Watched, Read Loved and what I’ve been up to in 2018

Hello everybody! I’ve been rather inconspicuous the last few months, and I’ve really missed blogging and interacting with everyone in the blogging world. I’ve posted a few times, and thanks to everyone that still popped in – you are appreciated! I’m almost ready in having a normalized life again, so I plan to be a bit more active with reading and posting about how I’ve managed to entertain myself since December 2017.

Firstly, I started my new position in the company I work for. It’s been quite a change, and I’ve been struggling to adapt to this new life of crazy deadlines and people with serious lack of work ethic. I’m almost motivated again, and I’m not blind to how extraordinarily lucky I’ve been to get to a point where my qualification and my job are actually aligned.

I’ve also graduated, and the event was… anticlimactic? I’ve worked my butt off to get here, and yet the day felt rushed and the moment passed too quick. However, my BSc is now in the bag and I can continue with this crazy career path of mine.

I am also finally in my own apartment. I hope someday soon it will actually feel like I live here, but for now I am just enjoying the experience and getting used to having my own place.

So yes. This year has been really big so far. We are only at the end of August now and I have been all over the place. It is good, right? To be honest it is all just a bit overwhelming.

This post has basically said nothing that I originally thought to write on it, but here’s a rundown of the films (it’s probably not all, because it has been so long), books and series I’ve explored.

 

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, The Desolation of Smaug and The Battle of the Five Armies – One movie night and three really dedicated people lead to all three Hobbit movies being watched, with a variety of sarcastic comments (mostly from me) about the length and things that happen that is entirely unrelated to the actual Hobbit book. I haven’t  had a look at the reviews about these films up here for ages, and it is probably time to revisit them. They aren’t bad, but compared to The Lord of The Rings trilogy (incidentally never reviewed on here because I don’t know how to review perfection like that), they are a bit uninspiring.

Edward Scissorhands (1990): A pretty cool film and very deserving of its reputation, I enjoyed seeing Johnny Depp in something pre-Jack Sparrow. This is some of Tim Burton’s best work and really great to watch.

The Duff (2015): Yes, again. It’s great to watch and such a nice laugh, I can’t understand why this film received such a negative backlash at the time. It’s certainly better than it’s hormonal book counterpart! This reminds me of a 2015 version of Mean Girls (although Mean Girls is certainly better), and on that note, I probably watched Mean Girls sometime this year too, as well as Easy A, a simply hilarious staple for chick flicks.

Pride and Prejudice (2005): Yes, also again. I can watch this all the time, and this rerun was triggered by reading the book again.

Vampire Academy (2015) Okay this one does deserve the hate that gets thrown its way, but it is a guilty pleasure of mine.

Jane Eyre (2011): I loooooovvveeeedddd this. It is a wonderfully accurate adaption to the book, and another film I’ll probably end up watching ten million times.

Ant-Man (2015): I somehow kept postponing this film, and it is so stupid because you all know how much I like watching Marvel superheroes do their thing. Eventually Ant-Man turned out really fun and is a great film, and I will actually manage to see the second one before the turn of the century.

Nacho Libre (2006) and Napoleon Dynamite (2004). I can at least claimed to have heard about Napoleon Dynamite prior to my watching it. The spectacularly ginger teenager Napoleon is really a staple image in everyone’s recollection of the internet, occupying his own, very unique space. It was really quite a weird film and I am not sure what else to say about it. Nacho Libre is also… really weird. Jack Black has some strange titles under his belt, and this might bee the strangest yet.

Jumanji (2017) – Jumanji deserves an actual review, not necessarily because of it’s cinematic prowess but because of my eternal love for Dwayne Johnson. This film was surprisingly good, and included another viewing of Jack Black, who was actually quite fantastic in this film.

Fallen (2016) – Got in my YA dose with this, and I am not sorry for a second. Is it bad? yes. Do I care? No. I had fun.

About a Boy (2002) – one of the better random films I picked up to watch the last couple of months. Review coming soon

Tomorrowland (2014), Freaky Friday (2003) and Did you hear about the Morgans? (2009) – neither of these deserves posters on this post. Tomorrowland is getting a thrashing in it’s review (when I end up writing it), because what a load of turd. Freaky Friday is fun, but it also serves as a really sad reminder of how someone can screw themselves up so badly. The last, Did you hear about the Morgans, is neither inspirational, funny or adventurous, and is some of the poorest films in it’s genre.

 

Blindspots: I’m behind (which is a shocking surprise, I know)

Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961), Ghostbusters (1984), The Silence of the Lambs (1991), Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy  (2005), Die Hard (1988)

2018 releases:

Avengers: Infinity War , Tomb Raider , Black Panther, The Maze Runner: Death Cure, The Greatest Showman, Jurassic World (Fallen Kingdom), Deadpool 2

The Obsession (Nora Roberts), Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte), Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen), Harry Potter (series), The Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams), How To Hang A Witch (Adriana Mather), Shelter in Place (Nora Roberts, ongoing), The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones

I am really bad at finishing series. I will start off with great enthusiasm, but I never have the patience to get through the lull that inevitably strikes every show about halfway through when the original cast wants to leave and the writers are tired of finding something interesting to keep the watchers entertained. I was recommended to watch Call The Midwife Seasons 1&2 because of my love for Downton Abbey. It’s good, and I enjoy the show. I should continue into Season 3 soon and continue with my knowledge of female reproductive health when women had even less rights than we do now.

Friends Season 1-7: A series I actually finished! I loved this show. It is hilarious, and even though there are some lulls it stays funny, sweet and relatable.

Brooklyn Nine Nine Season 1 – this is a hilarious comedy and I will definitely watch some more. I was a bit crushed when they announced the series was coming to an end, but I see that there will be a final season of Jack Peralta and his fellow officers. Yay!

Riverdale Season 1&2 – I have a review coming in shortly for season 2, and I really like this show despite the lack of quality the last part of season 2 had.

Grey’s Anatomy Seasons 1 – 7: As I am finalizing this post I come to you from a space where I have now banned myself watching this show during the week. There are a couple of reasons why – the lack of will to live if I am not watching it, the extreme emotional attachment to the characters and the stern talking to I had with myself that they are not real and that I can’t stop watching at night and then I am exhausted the following day (really, I need a boyfriend or a life at this stage). I couldn’t have expected this show would be so good. I mean, at seven seasons I am only halfway through the series, because the show remains super popular and it is now at it’s fifteenth (?!) season. It is heartbreaking and intense and happy and sad, and I.AM.ADDICTED.

Pride and Prejudice (1995): I am telling all of you, I know I have an unhealthy attachment to this story. The series is by far the most accurate to the book, and it is a lovely adaption that makes me really happy to watch.

So, there you have it. I have been writing on and off on this post for ages, so it is so good to have it finally out there! Let me know what you’ve seen, whether or not it has correlated with my watches. Adios!

August 24, 2018 by Natasha Categories: 2018, Avengers, Blindspot, Movies, movies, Review, Reviews, SeriesTags: About A Boy, Addison Timlin, Adriana Mather, Andy Samberg, Ant-Man, Avengers: Infinity War, Black Panther, Breakfast at Tiffany's, Brooklyn Nine Nine, Cassandra Clare, Charlotte Bronte, City of Bones, Cole Sprouse, Deadpool, Death Cure, Did You Hear About The Morgans, Die Hard, Douglas Adams, Dwayne Johnson, Edward Scissorhands, Fallen, Freaky Friday, friends, Ghostbustters, Grey's Anatomy, Harrison Gilbertson, Hitchhikers guide to the Galaxy, Hugh Grant, Jane Austen, Jane Eyre, Jeremy Irvine, Johnny Depp, JRR Tolkien, Jumanji, Jurassic World, Lily Reinhart, Martin Freeman, marvel, Meredith Grey, Mortal Instruments, Nacho Libre, Napoleon Dynamite, Nora Roberts, Pride and Prejudice, Riverdale, The DUFF, The Greatest Showman, The Hobbit, The Maze Runner, The Silence of The Lambs, Tim Burton, Tomb Raider, Tomorrowland, Vampire Academy 9 Comments

Movie Review: Hotel Transylvania 2 (2015)

Plot: Dracula and his friends try to bring out the monster in his half human, half vampire grandson in order to keep Mavis from leaving the hotel.

Rating: 7/10

I barely recall what happened in the first Hotel Transylvania, but I know I really loved it. I definitely remember the scream cheese, and to this day I find it ridiculously funny. Thus I was quite apprehensive to sit down for the sequel – not only do I have the honest and justified fear for sequelitis, I also really didn’t want to spoil the feelings I had to the first movie, especially considering the fact that I stand firm on the belief that I don’t like animation as a genre.

HT2 suffers just a little bit from sequelitis – it’s just not as cute or fun as the first film. I didn’t laugh as outrageously or root for the poor monsters as much, but it was still quite a lot of fun. Considering that Adam Sandler is involved in this film, it is a great. The film has a lot of notable names voicing the characters – Selena Gomez as Mavis, Andy Samberg is Jonathan, Mel Brooks as Vlad and Kevin James as Frankenstein – and that is only naming a few. It works because the voices suit the characters and aren’t as obviously placed as The Jungle Book.

HT2 never gets going really. I have to say I found it odd that they would touch child birthing in a movie– very awkward topics for parents to discuss with their children. Talk about interesting conversation topics coming up!

I liked the ending, but let’s face it – it would have had more impact if Dennis wasn’t a vampire in the end and then carried the message that it was okay to be normal and that you could be loved then as well.

Have you seen Hotel Transylvania 2? What did you think?

September 19, 2016September 18, 2016 by Natasha Categories: 2015, Movies, movies, UncategorizedTags: Adam Sandler, Andy Samberg, animation, Hotel Transylvania, Hotel Transylvania 2, Kevin James, kids, Mel Brooks, Monsters, Movies, Reviews, screamcheese, Selena Gomez 3 Comments

Series Review: Cuckoo (2012)

Ken and Lorna Thompson live a nice normal life in a small British Town. They have a teenage son Dylan, who is very desperate to impress the popular Zoe at school, and a daughter, Rachel, who is returning from her gap year to start studying.

Rachel brings a huge surprise – a husband. Cuckoo is a hippie, strange and new age, American and incredibly sure that he has all the answers in the universe. Ken is horrified, but the eternally optimistic Lorna decides to embrace the situation.

Ken’s life quickly becomes a series of frustrations. He and Cuckoo just don’t see eye to eye, and since Rachel and Cuckoo are living with her parents, Ken feels trapped in his own home. Cuckoo doesn’t have a job, but he manages to buy a potato stand and plans to build his fortune from it. Nothing Ken does have any impact on Cuckoo, he is oblivious that his way of life is not acceptable to others. Rachel is very in love and does not understand where her father is coming from; can no one see how great her husband is?

Ken is very excited when he has the chance to become the local councillor. Cuckoo is excited for his father-in-law, and offers advice on politics, the interview, everything because he is an expert on this matter. Ken has a good interview, but Dylan is the one who ruins it for him – when Dylan kicks another teen in the balls, it turns out to be the son of the woman who needs to decide who will become the next councilor, and Ken is screwed over by his own son.

Ken and his family are off to see Lorna’s elderly father, who is still recovering from the death of his wife. Cuckoo manages to make Tony believe the house cat is the reincarnation of his wife, and soon they have a very happy Tony. However, when Ken accidentally kills the cat, everything turns around and he is once again in trouble.

Cuckoo manages to convince Lorna’s best friend, Connie that she needs to follow her dream of becoming a singer, the fact that she can’t sing doesn’t really matter. Lorna leaves Steve, her husband, and Cuckoo makes an enemy. Connie is now residing with the Thompsons, and her screeching is driving Ken nuts. Ken makes a plan to get Connie reconciled with her horrible husband, but it backfires and things don’t completely go as planned.

Rachel and Cuckoo are distraught to learn that the British government doesn’t seem to accept a nude Thai ceremony as an official marriage for some strange reason. They need to get married, or Cuckoo will be deported. Lorna is very excited because she gets to plan a wedding for her daughter, but Ken sees an opportunity to delete Cuckoo from his life, despite the fact that Cuckoo and Ken have been getting closer despite the American’s odd mannerisms. Will Ken be rid of Cuckoo once and for all? Can Steve be trusted? What will happen on the bachelor’s night?

Rating: 6.5/10

I have to confess that I am not overly fond of British television. The humour over there is much different in general from the rest of the world, and since comedies are particularly focused on a specific audience, British comedy seems to be stranger than most.

Cuckoo was luckily very funny and enjoyable.  It has a realistic premise – I think every father’s nightmare is to find out his daughter married a man so completely removed from her upbringing it is not even funny. Andy Samberg is so hilarious as the very hippy Cuckoo.  He is everything reprehensible about current culture – so sure of himself, certain everyone feels exactly how he feels about things and has no apparent thought for anyone’s comfort but his own. Yet at the same time he comes across as an apparently decent (but strange) guy who loves his new wife and has a good heart underneath all the layers of scarves he so desperately loves.

I really laughed at Ken Thompson. He is so funny and such an old man, he just wants a nice normal existence without having to revert to madness, but he will if it is needed.

Recommendation: A solid show, entertaining and funny, something to watch if you need to cheer yourself up.

October 10, 2014October 5, 2014 by Natasha Categories: Reviews, SeriesTags: Andy Samberg, Comedy, Cuckoo, Series 2 Comments