Movie – “Mad Max Fury Road”

Source:http://madmax.wikia.com/wiki/File:Ss-mad-max-fury-road-123.jpg 

Hi, I’m back from the cinema and ready to rumble on about Furiosa, and the other heroines from Mad Max Fury Road.

Furiosa’s flight to freedom with the nasty Warlord’s enslaved women was a riveting watch. 

I had a bottle of water with me and a packet of movie snacks but I couldn’t take my eyes off the action to drink or eat. 

I reacted to most of the movie in survival mode. The fight or flee instinct was triggered in me and I was desperate for these women to fight for their freedom and outrun their captors. Here’s a look at some of the action.

Actress Charlize Theron brought the character of Furiosa, the road warrior alive on the big screen. I can’t find the right words to convey how awesome her acting was. The mental and physical toughness of the role, the emotion in her eyes…an outstanding performance on all levels. 

Furiosa and Mad Max were co-heroes of the story (and there were others as well). First they tried to kill each other. The fight scene rolled my stomach, it was so realistic and threatening. I was scared of and for Furiosa when he was attacking her and she was retaliating. Then they were about saving each other. Relief!

At the start of the story, the enslaved women or “wives” were portrayed as victims of the nasty Warlord’s evil rule over their lives. But as the scenes unfolded, the five women moved beyond “damsels in distress” and became participants in their own rescue. They had some great moments of courage and action. Take a peek at the movie featurette about the wives.

I also wanted to mention the actress Megan Gale and her companions, the gun-toting, motorbike-riding grandmothers. It was these older women who changed the direction of the story, the catalysts, the guardians of hope, and the wise women who enabled Furiosa to strive for redemption from the dark wounds inflicted upon her by the nasty Warlord.

So to all of the female cast members of Fury Road, you were mesmeric and thanks to the director for creating these interesting characters with dimension. 

Source:http://madmax.wikia.com/wiki/File:Ss-mad-max-fury-road-136.jpg

To wrap up my rumble—the violence and savagery in the movie exceeded my personal limits for entertainment. 

However, I’m glad I found out about Furiosa and the supporting cast of female characters. 

They were different heroines who drove a story in a hellish, mad world. They didn’t give up during the times of brutal adversity. Ultimately, they fought for freedom from tyranny for themselves and for the masses of oppressed people. Awe-inspiring!

Without hope, there is no future…

Or as Mad Max said in Fury Road,
“You know hope is a mistake.
If you can’t fix what’s broken, you’ll go insane.”

Until next time,

Cheers

Ashlyn

Mad Max Rumblings In Movie World

On 15 May 2015, the new Mad Max movie, Fury Road, made its debut at the Cannes Film Festival in France.

It’s been thirty years since the last road warrior movie was directed by George Miller. I've been following the reviews about Fury Road on the web. Some commentators have called it, “the movie of the year”.

Why am I interested in a movie that’s set in a barren, desert wasteland with a heap of guys, chasing one another in monster cars and shooting to kill?

Well…story-telling…and I’m intrigued by the comments written about the heroine, Imperator, Furiosa, played by Charlize Theron. I want to see Furiosa on the big screen, see what she can do in the savage, post-apocalyptic world of Mad Max.

I’m deliberately staying away from more in-depth or official information about the movie because I want to keep my curiosity humming until I see the scenes for myself. 

From the reviews I've read so far;

Furiosa is not,

a super-hero,

nor does she possess magical powers or objects.

Furiosa is apparently,

wily and resourceful.

She’s a truck-driver warrior,

an amputee,

with one good arm and the other one a metal sleeve of some sort.

Furiosa steals the property of a nasty warlord. The property being a small group of enslaved women. Go sisters go! I've read that there’s something special going on with these gals-they have a secret keepsake box which holds the hopes for a new world. A better place than the barbaric existence they’re currently forced to live.

With Furiosa behind the wheel, the road chase is on to catch the escaping gals!

I've read rumblings that Fury Road is a break-away from shallow stereotypes of women on the big screen. That among the cars, guns, grit and grime of the story world, the female characters are important and have value. Yay! Can it be true?

So over the weekend I’m off to the cinema to watch Fury Road. I’m eager to let a different kind of movie heroine pull me into her story. Hope to tell you more about it next week.

Cheers,

Ashlyn.

Movie – “The Age of Adaline”

I recently took my youngest daughter to the cinema to watch “The Age of Adaline.”

It was a short notice thing. We didn’t know what the movie was about but it looked better than anything else on offer at the time.

Both of us were pleasantly surprised from finding such an engaging story. Lots of tears flowed between us. We clutched each other’s arms and legs, bracing one another, because there were many moments in the movie that stirred our emotions in a beautiful way. (Disclaimer here; we’re both soppy romantics at heart and we didn’t expect to feel this way.)

For us, the story was an enjoyable mix of science, adventure, fantasy, love and romance from a worthy cast of actresses and actors.

Wikipedia describes “The Age of Adaline” as a 2015 American Epic Romance Fantasy.

I looked up the movie website here, theageofadalinemovie.com and at first I found it a little bit tricky to navigate. There’s a scroll arrow on the right side and a square menu button down the bottom of the page. Lots and lots of pictures and information are available and it’s a very visual website.

Here’s the official story premise,

“After miraculously remaining 29 years old for almost eight decades, Adaline Bowman (Blake Lively) has lived a solitary existence, never allowing herself to get close to anyone who might reveal her secret. But a chance encounter with charismatic philanthropist Ellis Jones (Michiel Huisman) reignites her passion for life and romance. When a weekend with his parents (Harrison Ford and Kathy Baker) threatens to uncover the truth, Adaline makes a decision that will change her life forever.”

What I liked the most about the movie was;

As a romance writer, I enjoyed the heroine’s and hero’s journey to trust one another and fall in love.

Blake Lively’s vintage costumes.

Michiel Huisman’s dark looks and his portrayal of good qualities in a man.

Harrison Ford’s acting was intense in places and the emotion in his eyes was awesome.

I’ll leave you with the movie trailer.

Cheers

Ashlyn

Happy Mother’s Day for Sunday, 10 May 2015

Hooray to all the mothers, mums, moms and mammas, young and old!

Thanks for the love and for keeping the world going round.

Enjoy your special day and every day with your closest and mostest!

I’ve put together a small tribute of jokey things, a poem, quote, and video to celebrate the Mothers.

Smiles and chuckles are welcome!

Let's start with…....

TWO THINGS MOM WOULD NEVER SAY

“Let me smell that shirt.....Yeah, it’s good for another week.”

“I don’t have a tissue with me.....just use your sleeve.”

source: www.mothersdaycelebration.com/mothers-day-humor.html

MOM AND ME

Best friends forever mom and me

picking flowers and climbing trees

a shoulder to cry on secrets to share

warm hearts and hands that really care.

by Author unknown

source: www.mothersdaycelebration.com/mothers-day-poems.html

AN INSPIRATIONAL QUOTE

“Mama exhorted her children at every opportunity to “jump at de sun.” We might not land on the sun, but at least we would get off the ground.”

by Zora Neale Hurston, folklorist and writer.

source: www.mothersdaycelebration.com/fifty-inspirational-quotes.html

KID PRESIDENT

And now, I’ll let the boy with the swag, the “Kid President” have the final say with his youtube video about ten things every mom needs to know.

Can’t do better than Number Ten; “The secret to changing the world – MOMS. If every Mom in the world knew how awesome they were, every problem in the world would be fixed.”

Thank you!

Ashlyn

P.S. The rose pictures come from a relative’s garden on the southern coast of Australia and my mum’s middle name is Rose. Lovely! 

The Beginnings of Hen Party

“Boys will be boys.” Have you ever heard this excuse given when men are caught out behaving badly?

When women misbehave in a spectacularly bad way, what do I call it?

HEN PARTY – the first book in my Vadgesta Romantic Comedy series.

I've made a little video about the beginnings of the story. The girls got a glam makeover with some retro cartoon art. There’s also a white narrator cat to give some insights into what's going down. 

Take a look at the party action from a front row seat. Buckle up for a crazy ride with the Henriettas'! 

Thanks to Jessica M. Vázquez for her creative video compilation.

Enjoy!

Ashlyn