Divergent Giveaway: Win a Copy of Divergent Signed by the Author and Cast!

Happy Divergent Release Day!

I hope you all are going to the theaters today (and ALL WEEKEND) to go see this movie. Remember guys: movie sequels are only made if the first one is successful so let’s go out, visit this see Divergent and get Insurgent made!

So I hope by now that you all have watched my vlog recap of my time at the Divergent Black Carpet Premiere in Los Angeles. It was an absolute blast and I had such a great time. I am so glad I was able to meet people like Theo and Miles and Ansel. SO much fun.

Check out my full collection of pictures from the premiere on Facebook here.

Check out my vlog about the premiere here.

Luckily for all you who were unable to attend, my friend Abby got an extra book signed and by a TON of the cast and it looks like its time for me to have a giveaway!

Make sure you read this whole post! Its VERY important!

Here is the Prize: 

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One Copy of Divergent Signed By: 

Author Veronica Roth
Kate Winslet (Jeanine Matthews)
Tony Goldwyn (Andrew Prior)
Ansel Elgort (Caleb Prior)
Theo James (Four)
Miles Teller (Peter)
Ashley Judd (Natalie Prior)
Zoe Kravitz (Christina)
Maggie Q (Tori)
Amy Newbold (Molly)
Christian Madsen (Al)

The Rules (Yes, there has to be Rules): 

The contest will run from today, March 21st to April 4th!

The winner will be contacted within 12 hours of contest end, and if the winner does NOT respond within 24 hours, a new winner will be chosen.

The contest IS International :)

Make sure to come back every day to tweet about the giveaway and earn extra entries!

Share with your friends!

This contest is in no way endorsed by Veronica Roth, Neil Burger, Lionsgate Company, Summit Entertainment, Katherine Tegen Books, etc. WhatANerdGirlSays is not responsible for any lost or damaged prizes.

The Catch (Yes, There’s a Catch)

Now, that’s a ridiculously amazing prize. Look up above at that list. That’s incredible and it took some hard work to get those signatures. Which means I expect some hard work to be done to earn this prize.

There are a TON of ways to enter, so enter a LOT. Do all of those entries! Show me that you want this. Every person who does every single thing on the rafflecopter list will be entered into a special secret giveaway. Please email a snapshot of your completed rafflecopter to whatanerdgirlsays at gmail dot com.

There are also options to show off your Divergence. Show me you are Dauntless, Abnegation, Erudite, Amity, and Candor. More details in the rafflecopter. Those who do those entries will also be entered in the secret giveaway!

Are you ready to enter already? Here you go!

Enter Now!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Divergent Black Carpet Los Angeles Premiere Vlog Recap!

Hey guys! How’s it going? I hope you’re having a wonderful week and I hope that you’re planning on going out to see Divergent tomorrow. You all know how important that first weekend is for a movie, viagra in order to get a sequel so go out there and watch it guys!

As you guys might have seen on my Twitter and Instagram and Tumblr and Facebook, I went to the premiere on Monday. It was an absolute blast, and I just…I had so much fun.

Now instead of writing up a recap of the premiere, I decided to do a vlog instead. I know, right? I’m becoming more and more determined to do more vlogs.

So here we are, check it out on YouTube, my vlog of the Divergent premiere!

If you’d like to see all the pictures that I took from the premiere, you can check them out at this link on the official What A Nerd Girl Says facebook page. 

If you’re curious about the song that’s playing in the video, its a song called “Small Talk” by a band that I just discovered last week, Green Light Theory. You can check them out on Facebook. They are trying to get on Warped Tour so what little I can do, I’m trying to do!

Don’t forget to come back tomorrow to check out my epic Divergent giveaway! You’ll be sorry you missed it!

Thanks for watching guys! Happy Fangirling :)

Divergent: Official Movie Review

So today, diagnosis I’m at the Divergent World Premiere in Los Angeles. Well, dosage I’m not there right now. I’m writing this so it publishes while I’m there. I won’t be able to blog while I’m there. You can follow me on Twitter or Instagram or Tumblr in order to keep up with all the Divergent awesomeness. Here is my review of the movie though!

Divergent

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Official U.S. Release Date: March 21st, 2014

Rated:

Rated PG-13 for intense violence and action, thematic elements and some sensuality

Directed By:

Neil Burger

Cast:

Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Kate Winslet, Zoe Kravitz, Ashley Judd, Miles Teller, Ansel Elgort.

Find the rest on IMDB here.

IMDB Movie Synopsis:

In a world divided by factions based on virtues, Tris learns she’s Divergent and won’t fit in. When she discovers a plot to destroy Divergents, Tris and the mysterious Four must find out what makes Divergents dangerous before it’s too late.

My Review:

I am literally blown away at how well they did with this movie. While it wasn’t absolutely perfect, I thought they did a wonderful job with it.

^^That was exactly how I started off my Vampire Academy review and I thought it was quite fitting for the review I’m about to do for Divergent. While watching the movie, I was unsure at times if things were being changed or if I just totally needed to re-read the book. I waited until I did a re-read before I did this review because I wanted to make sure that I did this fairly. Now that I’ve read the book again, I can tell you that I love the movie even more than the first time I saw it and I’m so glad that I saw it and I’m literally going to die until I see it again.

I thought they did a wonderful job taking the book and putting it on the big screen. There were a TON of direct quotes from the book (which is always my favorite) and it flowed nicely. There were small things that they cut but I honestly felt like everything was done f or a reason and it really did such great justice to the book. It really captured what it was about, all that fear and uncertainty and the many realizations that Tris comes through while making her journey from Abnegation to Dauntless. I really thought they captured each faction really well too. We really only see Dauntless and Abnegation and a bit of Erudite but so much of it was exactly like I had pictured. I really felt like the world I had gotten to know so well in the books had come to life on screen.

Which brings me to the characters. When all these characters were being cast, there was really only one casting (Kate Winslet as Jeanine Matthews) that really made me feel comfortable. Of course, I had to see them as the actual characters but I wasn’t sold completely. Well, after seeing the movie, I can’t imagine anyone else playing any of these characters. They all really seemed to understand the person they were playing and portrayed them so well. I was surprised at really seeing Tris and Four and Peter and Caleb and Christina and the rest. I felt that the characters really jumped from the book to the screen. The actors weren’t just portraying characters, they WERE the characters.

I really had fun while watching this movie. The music mixed with the action was absolutely fabulous and I found myself quoting along because there were so many direct quotes from the book. I loved it and I honestly can’t wait to see it again. I saw it about two weeks ago and its already been way too long. I hope that I’ll be able to see it again today at the premiere. Cross my fingers.

I have a lot of hope for this movie. What I really loved about it was that it really highlighted the emotional journeys of these characters but it definitely made sure to capture all the amazing action that is there. I think that’s what can make this a movie that is enjoyable no matter what gender or age. It really has something for everyone, or so I think. I hope that people can get past its “another tween movie” or “another Hunger Games” and really give it a chance because I honestly think it’ll do really well. Its a great book and a great movie and I really hope I can see it again soon!

Rating:

4 out of 5 Stars

A Divergent Review…Is Coming!

I know, more about that’s a super weird title.

Forgive me for that.

On Saturday, check I was able to do something that I’ve been looking forward to for a few weeks now, treatment something that made me so extremely happy, something that literally has had a hold on my emotions all weekend long.

I got to see a pre-screening of Divergent.

AGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Me, before the screening.

My dear friend, Maggie, works for Lionsgate and asked me a few weeks ago if I’d like to go to a press junket screening and I immediately said yes. You guys know that I love Divergent. I don’t have tattoos on my collarbone for no reason ;)

Divergent Tattoo

I was able to bring a friend along with me and I immediately thought of my fangirl BFF, Sylvia from FangirlFeeels.

Now, if you’re looking for a review of the movie, you’ve come to the wrong place. I’m going to be reviewing it but not quite yet. I’m writing it up but I don’t want to post it too early. The movie is still two weeks away and I want to post it closer to that. Look for it around the Los Angeles Premiere day (the 18th).

But I will say a few things:

One, Sylvia and I had an awesome time, and we probably were some of the most enthusiastic people in the audience.

Two, the casting of this movie is absolutely phenomenal.

Three, Theo James. Seriously. I can’t…I can’t even handle him as Four. The level of attractiveness of that man is just off the charts. I seriously, I can’t even handle it right now.

Four, you’re seriously missing out if you do not go see this movie on the 21st.

I had a great time, I seriously enjoyed the movie, and I can’t wait to see it again. I’m waiting just as anxiously as those who haven’t seen it for release day because it was just that good. I’m so proud of the team behind this movie. Its going to be so great, and I’m going to see this in the theater so many times.

Thanks to Maggie for being such a doll and getting me into this amazing early screening. I appreciate it more than you know!

Stay tuned for the full review coming soon :)

For now, enjoy the trailer!

http://youtu.be/Aw7Eln_xuWc

Tuesday Top Ten-Movies to Look Forward to in 2014

Hello everybody! How are we doing this week? We’re now a few weeks into the year, approved and a new year brings so much: new year, pills new goals, new you, new books, new movies!

I get excited every year around new year because I think…oh all those movies I’ve been waiting for are now closer than ever!

There are a TON of great movies hitting the theaters this year, and I’m excited for them. Here are my top ten:

10. The Giver

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August 15th

I’m not going to lie, this movie makes me incredibly nervous. I love this book. This book was the first dystopian novel that I ever really read and that was when I was twelve years old. This novel has definitely stuck with me, and I’m hoping that when it hits the big screen, it’ll be as beautifully filmed as it was written. The fact that there are all these big names makes me nervous because none of the people who are being cast seem to fit what I’ve imagined. I’m also not happy that Taylor Swift has any part of this movie. I mean, I can’t even handle my disappointment in that. But I’m holding out hope that despite that, and despite the most random of an ensemble cast, it’ll be the script from a beautiful book that makes this a great movie.

9. Maleficent

c0b1a0a9-04fc-4c34-a018-06033f5ca8e3_Maleficent

May 30th 

It seems to be the hippest thing now to do fairy tale retellings now. And I’m totally okay with that. I love Disney movies, and have loved them since I was a kid. All these retellings just make it so that I can enjoy those favorite stories again and again as an adult, in a new way. I’m not an Angelina Jolie fan, honestly, she kind of bothers me. I was telling my friend that if she wasn’t such a good mom (or at least she appears to be), I would probably really dislike her. However, I think she’s an absolutely perfect pick to play the scary Sleeping Beauty villain and I think it’ll be a great movie. It already looks super great, and I’m really really really looking forward to it. The teaser trailer is just enough to make me want to watch.

8. Love Rosie

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No Release Date…Yet 

I literally have such little knowledge on this movie, its ridiculous. I know that its based off a book, but most movies are, so that wasn’t hard to conclude. But it has two of my favorite people in the world in the movie: Lily Collins and Sam Claflin. Both of whom I’ve met too! Which I just thought of and totally made me happy. But this was being filmed around the promotion time for City of Bones so it came on my radar and I’m excited to see it. There is no real release date for it because I think its super indie but I definitely want to see it, and hopefully read it, as well. I think Lily Collins is a great actress who hasn’t quite caught her break yet, and I adore Sam, who ROCKED Finnick in Catching Fire. Its bound to be a good movie, in my head.

7. X-Men: Days of Future Past

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May 23rd 

I wasn’t a huge fan of the “original” XMen trilogy. The first one was decent and the other two were just a yawn. They just didn’t impress me much. So when the prequel came out, I honestly didn’t have a huge desire to see that at all. Eventually I did watch it and I was blown away. I think the prequel was infinitely better than the original trilogy and I loved the cast immensely: James Mcavoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult, January Jones and so on. I loved it so much. I would say they made one mistake in casting someone else for Banshee instead of sticking with their original choice of Robbie Sheehan. But that’s just because I’m biased and love Robbie. But because that first movie was absolutely incredible, I am DEFINITELY looking forward to the sequel. I think its going to be just as good, maybe better, and they got rid of Rogue and I’m SO okay with that.

6. The Maze Runner

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September 19th 

I really am looking forward to seeing this movie for several reasons. First off, I adore Dylan O’Brien. I wish that Teen Wolf would have grabbed me more than it did because he is SO great. So being able to see him as the main character of TMR is something I’m very excited about it. I’m also excited because it really was a good book. James Dashner is a great writer, and The Maze Runner is an incredible novel. Its also a really weird, bizarre novel, which leads to another reason I’m looking forward to seeing this movie: maybe things will make a little more sense to me when I can actually see them. Maybe seeing the maze and the Grievers and all that. I also think that its a very action-y book so it’ll work really well on the big screen. Thomas and his fellow Runners are constantly risking their lives to find a way out and I think that will translate SUPER well onto film.

5. The Fault in Our Stars

tfios movie still - gus hazel amsterdam

June 6th 

Despite the fact that the fans of The Fault in Our Stars is kind of starting to get on my nerves and I’m starting to push more indie, unknown or underrated authors now, instead of just always John Green, I am looking forward to this movie. I enjoy John Green’s books and I did really like TFiOS a lot so I’m eager to see this movie. I also have a soft spot for Ansel, and I swear, it has nothing to do with his abs ;) I’m also excited because Ansel and Shailene will play brother and sister in another highly anticipated movie this year (look below!) and so I’m eager to see how they do both of them. They obviously have a chemistry on screen enough to be in two different movies together. I wish my favorites of John Green, like An Abundance of Katherines or Will Grayson, Will Grayson, on the big screen but there’s no way it’ll ever happen. So this is the next best thing. Let’s see how well they translated this book to the work of film.

4. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1

Mockingjay

November 21st 

Duh. I mean, do I really need to go into detail with this? When I first saw The Hunger Games, I definitely enjoyed it. Its a great movie, but it wasn’t…perfect, you know? There were things wrong with it, and I liked it but it wasn’t a huge favorite. When I saw Catching Fire though, it blew my mind. Its not perfect because a movie will hardly ever be as perfect as the book but it was pretty damn close. I wanted to stand up and tackle Francis Lawrence and all the brains behind CF with hugs and kisses because it was SO SO good. I was only partly looking forward to CF because HG was just okay. Now I’m dying to see Mockingjay because I have high hopes for it. I honestly think its going to be just amazing, and the casting they have been doing for it is great and I want to do fan camp again. The whole Catching Fire experience pulled me so much back into The Hunger Games world and I’m dying to see the first part of the finale. I still don’t know why its split into two parts but whatever. Let’s just enjoy it.

3. Vampire Academy 

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February 7th 

This is only a few weeks away which makes me incredibly excited. I just read the books within the last six months but they have quickly become favorites of mine. The title and the idea of it sounded awful but Richelle Mead blew me away. Its an incredible series so I can’t wait to see it on the big screen. I’m so freakin excited. Plus I have huge crushes on both Zoey Deutch and Danila Kozlovsky and I want to see their chemistry as Rose and Dimitri. I am a bit nervous because it seems very “mean girls” but then I see a clip or a still of Zoey kicking ass and I get excited all over again. She’s super beautiful and perfect for the casting of Rose and I think its going to be a really fun movie. And I hope to get my butt down to the premiere so I can fangirl again and again over Zoey and Danila.

2. The Hobbit: There and Back Again

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December 17th 

I wasn’t overly impressed with The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug but I still feel like I need to go back and re-read the book and then rewatch the movie so I can really see whether I like it or not. It just didn’t effect me as much as the first one did. That one was just so amazing to me, the fight scenes and the elves, and Rivendell and the riddle scene with Gollum. Agh. But I’m hoping with the conclusion, it’ll comes together nicely. The end of The Hobbit is great, and a whole lot goes down so I’m ready to see that. I’m ready to see Smaug destroy the town, and I’m ready for Bard and I’m ready for Thorin to kind of go crazy and I’m ready for Bilbo to become an even bigger badass than he already was. I have some seriously high hopes for this movie (I mean, it is number 2 on the list) so I hope I am not disappointed.

1. Divergent

divergent_new_poster_australia_480_1983jkr-1983jmg

March 21st 

I can hardly contain my excitement for this movie. When they first started casting for it, I admit, I was nervous. I was not a fan of Shailene Woodley. All I had ever seen her in was The Secret Life of An American Teenager and…no, just no. But the more I saw her transformation into Tris, the more I felt comfortable with her as Tris. Then I saw The Spectacular Now with my boyfriend at a special screening and it was SO good, and she really impressed me. She did such a great job. That, combined with the casting of Theo James as Four, made me more excited about the movie. I mean, have you seen Theo James. I need a bucket of cold water to the face every time I see him. Since then, we’ve gotten a TON of stills, really amazing trailers and I am just so excited for this movie. Once I saw the first full length trailer, I really thought, “wow, this could be good”. I love these books, I feel like I’m one of a small group that absolutely loved the ending and I can’t wait to see my favorite Divergent characters come to life in March. And to hopefully be at that premiere because, come on, its Divergent!

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So there you have it! My Top Ten Most Anticipated Movies of 2014! Check in next week to see my top Ten reasons why I want to be an author :)

What are some movies that you are looking forward to in 2014? Share in the comments! 

The Fault in Our Stars Set Visit!

Today, side effects I have a treat for you! A dedicated fan of this page, Kaitlin, was lucky enough to live fairly close to the set of The Fault in Our Stars, the movie adaptation of John Green’s novel of the same name. Kaitlin had an awesome experience and took lots of pictures and was super awesome enough to share her experience with us!

Here is a little bit about Kaitlin herself:

I’m a political young professional who works in Pittsburgh. I love taking advantage of the wonderful opportunities this city offers me, like the filming of movies and other huge events. 

I’ve been lucky to be able to set stalk many movie sets, like TFIOS, The Dark Knight, Perks of Being a Wallflower, Les Miserables (Broadway show), etc. I have loved each and every opportunity! Often, I tweet when I am going somewhere, or to the celebs that I meet. You can find me as Kaitb1103 on Twitter. 

I am so happy to have Kaitlin as a guest blogger today, to share her experience. Here it is!

Kaitlin’s Awesome The Fault in Our Stars Set Experience! 

I’m an avid fan of TFIOS, ever since I read it at the beginning of the year. After that, I became a huge Nerdfighter. You can imagine my excitement when I found out that TFIOS was shooting in PGH!

After spending every waking moment following a thread of TFIOS shooting locations for every week that they’ve been here, I finally found that they’d be at an easily accessible location all the week of September 15-20th. You see, like most people in Pittsburgh, I’m a public transportation rider. And as TFIOS takes place in Indianapolis but is filming in Pittsburgh, they’ve been sticking to outlying Pittsburgh locations that can’t be reached by public transit.

So September 18th, I packed up my books (Divergent, Insurgent and TFIOS), and headed to work downtown. As soon as I could leave, I hopped on a bus toward the ‘rumored’ film site.

After getting off the bus, I ran into a few young high schoolers (I’m nearly 22). They had already wandered about and had been there for nearly an hour. I walked down the public streets taking photos of everything that seemed interesting.

code name for the TFIOS set

The Code Name they use for The Fault in Our Stars. Who knows how they came up with that name! 

Prop trailer

This is one of the prop trailers. This photo doesn’t do it justice! It’s HUGE with prop cabinets filled to the brim on BOTH sides

ambulance gus rides in

The ambulance that they take Gus away in. 

the star trailers

The star trailers! 

I spotted Gus’s crutches, the ambulance he’d be riding in (which the crew was rigging to hold a camera on the back), and the star trailers! The actual set house they were using was closed off.

I went back up to wait with the other girls, and a little later, we saw a tall young gentleman being escorted by security down the street off the set and toward the trailers. It was Ansel! He was wearing tan slacks, and a blue shirt with white tie, and had a cigarette (!!!) hanging from his mouth.

He later tweeted:

Screen Shot 2013-09-20 at 2.07.02 PM

One of the girls and I were brave enough to follow him down the sidewalk, but they other girls waited until we ‘called’ for them.

Sadly, all our hollering did nothing and he didn’t turn around, though he did smile.

The girl and I were dejected, and we’re turning to walk up toward the corner again, when Shailene Woodley walked out of the set. “You’re…Shailene Woodley.” “Yeah, yeah, I am.” At this point, the girls had all swooped in, and though I did get my book signed, I didn’t get a photo with her :( Ah, well!

Shailene Woodley autograph

The girls and I went back to our little corner, forced to by the cops that showed up, and then another older girl like myself showed up. She’s been a Nerdfighter for 8 years, and said she only cared about meeting John Green and the others were bonuses if they came out! We all agreed, but then, I had all day to wait with no other plans.

We waited for about another ten minutes, and all of a sudden, John Green comes out from another entrance to say hello! He smiles but he says he only has about five minutes to take photos and sign books. We all takes some “selfies” with John Green controlling the phones! He somehow managed to keep the set out of all the photos so he wouldn’t get yelled at by the producers of the film. He apparently gets yelled at on a daily basis, according to Ansel.

picture with john green

After John Green goes back inside, the other girls all leave right away. I was all by myself! The Franktuary food truck (famous in PGH for amazing hot dogs and fries) had showed up with hot dogs for the crew for a few minutes before the girls left.

Franktuary Truck-Shailene and John catered it

The Franktuary truck! this is the Franktuary food truck that, according to John Green himself and his tumblr/twitter, Shailene Woodley catered/bought for the staff to eat from that day!

I waited for another five minutes or so before John Green comes out again (this time out of the entrance we had been watching) and comes right over. He asks me where the others went; my answer was something along the lines of “They all left me :( but I’m prepared to be here all night if need be!” He asked who I was looking to meet (Ansel Elgort) and said he’d see what he could do, but no promises!

Then he offered to “buy” me a hot dog (apparently Shailene Woodley catered Franktuary, so indirectly Shai bought me a hot dog!), and then was ‘fixing’ it for me, at which I said, “John Green…you really don’t have to make my hot dog for me. I’ll totally make it, but I just want to make sure I can go past these cops before coming over there…”

Fast forward to finishing my hot dog, the stand-ins come out and go back in five seconds later, and then boom! A super, tall handsome actor (Ansel Elgort!) comes striding out and walks right over!!!!

Ansel: “You sent John Green into get me? How’d you swing that?”
Me: “Well, he offered, but made no promises! Thank you for coming over to say hi! How’s filming going?”
Ansel: “Well, its going great! We’re in Amsterdam right now!” (They were filming the hotel scenes in Amsterdam at a place called Mansion on 5th)
Me: “That’s awesome. Are you excited for Divergent coming out soon?”
Ansel: “I am! It was a lot of fun to shoot! Are you excited about Carrie coming out?”
Me: “Um, yes! Do you mind if I get a photo with you?”
Ansel: “Sure!”

angel photo 2 in costume ansel photo 1 ansel photo 3

And que multiple selfies being taken but me not realizing it, so my “OMG I’M SO JUST FREAKING HAPPY” face being the same in each one! And then he signed my book, I wished him luck with the rest of filming, and I left while he got in line for a hot dog.

End to a perfect, fantastic day!

Scott Neustadter, Michael Weber, John Green, Ansel Elgort

Signed by: Scott Neustadter (screenwriter of TFIOS movie), Michael Weber (second screenwriter for the film), John Green and Ansel Elgort

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Thank you SO much Kaitlin for sharing your experience with me and the readers of What A Nerd Girl Says! I know that I am SO jealous of your awesome experience and that others will be too! Such a lucky duck!

I can’t wait to see this movie in theaters, and to see Shailene and Ansel in Divergent in March!

Hope you enjoyed hearing about Kaitlin’s experience!