Movie Review: Quantum of Solace (2008)

Plot: James Bond descends into mystery as he tries to stop a mysterious organization from eliminating a country’s most valuable resource. All the while, he still tries to seek revenge over the death of his love.

Rating: 7/10

The worst thing about this film? It is really forgettable. I watched it a bit more than a week ago and I struggled to remember what went down and how I felt about it. However, I enjoyed it, and I am looking forward to finally watching Skyfall soon!

The most important thing in QoS is that James Bond isn’t over Vesper. He’s barely keeping it together, and although he won’t admit how badly she hurt him, he is slowly losing his control. He is more ruthless than he has ever been, and he doesn’t care who gets taken out while he’s doing his job. Daniel Craig – every time I watch a film with Craig in I’m reminded why I firstly really admire him and secondly find him so insanely attractive. He’s so… contained? He is a fantastic actor, he can switch charm on and off as he pleases, and I haven’t seen all the Bond films out there, he seems like one of the best.

I also really love Judi Dench as M. I mean, for reals, who doesn’t? She’s fierce and classy and a wonderful actress. The relationship between Bond and M is so interesting – complete trust most of the time and the acerbic tone of their conversations gets so funny.

The action sequences and directing is very well done, I’m not really a pro on this, but it looked really good.

As for the entire plot, it is good that they took over some of the storyline of Casino Royale, dealing with Bond’s suppressed rage and grief over the woman he loved. The organization behind Vesper is the main tone of the film, and remains shrouded in secrecy throughout. I did feel that some things were confusing and that the writers had no real plan to tell a story and at some points I genuinely wanted to rewind and try and find answers again.

If I think of the recent Bond villains– Mads Mikkelson and Christoph Waltz, then Mathieu Amalric’s Dominic Greene falls far short of the mark. He wasn’t really imposing and his character didn’t have any drive to him – it made the movie much less great than it could have been.

As for the Bond girl, Olga Kurylenko, there have probably been many worse than her. Arriving after Vesper was sure to be a complete nightmare – how was the character to compete? Camille was a bit hollow and one dimensional, but she didn’t truly offend my senses.

I enjoyed it, but thinking back now it’s more a 7 than an 8. Casino Royale is pretty much the gold-standard to me in the Craig leg of Bond, and I think QoS suffered as a result coming directly after it. It is also one of the films in the franchise that builds on what happened in previous movies, making the storyline chunkier (in a good way).

Have you seen this? What did you think?

July 29, 2016July 24, 2016 by Natasha Categories: Movies, movies, Review, Reviews, UncategorizedTags: Daniel Craig, Dominic Greene, James Bond, Judi Dench, Mathieu Amalric, Olga Kurylenko, Quantum of Solace 2 Comments

Movie Review: Pretty Woman (1990)

Plot: A man in a legal but hurtful business needs an escort for some social events, and hires a beautiful prostitute he meets… only to fall in love.

Rating: 8/10

I’m finally catching up with some romantic comedies from the 80’s and 90’s that I feel is a crying shame I haven’t got to yet – and it is totally worth it! I absolutely loved Clueless when I first copped on that it is an adaption of Emma. Heathers was so dark and disdainful, and I thought it worked well for the film. When Harry Met Sally quickly lined up to be one of my favorite romantic comedies ever.

Pretty Woman now joined When Harry Met Hally. I loved this film quite a lot and was so depressed when it finished because I wanted more of Richard Gere’s 90’s suit and mannitude and more of the gorgeous Julia Roberts being hilarious, sweet, convincing and authentic.

Pretty Woman is a film that would get trashed if it was released today. People are way too sensitive about suddenly not offending anyone, and this film about a prostitute and a businessman would not have gone down right – and that is society’s loss.

I enjoyed the clothes – just look at these office shorts Roberts is wearing, as well as numerous padded shoulder pieces. Gere is rarely out of a suit, but I won’t complain anytime soon, he looked so male and in charge (cue: delicious). The best outfit was naturally the night they went to the opera – breath taken away. I wish everyone can have a night like that.

Jason Alexander as Philip Stuckey was very disgusting and convincing. He was such a cutthroat lawyer and out to always win, and jealous of Edward Lewis who had excellent business skills and enviable charm. He suited the tone perfectly proving that although Edward was decent and a gentleman, few of his friends would be like that once they found out Vivian’s occupation.

Hector Elizondo returns as the man who facilitates makeover, and I love him in that role. If you’ve ever seen The Princess Diaries, there is no way that you are not loving this man help young women (which sounds decidedly creepy!).

Pretty Woman is sweet and flows well. There is humor, and Julia Roberts has a surprising amount of comedic ability when she turns it on. I thought she really did an excellent job as Vivian – a bit tarty, but capable, kind and still being able to carry herself around with dignity even with what she does. The film is really sweet in places, and Roberts seems to genuinely enjoy herself and it shows. If you are like me and have never seen this, I suggest that you do because it is great!

July 25, 2016July 24, 2016 by Natasha Categories: Movies, movies, Review, Reviews, UncategorizedTags: Edward Lewis, Gary Marshall, Hector Elizondo, Jason Alexander, Julian Roberts, movie, Movies, Reviews, Richard Gere, Romantic Comedies 5 Comments

Five Things Friday: Keira Knightley: 5 Best characters vs. 5 of her Worst characters

I don’t really like to hate actors or actresses online. Movies? Sure. I’d happily attack a movie if I think it was really bad, annoying or even just too stupid to deal with. But it is a bit mean to specifically attack a person, so I try not to do it too often, even though with some people it is tempting as hell.

One such an actress is Keira Knightley. She’s not a bad actress, she’s actually quite good, it is just that she has an ability to play deplorable personalities with aplomb, and you have to wonder why. Does she eat her KitKat by biting through all the sections? Is she secretly a Donald Trump fan? Did she vote OUT on Brexit? THERE HAS TO BE A REASON.

So for the lack of having anything better to do, I thought of five roles where I completely hated her guts, and then five roles where she was a perfectly nice, even inspiring, character. Read and share your opinions, I know you want to!

Best:

Begin Again – Her portrayal of a trusting songwriter girlfriend who leaves her life behind in England to travel with her singer boyfriend to America for him to make it work and then being cheated on is impossible not to commiserate with. Although she is determined to wear terrible outfits in this film, I really enjoyed how unannoying her character was! The soundtrack to this film is also amazing, I might add.

Pride vs. Prejudice – being Elizabeth Bennett is a tall order. This classic story was retold again but this time with Keira cast as the main female character, and she managed to be the perfect amount of feisty and well behaved that the character requires. The chemistry between her and male lead Matthew Macfadyen makes for some tingly anticipation throughout, and their old school romance is perfectly paced throughout the film. There is a sense of decency and restrained romance to this remake that spoke to my soul.

Atonement

Atonement is one of the most heartbreaking films I’ve ever seen. It served as a breakout performance for Saoirse Ronan, and this, combined with the genius of James McAvoy and Knightley makes for a despondent and dreary tale set in World War II. It is the very first time I really commiserated with her character and really rooted for her.

Pirates of the Caribbean

We can hate the franchise because it convinced Johnny Depp he can only be one character from now till the end of time, or we can like it because that first movie is really entertaining, and gave Knightley her big break into fame and Orlando Bloom something to do after being pretty Legolas. It is sad because it was reported that Knightley wasn’t allowed to use a sword in the film where all her male counterparts were fighting all over the place, but except that case of sever industrial sexism, the film is entertaining as hell and Knightley was on top form.

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit

This movie got a lot of flak when it came out. I personally found it a bit forgettable but enjoyable, and KK plays the leading lady to Chris Pine’s Jack Ryan. I liked her – the character was very much unlike anything KK would usually play, meaning I didn’t want to beat her with a stick.

Worst:

Laggies

Okay, here we go. This character is AWFUL. The movie is marketed as a story about a quarter life crises, but let me tell you, I’m there now and hear me out when I say that I would not once live with a teenager and her dad when we’ve just met, cheat on my boyfriend, not have a job and be completely childish because being an adult is HARD. Sheesh, she grated on me. Not even darling Sam Rockwell made things better, because he was just a hollow character and the best actors on earth can only be marginally entertaining with material like that.

Anna Karenina

This movie confused a lot of people – me most notably. It this a love story? That’s not love, it’s selfish twattage.

Bend it like Beckham

The youngest version of Keira, and the movie that made her – I could have marginally enjoyed this is the character didn’t make absolutely everything about her.

Never let me Go

This movie about organ harvesting is about as cheerful as watching reports on the Yulin dog festival in China (to the Chinese, you fucking suck, BTW). Keira Knightley’s character is probably the worst, stealing her best friend’s love interest for the sake of remaining full of organs for a few years longer. Even though I commiserate with her plight, the character is awful in the film and didn’t endear Knightley to me one little bit.

Love Actually

There is the age old question of what to do when your husband’s friend starts having feelings for you? Do you 1) Tell the guy to get lost 2) Inform your husband 3) Ignore it and hope it will go away 4) Kiss him when he pitches up with a weird sign on your door.

Personally? I would pick one and two. Keira Knightley’s character obviously lacked insight and chose three and four. I just couldn’t deal with it. As like (hopefully) most human beings, cheating pisses me off. Badly. Why do it? DUMP someone when you have feelings for someone else, or work to resolve those feelings without messing with your current partner. It’s not worth it.

It certainly isn’t the only thing I hated about this movie, but it was definitely one of them.

July 22, 2016July 19, 2016 by Natasha Categories: 2016, Five Things Friday, UncategorizedTags: Anna Karenina, Atonement, Bend it Like Beckham, Five Things Friday, Jack Ryan: shadow Recruit, Keira Knightley, Laggies, Love Actually, Never Let Me Go, Pirates of the Carribean 12 Comments

Book review: The Obsession (Nora Roberts)

Plot: (not included – I literally couldn’t find one that didn’t spoil the entire book!)

Rating: 8/10

So I gave in to my obsession (hehe) and bought this book in a world where books have become so expensive I’m not that surprised that people aren’t reading anymore. It was worth the cost and I thoroughly enjoyed the book. Roberts seemed uniquely inspired in The Obsession, because let’s face it, the woman recycles her stories. The outright creepiness of this story was a brilliant way to go, because it is something that we always witness in the news but it remains so shocking and terrifying. It pleased me to no end that Naomi and her brother were raised by her gay uncle and his partner, that they weren’t portrayed as extravagant or stereotypical – they were the best thing that happened to Naomi and her brother, and that their sexuality was merely a characteristic and not an insult, which is something a lot of authors get horribly wrong.

The development of the book is great. Nora Roberts has a talent when it comes to describe certain phases of her character’s life, providing in-depth insight to a character. I liked the following of Naomi’s discovery, her adaption to her new life and the eventual present day for her, where she has to ultimately fight the demons of her past. It was really good. I had some issues with the end – not that it wasn’t satisfactory, but I couldn’t understand how a four hundred page book had it’s final scenes within twenty pages. My other (only) major complaint is that it is becoming clear that a Roberts book only properly develops until the first sex scene. It feels disloyal to say this from one of my favorite authors, but we get a fantastic villain, great character development and gorgeous scenery, until the first sex scene and then all we get is steamy showers with a final rushed ending. It deducts from the impact from the book.

If it sounds like I didn’t enjoy the book, that’s wrong, because I had the best time. The characters are great and I laughed so much with the prototype male the hero was – who couldn’t just love that? I also really loved the dog, and wanted to pet and adopt all the dogs in the world.

This mammoth book was one of my latest favorites from Roberts – there is a sense of refreshed uniqueness that she’s been missing. It ticks all the boxes, except perhaps the rushed end. It is a definite for fans, and she might even get a couple of new fans from this!

July 21, 2016July 19, 2016 by Natasha Categories: 2016, Books, Review, Reviews, UncategorizedTags: Books, literature, mystery, Nora Roberts, Reading, Reviews, Romance, serial killers, suspense, The Obsession 5 Comments

Movie Review: The Legend of Tarzan (2016)

Plot: Tarzan, having acclimated to life in London, is called back to his former home in the jungle to investigate the activities at a mining encampment.

Rating: 7.5/10

I realize that this is against popular opinion to have really enjoyed this, but who cares about popular opinion anyway? I really enjoyed this, and found it the biggest surprise of 2016. If you can deal with the fact that this is somewhat like Jungle Book but with bulging muscles, more humans and some steamy kisses, you are sorted to have a lot of fun.

You’ve heard by now that Samuel L. Jackson is tasked with bringing the comedic relief and pulls it off, because that’s what great actors do. He’s totally great, also not a big surprise, a warrior that has seen too many obliteration of freedom and can’t really deal with it anymore.

Christopher Waltz is good as but perhaps expectantly the soft-spoken villain, something he is excellent at but is limiting his genius when it comes to his work – no great actor deserves to be typecast that way. His one and only aim is to make the King of Denmark really rich and successful, and he seems void of true cause. Djimon Hounsou is a tribal leader that wants Tarzan dead, and the reason is heartbreaking. That, explored, could have been excellent material, but it was thrown down the ravine as soon as they could move Tarzan on further. I loved the look of Hounsou’s tribe, which is in actual fact a real look for some African tribes.

Alexander Skarsgard is the titular Tarzan, and if you don’t explore the nagging questions like how he adapted to England when he had very little contact with humans in his formative years or how he remained so built, and how he’s even speaking any language, you can enjoy the quiet intensity he obviously worked hard at. Margot Robbie is Jane, and although she had the sassiest comebacks and one escape attempt, she just waited mostly for Tarzan to fetch his Jane, and I couldn’t help but be a little pissed off at her.

There were some truly beautiful scenery of wild and tribal life. I appreciated that while Tarzan had a connection to all the animals, they didn’t go so far and have him speak with them – that would have sent this film into the abyss. There were some moral eyebrow lifting to the slave trade. It seems inconceivable that people really justified barging into a continent and ripping control from the natives, and yet history proved itself over and over again that people really did have that audacity.

Like I said, the film was thoroughly enjoyable. It was easy to root for the good guys. No one had grey areas and the villain, for better or worse, was pretty straightforward. I thought Skarsgard impressive, imposing, and very drool worthy. I wish they had given some form of a backstory – the flashbacks were far and few in between, and this would have been a better sequel than a first film. He seemed intense and socially shy, and that worked out fine. Skarsgard was even WITH a shirt most of the time, dramatically decreasing the cheese feast I thought it would turn out to be.

Overall, I’m keeping my opinion that this was a 2016 goodie. It’s not perfect, and certainly lacks backstory, but the fight to keep the Congolese people free from slavery is heartbreaking and emotional, especially if you consider the constant state of current political turmoil in that beautiful piece of the world today.

July 20, 2016July 19, 2016 by Natasha Categories: 2016, Movies, movies, Review, Reviews, UncategorizedTags: Alexander Skarsgard, Christoph Waltz, D, Djimon Hounsou, Margot Robbie, movie, Movies, Samuel L. Jackson, Tarzan, The Legend of Tarzan 10 Comments

Movie Review: Furious 7 (2015)

Plot: Dominic and his crew thought they’d left the criminal mercenary life behind. They’d defeated international terrorist Owen Shaw and went their separate ways. But now, Shaw’s brother, Deckard Shaw, is out killing the crew one by one for revenge. Worse, a Somalian terrorist called Jakarde and a shady government official called “Mr. Nobody” are both competing to steal a computer terrorism program called “God’s Eye,” that can turn any technological device into a weapon. Torretto must reconvene with his team to stop Shaw and retrieve the God’s Eye program while caught in a power struggle between the terrorist and the United States government.

Rating: 7/10

I’m finally through the franchise! I’ve really had a blast, despite some of those first few movies that made me legitimately wonder how they ever got more movies approved.

Furious 7’s production was initially halted when Paul Walker tragically died in a car crash. The world was horrified – both by the death of this well-loved actor and the way that he passed away. Walker has always been a car fanatic, and the car he drove in 2Fast 2Furious was actually his own car. His brothers helped out with filming the remaining scenes, which ensured that Brian O’Connor got the end he deserved.

As for the film? There are numerous mentions for the need for Brian to stop and properly commit to his pregnant wife and son. He struggles with being a standard dad and not an adrenaline seeking ex-cop turned car thief turned assisting the FBI, and wife Mia (Jordana Brewster) notices these struggles. She urges him on one last mission to avenge the death of Han (Sung Kang). Lettie (Michelle Rodriguez) is still struggling to regain her memory and Dominic is struggling with impatience because there are obvious things he wants her to remember. Roman Pierce (Tyrese Gibson) returns to make bad jokes and Tej (Ludacris) returns to being geeky and cool. The most recent permanent instalment returns as Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson), who seems to have found even more muscles since the last film.

Furious 7 is as expected over the top, this time with Lamborghinis crashing through sky towers in Dubai. Brian O’Connor escapes a few certain deaths himself, and I couldn’t help but think the writers really wanted to leave clues everywhere. In terms of insanity, the airdrop scene came only second to the Dubai scene. Okay, there was the final collapse in Los Angeles was very crazy too.

Djimon Hounsou is some form of African warlord and he is basically ignored only when he’s really needed. Jason Statham replaces Luke Evans as the Shaw brother to sort out, and for all his capabilities in dealing with action sequences, I have never thought him to be the most solid villain. Elsa Pataky returns as Elena, and I am not really sure why, except (hopefully) that she and Hobbs end up together – a girl can dream! Kurt Russel also has some role, and I was surprised when he was the good guy to the end, it seemed shot in a way that he would have ulterior motives.

But is the film good? Well, it’s not bad. I thought it was a bit loose at the ends and it didn’t gel as it should have. Overall, as part of the franchise, the film didn’t feel like the best. I am glad it ended like it did, but I also thought that Brian O’Connor would never leave Dom behind – ever. It’s pretty much that feeling that Mark Darcy should rather be dead (like in the books) than leave Bridget Jones – I can’t believe I just compared the Fast franchise to Bridget Jones, but there we go.

What are your thoughts? How do you feel about what happened in the last film? Do you agree with the arc regarding Brian O’Connor? Share, share!

July 15, 2016July 13, 2016 by Natasha Categories: 2015, 2016, Movies, movies, Review, Reviews, UncategorizedTags: Agent Luke Hobbs, Brian O'Connor, Djimon Hounsou, Dominic Toretto, Dwayne Johnson, Elsa Pataky, Fast cars, Jason Statham, Jordana Brewster, Kurt Russel, Lettie Ortiz, Ludacris, Luke Evans, Michelle Rodriguez, movie, Movies, Paul Walker, Review, Reviews, Roman Pearce, The Fast and the Furious, The Rock, Tyrese Gibson, Vin Diesel 1 Comment

Blindspot 2016: Back to the Future (1985)

Plot: A young man is accidentally sent thirty years into the past in a time-traveling DeLorean invented by his friend, Dr. Emmett Brown, and must make sure his high-school-age parents unite in order to save his own existence.

Rating: 7/10

I actually don’t have all that much to say about this film. I’ve struggled for a week or more with this review, because I’m feeling very blocked about it.

The rating I give is always based on my enjoyment of the film, and I try to factor in the quality, even if the film really wasn’t my style (like Birdman). A 7 generally means I enjoyed it in a detached way, not really connecting to the characters, but the film was good. Is Back to the Future good for its time? Undoubtable so. I think for 1985 it is a great film.

I really enjoyed Michael J. Fox as Marty McFly. He has always been a good actor and is enjoyable to watch in his youth. I really enjoyed his attitude – it is so 1980’s!

I enjoyed the 80’s look of the film fashionably, which is much more forgiving than the 90’s look. The outfits were definitely flashback but I didn’t cringe that much.

The plot is naturally a bit silly, but I don’t think it was ever their intention to be anything else. I enjoyed this film in a detached way – I’m sad to report that it didn’t appeal to me all that much.

However, I am glad I watched it – it is always good to know what people are referring to! I think I might even make an effort to watch the remaining two, just to finally and completely have a grasp of it.

July 14, 2016July 13, 2016 by Natasha Categories: 2016, Blindspot, Movies, movies, Review, Reviews, UncategorizedTags: 1985, Back to the Future, Blindspot, Blindspot 2016, DeLorean, Dr. Emmett Brown, Michael J. Fox, time travel 5 Comments

Movie Review: Furious 6 (2013)

Plot: Hobbs has Dominic and Brian reassemble their crew to take down a team of mercenaries: Dominic unexpectedly gets convoluted also facing his presumed deceased girlfriend, Letty.

Rating: 7/10

This movie is so big for a lot of reasons. The end finally ties in with where Tokyo drift finishes, and the sad death of our beloved Han. It is also where we say bye to beautiful Gisele who dies to (ironically) save Han’s life. It is such a useless way to go, but she couldn’t have known her boyfriend would die only months later. It is also the movie that reintroduces Lettie, which probably needed to be done. The relationship between Elena and Dom felt just way too forced, like something the writers wanted but no one really thought it through. I did find it funny how nice Elena and Lettie were to each other in the end. If Vin was my honey and his dead girlfriend pitched, man, I would not have been that smiley. I thought that Brian and Mia’s baby was expected and has been a long time coming, but I also once again had to laugh at how she basically chased him away because “family needs help”. Agent Luke Hobbs is also back in the picture, and I still think The Rock was a great addition to the cast. Luke is starting to see more of who Dominic is, and realizes that this particular criminal is quite decent under it all. (I think, and it may be too touchy feely for this franchise, that Hobbs is starting to question what he has always believed in). The best scene in the entire film has to be the square off fight between Hobbs, Toretto, (Luke Evans) and his sidekick, played by Kim Kold. The way everyone automatically aims for the guy with the same body type makes me laugh without fail. Luke Evans is probably the best villain yet. Evans does everything with a quiet, dedicated intensity that makes any role he takes on a success. Could they have fleshed out his motives more? Definitely, but this series isn’t interested in doing that. I also thought it was a generally good idea to tie the villain to the villain in 4, which made Lettie’s sudden reappearance more believable. The cars and races are as impressive as always, and grounding that plane so dramatically is as completely possible as that vault scene in 5, if ya know what I mean. I also love how Hobbs is suddenly also capable of racing muscle cars. The man’s talents knows no bounds. It was very cheesy in the end when Hobbs and Toretto finally acknowledged each others’ worth, but I loved it. There is a lot of other things I’ve come to expect and enjoy – Roman Pearce’s makes the worst jokes ever as usual, Han being all calm and collected, Ludacris being his cool self. The crew in this franchise has always been its’ strongest point, and as always brings the feeling of family across. I’m a little bit apprehensive to move on to the 7^th film, because I have no idea how they addressed Paul Walker’s death in there.

Fast & Furious 6 (2013) (L to R) Hobbs (DWAYNE JOHNSON), Dom (VIN DIESEL) and Brian (PAUL WALKER)

July 8, 2016July 3, 2016 by Natasha Categories: Movies, movies, Review, Reviews, UncategorizedTags: 2013, Brian O'Connor, Dominic Toretto, Dwayne Johnson, Elsa Pataky, Gal Gadot, Gina Carano, Jordana Brewster, Kim Kold, Lettie Ortiz, Ludacris, Luke Evans, Luke Hobbs, Michelle Rodriguez, movie, Movies, Paul Walker, Reviews, Roman Pearce, Sung Kang, The Rock, Tyrese Gibson, Vin Diesel 6 Comments

June 2016: Watched, Read, Loved

Hello! You might have noticed my blogging has been terribly limited lately. I planned to only blog three times a week for a few months, because life is truly speeding at this point and I barely have breaks. I haven’t even really managed three times a week for the past month and that depresses me a little, but I might have a bit more time for a few weeks so that will mean more time to spend on blogs. I’ve missed you!

This is pretty much a roundup of what I’ve been up to – entertainment wise and life wise. As mentioned, life has been hectic this June! I was away for two weeks on study time for my degree, and it always feels like such a time warp. It really is difficult removing myself from my life and living in another town for such a long time – it isn’t holiday so there is no relaxing and very little partying. I mostly end up missing my life and responsibilities, typically having moaned about them only weeks before!

In some more educational news, I passed both my semester exams! I danced and sang and danced some more. I actually got a distinction for this one lame ass subject, which is probably quite exciting when I really think of it, but I was way happier about the cardiovascular physiology that I also passed – I assure you that present me would go back a few years and stop past-me from choosing physiology as one of her majors #whatWasIThinking. I studied myself silly for that subject and it was good to be rewarded for it.

I’m also back to eating healthy – I was starting to slip back into my awful habits of eating all the nonsense out there. It’s hard, but I’m hoping it gets easier within a few weeks – I am assured that it will

I ended up watching a ton of movies that I’ve wanted to see for quite some time. I also got to watch Finding Dory in cinema, and I absolutely loved it.

A list of movies I really want to see in cinema:

Warcraft – I don’t think I’ll make this one, but I am definitely interested in seeing what is going on there.

Me Before You – it falls in either the hate or love camp at this point. I think there is some valid outrage and that disabled people really have a point, but I thought the book was done well enough and explained more eloquently what Will Traynor was about, and the movie

That is pretty much it, but there are a couple of great films also coming out (they will hopefully be great), including in particular Suicide Squad.

Movies watched at home:

Furious 6:

I’m finally done with the Furious franchise (although it might be running for a while still on the blog), and I need to properly rank them. I think my favorite remains Four, regardless of what IMDb thinks. Five is good but seriously unbelievable, and six and seven are so over the top I was rather a bit annoyed with it. Not nearly as bad as Tokyo Drift or 2 Fast 2 Furious (DON’T get me started), but I think they went way too far now.

Furious 7

As I mentioned above, they are going too far. I thought the tribute to Paul Walker was very sweet, but that is about the only thing I truly loved. I also think that the end was better than killing him off in the franchise. As with Mr. Darcy I would rather have him dead than not committed to the cause.

Pretty Woman

It is the first time I ever saw this film, and it ranks so highly now on my list of movies that I love! It is definitely not a film in the 2016 climate where everyone is offended, and that really contributed towards my love of it.

The DUFF

The DUFF was surprisingly hilarious and cute, and I really loved how it went to great lengths to not put the character through yet another makeover cameo that reinforces the belief that you should not be yourself.

The Guest

Second time watching this, and completely loved it again. Man, that Dan Stevens.

Laggies

I actually managed to review this film here. It was horrible, with a completely unrelatable character.

Quantum of Solace

QoS got a whole lot of hate online, and I’m not sure why. It’s not as good as Casino Royale, but it isn’t that bad.

Thor: The Dark World

I think I was pretty harsh on this film when it came out. It isn’t nearly that bad. Sure, it doesn’t come close to the other Marvel films but it was a fair bit of fun.

Series:

I am still working through The Vampire Diaries, and it is going painfully slow. It is not a reflection on the quality of the show, it is a reflection on the amount of time I actually have to watch the show. It’s still good though, Damon is as compelling as ever, Niklaus is endlessly fascinating and even Stefan isn’t as annoying this time around. I hope to get through all the seasons I have and do reviews on them, but I need to actually finish them up for it to happen!

I’m going to try and catch up with GoT at some point – however, I’ve accepted that with this show you either need to watch it immediately or accept that you will see spoilers. It is just too big at this point and the information is everywhere.

I also really need to get to Vikings. I loved the first season, and somehow ended up never even touching the rest. It is a damn shame.

Books:

I reread Whiskey Beach from Nora Roberts. It was one of my least favorite new releases from her when it came out, and I really thought it lacked essential things like good writing. I am revising that because this time around I felt a lot more charitable to it and I actually really enjoyed it.

I’m currently reading The Obsession by Nora Roberts and having the best time with it. I am really happy right now that I spent the cash on it, because I’ve been pining for this book for MONTHS.

I am also currently reading a whole lot of books at the same time. There is A Respectable Trade from Phillipa Gregory, which is really good when I actually sit down to read it, and a book by an Irish author (who I should write down), which is fine but pretty basic. I also really want to get to the sequel of You Before Me, and see how that goes down. I also got New Moon on a special at my local book store, which means I will get to that some time too (don’t judge). And there is another vampire novel. And I should finish this list. I should just read forever, really.

What have you been up to lately??

July 6, 2016July 3, 2016 by Natasha Categories: 2016, Books, Life, Life Lately, Movies, movies, UncategorizedTags: Fast 7, Finding Dory, Furious 6, Laggies, Life Lately, Me Before You, movie, Movies, Nora Roberts, Pretty Woman, Quantum of Solace, The DUFF, The Guest, The Obsession, Thor: The Dark World, Vampire Diaries, Whikey Beach, Worlds of Warcraft 6 Comments

Movie Review: The DUFF (2015)

Plot: A high school senior instigates a social pecking order revolution after finding out that she has been labeled the DUFF – Designated Ugly Fat Friend – by her prettier, more popular counterparts.

Rating: 7/10

I was avoiding this like hellfire because I just wasn’t in the mood for a movie that told young impressionable women that they needed to pretty themselves up for the sake of conformity. It was hilarious in Mean Girls, The Princess Diaries and She’s All That, but let’s face it, we need to start telling girls that it is allowed to be absolutely themselves and that popularity really isn’t all that.

BUT, The DUFF isn’t really like that at all. When Bianca gets told by insensitive-jock-but-actually-not-that-bad Wesley (Robbie Amell) that she is the DUFF of her friend group (read Designated Ugly Fat Friend), she’s understandably upset. It’s obvious that she’s neither Ugly nor Fat at this point, but the producers wouldn’t go as far as casting a really ugly person, which would just be stupid from their point of view. She’s mad at her gorgeous friends, Jess (Skyler Samuels) and Kara (MahaleyHessan) for stringing her along, pretending they are friends, while they are just using her as wingman. They are confused because they had no idea they are that much more beautiful than she is, or popular, and a petty fight ensues. Oh, there is a love interest Toby (Nick Everman), who is soulful, poetic and makes Bianca turn into a mute, and a teacher who really loves Bianca and sees how much she has to offer (Ken Yeong).

There’s thankfully only one clothing montage, in which Wesley helps Bianca (Mae Whitman), get bras and nice things to seduce all the boys. It’s cute and fun, but a recording of it goes viral and Bianca’s life becomes pretty shaky for a while, where she naturally contemplates things and becomes stronger as a result.

It’s nothing spectacular, but the DUFF touches on cyber bullying while dealing with bitchy teens. The constant hashtagging on the screen was weird as hell but as for serving the purpose of keeping the film modern and describing any new character that comes in.

As for dual love interests – firstly Nick Everman, who was hilarious as Toby. He was all in touch with his feelings and musical and in the end so full of shit, but Nick Everman injected a lot of humor to Toby. It won’t be a surprise that in the end Wesley is the real love interest (seriously – that is not spoiler alert, that is a bullet point in a movie like this). Robbie and Steven Amell seems like the slightly less dazzling version of the Hemsworth brothers. It would seem that Robbie acts slightly better, maybe because he doesn’t wear green eye makeup and say “You have failed this city” every episode, but this Amell was not bad at all. He was really well cast as a jock, because that is obvious, but there were a few more serious scenes where he projected his feelings well too.

It would be unfair not to complement Mae Whitman. I thought she was adorable and that she went to some great lengths to prove that she was “original” and “different” – two really important things if you want to make it nowadays in Hollywood. She will be forevermore be cast probably as the quirky girl, but that isn’t the worst way to make money, and she does well enough with this type of material.

It’s very lighthearted, but the DUFF is fun, and manages to finally be a movie that whispers that you don’t need blond hair to be the best thing ever.

Have you seen The DUFF? Let me know what you thought!

July 4, 2016July 3, 2016 by Natasha Categories: 2015, Movies, movies, Review, Reviews, UncategorizedTags: Allison Janney, Bella Thorne, Bianca A. Santos, Ken Jeong, Mae Whitman, movie, Nick Eversman, Review, Reviews, Robbie Amell, Skyler Samuels 8 Comments