Coraline

If you read my post a few weeks ago, I'm a reader now. More like trying to be. To get more into reading (since I'm so not into the teen romance books) I decided to base my reading off of the types of movies I like. Even though it's supposed to be targeted towards a younger audience, one of my favorite movies is Coraline. So I decided to read the book (even though it, too, is targeted towards children.... I read a children's book).

Honestly I have zero clue how this book is for children. On the back cover it DOES say "For Ages 8 & Up," but knowing me, there's no way I could have read this book at age eight. I could barely even read it now. I liked that the book was short - 160 pages - and it really read as more of a short horror story than a children's chapter book.

Knowing the movie like the back of my hand might have been the reason I was able to get through this piece. The movie did add some different things to the story:

- Wybie, Coraline's friend who gets buttons sewn onto his eyes by Other Mother

- A doll through which the Other Mother watches Coraline

- The magic garden with her Other Father

- The mouse circus

- A time limit on Coraline's ghost children challenge

- The Other Father attacking her IN the garden

- Other Mother chasing Coraline through a magical spider web back to reality

Let's start by talking about the ghost children hunt. In both stories, Coraline meets the ghost children and needs to find their eyes to allow them to escape the Other Mother. In the movie, Coraline finds the souls in the conjoined sister cocoon in the theater, in the garden with her Other Father, and with a rat that used to be a part of her upstairs neighbor. In the  In the book, Coraline finds the eyes in a toy box, the conjoined sister cocoon in the theater, and with a rat that used to be a part of her upstairs neighbor.

The key thing left out of the movie that was included in the book was (in my opinion) the scariest part of the story. Man. So, Coraline ventures into her neighbor's cellar in search of the ghost souls. When she reaches the end of the staircase, she switches lights on until she reaches the end of the cellar where she sees a monster-like swollen clay-like figure that vaguely resembles her Other Father. Other Mother had trapped him down there to punish him for revealing too much information on how to defeat her. Coraline is attacked by this monster and uses her wit to escape. Really really freaky. I can see why they made this scene much less scary for the movie. They kind of just made him a blubbering minion completely controlled by Other Mother.

The message of this book was so amazing, and is something that really isn't captured as well through the movie. The message of the story is essentially "being brave doesn't mean you're not scared of things, it means being incredibly scared of something and doing it anyway because it's the right thing to do." Reading this book, it honestly gave me courage. If Coraline, amidst the scariest and creepiest of situations EVER, was still strong enough to give up everything and face unspeakable terrors to save herself and her family, then what's stopping me? If I were in Coraline's situation, I would have been so overwhelmed that I can easily see myself giving up and running away from the things I'm afraid of. But the fact that she wasn't - and the reader gets to join her as she IS brave - has inspired me to not let the scary and crippling things in life decide what I do and who I am.  

Youtube

Sometimes when life is all crazy, it helps to have some consistency. Even if it's the idea that my favorite Youtubers are uploading videos for my viewing pleasure. So this post is dedicated to my three favorite Youtubers that are near and dear to my heart. 

1) grav3yardgirl

"Bunny" Meyer is so outrageous and eccentric, I love her. She makes videos called "Does This Thing Really Work" where she tests As Seen on TV Products, and she'll review makeup and other sorts of products as well. She also talks a lot about depression, anxiety, and other mental illnesses. Her fans are all part of the Swamp Family. And maybe it's lame, but it feels so nice to be a part of something. 

2) SuperCarlinBrothers

I love these guys. The Carlin Brothers make Youtube videos all about Disney and Pixar - especially the Pixar Theory, and other sorts of theories within the Disney/Pixar movies. They'll also discuss superhero movies and other pop culture movies and theories. Highly recommend. 

3) Rhett and Link

I know they've been doing Youtube forever, but I just recently got into Rhett and Link and their show Good Mythical Morning. Really they just do super entertaining things like taste tests and fun facts and competitions with each other, and it's really hilarious. Last night I watched one called "Will It Smoothie?" where they just blended up ridiculous things like lottery tickets and bull testicles. It's great. 

Happy Youtubing!

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

Yikes, I almost forgot to do a blog post this week. Something that I've been doing this weekend (that I'm really excited about) is READING! I wish I was more of a reader, but alas. So reading a book is a really big deal for me. 

A big problem for me is finding something to read that's interesting. In Summer 2014 I was INTENT on becoming a reader. I was so pumped to get a library card, I felt like Arthur. 

Unfortunately, the book I decided to read was Gone Girl, which I ended up throwing across the room when it went into graphic detail of his affair. Maybe I was being dramatic, but I was so not into it. Having enough of the "adult novel" genre, I tried reading Eleanor and Park, which just ended up being a ridiculous love story about teenagers, and I just... didn't care about their love? Also the book was covered in cheetos?

The last summer I read Shutter Island, because it was supposed to be a suspenseful book. More like predictable, and I hated it. I ended up reading a comic book called Fun Home. And that's every book I've (almost completely) read in the past 2 years. 

But I bought a book on Friday! I've been looking for things to keep me busy, and it's been going relly well so far. The book I bought was Miss Peregine's Home for Peculiar Children (really because I'm way into Tim Burton movies, and he's making the book into a movie right now).

It's a little bit creepy, but I'm into it. It's a LITTLE bit cheesy, but it's still really good. It's in the "Teenage Fiction" genre, but I think that it's kind of a good introduction to reading again for me. I'm already almost done with the book, and I just started it on Friday afternoon. Yay for reading!

Mermaids (1990)

I'm a sucker for anything Winona Ryder. If I could look like anyone in the world it would hands down be a young Winona Ryder. Like, are you kidding me?

So bear with me if this turns out to be an #ILoveWinonaRyder appreciation post. And don't even get me started on young Winona Ryder and young Johnny Depp. Honestly. 

 

Anyway, I was really excited to find the movie Mermaids starring Winona Ryder (at age 18). No Johnny Depp, but don't worry, it was still a good movie. 

Winona Ryder plays Charlotte Flax, a 15 year old who is completely sick of her mother's promiscuous ways. Whenever her mother (Cher) is over a relationship she's in, she picks up Charlotte and her 9-year-old sister, Kate (Christina Ricci), and moves them to a random destination across the U.S. 

Charlotte tries her very hardest not to be like her mother. Even though there is no religion in the home (and even though they're Jewish), Charlotte is convinced that her calling in the world is to be a Catholic nun. This proves to be very difficult, considering the monastery they now live up the street from has an older man named Joe who she is COMPLETELY in love with. The biggest downside, though, is that he's 26.

Once they move to this new town in Massachusetts, Rachel Flax (Cher) begins to flirt and date as well. She stumbles upon a man named Lou, who in my opinion is one of the greatest examples of family and fatherhood that the movie has to offer. Lou's children are all grown, and he really takes a liking to Rachel and her two daughters. He is able to give the children the stability and love that their mother has so often been cold with. Even though this sense of security and stability scares Rachel, she begins to embrace the idea of having a real family.

The rest of the movie shows continuous events and relationships that both strengthen and challenge their family bonds, as they come to learn to accept one another for who they are, understand the importance of family, and learn what it is that they truly want in life. 

Overall, I thought it was a really great movie, and if you're into the whole 90s movies things like I tend to be (and if you're into Winona Ryder) then I highly recommend that you give it a try. 

Carly Rae Jepsen

Concerts are always fun, even if you're going to see someone that you're not a huge fan of. My best friend and I decided to go see Carly Rae Jepsen this weekend at The Depot at SLC. It's really wonderful how media (especially music) is able to bring people together.

I was really curious what sort of crowd would show up to Carly Rae Jepsen. It turned out to be a whole variety of people - little girls to young adult men. Even though I didn't know much about Carly Rae Jepsen, the excitement and atmosphere at a concert is always great. It was way fun.

Gravity Falls

Let's talk about my all time favorite show! Don't get turned off by the fact that it's made by Disney Channel - Gravity Falls is seriously one of the most hilarious, witty, and thought-provoking shows I've ever watched.

I swear they came so close to cancelling this show so many times. The air date for the first episode of Season One was June 15th, 2012, and the date of the final episode of Season Two was February 16th, 2016. Four years to create two seasons? Every fan was definitely nervous. Also there's the fact that the show was transferred over from the REAL Disney Channel to Disney XD, which is basically the channel where all the reject Disney Channel shows go to sulk in embarrassment.

If you're into mystery, humor, conspiracies, and dark twists, you're going to LOVE this show. The basic story is about 12-year-old twins, Dipper and Mabel Pines, who spend the summer with their strange great-uncle Grunkle Stan in the mysterious town of Gravity Falls, Oregon. The longer they stay there, the more secrets begin to unfold about the weird happenings and inhabitants of this town. They experience many run ins with the supernatural, including their main nemesis Bill Cipher (who represents the Illuminati character). 

The funny thing about this show is, I really wouldn't consider it a kids show. A lot of the images would probably be something that would give me nightmares as a kid. But for adults, seriously, WATCH IT - you'll love it.