Arrow Review

Hello, world!

Tv shows have been one constant love in my life since I was ten and I saw the O.C. for the first time. I have the ones that I never stopped watching and I have the ones that I just give up. Finding a good Tv show is not easy, there is a lot of them and every fall or summer new ones come out trying to top the existent ones. Some win and some loose…

So this fall I chose the ones to keep an eye on and this post is about one of them. Arrow.

I think that the fact that I wait for each week to watch it, says it all. Up till now, it has been just amazing. For me it’s a bit of a mixture between Smallvile and Lost (the part of the secrets and the island).

“After a violent shipwreck, billionaire playboy Oliver Queen was missing and presumed dead for five years before being discovered alive on a remote island in the Pacific. When he returns home to Starling City, his devoted mother Moira, much-beloved sister Thea, and best friend Tommy welcome him home, but they sense Oliver has been changed by his ordeal on the island. While Oliver hides the truth about the man he’s become, he desperately wants to make amends for the actions he took as the boy he was. Most particularly, he seeks reconciliation with his former girlfriend, Laurel Lance. As Oliver reconnects with those closest to him, he secretly creates the persona of Arrow – a vigilante to right the wrongs of his family, fight the ills of society, and restore Starling City to its former glory. By day, Oliver plays the role of a wealthy, carefree and careless philanderer he used to be – flanked by his devoted chauffeur/bodyguard, John Diggle – while carefully concealing the secret identity he turns to under cover of darkness. However, Laurel’s father, Detective Quentin Lance, is determined to arrest the vigilante operating in his city. Meanwhile, Oliver’s own mother, Moira, knows much more about the deadly shipwreck than she has let on and is more ruthless than he could ever imagine.”

The synopsis say basically all, but there are still important points.

One of them is the relationships between Oliver, Tommy and Lauren. Most tv shows when dealing with ex-girlfriends that you know that are still a current love interest, just ruin everything by just delving and delaying and adding problems where there should be none. So I was very happy by the fast but not to fast, if that makes any sense, relationship. Also instead of making Tommy the backstabbing friend they made him a sweet and loyal one.

And just for the extra… Yes, Oliver sister was Marissa sister in the O.C.

Let’s just say that if you want a breeze of fresh air with a touch of something that you already are familiar with, this is it.

Tell me what do you think about the secrets and what happened on that island in the comment box below.

Lots of love,

Paradise of Words

 

A Walk To Remember

Hi, everyone!

Ok, where to start? Just finished seeing this movie right now and I don’t have words to describe it.

Let’s got to the fact that I started searching it in the Internet the moment that it ended. And don’t tell me you don’t do the same and try to find people who had similar feelings to it has you did, because you are just lying or maybe I’m just weird… Well the point is that I found out that it was an adaptation to a Nicholas Sparks book. That is the same as “You.Are.Going.To.Cry.A.Lot.And.Your.Heart.Is.Going.To.Break”. Not much to say. I held my tears, but my heart crushed into little pieces. I knew it was going to be sad, but I never imagined how much.

Is it worthy? Honestly, I don’t know. In Notebook, which I just saw because it was on the top of romantic movies and I needed to see something like that, you still have an end where the characters stay together. I know, I know, she as Alzheimer and doesn’t know who he is, but they still lived a life together, had kids and she still has few but some lucid moments, but these two had ONE Summer. ONE!

Do you want a fact? Nicholas Sparks is not for the easy hearts. You need strength to see this. Never the less is a beautiful movie.

Landon (Shane West) is the bad boy that every girl likes, trying to hold to his social status and doing stupid things and Jamie (Mandy Moore) is the sweet girl, that dresses a little out of fashion, but doesn’t care about others opinions and is not naive. They fall in love, like we all knew it was going to happen, but again not like most stories, Landon leaves everything for her. He hesitates a little, but is not something that takes for ages and their chemistry is great.

What I would liked to see was a bit more of the transition or growth of love between the two of them, it was a little bit to fast for me.

Walking along the movie is the soundtrack, that is beautiful. Favorite scene has to be when Jamie sings on the play “Only Hope”. Gorgeous and so sweet!

So now to the painful part. Not really warning you about spoilers, because all post is full of them, but I’m going to be talking about the end of the book.

“I’m sick.” One simple sentence that ruins everything and what am I suppose to write about this? That I knew? Yes. Was I prepared for all of the emotions? No.

For me it wasn’t heartbreaking that Jamie was dying, but the fact that Landon ran around everywhere to keep her here. He made every dream or wish of hers to come true, because that was everything that he could do. She had one wish, the first on her list, to get marry where her mother got marry. You can see where this is going to end. They got married. Beautiful scene. Those of you who saw Grey’s Anatomy, might remember the scene where Izzie marries Alec, when she is with cancer. Looking back and knowing that this movie was from 2002, I will say that the producers saw this movie too many times.

Now ending part… I thought that they would have more time and that the miracle that she spoke of was that she wouldn’t die. A love so strong that would make her better. But again, we are talking about Nicholas Sparks. Cut the hopes. Still, I thought that in the last part where he is coming back to town, he was coming to see is son or daughter, that they had. So he still had a piece of her.  But no.

Well life is life and Nicholas Sparks books are Nicholas Sparks books. So my conclusion is that if you like romantic movies go ahead and watch. I don’t know if it’s just because I don’t like movies that play so much with my feelings and pain, but I leave thinking that in the end it’s just a good love story with a tragic end. And if you go and see it, you may see the same. There is nothing special, but the way the actors perform and their chemistry. It’s Romeo and Juliet end with modern problems.

Sorry if I’m being brutally honest, but I have mixed emotions. It’s romantic but so depressing that makes me sick. It should had had another ending, even though she died, like a son/daughter… whatever.  Just my opinion.

What did you though of the movie? Post your comments and questions below.

Lots of love,

Paradise of Words

How I Met Your Mother

So I can say that after 7 seasons, my favourite series is still How I Met Your Mother. It’s hilarious and I know that I can and have watched episodes over and over again, without getting bored. 

The characters form a group of 5 friends, that have everything to make you a fan. From the sweet maternal Lily to the “Casanova” Barney, passing by the optimist Marshall, the  ex Canadian pop star turned now tv anchor Robin and the helpless romantic Ted that tries to find love in New York. So honestly if you haven’t seen this yet, just go! Because you are missing on one of the most amazing fun tv shows that are still airing. 😀

*Spoilers Alert*

Ok, so let’s start! First of all, they have had their share of crazy and insane experiments and I couldn’t pick just one as a favourite. I loved all. The fails and finally successful marriage of Lily and Marshall and the moment where they finally know that they are pregnant; every time that Barney used one of his strange yet effective methods to get a girl and his relationship with Robin; and of course the socially and awkward moments with Ted and his recurring way of doing big romantic gestures, like stealing a blue french horn for Robin.

And even though this is a comedy series, it feels authentic, because they put in real life moments, like the death of Marshall’s father, the moment where Ted his left at the altar and the difficulty of Lily to get pregnant and of Robin to get the job of her dreams.

Now going to the romantic stuff. I’m so for “ship” Barney/Robin, so I’m really crossing my fingers for both of them to end up together. I think that Quinn, just makes Barney not be truly himself… and there is a reason why he still hasn’t told her that they used to date. Still the writers say that this is not going to be a smooth wedding. But like they say hope is the last one to die. So I’m for Barney/Robin or Robin/Ted! I mean Robin though that she was pregnant and then she wasn’t, but made her change her perspective of having children, and we can’t deny that Barney is still in love with her… and now they have the idea of getting married, we will see…

They also said that they are wrapping some loose ends this season, so I suppose everyone is sharing my tought… the Pineapple 🙂

Whatever happens, I know that this season is going to be awesome like the others. After all, we are talking about freaking HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER!! So I lay all my hopes in their hands and I’m super excited to meet Lily and Marshall’s baby!

Oh, yeah and finaaallyyy meet Ted’s wife. I can’t even wait! The new season starts September 24. Just 3 weeks left!!

Tell me what were your favorite moments and I leave you here with season 8 preview!

Lots of love,

Paradise of Words

The Pillars of the Earth

The Pillars of the Earth is a mini-series (8 episodes) based on a thousand page novel by Ken Follett. I would say that I watched   these series not only because they became very popular and were well refered, but also because I was very impressed and excited with the cast. I would have wished to see more of Donald Sutherland, but the outstanding performances of actors like Ian McShane and Eddie Redmayne paid for it. But now on to the review…

The story takes place in medieval England in a violent time known as the Anarchy. Trough the episodes we get to know Tom, the Builder (Rufus Sewell) and his family that travel from town to town to try to find work, restoring or building churches. He’s shown to us as vigorous and very visionary man, that with the help of a  so-called witch that eventually becomes his lover Ellen (Natalia Wörner) and her son Jack (Eddie Redmayn) he finally finds the chance to fulfill is dream and his promise to his late wife to build an impressive cathedral that will live trough the years.

While this happen, there’s a war building up in a slow pace at first, between princess Maud, the daughter of the previous king and her uncle, King Stephen. Also in between all of this is shown to us the plans and blackmail made by  the ambitious, murderous, self-flagellating Bishop Waleran.

Even though the story lines play out over several decades, I did not find it hard to keep track off what was happening and it gave me the chance to really know the characters and have a steady opinion about everyone. Also it was fun to see Jonathan, the baby of Tom and Agnes Builder grow up into a nice sweet boy, wich was a nice contrast to the what was happening in the stories; also seeing the difference from the frightened even childish  “I can’t kill that man” Richard of Kingsbridge (brother of Aliena) to a stronger braver man and finally that the quiet and shy Jack turned out to be in the end I think even more visionary that is step-father, Tom.

These series follow the same style as Tudors and Merlin, with very similar sets as the towns and the castles and with the clear view how was  very difficult to survive on those times. The wardrobe and the different style of language, showed very well the characters social status and in the general I though that they did a very good job in making it feel authentic. Also I was very inspired by the cathedral itself and the greatness of it. I travel a lot and I have visited numerous of religious places, known by their beauty and majesty, so I did appreciated the work that was done there, because it really was an amazing set and the last scene of the whole series really was incredible.

They are also very graphic, like most historical series theses days with a lot of violence and sex. Still I wouldn’t keep that from stopping me to watch it, I would just be prepared for some blood shed and torture (specially to some of our favourite characters). I actually will dare to say, that even though it wasn’t easy to watch the violent scenes, they just made me feel more for some characters and really make me wish justice to the “bad guys” that inflicted pain on them.

Regardless of the series being predictable and never exactly mouth drop (except the last scene for the image), they were in the over all really good and I didn’t leave my screen for a whole day. As I haven’t read the book, I can’t really say if it was a good or bad adaptation, never the less I enjoyed very much and I do recommend to people who like epic medieval historical sort of things (a little like myself) 😉

I leave you here with the series preview… hope you enjoy!

Lots of love,

Paradise of Words