Movie Review: The Host (2013)

Plot: When an unseen enemy threatens mankind by taking over their bodies and erasing their memories, Melanie will risk everything to protect the people she cares most about, proving that love can conquer all in a dangerous new world.

The Host is again one of the movies where the Internet and I do not see eye to eye. Based on the Sci-Fi/dystopian novel of the same name by Stephanie Meyer, The Host was released in the time where the Twilight craze was full blown. It’s not hard to see what the grand plan was here – the producers hoped the Twilight hype was enough to draw crowds for The Host. That didn’t happen – I don’t think the majority of the Twilight fan base would even appreciate Melanie Stryder – she’s way more independent than the ever whiney and spineless Bella Swan. The Host is also not strong enough to stand as a Science Fiction film, and any hardcore SciFi fan would be irritated by the predominantly romantic and schmaltzy moments between the lead characters. So while The Host failed rather in the eyes of the public, I enjoyed it.

Before I typically start only discussing characters again – let’s just talk about how dark the whole essence of The Host is. Humans being infected with aliens and their souls dying out while they are trapped in their bodies?Brutal man.

Also, there were some great scenery – the barren landscapes are gorgeous, contrasted sharply with the world environment created by the alien species. The CGI was also neat. The being network thing was beautiful to behold. The cave that was transformed by Jeb is also amazing to behold, and the harvest nearly angelical in its’ existence.

I’m a big Saoirse Ronan fan – the girl can act life into any character. She applies subtle changes to her impressions of Wanda and Melanie, and can appear slightly alien and very human alternately. There is naturally a bit of a love triangle – it wouldn’t be a Meyer book without it – and Max Irons and Jake Abel, who star as Jared Howe and Ian O’Shea, seem at times a bit bemused by how they ended up in this film, and also comes across as unconvinced and bored, but that doesn’t stop them from being smoldering and sexy love interests when they must. I did enjoy Diane Kruger as The Seeker – the character is such a big pain in the ass, and proves not all the beings are as benign as Wanderer claims. It took me some time to place Frances Fisher – she’s Rose’s mom in Titanic – and I think she could have been worked in more frequently into the film with her character serving as the voice of doubt. William Hurt as Jeb was also fun, with some good one-liners that I enjoyed. Kidlet Chandler Canterbury as Jamie Stryder was likely the weakest performance – he was unconvincing and wasn’t really capable of acting out the role, I’ve seen other kids do much better work with similar source material.

The Host focuses mostly on the romance and very little on the actual story – which is quite interesting and thus a shame. However, I do enjoy the romance part as I have a marshmallow heart underneath it all. The movie could have been better planned and executed, but overall I can see myself watching it again. That is the most important part of entertainment, right?

Rating: 6.5/10

 

June 26, 2017June 5, 2017 by Natasha Categories: Movies, movies, Review, ReviewsTags: Alien Invasion, Aliens, Boyd Holbrook, Chandler Canterbury, Diane Kruger, Dystopian, Frances Fisher, Ian O'Shea, Jake Abel, Jared Howe, Max Irons, Melanie Stryder, SciFi, Scott Lawrence, Stephanie Meyer, The Host, The Seeker, Wanderer, William Hurt 3 Comments

Blindspot 2016: final rankings

WOW. I’m done! Can you believe it?! I most certainly can’t. My 2016 Blindspot list was the list I’ve bitched about the most, not because of the bad movies but because I struggled so much getting time to site down and watch the films I chose. I’ve been really bad with schedules, which really ddin’t help the matter. But anyway, let’s stop that now because yet I still somehow managed to see all each and every film listed.

My list of 2017 is up tomorrow, and I’ve at least seen a number of them in preparation with my bestie and the remainders are great films won’t feel like a bit of a chore to get through. I also have most of those films already available, which was one of the reasons I took so long with 2016’s Blindspot – struggling to find these films.

Here’s a rundown of from least favorite to favorite. The scores are listed, but I’m not too worried about that right now, just basically listing what I remember actually liking the most.

Spot #12: Home Alone (1990)

Rating: 6/10

This is definitely the movie on the list that I should have watched way early in my life to really love it. I can see why people my age would love it if they saw it as children, and probably has the same sentiment towards it as I do towards a film like Matilda, which again reminds me that I really want to watch Matilda again. Home Alone was lost on me, I really couldn’t find any interest in a story where the main character was a child.

Spot #11: Love Actually (2003)

Rating: 6.5/10

There are people that actually think that this is one of the best romantic comedies of all time. I could not disagree more. There are critically few characters that are even remotely likeable and I was highly offended by most of their actions. Eugh.The best thing about this film is Colin Firth and Alan Rickman, and if those two men can’t convince me that a film is worth it, nothing can.

Spot #10: Back To the Future (1985)

Rating: 7/10

The same as Home Alone here – missed my chance. It was much more appealing though as there were at least older characters, but I still felt my attention wavering once or twice.

Spots # 8 & 9: Kill Bill Volume 1 (2003)& 2 (2004)

Rating: 7.5/10 and 8/10

Yes, I am fully aware that these are Tarantino films so low on my list, but I have my reasons – mostly (and I might get shot for this bout of honesty), is that I found the story a bit lacking on both and overly violent even for Tarantino. I am such a fan of Django Unchained, Inglorious Basterds (my favorite), and Pulp Fiction, and these two didn’t get anywhere close to touching my top favorite films of his.

Spot #7: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

Rating: 8.5/10

I had trouble finding films this year that convinced me of its originality, and ESotSM is one of the very few that could convince me that creative talent was still alive and well. I loved Kate Winslet with her crazy hair, I adored Jim Carrey, Mark Ruffalo was adorable and Frodo was a sufficient level of creep in here. Hey! Kristen Dunst didn’t make me gnash my teeth.

Spot #6: Warrior (2011)

Rating: 8/10

This movie! I was bent double with anxiety. Who must win? Does any person deserve to lose? Performances by Joel Edgerton and Tom Hardy were phenomenal. I cannot accept that this film tanked in the box office, it is truly great.

Spot #5: Memento (2000)

Rating: 8/10

Another frequenter of my Blindspots has been Christopher Nolan. He’s such an intelligent man and it comes through in his films. Memento was this year’s pick, and I unsurprisingly loved it.

Spots #3 and 4: Alien (1979) and Aliens (1986)

Ratings: 8.5/10 (both)

Yes, I agree. How haven’t I seen these two films up until now?! I lived for 26 years without the knowledge of how awesome Ripley was or how gross the chestbursters are, and although my life wasn’t sad before, it is all the richer now.

Spot #2: To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)

Rating: 9/10

Both numbers one and two for me were really sad and thought provoking films that provided insight into the very best and the very worst of the human nature. Pan’s Labyrinth is the ONLY film that could have beaten out To Kill A Mockingbird.

Spot #1: Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)

Rating: 9/10

The winner of the year is the gut wrenching and incredibly poignant Pan’s Labyrith. This is a bit touchy feely, but watching this film made me want to cry for two reasons – the beautiful directing and the sad story of Ophelia and her desperate escape methods from the horrors of her world.

Well, there we have it. I enjoyed the majority of this list – truly it is probably only numbers 10 – 12 that really grated on me, and yet I am not displeased about spending time with them. Did you do a Blindspot in 2016? Comment below t and I haven’t discovered your undoubtedly awesome page, send me the link below 🙂

January 12, 2017January 11, 2017 by Natasha Categories: 2016, Blindspot, Movies, movies, UncategorizedTags: Alan Rickman, Alien, Aliens, Back to the Future, Blindspot, Blindspot 2016, Carrie-Anne Moss, chestburster, Christopher Nolan, Colin Firth, Elijah Wood, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Gregory Peck, Guy Pearce, Harper Lee, Home Alone, Jim Carry, Joe Pantoliano, Joel Edgerton, Kate Winslet, Keira Knightley, Kill Bill, Kirsten Dunst, Love Actually, Mark Ruffalo, Marty McFly, Memento, Pan's Labyrinth, Quentin Tarantino, Ridley Scott, Sigourney Weaver, To Kill a Mockingbird, Tom Hardy, Uma Thurman, Warrior 9 Comments

Watched, Read, Loved: November 2016 – Most dramatic month ever?

What a month! It’s been crazy. I wrote this long ass post about all my opinions and then I was like eh, don’t need it, not my country, not my cheescurl. So let’s just go on with the usual here and do the rundown of what I was up to this month as usual, shall we?

I finished exams – YAS. So far I’ve passed everything with one result still pending. I’m darn pleased with myself, to be honest. So close to being done I can smell it. I’ve been rather irritated with some things at work, but my eyes have been opened a bit – I am so fortunate to be employed by a stable company where there is a 30% unemployment rate in South-Africa right now, and I should really be more thankful about that. I also broke plates at a Greek restaurant, and I now fully understand why the Greek people are so joyous – it is therapeutic! I also managed to be caught in rain storms quite a few times, and as I’m writing this I have a disgusting head cold going on – sneezing, coughing, basically being the person I’d generally want to murder.

Watched in cinema:

Dr. Strange(2016)

I enjoyed this film quite a lot. It really IS Iron Man on drugs and has the exact same story, but I liked it nonetheless. Benedict Cumberbatch truly is the definition of the term strange, and works superbly in this Marvel film. (and he WERKS that cape)

 

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find them (2016)

I made no secret in my review that I had zero time for this film. What a precious waste of my time and abuse of the Potter world. Ugh.

 Watched at home:

Aliens (1986)

So much epic. I am so glad I sat down and watched this, my 2016 blindspot series has been quite the disaster and I’m scrapping it off the menu for 2017 completely. However, I did enjoy a whole bunch of the watched films, and this was one of them. Ripley is so badass man, so badass.

Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)

As mentioned above, I’ve been kicking and screaming trying to finish my Blindspots while totally not in the mood, but this turned out to be so beautiful and heartbreaking. Totally worth the time and paying attention to the English subtitles.

 

Series:

Vampire Diaries Season 5

It’s good, but definitely lacks a bit in terms of my favorite – season 3. However, Elena isn’t the world’s most annoying vampire ever, which can only be an improvement. Review will hopefully be up soon 😀

Books read:

The Dressmaker– Kate Alcott

Despite this being the title of THREE DIFFERENT NOVELS – which lead to a variety of confusion -I have all the love for this book. It is definitely not the same story as the movie that I want to watch with Kate Winslet and Liam Hemsworth, but I am so happy I took a chance. What a lovely, interesting and thought provoking read this was!

The Power of Six – Pittacus Lore

The second book in the Lorien Legacies is also turning out to be a fantastic read. It is well written and well thought out, something most of these dystopian/alien/teenage books lack completely.

I am Number Four – Pittacus Lore

I reviewed this over HERE, and it was one of the better books I read this year. Very impressed!

Love by Design: Loving Jack and Best Laid Plans – Nora Roberts

I’ll never really review this – it has little to no story line and is essentially just some smooch smoochy stories. Even in my bedraggled study brain mode this was too dumb for me, and I probably skipped quite a few pages because there are only so many scorching kisses that can be read.

Reread:  Convincing Alex – Nora Roberts

A reread that won’t be seeing another review. I find these books fun and vacant, and having met real Ukranians I can assure you that they are not Mikhael and Alexi Stanislaski, ladies.

Reread:  Luring A Lady–Nora Roberts

Same as above. It was fun while it lasted!

Reread: The Obsession (Nora Roberts) – I have so much love for this book and author (as you all know), and I’m enjoying it the second time around – I borrowed it to a friend shortly after finishing it the first time, and I must say, it is as good as my first impression of it.

What have you been entertaining yourself with? Tell me in the comments 🙂

December 6, 2016December 2, 2016 by Natasha Categories: 2016, Books, Movies, movies, Nora Roberts, Series, UncategorizedTags: 2016, Aliens, Benedict Cumberbatch, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Damon Salvatore, Dr. Strange, Eddie Redmayne, Fantastic Beasts and where to find them, Guillermo Del Toro, Harry Potter, I am Number Four, Ian Somerhalder, JK Rowling, Kate Alcott, Lorien Legacies, monthly rundowns, Nina Dobrev, November, Pan's Labyrinth, Paul Wesley, Pittacus Lore, politics, Rachel McAdams, Sigourney Weaver, The Dressmaker, The Power of Six, Tilda Swinton, Vampire Diaries 7 Comments

Blindspot review: Aliens (1986)

Plot: The moon from Alien (1979) has been colonized, but contact is lost. This time, the rescue team has impressive firepower, but will it be enough?

Rating: 8.5/10

Ellen Ripley has been floating through space for 57 years after fighting off the Alien and destroying the USCSS Nostromo. When she awakes she is interrogated, the Corporation being as sceptic about her claims about the monstrous alien as they are angry that she destroyed their ship. She is released of her duties, and starts to do some menial tasks around the spaceship (I assume until she can return home as a really young looking grandma). However, when contact is lost with the exomoon where the Alien so nicely attacked Riply, the Corporation quickly forget that they mistreated her and want her to travel to the moon with a bunch of super strong marines and go see what is cracking. Ripley knows exactly what they are about to face – but can she convince her crew and get out alive again?

What I loved about this film:

Ellen Ripley – eeek!! She’s so badass and ready to deal with an Alien once again. She’s capable and smart and knows how to handle herself, despite being a bit shaken up by her previous trip. She’s the ultimate girl power and Sigourney Weaver couldn’t help but rock the hell out of that role.

The cat stayed at home – I was way too worried about that damn cat in the first film.

Burke (Paul Reiser) was such an ass. He seemed WAY too nice at the start of the film, way too friendly and accommodating, and I suspected his sorry ass from the start. What he did to Newt and Ripley was terrible, and eventually revealed himself to be a power hungry fool.

I really liked Bishop (Lance Henriksen) – I understand why Ripley didn’t trust him one bit after her encounter with Ash but he at least seemed capable of dealing with drama and proving Ripley wrong.

Replacing the cat as the-thing-Ripley-needs-to-save is Newt (Carrie Henn), the young little girl who managed to keep herself alive while the aliens killed her entire colony. I liked Newt, she was sweet and not nearly as annoying as I thought she would turn out.

Hicks (Michael Biehn) was a great character. He had sense and leadership and a dash of badass and it was appealing. I was glad that he also got off the moon – thank GOODNESS.

The pace of the movie is relentless. So much intensity passes in the (astronomically long, TBH), running time. It’s attack after attack and similarly to Alien, just when you think the Aliens are GONE, there is yet another one that pitches. It would have been annoying if it wasn’t so well directed and the aliens weren’t so imposing, and the final fight between Ripley and the Alien queen was great. I loved Ripley’s line and her subsequent killing of the queen – it reminds me SO MUCH of what Molly yells at Bellatrix before she kills her in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

Is there something I didn’t like? Well, I really thought the running time was way too long – it is a James Cameron film, and we all know he can go on and on if you let him. I rarely have the patience to sit down for so long – I’m fully convinced that I have adult-developed ADHD (as improbable as it sounds). I managed to get through this because it is good – but my goodness, it was long.

Private Vasquez  (Jenette Goldstein) was embarrassingly stereotyped – she was so butch and overly foreign (I don’t even know what they were aiming for). It could have been a more subtler approach, but hey, it was 1986, so I guess I shouldn’t expect too much. It was nice to have another ass kicking female on board though, not some screechy pain in the ass like in the first film.

Aliens was obviously a fantastic film and avoided being a failure of a sequel. Despite sitting away two and a half hours of your life on this, you will probably really end up enjoying it as I did.

November 21, 2016November 20, 2016 by Natasha Categories: 2016, Blindspot, Movies, movies, Review, Reviews, UncategorizedTags: Alien, Aliens, Blindspot, Blindspot 2016, Burke, Carrie Henn, Extraterrestrial Life, Jenette Goldstein, Lance Henriksen, Michael Beihn, Paul Reiser, Sigourney Weaver, thriller, USCSS Nostromo 7 Comments

Blindspot 2016: Alien (1979)

Plot: After a space merchant vessel perceives an unknown transmission as distress call, their landing on the source moon finds one of the crew attacked by a mysterious lifeform. Continuing their journey back to Earth with the attacked crew having recovered and the critter deceased, they soon realize that its life cycle has merely begun.

Rating: 8.5/10

Woohoo! I am catching up! I can do this! I now officially can actually watch a Blindspot and call it for the month it is. Anyway.

 

I had a blast with this. I loved the old school 1979 special effects. Loved it. CGI just misses the point at times, and I had a few giggles with the old technology, but I loved it too. I thought Ellen was as badass as any female character could hope to be. I thought the alien was super gross, and I really don’t appreciate how they used milky substances to get the point across. I might remember that for a while still. The growth spurt of the alien was impressive AF. I thought the cat was a bastard quite a few times (when are they not?), and he was just chilling there when the Alien killed that poor guy. Cats are asses. I really liked Dallas, I thought he could have lived a bit longer. The musical score was fantastic – proper tension building music that was alternated with periods of dead silence. It was incredibly effective. The tension that builds as a result is so creepy. Back to that alien, how gross was it when he birthed/got out of that poor unfortunate fellow? I must say, that glob on his face was also pretty gross man. It was also once again essential to note that Ripley was right at the very start to refuse access to the quarantined staff, but whoever listened to a woman when she was obviously right? Not a machine robot, nope siree. The dialogue was good, so much more superior to what movie writers wring out these days. Think about it – when last did you encounter a modern movie that had excellent writing? Rare, rare. My blindspots this year hasn’t always been satisfactory, but I really thought this is as epic as its cult status makes it to be.

 

September 12, 2016September 11, 2016 by Natasha Categories: Blindspot, Movies, movies, Review, Reviews, UncategorizedTags: Alien, Aliens, Blindspot, Blindspot 2016, cat, chestburster, Ellen Ripley, Harry Dean Stanton, Ian, John Hurt, Movies, Reviews, Ridley Scott, Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, Veronica Cartwright, Yaphet Kokko 12 Comments

Blindspot 2016: The list

I wanted to say happy Tuesday but since it has long since been established that Tuesdays are actually the real Mondays, I’ll just say: keep strong, friends. I’ve finally managed to pick some Blindspot choices – I actually went through IMDb’s Top 250 and chose a lot of them from there. I should get a post up sometime about what I’ve seen on that list.

Alien (1979)

I know. I’m ashamed.

Aliens  (1986)

Same ↑

Home Alone (1990)

I have no idea why I never saw this as a kid. I’m really interested.

Kill Bill Volume I (2003)

Tarantino is my man of the moment and really looking forward to this. It might be a bit violent for my taste but I am still willing to try.

Kill Bill Volume II (2004)

Same ↑

Back to the Future (1985)

When Back to the Future Day happened last year I hid in my room, ashamed and sad  to not take part in such festivities.

Memento (2000)

What is a Blindspot list from Natasha without a Christopher Nolan education?

To Kill A Mockingbird (1962)

This book wasn’t a part of my education at school (fuck you, Government). I want to get to both the film and the book this year.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

I haven’t really read up about this because I hate spoilers, so really keen to see what it is about.

Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)

Dark fairy tales? IN.

Warrior (2011)

Tom Hardy, my husband. But it also shows up on the IMDb list so it is worth a watch. Can’t wait.

Love Actually (2003)

Because my bestie hated it and everyone else loved it (or most people). So I will go see what I will see.

What did you pick? Link me your posts below 🙂

January 12, 2016January 6, 2016 by Natasha Categories: 2016, Blindspot, Movies, UncategorizedTags: Alien, Aliens, Back to the Future, Blindspot, Christopher Nolan, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Gregory Peck, Guy Pearce, Home Alone, James Cameron, Kill Bill Volume 1, Kill Bill Volume 2, Love Actually, Memento, Pan's Labyrinth, Quentin Tarantino, To Kill a Mockingbird, Uma Thurman, Warrior 11 Comments