I know I haven't written in a while and that a few pictures is not a sufficient substitute for an actual post, but this is cool, I promise. I'm on a little road trip with my family and we have been driving through barren farmland for a few hours. The bad thing about this is that the view hardly changes and it sometimes feels like we're never going to see civilization again. The good thing is that every once in a while, we come across a creepy house or abandoned storage unit. This makes for great photography. Here are a few pictures that I've taken so far, for your vicarious viewing enjoyment.
So. I just came back from seeing the "midnight" (which was actually at 9 PM) premiere of the movie "The Fault in Our Stars" and let me tell you, I've never been more satisfied with a book-turned-movie in my life, (I'm not including Harry Potter, that's a whole other story). Anyway, I was so incredibly impressed with this movie, because never before have I cried during a movie I saw in the theater. Obviously, I've cried watching movies, thank you "A Walk to Remember," but it was always while I was watching it alone, at home. I find it awkward to cry in public. But this is a movie that warrants tears in mass quantities. When I read the book, I didn't cry throughout the whole thing until I finished it. Promptly after closing the book, I burst into tears that lasted profusely for about 8 to 10 minutes. About the same thing happened with the movie. I was so overwhelmed by the whole situation, and the fact that I was finally witnessing the movie version of one of my favorite books, that I couldn't feel any emotion but excitement. And then when I did start to fully engage, all my emotions rewired themselves into nervous laughter. It wasn't until the final scenes where I really started to let it all out. I wasn't the only one either; the entire theater was sniffling and laughing and crying at the same time, including my friend who was sitting next to me. You can't blame them, though, because the movie was absolutely beautiful, and, dare I say it, pretty perfect. I can't say too much without giving away key plot points, but I was immensely satisfied with everything that went into this movie. Shailene Woodley is the perfect Hazel Grace Lancaster, and Ansel Elgort was the ABSOLUTE BEST Augustus Waters. Nat Wolff as Isaac was also amazing, and the cinematography and editing and special(ish) effects were executed astonishingly. I am so in love with this book, and this movie, and anything and everything having to do with it, (except for maybe the t-shirts. "Okay? Okay" is starting to get overused, except within the movie in which it is used sparingly but effectively and I love it). The soundtrack was phenomenal, and the settings were absolute perfection. I'm running out of extremely positive adjectives that I can use to express my feelings about this movie, so I will end this post here. But to all of you contemplating seeing this movie or reading this book, I recommend you do it at the next possible showing. It's one of those few movies that actually make you feel like the book was brought to life accurately, like those characters you pictured in your head are right there in front of you, saying the words you loved so much and doing the things you know will make you laugh or even cry. It's a movie worth more than the box office sums, or critic reviews. It's a story that lodges itself in your heart, and stays there, cheesy analogy be damned.
P.S. - Having just seen this movie, my friends and I are all very conflicted. We loved this movie so so so much, but we also feel dangerously empty and depressed. It's because the movie makes the characters feel so personal, like you could easily imagine yourself in their positions and what it would feel like to be so close to someone with a terminal illness. It scared us to go to that place where we thought about what would happen if one of us had cancer or even died. It's THAT kind of movie.
