We recently watch Mazerunner: The Scorch Trials and Insurgent. I had resisted seeing Insurgent because the trailers made it look like it went completely away from the book while the trailers for Mazerunner: The Scorch Trials didn't ping in that direction.

Boy was I wrong. Mazerunner: The Scorch Trails had K-Bug and I looking at eachother in WTF-ness at just about every scene. I'd be curious of the opinion of someone who hadn't read the Mazerunner series. The changes in Insurgent were much easier for me to handwave away as artistic license while still following the basic story.

All that to say, maybe I shouldn't try to a book before a movie comes out. Without those expectations, maybe I'd like the movies more and then appreciate the detail in the book separately.

So glad to hear that about the casting, because I read the book right after the first trailer came out, and so Matt Damon was my mental image while reading.

The white fonted decisions for the movie make a lot of sense.

OMG I NEED THIS MOVIE IN MY VISUAL CORTEX.

OK, so Roland Emmerlich had asked audiences not to pre-judge Stonewall as whitewashing the events based on the trailer. Now reports from critics seem to indicate the trailer showed the film in a better light than viewing the whole thing, which might has well have been titled Cute White Savior.

Oh, fuck Roland Emmerlich with a stranger's diseased genitals.

But hey, at least Emmerich does let a black character hand Jeremy Irvine's ahistorical twink protagonist a brick so the latter can be the one to spark the riots. I know when I'm boiling over with outrage at an injustice happening before my eyes my first impulse is to look around for the nearest handsome teenage boy so I can pat him on the back and say "go get 'em, Tiger!"

Vanity Fair review

PBS review

I listened to The Martian on audiobook for at least 50% of it and the reader sounds nothing like Damon, so even though I knew he was in it I escaped the image. The book is really amazing, and the audiobook made the sciency parts a bit easier to follow I felt (though I am a math and science teacher and an engineering major so my perspective is not everybody's.) Definitely a worthwhile read. And it was my first experience with buying a kindle book that had the cheapish Audio narration addition that auto magically syncs with your reading spot, which is my new favorite thing.

Just came back from the latest Mission Impossible movie and had a whale of a time. I mean, of course it's all ludicrous nonsense, but it's slick, fast-paced, super-fun nonsense. A+ entertainment, will watch again!

I particularly loved Rebecca Ferguson, the actress who played Ilsa. I heard her name being thrown around as the potential pick for the Captain Marvel movie and gotta say, the lady can kick ass like nobody's business and has charisma to burn.

Among the trailers shown before the movie: Michael Bay apparently made a movie about Benghazi. Good lord.

Seeing Iron Giant: accomplishment unlocked. I did not stay for the preview of the making of documentary or whatever, because I really am tired, but I'm glad I saw the movie on the big screen.

We saw The Martian today, and I was impressed with how well it was adapted from the book. It's a credit to Jeff Daniels that it took me until the very end to think "Hey, that's the Dumb and Dumber guy!"

Also, I secretly think the only reason the movie got made was so that they could use "I Will Survive" over the closing credits. (I laughed a lot throughout the movie, but that probably got the biggest laugh from me. Well played, movie. Well played.)

I did miss a lot of the scenes that they cut from the book, but a lot of those scenes were also the reason I was thinking, "I don't see how they can make a movie out of this," so it makes sense. They made the movie with the scenes that made good movie.