It’s here! The trailer for The Scorch Trials, sequel to last year’s action-packed The Maze Runner starring Dylan O’Brien of Teen Wolf fame. It came out last week so maybe you’ve seen it already, but you can watch it below for a second or third (or seventh…) time!
In case you want to catch up on how the book went down, you can reserve any of the books by clicking on their covers below:
Or reserve the Maze Runner film here!
Remember that post where I mentioned this movie was A Thing but the trailer wasn’t out yet? Well, the trailer is here! Check it out below:
We think it’s going to be fantastic! Plus, the film’s screenwriter was the book’s author Jesse Andrews, so we can be pretty certain it has the author’s seal of approval. If you would like to read (or re-read) the book, go ahead and reserve it from the link below before the queue gets too long! We reckon this one’s going to be a hit.
Me and Earl and the dying girl : a novel / Jesse Andrews.
“Greg Gaines, 17, would be the first to tell you that his constant dickhead behavior makes him the least likely person to befriend a classmate dying of leukemia. But he is pushed into it by his mother and, well, the result is this horrifyingly inane, unstoppable barf-fest of a book. Greg prefers to keep a low profile at school, instead collaborating with his almost-gangsta pal, Earl, on terrible remakes of classic films: Apocalypse Later with Super Soakers, The Manchurian Cat-idate with cats. But his knack for cracking jokes keeps the dying girl, Rachel, smiling, and pretty soon the whole school thinks he is some kind of hero. He is even pushed into making a final opus: Rachel the Film, aka the worst film ever made.” (Booklist)
It’s almost a Trailer Tuesday post, because I’m here to tell you about a movie, but it’s only “almost” because there actually isn’t a trailer yet. Oops. But that’s because this news is as fresh as can be!
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews was recently made into a movie – had you heard? I hadn’t, until I heard it won two of the biggest prizes at this year’s Sundance festival! It won both the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award in the Dramatic category it was entered in. Pretty impressive! The last movie to win both these awards was Whiplash, and that movie had 5 Oscar nominations!
It might not be out for a while, considering there’s not even a teaser trailer available, but in the meantime you can reserve the book or search for cast interviews on Youtube.
We haven’t done a Trailer Tuesday in a while! So let’s get right down to it with space battles, some dystopias and a tearjerker.
First: Guardians of the Galaxy. It’s out already so you can go see it any time you like! It’s the newest installment in the Marvel universe and we get introduced to a whole gang of new characters we’ve never seen before. And it’s in space! With awesome ships, battles and creatures. If you watched to the end of the credits of Thor: The Dark World (which is something you should know to do if you’re a Marvel movie fan!) you may recognise The Collector in GotG. This movie is a lot of fun, but you definitely don’t need to be a Marvel fan to enjoy it. If you read the comics though (which we have in our collection!) there are plenty of insider goodies for you to spot in this film too.
Following on from the President-Snow-addressing-the-Capitol teasers, the new teaser trailer for Mockingjay Part 1 has been released! It features Katniss leading the rebels against the Capitol, and I expect a lot of tears to be shed watching this movie. If you’d like to refresh your memory of what happened in this book, you can reserve it here. Mockingjay Part 1 will be released on November 20th 2014. See you at the premiere!
Next up is the newest trailer for The Maze Runner starring Dylan O’Brien who you may recognise from Teen Wolf. It follows Thomas, who wakes up in a glade surrounded by a colossal maze. He has no memories of his previous life or how he got to the glade except for his own name. Each day boys from the glade venture into the maze to try and find an escape, but the gates close every night to keep the horrific Grievers at bay. If the maze “runners” aren’t back by the time the gates close at night, well, “no one survives a night in the maze”. Thomas joins the runners, determined to find an escape from the maze, but is he ready for the truth? This one looks like it is going to be epic on the big screen and I can’t wait to see it! Check out the trailer below and read the book while you’re waiting for the movie, if you haven’t already.
And finally is If I Stay, an adaptation of the book of the same name by Gayle Forman. Mia is a talented seventeen-year-old cellist with family, friends and a boyfriend. But a car crash sends Mia into a coma, and she has a sort of out-of-body experience observing the lives of those she loves. Mia has to decide whether she should stay, or go forever. Check out the book here and keep the tissues handy!
The Wellington NZIFF programme launched a couple of weeks ago and there are so many to choose from – nearly 150 films are in the programme so it is absolutely chocka. Having given it some thought, I’ve picked out some I think will be hits! Check out my list and let me know what you’re excited for in the comments!
The Young and Prodigious T.S. Spivet (3D)
From the director of Amelie comes a tale of a prodigious young inventor of completely zany and fascinating products. His perpetual motion machine comes to the attention of the Smithsonian institute and they invite T.S. to Washington, unaware he is just 10 years old. Determined to respond to the invitation, T.S. sets out alone one night on a cross-country adventure to collect his reward for his brilliance.
The Tale of the Princess Kaguya
The newest film from Studio Ghibli (The Wind Rises) and eight years in the making, Princess Kaguya is a retelling of a traditional Japanese folk tale. A humble bamboo-cutter stumbles upon a tiny princess-like doll hidden in a bamboo shoot. He takes it home, and he and his wife are shocked when the doll turns into a wailing baby. When gifts of gold and silks continue to appear, the bamboo-cutter and his wife decide to abandon their humble lifestyle to raise the girl as a proper princess.
We Are The Best!
We Are The Best! is the story of 3 young misfits growing up in Stockholm, Sweden in the 1980s. Klara and Bobo are 13-year-old rebels looking for a cause. Despite having no particular musical talents, they channel their efforts into forming an all-girl punk band and enlist their shy, guitar-playing classmate Hedvig to join them. The story is based on a graphic novel by the director’s wife Coco Moodysson and fully embodies the DIY spirit of the punk movement.
Patema Inverted
Another exciting anime film, Patema Inverted is the story of young and inquisitive Patema who lives in a post-disaster underground world. While exploring one day she falls into a deep pit, but mysteriously finds herself falling upward to the Earth’s surface. However it is an upside-down surface – surface dwellers live by the opposite gravity to Patema. She is helped by a surface boy called Age, who explains that in his world “inverted” people like Patema are considered unholy sinners and she soon finds herself being pursued by secret police. Together Age and Patema must uncover the dark conspiracy lurking behind their inverted worlds.
Particle Fever
This is a documentary about the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland and the first proton-smashing experiments conducted there. It also follows closely the thrilling search for the Higgs boson, the particle that gives mass to other particles. It is a fascinating insight into the world of physics and discovering our own universe and looks to be extremely exciting!
The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness
This documentary follows Hayao Miyazaki and visits Studio Ghibli, which in itself looks like a Miyazaki movie. Miyazaki is working on his allegedly final film The Wind Rises, working by hand in a cluttered workspace filled with old technologies. Meanwhile, Ghibli’s other maestro Takahata Isao is working on Princess Kaguya (see above) across town in a completely different working environment. Ghibli producer and co-founder Suzuki Toshio shuttles between the two, managing their differing approaches with love and appreciation for the different challenges each film faces.
The wait is nearly over!! The Fault In Our Stars movie comes out on Thursday! That’s just TWO DAYS away! And we even get it before the USA does. Time differences rule sometimes. I’ve collected together some TFIOS facts for all you excited people out there across the interwebs – have you got anything interesting to add to this list?
1. John Green was trying to get an international release date for TFIOS so that all his fans would be able to see it at the same time. It kind of worked – NZ, Australia and the Netherlands are the first to be able to see it on June 5th, it comes out in the USA on June 6th and the UK gets in on June 19th. Amazingly we are one of the first to see it instead of having to wait a few months after the USA release!
2. The TFIOS trailer had over 3 million views on it just 24 hours after it was released.
3. Shailene Woodley (Hazel) and Ansel Elgort (Gus) already appeared in the Divergent movie together earlier this year, and in it they played siblings. Hmm.
4. TFIOS is the 4th solo novel by John Green.
5. John and his brother Hank run a Youtube channel called vlogbrothers where they upload videos three times a week.
6. John Green took the time to cast all the character of TFIOS as US presidents.
And just in case you forgot, here’s the trailer again:
Aaaaaand the special extended trailer as well:
So who’s coming to the see it with me on Thursday? Or do I have to go and bawl my eyes out in the cinema alone? Let us know your thoughts on the movie down in the comments!
I LOVE Shailene Woodley. I think she’s a fantastic actress and has a great career ahead of her! She was great in The Descendants alongside legendary George Clooney, and she did a fantastic job in The Spectacular Now which screened at the Wellington leg of the NZ International Film Festival in August last year. We have the book of The Spectacular Now if you’re interested, and here is the trailer for the film:
No word on the DVD release date, but late February to March is rumoured. Stay tuned!
Shailene is a popular leading lady, playing Tris and Hazel in the upcoming Divergent and The Fault In Our Stars movies. Phew! Here are the latest trailers for each of those – first, Divergent (which we are super excited about!)
And The Fault In Our Stars – this one will definitely be a tear jerker. You may have seen we already posted this to our Facebook page, but if you didn’t know that – we have a Facebook page! Check it out for library updates and other cool book- and movie-related links.
What are you looking forward to most?
Happy past Christmas and happy future new year! Here are some movies to get you through the silly season.
Frozen
The new movie from Pixar Disney (NOT from the Pixar subsidiary), Frozen follows fearless optimist Anna as she teams up with Kristoff in order to find her sister, Elsa. Elsa’s icy powers have trapped the kingdom in eternal winter, and Anna must stop it. Along the way she encounters Everest-like conditions and a comical snowman named Olaf.
The Book Thief
Based on the fantastic book of the same name, The Book Thief follows young Liesl. Told through the eyes of Death, Liesl’s story takes place in wartorn Germany. Liesl is constantly trying to satiate her hunger for books and more books, while keeping safe those that she loves.
The action one:
The historical one:
The literary one:
(which is based on Lloyd Jones’ fantastic book)
The funny one:
The big-budget-action-Hollywood-edition.
The lovely Logan Lerman returns for round two in Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters
The equally lovely Hugh Jackman returns as The Wolverine
We’re sure you’ve seen this one, but if you haven’t, here’s the trailer for the next Hobbit film
Bonus Round! It’s not a trailer, but a behind-the-scenes look at the big screen adaption of Divergent:
The film festival has just started! This is super exciting to us, especially for Rachel who works it every year. Bonus points to you if you spot her while at a screening. You can pick up a brochure from any of your local libraries to see the enormous scope of what’s on. OR you can take our word for it and just pay attention to our picks…
New Zealand’s own Romeo and Juliet: A Love Song, directed by Tim van Dammen
This is the story you know transposed to the beachside Verona Campground not so very far from Auckland. It started as a soundtrack, with Shakespeare’s text being set to 21st-century Kiwi trailer trash pop. Yes it does need to be seen to be believed. Christopher Landon and Derya Parlak as Romeo and Juliet clearly belong together; they’re just so much prettier than anyone else. Their clashing clans are decked out in richly imagined array of riotous summery tackiness and perform with gusto.
The Selfish Giant, directed by Clio Barnard
This contemporary fable about the friendship of two 13-year-old boys of strikingly different temperaments falling under the influence of a scrap metal dealer who runs gypsy horse races on the side is partially modeled on Oscar Wilde’s story of the same name. Exciting, tough and superbly acted by a mix of non-professional and recognisable character actors, this is a bracing dispatch from the bottom of the heap.
Wadjda, directed and written by Haifaa Al Mansour
Set in Riyadh, Wadjda is not only the first full-length film to be entirely shot in Saudi Arabia, but it is also the first feature to be directed anywhere by a Saudi woman. In a country where women are not allowed to vote or drive, and cinema itself is banned, it’s already a surprising achievement. The film is as smart and funny as its young heroine, scoring its satiric points with a light hand, while never leaving us in any doubt that public life for a Saudi woman is seriously limited. If you see nothing else, see this. Super bonus points if you spot us both at screenings.
The Spectacular Now, directed by James Ponsoldt
This Sundance hit is a blessedly unaffected high school romance enacted with lovely directness by a superb duo of young performers. Miles Teller stars as a popular, all-round likeable boy whose easy-going charm may be more dependent on the hip flask in his pocket than he or anyone else realises. When his girlfriend tires of the good times, an unlikely new romance dawns with a much more introspective and conservative girl played brilliantly by Shailene Woodley.
The Bling Ring, directed by Sofia Coppola
Between 2008 and 2009 a gang of high-schoolers, who became known by the media as The Bling Ring, stole more than $3m in clothes, cash, jewellery and art from the homes of Paris Hilton (who makes a brief appearance), Orlando Bloom, Lindsay Lohan and more. Using gossip sites like TMZ, they calculated when their victims would be out of town and googled their addresses. Easy as. Hilton was even so kind as to leave a key under her doormat. Not exactly criminal masterminds, The Bling Ring took selfies of themselves in designer swag and brazenly posted them on Facebook…
… we could go on for quite some time. You should definitely check out the brochure!
You (well a couple of you) asked for the return of Trailer Tuesday so here we go! For your viewing pleasure we bring you two very different films:
From the AH-mazing Sofia Coppola, The Bling Ring
Annnd, for a follow up to the hilarious first instalment, Despicable Me 2
Speaking of requests to us, have you seen our updated procrastination enabling page?
Well look, some trailers. I haven’t been able to find too many new ones lately, regardless of how many hours I spend watching Youtube.
Jack The Giant Killer is based on Jack and the Giant Beanstalk, which, if you don’t remember, is about Jack, giants, and beanstalks. Also Nicholas Hoult is in it, so the film automatically gets 5 stars. Thanks.
G. I. Joe : Retaliation is the second G. I. Joe film. Do you remember the first film? All I can recall is how bad it was. So I guess a second film is, in its way, retaliation, for giving viewers it (and Dragonball : Evolution) the benefit of the doubt and hoping for at least a few hours of mindlessly enjoyable action. Anyway, here’s the trailer.
Men in Black 3. Part two was released nine years ago, which is a long time in movie franchise years.
Here’s a trailer for an ebook download! It’s the Yellow Submarine (by popular British band, The Beatles) and it is interactive. Our first interactive ebook trailer – truly a milestone! MERRY XMAS!
LATE ADDITION: Wrath of the Titans (i.e. the sequel to Clash of the Titans) has a trailer. Watch it here! Also Dark Knight Rises has a trailer you can watch here, if you are into Batman (and you are).
Hey you guys, this is an exciting Trailer Tuesday! Sure, the other ones are exciting too (I would be the first to admit) but this is a bit more exciting. For at long last there is a proper trailer out for the teen coming-of-age adventure/dystopian nightmare horror, The Hunger Games. It really looks exactly how I (and therefore probably you) imagined it. Watch it below:
What do you think? Pretty spot-on, or a miss? Team Peeta or Team Gale (GALE). Woody Harrelson’s wig?
Snow White and the Hunstman is coming soon. Kristen Stewart is Snow White and Charlize Theron chews through the scenery as the evil queen, who hires Thor to hunt down Bella. Not sure about the dwarf situation! Unfortunately this is one trailer I can not embed, so please view it here.
Thanks.
Journey 2 : The Mysterious Island is the sequel to Journey to the Centre of the Earth (both are based on Jules Verne books). It has Peeta in it, along with Dwayne Johnson and bees! Giant bees!
AND FINALLY. This.
T H E E N D
Tuesday trailers! Like Hollywood but at home via your public library. And only for a few minutes.
Firstly here is some good (?) news – Fraggle Rock is to be turned into a movie! “Get your cares away!” “The trashheap has spoken!” That’s what you will be saying in a few years, probably.
A new trailer is out for for Mission : Impossible – Ghost Protocol, which seems to have action oozing from every pore.
The Lorax is a film based on the Dr. Suess book (for children, obviously). Until we saw the trailer we didn’t have much hope for this film here at Teen Blog Laboratories, but it actually seems very funny! And nice to look at. And that’s what you want in a film.
Here’s a new featurette for the Twilight Saga : Breaking Dawn. Talking about the wedding or something?
And finally ParaNorman, about a boy who sees dead things? I am not sure what is going on! It is a teaser trailer.
-~~ T H E E N D ~~-
Tuesday already? Man, it feels like the last Trailer Tuesday was only yesterday.
The first trailer is for a game that you either don’t care about or are champing at the bit to play. Starcraft II: Heart of the Swarm is the game! It is massively popular. Playing the first Starcraft competitively is a major sport in South Korea, interestingly. ~0Oo~ The More You Know ~oOo~
This game won’t be out until next year sometime.
Here’s a trailer for a film called Chronicle, due out early next year. It looks great! Sort of like Akira, I thought, although a lot of others say it’s like Misfits. I say both!
The trailer now has like 4.5 million views – when I saw it on the weekend it had only a few hundred, so it seems interest is running high. I can not wait to see it!
Don’t forget to watch the second trailer for The Adventures of Tintin. Watch it here in HD and be BLOWN AWAY. Even though it’s not out until just before Christmas here, it has already earnt some very good reviews.
Aaaand did you know that early next year Star Wars 1 : The Phantom Menace is to be re-released early next year in 3D? Each film in the series will be released annually thereafter, in 3D. Not sure if they will be re-edited (maybe get rid of Jar-Jar, or that weird robot waitress in that cafe in the third one, do you remember that? Eeesh) but probably.
~ Le Fin ~
Time for Trailer Tuesday, an occasional regular feature. “One day you’re in, and the next day you’re out” – Heidi Klum.
The first trailer for The Avengers (the superhero group consisting of Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, and a few others without their own movies sadly but may have had bit parts in other films, who can remember, frankly?) is out. It is directed by Joss Whedon, who came up with Buffy. So it might be good! But he’s also responsible for The Dollhouse, so it might not be that good! (Sorry, Joss). Anyway, here it is.
Here’s the new video for Beyonce’s latest, Love on Top. Not a trailer, but who makes the rules? ME
A new trailer for the forthcoming Muppet film can be viewed here (along with all the others). It (the film, not the trailer) contains ‘mild rude humor,’ so you might want to be discrete.
War Horse, a Steven Spielberg film based on a Michael Morpurgo book, has a pretty epic trailer. At last; a film that will delight people who like horsies as well as fans of war films.
~ The END ~
There’s a new Tintin trailer out and it looks sooo action packed and exciting! Watch the first (more subdued) one here.
This blog is mostly about items in the “Young Adult” area of the library and the trailer below is about a movie called “Young Adult”, just ideal really.
Fans of either dance movies and exploding buses should be entertained by the new Footloose movie. Yes, a bus explodes.
See you next time at the movies!
Jane Eyre is on at the movies at the moment (good news!). So we thought we would spotlight another classic 19th Century adaptation, this time Wuthering Heights:
This one is directed by Andrea Arnold (notice she likes a square screen), and stars Kaya Scodelario who was in Skins. There have been lots of adaptations of Wuthering Heights, there’s a couple in the young adult collection here.
On a completely different subject, we have: whales. More to the point, whales caught under Arctic ice (true story):
And finally, because it’s topical (or it was a few weeks ago) and also polar, here’s Happy Feet 2!
The International Film Festival is starting this week, and there are some really good films screening. They are all good! Sure! But some might be better than others. Some are rated 16+ or 18+, so might be out of your league. But the tickets are pretty reasonably priced for students/under 15s, so you have no excuse really.
Troll Hunter is a Norwegian mockumentary that I am particularly looking forward to. The trailer (below!) is great.
Space Battleship Yamato! The title says it all. Space! Battleship! Yamato! Here’s the official website. And here is the trailer. Or maybe several trailers together. It looks epic – if you don’t want to see it then I don’t know what to tell you.
Another Japanese film worth watching is Studio Ghibli’s latest, Arrietty. Trailer! Go!
There are heaps more. Browse the website!
* T H E E N D *
