The Maze Runner Advanced Screening (Spoiler Free Review)

Three Months ago I wrote a blog post about the Upcoming movie The Maze Runner and why I thought it would be a success (10 Reasons Why The Maze Runner Movie Will Be A Success). Now this post is going to be a follow-up!

On the 30th of August, I was privileged enough to go to an advanced screening of The Maze Runner in London as I won a competition. There were three showings throughout the day with about one hundred people in each, so that meant there were roughly three hundred of us who saw it that day. I was in the second showing at 2:00pm.

We were let in about 15 minutes early and were presented with a free t-shirt and The Maze Runner book. There was a short clip introduction from Wes Ball (the director of the movie) and then we watched the film.

I have to say in the lead up to watching the film I was as equally excited as I was slightly apprehensive about the film because this was my favourite book series and I really wanted the film to do the first book justice. I can tell you that it definitely did it. There were a few changes from the book, but that is always to be expected when switching the medium of the story as some things work differently in a movie to a book.

All though there were a few changes plot wise the characters were kept true and the cast played them all perfectly. In my opinion, they couldn't have chosen a better cast to play the characters. (I was especially pleased with the fact that they kept Newt's British accent strong. Thank you Thomas Brodie-Sangster.)

My favourite thing from the entire movie has to be the visuals and scenery. When I heard the books were being made into a movie I found it hard to visualise what the maze and the grievers were going to look like because they are both such complex characters (because let's face it the maze is definitely a character i. When I saw them both I couldn't imagine anything better. It was perfect especially with the fact that this film was done on a low budget of $30Million. Wes Ball seriously deserves many awards for the effort and talent he put into producing this movie.

What I love about the film is that you can tell everyone involved with it cared about the story and the characters and wanted to stay true as much as they could to the phenomenal book. As a really big fan of the books, I can say they definitely did this. Including a brilliant way of cameoing the author James Dashner so watch out for him,

I want to thank the maze runner uk for giving me the chance to see it so early and the cast/crew of the film for doing such an amazing job at creating the movie.

I recommend everyone to go see it when it comes out in cinemas. You seriously won't regret it!

Some Pictures From The Day

The Liebster Award

A while a go i was nominated to do the Liebster Award tag by http://inkyquillandpaper.blogspot.com (who has a fantastic blog and everyone should check it out), and i have finally found time to do it after a busy few weeks so here we go!

The Liebster Award tag post is where bloggers under 200 followers answer 11 questions set by the person who tagged them and then make up 11 questions of their own for the people they tag to answer.

The rules are:

• Answer All The Questions That Are Given To You
• Link Back To The Blogger(s) Who Nominated You
• Nominate Bloggers Under 200 Followers
• Provide The Nominees With 11 Of Your Own Questions
• You Can't Nominate The Person Who Nominated You
• You Have To Inform Your Nominees That You Have Nominated Them

Now time for me to answer my questions: 

1. What's the number one place you want to go in the future?                                       I really want to visit Greece because I am fascinated by the history of it and I am such a tourist person!
2. What's your favourite nail varnish shade?                                                                   I am really not a make up person so i don't wear nail varnish often. On the occasions that i do it is often pale colours!
3. Who's the most inspirational person that you know of?                                                Most people i know i find inspirational in my opinion. My mind has gone blank and i really can't think of anyone more inspirational that the others. (I'm sorry i am so bad at answering these questions!)
4. If you could live any where in the world, where would it be?                                       It has to be London. I just really love the city and because I am aiming for a career in Media I feel like London would be the best place for me to achieve my dreams.
5. How do you prepare for blog posts?                                                                              I generally don't ever plan to blog. Often an idea to write a blog post will come out of something happening in my own life. Once i have an idea I generally put small guidelines down for what i am going to write and what order it bests flows in, but normally I just start writing my post and once i am started i normally finish writing it very fast.
6. What is the most memorable holiday you've ever been on?                                           When I was younger i went on a day trip to Lapland (the home of Santa Claus) and it was a ram packed day with: tobogganing, baking cookies with 'Mrs Claus', being pulled on a sleigh by Reindeers and Huskies. It was the best day of younger me's life.
7. Are you in education? If not, do you work?                                                                    I will be starting the second and last year of College (English College not American) next month. I am currently studying Radio Production and will hopefully continue to at University.      
8. What's the best thing about running your blog?                                                             The best thing about running my blog is being able to write about topics i am passionate about without the fear of being judge?                                                                                            
9. What's your number one beauty essential?                                                                     Sadly, I'm really not a Beauty person. I generally just wake up and brush my hair and get changed. (I'm sorry I am so boring)
10. How do you see yourself in 50 years time?                                                                      I would like to have my own house with a partner and some pets. Hopefully i would have Children and Grand Children too. Apart from that I really don't know.                          
11. What's your favourite social media site?                                                                         My favourite social media site is definitely Twitter. I am always on Twitter! However Tumblr is a very close second.

Right that is my questions answered and now I nominate: Gemma from gemmadawn30.blogspot.co.uk/ and anyone else who reads this and wants to have a go. 

And your 11 questions are:

1. What was your first concert or if you haven't been to one what concert would you like to go to?
2. What is your biggest pet hate?
3. Do you have a bucket list and if so name three of the things on it?
4. Do you have any pets and if not would you like any in the future?
5. What is your favourite book?
6. What do you do to relax?
7. Do you have a favourite item of clothing and if so what?
8. Have you ever met someone famous if not which famous person would you like to meet?
9. What one item you own could you not live without?
10. Favourite movie scene of all time?
11. What do you hope to being doing in 20 years time?

Good Luck!

Making Connections

Every blogger wants an audience to read their posts whether it is because blogging is their dream job and they want an audience to spread the word about them or they just want a few readers to critique their posts. However more and more it is getting harder to reach that audience and to grasp readers.

It is even harder when you're a new blogger and you have no contacts to help you and as a newish blogger myself i have definitely noticed this.
So that is why i have created a new communtiy: The Novice Bloggers community! This is a communtiy for novice bloggers who are finding it hard to get their blogs seen and to posts read.

In this community you can: promote your blog and blogposts to fellow bloggers, ask for advice and from fellow bloggers and finally make some new friends!

Everyone is welcome no matter your age or what you blog about so feel free to join!

The Misconceptions Of Bisexuality.

  In the past 5 years, we have seen the world slowly becoming more accepting of Gay Rights, there is still a long way to go before it is all perfect, but there has been a definite change for the better when it comes to the overall acceptance.

 However one of the main struggles with today's world is many people only see the ends of the spectrum when it comes to people's sexuality. Many people simply believe that people are either "Gay" or "Straight" and there is no in between. They believe everything is just black and white, but that is a far cry from what there really is. The spectrum of people's sexual orientations is vast with people identifying as, pansexual, aromantic, asexuality and polysexuality just to name a few. In this post, I will be focusing on one sexual orientation in particular: Bisexuality.

 I myself identify as being Bisexual and i am sick to death of the stereotypes and misconceptions of what being Bisexual means. The scientific explanation for Bisexuality is an individual who is sexually and/or romantically attracted to both genders. However, many people can not grasp this concept or they try to over complicate it. I am now going to try and clear up some of the main misconceptions when it comes to Bisexuality. Please do remember this is all my own opinion and some people may have different views and that is fine.

" Bisexuality is just a stepping stone to identifying as homosexual."

 In some cases, yes people do identify themselves as bisexual before eventually identifying as heterosexual or homosexual, but this is not always the case. For many people, they will spend their whole life identifying as Bisexual and this will never change. Also when bisexuals are in a long-term relationship with a partner of one gender it does not mean they stop liking the other gender. If you take this scenario with heterosexual couples a male in a long term relationship is not going to stop viewing other women attractive and same goes for the women with men. So therefore,why would bisexuals stop viewing both genders as attractive just because they're in a relationship with one of them!?

"Being Bisexual is greedy because they are attracted to everyone."

 No being bisexual does not make a person greedy. Just because we can be attracted to both genders does not mean that we're attracted to everyone in each gender. A heterosexual person is not attracted to every one of the opposite sex so why would a bisexual be attracted to everyone in each gender? Just because we don't care about the gender does not mean we don't have our types like everyone else.

"Bisexuals are more likely to cheat."

 This one is a load of rubbish. Being bisexual does not make a person less committed when in a long term relationship. Cheaters are cheaters and it has nothing to do with the sexuality they're.

"Which Gender do you prefer?"

Generally people identify themselves as bisexual because they have are attracted to both genders equally , but there are people who have a preference and they're as valid as people who don't. Also, there are many people who class themselves as Bi Curious as in they are attracted to one gender, but are curious about a sexual or romantic relationship to the other gender.

"Does seeing beauty in both genders make you Bisexual?/What makes you Bisexual?"

 Not necessarily. Many heterosexual people even if they count themselves as straight will see someone of the same gender as attractive. This does not always mean that they personally find them attractive it could just mean they can see why other people find them attractive. Women especially can look at other Women and see beauty in them. Seeing beauty and attraction in both genders does not mean you're bisexual. Generally being bisexual is someone who can see themselves in a sexual or romantic relationship with both genders and we all know seeing attractiveness in someone does not always mean you want any form of relationship with them. In my opinion, I do not think there is a set in stone answer to what makes you bisexual I think like with every other sexuality it is down to the individual person to figure out what and how they best identify with a certain sexual orientation.

I feel like I have tried to clear up most stereotypes and questions about Bisexuality and I hope I have done it well. Do remember that these are all my own opinions. Now finally to answer the most important question involving sexuality.

" I am unsure about my sexuality where can I go for advice/help?"

 Listed bellow are some of the best websites for people questioning their sexuality:

http://www.lgf.org.uk/
http://www.thetrevorproject.org/
http://www.llgs.org.uk/
http://www.pacehealth.org.uk/
http://www.stonewall.org.uk/

10 Reasons Why The Maze Runner Movie Will Be A Success!

The Maze Runner Movie Poster with Dylan O'brien

1. It is the film adaption of the first book in the highly successful young adult, dystopia series - The Maze Runner so it already has a huge fan following!
2. The lead man! Dylan O'Brien has been cast as the lead character Thomas. He is a highly talented actor and has a huge dedicated fan following because of playing Stiles in the hit MTV show Teen Wolf.
3. The rest of the cast. With highly popular young actors such as: Thomas Brodie-Sangster and Will Poulter and also actress Kaya Scodelario cast in the movie it is sure to bring in a huge young audience.
4. It is Director Wes Ball's first big project which will give him room to express his new and unique director style.
5. It is the first young adult book to film adaption in a while that is centered around a male lead instead of female. So it brings something new and will bring in more of a male audience too.
6. The ongoing themes of Friendship, Self-Identity, Persistence and Freedom are relatable to the young teenage audience who will be watching the film.
7. You enter the movie with the same knowledge as the lead Thomas (which is nothing). This means that you learn and discover things at the same speed as him and therefore it means people will connect very well with the lead character.
8. If the first movie does well then the second and third books: The Scorch Trials and The Death Cure will also be made in to films and everyone loves a good movie series!
9. Everyone loves a well created villain and with the grievers: creatures described as resembling "a gigantic slug sparsely covered in hair and glistening with slime" and it's body is riddled with metal appendages like: spikes, shears and rods. The Maze Runner definitely has one.
10. Finally, The trailer has been released and it was brilliant. The imagery looks amazing and the trailer sure does leave you wanting to find out what happens in he movie.

I am sure that The Maze Runner will be an amazing movie and I recommend everyone to go and see it when it is released in September/October this year.

The Maze Runner Trailer

Mental Health: Media Representation vs Reality

Mental Health Awareness Banner

   Media has a tendency to either glamorise or demote Mental Health Illnesses. However, the reality of Mental Health is much more serious and complex than many people realise. 

   Mental health conditions such as Depression, Anxiety, Bipolar Disorder etc. are often degraded and pushed aside as people just "going through a phase". This is morally and factually wrong as Mental Health disorders are an illness that can strike anyone at any point in their life. So why are people so blind to this and why do they proceed to tell people to "just to get over it"? If someone is suffering with a physical illness then people would be sympathetic and would do everything they can to help/support the person suffering with it. So why is there this difference between how people react and treat people with physical illnesses compared to people with mental illnesses?

   The main reason behind this difference of behaviour is because of how the Media treats and portrays people with Mental Illnesses. The Media is very influential over how the public (especially the young generation) views certain topics/situations. For a lot of the public, they will listen and believe what the Media says almost instantly without a question of thought. This, therefore means that many of the general public's opinions/beliefs are often clouded and wrong and without fact. Sadly, this is a big problem for the topic of Mental Health. Which results in many people/Media demoting Mental Health Illnesses without any actual knowledge of the situation. 

   Magazines/Newspapers are the worst types of Media for demoting Mental Health Illnesses.With Magazines/Newspapers being heavily invested in celebrities life and often writing big opinionated pieces on them. This means that if they find out that a celebrity has a certain Mental Health Illness then they sink their teeth into the story and proceed to write a big article full of opinions on why they think that the celebrity "finally lost it". This is immoral. This is not a professional view on the situation like a journalist should have instead this is someone taking advantage of someone's Mental Health in a way to make an "entertaining story."

   On the other side of the scale, there is Social Media. Sites such as Tumblr are known for having blogs/posts which seem to glamorise and beautify Mental Illnesses and Self-Harm. Tumblr is a blogging website which has the main audience demographic of young adults. The problem with this site having such a big amount of their users being young adults is the fact that at that age many teenagers have a lot of stress in their life eg. School/Exams/Home Problems/Relationships/Growing Up. For many of them, they will feel alone and like no one understands them. So when they go on to a website like Tumblr and see that they are not alone and that many of the other users are going through the same problems they form a type of community. This sounds like a generally okay thing, but it is not. If one of the teenagers in the community has been diagnosed (either by themselves or by a doctor) with depression then many of the users can look at them and see the similarities between what they're experiencing and what the user with depression is experiencing. This can result in many of the users then self-diagnosing themselves with depression. This is a severe situation. Even if the user did not have depression before this occurred the belief that they have can actually lead to them becoming depressed for real. This, however, is sadly just the peak of the iceberg. With many of the users on Tumblr now feeling depressed, it can lead them to post about their "depression" and the methods they use to help cope with it. Self-harm is sadly one of these. These posts, however, do not show the truth of depression and self-harm instead many of them highly glamorise and romanticise it to make depression/self-harm into a fairy tale about a troubled person who just needs saving and that suicide is a beautiful way of escape for a lost soul.

Glamorised Tumblr post about Suicide

   These glamorised posts can misguide other users to believe that depression is poetic in a way. Sadly, this abnormal view of depression can entice many other young users into the same cycle.

   So these are the wrong ways Media portrays Mental Health Illnesses. What is the truth behind Mental Health Problems you ask? Let's take a look.

   Clinical Depression is a severe Mental Health Illness that affects 121 Million People worldwide. Contrary to popular belief it is more complicated than people just feeling unhappy. Depression and it's symptoms can affect people in many different ways. It is generally summarised by medical professionals as a persistent feeling of sadness that is so severe that it disrupts your daily life. Many people who have depression describe it as a never ending feeling of hopelessness that makes daily tasks seem pointless. This feeling of everything being pointless means that for people with Depression it is a 100x harder for them to get out of bed in the morning than us (and we all know how hard it is get out of bed even on good days). A lot of people with Depression also find themselves more irritable and temperamental and this can result in many of their relationships with people breaking down.

   Getting better from Depression to many is an impossible task. It's like climbing a mountain without any specialised equipment to help whilst being dragged down by a 10-tonne weight. Eating Healthily and Exercise are meant to help, but when you're depressed you have no energy to exercise and junk food is one of their only comforts. The main way to start the road to recovery is to get medical help whether it be by counselling or by medication, but to many people with depression, this is the hardest step in their whole journey. Telling someone about how they're feeling is a nearly impossible task. They feel like they're going to be judged or they're going to be told to "just get over it" and most of all to tell someone what they're going through means they have to admit it to themselves and this is what many people struggle with.

   This is the daily struggle of many people dealing with depression and for many people who have other mental health illnesses. They go through a hard and difficult time and it doesn't help them that the media produces wrong images about the illnesses they suffer from. There are several organisations around the world who are trying to spread the true image of mental health illnesses. If you want to help spread awareness for mental health illnesses then make sure to visit their websites:

http://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/

http://www.time-to-change.org.uk/

http://www.who.int/mental_health/en/

                                         One of World Health Organisation's videos to help
                                           spread the awareness of mental health illnesses.


   

Sherlock Series 3 Review

   Nearly two years since series two finished, series three of Sherlock returned with it's biggest critical acclaim yet. In this article I will be reviewing all three episodes and summarising my opinions on the series.

John Watson (Martin Freeman) and Sherlock (Benedict Cumberbatch)

   Series 3 started with a bang. Episode 1 jumped in (literally) with the first of two (maybe 3) fake scenarios of how Sherlock Survived the fall. It kept the audience on edge throughout keeping their eyes peeled and watching every move intently to try and keep up with the quick pace of the scene. However, it was soon revealed that this scenario was in fact a fake and was devised by Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss (the writers) after they saw the explosion of fan's theories on the Internet to how Sherlock survived. 

   This theme of Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss providing scenes which would count as 'fan service' occurs a lot during this episodes and in my opinion gave us some of the best scenes. For example in the second fake scenario there is a near kiss between Moriarty and Sherlock to whom which many of the fans want to be together.

Moriarty (Andrew Scott) and Sherlock (Benedict Cumberbatch) Near Kiss scene

   Another example of 'fan service' would be the long awaited reunion of John and Sherlock. The scene was exactly as fans wanted and speculated it to be and maybe even funnier. With Benedict Cumberbatch reaching the height of his acting skills by bringing a comedic side to the generally stoic character of Sherlock by posing as a french waiter serving John and indirectly spoiling John's plans to propose to his partner Mary. John however did not let Sherlock back in with open arms like he expected, but instead in several small scenes afterwards John comically punches Sherlock every time Sherlock tries to explain himself.

   The relationship of John and Sherlock however developed and reached a new peak and was probably one of the best parts of the series in a whole. With scenes such as Sherlock saving John from the bonfire and Sherlock's reaction to being asked to be the best man to John's wedding showing us a heartwarming insight to how much they do care for each other.  The best example of this would definitely be the loved best man speech at the wedding. With Sherlock starting with what sounds like a obnoxious speech and then turning around to a sentimental speech that showed a different side to Sherlock and made us all fall more in love with him. 

   This series also introduced us to new characters as well as showing us new sides to old ones. John's partner Mary (played by Martin Freeman's real life partner Amanda Abbington) is introduced in this series. Instead of Mary holding John back from going on cases with Sherlock (like many people believed would happen) we find her pushing John and Sherlock to spend more time together which made us all instantly fall in love with the character. However, her character played a dark twist in the story and managed to shock the audience by shooting Sherlock. Like many of the characters in this show she had a dark and secret past which was later found out and in someway it maked us forgive her for what she had done. 

   

   Another new character in the series was Charles Augustus Magnussen (played by Lars Mikkelson) who was the main villain in the finale episode and "the one man Sherlock Holmes truly hates."

With documents of everyone's "pressure points" stored in his mind palace he was by far the scariest villain yet in Sherlock and succeeded in making my skin crawl.

   

   Talking about villains i come to my main problem about this series. In my opinion with episode 1 and 2 there were no big solid cases for Sherlock and John to solve and in turn there were no major villains. Yes these episodes may have took a different route with more comedy and being more of character development episodes, but i do feel that they lacked what we all have come to love about Sherlock which is Sherlock and John racing to solve a big crime and trying to stop the villain's plans. 

   However, this may be resolved next series because of the shock return of Moriarty in the cliffhanger of the last episode. Hopefully this means we shall see the return of a major villain creating many cases for Sherlock and John to solve in series 4.

   In conclusion I think this series of Sherlock reached a new high and was at it's all time best. With golden nuggets put in especially to please fans and being the most comedic series yet! In all I give this series 4 stars out of 5.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

                          

                                                             BBC Sherlock Series 3 Trailer