Third Film of the Star Trek Reboot Movies to be Released 2016

Yes. It’s finally happening. The successor to Star Trek Into Darkness is scheduled to be released July 8, 2016. The title has not been released yet, and it is listed on IMDb as “Star Trek 3.”

Unfortunately, J.J. Abrams will not be directing this one. He jumped ship over to the Star Wars franchise. This movie will be directed by Justin Lin, who directed the third through sixth Fast and Furious movies. Abrams is remaining on the staff as a producer. Maybe this means there won’t be as many lens flares…

Anyways, I digress. It is unknown who or what the antagonist will be in this movie. To be honest, little is known about the plot at all. One of the writers from the other two movies, Roberto Orci, wrote a script for this one, and was scheduled to direct the movie, but he backed out. It is unknown at the time if his script will be used, but Orci has remained on staff as a producer.

This movie is scheduled to be released exactly two months before the 50th anniversary of the franchise. So, many will have to opportunity to see the movie on the anniversary, if you want to wait a couple months. They have set a deadline to get it released before the anniversary, but with the difficulties in finding a suitable director, it is questionable if it will be accomplished.

It is rumored that William Shatner may have a cameo role with Leonard Nemoy in a throw-back scene. Apparently, they are waiting for Shatner to agree.

Little other information is known at the time, I will keep you updated as more is revealed.

Until then, stay cool and keep dreaming

ThePhilosophicalFangirl

Book Review- Red Rising by Pierce Brown

Synopsis: Darrow was destined to be a miner his whole life, and to die a young age due to being born into the lowest caste, the Reds. After the society claims his wife, he makes a startling discovery that changes everything. He’s willing to do what ever it takes to bring the corrupt society down, even if it means becoming his enemy.

Initial Response- This book is very unique and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was a longer read for me, but it was worth it. The book contained similar aspects with The Hunger Games and Ender’s Game, but all the while contained a fascinating, unique setting.

Pros- The main character is very relatable, the reader can feel his struggles and experience his difficult path. The use of figurative language helps in this aspect. As mentioned before, the setting also is very unique. The story contained useful plot twists that contained some that were easy to guess, while others were not.

Cons- The plot was fairly similar to Ender’s Game, The Hunger Games, and even The Testing series by Joelle Charbonneau. There were some different aspects, but many points of the plot were very similar.

Thus ends the spoiler-free part to the review. Spoilers ahead!

Graphic/Sexual Content- There is some foul language, and there are some swears unique to this book that combine swear words from our society, for example “bloodydamn” is used frequently. There is romance between Darrow and his wife, Eo, but never in much detail. There are mentions of people being raped, but there is not much detail.

Major Annoyances- I did not like how quickly Eo died. Yes, her death was important to the plot, but I feel like there wasn’t enough of the book that stressed Darrow’s feelings for her. Especially because that love got him through some tough times, but we don’t see much until she becomes a martyr. It makes it seem like Darrow cares for her so much more after she dies, just because of her martyrdom.

Things I Did Like- I liked how they used many names based in Roman Mythology. It adds a deeper meaning to the book. It’s also reminiscent of Percy Jackson… In all seriousness though, it demonstrates that like Rome, this society is going to fall. Maybe it will even break into two parts and fall at different times? I have no idea, but this book was definitely set up for a sequel.

Final Thoughts- It was a pretty good book, not my favorite but definitely not terrible. I really do hope this one is made into a movie, it just seems like movie material. I would recommend for anyone who liked Ender’s Game, The Hunger Games, or The Testing series.

Rating- 7.5 out of 10

Sorry I have not been posting so much recently, I have been busy since the holidays. My posts may slow down due to school starting up again. I should post at least twice a week. Thanks for your patience!

Stay cool and keep dreaming!

ThePhilosophicalFangirl (Phil-fa)

Book Review- The Living by Matt de la Peña

Initial Response- It’s a very interesting book. It combines quite a few generic storylines into one novel and makes for an unique book. I personally liked it quite a bit.

Pros- This book has something for everyone in it. From survival, to romance, to a deadly epidemic, this book has everything combined into one. It’s given in the perspective of a late-teenaged boy, complete with the hormones and the checking-out of the girls, and it gives an extremely unique perspective, the likes of which I have never encountered before in a book.

Cons- As mentioned before, the storylines given are a bit generic (survival, deadly epidemic etc), but combined they do make for a pretty good book.

Thus ends the spoiler-free part of the review. Spoilers ahead!

Graphic/sexual content- There was a fairly intense make-out scene between the main character, Shy, and a girl engaged to another man. Also, because this book is offered in the perspective of a teenaged boy, there are many points in the book where he describes the bodies of the women he’s checking out. There is some foul language, ranging from mild to the f word. There are descriptions of dead bodies, and descriptions of injuries on people that are fairly descriptive, but not horrifically graphic. There is also the suicide of a man who jumped off a balcony on a cruise ship, and it is fairly descriptive because the Shy is the one who tried to stop him.

Major Annoyances- I think the science isn’t completely accurate. There is a massive tsunami that originated from an earthquake off the Richter scale on the West Coast of North America that overwhelms their gigantic cruiseship. When a boat in the middle of the ocean encounters a tsunami, it is merely a ripple on the surface that is often hardly noticed. The book gives explaination to the gigantic wave by stating that they were close to an island chain so the water was shallower and the earthquake was off the Richter scale. The ocean was deep enough for the cruise ship, with its eighteen inch metal bottom, to be movable. The tsunami would have affected the boat, yes, but not completely obliterated it as seen in the book, at least in my opinion.

The amount of death. Practically everyone on the cruise ship dies, save maybe ten people. Maybe I’m just picky, but the amount of death seemed obscene. And, this isn’t including all the people died due to the earthquake, tsunami, and the disease called the Romero Disease.

The storylines were a bit generic. A new disease spreading quickly that was created by a company for monetary gain has been used several times before. So has a male is stranded in some obscure place with a female and must survive, but ultimatly begin falling for each other. However, because many generic storylines were used, all intertwining, it did make for an enjoyable, unique novel.

Things I Did Like- The unique perspective. As mentioned before, the book is presented in the perspective of a late-teenaged boy, completed with all the hormones. The book gives several mentions of him checking out girls, complete with descriptions. As a member of the population with dual X chromosomes,  I found this perspective unique and informational.

As mentioned before, I liked the intertwining generic plots. I really did make for an unique novel and I thouroghly enjoyed it.

Final Thoughts- This book was very interesting and enjoyable. I would recommend to anybody really, because there is so many different aspects that cater to many tastes.

Rating- 8 out of 10

Happy New Years!

Stay cool and keep dreaming,

ThePhilosophicalFangirl (Phil-fa)

Shoutout

I just want to say thanks to my first three followers. This is a really new experience for me and I really appreciate your support. So, shout out to-

-Opinionated Man

-Elan Mudrow

-takingthemaskoff

Thanks for your support!

ThePhilosophicalFangirl (Phil-fa)

The Hobbit-The Battle of the Five Armies Movie Review

Synopsis- After awakening the dragon, Smaug, the band of dwarves must defeat Smaug, and then protect the mountain from outside forces.

Initial Response- Not bad, but the movie was pretty much only consisted of the battle. The rising and falling action together probably lasted only forty-five minutes. That may not seem too bad, but the entire movie was about a little under two and a half hours.

Pros- The battle was cool. As the title suggests, it was the clash of five armies, all battling. It was pretty epic. The love story in the last movie between an elf and a dwarf continued and the interracial romance was fascinating. Especially when Legolas got all jealous.

Cons- In my opinion, not much plot. The movie was basically all battling. Thorin was a jerk, people died, Bilbo threw rocks. It didn’t contain much else.

Thus ends the spoiler-free part of the review. Major spoilers ahead!

Graphic/Sexual content- Not really anything to be honest. The only graphic content really is all of the fighting. There wasn’t a whole ton of foul language or major sexual content.

Major Annoyances- Thorin’s death. He should have stabbed the White Orc through the ice to make sure he was dead. I mean, come on, who’s really that stupid? I don’t know if Thorin saw it, but I saw the Orc move under the ice. It was painfully obvious. Even if he thought the Orc was dead, he should have still stabbed him through the ice to ensure his death.

Legolas defying physics. There was a scene where he was fighting an orc on a collapsed bell tower spanning a chasm. There was a part where he got knocked off the tower, and ran up falling rubble to safety. I am aware that Legolas is not human, so he may be able to do superhuman things, but there is no way he could have run up all that rubble, while falling, to make it to safety. We all know they can’t kill Legolas, because he’s in the Lord of the Rings movies, so the suspense they were trying to create completely flopped.

Tauriel playing the damsel in distress. I mean come on, Kili died for her, and Legolas almost did, and she’s just laying on the ground. Yes, I know she’s injured, but people are dying. She didn’t have any major wounds that could affect her mobility, get up and kick some butt girl! Don’t just sit there while these guys are dying for you.

Alfrid. But, then again he’s a character you’re not supposed to like. He’s a major coward, and even dresses like a woman to avoid fighting. It was very frustrating to see him running away.

The amount of time it took them to kill Smaug. It took them, maybe twenty minutes at most. I feel like this bit should have been in the previous movie. I didn’t even remember what exactly had happened in the last movie, but all I can see is one of the dwarves was in a jail cell for some reason, and the others were with some guy’s family etc. It continued the plot from the last movie into twenty minutes of this one and it was very annoying.

Things I Did Like- The women getting up and fighting. It was shown in a brief, twenty second shot, but the women grabbed everything they could find and went and fought with the men. You go girls!

Bilbo was actually useful! He threw rocks at orcs and warned Thorin of the approaching army. He attempted to facilitate peace between the men, elves, and dwarves at the cost of his life. It was nice to see him not being so dead weight.

The battling was pretty epic. It kind of made up for the lack of plot.

Final Thoughts- It was a decent movie, not the best I have ever seen, but not terrible. Just like the other Lord of the Rings movies it was long, but it didn’t contain so many dull moments as some of the other LOTR movies.

PJ Scale Rating- 0, but that’s to be expected, considering the story lines added and many things changed. As mentioned in my other posts, a low score on the PJ scale does not make for a bad movie. (For more information on the PJ scale, check out my other post named as such.)

Overall Rating- 6.5 out of 10

Until later, stay cool and keep dreaming

ThePhilosophicalFangirl (Phil-fa)

The Treatment (The Program Book 2) by Suzanne Young Book Review

I wasn’t going to make a review for this book because it’s in the middle of a series. But, I finally obtained it today, and it was so incredible, I wanted to make one anyway. If you haven’t read my review for the first book, I invite you to do so now.

Synopsis- After escaping the Program and reuniting with James, Sloane must run to escape being sent back to The Program again. Along the way, she and James meet up with others who are trying to destroy The Program, and must endure the few memories that are painfully coming back to them.

Initial Response- Holy Mother of God, this book is just as intense as the first. It sent me to every corner of my emotional spectrum. It didn’t really help my emotions that I read the whole book in three hours straight…because I couldn’t put it down. Wow, this book improves upon the first. It’s full of characters that one can relate to, and a society none of us would ever want to live in.

Pros- Wow, where to start? As mentioned before, the characters are easy to relate to. I found myself relating to several aspects of several characters and it drew me into the book even more. The plot and setting are incredibly unique, which is a rarity in the crowded dystopian YA field. This book really needs to be the next big YA novel. I would definitely go see the movie.

Cons- The continuation of the love triangle as mentioned in my previous review for this series continued to be depressing in a way. It was very one-sided, and I feel like the plot could have benefited from the lack of the triangle, but in this book it did advance the plot at some points.

Thus ends the spoiler-free part of the review. Spoilers ahead!

Sexual/Graphic Content- Quite a bit of swearing, more than the typical YA novel. But I can completely understand them, because if put in that situation, I would be swearing too. There is some romance between Sloane and James, and although there are no sex scenes, there is some scenes where they intend to, but they don’t have a condom. More suicides are mentioned in this novel, but they do not go into the detail given in the previous novel.

Major Annoyances- Lacey gets a lobotomy?!?! That made me so upset. After all the crap they have all been through, she’s brought down by a lobotomy. She finally starts to remember Miller, and then she gets a lobotomy.

Realm. Just Realm in general. The guy can’t take a hint. And the fact that he’s the one who gave Dallas up to The Program the first time? I wanted to slap him so badly right there. He keeps trying to make moves on Sloane, especially when James isn’t there. Learn to take a hint dude.

Things I Really Liked- This is a new category in my reviews, but this book was so good I had to add it for this review.

As mentioned before, I liked the relatability of the characters. I related a lot with Dallas, and it made me feel closer to the characters. I liked the character development and how much of an amazing fighter Sloane is. Dare I say it, but she is stronger than Katniss Everdeen. The crazy stuff Sloane has been through mentally makes Katniss pale in comparison in my opinion.

I liked that James took The Treatment. It’s good for one of them to remember the past, and I honestly don’t think Sloane could take it anymore. She probably could have before this book, but after the events of this book, I don’t think she could. It’s probably easier for James to tell her the stories than for her to remember herself. Either way, she is a radically different person from the start of the series to the end in my opinion.

I also like that it’s not a trilogy. It ended pretty well with this book and trilogies are over-used anyways.

Observations- They finally figured it out. It took them a whole book plus three hundred nineteen pages of this one to figure it out. The Program causes suicides. You all can quote me on this, I totally called it. You can check the observations section of my other review. But, why it took them so long to figure it out, I have no idea. It’s painfully obvious.

Final Thoughts- Someone please make this series a movie! It is so intense, but so good. I would recommend for anyone.

Rating- 9.5 out of 10

Until later, stay cool and keep dreaming

ThePhilosophicalFangirl (Phil-fa)

Book Review: The Young Elites by Marie Lu

Synopsis- In a world where a deadly disease known as the Blood Fever ravaged the population a few years earlier, leaving the few survivors with distinctive scars, a few begin to develop superhuman abilities. Adelina, a victim herself, leaves home to escape her abusive father. On her journeys she faces many perils, and along the way, she must discover herself.

Initial Reaction- Not bad, but definitely not the best book I have ever read. The plot was a bit generic. A bunch of teen develop superhuman abilities, and a bunch of other people try to kill them. It was pretty dark at times, and there was quite a bit sexual/graphic content.

Pros- There is quite a bit of character development, especially in the main character, Adelina. It is prominent and helps move the plot along. You can really feel her struggles, and it makes her more relatable to the reader.

Cons- As I mentioned earlier, the plot is fairly generic. It is darker than most YA novels I’ve read, and contained quite a bit of graphic/sexual content.

Thus ends the spoiler-free part of the review. Spoilers ahead!

Graphic/Sexual Content- For starters, Adelina’s father is abusive. Her abuses her physically and emotionally. Also, Adelina meets up with the Young Elites, and their base is basically at a semi-watered down strip club. The Elites (otherwise known as The Daggers) actually help run the strip club, and one of them in particular, Raffaele, has “clients” that he has sex with to fund them. It does not contain sex scenes, but it does describe Raffaele in a sort-of sexual manner. Also, there is a strange romance between Adelina and the leader of The Daggers, Enzo, which contains a fairly descriptive make-out scene.

Major Annoyances- How generic it is. I feel like superhuman teenagers are a bit overused. Especially when they are being hunted by people who don’t have abilities until PLOT TWIST, one of them does. It’s very overused, and unless you can really bring it out spectacularly, it doesn’t make for the greatest book ever. I feel like this one was hit and miss. It wasn’t a terrible book, it just wasn’t the best.

Also, Adelina is very dark. When she discovers her abilities, she slowly gets drunk with power. I did like the character development, but when a character is basically all dark and not much light, it’s rather depressing in a way. Darkness can be beneficial to a character’s development, but there should be something not so dark or else the character just seems evil.

I was upset Teren didn’t die. He’s a…well, many strong words, and I really wanted to slap him. He’s very selfish in a way, and he was just very annoying. But, he made a decent antagonist.

Observations- The setting is very unique, but the society is a bit Middle Ages. It has a fairly prominent patriarchy in some aspects, but in others women seem fairly equal. I did like this setting, and I give the author kudos for the uniqueness.

Final Thoughts- Not a bad book, but it didn’t knock my socks off. I would recommend to people who like superhuman teenager books and/or Middle Ages type societies.

Rating: 6 out of 10

Stay cool and keep dreaming!

ThePhilosophicalFangirl (Phil-fa)

Trailer Rant- Insurgent Official Trailer 1

Here’s the link if you want to watch the video before reading this post- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IR-l_TSjlEo

My first impression- What the actual?

First off, and most importantly, there’s no box in the book. Jeanine was hunting down Divergents only because they were aware under simulations, and she wanted a simulation that could bring everyone under control. They were a threat to that dream. She was especially hunting down Tris because Tris was very Divergent and very aware under simulations. There was no mysterious box that could only be opened by a Divergent. That just seems very preposterous.

Secondly, the leader of the Factionless is Tobias’ mom, Evelyn. She was also Marcus’ wife. She is first seen at 0:48 in the video. To me, she looks a bit too young. Tobias is eighteen in the book, and even older looking in the movie. Evelyn should be, at the very youngest, early forties, if she had Tobias in her early twenties. She looks much younger in my opinion.

One thing I did like was Tris’ new hair cut. It kind of shows her more dangerous side and I like it.

At 1:47, she fights herself. While this did occur in the book, it occurred when she was trying to break into Jeanine’s office. Not in a lab with Jeanine watching.

1:57 Please let this movie be PG-13. That shot in itself isn’t enough to make it R, but if continued… Also, just a quick reminder, Tris is sixteen.

If I had to rate just the trailer on the PJ Scale, it would be around a 1. (For more information on the PJ scale, check out my other post here- https://thephilosophicalfangirl.wordpress.com/2014/12/27/the-pj-scale/ ) However, because it is just a trailer and not the actual movie, this cannot be a completely accurate reading.

Hopefully the movie will be higher on the PJ Scale, but even if not, I just hope it’s a decent movie.

Until later, stay cool and keep dreaming

ThePhilosophicalFangirl (Phil-fa)

Teen Titans Live-Action Television Show to be Shot in 2015

Yes, all you Teen Titans fans, there is a live-action version to be shot in 2015 entitled Titans. For some of you this maybe old news, but I wanted to post my opinions and what information I know. The show will feature the Titans in their 20s. (so they will no longer be the Teen Titans). It will air on Syfy, and the only characters confirmed to be in the series are Raven, Starfire, and Dick Grayson as Nightwing.

So what about Beastboy and Cyborg? Well, apparently Cyborg has been showing up less and less in the recent Titans comics. It is rumored that Cyborg maybe showing up in the new Superman vs Batman movie. DC is pretty much phasing him out of the Titans by this point. Cyborg has been present in many Justice League events, which means he kinda outgrew the Titans. There is no confirmed evidence that Beast Boy will be in the show, but I could imagine some pretty angry fans if he was not. However, due to the age gap between Beast Boy and the other Titans, it is possible they will not include him because if the others are set in their twenties, Beast Boy would still be in his teens.

Also, the show may include some Titans that were fundamental in the comics, but not present in the Cartoon Network show due to licensing issues. Characters such as Superboy and Wonder Girl. Aqualad was seen in the Cartoon Network version, but played a more minor role than he did in the comics. Perhaps there will be more of him as well.

One thing that is uncertain is the continuation of the Teen Titans Go! on Cartoon Network. There maybe some licensing issues between networks that could involve the cancellation of this show.

It will be directed by Akiva Goldsman, who received an Academy Award for his work on A Beautiful Mind.

I personally hope they bring in Terra. I think she was an under-developed character in the cartoons that really has potential to be interesting. I also really hope they bring in Slade, or Deathstroke as a major villain. He was my favorite villain because he was so mysterious.

Let me know in the comments who you want to see on the show and your thoughts on the show!

Stay cool and keep dreaming!

ThePhilosophicalFangirl (Phil-fa)

The PJ Scale

The Percy Jackson Scale (or PJ Scale for short) is something I created to use as a measurement to rate how close a movie is to a book. Most Percy Jackson fans will tell you that the movie is absolutely nothing like the book. So, I rated it a 1 on the PJ scale. One thing to note however, this is not a rating of how good a movie is. This just demonstrates how similar a book and a movie are. Sometimes the movie is better than the book. I may use this scale in some of my movie reviews so this post is for reference. Feel free to use the PJ Scale in real life if you want. The scale is as follows:

0-Worse than Percy Jackson- The movie has absolutely NOTHING in common with the book. This rating is extremely rare. This represents a movie where they have completely butchered the book. The plot and major plot points have changed and the movie is basically an extremely loose translation of the book. The characters may be different or have different characteristics. Plot points have been added and removed from the book’s plot. If a movie receives this rating, it can literally not be compared to the book. One must view the movie completely separate from the book.

1-Equal to Percy Jackson- The movie is extremely unlike the book. Many plot points have been changed and many aspects have been added or removed. The characters are slightly similar to the ones in the book but many characteristics have been changed. The book has still been pretty butchered.

2-Slightly Better than Percy Jackson- The movie is unlike the book. Some plot points have been changed and some points have been added or removed. The characters are similar to the one in the book but some aspects have been changed.

3-Better than Percy Jackson- The movie is similar to the book. A few plot points have changed and some points have been added or removed. The characters are fairly similar to those in the book and few aspects have changed.

4-Much Better than Percy Jackson- The movie is very similar to the book. A few, if any, plot points have changed and very little has been added or removed. The characters are very similar to those in the book and very few characteristics have been changed.

5-Exactly Like the Book- The movie is exactly like the book. No plot points have changed with absolutely nothing added or removed. The characters are exactly like in the book and no characteristics have been changed. No movie ever made has received this rating. To receive this rating, the movie must be EXACTLY like the book. It’s mostly for reference.

You can use decimal places, but please refrain from using too many. Only one decimal place should be sufficient.

Thanks for reading about the PJ Scale. Feel free to use this as you would like. Let’s make this a thing!

Until later, stay cool and keep dreaming,

ThePhilosophicalFangirl (Phil-fa)