Hi there, Blog Reader. First, I have to explain my scoring system for rating films. I will give them a rating out of 100 with 30 points available for the story, 30 for music, 30 for how the film captivates me (acting, pacing, set pieces, etc.) and the last 10 will be my rating of how likely I am to recommend it to a friend. OK, so now for the reasons:- 1 – Not just for musical fans First of all, I have to say; if you are not a fan of musicals then this might still be for you, so don’t write it off just yet. My wife suggested going to the cinema to see this one Saturday afternoon, and I wasn’t overly convinced. Now don’t get me wrong – I count Phantom of the Opera and Les Miserable amongst my favourite films, but having watched Logan the previous night, the idea of seeing Hugh Jackman go from the gruff near-immortal Wolverine to the kind, gentle and bright-eyed PT Barnum seemed almost too much of a juxtaposition. Suffice to say; I was not disappointed. Barely a minute into the film the idea of Hugh being Logan had been wholly washed from my mind to the point where I could have said different actors were playing them. 2 – The story is uplifting and upsetting in equal measure It follows PT Barnum and the creation of the first circus while aptly showing the effect it has on multiple groups, from the performers to his family to society in general. There are many themes at play within the film, but I would like to say the prevalent one is overcoming adversity. It is full of examples of discrimination through class, race and physical appearance and strives to show the characters overcoming these, through a mix of changing the status quo for the better and accepting themselves for who they are rather than who society wants them to be. 3 – The score will blow you away There are some powerful voices in the score, with the bearded lady (Keala Settle) bringing the house down with her astounding vocal range sending sparks of electricity down your spine as she pours everything into each song, not to mention the exceptional abilities of Hugh Jackman, Anne Wheeler and Zac Efron. I found the film to have a great mix of song and story without either tripping over each other. Sometimes musicals have a habit of singing conversations which would have been better just spoken instead. To my memory, there is only one song in the film that is an actual sang conversation between the characters and is a scene in the bar. I won’t spoil it but the mix of song, acting and movement (not to mention the humour from both characters and the barman) were a wonder to see, and still has my number one spot for best scene in the movie. We enjoyed the film so much we had to stop off and buy the soundtrack on the way home, and I have to say I have lost count of the number of times I have listened to it since. It is uplifting and powerful. If you are feeling down or self-conscious at all, it has an impressive ability to give you a boost when you most need it. 4 – It is an all round feel good film There are many scenes in this film I could comfortably name as my favourite, from the new love to the old, from the eagerness to make something of yourself to the setbacks and heartache, this film does not disappoint. We were utterly captivated from the very first chords of the first song to the start of the ending credits, entirely moved by the story, happy with the various character arcs and not left wanting. As the scores will reflect below, we came out of the film filled with the wow feeling of seeing an excellent movie and the experience will stay with us forever. 5 – Total recommendation I would happily and wholeheartedly recommend this film to friends, my dear readers of this blog, casual acquaintances, and random people in the street - in fact, anyone who will listen. As I mentioned above, the soundtrack has an uplifting quality, and I have used this to cheer me up and encourage me after a hard day at work.
My score for this film is - Story - 30/30 Music - 30/30 Captivation - 30/30 Recommendation - 10/10 Total Score - 100/100 I look forward to picking up the book “The Life Of PT Barnum” and adding it to my bookshelves, and this is a must-buy when the DVD comes out. I hope you take my recommendation and feel the same. See you again soon Blog Reader!
0 Comments
Thanks for coming back, blog reader! Anyone who has read my post on How To Be an Author will see Robert Jordan listed as one of my favourite authors, and reading the books you will see why. I know a year is a significant commitment, but if you take my recommendation, I think its worth the effort. First of all, no, they are not short books, and I'm not a slow reader. Each book is in the region of 800 to 1000 pages, so if you want to get this polished off in a year, you are looking at about 30 pages a day on average. It's also not the type of book to have large words and wide margins; the writing is small and as much space is taken up on the page as possible - my kind of book! The Wheel of Time series was also the first fiction book I had ever read with a glossary at the back of each volume. Not only do you have a wealth of information in the books themselves, but you can also gain additional fun information by going through the back pages. The series follows many main characters and periodically changes point of view to follow these stories, but the main arc centres on a young man and his discovery of his ability to wield the source. A terrifying find when it is something men cannot do without going mad. As he learns to control the force, gathers allies and fulfils prophecies, his eventual showdown with the evil entity known as "the dark one" seems inevitable. In the very simplest of terms, it is a story about a young man who finds himself out of his depth in a vast new world as everyone looks to him to save them. He is helped and hindered in equal measure by both friends and enemies. You can see the questions in my post How to Plan a Novel have been used perfectly in each of the books. Without giving away any spoilers, I always thought the ending of book one seemed like there was only ever to be book one, but the depth of detail created by Jordan is so significant and believable it stretches out into an epic saga of fourteen books - yep fourteen! As you can see below, they changed the covers after book nine (still prefer the colour ones) I first started reading these books in my early teens (around the millennium), ploughing through them at pace and hunting down the next book before beginning the last chapter of the previous one. The first book was published in 1990, so I was in luck as I had a few to catch up on, before having to wait for another to be released. I came to the point where I was waiting for the next book in the series and then disaster! In 2007 with the stories beginning to culminate and the reader kept guessing, Jordan, unfortunately, passed away from heart disease. Fortunately, following Jordan's diagnosis, he left substantial notes and instructions to allow another author to finish the series to his wishes. Therefore the last three books were ghostwritten by Brandon Sanderson. While the style changes slightly for these last three, it is not enough to be significant, and Sanderson keeps so close to the subject matter, it's almost as if Jordan had written it himself. At the time I didn't know any of this. I had found out about the death of the author and given up on ever seeing the fruition of the series, resigning the volumes to my bookshelf to be little more than ornaments. After all, with all the other books I had to read and no ending to The Wheel of Time, what was the point in re-reading them? It wasn't until after the release of the final book a few years later I found out Sanderson had finished the saga. I immediately went out and bought the last three. However, this left me with a predicament. It had been years since I had read any of the others and I didn't think I could remember them in enough detail to enjoy them truly, so I made a decision. I placed the three books on my bookshelf, untouched, and started again. Knowing it would take me the better part of a year to get to them, but those volumes would be all the better for me re-reading the preceding eleven, and it was worth every late night, lunch break and quick half hour reading my way through.
I had forgotten so much of the nuances of the plot and various groups within, that I know I would not have done the last three books justice. After finishing the last page of the final book I felt as if a weight had been lifted, I had a sense of accomplishment I hadn't had reading other book series. I never really understood how this series didn't have the reach of the Lord of the Rings trilogy; the world is equally, if not more, substantive and has plenty of action and drama to be a rival. Although I am speaking from a UK perspective, and I believe there is a cult following of the series in America with an annual convention. There are even rumours there is to be a TV series based on the books. Now I don't watch a great deal of TV anymore, but count me glued to the screen and uncontactable for the duration of this program if or when it appears. So in conclusion, I would heartily recommend setting aside a year of your reading time and stacking all of your other "to read" pile to one side, to work your way through the epic saga of The Wheel of Time. If you are a reader, this is the kind of book series which you will hold dear for years to come, and if you are a writer, it is a masterclass in world creation. Without wanting to sound cheesy, I would give the series 70 stars - 5 for each book! |
Craig BoldyBorn in South Yorkshire, he lives there with his wife and Labrador. Working a normal 9-5 while filling his nights with writing. Categories
All
Archives
November 2018
|