Mundie Moms

Friday, August 23, 2013

VIDEO: @mortalmovie Fans React to the Movie

Along with Fangirlish and TMI Source we'll be doing a series of videos this weekend with fans reactions to The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones. Hope you enjoy! Want your reaction included? Use the hashtag #tmimoviereactions and we'll be pulling more right after we get back from seeing the movie again!

Fansites talk to @KevinZegers: It Wasn't Like Alec Was A Creepy Guy Who Wanted to Jump Jace's Bones

Kevin-Zegers-in-The-Mortal-Instruments-City-of-Bones-2013-Movie-Image Kevin Zegers. What can you say? The guy has a presence, and he knows it. He doesn't stop - he's mature and sweet, but also he doesn't forget a face. He's a dedicated actor, but when you meet him you can tell he loves his wife (yes, we had to add that in, cause it's important to the man that he is) - by the way he lights up when he talks about marriage. He's a great actor and a really nice man.

You as Alec... we were telling Jamie that my favorite scene with you, you’re not even saying anything. You are looking at Clary when she’s in the library like you’re gonna kill her and you’re looking at Jace like I love you but you don’t know it. You brought a-hole Alec to life from the book.

Kevin: Right, we had this, there’s this instinct to sort of go, “but he’s the good guy,” and to sort of like stay away from him being too snarky. I was like if you can establish a reason why, it’s like why I love some horror films that involve the bad guy being the hero. Like you don’t always have to be nice, if you’re the nice guy, if you’re the good guy. People are sympathetic to people as long as there is a reason behind it. Like my favorite show is this, Ray Donovan show. It’s like he’s kind of an asshole, you know what I mean? He says some really bad things, but because you have sympathy for this guy and you understand where he’s coming from, you can sort of get away with doing whatever. So Harald and I had that conversation early which was to say let’s not pander to the fact that like he’s a Shadowhunter so he’s good so go easy on the him being a little unlikeable because it’s like, you don’t always have to be likeable. I think that’s like a cop out, especially in these kinds of films because the characters are so well defined. He doesn’t have to be the likeable gay character just because that’s where he ends up going. Like, there is so much other stuff to explore especially because we knew, we didn’t know, but I mean we’re certainly going back to do the second film so, there’s such a huge arc of where he starts and where he goes that you don’t need to pander to the audience and like, make him sort of one noted.

I think Alec is the most misunderstood, when I first read I thought he’s kind of a jerk, but then you realize, like one, he’s protecting the Shadowhunter secret. He loves Jace but then there's just so many layers to him and I felt like you brought the book to life perfectly, his mannerisms, you know those looks spoke volumes. I like that they didn’t make you in every scene like that’s the way he talks his whole mannerisms towards what was going on…

Kevin: Even in the script, there were scenes that my character wasn’t in, in the script, and Harald would sort of say it might be nice if…, we had this sort of running joke that some days I felt like an extra, because you know he’s [Alec] sort of hovering. It’s sort of like he’s there observing, and I love characters that are sort of a little enigmatic and a little sort of, you know, misunderstood, so there was a lot of stuff that I wasn’t intended to be in, but that I ended up in. That scene where we are bringing her to the library I don’t think in the script I was in. So once we got up there and we were sort of looking down at her, Harald sort of improvised that Jamie and I were like brothers anyway. It was sort of like it started out as a one line, and then in post, we sort of just became a scene which was like built out of the fact that Jamie and I are so close, and it seemed like a conversation we would have, and based on the stuff that we had shot with Lily, that it seemed like it fit in there at that moment. So, again, it was a lot of us priming it while we were filming, which is part of what you do when you make a film. You have to be flexible about what dynamics work. The dynamic between Jamie and I, we established was not one of like, I’m not goo goo gaga over Jamie, just like I’m not in person. We love each other, but like a mutual affection that we have and he would be someone that I would run across the room and go hug, but it doesn’t come from a physical place. Once we established that, it wasn’t like Alec was a creepy guy who wanted to jump Jace’s bones, he was just like, he loved him and there was a little more behind his love than met the eye but it wasn't so overt, and it wasn't so stereotypical. Once we found that stuff, and Lily and I have a good, even when we are sort of barbing with each other there is this understanding between the two of us, and Lily and I have that too. Those were the two central relationships I had in the film and the two people I remain closest with personally. We do have this good back and forth between the three of us. I think when we were on the mall tour we noticed it even more. There is like 3 very specific personalities with the 3 of us that are very distinct and very, we play off of each other well. So I think that as that relationship grows in the story there is so much room to explore. Even with talking with Harald about the next film, like such a great opportunity for, you know, put me and Jamie in a scene together and there’s, weird shit’s gonna happen.

When we were talking too, the on screen chemistry, because you know with some movies you get fake chemistry or chemistry that doesn’t work, or even within a cast not all chemistry seem real, but the cast chemistry was phenomenal with everybody. When you were in a scene, we felt it. We could see the relationship they really had, and it really brought the movie to life.

Kevin: Right. I think Robbie is so good. There is the stuff with those two…there is this sort of, I think people are like “Oh” because we don’t have the script yet for the second movie and with us, this central group of people who are playing off of each other, there’s a really good foundation of…you can throw Jemima and I in a room together with a scene and we will figure it out.

Your chemistry together was awesome.

Kevin: Right. No one is faking anything, there’s not this sort of manufactured, no one seems off kilter when it comes to this stuff. I think it is because A, we get along, and B, we have he same script motive, does this serve the movie? If it doesn’t serve the movie for me to be in a scene, I’m going to go to Harald and say “yo, it’s kind of weird that I’m here. Alec should be down the hallway.”

Jessica (Postigo) asked us last night what we thought about the movie, and what we could do for City of Ashes. That was one of our things, give Jemima and Kevin more screen time because the brother/sister relationship is so crucial with the series.

Kevin: She is so good. She’s such a good actress, and I think Harald has…the best thing that he did was focus on the people. Because I think the external, I watch some of these movies, and it doesn’t really matter which ones, but they are so focused on the stuff, you don’t really care about the people, therefore it’s like “why would I want to go see another one when I can go see another movie, or another story, and just see the same stuff.” The only reason to go back and see a movie is to see the same people again. I think that is what makes these sort of things work like, I would go see The Hunger Games again because I love Jen Lawrence, and I’m interested to see what she is going to do with that character. And like with The Dark Knight, I’m interested in the characters of those movies, I’m not interested in the big car chase scene or the big fight scene. That’s great stuff to have, and I’m glad we have all that stuff, but that wasn’t the sole focus. We’d spend more time shooting these scenes and sacrifice other stuff. Always when you’re making a movie, you have to choose between one or the other, it’s just the nature of the business. Harald would always make sure we got the scene before we would go to something else.

We told Harald you all brought the book characters to life, and then you made them relatable.

Kevin: There is a lot going on. There is a lot of characters. Part of what I think was fortunate about me, I didn’t find out I was doing this until like two weeks before, so I didn’t really have the time to sort of ask people, not that I would have, what everyone thought Alec should be. To me this was just a script, it was just a character that…when Harald and I first spoke about it, and read the book, we just talked about this character, and how me as a human being could bring this character to life, which is really all you do in a director meeting anyway. So I didn’t really have the consideration of what who people think Alec should be like. Is this the way…well I’m a little older than Alec is supposed to be. I’m maybe a little more of a dude than Alec is intended to be. You know what I mean? The way it’s written in the script he’s a little bit more effeminate, a little bit more, you know there’s a lot of things. Part of what I think was to my benefit was that I didn’t read into every sentence of the book because is doesn’t translate into a movie.

Coming into that, and now a fan base who follow your every movement, is that a lot of pressure? Has it been a weird thing?

Kevin: It’s weird that it’s me. If I were to remove myself from the situation I would go “oh that makes sense, there’s fans of the books and…” It’s not weird to see a billboard for The Mortal Instruments, like 40 stories high on Hollywood and Highland, it’s just weird that I’m on it. To me that’s the only strange thing. So once you get used to that, um, but again we’re just making a movie. So to get wrapped up in this whole thing which is great and it gets people to go see the movie, and the fans of the books expectations, are all great, but the only thing I have any control over, like complete control over, is what I go do in the next movie. That’s it.

You’ve set yourself up beautifully in the City of Bones, because you’re like a ultimate package, really. You’re going to come out in the next movie, with much more involvement I’m hoping.

Kevin: That’s for sure.

Talk to us about your preparations for that, what are you honing into?

Kevin: I think part of what works, and what I liked about him, is that I don’t think you should totally ever get Alec completely. Even when he opens up I think there’s always something withheld. There’s a lot of stuff, certainly I’m in a lot more of the second movie. There’s a lot more fighting, there’s a lot more training, so physically for the last month and a half, I’ve been going sort of like, okay, I need to, because I didn’t have any time before we started this first movie so, I knew there was physically a different place I want to get to because I know there’s a lot more physical stuff to do. Also, I started defining the plan as to, again, I’ve read the book now, so I know what the template is going to be. I don’t know what is going to end up in the film, but there are things, specific scenes, that I’m sure will end up in the film that I’m a little more wide open in terms of the exposure of Alec that I think I will close down a little bit. Because I think the audience is a lot smarter than actors give them credit for and I don’t think that you…nobody is an open book, no matter how like, you know how Lily seems like she would be an open book and it’s her personality, she’s a very open, warm person, but there’s other stuff. You know what I mean? We all have these sort of like, and I think Alec is just, he does have these moments of really opening himself up, but I don’t think he opens up quite as much as you may expect.

Photos: The Mortal Instruments Premiere in Norway

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The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones tops the Australian Box Office!


I love waking up to news like this! Roadshow Films posted THIS, this morning on Tumblr:

Australian Shadowhunters have teamed up to see the eagerly anticipated big-screen adaptation of the fantasy adventure book series, The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones - making it the number one film at the Aussie box office.


The film tells the story of Clary Fray (Lily Collins), a seemingly ordinary teen living in modern New York City. Without warning her mother disappears, and suddently Clary is plunged into the secret world of Shadowhunters - a half-human, half-angel race tasked with protecting the world from dangerous demons.
The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones is in cinemas now. Watch the trailer here.
As you guys have all seen, us along with the rest of the TMI Fandom can not stress enough the importance of fans seeing the movie THIS WEEKEND (if it's out in your area). Opening weekend/box office numbers matter, and we want to ensure that the rest of Cassie's series makes it to the big screen.

It's CONFIRMED! Sigourney Weaver Joins The Cast of City of Ashes!


Oh Shadowhunters, City of Ashes just got that much more exciting! Last month when rumors circulated that Sigourney Weaver was in talks about joining the CoA cast, fans went crazy. Let's admit it, she would rock as The Inquisitor, Imogen Herondale. Well today we got confirmation from Entertainment ie that Sigourney Weaver is PART Of the City of Ashes movie cast!! Can't wait to see what she brings to the story!



Per their article:
It's been confirmed, the wonderful Sigourney Weaver is on board to star in Harald Zwart's sequel to The Mortal Instruments. This one's called The Mortal Instruments: City of Ashes. 
While there had been rumours recently of Miss Weaver's involvement, Zwart confirmed mid interview with entertainment.ie yesterday that it is indeed a goer. "Yes Sigourney is on board, now you can break the story!".
What do you think Shadowhunters? This is exciting news!

Fansites Talk to Cassie Clare: I loved the action scenes

tumblr_mrxmya9JeM1s5nnxeo1_500 When I tell you that Cassie Clare changed a part of our lives, I mean it. The woman is phenomenal. She's sweet and kind and she makes me laugh. She literally cares about every single one of her fans, and is completely humble. She was kind enough to sit with us at the press junket and answer a few questions.

Besides the Greenhouse, what was your favorite scene to see on the big-screen? 
Cassie: I think, um, my absolutely favorite scene, cuz I'm a sucker, is when they have the fight in Madame Dorothea's and then Simon comes in and whacks her with a shovel which I just enjoy cuz I love Simon. And then Jace comes out of the apartment and Clary's standing there and basically she's looking from Simon to Jace and then she goes over to Simon and hugs him, and Jace of course looks totally destroyed. I love that scene because it so underlines how significant that friendship is between Clary and Simon and how much it means to both of them. Even though they had that fight about their relationship, she  ya know, they truly love each another in a way that is not necessarily romantic but I love to see that kind of portrayal of  intense friendship on the screen.

What is it like to have written something that has changed so many people's lives?

Cassie: I think it's such a big idea I think it's really hard to encompass it. Individual people write me and are like, the book changed my life in this way - or this character had a big impact on me - then it really, each time, it's like equally startling and meaningful as the time before. But I never sit there thinking "I have written something that has changed many lives!" I just can't think about it that way.

Previous authors have tried to stay a part of their movie adaptations, but how do you think you have done this differently? To stay such a part and make the movie better?

Cassie: Well, I think that it's sort of a combination of flexibility and communication with the whole creative team that I had to be kind of like, when they would say, ya know, this is a thing that they can't do because it just isn't going to work. You wrote it, but trying to do it on screen. For instance, Simon turning into a rat. They went over and over the possible ways of doing the transformation, and how it would work, and the special effects and what not. While you can, obviously do an animated rat, there was no way to do it and sort of remain within the kind of esthetic of the movie. So we had to discuss,  ok, well what can we do that's going to give kind of the same. To me, the essential thing here is Clary goes to save Simon. She goes to save Simon and that's the most important thing to her. And the second most essential thing is that Jace goes with her, because he's already at that point decided  this is a person that's important enough to him, that he's going to go with her. Ya know, to save a guy that he really doesn't like that much at that point. So we wound up having a whole discussion about how are we going to realize this and also bringing Alec and Isabelle in as well, so that we could see more of them and kind of experience more of their characters. So I think that, as a particular example, I think what we wound up with was something that fit with the unified esthetic of the film more than introducing Rat-Simon. Even though, of course, I thought of Rat-Simon. You kind of have to think of it as a different medium, it's an interpretation, and as you were saying - they have the benefit of my hind-sight. I'm on book five, I'd been writing book six, and I'm like 'Well, these characters, this is where there going to end up'. And now what you can do is for instance, Simon and Isabelle spend a lot of time together in this movie. And part of that is because they know that those characters are going to wind up having a - as you know- a romantic relationship further on down the road, and they wanted to set that up. And I think that was a really good idea. I was like, ok great, you have this relationship and you can really start building on it and make people kind of see them as a team and that they work together. I liked that they didn't push it too far, ya know, they weren't like 'and now, by the end of this movie, Simon and Isabelle are making out'. But, they definitely set them up as a pair, and they hinted at a lot of things that were going to come. And they took a gamble in doing that, because you have to think of each movie as a discreet kind of stand-alone thing. But they know what's going to happen, they went with the bite marks on Simon's neck. You see them, it's never talked about or explained. That and the fact that he no longer needs his glasses are an indicator of the fact that he's altering. And that's a promise like there's something to come here later on in this story and you're going to have to wait and see what it is.

What was it like for your the first time to see the relationships between the characters grow on screen?

Cassie: The first time I saw it, I didn't know how it was going to turn out. I'd seen it in pieces, but until you see it together you're like judging pieces of a jig-saw puzzle without seeing the whole image. So I have no idea how it's going to be. I loved the action scenes and I loved the sets and I loved a lot of all the stuff that they did with the pacing, which moves like a train - never a boring moment. But for me, it's always going to be about the character interactions. Some of them I just love, and even the bits that aren't necessarily from the books. I love the scene where Jace tells Clary 'I'm a Shadowhunter, and I'll protect you with my life', I was like that's his mission statement. That's him that's what he believes in. For me, watching the characters meet has a magical quality the first time, you know Clary sees Jace. But not only that. The first time that Simon sees Isabelle the first time Clary sees Isabelle, these are all big moments for me.

DIVERGENT MOVIE TRAILER TEASER

Oh DIVERGENT! How can a few seconds of awesomeness invoke so many emotions.



Check out Sunday's MTV Movie Awards for our first look at the DIVERGENT movie.

Source

Book Review: Two Boys Kissing by David Levithan


By: David Levithan
Published by: Random House
To Be Released on: August 27th, 2013
Source: arc from publisher to review
Pre-Order from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Add it to Goodreads

New York Times  bestselling author David Levithan tells the based-on-true-events story of Harry and Craig, two 17-year-olds who are about to take part in a 32-hour marathon of kissing to set a new Guinness World Record—all of which is narrated by a Greek Chorus of the generation of gay men lost to AIDS. 

While the two increasingly dehydrated and sleep-deprived boys are locking lips, they become a focal point in the lives of other teen boys dealing with languishing long-term relationships, coming out, navigating gender identity, and falling deeper into the digital rabbit hole of gay hookup sites—all while the kissing former couple tries to figure out their own feelings for each other.


This book brought out so many feelings. Two Boys Kissing is a book unlike any book I've read before. I don't mean that because it's a book about characters who are are gay, transgender. I mean that as a reader who was so moved by the words that author David Levithan wrote in this book. It's not often I read/review books here on Mundie Moms that don't have elements of fantasy, the supernatural and the like on here, but I couldn't pass up a David Levithan book.

This is a book that opened my eyes more. It's a book that brought every emotion to the surface. It's a book that will make readers realize that everything you say, and don't say, every action big or little effects those around you. It's a book that makes you realize that sometimes the things you don't say can hurt more than the things you do. It's a book that makes you want to be more caring, reach out to others more, smile more and be friendlier to those who make up the world around you. It's a book that makes you realize that even though we're a society made of people from all different walks of life, who share different religious beliefs, and have different sexual orientation, we're still human, we still feel the same, and want the same things. We want to be loved and accepted for WHO we are. Not what we are.

Two Boys Kissing for me wasn't a book about characters, it became a book that allowed me to understand people who have struggled to be accepted, to feel loved for who they are, who are looking for love, who want others to see them as an equal. It's a book that made me wish as a mother that I could have hugged every person who ever felt alone, who felt unloved, unwanted, and unaccepted,  and in some instances felt that taking their own life was their only hope, told them they are loved, and that no matter what anyone has told them and might say to them, that they do matter, they are important, and they are loved. You don't have to be a gay reader to get the message the David got across in this book.

Who hasn't at some point in their life felt similar to at least one of the characters in this book? I have. I related to this book on many levels. This is a book that at it's heart deals with raw human emotions. It's a book that gave me a realistic look inside people who are looked down upon and cast aside because of their sexual orientation. My heart broke many times while reading this book, and other times I felt hope for those I was reading about. As I told David right after I first read this book, this a book I hope many people read. Sure, it's a tough read. Things aren't sugar coated. Hateful things are said and done to some characters, other characters are dealing with strong sexual preferences, some characters are dealing with things that will be tough for some readers to read about. It's the over all voice of this story that got to me. As I told David, this a book I felt like those who struggle to know what to say or struggle to come to terms with someone they love being gay, need to read. Those who feel alone will see they're not alone. Those who don't know what to do will get it. Being gay doesn't change who a person is. This book goes beyond that.

This book became something bigger than I thought it would when I first received it to read/review. It moved me more than I ever imagined it would, because this book hit at the core of what every human beings wants. To be seen, to be understood, to be loved and accepted for who they really are. This book became a story that allowed me to understand, to see, and to get a small look inside the triumphs and tragedies, struggles, and strengths that many people have dwelt with. It's a book that I related to on some levels, it made me feel hopeful at times, and other times it angered me because of how some of the characters were treated. As I said before, it's not a book for everyone. There are some tough things that happen in this book. Though this is a book with fictional characters, the stories, the emotions and the things that happen have happened to real people.

I'm not a person who marks up my books, but David's writing is so beautiful that I highlighted so many passages in my arc. The way this story is told is moving. Sure it follows different characters, but the over all story has a voice of it's own, and it's that voice that got to me. Very few authors have moved me to tears, and David is one of them. Here are just a few of my favorite passages:
"Freedom isn't just about voting, and marrying, and kissing on the street, although all of these things are important. Freedom is also about what you will allow yourself to do."  
"You should never feel doomed."  
"Love is so painful, how could you ever wish it on anybody? And love is so essential, how could you ever stand in it's way?" 
"We always underestimate our own participation in magic. That is, we thought of magic as something that existed without us. But that's not true. Things are not magical because they've been conjured for us by some outside force. They are magical because we create them, and then deem them so."  
"Ignorance is not bliss. Bliss is knowing the full meaning of what you have been given." 
"Not all songs need to be for dancing." 
"It is hard to stop seeing your son as a son and to start seeing him as a human being.
It is hard to stop seeing your parents as parents and to start seeing them as human beings.
It's a two-sided transition, and very few people manage it gracefully."  
"We know what it's like to need to hold on. We hold on to you. Which is to say, we hold on to life."
My list of highlighted passages from this book is a big one. There are so many passages that cut to the core of what's makes us all human. Love, pleasure, pain, acceptance, hopelessness, hope etc. David Levithan has done a beautiful job at writing a book that at it's core is a one that doesn't hold back on reaching out and holding you firm it's emotional grasp. Two Boys Kissing is a book about people who share in triumphs, tragedies, and the need/right to be seen and loved for who they are.

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