Book to film comparison of Enders Game

(WARNING: MAJOR spoilers ahead. DO NOT READ unless you've read the book AND seen the movie. You've been warned!) Things the same: Ender's inner conflict and reaction when he realizes he unknowingly committed genocide. 

Differences: Peter is not as murderous and psychopathic as in the book. An unnecessary scene with Ender and Valentine, that just slows things down and isn't important to the story at all. Ender does not accidentally kill other kids out of anger, just kind of paralyzed them. No mention of Peter and Valentine writing articles that negatively criticize the government. 

Ender's Game

This is one of the best sci-fi movies you'll see this year! Ignore all the trolls on IMDB who are "boycotting" this film because of Orson Scott Card's political views, as the film (and the book it's based on, which I highly recommend) have literally nothing to do with them. If you live near an IMAX you should definitely see it in that format. (It's worth the price despite not being in 3D) The scenes in the Battle Room, the space battles, and every scene on the ship cannot be seen in their entirety without IMAX. (Meaning you don't see the whole set in a regular format. IMAX has wider view.) The battles among the kids are just amazing, the inner conflict with Ender is well written, and the ending has a great message that will unfortunately leave you hanging and waiting for the sequel. Asa Butterfield personally would not have been my choice for Ender, but he did pretty well. And if you think Harisson Ford and Ben Kingsley are too old to act, think again! Now I would compare this with the book but I like to keep these reviews spoiler-free, so if you've read the book read my next post, if you haven't and you read the next post anyway, I warned you. Overall, Ender's Game is just absolutely brilliant filmmaking. Grade: A- 9/10 4/5 stars 

Top 10 non-R rated halloween films

As promised here's my list of the top 10 non R rated Halloween films. (just summaries, not so much reviews)
10. Coraline: A young girl discovers a doorway to another world that's just like her's...but better. However, things are not always as they seem. Now this movie is PG and I recommend it for kids 10 and up, because it is a bit creepy. Grade: A- 9/10 4/5 stars
9. The Nightmare Before Christmas: Every year in Halloweentown is pretty much the same, which is why Jack Skellington decides to no longer be the pumpkin king of Halloween. After he discovers Christmastown he decides to mix Halloween with Christmas and things get really crazy. Rated PG. Grade: A+ 10/10 5/5 stars.
8. Monster House: 3 kids discover the house across the street is possessed and eats anyone and anything that lands on the lawn. Fearing for the lives of the trick-or-treaters that will be coming that night, they decide to destroy the spirit in the house once and for all. Grade: B+ 7/10 3/5 stars
7. Corpse Bride: A man practices his wedding vows and accedentaly ends up married to a zombie. grade: A+ 10/10 5/5 stars PG
6. Scooby-Doo: Based on the classic cartoon, the Mystery Inc. gang reunites to investigate strange goings-on at a theme park. grade: D-  2/10 1.5/5 stars
5. 9: 9 dolls who are the lone survivors of a war with machines must find out what wiped out mankind. Grade: B- 8/10 3/5 stars PG
4. Hotel Transylvania: An overprotective Dracula builds a hotel to protect his daughter and other monsters from humans. But when a human discovers the hotel and falls in love with Dracula's daughter, Dracula must accept that his little girl is growing up. 9/10 A- 4/5 stars PG
3. Frankenweenie: A boy revives his dead dog, and after it freaks out the neighbors he must convince them that the dog isn't dangerous. 9/10, A- 4/5 stars. PG
2. E.T.: An alien is left behind by his family and develops a special connection with an Earth boy. 10/10 A+ 5/5 stars PG
1. Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit: Wallace and Gromit investigate a giant rabbit that is destroying everyone's veggies. But when the rabbit turns out to be Wallace, what will they do? 9/10 A- 4/5 stars G

The Croods

 This movie was a lot better than I expected. Granted, it's not the best Dreamworks movie, but it's still pretty decent. While at times it does feel like Ice Age 3 and The Flintstones, it still has enough originality to pass as an original screenplay. While it probably won't be nominated for Best Animated Film at the Oscars, it has enough heart to be one of the best animated films of the year. Unlike some dull animated films that have come out this year, like Epic, this actually has a good script, fun humor, and a great lesson at it's core. Grade: B-, 8/10, 3/5 stars.

After Earth

Wow! This movie was just bad! The plot was pretty decent and the visual effects were amazing, but it was the acting that ruined this. If they had cast anyone else other than Will and Jaden Smith this movie would have been so much better. The dialogue is laughable and I was laughing at parts I probably wasn't supposed to. M. Night Shamalyan, if you're reading this, you had a good run with movies like Signs and The Village, but The Last Airbender and this film are just bad! You need to retire and let J.J. Abrams, someone who actually knows how to direct sci-fi movies, take over. And Will Smith, I'm sorry, but you've got to stop focusing on you're children's acting careers. They can't act at all. Plus, you wrote this movie, so if the writers of Predator want to sue for plagiarism they know who to blame. Yeah, this movie is pretty much the same plot as Predator (edited for TV version) Guy (or in this case kid) is trapped on a planet where everything can kill you, and is stalked by an alien that even looks like Predator. Never have I hated a movie so much. You know it's bad when you're rooting for the alien to kill the main characters. I'm usually pretty optimistic when it comes to movies, but there's not a single redeeming quality in this film. Avoid at all costs, unless you feel like punishing yourself. Grade: F+ 0/10 0/5 stars.

World War Z

Since I'm going in for surgery Monday, and won't be able to see movies or update this blog for a VERY long time, I thought "Might as well go out with a bang." So I saw World War Z. If you're looking for jump scares, there aren't any. But there's still plenty of suspense. It's got great humor, plenty of surprises,and the 12th Doctor. Peter Capaldi, who was recently cast as the 12th incarnation of Doctor Who is in this. Oddly enough he's a W.H.O. Doctor (World Health Organization) coincidence? I think not. The ending did leave me somewhat unsatisfied, because, well, the film doesn't really have one. Oh, well. I guess the sequel will explain. 

Grade: 9/10 A-  4/5 stars

Update

Hey Loyal Fans! Sorry I haven't updated lately, but we're kind of in the "off-season" of movies, so there hasn't really been anything interesting out. Just a quick update, here. I may or may not go in for surgery sometime next week. If i do I will most likely be in there for 1to 3 months. And I won't have the time nor the energy to see or rent movies. But don't worry, as soon as I'm well again I'll be posting reviews of movies that I rent, like After Earth for example which is coming out during that time. I'm looking forward to it. When time and health permits, I'll post a list of the top whatever non-R rated Halloween movies. And then in November-ish, top whatever Christmas movies. Until then, keep visiting and checking for updates.

Love,

-Mormonmovies