Movie Review: The BFG (2016)

Plot: A girl named Sophie encounters the Big Friendly Giant who, despite his intimidating appearance, turns out to be a kind-hearted soul who is considered an outcast by the other giants because, unlike them, he refuses to eat children.

Rating: 6/10

Something went wrong with this movie. Despite the gorgeous animation and one lone little orphan’s impressive performance, The BFG is sufficiently boring enough to put people to sleep.

I’m never going to do cartwheels when I’m informed that I’m going to watch an animation. I rarely watch it as a personal choice, and it is not that I hate it; I just think there are other genres I can occupy my time with. I was favorably impressed by Inside Out in 2015, it is just that good a movie. I really liked Finding Dory and its’ predecessor, The Incredibles is my favorite animation and I’m a huge fan of any old Disney classic. Even Zootopia was cute despite getting life lessons hammered into your brain without a choice.

But BFG just lacked for me. It was boring and I couldn’t be engaged no matter how hard I tried. The kid is pretty cute and did a great job. The giant made me worried – his kidnapping and his insistence to have a child present in such a dangerous environment. But anyway. It felt too long and winded and the resolution was a solid 9 on the WTF scale.

The good things? The visuals were lovely. I really did like the kid actor. That’s about it. The BFG is an overindulgent mess where people just let Steven Spielberg run amok. It seems really easy to create a  financially success animation, but even this one thing of getting parents to watch and kids to enjoy was unreachable to this production. Definitely not my favorite film of last year and it is miraculous I’m keeping this at a 6 rating.

February 27, 2017February 19, 2017 by Natasha Categories: 2016, Movies, movies, Review, Reviews, UncategorizedTags: animation, Big Friendly Giant, Movies, Penelope Wilton, Reviews, Roald Dahl, Ruby Barnhill, Steven Spielberg, The BFG 5 Comments

Blindspot 2017: Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

Plot: Several people are hunted by a cruel serial killer who kills his victims in their dreams. While the survivors are trying to find the reason for being chosen, the murderer won’t lose any chance to kill them as soon as they fall asleep.

Rating: 7.5/10

My venture into the horror / thriller continues, this time with The Nightmare on Elm Street. It is yet another film that I was sure would be so icky and scary that I would just puke and / or cry throughout. And guess who didn’t?! ME!

I quite liked it, but for the horror movies I watched I certainly liked Scream the most. However, this was still quite good, in a perfectly 1984 fashion – the acting, outfits, hair and makeup are so bad. That pink knitted pullover? WHY? The mother had some really interesting makeup as well. I loved seeing Johnny Depp so extremely young. Back then he was quite good looking (he has now progressed to creepy and a bad looking wife beater). I thought Freddy was quite dramatic with his crazy claws and how he put them on. I wanted to yell at them just to go Sam and Dean Winchester on his ass and burn the claw, because we all know that he would immediately perish. Pfft. I thought the movie was cleverly laid out and designed, and even sleep specialists bought in to address what Nancy Thompson went through. Heather Langenkamp was a great heroine – no crazy antics and she decided to fight back pretty quickly.

I don’t have too much else to say this – I really watched quite a lot of movies in a short time and had no brain cells that instructed me to quite write down an opinion on it at the time. I can tell you that as for the horror genre I am really enjoying Wes Craven’s work – it is witty and well thought out and creative. The Nightmare on Elm Street is definitely worth the time to watch, and rather short too, which is always a great thing in my book!

February 24, 2017April 3, 2017 by Natasha Categories: Blindspot, Movies, movies, Review, Reviews, UncategorizedTags: A Nightmare on Elm Street, Amanda Wyss, Blindspot, Blindspot 2017, Fred Krueger, Freddy Kruger, Heather Langenkamp, horror, Johnny Depp, Jsu Garcia, Movies, Nancy Thompson, Reviews, Robert Englund, Ronee Blakley 9 Comments

Book Review: After You (JoJoMoyes) – CONTAINS SPOILERS –

Plot: How do you move on after losing the person you loved? How do you build a life worth living?

Louisa Clark is no longer just an ordinary girl living an ordinary life. After the transformative six months spent with Will Traynor, she is struggling without him. When an extraordinary accident forces Lou to return home to her family, she can’t help but feel she’s right back where she started.

Her body heals, but Lou herself knows that she needs to be kick-started back to life. Which is how she ends up in a church basement with the members of the Moving On support group, who share insights, laughter, frustrations, and terrible cookies. They will also lead her to the strong, capable Sam Fielding—the paramedic, whose business is life and death, and the one man who might be able to understand her. Then a figure from Will’s past appears and hijacks all her plans, propelling her into a very different future…

For Lou Clark, life after Will Traynor means learning to fall in love again, with all the risks that brings. But here Jojo Moyes gives us two families, as real as our own, whose joys and sorrows will touch you deeply, and where both changes and surprises await.

Rating: 8/10

The events of After You take place after Will Traynor’s assisted suicide in Me Before You. Louisa Clark, his handler and eventual love interest, is dealing with the aftermath of his death. Society is no different than usual and judges her for her actions, thinking that she benefited from his death and perhaps should have done more to have stopped him. But they aren’t on ground zero with Louisa. They don’t know how hard she finds it to cope and to live to up to the expectations she can feel from beyond Will’s grave to live an extraordinary life. An accident makes her parents wonder whether she was planning to commit suicide as well, and despite her best assurances she still attends a support group for bereaved people to ease her parents’ mind. Slowly, life starts to normalize and even look more positive, but the appearance of someone who she thought impossible usurps her life once again. Can she fix herself one more time? Move on from Will?

On the new character front Sam appears, and I can now list him as a book boyfriend. I loved him. I knew from the get go that this couldn’t be the guy Jake was referring to. I knew somehow somewhere there was a gap in communication, and serve Louisa right for thinking the worst. Sam was decent, trustworthy, dependable, really hot and not without scars. Someone perfectly whole wouldn’t have been a good choice for Lou. She’s seen too much and gone through a lot of heartbreak. I was ready to write all the angry letters to JoJoMoyes during the last few chapters in the book, but it would have been for nothing as the end result really pleased me.

The biggest shocker of the book is the existence of Lily, Will’s daughter. I immediately pitied Lily. Her mother was clearly horrible at parenting, she had no foundation and everything she needed to turn into a stable kid was removed at her mother’s whim. Discovering that she had a father that became quadriplegic and chose to end his own life couldn’t have been a joy, and realizing that the family he left behind was neither whole nor perfect sure was a shocker too. I called most of the eventual developments on this character, but that doesn’t mean that I am not happy she ended up with Mrs. Traynor. They both needed something to get them through life, and they are perfect to depend on each other.

Lou’s family is still a driving force in her life. Her brilliant sister, saddled with a young boy so early. Her mother discovering her feminism and her father’s objection to it causes some hilarity but is also a reminder of how life must look for women who spent their entire lives looking after their children. I really liked that these characters remained in the book as it was such a central part to Lou’s character.

I really liked the pace and development of each character. After You certainly is more conventionally romance than Me Before You was. I was reminded of how I thought Marian Keyes would be if she chose to write about normal things. JoJoMoyes has the ability to get you unhealthily involved. I was so stressed about every character in that book. Her support characters are as well developed as her main characters, and she writes them with empathy and humor. You can’t help root as hard for Lou’s mother who is refusing to shave her legs as you are rooting for Lou, worry about Jake, think about Donna and most of all, wonder about the wellbeing of the Traynor family.

I was a huge fan of this book. It made me sad when it ended. I would have loved a third instalment. I checked but I seem to be unlucky in that regard. I recommend naturally that you read the first novel first (the movie doesn’t do it justice) and then read this one. Both are compelling reads that will touch your heart.

PS: Can I please have a Sam?

February 22, 2017February 22, 2017 by Natasha Categories: Books, Review, Reviews, UncategorizedTags: After You, Book, Books, JoJo Moyes, Louisa Clark, Me Before You, Reading, Will Traynor 3 Comments

Series Review: Alias Season 1 (2002)

What I liked:

• The pilot episode – so long and intense and comprehensive. It had a lot to cover and managed to get the events in without becoming boring. And that red wig man.
• The relationship dynamic – Sydney and her university friends, with her father, the extremely complex one she develops with Arvin Sloane and the complicated work relationship she finds herself in with Michael Vaughn. Her relationship with her SD 6 partner Dixon is prototype cop/spy partner relationship – extreme faith and support and I really liked that.
• The actors – Jennifer Garner, Michael Vartan, Bradley Cooper, Victor Garber, Carl Lumbly, Kevin Weisman, MerrinDungey
• The story and how heartbreaking it when you sit think it through – Sydney’s loss of her fiancé, the awful reveal of what SD6 is and her turning against them, and the knowledge that most of the people within the ranks of SD6 truly believe that they are working as a clandestine operation for the CIA.

• Can we just talk about the episodes with Quentin Tarantino in? I laughed and laughed despite the desperate situation of the characters. He is SO bad. The man is such an insanely talented director but that where it stops – like keep him of the screen haha.
• The progress Sydney and Jack makes as father and daughter. Sydney has legitimate issues with her father – he can be cold and removed and is terrifying to boot. When she learns that he works for the people that had her fiancé slaughtered, they take another knock. That is not the end to the story and the two learn to trust and rely on each other and become more comfortable with each other as the show goes on.
• Vaughn’s relationship with Eric Weiss. I DO like Eric. He is such a comedic drive to the show and full of quips.
• JJ Abrams is such a champion of women. Sydney Bristow’s is loyal to her friends, sweet, kind, intelligent, kick ass and caring. She’s written as a multi-dimensional character that saves herself and those around her. I really enjoy the character and appreciate how she was written and brought to life by Jennifer Garner.
• It would be easy to be annoyed with Will Trippin – he’s so sweet and kind and totally inlove with Sydney, and a complete spanner in the wheel where certain other people are concerned. Yet he manages to be sweet without being annoying and kind without coming across as insincere. He’s also a good journalist with a nose for a story and I suffered untold horrors about this character. Bradley Cooper is so sweet and young in here.
• I thought Sark (David Anders) made the perfect villain. He is so cold and collected and young at the same time. He’s not that often seen in this season, but his introduction is chilling and mind teasing.

What I didn’t like:

• The Francie stories –don’t get me wrong, I like Francie and her role in Sydney’s life, but Francie’s love life is completely NOT what this show is about.
• Sydney’s mother – this started to irritate me even this early on. I think Alias has enough to deal with without bringing another character into the equation.
• Anna Espinosa – she seemed like a pointless exercise to be the girl-Sydney-must-fight.

Rating: 8.5/10

I really enjoyed this season and it was such a good choice to visit again! I’ve already finished the second season, which was almost as good, and can’t wait to finish it all!

February 21, 2017February 19, 2017 by Natasha Categories: Review, Reviews, Series, UncategorizedTags: Alias, Bradley Cooper, Carl Lumbly, CIA, Jennifer Garner, JJ Abrams, Kevin Wisman, Merrin Dungey, Michael Vartan, Quentin Tarantino, Reviews, Series, Spy, The CIA, Victor Garber 2 Comments

Movie Review: Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016)

Plot: A national manhunt is ordered for a rebellious kid and his foster uncle who go missing in the wild New Zealand bush.  

Rating: 8.5/10

Director Taika Waititi has a quality that most men don’t have – the ability to me laugh hysterically. I still haven’t recovered from watching What We Do in the Shadows, one of the only films where the term LOL was quite literal. Thus, I was naturally on board with watching another film done by him, even though many people told me that the Hunt For the Wilderpeople is completely different to WWDITS, I was still willing to give it a go. Critical acclaim and word on the ground that it was a fine film? Count me in.

Ricky Baker (Julian Dennison) is a troubled teen who is sent to live with new foster parents Bella (Rima TeWiata) and Hec (Sam Neill). He is verbose, obviously intelligent, well informed on popular culture and very fond of Haiku. He quickly forms a relationship with Bella, but the personality differences between Ricky and the stoic bushman Hec is quite significant. Heartwarming hysterics ensue when it is mistakenly assumed that Hec kidnapped Ricky and a manhunt, led by an overzealous agent, is initiated to find the two in the New Zealand bush. An unlikely bond and friendship is born, and the two set on an epic quest to evade the quickly escalating man hunt.

Julian Dennison and Sam Neill deliver excellent work. Dennison is super cute with a mobile face that accurately expresses any feeling he has. Sam Neill is a veteran and complements Dennison’s over exuberance by being the opposite – a wild, introverted bushman.

The film is endearing, heartwarming, hilarious, sad and beautifully directed. Can you tell I liked it yet? Good. I wouldn’t have thought this is in my genre of things I like, but it has become a habit of Waititi to make you like something that shouldn’t have worked in the first place. I’m actually worried that Hollywood will ruin this superb director. His next film is Thor: Ragnarok, something that will provide him with instant star status and access to big budgets, and it would be quite a letdown if he somehow lost his unique stamp because of the money wielding machine Marvel is. I will keep my fingers crossed for the best, but in the meantime, if you need a film to pick you up and motivate you for life in general, I suggest you give this a try.

February 20, 2017February 19, 2017 by Natasha Categories: 2016, Movies, movies, Review, Reviews, UncategorizedTags: Hunt For The Wilderpeople, Julian Dennison, Movies, Reviews, Rima TeWiata, Sam Neill, Taika Waititi 10 Comments

Movie Review: Sisters (2016)

Plot: Two sisters decide to throw one last house party before their parents sell their family home.

Rating: 4/10

It’s really hard for me to write out a review when I disliked a film but it didn’t inspire extreme anger in me. It’s hard to pull emotions then and put them into words. Anyone else have that problem?

Sisters should have been good. With two of the best comedic actresses out there, Sisters should have been uproariously funny. It wasn’t – the humor was flat and ill-timed and badly paced. Amy Poehler and Tina Fey looked uncomfortable and it is astonishing but they didn’t have any connection on screen. I was bored most of the time and found the entire movie to be highly implausible and utterly ridiculous. A bunch of middle class Americans completely destroying a suburban house?A sink hole taking out an entire swimming pool?The owners of the house being okay with the complete wreckage? On top of all that a happy ending for everyone involved? I mean really – I can take an enormous amount of improbability in a movie but the quantity of nonsense that occurred in the Ellis house party exceeded even my high threshold of tolerance.

Anyway, this is as much as you are getting from me. I’m really glad I didn’t travel out to go see this in cinema; it would have made it that much worse. The characters are all unlikeable, immature and just plain stupid. The forced romance is unnecessary and insincere. The charisma between the leads lacked and the entire plot was a bunch of shit.

PS: Me and my sisters are WAY cooler than this.

February 17, 2017February 3, 2017 by Natasha Categories: 2016, Movies, movies, Review, Reviews, UncategorizedTags: Amy Poehler, Comedy, Dianne Wiest, Ike Barenholtz, James Brolin, John Cena, Maya Rudolph, Movies, Reviews, Sisters, Tina Fey 8 Comments

Movie Review: Sicario (2015)

Plot: An idealistic FBI agent is enlisted by a government task force to aid in the escalating war against drugs at the border area between the U.S. and Mexico.

Rating: 8.5/10

Sicario is a tensely packed thriller that does not let its’ audience relax for the duration of the two hours. It is harsh on the eyes and does not shy away from violence, but I didn’t find it gratuitous and that works fine for me in a film. I don’t appreciate senseless violence that serves only to shock and not to further the story. Sicario’s gritty crime scenes will undoubtedly stay with you but it is more because of what it indicates of the world than the violence itself.

I was under the impression and still am that the entire cast delivered a stellar performance. The most outstanding is without a doubt Benicio Del Toro. He was incessantly praised for his work as Alejandro and after seeing him at it I am not in the least surprised. Alejandro’s motives aren’t clear and he’s not your average black or white character. Is he a good guy? Is he a bad guy? It is obvious that you shouldn’t mess with him and that he is dangerous and well versed in drug trafficking. Up until the very end you still don’t know whether you can trust him. Hell, I’m still not even sure whether he is GOOD or BAD. I really liked that he was so short with Kate in the beginning and eventually thawed towards her, yet never deviating from his overall mission.

It would be easy to overlook Josh Brolin, who played his character with cockiness that was wildly appealing. It would also be quite unfair because there were times where I really wanted more of him on screen because he was every bit as shady as Alejandro, only more good natured about it. It is also impossible to trust him one hundred percent. He and Alejandro are clearly thick as thieves and they share trust, but are they who they say they are?

Then there was Kate who is brought to the screen by Emily Blunt. I am always onboard with watching a drama that has Blunt in, she is exceptionally good in dramas and action films. I know some people thought she was a bit hyper emotional. Was she emotional? Yes. Was she also a young, optimistic FBI agent that got pulled in deep very quickly? Also yes. I won’t say that I wish the character had had the balls to fight back at her enemies, but I did enjoy her.

There are a lot of other actors I enjoyed – Victor Garber, Jon Bernthal, and Daniel Kaluuya had their time on screen here and I loved them for it. I am such a major fan of Victor Garber. You can’t watch Alias and not be, he is one of the very best in there. I really haven’t seen Bernthal in anything actually, although I have heard of him and for the few moments he was here I was highly appreciative. Daniel Jaluuya was Kate’s partner, and he had perhaps even a more optimistic opinion of the law enforcement world. They had a sweet relationship full of friendship and support and genuine care.

I have to say one of this film’s greatest accomplishments is that it kept my attention. For the two hours I was engrossed and didn’t want to stop watching once. I can’t tell you how rare that is, as I am fully convinced I have some adult ADHD because I get bored and distracted quite easily. That, combined with how boring movies can get these days, makes it just short of a miracle that I was engaged the entire time. The last half an hour had me holding my breath. It was tense and up until the very end I really couldn’t predict who would walk out alive.

If I had taken the time to watch Sicario in 2015, it probably would have ended up really high on my 2015 TOP TEN films. I was immensely pleased to hear that director Denis Vileneuve is planning to to make this a franchise by directing Soldado, in which, Soldado in which Josh Brolin and Benicio Del Toro reprise their roles. I’m raising my hand here in the “Who can’t wait” department, and I will be first in line to buy a ticket. I will also commit to watching Prisoners – I’ve been hounded by people to watch this film for ages now, but now that I know how good director Vileneuve is I will definitely give it a try.

February 13, 2017February 3, 2017 by Natasha Categories: 2015, Movies, movies, Review, Reviews, UncategorizedTags: Benico Del Toro, Daniel Kaluuya, Denis Vileneuve, Emily Blunt, Jeffrey Donovan, Jon Bernthal, Josh Brolin, Movies, Reviews, Sicario, Victor Garber 11 Comments

Movie Review: How to lose a guy in ten days (2003)

Plot: Benjamin Barry is an advertising executive and ladies’ man who, to win a big campaign, bets that he can make a woman fall in love with him in 10 days. Andie Anderson covers the “How To” beat for “Composure” magazine and is assigned to write an article on “How to Lose a Guy in 10 days.” They meet in a bar shortly after the bet is made.  

Rating: 6.5/10

Before yelling All right, all right all right, wearing a cowboy hat and going into space, Matthew McConaughey was best known for acting in a long list of questionable romantic comedies. Since it kept that handsome mug of his fed I’m not too despondent about it, and he was able to star in a number of slightly amusing ones, such as How To Lose A Guy in Ten Days.

It is easy to say what I liked – I found the stints Andie Anderson (Kate Hudson) pulled on Benjamin Barry hilarious. They are such cliché’s and so highly irritating I’m surprised the character didn’t completely lose his mind. Kate Hudson displayed a good amount of comedic ability and it seemed that she was having a great time with this movie. The inclusion of Kathryn Hahn and Adam Goldberg as colleagues slash friends to Andy and Benjamin respectively were also good decisions as they are great supporting actors. The plot managed to maintain its cool – I’m not going to claim that this is a plausible scenario nor a very wise one, but they did manage to link the two characters up by deliberate actions of Barry’s coworkers. The only scene to which I took exception to was the singing at the formal dinner party – I mean which two professional people would do that with both their employers present?

How To Lose A Guy in Ten Days isn’t the type of film to win an Oscar obviously, but I don’t think it had ever such esteemed expectations during production. From a comedic standpoint it had some great laughs and from a romantic one it isn’t nauseating mostly because our main female lead was from the start cynical and amused at her job challenge. It is highly recommended that you don’t watch this if you can’t switch off your brain once in a while to enjoy a movie though – not for the very serious minded movie buffs 😀

PS: As a side note to romantic comedies I might add that the valuable lesson that can be taken from this is to never play with other people’s emotions. It is really not nice to use someone as an article accessory or to win a bet at work, idiots.

February 10, 2017February 8, 2017 by Natasha Categories: Movies, Review, Reviews, UncategorizedTags: Adam Goldberg, Annie Parrise, How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days, Kate Hudson, Kathryn Hahn, Matthew McConaughey, Michael Michele, Movies, Reviews, Romantic Comedies, Shalom Harlow, Thomas Lennon 5 Comments

Book Review: The Power Of Six (Pittacus Lore)

The Lorien Legacies #2

Plot:

I’ve seen him on the news. Followed the stories about what happened in Ohio. John Smith, out there, on the run. To the world, he’s a mystery. But to me . . . he’s one of us.

Nine of us came here, but sometimes I wonder if time has changed us—if we all still believe in our mission. How can I know? There are six of us left. We’re hiding, blending in, avoiding contact with one another . . . but our Legacies are developing, and soon we’ll be equipped to fight. Is John Number Four, and is his appearance the sign I’ve been waiting for? And what about Number Five and Six? Could one of them be the raven-haired girl with the stormy eyes from my dreams? The girl with powers that are beyond anything I could ever imagine? The girl who may be strong enough to bring the six of us together?

They caught Number One in Malaysia.
Number Two in England.
And Number Three in Kenya.
They tried to catch Number Four in Ohio—and failed.

I am Number Seven. One of six still alive.

And I’m ready to fight.

Rating: 7/10

Before I start this review I have to say that I am really pleased that I am reading new books this year. I’m really a problem child when it comes to reading new books. I love to read my favorite novels on a loop, and while that isn’t an unforgivable crime, it certainly limits the amount of literature you get exposed to.

The Power of Six is the second book in the Lorien Legacies, which co-written by James Frey and Jobie Hughes. I noticed and appreciated that it doesn’t have that thing where the book doesn’t make sense because it received input from too many people. The pacing of the books are good, the content interesting and quite unique in the overpopulated genre where people most often than not “borrow” a few ideas. The characters aren’t as annoying as one might expect teenager characters to be, and the books lack melodrama.

The Power of Six introduces Marina, who is the Sixth Garde that was sent down to earth in a hope to preserve the Lorien race after an attack by the Mogadorians. Her Cepan, Maria, has lost all courage and is content to live in a quiet nunnery in Spain. This results in Marina not being trained or informed properly by her Cepan of her heritage, and she becomes increasingly desperate to escape. Her Legacies are also developing and she has trouble hiding them all the time. A little bit of light at the end of the tunnel occurs when she meets Ella, an orphan who quickly becomes a form of a confidante.

Meanwhile Four, Sam, Seven and Bernie Kosar is still on the run from the FBI after the destruction of their high school in Paradise. Here an irritating little love triangle develops and Four starts to pay more attention to Seven than which would be appropriate considering his good friend likes her and he is already in a relationship. It is a part of the story I really didn’t find enjoyable. I’d really hoped that they would omit love triangles, but I guess that is too much to ask.

For the girls here, I like Seven’s proactive attitude but I do not appreciate her playing with the emotions of both boys. Marina has amazing powers and I thoroughly enjoyed that, but she had a bit of an apathetic attitude that got grating quickly. Ella has to be mentioned because (spoiler): she is number 10. Her gift is by far the most impressive thus far.

The boys: Four (or John Smith) is a pretty cool character and I enjoy him, though he can be too impulsive and selfish at times. I am a huge fan of Sam and he does great work representing the human race. The later inclusion of Number 9 was unexpected but decent too, and I think the next book, which focuses primarily on him if I look just at the title.

A real problem I had with the book is the constant switching between characters without any indication except a font change. It happened more than once that I was confused about why everything was different. I also feel that the fighting scenes really get out of hand. It takes pages to resolve something and I get bored at the third strange animal attacking a character. Ugh.

Overall I enjoyed The Power Of Six. The different Legacies keep me quite entertained, they are really ingenious and fun! I hope the third book continues to interest me. They are fast paced novels that aren’t too intense. I’m planning to get to book three after I finish my current book, so you’ll definitely end up knowing what I thought of it!

Have you read the The Power of Six? Tell me all about it!

February 8, 2017February 8, 2017 by Natasha Categories: Books, reading, Review, UncategorizedTags: Bernie Kosar, Books, Cepan, Garde, James Frey, Jobie Hughes, John Smith, Lorien, Marina, Mogadorians, Pittacus Lore, Reading, Reviews, The Lorien Legacies 4 Comments

Watched, Read, Loved: January 2017

I’m not going to bless you with that whole “how quick did this month go” crap, because let’s face it; January 2017 took its sweet time being done. At this stage I’m so deliberately avoiding bitching about politics on here, but please note that I do a whole lot of bitching in private about that man who is committing genocide.

I had my birthday on the 25^th. I am now officially on the wrong side of 25. I’m 27, so I’ve already been on the wrong side for a whole year, but I was ignoring that at 26. Apart from suddenly stressing about retirement plans and the meaning of my entire existence, I’m not too stressed. I have decided that 27 good things WILL happen to me this year, so I will keep you in the loop.

Here is what I got up to this month, which is an impressive amount! #GoMe

Movies watched:

10 Things I hate about you:

Confession time: if I had to go live on an island indefinitely with only ten movies to watch, I’d very likely pack 10 Things I Hate About You in.  I love everything about this film – how 90’s everything is: Julia Stiles’ hair, the clothes everyone wore, the music and the cars. I die every time Heath Ledger gifts us with that smile; it is equal parts pain and pleasure. The quick bantering and the ridiculous teenage humor make me laugh every single time. I actually wrote a post about how much I love this film, so I won’t turn it into a whole review here, but I’m sure you are getting the point here that I love this film.

How to lose a guy in ten days: Kate Hudson used to be my ultimate girl crush as a teenager – she’s so pretty and preppy and blonde. I’m now at a point where I want actresses to be more than pretty, preppy and blonde, but I still find her a good romantic comedy lead. She wouldn’t hold up in more serious roles, but these? I’ll cast her any day. It also contains the delicious Matthew M.

To Kill a Mockingbird (1962): I finally managed to finish up my Blindspots for 2016. To round the year of with To Kill A Mockingbird was a great idea – what an incredible film.

Passengers (2017): These films with the strange release dates make it impossible to put them in the correct year. I watched in this year, hence this year will be referenced. I actually really liked it and think that the Oscar nod for set design is well deserved. I know it didn’t go down well with everybody, but I actually quite enjoyed it despite the numerous flaws.

Fool’s Gold (2008): This falls in the time frame where Matthew McConaughey became the romantic comedy guy, something which still grates on a lot of people today. I do think that Fool’s Gold lacks certain important things like a proper plot, but I didn’t hate it at all.

Scream 4: I finished up my run on the Scream franchise this month. I am so sad! Because while I can definitely watch it again, I won’t ever be able to watch it for the first time again. I’m only posting this for Halloween, because I’d love to actually do a Halloween month this year, but please know that I did love this so much!

Sicario (2015): Don’t you just love when a film is good enough to inspire you to read up on what you are watching? Shortly after the film ended I read up all about Juarez, Mexico, and the increasingly dodgy sounding CIA. Sicario is a great film that stays with you after you watched it and I will definitely be revisiting Denis Vileneuve’s film in the near future.

The Princess Diaries:A Royal Engagement (2004): I remember this as a decent movie, which it was NOT. I adore the first Princess Diaries, but the sequel suffers from the sequelitis and it is rampant with bad acting, bad pacing and general badness. The years have been kind to Chris Pine – he is so much more attractive right now than he was in 2004.

Love, Rosie (2014): I’m still trying to formulate some thoughts on Love, Rosie. Did I like it? Moderately so. I know for a fact that it contains some of the most awkward of scenes ever invented, and I was horrified and cringed so much. It gets a little drawn out and the story is never really strong. I do think that Sam Claflin is simply beautiful and that if just smiled all the time the world would be a better place.

Vrou Soek Boer (2014): I got my fix of Afrikaans films with Vrou Soek Boer in January. It translates to “A woman is looking for a farmer” but it was a much cuter film than that translation suggested. I enjoyed it very much!

Sisters (2016): This is surely the biggest waste of cash of 2016 for me. I bought this on DVD, sure I would at least like it okay. Nope. I hated it. What a stupid, unfunny film.

The Accountant (2016): To embrace my mood of needing to watch people beat up things I picked up the Accountant. Ben Affleck’s hit of 2016, where he is an autistic superhero, fulfilled that need on some level but I was also left feeling vaguely unsatisfied with the ending.

Series:

The X-Files Season 1: I am having so much fun with the X-files. There is nothing better when you discover a series and along with the discovery is the fact that there are so many seasons with a lot of episodes per season. SCORE! It took me a few episodes to get used to the layout of the show as well as the whole 1992 vibe the first season has going for it. It is pretty good and smart, as well as some funny conspiracy moments going on.

Alias Season 3: Alias has been great to me. I still need to finish Seasons four and five. I had some issues with the third season such as Sydney being a complete psycho, but overall still really great.

True Blood Season 1: I’ve been in the mood torewatch this for a while now. After watching a few episodes that need was cured because True Blood has some grating characters in that I somehow softened in my memory. I might still finish it, but right now there are other better shows that deserve attention.

Books:

The Collaborator (Margaret Leroy): Few books have stayed with me like this book has. I’ve had the worst book hangover since then and such troubles finding another book to seek my teeth into.

The Road to the Sea (Ciara Hegarthy): I’m going to go rampant on this book when I finally review it. Overly descriptive and insanely boring, this is one of the least favorite novels I’ve picked up in a while.

The Power of Six (Pittacus Lore): I’m almost done with Book Two in the Lorien Legacies. Although I am still enjoying, the first read and progressed a whole lot better.

What have you been up to?

February 7, 2017February 7, 2017 by Natasha Categories: 2017, Movies, reading, Review, Series, UncategorizedTags: 10 Things I hate about you, 2017, Alias, Amy Poehler, Anna Kendrick, Anne Hathaway, Ben Affleck, Benico Del Toro, Bok Van Blerk, Chris Pine, Chris Pratt, Ciara Hegarthy, Emily Blunt, Fool's Gold, How to Lose A Guy In Ten Days, January, Jennifer Lawrence, JK Simmons, Jon Bernthal, Josh Brolin, Kate Hudson, Lika Berning, Lily Collins, Love, Love Rosie, Margaret Leroy, Matthew McConaughey, monthly rundowns, Nico Panagio, Passengers, Pittacus Lore, Sam Claflin, Sicario, Sisters, The Accountant, The Collaborator, The Power of Six, The Princess Diaries, The Road to The Sea, The X-files, Tina Fey, To Kill a Mockingbird, True Blood 11 Comments