Mundie Moms

Saturday, March 17, 2012

The Latest TMI MOVIE NEWS!!!


There's been a lot of exciting TMI movie news posted through out the week. Here's the low down on the exciting news posted by Cassie, Hollywood Crush and Constantin Films about when filming will start, who will direct it and YES both Lily and Jamie are still attached to the movie.

Yesterday Cassie posted on Tumblr that:

Deadline announces the new director for The Mortal Instruments, and, for those who were worrying that Lily Collins was picking up too many new roles to manage Clary, she is locked down for the August 15th shooting date I mentioned earlier. “Principal photography is expected to begin August 15th in Toronto.” *

I don’t have a release date — two different release dates were mentioned to me when I was in LA, but I don’t know which will eventually be final: it depends on which distributor Constantin goes with. Release date is the last piece of info you get before a green light — it means a studio has literally blocked a time for your film. It is legit exciting news when it happens, so keep your fingers crossed.

[Jamie’s not mentioned in the article, but he’s still attached to the project — it’s just an article about Lily and Harald, and now that all the i’s and t’s are crossed and dotted with Lily they’re probably doing the same with Jamie in terms of blocking his time. My speculation there, though.]

*They’re filming in New York too.


Here's part of Deadline's announcement:

(Los Angeles, CA) March 16, 2012 – Putting to rest weeks of rampant speculation about director and cast, Constantin Film and Unique Features announced today that Harald Zwart will direct actress Lily Collins in the hotly anticipated film adaptation of Cassandra Clare’s #1 best-selling book series “The Mortal Instruments.”

And...

Principal photography is expected to begin August 15 in Toronto. Harald Zwart, whose recent film The Karate Kid grossed over $350 million worldwide, will direct from a screenplay by Jessica Postigo and I. Marlene King, with Robert Kulzer producing for Constantin Film and Bob Shaye and Michael Lynne producing for Unique Features. Martin Moszkowicz, Constantin Film’s head of Film & TV, is executive producing.

Don't miss Cassie's exciting interview with Hollywood Crush regarding the movie and the new director. Cassie had this to say about Harald:

“Harald is awesome,” Cassie told Hollywood Crush via email. “I flew to Los Angeles to meet with him and with [producer] Robert Kulzer and [screenwriter] Jessica Postigo. Harald has more energy than anyone I have ever met. He wound up not being able to join us till about 10 at night ‘because of Vikings’ (I think this was a commercial he was filming), but when he did show up he had every single question in the world about the story and the characters. We spent an hour talking about Portals and another hour on Valentine (he is a huge fan of Valentine—maybe I should worry).

“He was an interesting unexpected choice for director to me, and initially I was worried because I kept asking, ‘Does he understand fantasy?’ but talking to him really evened out those concerns. He got the magic, and he got the characters. There was even a moment where he was talking about Magnus and he said, ‘And then Magnus meets this woman…’ and Robert, Jessica and I all said : ‘Boy.’ And he said, ‘What?’ And we said ‘Boy. Magnus is gay.’ And he stared like we were crazy and said, ‘I KNOW. I was only going to say he met this woman and she hired him to help him with her daughter! Of course Magnus is gay.’ And he waved his arms and yelled ‘Magnus is fabulous!’ So I thought, ‘I like you.’”

On casting:

“We talked about actors for Jocelyn and Valentine and the other adults,” she revealed. “I can’t really say who was discussed; I am sure they would shoot me. But I did love the suggestions. And we talked about Simon. Everybody loves Lily Collins, and she has what’s called ‘meaningful consultation’ regarding the casting of Jace and Simon. She already used it to advocate for Jamie Campbell Bower, who everyone agreed she had an amazing audition with. There is an actor she likes for Simon that a lot of my fans love, and I can’t say who, though I do think his schedule might be a bit booked! There are other actors we discussed too, some really adorable guys. Lily has good taste, I think! It’s fun stuff sitting around tossing around all these actors’ names, but of course in the end it comes down to who is available when and how they test with Lily, especially with the shoot date coming up.”

On being apart of the process:

“It was a great meeting to have—I have always entirely expected to be completely left out of the film-making process, so it’s been amazing to be included,” she enthused. “I said that during dinner and the producer turned to me and said, ‘I gave up my tickets to “The Hunger Games” premiere to be here! That’s how important this is.’ I was like: holy crap. That IS a big deal!”

According to TMI Source, Constantin Films had this to say:

A film of “Mortal Instruments” is currently in development. The producers of the the film adaptation of “The Mortal Instruments” are expecting to make a big announcement about the project in coming weeks. One of the producers, Robert Kulzer from Constantin Film, did express his enthusiasm about his collaboration on the film project with Cassandra Clare: “Everyone working on the film is really excited to be in business with Cassandra Clare, one of the most brilliant, prolific and successful authors of our time. And we congratulate Cassandra on her new book series.”

This news is SO EXCITING! I feel like shouting FINALLY!! Wanting to see the green light on this movie for a few years now has taught me a lot of patience. HAHA. So, it looks like I need to plan my trip to NYC for August :)

Cassie's Headed to Germany!


German fans, Cassie is on her way to you! You can catch here at the following places over the next couple of weeks:

MARCH 2012: TOUR OF GERMANY

March 18th 2012 Leipzig Book Fair 1:00pm-1:30pm AusbildBar, Halle 5, Stand C503

Reading and Book Signing 3:00 - 3:30 Lese-Treff, Halle 2, Stand C309 / D306

March 19, 2012 Fan Meeting in Berlin (Hmm..I don’t seem to have any details about this…)

March 20, 2012 BERLIN Bürgerhaus Falkensee Time: 5:30pm Feuerbachstr. 23 14612 Falkensee

March 21, 2012 Kinder & Jugendliteraturfestival Braunschweig Time: 7:00pm Stadtbibliothek Braunschweig Schlossplatz 2 38100 Braunschweig Tel: 0531-4706891

March 22, 2012 Hugendubel Würzburg Time: 4:00pm Kürschnerhof 4 97070 Würzburg Tel: 0931-30433642

March 23, 2012 Thalia Gießen, Time: 7:30pm Seltersweg 54 35390 Gießen Tel: 0641-984400 Ansprechpartner: Esther Lotz (0162-9864151)

March 24, 2012 Lit Cologne Time: 4:00pm MS RheinEnergie/Literaturschiff Frankenwerft, KD-Anleger 50667 Köln


Cassie also mentioned that while she's there, she's going to meet with Constantin Films, the TMI movie producers, whom are based in Germany. We'll be crossing our fingers hoping she can bring back some more exciting movie news!

Book Review: Pretty Crooked by Elisa Ludwig


Released on: March 13th, 2012
Source: ARC from publisher to review
3 stars: It's A Good Read
Purchase from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound

Willa’s secret plan seems all too simple: take from the rich kids at Valley Prep and give to the poor ones.

Yet Willa’s turn as Robin Hood at her ultra-exclusive high school is anything but. Bilking her “friends”-known to everyone as the Glitterati-without them suspecting a thing, is far from easy. Learning how to pick pockets and break into lockers is as difficult as she’d thought it’d be. Delivering care packages to the scholarship girls, who are ostracized just for being from the “wrong” side of town, is way more fun than she’d expected.

The complication Willa didn’t expect, though, is Aidan Murphy, Valley Prep’s most notorious (and gorgeous) ace-degenerate. His mere existence is distracting Willa from what matters most to her-evening the social playing field between the have and have-nots. There’s no time for crushes and flirting with boys, especially conceited and obnoxious trust-funders like Aidan.

But when the cops start investigating the string of burglaries at Valley Prep and the Glitterati begin to seek revenge, could he wind up being the person that Willa trusts most? -quoted from Goodreads

Pretty Crooked starts off as a fun, entertaining read with a modern day Robin Hood twist. It follows the story of a teenager named Willa who's moved around often with her single mom, a painter. With a new town, a new school and new friends to make, Willa finds herself in the middle of fitting in with the "right" crowd, falling in love and giving to those who can't afford the nicer things her new so called friends can. As this story progresses, I liked that author Elisa Ludwig includes some tough, but realistic issues like bullying, fitting in, loyalty, and staying true to yourself in her story.

Willa for me was a fun character to get to know, and I found that some of the things she does and struggles with were relatable to some degree. She's a character who struggles with wanting to fit in. When she moves to the Phoenix, AZ's prestigious Paradise Valley, she's suddenly immersed into a place of wealth and privilege, something she's not always had. It would take a strong character to not want to try to fit into a place like this at first. When Willa makes new friends she finds it hard not to want to go with them on expensive shopping trips to get the latest trends, join in on making fun of those who aren't wearing brand name clothes and stick with the elite group of who's who's at her new prep school. These new friends aren't just full of themselves, and money, they also delight in bullying, taunting those who are in their social structure and spreading vicious rumors about them.

I liked that once Willa realizes just how selfish and cruel some of the characters are to those who aren't as well off as them, she wants to do something about it. Though I got frustrated that she nor anyone else ever really took a big stand on bullying in this book like I had excepted, I did like that Willa listened to her conscience and ended up seeing the girls for what they really were. What the story lacked for me was Willa becoming like Robin Hood in the sense she does something good with what she steals. Don't get me wrong, her heart was in "the right" place so to speak, but I felt like Willa went about trying to handle or fix the situation the wrong way. I admire the fact Willa takes responsibility for what she does. For some reason they way she went about it all and the way it was handle didn't fit the flow for what I had excepted in a Robin Hood type story.

Setting wise, I felt it was perfect for the story. I've never traveled to Phoenix (except for the a stop at the airport which doesn't really count), so I don't know how accurate the descriptions of this area are, but for me I felt like Elisa Ludwig did an awesome job at bringing to life her setting. Everything in this area is flashy, shiny and top of the line. From the sports cars, to huge mansions, trendy clothes and the way some of the characters acted, were the perfect back drop for this modern day Robin Hood story. The other thing I enjoy was the romance!

The romance between Will and Adrian was fabulous, as it was one that was built up slowly through the out course of the entire book. It was nice not reading a story were the romance felt rushed and forced. The romance between Willa and Adrian was indecisive through out much of the story, and I liked that. Willa had to learn to trust him and figure out what his true intentions are. I loved Adrian. He's a character who comes across as not caring what others think, he knows what he wants, and yet at the same time there's this air of mystery about him. The abrupt ending sure left me wanting more from him and Willa.

Over all this was a good read for me. I'm definitely looking forward to reading more of Elisa's books and with the way the story ended I'm curious to find out what will happen between Adrian and Willa in the next story. I also want to know more about Willa's mother. They went from being close to becoming secretive with each other, and by the end of the story they had a very damaged relationship. It's clear there's something else going on with her mom, and I'm very intrigued with what it could be. I'm left with a few too many unanswered question that I will definitely be picking up this sequel when it's out next year. If you're looking for a fun, fast paced read I'd recommend checking out Pretty Crooked.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!


Happy ST. Patrick's Day! Hopefully today will be a fabulous day for you all and will bring you a bit of luck ;)

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