Has anyone ever read the Fifty Shades Trilogy by E. L. James?

Way back in 2012, I had worked with the startup eBook gift card company (which sadly no longer exists) and in exchange for a post about the the company, I received an eBook gift card of my choosing and I ended up getting Fifty Shades of Grey as there was big buzz around the romance series at the time. A little bit later, I worked with an adult toy website on a few blog posts and was compensated with a few promo codes which I used to buy Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed. I had planned on reading the trilogy, but I didn't get around to it due to other obligations.

After the first feature film adaptation was announced, I started hearing a lot of negative things about the books, especially with how the BDSM was represented in the relationship between Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele. Despite a lot controversy, the first novel sold over 125 million copies and has been printed in 52 languages. Two other additional books, Grey and Darker, were later published, which just retold Fifty Shades of Grey and Fifty Shades Darker from the point-of-view of Christian Grey.

Eventually, I did attempt to read Fifty Shades of Grey but I had major issues with the quality of the writing by E. L. James. Plus, I just couldn't connect with the character Anastasia. I ended up removing the book from my Kindle. As for the sequels, I donated them to a thrift store along with some other books.

Earlier this month, I had watched the 2018 thriller Bad Times at the El Royale on HBO which co-stars Dakota Johnson, the same actress who played Anastasia Steele in the Fifty Shades film series. It was the first film I had seen Dakota in and I liked her performance. Now I'm kinda interested in watching the Fifty Shades film series.

Should I read the books before watching the movies?

Mill Creek Entertainment; Amazon

The silly comedy Encino Man was of my favorite guilty pleasure movies from the early '90s. Yes, it was completely stupid, but for some reason it appealed to me during my pre-teen years. Pauly Shore was one of the co-stars in the film and he went on to star in several similar comedies during the '90s, including 1995's Jury Duty, which was released to Blu-ray earlier this month from Mill Creek Entertainment as part of their Retro VHS series.

Directed by John Fortenberry, the film is more of a spoof of 12 Angry Men, where an unemployed Tommy Collins (played by Pauly Shore) finds himself out of a home when his mother and her boyfriend take their mobile home to Las Vegas to get married. Tommy and his chihuahua Peanuts are now homeless, well, that is until he receives a jury summons!

Tommy becomes one of the 12 jurors for a murder trial and as jury foreman he deliberately delays the verdict just so he can be paid $5 per day, get free meals, and live in a nice hotel room (also for free). While attempting to convinced the other jurors of reasonable doubt, he begins to believe the murderer is actually innocent.

Rounding out the rest of the cast is Tia Carrere, Brian Doyle-Murray, Stanley Tucci, Abe Vigoda, Charles Napier, and Shelley Winters.

Final Thoughts

Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly @  Caffeinated Book Reviewer!

I finished reading The Son by Philipp Meyer early yesterday morning after reading more than half the book on Saturday. My review will be coming soon! I had won four eBooks from two LibraryThing giveaways last month and the publishing company finally sent me the books last week. One of those books happens to be Ring of Roses by Sara Clancy. It'll probably be my main read for the wee,k followed by the sequels Pocket of Posies and Ashes to Ashes, which came together as one giveaway prize. The other book I'd won is the anthology Terror in the Shadows: Volume 2.

In the Mail

Walmart

Last week, Disney Home Entertainment re-released the classic animated classic Cinderella on Digital HD and Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Code Anniversary Edition combo pack, which is also part of the The Signature Walt Disney Collection.

Based on the fairy tale by by Charles Perrault, Disney's Cinderella originally hit the big screen in 1950. Directed by Clyde Geronimi, Hamilton Luske, and Wilfred Jackson, the animated classic featured the talented voice cast of Ilene Woods, Eleanor Audley, Verna Felton, Rhoda Williams, James MacDonald, Luis van Rooten, Don Barclay, Mike Douglas, William Phipps, and Lucille Bliss.

The 75-minnute film tells the tale of Cinderella, a young woman who's forced by her stepmother, Lady Tremaine, to work in her own home as a maid and sleep in a tower. Her stepsisters Drizella and Anastasia are just as cruel as their mother. Cinderella's only friends are the mice (Jaq, Guz, and many others) that also live in the tower.



The King of the land is tired of the Prince's refusal to get married, so he and the Grand Duke organize a ball and invite every single young woman near the kingdom, in the hopes they will find the perfect wife for the prince.

Upon hearing about the ball, Lady Tremaine is determined to have one of her daughters marry the Prince. Since all young women have been invited, Cinderella would love to go as well, but Lady Tremaine piles more work for her to do, just o she wouldn't have time to make a dress.

Let's just say with a little help of her animal friends and her Fairy Godmother, Cinderella attends the ball wearing a gorgeous dress and glass slippers, and she enchants the Princess with just one dance.

Blu-ray Bonus Features include:

• New Features
• Try This Trivia on for Size – Join Ruth Righi and Ava Kolker from Disney Channel's Sydney to the Max and put your knowledge of Cinderella to the test.
• In Walt’s Words: Enhanced Edition – Watch the movie and gain some insight into its production with storyboards, archival photos, sketches and transcripts. 

• CLASSIC Features
• Diane Disney Miller “Cinderella” Film Intro – In this introduction to the animated classic, Diane Disney Miller describes how Cinderella helped launch a studio renaissance.
• The Real Fairy Godmother – Learn about the real-life inspiration for the Fairy Godmother: Mary Alice O’Connor, wife of Disney layout artist Ken O’Connor.
• Behind the Magic: A New Disney Princess Fairyland – Discover how Imagineers created a Fantasyland at Walt Disney World featuring each of the Disney Princesses.
• The Magic of the Glass Slipper – World-famous shoe designer Christian Louboutin creates a very exclusive “Glass Slipper” in honor of a beloved Disney classic. 

• THE ART OF CINDERELLA 
• Concept Art  - View a gallery of concept art from the feature's production.
• Character Model Sheets – View a gallery of character model sheets from the feature's production. 
• Story Sketches – View a gallery of story sketches from the feature's production.
• Live-Action Reference – View a gallery of photos taken from live-action footage shot as a reference for the animated feature.
• Pencil Animation – View a gallery of pencil animation from the feature's production.
• Behind-the-Scenes Stills – View a gallery of behind-the-scenes stills from the feature's production.
• Feature Stills – View a gallery of stills from the feature. 

 

Final Thoughts

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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.

She wanted to ask if he had shot anyone, or seen anyone shot, but he seemed to sense the question was coming and stood abruptly, walking to the other end of the room, looking at the old drawings, the marble statues and figurines, shaking his head, picking things up and putting them down.

page 256, The Son by Philipp Meyer

  My Thoughts

AMAZON

This year marks the fifty anniversary of mass murders that were committed by the Manson Family. And, of course, Hollywood is going to make new Manson-themed movies, including Once Upon A Time In Hollywood from director Quentin Tarantino (though it's only a subplot) and the horror flick The Haunting of Sharon Tate (R; $21.99; 95 minutes).

Written & directed by Daniel Farrands, The Haunting of Sharon Tate stars Hilary Duff (Yep, Lizzie McQuire!) as pregnant actress Sharon Tate who had a premonition dream involving the death of her friends and herself. With her husband, Roman Polanski, directing a movie in another country, Sharon's friend (and former lover) Jay Sebring (played by Jonathan Bennett), screenwriter Wojciech Frykowski (played by Pawel Szajda) and his lover  Abigail Folger (played by Lydia Hearst) are looking after Sharon at her rented Los Angeles home.

Sharon has disturbing visions of a man named "Charles." Her friends try to console her, but it doesn't help a bit as she keeps having more detailed premonitions of three strangers breaking into the house and brutally murdering them. She must use her sixth sense to save their lives and change history.

Blu-ray Special Features include:

• Audio Commentary with Writer-Director Daniel Farrands
• Premonitions: The Haunting of Sharon Tate