops for drama and angsty roles so I am looking forward to this one. Plus she is a young actress on the rise and her track record thus far is pretty good with upcoming roles in The Spectacular Now and the sequel to the The Amazing Spider Man. The male lead has not been cast yet, but I am hoping they pick a strong actor for Gus who has great chemistry with Shailene.

If any of you have read the book, who do you want to see as the male lead? Comment below!

Beautiful Bastard : Book Review

After 50 Shades of Grey came out there was an influx of erotic novels to hit the shelves. With the exception of the Crossfire series by Sylvia Day I haven’t gotten into any of the others, but then Beautiful Bastard was released.

BB (which started as a Twilight fanfic called The Office),is the story of Chloe Mills, an intern at Ryan Media Group who has the boss from hell. Bennett Ryan, the son of the head of the company is her boss, and Bennett is one tough M F, but has the looks of a Greek God. The two constantly butt heads but things quickly take a turn after an intense sexual encounter early on in the book. From that point on the fights continue as well as the sex and that’s what makes this couple so captivating.

Chloe and Bennett are a fun couple even when they argue. I think that is what makes this book, and hopefully the followup so enjoyable.  Romances should not be dark, and they certainly should not have such weak characters as Anastasia Steele. Sorry I am not a fan of the 50 Shades series and the doormat character of Ana is one of the main reasons why, not to mention EL James’ corny writing style which needs to be seriously re tweaked for the film version of those novels.  Plus the sex scenes in 50 Shades are not sexually appealing to me like BB’s.  I guess because Bennett wasn’t so dark and twisty (except for the panty fetish) and he was a man that genuinely admired Chloe’s business sense and independence which made him way sexier to me than a guy with a Red Room of Pain!

Christina Lauren are two writers who really appreciate strong female characters, and that’s why I will continue to follow their careers closely especially since BB is being made into a film and the next book is due out soon in the Beautiful series. Yeah I know 50 Shades hasn’t been cast yet, but I hope this film gets to the screen first. The story is better and with the right casting choices it could prove to be a huge hit.  I wonder if Bradley Cooper could free up his sched to take on the role of Bennett, and opposite him I would like to see Mila Kunis, Ashley Greene, or Jennifer Lawrence for Chloe. (Christina Lauren when you read this take note of these names! ;) 

If you have read Beautiful Bastard what was your opinion of the book? Who would you like to see take on these roles? Comment below!

Oz The Great & Powerful: My Review

When I first started hearing that Hollywood was doing a prequel to one of my childhood faves, The Wizard of Oz I groaned thinking"Why is it every great movie needs a reboot/prequel/sequel? Leave the classics alone already! (That goes for Star Wars as well). Nonetheless since it originally had Robert Downey Jr. attached, I was willing to give it a whirl.

When Downey dropped out (due to his Marvel obligations no doubt), and James Franco stepped in I wasn't too thrilled. I am not a Francophile. My friend Frances who loves the guy may throw up in her mouth when she reads this, but for some reason he just doesn't do it for me. Anywho, the film fell off my radar when he took on the role and did not register again until I saw the trailer for the movie. Needless to say I was impressed and was greatly curious over Sam Raimi's take on Oz and the man who became the Wizard. 

The film starts off in black and white and it shows Franco as a charlatan working for a traveling circus who plays people for profit and women for sport. The one woman he does care about is Michelle Williams (who unlike Katie Holmes keeps making great career moves post Dawson's Creek) and she comes to see Oz at the circus to let him know she has been proposed to by another man. While talking to her, a fellow circus performer comes looking for Oz after it's found out that the womanizing magician has been hitting on his girlfriend. Oz makes a quick getaway in an air balloon, gets caught up in a tornado, winds up in Oz, and that's when his journey of self discovery begins.

Mila Kunis and Rachel Weisz play sisters Theodora and Evanora who figure prominently in this movie and in the original. Mila's character Theodora was a wide eyed innocent in the beginning of the film, but after turning wicked thanks to Evalora that's when her character became interesting to me. The makeup, costumes, and sets were amazing and the CGI was on point as well. Zach Braff's role as Oz's (human) lackey is small but he gives voice to the Flying Monkey who becomes Oz's best friend and confidante. China Doll is another character that Oz befriends along the way and his relationship with her brings out a paternal side to Oz that even he did not know existed. Michelle Williams' other role in Oz is that of Glenda the Good Witch and she helps Oz discover the importance of what it means to help others and to be a selfless person.

All in all I give the film high marks all around. I know there have been rumblings of a sequel and with its weekend gross so far I would not be surprised if the script for the next one is not already underway!

Ratings Guide: 

1 popcorn: Poor

2 popcorns: Wait and rent it!

3 popcorns: Good, but not great

4 popcorns: Excellent, worth the admission