My unsolicited thoughts on "The Fault in Our Stars" the movie (sans spoilers, of course):

The Book v. The Movie, Thoughts: - The book was better, obviously, but the dialogue in the movie more believable.

Performances: - Debatable whether actor who played Augustus Waters was old enough to shave. - Directors made his part much more human versus the sort of incredibly positive man-boy of the book. - Shailene Woodley gave the performance of a lifetime as she immortalized role of Hazel; the breathy voice delivery was perfect; all emotional cues seemed perfectly organic.

The sex scene: - Going to defer to Annie F. Downs on this matter here because she speaks to The Issues of it better than I. - However, taking morality off the table, aesthetically the scene is beautiful; these kids and their swoony bedroom eyes though! - I also wonder whether the directors took into consideration that both of these kids would have been experienced in getting naked in front of strangers, given their medical histories, when they scripted them to be so comfortable in front of each other.

Hamartia: - Hazel pronounces this incorrectly. I felt wronged! But maybe it was a directorial decision for a kid who was mainly homeschooled (?)

The Ugly Cry: - I did get teary at the end but not overly so. It didn't feel contrived but the whole ending was handled really nicely. And by nicely I mean, as nicely as you can handle the meat-mallet cruelty of the end. - It was almost comical how much audible wailing was happening in our theater.

Recommendations: - Definitely go at a high-teenage-audience-member-per-capita hour. Like not the late late show. It really adds to the atmosphere to have teenagers filing up and down the aisles and walking in packs of 12 and asking each other to trade seats so they can sit next to each other. - If you are really opposed to this whole movie/book concept and want to criticize my brand of Christianity for supporting it with my cash moneys, I would recommend you engage someone else. I teach millennials and within the framework of pop culture, this book/movie fosters some great opportunities for dialogue.