Thursday Movie Picks #424 TMP Television Edition - Boarding School

Hello there and welcome to Thursday Movie Picks a weekly series where you share your picks each Thursday. The rules are simple: based on the theme of the week pick three to five titles and tell us why you picked them. For further details and the schedule visit the series main page here.

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This week's Thursday Movie Picks is TMP Television Edition - Boarding School

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When I was a kid I thought it must be a wonderful adventure to attend a boarding school...I guess I was influenced by all those children's books that idealised romanticised boarding schools. Then I did kinda get to stay at one, because my school, which was just regular school, had some sort of thing with a boarding school so some of us had a chance to stay for a few days at a boarding school. For a short stint, it was ok, but no way would I have been okay going there full time. I like my after school hours to not be at school and I like watching TV too much, which I suppose at a such a place there would be a time limit so in reality boarding school would have been awful for me. Anyway...when I came up with this theme I must have had the impression that because I've seen plenty of boarding school movies, I must have seen plenty of boarding school TV series too. Turned out that's not true. I've seen very few and none that I love.

 

Fate: The Winx Saga (2021 - )

This is the live action adaptation of the Winx cartoon series about young fairies going to a boarding school to learn to use their magic which I have never seen before. It is aired on Nickelodeon and from the images I saw of the cartoons, seems like it is for very young kids. This live action series though seems more directed at tweens and older and it is actually not bad. Quite entertaining and not as juvenile as I thought an adaptation of a kids cartoon series would be, though I suppose it probably isn't as faithful? One criticism is that they seem to have a very tight budget and not enough for adult extras; the series takes place at a boarding school, but there are basically only 4 to 5 teachers that we see and hardly any school support staff. It's basically weird to see a show set in a school with so few adults even in the background non-speaking roles.

Tiny Pretty Things (2020)

Based on a YA book series following a girl who got accepted into an elite ballet boarding school when a place opened up for her after a ballet student got into a mysterious accident. The book was okay. The TV series was a little too raunchy and inserted a lot more drama, more cattiness and just more scandalous stuff. It just seemed like it was trying so hard to be a ballet school drama version of Gossip Girl/Pretty Little Liars.

 

Hex (2004 - 2005)

I saw this a long long time ago, so I can remember very little. Something to do with witchcraft and fallen angels and demons all set in a British boarding school. I think I found it quite entertaining. If you like Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Buffy or Angel, you would probably like this, though this is a little more raunchy. This was I think the first time I had seen Michael Fassbender in anything; he played the devilish fallen angel Azazeal and I had thought he was pretty menacing in it.

 

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Thursday Movie Picks #423: Dark Academia

Hello there and welcome to Thursday Movie Picks a weekly series where you share your movie picks each Thursday. The rules are simple: based on the theme of the week pick three to five movies and tell us why you picked them. For further details and the schedule visit the series main page here.

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This week's Thursday Movie Picks is Dark Academia

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This is a genre rising in popularity in the literary scene and a book that is said to have inspired its popularity is Donna Tartt's The Secret History which I did not like (instead I'd recommend If We Were Villains). Anyway that has yet to be adapted so I thought it would be interesting to see what movies could fall in the Dark Academia genre which generally features idealised romanticised view of education in institutions with old often gothic architecture, great libraries, preppy uniforms, moody atmospheres and where things are not all warm and cozy as it appears on the surface. Here are the ones I like, and since I've picked them for other themes before and I'm lazy, I'm going to copy and paste some of my previous comments.

Cracks (2009)

Girls in a swim team look up to their swim teacher, the glamorous Miss G who charms them with romantic tales of adventure but the arrival of a new girl changes the dynamic of the team. I really like this one. It has very beautiful costuming and scenery which is a nice contrast to the dark turns the story eventually takes.

The Chocolate War (1988)
A boy rebels against his school's secret society by refusing to sell chocolate boxes for the school fund raiser and inadvertently escalates the power struggle between one of the society's leaders and the school's corrupt headmaster. Love the book and while the movie falls a little short, still a worthy watch. If you can't find the movie go read the book.

Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975)

On a day trip to Hanging Rock on Valentine's Day, a few students from a girls' boarding school and a teacher disappear. One of my favourites, which I have also read the book, and have picked the movie multiple times before. Similar to Cracks it has beautiful costumes and scenery but the story is more haunting and eerie.

 

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Thursday Movie Picks #422: Ageing Leading Actors Cast as Much Younger Men Playing Alongside Much Younger Actresses

Hello there and welcome to Thursday Movie Picks a weekly series where you share your movie picks each Thursday. The rules are simple: based on the theme of the week pick three to five movies and tell us why you picked them. For further details and the schedule visit the series main page here.

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This week's Thursday Movie Picks is Ageing Leading Actors Cast as Much Younger Men Playing Alongside Much Younger Actresses

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I'm always annoyed when I watch a movie where the actor is like 40 or 50 but is playing a much younger male character of 20+ to 30+ while the actress they are acting alongside is actually around the age or the female character which is 20+. I mean what were the producers thinking? The actor may look good for their age but they definitely don't look 20 years younger good. Here are a few movies guilty of such.

Rear Window (1954)

There are so many Hitchcock films that cast male leads that are usually nearly 20 years older than the female leads: North by Northwest, Vertigo, To Catch a Thief...But I'm gonna pick Rear Window, because in it, the nurse who comes to care for the male lead who has a broken leg is played by an actress who was about 6 years older than James Stewart, but she plays sort of the older maternal woman and in one of the dialogue as she is giving relationship advice she refers to him as a "young man". When I saw Rear Window the first time a long time ago, I had thought the couple played by Stewart and Kelly were having a May December romance. However, upon watching it the second time and having heard the nurse refer to James Stewart's character a "young man", only then did I realise that he was playing a much younger character, someone closer in age to Grace Kelly's character. Seriously? Stewart looks closer to 50 than 30. 

47 Ronin (2013)

Keanu Reeves plays a man who grew up with and falls in love with his master's daughter. The age his character is supposed to be is never mentioned but it seemed to imply that he is a young man, so 20 to 30 plus, at least that is how young the female character, the love interest, looked like and the characters are supposed to be close in age since they grew up together. Keanu Reeves when this movie was released was almost 50, and while he does he does look young for his age, he does not look 30 and the age difference is so obvious when he shares the same scene with the actress playing the love interest.

The Mummy (2017)

I could really pick quite a number of movies Tom Cruise has starred in the past 10 years: American Made, Edge of Tomorrow and Mission Impossible...they all had him star alongside actresses, who are often playing the love interest, who are close to 20 years younger him. Cruise's character's age is also almost never mentioned but I'm guessing he is always playing someone who is perpetually in his mid 30s. You know what, I'm waiting to see a movie where he actually plays a grandfather, with a partner who is also in their 60s.

 

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Thursday Movie Picks #421: Math in Movies

Hello there and welcome to Thursday Movie Picks a weekly series where you share your movie picks each Thursday. The rules are simple: based on the theme of the week pick three to five movies and tell us why you picked them. For further details and the schedule visit the series main page here.

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This week's Thursday Movie Picks is Math in Movies

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I'm doing a real quick one. A lot of movies that feature a lot of math are about geniuses. I'm steering away from that and just pick those that do feature people that are very good at math just doing their jobs or outwitting a system.

My quick picks are: Hidden Figures (2016), The Martian (2015), Moneyball (2011) and 21 (2008)

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Thursday Movie Picks #420 TMP Television Edition - Book Adaptations

Hello there and welcome to Thursday Movie Picks a weekly series where you share your picks each Thursday. The rules are simple: based on the theme of the week pick three to five titles and tell us why you picked them. For further details and the schedule visit the series main page here.

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This week's Thursday Movie Picks is TMP Television Edition -  Book Adaptations

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I’m picking the last 5 TV series I saw that were all adapted from books I’ve read.

 

Anatomy of a Scandal (2022)

A minister in the British government, a close friend of the Prime Minister, is accused of rape and his wife is convinced he is innocent but as she looks back at their life together, maybe she missed something in the past. I read this a few years back and have totally forgotten the plot. I think it’s because I read another British courtroom drama around that time which overshadowed this. Anyway, I really enjoyed the TV series. It was well made and acted. The courtroom drama and the drama outside of court - the whole how the family and his close friend the PM deal with the scandal was all interesting.

Pieces of Her (2022)

A woman’s perception of her mother completely changes when violence occurs during their trip to the mall. Karin Slaughter is one of my favourite crime novelists but of her books I've read, this is the one I didn't like. I would say the TV series is okay though quite missable, I suppose it can’t be helped since the book’s plot and the characters are just not as interesting as Slaughter’s other books so I was quite surprised this is the first of her books that got adapted. Side note, Slaughter’s Will Trent series of books is being adapted I think for ABC. I am thrilled about it but also disappointed as the Will Trent series is actually a spin off of Slaughter's earlier Grant County series and I wished they adapted Grant County first. I also think it would have been a better idea for it to be made by a premium network like HBO or Netflix as both of Slaughter’s crime series are very dark and the crimes are often violent and disturbing and being aired on a network like ABC might make the TV series less gritty and tamer or make it episodic when it should be more serialised with one story arc per season.

 

The Girl Before (2021)

A woman gets an opportunity to live in an ultra minimalist house that demands a certain lifestyle. The book for me stood out because it was quite weird and nutty. The TV series is not as weird and nutty, the house isn’t as minimalist (it’s more techy) and it removed certain aspects of the girl before’s relationship. Overall the series was an okay watch but I did think that David Oyelowo was miscast. I found him quite cheesy when he is suppose to be broody, aloof and controlling.

 

One of Us is Lying (2021)

When one of the five students at detention ends up dying from an allergic reaction after drinking from a water cooler dispenser, the others become suspects for his murder. I think the book was a lot better as it was more concise in its storytelling while the tv series changed and added some things seemingly for the purpose of lengthening the story. Still the TV series is an okay watch. If you like Pretty Little Liars, you might like this.

 

Panic (2021)

In a rural town with little economy, teens risk their lives to play Panic, a secret competition of various daring challenges, to win the  prize money they see as their ticket out of town. I really like the book which was a fun adventure thriller. The TV series was pretty fun as well and I enjoyed it. It's been a few years since I’ve read it but I think for the TV series they made the challenges a little tamer to make it I suppose more presentable and there's more of the teen relationship drama in it too. One thing I didn't like though is that the male actors who play the lead boys all look so old, they look closer to 30 than 18.

 

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Thursday Movie Picks #419: Female Boss

Hello there and welcome to Thursday Movie Picks a weekly series where you share your movie picks each Thursday. The rules are simple: based on the theme of the week pick three to five movies and tell us why you picked them. For further details and the schedule visit the series main page here.

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This week's Thursday Movie Picks is Female Boss

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Today's theme is is a suggestion by Getter. I'm simply going for my most recent watches.

The Intern (2015)
An elderly retired man becomes an intern to an online store run by a young female boss. I have kinda avoided this and The Internship because I wasn't interested in the premise but I finally saw it this past year just cause I was looking for a comedy. The movie turned out to actually be ok, quite funny though overall not very memorable. 

Late Night (2019)
A woman gets hired to be a part of the writing team of a female late night talk host. I used to watch quite a bit of late night talk shows and enjoyed them, so it was really fun watching a fictitious behind the scenes of what goes on to put such a show up. I really enjoyed the drama that goes on and it was also a funny movie. Late Night was also written by Mindy Kaling so if you like some of the shows that she's written for in the past definitely see this.

 

The High Note (2020)
The movie follows a personal assistant and the superstar singer she works for. I really enjoyed this. I like movies that are about the creative or entertainment industry and this was really entertaining. Tracee Ellis Ross plays the superstar singer so there’s plenty of scenes her performing or being the glamorous star; she is by the way the daughter of Diana Ross so she probably was channeling her mom. Those scenes are fun to watch.

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Thursday Movie Picks #418: Non-English Language Movies

Hello there and welcome to Thursday Movie Picks a weekly series where you share your movie picks each Thursday. The rules are simple: based on the theme of the week pick three to five movies and tell us why you picked them. For further details and the schedule visit the series main page here.

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This week's Thursday Movie Picks is Non-English Language Movies

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I haven't watched that many non-English movies the past year but these are the ones I like. There were all movies from the 2000s that I had been wanting to watch for a while and finally got to when they all got added to Netflix recently.

The Eye (2002)
[Cantonese and Thai] A blind woman gets a cornea transplant and soon realises she can see ghosts. There were quite a lot of horror movies coming out of Asia in the late 1990s and early 2000s that got pretty popular. This was one of them but it was one that I had yet to see until the past year. It's aged a little but still a good watch. Not too scary with a decent amount of scares and quite sad too.

April Snow (2005)
[Korean] A man and a woman meet in the hospital when their spouses are involved in a car collision. They soon learn their spouses were having an affair and start to bond over their shared plight. This reminds me so much of In the Mood for Love (which I love) in terms of the basic premise. That was a very stylish artsy movie with beautiful costumes, score and cinematography. April Snow is more subdued, sombre and also feels more grounded because it's just not as artistically pretty. It's the story of two people who are informed that their spouses are seriously injured and that they may never wake up from their coma and are very soon confronted with the realisation that their spouses were cheating on them. They have to cope with a mix of emotions from sadness over the injuries and hurt and anger over the infidelity and yet through it all they dutifully visit and care for their spouses at the hospital and cover up the infidelity from the rest of the family. I thought the movie does the interactions of the lead male and female character very well from their first meeting to their eventual relationship filled with quite a lot of understandably awkward moments - what does one say to the wife of the man your wife is having an affair with? Out of my three picks today this is my favourite. I do love a good quiet drama. Words are sparse but thoughtful, actions are restrained but meaningful, nothing is wasted.

 

The Host (2006)
[Korean] A family desperately tries to rescue their youngest member that had been snatched by a mutant amphibious creature which emerged from the Han River.  I remember this was really popular when it came out. I'm not really a fan of creature features so I wasn't going to spend actual money on it. Still I wanted to see it out of curiosity so waited around for it to get on TV or Netflix. So I finally saw it. It is pretty entertaining. Much better than the Godzilla and King Kong movies coming out of Hollywood in recent years. The Host is a mix action, drama, horror with a dash of humor.

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Thursday Movie Picks #417: Fairs

Hello there and welcome to Thursday Movie Picks a weekly series where you share your movie picks each Thursday. The rules are simple: based on the theme of the week pick three to five movies and tell us why you picked them. For further details and the schedule visit the series main page here.

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This week's Thursday Movie Picks is Fairs

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As usual, keeping it simple and just going with recent watches.

The Current War (2017)
The electricity producers showcase their electrical system at the World's Fair in Chicago. This was an unmemorable movie. It sort of feels like one of those docuseries on National Geographic or History Channel about titans of industry.

Sweet Home Alabama (2002)
Rewatched this about a year or so ago as I have forgotten the movie. It's an enjoyable rom-com with some cute banter. Part way through the movie there's some kind of country fair in the main character's town.

 

The Sandlot (1993)
The boys go to a fair to celebrate a victory against a rival team. I only saw this very recently because this movie often gets mentioned with The Mighty Ducks. I grew up with The Mighty Ducks and liked it. The Sandlot though, not a fan. I think you'd have to have seen this at the right age for this to have been endearing and you'd probably also have to be a baseball fan. So I basically saw this too old and I am not a fan of baseball. Also I'm a girl and there are no girls in this.

 

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Thursday Movie Picks #416: TMP Television Edition - Orgin Story

Hello there and welcome to Thursday Movie Picks a weekly series where you share your picks each Thursday. The rules are simple: based on the theme of the week pick three to five titles and tell us why you picked them. For further details and the schedule visit the series main page here.

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This week's Thursday Movie Picks is TMP Television Edition -  Origin Story

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I’m just doing a quick list of picks today.

Gotham (2014 - 2019)

The movies usually show the scene where Bruce’s parents were killed and they skip everything else going straight to him already an adult and Batman. This pretty much tells the story from that pivotal childhood scene and sticks to it as we see Bruce the kid lives in the aftermath. I only saw the first few episodes. DC superhero stories could never sustain my interest for very long, this was no different.

Black Sails (2014 - 2017)

I have not read Treasure Island so what I know of it was from a 2012 adaptation starring Eddie Izzard as Long John Silver, which I enjoyed. Black Sails is the prequel set decades earlier and basically introduces us to some of Treasure Island’s major characters when they were younger. This series is such a fun thrilling adventure drama.

 

Mindhunters (2017 - 2019)

When I heard about this series I thought…oh no not another serial killer true crime show…there’s so much of that already. Then I read a summary and I realised it was more about the agents work and thought this could be different. Mindhunters in short is about the early years of the FBI agents in the Behavioural Science Unit as they interview serial offenders in prisons in order to gather data and creating a database so that criminal profiling can be used as an investigative tool. This was a very interesting and well made series.

 

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Thursday Movie Picks #415: Island Movies

Hello there and welcome to Thursday Movie Picks a weekly series where you share your movie picks each Thursday. The rules are simple: based on the theme of the week pick three to five movies and tell us why you picked them. For further details and the schedule visit the series main page here.

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This week's Thursday Movie Picks is Island Movies

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I'm picking my most recent watches.

The Lost Daughter (2021)
The characters may have not refered to the island they're on, we just see lots of beach, but the movie was shot on an island in Greece. I don't think I like The Lost Daughter. I remember it as being claustrophobic with some its close shots and just the general feeling, which I know makes sense since it is about a woman who had felt motherhood was stifling her ambitions in academia. Still I thought it was an interesting movie, the way it also weaves suspense in that potential for danger in the present day events.

Luca (2021)
Not a real island, but a fantasy one set on the Italian Riviera. The main character is a sea creature that becomes human when he is dry. He meets another boy like him on a tiny island opposite a seaside town, from which they sort of practice at being human and spy on the humans, they long to be like, across the waters. I didn't love the movie but it is cute and gorgeous to look at. Pixar does water really well.

Fantasy Island (2020)
It's in the title. I had not seen the original TV series before so the premise of the movie is all new to me. Fantasy Island was okay. Not anything memorable.

 

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Thursday Movie Picks #414: Shopping Mall

Hello there and welcome to Thursday Movie Picks a weekly series where you share your movie picks each Thursday. The rules are simple: based on the theme of the week pick three to five movies and tell us why you picked them. For further details and the schedule visit the series main page here.

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This week's Thursday Movie Picks is Shopping Mall

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Shopping Malls. We love them here. The weather is hot and humid all year round so the air conditioning the malls have provide a refuge from the heat. There are malls everywhere, next to almost all major train stops. I used to live the near a mall when I was growing up and would have to cut through the mall to get home. After school my friend and I would often get an ice cream, frozen yogurt, milk shakes from McDonalds and when we have a little more money, an Ice Blended from Coffee Bean. The mall provide a sort of cooling break from the heat in our journey and the cold drink or snack makes the rest of the walk home more tolerable. Oh and another great thing about malls is access to clean toilets and for nursing mothers and those with babies, nursing+baby rooms. Shopping malls also serve as a great movie setting. Here are some recent movies I’ve watch and liked that are set in a mall.

Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991)
I had not seen the first two Terminator movies in full before and finally did so a few months ago. I prefer the first Terminator more because I thought the sequel’s villain the T-100 was a little too indestructible. Anyway Terminator 2 had a scene in a shopping mall in one of the earlier scenes when the two terminators come looking for John Connor as he is playing at the arcade.

Holidate (2020)
This was a surprise. I actually enjoyed it; it is a really cute romcom. Holidate follows two single people who agree to become each other's platonic plus ones for various holiday parties throughout the year and I think the characters first met at mall as they were shopping for holiday gifts. The movie also has a grand gesture that takes place in the mall at the end

Fear Street Part One (2021) and Fear Street Part Three (2021)
I was a big fan of the Fear Street series of books growing up so I am thrilled that it finally got an adaptation and that they turn out to be decent horror movies. My favourite is Part Two. Part One and Three were still good watches and significant portions of them were set in a shopping mall and that was fun and just very retro.

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Thursday Movie Picks #413: Fantasy

 

Hello there and welcome to Thursday Movie Picks a weekly series where you share your movie picks each Thursday. The rules are simple: based on the theme of the week pick three to five movies and tell us why you picked them. For further details and the schedule visit the series main page here.

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This week's Thursday Movie Picks is Fantasy

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This is coming late so I’m just going to the quick one picking some of the smaller fantasy movies that I like.

Snow White: A Tale of Terror (1997) 
There are so many Snow White adaptations. Snow White was Disney’s first animated feature so that’s really popular. Then there were the two Snow White and the Huntsman movies. So Snow White: A Tale of Terror may have gotten overshadowed over the years but I like it, more than the rest I mentioned. It is much more darker and creepier. Sigourney Weever does a good turn as the evil/crazy stepmother. 

Peter Pan (2003)
Once again there are so many Peter Pan adaptations or movies with related stories. From Disney’s Peter Pan, Hook, Finding Neverland to the more recent Pan. All of them had pretty big stars starring in them too and I think there are two more Peter Pan related movies coming in the next year or two. Out of that I mentioned this Peter Pan movie is my favourite; it is an incredibly charming magical adventure.  

The Fall (2006)
This is one of my favourite movies, so I was surprise that it seemed I’ve never picked it for a previous TMP before. The movie follows a young girl with a broken arm in hospital who befriends a stuntman with a broken leg and he tells her a fantastical adventurous tale. This movie is visually amazing; the costumes, the locations and all shot so beautifully. I also really like the story; it’s charming and sad and the young actress is so natural as the the young girl character, it seems she isn’t acting at all, like she is just being herself…a child. 

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Thursday Movie Picks #412: Failure to Launch

Hello there and welcome to Thursday Movie Picks a weekly series where you share your movie picks each Thursday. The rules are simple: based on the theme of the week pick three to five movies and tell us why you picked them. For further details and the schedule visit the series main page here.

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This week's Thursday Movie Picks is Failure to Launch (Movies that were supposed to launch a franchise)

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This is easy as there are just so many movies that were supposed to launch a franchise but failed to make much money and so the sequels were scrapped. There especially seem to be this scramble to make the next YA franchise, which I think began with Twilight. Before it, I don't think there had been a teen movie franchise. Twilight was the little movie that could. According to IMDB Twilight, the first movie, had a budget of 37 million and made a little more that 400 million worldwide. Next of course came The Hunger Games which was similarly as successful, it made about 9 times its own budget, but no other YA series seem to do as well. Most never got sequels, and the ones that got sequels however they tend to sort of sputtered near the end (Allegiant anyone?). So I'm going with a theme with a theme: adaptations of YA books I've read.

Beautiful Creatures (2013)
The Caster Chronicles series has four books. I've only read the first book and wasn't really into it. Felt mostly the same way about the movie. However I did sorta like the setting of movie, it had the whole Southern Gothic thing going on with the main character living in what from the outside looks like a decaying grand mansion on a plantation...it sorta look darkly beautiful. But I think they overdid with the costume choices and the story was not that strong either.

The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones (2013)
The Mortal Instruments series has six books. I remember reading the first book and thinking why do people like this. I don't get it. It seemed as if the writer was trying so hard to make the characters cool to teens: The characters are teens who are demon hunters, wear a lot of black (leather?), are weapons experts and have magic tattoos. Well I guess because I was not a teen, they just don't appeal to me. The movie was just as unimpressive. Then when City of Bones failed to launch a movie franchise, they rebooted it and made a TV series, Shadowhunters, which lasted 3 seasons. Which is sort of unbelievable because I saw like the first two episodes and it was not an improvement from the movie. The lead female actress was super wooden and the production looked very budget. 

Vampire Academy (2014)
The Vampire Academy series has six books. I only read the first one and I can't say I like the book much, but it was definitely better than the movie. The movie could have exploited the appeal of supernatural kids in a boarding school setting (remember Harry Potter) unfortunately it didn't. The movie didn't really set up the franchise well and was not a good introduction to the Vampire Academy world and its characters. I remember being confused to the different type of vampires there were. Despite it having a theatrical release the movie also look very budget more like a TV movie with rather wooden acting. Anyway, since the movie franchise failed, it too is getting a new life as a TV series on Peacock with apparently Julie Pelc as the showrunner. If her name is familiar it's because she was the show runner for The Vampire Diaries which is also based on YA book series.

The 5th Wave (2016)
The 5th Wave series has three books. I've read the first two books. I actually really like the first book, it was I thought a pretty good YA apocalyptic book with plenty of action. The second one I didn't like so I didn't finish the series. The adaptation was pretty bad. I think it looked budgety. I saw a review that said it was a little Red Dawnish...and I kinda agree. While I thought the book was quite thrilling and action packed, the movie felt dull and like the story all feels stupid. I guess sometimes when you read something on a page it sounds okay, but when they try to realise into a movie it is just seems dumb and very juvenile.

The Darkest Minds (2018)
The Darkest Minds series has four books. I had wanted to read this book so much because I thought the  plot summary sounded interesting, however I was so disappointed when I finally read it. I think it's because by the time I read The Darkest Minds I had already ready a bunch of YA apocalyptic or dystopian novels and they all seem to have a similar basic plot which is children being taken from their parents and being put into some groups for various nefarious reasons (The Hunger Games, The Maze Runner, Divergent, The Fifth Wave, etc), so it was not bringing in anything new and some of the other books were better than it. The movie was sorta ok but like I said the story was unimpressive and boring, we've seen it before and done better, so I totally get why this didn't get a sequel.

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