MOVIE REVIEW: White Bird in a Blizzard - 'Marriage Destined To End In Death'

Director: Gregg Araki
Stars: Shailene Woodley, Eva Green, Christopher Meloni

Release Date:  October 24, 2014

Our teen years are the happiest days of our lives, right? The parties, the thrills, the excitement, the adventures, the world is truly in our hands. We might believe that but in all actuality, our teen years can come with some pretty awful memories as well. But we refuse to remember those, I mean, who chooses to remember the bad memories over the good? That is exactly the case for Shailene Wodley's Kat Connor in her latest film White Bird in a Blizzard, whose mother goes missing quite randomly in the middle of January. Director Gregg Araki who specializes in subjecting young people is back at it again with his latest film. Unfortunately, the complete lack of mystery and suspense is the downfall of the film.

Kat Connors (Shailene Woodley) is 17 years old when her perfect homemaker mother, Eve (Eva Green), a beautiful, enigmatic, and haunted woman, disappears - just as Kat is discovering and relishing her newfound sexuality. Having lived for so long in a stifled, emotionally repressed household, she barely registers her mother's absence and certainly doesn't blame her doormat of a father, Brock (Christopher Meloni), for the loss. In fact, it's almost a relief. But as time passes, Kat begins to come to grips with how deeply Eve's disappearance has affected her. Returning home on a break from college, she finds herself confronted with the truth about her mother's departure, and her own denial about the events surrounding it...

White Bird in a Blizzard can easily be apart of a double feature with the other film being Gone Girl. Heck, if you have the spare time add Horns to it as well and you'll have yourself a nice triple feature. But the first two films have more in common than the latter as they both deal with the true story behind a "perfect" marriage and reveals this story through the mystery of a missing spouse. White Bird in a Blizzard on the other hand goes deeper than what director David Fincher and author Gillian Flynn had a chance to by looking through the viewpoint of an offspring. In this case, a hormonal teenage girl. This small difference plays a huge role in the film.

The difference between the two films is White Bird in a Blizzard does not care much about the mystery in the novel. After the first 15 minutes into the film you already know who did it. The why is more of a twist but you are never surprised or filled with suspense throughout the film. This is probably because Araki has always been one to subject young individuals and more specifically how they handle their identity and relationships. If you are a fan of the source material, Laura Kasischke's novel, than you will be upset that Araki never addresses the LGBT identity that is addressed in the novel.

This can easily be considered Woodley's Havoc as she drops the teenage girl image that she built through The Secret Life of the American Teenager with a couple of nude scenes throughout the film. She picked the right film to show Hollywood and her fans that she is ready for more mature roles as she completely nails the different emotions her character goes through. Despite her strong want for sex, she never comes out as a slut and rarely over dramatized other emotions as well. Christopher Meloni brings a strong performance as Kat's father but Eva Green just feels out of her element as Kat's mother. A pet peeve of mine has always been casting a big name actor for such a tiny role and that is the case for Thomas Jane's Detective Scieziesciez.

White Bird in a Blizzard is currently available on VOD with it set to have a limited release on October 24th.

MOVIE REVIEW: The Fault in Our Stars - 'Pain Demands to be Felt'

Director: Josh Boone
Starring: Shailene Woodley, Ansel Elgort, Nat Wolff
Release Date: June 6, 2014

The Fault in Our Stars is a number-one bestselling novel by John Green that came out in January 2012. 18 months and millions of copies sold later the novel has been adapted into a film. Whenever a book is turned into a film, fans of the book always worry if the film crew will do the book justice. It's a scary thought really, these characters that you fell in love with as you turned the pages can be ruined if the film doesn't bring the characters to life the way you imagined them to be. Will Josh Boone and his crew make thousands of fans happy or will this adaptation turn sour?

Hazel Grace Lancaster (Shailene Woodley) and Augustus Waters (Ansel Elgort) are two extraordinary teenagers who are fighting the same fight - cancer. They both share an acerbic wit, a disdain for the conventional, and a love that sweeps them – and us – on an unforgettable journey. Their relationship is all the more miraculous, given that they met and fell in love at a cancer support group. The Fault in Our Stars takes us on an unforgettable journey about how it feels to be alive and in love.

If your biggest fear was that the movie adaptation won't live up to the book then take a deep breath of relief because Josh Boone stayed faithful to the book. The screenwriters even took entire passages from the book and inserted them into the script. Yes, there are scenes from the book that did not make the film but that was to be expected due to the film having a run time of 125 minutes. So if there wasn't a scene that did not contribute to getting Hazel and Augustus to Amsterdam or to the ending of the novel then it had to be left out. But even with that, you will not be disappointed. 

Woodley has proven herself as an actress in past films and it is no surprise that she killed it as Hazel Grace. What I enjoyed the most was that she didn't take the easy route by evoking pity or sadness from the viewers with her terminal illness. It's easy to sympathize with any film about cancer due to it being an illness that takes the lives of many loved ones but Woodley doesn't let that happen. Instead, she uses Hazel's goodness and wit to help the audience grow a connection with her. And Elgort does the same thing with Augustus even though he did come off too cocky. The chemistry between the two actors was simply beautiful and I must admit, I fell in love for them after their first interaction in the film. Issac (Nat Wolff) adds the only comic relief throughout the film as a patient whose cancer causes him to lose his eyes.

The greatest strength and what I appreciate the most from the film is that it does not use cancer to pull the tears from our eyes because yes, you will cry in this film. Instead, it uses love as the tearjerker because love is not always perfect and can get quite emotional. Not only does the love between Augustus and Hazel choke you up but the love between Hazel and her parents grows stronger.

"The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, 

But in ourselves, that we are underlings." - Cassius

  

The title of the book and the film is a play on the quote from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. In general, I would agree with Cassius that the faults is indeed not in our stars but in ourselves but in the case of Hazel, Augustus and everyone else with terminal illness, the fault is in their stars.

Overall, I highly recommend going to see The Fault in Our Stars when it hits theaters on June 6th. It is a perfect date film or something you can go see with your family or friends. Make sure you bring your napkins because your hands might be too buttery from eating your popcorn to wipe those tears. This film is by far one of my favorite book to movie adaptations as of late. You'll get the same feelings from reading the book as watching the film. Note, you will shed more tears if you decide to read the novel.