the friday5 for March 7, 2014
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First up, the Pretty Little Recap is a bit delayed this week (but there will be one! probably on Monday) because I haven't had a chance to watch the episode yet... no spoilers please, I've heard it's really good (which, natch, it's PLL). That said, there are lots of exciting things happening in the pop culture world this week so let's talk about a few of them, shall we?
1. You guys. YOU GUYS. There is but one week (less than one week for me) to go until VERONICA MARS THE MOVIE hits the theaters and--AND--in case you haven't heard, it will also be hitting the inter-webs and such at the same time for your home viewing pleasure. This is (almost?) unheard of, for a film to be making this kind of global debut and I hope it pays off. I really do. Because I want there to be more VM movies for me to consume. I already have my tickets for the cinema (for two shows--an early one on Thursday, March 13th and then again on Saturday, the 15th) so I will be enjoying it on the big screen. My Kickstarter reward includes the digital download and Blu-ray/DVD combo, but for me, it's still really important--and really exciting!--to see this one on the big screen. I will probably be writing a little review of the movie after I see it, but for now, let's enjoy these newly released clips from the film. I could not be more excited for this.
2. Have we talked about Reign? No, we probably haven't. Well, we're going to talk about it now. When it was first dubbed as CW's answer to The Tudors, I thought, surely it wouldn't end up being that similar, and yet....
RIGHT??? It's like a younger, opposite-gender, mirror image! But really, the surprising commonality between these two series is their raciness, despite their disparate target audiences. I suppose that's just a sign of the times, but Reign has been pushing boundaries above and beyond what other CW shows have done before. And I for one think it's kind of awesome. Maybe I just love a good scandalous storyline, but given the huge crossover audience of most YA offerings, it makes sense that things would eventually move more in this direction. And as for the younger viewers, I'm a firm believer in "teens can handle it" and "if parents are concerned they should take an interest, be aware of what their kids are reading/watching, and then talk to their kids about it openly and honestly". So yeah. If you like a good scandalous, sexy, historical drama, Reign is a younger, hipper, possibly more historically inaccurate companion to The Tudors.
Also, this:
Marie de Guise: Mary may be Scotland’s Queen, but I am its King.3. Catching Fire is out today! Having only seen the film once in theaters (such is the life of a parent of a toddler), I am very excited to pick this one up on Blu-ray and enjoy it a second time. Plus, deleted scenes and extras! I just need to figure out if any retailers are selling a collector's edition that comes with a bonus homicidal monkey muttation I can call my own :)
Catherine: Has Scotland noticed that its King has rather overexposed breasts?
Marie de Guise: It is beginning to.
4. Lousy Smarch weather. March is a weird month. It's good because it brings us closer to spring, but it can also be just as nasty as January and February (at least up here in the great white north) or rainy and slushy and miserable. Plus, it sometimes has a long weekend in it and sometimes doesn't, thanks to the ever-shirting Easter weekend. The years it doesn't just make the wait for the font of hope I call April and May seem even longer. So when those years come around, I make myself a long weekend (usually not coinciding with March break, though this year it does). I am very excited to be heading to the cottage for, yes, more snow, but at least some fresh country air and an extra day off on Monday. It's not much, but in the middle of a long winter, it's something. I highly recommend the impromptu March "long weekend", unless you get the whole week off for March break. In which case... I am scowling at you. But not really :)
5. This week's Noteworthy YA is the follow up to a book I featured on the blog a while back. Cured by my agentmate, Bethany Wiggins, is the second in a duology that began with Stung, and I'm going to share the covers for both because they look AMAZING together:
Seriously? How gorgeous are they? Stung is so pared down and then Cured seems to promise something miraculous and otherworldly. Just lovely. Here's what book 2 is all about:
Now that Fiona Tarsis and her twin brother, Jonah, are no longer beasts, they set out to find their mother, with the help of Bowen and a former neighbor, Jacqui. Heading for a safe settlement rumored to be in Wyoming, they plan to spread the cure along the way--until they are attacked by raiders. Luckily, they find a new ally in Kevin, who saves them and leads them to safety in his underground shelter. But the more they get to know Kevin, the more they suspect he has ties to the raiders. He also seems to know too many details about Jacqui and her family—details that could endanger them all. For the raiders will do anything they can to destroy the cure that would bring an end to their way of life. Bethany Wiggins’s reimagining of our world after an environmental catastrophe won’t fail to stun readers. (Summary from Goodreads.com)Excitement, adventure, and environmental accountability--this book has the whole package :) If you haven't already, make sure you check out Stung and then, hooray, you can move right along to Cured! Everybody wins!
