MOVIE REVIEW - THE FAULT IN OUR STARS - ADVANCE SCREENING - BRISBANE AUSTRALIA - 10 STARS!!

MOVIE REVIEW 

ADVANCE SCREENING 5TH MAY 2014

BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA

THE FAULT IN OUR STARS

BIRCH CARROLL & COYLE

10 STARS out of 5!!

Shazza is on the left.

Firstly , I want to say a HUGE thank you to Heidi from Bookworld for emailing me last Friday and asking if I would like to go to an advance screening of The Fault In Our Stars. She follows my blog, who knew?

Secondly for giving me two tickets so I could take my bff Shazza.

When Shazza told her fifteen and eighteen year old daughters she was going with me to an advance screening, they wanted to come along. They told their mum, she hadn't read the book, so one of them should go in her place. Amy and Ashley had both read the book.

Shazza was not giving up her seat to either kidlet, then she dobbed me into them and said, Michelle hasn't read the book yet, either.

Nice one Shaz :) I shall explain why I hadn't read the book, I have the book. I bought it for a pressie for hubs, he loved the book. He also knew what I was in for, so he gladly let me take Shazza with me. ( Grown man crying in cinema, wouldn't look good on his manly resume.) 

I have several family members who appear to have conquered cancer, mum and dad, an uncle who didn't conquer it, and his brother who is currently battling it and it's not looking too good. I thought I couldn't read a book with cancer in it at that time.

I also wanted to go in fresh to this movie and read the book afterwards. After watching the trailer for The Fault In Our Stars, whether it was on youtube or at the cinema, I knew I was going to have trouble with dry eyes.

Lordy, if the trailer could make me leak, what was the movie going to do to me?

Shazza and I arrive at the Myer Centre in Brisvegas, on time, after allowing enough time for my driving shenanigans to get us to the Elizabeth St car park. We were both impressed with my ability to leave at 3.30pm in the arvo and get us to the car park at 5.30pm.

Booyah!

I only ended up over the Story Bridge as my only boo boo. Then Shazza whipped out her GPS ( I think she was trying to see if I could do it all by myself, I failed ) and we got back on track with the voice telling me where to go.

We got rather excited when we saw we were in a Vmax cinema. We are country bumpkins, what can I say, we don't have that luxury where we live. So we got ourselves a wine... oo yeah, we were going for it and sat back and did out of focus and offside selfies.

The cinema was full of young girls and some guys.

The security team for the night all done up in black , got on the microphone to tell us they WILL BE WATCHING. 

In others words, no illegal videoing. Well, me being the law abiding citizen that I am, didn't even think peeps did that. So I was appropriately scared of these guys in black. 

Shazza and I sorted out the tissues we had between us, I personally had forgotten mine, I thought I nicked some napkins from dinner, but, I mustn't have. So I was relying on Shazza's stash.

It was not enough! They were wet little balls of paper snot mache by the end of the movie.

Armed with our tissues in our hands, for fear of unzipping our bag during the movie and a Man in Black waiting to apprehend us, we were ready.

Let the movie begin.

John Green's face pops up on the screen and the audience goes wild, cheering, with a welcoming message and some funny things about his wife.

Shazza whispers to me, 'who is that?'

Blasphemy!!!

I explain. 

What can I say, she really only reads what I shove in her face. I am enough of a book nerd for the both of us.

Then , Ed Sheeran's face pops up on the screen.

More cheers from the excitable audience. He tells us he was asked to write a song for the movie.

Go Ed!

Then the movie began.

It truly was a 3D experience watching this movie, because it was filled with readers who had read the book.

The girls were oooing and ahhhing  and nawwwwing when Augustus appeared and did the Augustus thing.

I was giggling when the girls would all get so excited for the young fella.

They all knew what was coming up, so we got much reaction from the girls.

I was totally oblivious to what the next emotion I was going to be hit with. 

Laughter, sadness, down right U.G.L.Y crying, nawwwwing, more laughter, more sadness, more U.G.L.Y crying....repeat and rinse.

This was the most BEAUTIFUL film I have seen in a long while. Sure I cried the snotty cry in The Notebook, many a year ago.

BUT!

This movie was so darn special, it is making me sniffle writing this posting. I have after-movie-cry-face from last night, still, today.

I am kind of glad I didn't read the book beforehand because I got such an honest reaction from myself, watching this movie. I didn't know what was coming up, I got shocked, I got down right blocked up with snot. At one stage I had to blow my nose hard, there was no air getting up it.

Shazz whispered to me, the girl next to her laughed at my nose blowing. I had no choice. I needed air, the pressure was building to a headache.

There was one poor love, and I think we ALL heard her. I can only think she had someone close to her sick, she was full on sobbing for most of the movie or she was just more of a marshmallow than me. 

One of the Men in Black was standing on sentry duty a couple meters from her and he did not bat an eyelash at her.

One girl a few rows up came down and handed the poor love a bunch of tissues.

Shazza knows I am a bit of a marshmallow with things and I can cry easily, she can be quite stoic. She was blubbering along side me. The girls behind us were blubbering along.

EVERYBODY was blubbering.

I want to point out, Shazz and I were the more conservative, hold it in till your brain hurts, sobbers. The silent tear falling, sobbers. The casual wipe of your face, sobbers. We were among the politely quiet sobbers and blubberers where your top lip quivers from the exertion of trying to be quiet.

Now I don't want to scare anybody off seeing this movie because YOU WILL CRY. 

Eh, so will everybody else around you.

This movie although has sad, sad moments that truly I was not prepared for, I thought I was, it has uplifting and funny moments scattered through out.

You may even do the laugh/sob combo.

At one stage Shazza whispers to me, 'Amy is going to be so pi&*ed that she isn't here.'

I agree. Sorry Ams and Ash. 

I would give this movie TEN out of FIVE stars. At this stage I can't match it to the book, I came home and was on a bit of a movie high and hubs was in bed reading. It was nearly eleven at night and my eleven year old daughter wouldn't go to sleep until I got home.

I just start chirping away about the movie and it sounded from hubs responses that the movie was pretty spot on.

I'm telling him about Willem Dafoe playing the mean author dude, and hubs's response was, 'I can see Willem as mean book dude.'

I want to go back and watch this movie again once I have read the book with hubs and mini-me. It is sad, but it is so beautifully presented.

To the actors, playing all the different roles, they really brought the 'feels' to this movie. 

Ansel Elgort as Augustus is simply brilliant, Shailene Woodley as Hazel was so believable, and Nat Wolff as Isaac , made me laugh. As a mum myself , Laura Dern playing Mrs Lancaster,  made me cry. I could feel her pain.

To John Green, I say, I want to roll around in your brain. What a beautiful story. You must be so proud of this movie adaptation. I am also so proud of you dude, for writing this story. 

Augustus and Hazel...simply breathtakingly beautiful.

To ALL the movie peeps that put this whole movie production together... * double thumbs up * 

You ALL rock at this movie making shiz.

I beyond recommend going to see this movie and grabbing yourself a copy of the book. It really, truly is a keeper.

Whether you have read the book first, or like me, you go in cold turkey and let it all unfold, you will have quite the movie viewing experience.

This would have to be my all time favorite movie to date.

It was simply perfect.

It stole my heart. 

Hard.

Brilliantly sad.

Brilliantly funny.

Michelle

Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be completely rewritten.

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