Movie Review: Divergent

As I have mentioned - I knew I was going to have to go see the film version of the Divergent trilogy. One afternoon, after many phone calls to doctors, and hospitals, and basically everyone and their mom who wants money from me...I decided to treat myself to a matinee of Divergent.

Divergent:

Released: March 21st, 2014
Watched: April 16th, 2014
My Rating: 8/10 stars

Starring:
Shailene Woodley,  Theo James, Zoë Kravitz and Kate Winslet

Director:
Neil Burger


Firstly, I'd like to comment on the cast.  I thought that the choices made for each role were done brilliantly.  I didn't need to know who they were - I could already tell just by looking.  This doesn't always happen in a film adaptation of a book (remember Dudley from Harry Potter - that still makes me angry!!)

I thought that the adaptation of this book into a movie was done very well.  I am one who can admit that they can't possibly fit every single thing from a book into a movie.  The parts that they grazed over - were (in my opinion) grazable. Also - because I read all three books in succession - I can't be sure if the ending fit the ending of the first book - but it definitely ended perfectly set up for the second.

From a plot standpoint - this was a well rounded movie.  The action sequences were intense (and not vomit inducing!!) and the SFx were nicely done.  I don't feel as if you needed to read it to be able to completely understand the movie.  Nor, do I think you have to read it to see the movie.

Shailene handled her role as Tris with confidence (and timidness) that the character deserved.  And Theo James.  Hello, Good Sir!  Not only is he beautiful, but he sold the character of Four (Tobias) and his chemistry with Woodley was palpable.

I will have no problem going to see the next installment - especially if it means getting to continue the series AND seeing Theo James without a shirt on again.

Has anyone else seen the movie? What did you think?

Book Review: The Book Thief

The Book Thief

Written by:
Markus Zusak

Published: March 14th, 2006
I Completed: April 21st, 2014
My Rating: 5/5 stars

So I'm always looking for new books and movies to give a go.  I saw a preview last year for a new movie that was based on a book.  I was very intrigued as to the subject matter of the preview - and after some research decided that The Book Thief was going into my queue.

I wanted to read the book before I saw the movie because lets be honest, books tend to be better.  After I read a few other books this year, I finally decided to attack this book which was an entity of it's own. 552 pages is alot, especially compared to my normal size book which happens to be a little more than half of that.

I wasn't sure what to expect when I began the book, but as soon as I figured out the gist of it, I was completely enveloped.

The book is written in the perspective of death (grim reaper).  He's quite snarky (which I would expect of him) and his attention to detail is very specific.  Everything he mentions is important.  After all, he's entirely too busy releasing souls from bodies to discuss facts and details that are of no importance.

The story follows a little German girl named Liesel Meminger.   Death seems to be fascinated by this little girl, and her reactions to ongoings during World War II and the rise of Hitler.

In the very beginning - Liesel and her brother are on a train with their mother, on their way to a foster home.  The mother is unable to care for the children anymore and this was their only option.  Unfortunately - her brother gets sick and dies (very beginning of the story - I promise I'm not ruining anything!!).  They end up in a random German town to bury him.

After her brother is in the ground - one of the cemetery workers had accidentally left a book near his burial site.   Thus begins the illusive career of the Book Thief.

Liesel ends up with Hans and Rosa Huberman in Molching.  (Her foster parents, whom she calls Mama and Papa).  Here, she works with Hans on learning how to read and write.  The Gravediggers Handbook was the first of many stolen books.

The rest of the story follows her relationship with her foster parents, and the neighborhood kids.  And there also happens to be a Jew that hides in their basement at one point....

I don't want to give anything else away because I think that everyone should read it.   But following Liesel on her journey to learn to read, and use words is a beautiful story in and of itself - but the fact that she's growing up and maturing in Nazi Germany makes the story that much more poignant.  It's really a wonder to see the world through a child's innocent (or not) eyes.

The way the book was written - and split up - parts and chapters based on which book she had most recently stolen was extremely well done.  And I would definitely read another book written in the perspective of this particular grim reaper.

For those who want to know what happens without reading (cheaters!) you can read about it on the wiki page.

I'm pretty excited to see how the book translates into a movie - so stay tuned as I'm sure I'll let you know my thoughts about that too :)

Has anyone else read the book? What did you think? Have you seen the movie yet?

Movie Review: Muppets Most Wanted

 Muppets Most Wanted

Released: March 21, 2014
Watched: April 18th, 2014
My Rating: 7/10 stars

Starring:
Tina Fey, Ty Burrell and Ricky Gervais

Director:
James Bobin

Now, it's no secret that I didn't grow up watching the Muppets.  I knew who they were, but never really watched them or Sesame Street growing up.  I did, however, watch Fraggle Rock.  So I'm familiar with the puppetry.

When the new Muppets movie came out in 2011, I joined two of my favorite people to watch it in the theatre.  They both grew up watching, and loved everything Muppets.

All I knew is that I would be entertained, and soon meet my favorite Muppet.

It's also no secret that I love a good pun.  Therefore, my favorite Muppet (everyone has a favorite) was destined to be Fozzie Bear. 

I fell in love with the characters and storylines after watching the rebooted franchise, and proceeded to immerse myself into everything Muppet and become a fan (better late than never!).

When the sequel came out, my friend (HI TIM!) and I knew we would have to go see it.  Unfortunately I was in NC much longer than originally anticipated, so we had to wait a few weeks until we actually saw it.

This past Friday, we actually got our act together, and finally got to go see it.

Underwhelmed.

Tina Fey was great - Ty Burrell was great - Rickey Gervais was okay....

But the story line was meh.  There were definitely parts that we laughed at and ended up repeating, but as a whole - I think we were both expecting more.  The songs weren't as catchy - and we never really got to see a Muppet Show.

Not to mention - near the end of the movie, and guy opened up the theatre door and yelled "Suck my dick, Bitch!" so at one point I thought I was going to die while watching a not so great sequel.

I'll definitely watch it again when it's released, but I think the last movie was so well thought out and so well done, that I didn't realize how high my expectations were set.  Originally I was going to rate the movie a 6, but just didn't have the heart.

Side note, I decided while watching the movie that I'm pretty sure I need a stuffed Fozzie...so if anyone is feeling generous...hahahaha ;)

Best line (which, please correct me if I'm wrong) - "You've waka-ed your last waka!"

Has anyone else seen it? Do you want to?

TV Review: True Dectective

So I know I'm seriously late with this post, but I felt the need to share my thoughts on this show.

True Detective 

Starring:
Matthew McConaughey, Woody Harrelson and Michelle Monaghan

Created By:
Nic Pizzolatto

Premiered:
Season 1 - January 12, 2014

My Rating:
Season 1 - 10 out of 10 stars!


When I first saw the promos for this show I thought to myself, you are going to have to watch this...McConaughey and Harrelson, uhm yes please!

I didn't really know what to expect other than some type of a cop drama.

When I went down to my parents they were completely caught up (I was six episodes behind - AKA hadn't started it yet).  My dad doesn't tend to love love love any show. He enjoys a good drama, but rarely finds a show he has to watch as soon as it comes out.

He gave me a goal for a week - which was to watch one episode a day so we could all watch the last two together.

Well, it took me about a day and a half to catch up.

The show follows two Louisiana Detectives, Marty Hart (Harrelson) and Rust Cohle (McConaughey), on their 17 year search for a serial killer.

This show, was so unbelievably well-done.  The acting was superb, the story line was compelling and kept you guessing.  The sub plots didn't take away from the main story line.  And I'm pretty sure everyone needed something along the lines of a Xanax during the finale.

So to back up just a bit from the finale...another aspect of this show that I completely loved was that it was short, sweet, and to the point.  There were only 8 episodes in the series, and they aired in 8 consecutive weeks! (I personally like it like that, no waiting!)

They could have drawn it out a few more episodes, but why? It was perfect! Every episode ended with you wanting to see the next.  And it was wrapped up as neatly as Rust and Marty could have possibly done.

I also enjoyed to inclusion of the "Yellow King".  It brought a literary aspect into the series.  The myth and legends that can be incorporated into a serial killers reasoning fascinate me, and this particular legend is extremely interesting. 

This has been the year of McConaughey - and he was (at least in my opinion) the true detective - as well as the top actor.  I will be surprised if he doesn't take home an Emmy for his portrayal of  one of TVs most complicated characters.

The "True Detective" Wiki page doesn't seem to be quite finished - but I'm sure there will be a plethra of information that one may have missed the first time around.  This seems to be one of those shows that, the more you watch, the more you see.

So if you haven't seen it yet (I didn't want to really give anything away in the post just in case...), I highly recommend it.

As for having a second season - I don't think they should.  It should be a mini-series that ends as well as it began.  If they did a second season - who would it follow? Thoughts??

Anyone else love it? Anyone hate it? If you hated it, I need specific reasons as to why....

I may have to rewatch the season.  Just thinking about it makes me want to.....


 

Excuse my absence as of late....

So, as you've noticed (or not) I've been absent from the blogosphere for past month and a half-ish.  I recently made my way down to my parents place in Burnsville, NC.  I attempted to go down there in between my infusions (6 weeks apart).  My goal for this trip was to find myself some new doctors in order to relocate down to my parents and get a "fresh start" as they say.  If nothing makes sense below - I do apologize. A lot of stuff happened over a few weeks period of time...

Unfortunately, while I was there, I was sicker than I have been in a long time.  Of course this is relatively speaking, since I'm pretty much sick every day.  But let me back track a bit...

My mom found the best GI doctor in the area by leaps and bounds.  This guy is good. He was a no-BS kind of guy.  I met with him - basically to see if I liked him, and he wanted to take me on as a patient.  I believe he said that my case is very "interesting".  He didn't want to keep giving me the same tests that I have had over and over again - which is good, since I basically glow in the dark as it is.  There was, however, one test that he ran on me that hadn't been run on me due to potential issues.

Whelp! Issues were found.  So - there is a test called a "Capsule Endoscopy".  Basically, you swallow a camera and it films your insides.  The reason that this hasn't been run on me, is due to the fear of needing emergency surgery due to the capsule getting stuck.  (Malrotation is really a bitch - though not as bitchy as Crohn's).  Well this new Doc told me about a Patency Capsule.  Basically a dummy pill.  So - you swallow this pill (way bigger than a horse pill - like it was HUGE!) and then 24 hours later you get an X-ray to see if it's still there.  After about 30 hours it begins to disolve. No harm - no foul...

Not so much with me.  X-ray showed that the capsule got stuck mid-intestine. I was told if there was nausea, vomiting or pain that lasted more than 4-8 hours to go to the ER.  Well - I took the pill on a Thursday, X-Ray that Friday, ER that Saturday - then they sent me home in the same general health I was in when I got there.  The X-ray showed no issues and they didn't want to keep me (even though I wanted to stay, which I never want to stay). Went home, went easy on eating - switched to my lovely array of jellos and gatorades. By Tuesday - I couldn't even tolerate water or ice, then I started to throw up. I never throw up - this was serious...

My father proceeded to take me to Asheville - about an hour away from my parents house.  After finally getting my new doctor on the phone he was able to tell the ER docs what test to run. 

They ran a CT Enterography with and without contrast.  Basically I had to drink three delightfully grotesque bottles of Barium - think Grape flavored Glue like substance.  Then they take me in for a scan, then give me IV contrast (makes you feel like you've wet yourself - which I did NOT) and then we waited for the results.

Results came back - and for the first time in a long time - they actually showed something.  I had a partial bowel obstruction AND a section of inflamed Crohn's in the center of my intestines.  They then had me admitted (they couldn't fit me in the hospital I was already in so they transported me via Ambulance to the sister hospital).

The next few days are kind of a blur.  Nothing to eat or drink - just ice chips which I didn't even want.  I was in an immense amount of pain and had no idea what the plan of action was.

Now - before all of this had happened, I was supposed to return to PA for my next Remicade infusion.  Since I was admitted to the hospital there was no way I would make it home in time to get my infusion - so the doctors set out to get my my infusion while I was an inpatient. 

Well this turned into a whole ordeal.  Basically - since I was an inpatient, the hospital didn't want to give me my infusion until I was discharged so they could bill my insurance. That's right! Don't give the girl who is in severe pain something she needs to you can make all of your money.  Cause bottom line - money is really all that matters.

Luckily the on call GI doctor (who worked with my new doctor) said she needs this, give it to her!  So that Friday, I got my Remicade infusion.  **Fun fact - I actually brought up my blog post from my "Follow Me" Remicade treatment so the nurses would know how to do the infusion.  (They never do it in patient so my previous anal notes actually helped me!)

At this point - they started me on IV steroids (THE WORST!!) in order to get the inflammation to recede. But nothing else was done - no other tests, no other treatments - didn't even speak to a surgeon regarding the blockage...this to me was seriously strange.

Then Saturday came.  First of all, weekends in hospitals suck.  No one is there and you basically just have to push through and hope for Monday to come without any issues. Second of all - the doctors switch up on Saturdays.  So the general Doc I had been working with (who cared about the amount of pain I was in) and the GI doctor who was my proxy to my new doctor were all replaced with the following weeks on call docs. 

The new general doctor was unbelievably horrible.  He was a squirrelly little man who didn't discuss decisions with you.  He came in and met me and left.  Next thing I know he advanced my diet and lowered my pain and nausea meds.  (NO SENSE!) Then the new GI doc came in and he said they were going to start me on a new drug called Imuran (autoimmune drug).  Imuran takes anywhere from 6 weeks to 3 months to actually do anything.  It also has some scary side effects (lymphoma, skin cancer etc...) which is why my doctor in PA hadn't put me on it yet. 

I was hoping since I hadn't eaten in days I would be able to move up the "food chain" (clear liquids -> full liquids -> low residue diet) within a day or so and get out of the hospital.

Well - I couldn't tolerate the full liquids (pudding and cream of chicken soup).  I got seriously sick again - and didn't have anything to help rid me of the symptoms. 

Sunday comes around - and I had cried the previous evening to my nurses because I was so upset and uncomfortable.  I had no doctors to talk to, and I was extremely alone and depressed.  I ended up writing a list (like full page, front and back) of issues that I had.  My mom joined me to meet with the doctors on Sunday - and basically she felt like (and I did too) that the doctors weren't doing anything actively to help me.  They cared about getting me off of pain killers and out of the hospital.  Not actually treating the obstruction or imflammation.  I asked them to removed me from full liquids and what else we could do.

NO ONE would answer me.  I couldn't get a hold of my new doctor, and the replacement doctors were no good.

Well - my dear Deddy came to the hospital Monday morning.  And boy, I've never seen John John talk to people the way he did.  He stood up for me and questioned the doctors.  The doctor was basically talking in circles.  His primary concern was me being on pain killers.  My dad said - okay so what does she do about the pain.  He said the Imuran would help (again not for 6 weeks to 3 months).  My dad asked what I am supposed to do in the meantime.  The doc said I can't be on pain killers.  My dad asked again what am I supposed to do (meanwhile I understand where the doctor is coming from - but he refused to be questioned or to see my point of view).  My dad asked why I had not consulted with a surgeon - and the GI doctor said - I'm not a surgeon.  I kid you not.  RIDICULOUS! I asked to be treated like I was an out of state patient going back to PA to continue treatment and asked to be discharged. 

Trying to explain to someone what it feels like to be in constant pain - every single day - is difficult - and even more difficult to do without getting emotional (add steroids and you've got a party!). I felt like the doctors were judging me, and had no want to help me get better.  I've never felt like that "patient" before.  I'm usually the quiet one who waits patiently and doesn't make a fuss.  This hospital stay was just the pits.

Fast-forward to the next day - and I met with the afformentioned new doctor.  He basically said that he thinks I'm immune to medicinal therapies and that I need to get in to see a surgeon sooner rather than later.  So currently - I'm scheduled to visit with a GI doc at the Cleveland Clinic in June.  I'm also trying to get in to re meet with the new head of Colorectal surgery at Temple.  Now that I have test results showing where things aren't working, I'm hoping someone will be able to help correct my issues and make me feel better.

So as shitty of an experience that I had, I'm extremely happy to at least have things to work with now. 

As for the move to North Carolina - well lets just say it's on hold for the moment. I need to get better before I do anything. 

Thanks for listening to my rant!! If you have questions...I'm an open book (but you probably already knew that already.

Next subjects will be much more fun! True Detective, Divergent, Mud....you know entertainment stuff ;)

bright side of NC happened to be these faces...and some others!