Saturday, January 12, 2019

Capturing the Moment with These Memorable Bridesmaid Photo Ideas


Your wedding day is going to be a whirlwind of experiences and moments that you may struggle to remember. While you might assume that after months of planning, there is no way you would forget even a moment of your big day, the reality is that your wedding will be a busy, stressful, exciting, and emotional day that will go by in the blink of an eye. This is why we always recommend that couples invest in the best possible photographer they can afford.

 Your photographer will be able to capture moments that you may have missed or may have forgotten. They will be there to capture your groom’s eyes when he first sees you walk down the aisle, your friends laughing together over appetizers, and your parents smiling fondly at you as you have your first dance. They will also be there to capture some fun moments with you and your bridesmaids.

If you and your girls are prone to some fun with your photos, then here are some memorable bridesmaid photo ideas you can do with your bridesmaids:

Show everyone how you met

This is a great idea if many of your bridesmaids met you at different points in your life. Have them hold decorated mini blackboards that each say how you met and have them hold them around you.

Create a tunnel for the bride’s entrance

When you’re just about ready to walk down the aisle, have your bridesmaids line up and create a tunnel with their raised arms for you to walk through with your photographer at the other end. This sweet photo is playful and visually interesting.

Do a ‘first look’ shot

Friday, January 11, 2019

From Book to Film: Ashes in the Snow

*This is a sponsored post.



Arriving in selected theatres and VOD today from Vertical Entertainment is the WWII drama Ashes in the Snow, which is based on the New York Bestseller "Between Shades Of Gray" by Ruta Sepetys.

Directed by Marius Markevicius and adapted for the screen by Ben York Jones, the 99-minute film stars Bel Powley, Martin Wallstrom, and Lisa Loven Kongsli.

Set during World War II, Ashes in the Snow centers around a 16 year-old aspiring artist (played by Bel Powley) and her family, who are deported to Siberia amidst Stalin's brutal dismantling of the Baltic region. One girl's passion for art and her never-ending hope will break the silence of history.



Penguin Randomhouse has re-released the "Between Shades Of Gray" to tie-in with the film's release. The book has been retitled as "Ashes in the Snow" and has a brand-new cover design, which is very similar to the film's poster.

(FYI: I'll be reviewing the book soon!)

To learn more about the Ashes in the Snow, please visit Vertical Entertainment's Facebook page or the film's Facebook page.

Book Blogger Hop: January 11th - 17th





Instructions: Select all code above, copy it and paste it inside your blog post as HTML


Welcome to the Book Blogger Hop! 


If you want to schedule next week's post, click here to find the next prompt question. To submit a question, fill out this form.

The Book Blogger Hop now has its own Facebook Group! Please join the group to get all the newest Book Blogger Hop updates. Also, you can communicate with your fellow book bloggers in the group.

What To Do


1. Post on your blog answering this question:



This week's question is submitted by Elizabeth @ Silver's Reviews.


2. Enter the link to your post in the linky list below. Please enter your Name/Nickname @ Blog Name and the direct link to your post answering this week’s question. Here's an example: Billy @ Coffee Addicted Writer

3. Visit other blogs in the list and comment on their posts. Try to spend some time on the blogs reading a few posts and possible become a new follower. The purpose of the hop is to give bloggers a chance to follow other blogs, learn about new books, befriend other bloggers, and receive new followers to your own blog.

The Friday 56: Fire & Blood




Rules

Grab a book, any book.
Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader.
Find any sentence, (or few, just don't spoil it).
Post it.
 Add your (url) post below in the Linky at: www.fredasvoice.com
Add the post url, not your blog url.


With her dragon beside her, the princess slowly began to grow out of her shyness; at the age of twelve she took to the skies for the first time, and thereafter, though she remained a quiet girl, no one dared to call her timid.

page 56, Fire & Blood by George R.R. Martin


  My Thoughts

Thursday, January 10, 2019

Blu-ray Review: The Karate Kid III & The Next Karate Kid


Mill Creek Entertainment; AMAZON

I'm almost positive almost everyone has watched the 1984 classic The Karate Kid at least one time in their lifetime. It's an iconic underdog story that inspired many 80s kids to learn martial arts. And, of course, the film kicked off a franchise, which recently included the YouTube Red spinoff series Cobra Kai.

Now available on a Blu-ray from Mill Creek Entertainment is the The Karate Kid III & The Next Karate Kid ($14.98). There are no special features or bonus extras.

Directed by John G. Avildsen, The Karate Kid III (1989; PG; 112 minutes) picks up several months after the second film with Daniel LaRusso and Mr. Miyagi (played by Ralph Macchio and Noriyuki "Pat" Morita) returning to Los Angeles after their trip to Japan. Upon their return, they learn that Daniel's mother has moved to New Jersey to take care of her sick uncle and their apartment building is being torn down, leaving Mr. Miyagi jobless and Daniel homeless. Well, not exactly homeless, as he ends moving into Mr. Miyagi's home.

Mr. Miyagi isn't unemployed for too long. Daniel uses his college fund to open a bonsai shop with him. Unknowingly to them, disgraced Cobra Kai sensei John Kreese (played by Martin Kove) teams up with Vietnam War buddy, Terry Silver (played by Thomas Ian Griffith), to seek revenge against Daniel for winning the All-Valley Karate Championships. They hire Mike Barnes (played by Sean Kanan) to bully Daniel and to challenge him to a fight at the next tournament.

Directed by Christopher Cain, The Next Karate Kid (1994; PG; 107 minutes) centers on Julie (played by Hilary Swank), a troubled teenager living with her grandmother in Boston. After meeting Mr. Miyagi at a commendation for Japanese-American soldiers, he talks the grandmother into taking a vacation to Los Angeles and he would stay in Boston to look after Julie. Of course, Mr. Miyagi has another reason for wanting to babysit a teenager. He wants to teach Julie how to control her anger issues that she has had ever since the death of her parents.


Final Thoughts

Midnight Horror Review: Hell Fest


AMAZON

Yes, I'm well aware it's way past midnight, but since it has been a few weeks since I've reviewed a horror movie I thought I would go ahead and post this review as a Midnight Horror Review post; though technically I did watch a horror movie at around midnight.

The horror flick that I'd watched was the 2018 slasher Hell Fest, which just arrived on Blu-ray this week from Lionsgate Home Entertainment. It's also available on 4K Ulta HD, DVD, and Digital for those of you who need to know that bit of information. The only special feature is the 16-minute "Thrills and Kills: Making Hell Fest" and the Theatrical Trailer.

Directed by Gregory Plotkin, the film stars Amy Forsyth, Reign Edwards, Bex Taylor-Klaus, Matt Mercurio, Roby Attal, Stephen Conroy, and Tony Todd.

Hell Fest centers on a group of friends (Natalie, Brooke, Taylor, Asher, and Gavin) going to a horror-themed Halloween event at an amusement park, which is filled with games, mazes, and rides. This is the type of place were the workers (and probably a few volunteers) are dressed as zombies, ghosts, creatures, etc., anything that would scare someone to death. Everyone is having a blast except for Natalie, who believes a masked stranger "The Other" is stalking her.

Like all slashers go, one by one "The Other" preys on each teen in the group and he leaves a few other dead bodies in his path of destruction.

Amy Forsyth ("Natalie", left) and Reign Edwards ("Brooke", right) star in HELL FEST.
Bex Taylor-Klaus ("Taylor") stars in HELL FEST.


Final Thoughts

Tuesday, January 8, 2019

Winter Reads: The Sinner by Petra Hammesfahr


AMAZON
I very seldom seek out a novel unless I'm extremely interested in reading it, which happened to be the exact case with The Sinner by Petra Hammesfahr. It was first published in German as Die Sunderin in 1999 and was adapted into a limited series on USA that aired in 2017 starring Jessica Biel and Bill Pullman. I attempted to watch the series on Mediacom On Demand, but for some reason the cable company decided not to put up the final four episodes. I ended up buying the series on DVD around the same time I got the novel. Despite my eagerness to finish watching the series and then read the book, I never got around to doing either. I had forgotten about both until I stumbled upon season two's DVD last month, which I ended up buying. It seems the second season is an original story with Bill Pullman's detective character investigating another crime.

Anyways, I'd picked up the book, which was collecting dust on the coffee table, on Dec. 23rd. I had a few minutes to kill until Outlander started on STARZ, and I read a few pages with no real intent to actually reading it. I didn't open the book again until the end of last week and I finished reading it last night.

While I had only seen 4 episodes of the USA series, I could clearly tell many differences between the series and the book. For starters, the book is set in Germany and many of the character's names have been changed. In the book the main character is named Cora Bender, but in the television series her name is Cora Tannetti. Her husband Gereon was changed to Mason and police commissioner Rudolf Grovian was changed to Detective Harry Ambrose.

The novel centers around a very troubled twenty-four-year-old Cora Bender. Sure, on the outside she looks like a loving wife and mother to a little boy, but she actually has a deranged past that she can no longer run from anymore. On a nice day at the lake, Cora jumps in the water for a quick swim, well at least that's what she told her husband. However, she had all intentions of drowning herself, but she doesn't go through with it. She returns to her husband and son at their picnic spot. Nearby, two couples are having a bit of fun listening to a radio cassette player. After one of the couples begins making out, Cora snaps, picks up the knife that she had just used to cut her son a piece of apple, and charges at the couple. She attacks the man, Georg Frankenberg, and stabs him to death!

To everyone else, Cora is a cold-blooded killer, but Rudolf Grovian, the police commissioner, suspects Cora somehow knew the victim. He takes it upon himself to investigate a connection between the two, but in order to find out the truth, Cora must unravel her own dark, twisted past!

Final Thoughts