Introducing 52 in 52 2: The feature film sequel!

Over the last year Kat embarked on a literary challenge to see if she could read 52 books in 52 days; essentially one book per week; and to kick off 2015 with something new and fresh, we are pleased to say we are going to continue tradition. This time, however, 52 feature length movies will be in the spotlight but rather than having Kat just do all the hard work, I am also taking part in the challenge as well. Again, like last year, we will have a few rules, as followed:

• The films have to be at least one hour long – Some early or specialist feature films are therefore not permitted
• At least one of us cannot have seen the film before – This is so one of us watches the film as new experience but the other is not allowed to spoil any of the plot.
• The one who hasn’t seen it previously will have to write the majority of the review – The other will be contributing however
• Mediums allowed – DVD’s, Blu-Rays, Online Streaming services (i.e Netflix), Network broadcasts and of course, the actual cinema
• Sequels are permitted – However, only if they are a new cinematic or home entertainment release during 2015 or the preceding film has been watched first. Prequels are also allowed regardless if the original film has been watched or not

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Like the book challenge, it’ll give us both an opportunity to watch some great films that we have always wanted to watch but never really got round to do so. Some films will be watched at around about the same time they become relevant, so we could watch a romantic comedy on Valentine’s Day or a Christmas film during December.

So which films are we going to watch? Here is an extensive collection of the films that have been shortlisted for our challenge. You may notice that collectively there are more than 52 films on our watch-list. This is so if we can’t come by a copy of one thing, we will still have a back-up to watch.

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) – Science Fiction; directed by Stanley Kubrick

2012 (2009) – Disaster; directed by Roland Emmerich

50/50 (2011) – Comedy Drama; directed by Jonathan Levine

A Christmas Carol (2009) – Christmas; directed by Robert Zemeckis

A Long Way Down (2014) – Black Comedy; directed by Pascal Chaumeil

Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994) – Comedy; directed by Tom Shadyac

Airplane! (1980) – Comedy; direct by Jim Abrahams, David Zucker and Jerry Zucker

Around the World in 80 Days (2004) – Comedy Adventure; directed by Frank Coraci

Beetlejuice (1988) – Comedy; directed by Tim Burton

Dirty Dancing (1987) – Romantic Drama; directed by Emile Ardolino

Divergent (2014) – Science Fiction Action; directed by Neil Burger

Donnie Darko (2001) – Supernatural Drama; directed by Richard Kelly

Enchanted (2007) – Fantasy; directed by Kevin Lima

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) – Comedy Drama; directed by Michael Gondry

Godzilla (2014) – Science Fiction; directed by Gareth Edwards

Goodfellas (1990)  – Crime Drama; directed by Martin Scorsese

Grave of the Fireflies (1988) – Animated Drama; directed by Isao Takahata

Groundhog Day (1993) – Comedy; directed by Harold Ramis

How to Train your Dragon (2010) – Animated Comedy; directed by Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois

I Am Number Four (2011) – Science Fiction; directed by D.J. Caruso

Indian Jones and the Curse of the Crystal Skull (2008) – Adventure; directed by Steven Spielburg

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) – Adventure; directed by Steven Spielburg

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) – Adventure; directed by Steven Spielburg

Jaws (1975) – Horror; directed by Steven Speilberg

Jingle All The Way (1996) – Christmas; directed by Brain Levant

Kindergarten Cop (1990) – Comedy; directed by Ivan Reitman

Maleficant (2014) – Fantasy; directed by Robert Stromberg

Monsters University (2013) – Animated Comedy; directed by Dan Scanlon

Need for Speed (2014) – Action; directed by Scott Waugh

Never Been Kissed (1999) – Romantic Comedy; directed by Raja Gosnell

Pan’s Labyrinth (2006) – Fantasy; directed by Guillermo del Toro

Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987) – Comedy; directed by John Hughes

Pulp Fiction (1994) – Black Comedy; directed by Quentin Tarantino

Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) – Adventure; directed by Steven Spielburg

Ratatouille (2007) – Animated Comedy; directed by Brad Bird

Sharknado (2013) – Disaster; Anthony C. Ferrante

The Blues Brothers (1980) – Musical; directed by John Landis

The Breakfast Club (1985) – Comedy Drama; directed by John Hughes

The Godfather (1972) – Crime Drama; directed by Francis Ford Coppola

The Hangover (2009) – Comedy; directed by Todd Phillips

The Hunger Games (2012) – Science Fiction; directed by Gary Ross

The Karate Kid (2010) – Martial Arts; directed by Harry Zwart

The Miracle on 34th Street (1947) – Christmas; directed by George Seaton

The Wind Rises (2013) – Animated drama; directed by Hayao Miyazaki

There’s Something About Mary (1998) – Comedy; directed by Peter Farrelly and Robert Farrelly

Top Secret! (1984) – Comedy; directed by Jim Abrahams, David Zucker and Jerry Zucker

Wayne’s World (1992) – Comedy; directed by Penelope Spheeris

When Harry Met Sally… (1989) – Romantic Comedy; directed by Rob Reiner

Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1988) – Comedy; directed by Robert Zemeckis

X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014) – Action; directed by Bryan Singer

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Not contempt with enough films to watch at home, here is a list of the films we could potentially see that are being released whilst we do our challenge. These include films that will be shown in cinemas during the 2015 period:

Fifty Shades of Grey (releases February 2015) – Drama; directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson

Avengers: Age of Ultron (releases May 2015) – Action; directed by Joss Whedon

Jurassic World (releases June 2015) – Science Fiction; directed by Colin Trevorrow

Furious 7 (releases April 2015) – Action; directed by James Wan

Minions (release June 2015) – Animated Comedy; directed by Pierre Coffin and Kyle Balda

Spectre (release TBC but possible October or November 2015) – Action; directed by Sam Mendes

Fantastic Four (releases August 2015) – Action; directed by Josh Tank

The Spongebob Movie: Sponge Out of Water (releases February 2015) – Animated Comedy; directed by Paul Tibbitt

The Little Prince (releases October 2015) – Animated Fantasy; directed by Mark Osborne

Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (releases December 2015) – Science Fiction; directed by J. J. Abrams

As you can fully see, there is a diverse range of films; from cult classics to big blockbusters as well as some highly anticipated titles such as Star Wars and James Bond’s new outing. There’s some that I haven’t seen and others that Kat hasn’t seen whilst the rest neither of us have seen. This challenge not only gives us the chance to put across double-perspective accounts from both of us but also gives us the chance to say why we thought it deserved a place on the list whilst the other gives their verdict, for the better or possibly worse. And because of the social nature of watching a film, we can include guests to give an even more in-depth discussion.

As always, if you think we’ve missed out a critical film that we must see, send us a tweet @Reviewinators; send a comment on Facebook or comment on this post below. Don’t forget to subscribe so you’ll be updated on the new articles as and when they come out. You know it makes sense!

Jimmi

‘The Reviewinators’ is due an update!

It’s the blog cliché to end all blog clichés but to keep everything fresh and swish, we’re going to be doing a few updates before 2015.

We’ll be updating the our blog to coincide with a new year with an updated layout and some new features that’ll hopefully be a welcome addition to our little slice of the wider Internet picture. We’ll be improving our social features too so keep an eye out on Twitter and Facebook as we’ll be posting more updates, what we’re doing and also what we have done. There’s nothing more satisfying than seeing our reviews reach a large scope of like minded individuals.

We’ll be introducing a new about section that’ll teach you about who the Reviewinators are and what they do. We’ll also be trying out new reoccurring posts for the new year hopefully a replacement for the 52 book challenge will be replaced with something similar! You heard it here first. We would also like to record some new videos and maybe an occasional Tubecast or similar as we have a YouTube channel with not a lot on. Also we are thinking about bringing in some of our friends as guest bloggers to give us a broader reach and a different outlook on something that we might have missed or something that needs bringing to the table.

Aside from a new lick of paint, everything else will remain. We’ll still go out of our own way to show you what the unavoidable (and the avoidable) world has to offer!

So if things are a bit barren, there’s a few rough edges or things don’t match up then hold tight whilst we try out new layouts, colour schemes and everything else WordPress offers us that doesn’t cost a bomb to make The Reviewinators a little bit better and fresher.

As always, if there’s something you think we should give our outlook on, then hit us up with your suggestions on Twitter and Facebook. You should totally follow us and like the page and please subscribe to the blog to keep in the flow.

Kat and Jimmi

Battle Magic – Tamora Pierce: 52 in 52 Book #10

I first discovered Tamora Pierce’s work in my first year of secondary school. I started off with The Protector of the Small quartet and was hooked from there. I devoured her Tortall works and reread my favourites frequently. I didn’t discover her Circle of Magic universe until I was sixteen and despite my love of Tortall and her characters there, my heart was truly captured by the four children who made up the original Circle of Magic books.

Battle Magic is the latest book from this universe, and fills in the gaps mentioned in The Will of the Empress and Melting Stones. It concerns Briar, a plant mage from the original four children, and his travels with Rosethorn, his teacher and fellow plant mage, and Evvy, a child stone mage. They travel to Yanjing and Gyongxe, lands similar to Eastern Asia in culture. They are caught up in a war as the Yanjingi emperor tries to conquer Gyongxe.

I loved this book from the first page to the last. Reading about some of my favourite characters and going with them on a journey of determination, pain, loss, duty and friendship. The characters were true to their previous iterations and behaved as I would expect them to. This book was my equivalent of a large duvet and a cup of hot chocolate: it comforted me and kept me feeling all warm and content.

That said, as much as I enjoyed this novel, I’m not sure how much of it would make sense without reading the previous books in the series. Much of the plot relies on previous knowledge of these characters and their skills and without this certain parts of the story would not make sense. I would urge people who think this book sounds like something they would enjoy to read the previous books. They are all considered young adult fantasy but I feel they would be suitable for any age. This book is darker than the beginning books and does deal with some rather graphic violence as well as touching upon some sexual themes.

This book has cast its magic upon me, just like its predecessors. I loved each bit of it and the way it captured my imagination. I recommend this for anyone who is a fan of Tamora Pierce’s work and the whole Circle of Magic series to anyone who enjoys good fantasy novel.

 

Kat

Coming up in 2014… 52 in 52 Challenge!

Okay! So recently I’ve been thinking, I should read more. For one, there are several books lying around my room that I’ve been meaning to read and haven’t got around to it. There are books that are considered almost quintessential that I have never even looked at which I feel guilty about every time I hear their titles mentioned. I also want to discover new and exciting novels that maybe not everyone has heard of.

Sparked off by a thread seen on a forum I frequent, I have decided that in 2014 I shall attempt to read 52 books, roughly one a week, hence the 52 in 52. By doing this I hope to kick start my reading again, which over the past few years has dwindled from a necessary part of my life to something I do for pleasure maybe once every couple of months.

The rules are as follows:

–       Novels must be at least 100 pages long

–       Graphic novels/Comics/Manga do not count

–       Reading the same book twice in the year counts as one entry

–       Non-fiction works may count as long as they are not directly related to your area of study/work

–       Biographies and autobiographies are allowed

My list has been compiled. I put all my unread books from my shelf into the list first, then sought the advice of my friends, fellow forumites and the internet in general. I now have a list of 52 books that I feel I can read and will enjoy reading over the next year, in no particular order:

 

You may have noticed the list of books in black at the end of the list. These are my back up books, in case I cannot get hold of one of my main-list books for when I need it. This way I will still have a book to read.

During the year I will keep you updated on my progress and what I felt about the books I will be reading.

See you in the New Year for some book action!

 

– Kat