Movie Night: Captain Marvel

Captain Marvel Review

So, I finally did it, and I am so happy! #Captainmarvel is everything I ever wanted and more. 

I was hooked from the start thanks to the action which always gets my attention, but what sold me was Carol's sass. I LOVE me some sass and the girl's got it. 

 

The Skrulls are quite interesting, their shapeshifting abilities are fantastic and the special effects were completely on point. There is an unmistakable parallel between the war wagging among Kree and Skrulls with the conflict of our day and age. One faction trying to suppress the other by any means necessary, crying out terrorism when one side refuses to become absorbed by a powerful empire.

The chemistry on screen between Brie Larson and Samuel L Jackson was perfect. One of my favorite elements of the movie has to be them sassing each other. 

I love the relationship between Maria and Carol, how their friendship survives years of separation. Not to mention Maria is a total badass, a single mother, a great pilot, a voice of reason. We all need a friend like Maria. Although I must confess I totally ship them.

I got chills when this moment came. 

Now, I find it impossible to talk about this movie and not mention the controversy, the commentaries I came across on social media ranged from negative to downright misogynistic. And despite myself, I started to wonder if there was any truth behind the most common complaints.  
*"Brie Larson was a bad choice!" Erm, no. I knew she could pull off strong emotion after watching The Room and her acting was on point. 
*"She shows no emotion." Yet another lie prolonged by the smart edits done to show clips or pictures in the ones Carol is either holding back an emotion or simply not smiling. Oh, and she does smile btw, just not all the time because she is a warrior caught in the middle of a battle between two alien races, not a beauty queen.
*"Too much feminism." Not at all, it was perfectly balanced. There are no cringy lines about girl power or anything like. Carol is an unapologetic badass, a hero, her motivations are not based on any sort of romantic entanglements, so I guess that displeased some.

I was so satisfied with the way Captain Marvel portrayed a female hero. No over-sexualization, I had no idea how much I needed that until now. Brie is beautiful, and it's obvious, but there are no long pannings of her body to show off her curves, no oops-I'm-half-naked scene, no flirting to get out of a dangerous situation. 
While she does display intense emotion several times, there's no hysterical crying/screaming scene. Not all females become over-emotional when under pressure, and it needed to be shown. 

The most powerful scene in the movie ^

Overall, a great movie. I thought no movie could beat Captain America as a superhero origin movie, but I was proven wrong. The Stan Lee cameo and homage were beautiful. 

If you haven't watched Captain Marvel, you need to! And you can rent or buy it here with the extra content that is soooooooo worth it:

Buy with bonus content: https://amzn.to/2IFTsmm

Rent: https://amzn.to/2KfP2pP

Peter Green and the Unliving Academy by Angelina Allsop

Synopsis:

Fourteen-year-old Peter Green can’t remember how he died.

All he has are his pajamas, a silk tie, and a one-way bus ticket to Mrs. Battisworth’s Academy and Haven for Unliving Boys and Girls, a strange and spooky school for dead orphans like himself. But that’s all he needs: the Unliving Academy has everything, from vampires in the hallways, to monsters in the cafeteria, to ghosts in the basement.

And that’s just the teachers; the students are far stranger.

As Pete learns to fit in with his new supernatural schoolmates, he starts to discover his own uniquely undead abilities, and even begins enjoying his life after death…but he just can’t shake the feeling that he’s forgotten something (or somebody!) important. 

Somebody he left behind in the land of the living.

Somebody he loved very much.

Somebody who’s in terrible danger. 

Rating: 5 Stars

Review:

So I was looking for something different, something to get me out of a funk and this book has most definitely achieved that. With the Academy feel of Harry Potter and the crazy action of Percy Jackson, Peter Green and the Unliving Academy has earned its rightful place among my favorite books.

Pete is easy to relate to, bit awkward and can't talk to girls without forgetting his name. And memory is one of his main issues, he's forgotten something important but doesn't know why. The clues are scarce and he has to rely on instinct and the sporadic visions of a girl with brown eyes he wants to keep safe.

Fortunately, he makes friends with unique skills who help him navigate this new life, and he starts feeling more alive than ever even though he's technically dead. 

A charming book with a unique world and endearing characters that made me laugh and cry. I can't wait to see what comes next for Pete and company.

Take a peek here: https://amzn.to/2HT0zZB

Thanks to Maria Inot from TCK Publishing for the ARC! 

http://www.tckpublishing.com/