Plot: Following their win at the world championship, the now separated Bellas reunite for one last singing competition at an overseas USO tour, but face a group who uses both instruments and voices
In 2012 someone had the idea to create a movie about an Acapella university group with an essentially all female cast. It was a surprising success, people (mostly females) driving out to see women be funny, silly, talented and live in a sisterhood. They returned in 2015 with lesser men in the cast, and their hilarity continued to an extent that personally, for me, it surpassed the 2012 film in terms of quality.
Nothing would stop a production company from milking a successful movie for a number of sequels, so Universal Pictures granted the production of a final, third Pitch Perfect. I collected my own girl squad (men were welcome, they simply weren’t keen), and set off to watch this final film.
I laughed. Rebel Wilson steals the show, again, with her fabulous return to Fat Amy. She’s got a massive agenda in this film – her father Fergus (John Lithgow) reenters her life and we get to see something of Amy/Patricia’s past. Is her father really reformed or is he there for some nefarious reason? I won’t tell you everything, but Rebel Wilson stunned us and she made us cry with laughter in the cinema with her amazing skills.
Naturally Beca (Anna Kendrick) has her issues being a know it all and a bit of a snob. She’s landed a promising position at a record label, but that is not good enough for her because she has all the opinions and also has never had a real job – that would have made her realize that new staff can’t always have their opinions listened to at the first go. She resigns, because finding another job is easy in the Pitch world, and when Aubrey (Anna Camp) has a proposition for the team to go sing at a military base for the troops she and the other Barden Bellas grab it with both hands.
Off they go to a number of improbable situations that will still make you laugh extra hard. Hunky Theo (Guy Bernet) has a thing for Beca and army officer Chicago Welp (Matt Lanter) develops an interest in Chloe (Brittany Snow), who is hilarious on her crush on him.
More usuals are also there – Hana Mae Lee returns as Lilly, the really supremely strange Bella. Kudos to Lee, she has worked this awkward and hilarious character excellently. Ester Dean brings cultural and sexual diversity to the Bellas and is one of the most talented cast members in the film. Jessica, or Kelley Jakle, had me laughing at her comments, especially the “shot of white privilege” one. John Michael Higgins and Elizabeth Banks also returns to their respective roles as John Smith and Gail Abernathy-McKadden-Feinberger, the hilarious and desperate commentators who follow the Bellas everywhere they go.
Pitch Perfect 3 is a closing chapter for the franchise and they send their characters of in ideal, if a bit too perfect, fashion. Everyone ends up where they always wanted to be – vet school, owner of a franchise, a singing career, or Amy, as we all do, with tons of cash and not having to answer to anyone. Some of the jokes are a bit skew, they aren’t as hilarious or as original as they were in the first two films, but these characters have become part of very fond memories for me. I watched the first one with quite a hangover and had to rewatch to actually like it, and the second one had me crying with laughter. This one? A bit lame but it was like watching old friends drive off in to the sunset.
Have you seen Pitch Perfect 3? Let me know what you thought!
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 25th. 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
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.
Plot: As a math savant uncooks the books for a new client, the Treasury Department closes in on his activities and the body count starts to rise.
Rating: 7/10
What I’ll say off the bat is this: Of the two films that released in 2016 casting Affleck as a lead, The Accountant is infinitely superior to Batman Vs. Superman. Everyone, including Affleck apparently, is ready to forget all about that blunder. Ben Affleck is something of an anomaly to me. He is A-list, very famous and considered incredibly successful, and for the life of me I have no idea why. He’s a decent actor, but where does this level of fame come from? I really liked Gone Girl but that is pretty much the only film I can pin on him that went really well. In The Accountant he proves that he is worth his paycheck and works hard to give a credible portrayal as an autistic accountant. What bothered me is that his face is so tightly controlled at times it looks like he has toothache. Apart from that, I liked the character. He is meticulous and well programmed and highly functional, yet there are times when the empathy with his lonely life becomes overpowering.
I particularly enjoyed Jon Bernthal. He seems to excel when he is playing someone cocky and arrogant, and he looks to be enjoying himself quite a lot.
Anna Kendrick did a fine job of not being a pain in the ass. I’m still flabbergasted by her current success. It is not that I think she’s a poor actress, I just never expected her to keep going from Twilight. She is also consistently cast in the same role and that becomes tiring quickly. Dana wasn’t her typical role and it is clear that when she is given a chance, she takes it and works hard to do well. Can I just say a quick thanks here that the character at least attempted to defend herself and didn’t just curl into a ball and cry about her problems? Whoever had the balls to write a woman who would defend herself, thank you.
JK Simmons. All I see when I see this guy is Whiplash. It was good to watch him as a friendlier, saner man. Despite the excellent acting I failed to see the reason to include the treasury department in The Accountant. They served only as narrators and poor ones at that.
The story has a very interesting premise. An interesting premise is null and void if there is no proper execution though. I was not surprised by the big aha moment in the film. If you paid attention from the start any person who has watched movies previously would have caught that. The different parts of the story failed to properly mesh – Chris has to solve who is taking out a hit on him and Dana, the mysterious man who is appearing and killing shady characters, and the Treasury department director trying to find Chris for some unclear reason. I truly think the Treasury department was only included to be the vocal part of who Chris is, because they lacked any other driving force for the film.
That stupid ending. It was nice to see what Chris did with his money and that there was a great well of caring under the tightly controlled exterior. The rest felt so rushed. It was as if the director suddenly decided they had had enough and just wanted it finished in one scene.
Hello everyone! Today is the 2nd of July, a.k.a. the EXACT MIDDLE OF THE YEAR. In exactly 183 days we will be partying in 2016. It also means that we only have another 183 days left where things can go totally wrong for us. Not bad, eh?!
To celebrate this joyous occasion, I have compiled a list of things that I’ve done in this year that seems noteworthy… or not. It at least proves the amount of time I spend on movies, books and series! Enjoy!!
2015 Movies watched so far:
The movie year didn’t start off so well for me. I mean, I watched Seventh Son. I gave it a 6/10, and I still think that is a very fair assessment. It is really not great and it could have been much more with the cast they had available.
The next was Best of Me, a movie adaption from Nicholas Sparks. It was unoriginal and cheesy, typical Sparks. I gave it a 6/10 as well, and counted my losses, and looked with hope to the next movie.
The next movie is still one of my favorites of the year, Ballade vir ‘n enkeling. It is a South-African film and I thought it would be okay at best. It was so well done. I was and am so proud of the quality they produced here and super chuffed that it is a local film, that I got to see it in cinema and that one of the lead actors, Armand Aucamp, was nice enough to read the post, comment on it and favorite it on Twitter #hellyeah #famousness. I gave it a well-deserved 8/10.
I went to see Disney’s latest live adaption, Cinderella, in cinema. It wasn’t close to the entertainment that Maleficent brought us last year. The story was exactly as it has been since Cinderella the animation was released a million years ago, the characters were perfectly cast (but was that even necessary?). I think that if Disney wants to keep on doing these and make them a success they need to make it unique or at least change perspectives of the film. I gave it a 6.5/10, because it was quite enchanting even though it wasn’t excellent.
I chose watching Kingsman: A Secret Service, instead of Fifty Shades in Cinema, and let me tell you, it was an excellent decision. The movie is
Avengers: Age of Ultron has easily been my most anticipated movie of 2015. I am a massive fan of the first Avengers, and think Marvel excelled there. This time around everything was bigger – the villain, the explosions, the fights, the character development. It worked really well although I don’t see the point of the love story. But anyway. It was good, and I rated it an 8/10
#cannotBeUnseen
Fifty Shades of Grey.LOLS. I know so many people who were really looking forward to this. I wasn’t, and even refused to go watch it in cinema because that would mean helping it edge closer to the billion dollar mark at the cinema (which it didn’t, and I’m very sure it is because I stood my ground!). It is bad. Like really, really bad. The source material is nothing to work from, because it is sex, sex and more sex and then more sex on top of that. You can’t put all that sexy time into a movie in the graphic detail the readers seems to have wanted into a film and show it to large audiences. The acting was awful – the best was Dakota Johnson, and she’s not any Meryl Streep if you know what I mean. The chemistry lacked, the lines were painfully cheesy and the sexy time wasn’t sexy. Just go read my review and see what I said haha. I gave it a 6/10, received some flak for it, but I stand firm – it wasn’t THAT bad and Johnson worked really hard at this.
Pitch Perfect 2 was my most apprehensive venture into cinema yet this year. I hated the first one (disclaimer: I need to watch it again because I was hanging when I saw the first one and it might not be that bad). The second one was really a lot of fun and had elements of girl power, and you all know I cheer madly when that happens. I love Fat Amy, she’s hilar, and I think the execution of the movie was really well done. I gave it an 8/10 again.
I just watched Jurassic World and thought it was great fun and a very good sequel. I don’t really know if I support more movies coming into this franchise, but after the massive box office hit I am sure they won’t let this in peace. Chris Pratt the adventurer is also a lovely thing to behold 😉
Books
I’ve read an astonishingly small amount of new books this year, instead rereading all my favorite ones. The best book I’ve read for the first time this year is definitely Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell. I campaigned to everyone I knew to read that book and still do – it is such a cute book man.
I recently read the first four books in the Princess Diaries series by Meg Cabot. It is not such an amazing achievement though, as the books are never more than a 150 pages long each. They are really fun though, and excellent entertainment when your brain needs some easy fun.
The Liar by Nora Roberts proved to be a very nice read. The quality of her last couple of books hasn’t been excellent, so naturally I was relieved when this book had some entertainment value.
The Brightest Star in the Sky has been the oddest book I’ve ever read from Marian Keyes, and she is well known for her odd books. The book is way too long and often a bit drawn out, but I had a good time.
I am currently busy reading Atonement by Ian McEwan. I’ve been interested in this book after seeing the heart wrenching movie, and although I am only a few pages in I find that the book is really well written.
Further on I would like to get to The Woman who Stole my Life (Marian Keyes), Looking for Alaska (John Green), Indelible (Karin Slaughter) and Ruby Circle (Richelle Mead).
Series
The Dawn of Downton Abbey
Have you guessed I would talk about this series on here? Because I’ve reviewed Seasons 1, 2 and 3 already, and guess what? Season four is scheduled for scheduled for tomorrow 😀 :D. I blew through all the seasons of this. It is simply impossible to stop watching something so well done. It is very likely my favorite series of all time. Season three made me rather angry – some deaths were SO uncalled for. Season four was good but not up to the standards of the previous three and season five was as good as the first three. Have I mentioned that I can’t wait for the sixth season?
Game of Thrones
Meh. I hoped season five would be like the glorious first two seasons. But we can’t always have what we want, right? I reviewed the first four episodes and still need to get to the rest, but really, I am so disinterested in Westeros at the moment. The story is badly developed at the moment and I think they are incapable of dealing with the expanding territories at the moment.
Gilmore Girls
I spent a lot of time running through this series this year. It is the best throwback EVER. I still need to finish Season 7, but as we know it is not the best ever. There are increasing talks to get a movie out, but we will still see, won’t we?
I am currently busy with Pretty Little Liars Season 5. It is okay, but I think I’ve seen so many other series that are really good at this point that I am slightly bored with this right now. It makes for senseless viewing, which isn’t a bad thing at all. I would like to get into Vikings – I saw the first few minutes of the first episode and it hasn’t gripped me yet. Daredevil and Agent Carter are the two Marvel series I am looking forward at watching as well. YAY for Superheroes!!
Plot: A young man’s recently deceased girlfriend mysteriously returns from the dead, but he slowly realizes she is not the way he remembered her
Rating: 7/10
I was actually rather keen to watch this movie – I haven’t seen too much of Parks and Recreation, but I really do find Aubrey Plaza funny in it, and knowing Zoë’s admiration of Dane DeHaan and Matthew Gray-Grubler, well, it had to be seen right?!
It was fun. It is not the best movie out there but it is amusing. Aubrey Plaza plays herself – pretty, sarcastic and cranky. Dane DeHaan does really well in portraying his grief on his girlfriend’s death and the complicated feelings he has about the fact that their relationship was going downhill before her death. I found Matthew Gray-Grubler way underused – his character was legitimately funny and he did a really good job (also – he’s WAY cute!). I also thought that Anna Kendrick had absolutely no story arc and that she was just a prop used. The story could have been a bit more in-depth and the whole Zombie thing should have been better explained.
However, I found this slightly offbeat story very amusing and thought it was a great movie for starts still working hard to make a proper name in Hollywood. I really do like the entire cast and the movie was well executed. The movie is fun to watch and doesn’t drag, and entertained me quite a bit!
Plot: After a humiliating command performance at Lincoln Center, the Barden Bellas enter an international competition that no American group has ever won in order to regain their status and right to perform.
Rating: 7.5/10
I’ve only seen Pitch Perfect once, and it was on while I had a massive hangover. So, it might have been a crappy movie or I might just have at that stage been at a place where I would have hated any movie, but I don’t have fond recollections of my first meeting with the Barden Bellas. So naturally I didn’t do handsprings when hearing we would go watch PP2 but the thought of going to movie with some fun female friends and having a nice girls night definitely perked me up.
This movie was really enjoyable in a lighthearted way. It contains way less toilet humor than the first which counted in its favor. It follows basically the same formula – humiliation, staggering odds against them, etc., but it is better laid out and more heartwarming than the first one.
I find Rebel Wilson so funny as Fat Amy. I wish I could have one tenth of her confidence – life would be so sweet. She’s funny and her ceaseless energy at life is so amusing to watch. She provides for most of the laughs in the movie as she is the only real comedian in there, and every scene with her in is worth watching.
Anna Kendrick entertains again as Becca, the only grungy girl with a big attitude in the Bellas. This role suits her so much better than her whole Twilight escapade as Jessica. Elizabeth Banks is hilarious as the uppity news correspondent Gail is really amusing with the banter she and the horrifically sexist co-anchor share (John Michael Higgens). Its also really nice to see Brittany Snow (Chloe) out an about again – who didn’t LOVE her in John Tucker must die?! It was also a good idea to bring in Hailee Steinfeild as new Bella addition Emily. It provides some realism because these girls do need to graduate. Finally for the character mentions: Anna Camp is such a favorite of mine. I’ve been a fan since seeing her as the religious fanatic Sarah Newton in True Blood. She’s so funny!
What really makes this movie worth watching is the girl power that is in this movie. It’s about girls working together in a team, supporting each other and sticking together when things get rough. It is so nice that there is finally a franchise that girls are watching where romance isn’t the main factor of the movie. Sure, there is a bit of romance in, but the girls have aims other than getting the guy in Pitch Perfect.
Pitch Perfect 2 is an all out fun experience and made me feel very happy. Definitely worth the watch!
Joseph Gordon-Levitt stars as the cancer patient Adam, a journalist in Seattle who has the type of girlfriend that deserves to be slapped by the womanhood of proper women for being so selfish. Initially, her selfishness is limited to her hatred of Adam’s best friend Kyle (Seth Rogen) and that constant babbling of I’m just not sure I love you but I do want to be with youdon’t be angry fucked up attitude. After Adam is diagnosed with cancer, he tells Rachael (Bryce Dallas Howard) that she can leave if she wants to but she decides to stay. However, she doesn’t want to go into the hospital with him and forgets to pick up her boyfriend who has cancer from the hospital after treatment. Kyle finds Rachael kissing another man and takes photo evidence to Adam to prove his point.Adam and Rachael break up and she still tries to make everything about poor her.
Adam’s therapist Katherine (Anna Kendrick) is very inexperienced and awkward and only has textbooks to go on, not any job experience. When Rachael “forgets” Adam after his treatment, Katherine takes him home and the line between doctor-patient or friends begin to blur. Adam makes a few friends during chemo treatments, older men who smoke pot for the pain. Adam quickly starts joins them.
One of his friends suddenly die and Adam is terrified of dying when he hears his treatment is not working and that he has to undergo an operation. The night before the surgery he and Kyle fights and he accuses his friend of using his disease to get girls but later finds a book about supporting cancer patients and proves that Kyle really cares and is trying to help.
On surgery day, Adam hugs his friend and apologizes. Will Adam survive? What will happen between him and Katherine?
Rating: 7.5/10
50/50 was good because it is a good movie about a horrible topic. Cancer movies are usually tear jerkers designed with melodrama to incapacitate the watcher with tears. 50/50 is a more realistic version of what happens to people with deadly illnesses and how they handle it. It shows that true colors will emerge in crisis, that people don’t magically become saints after being diagnosed and that your close network of friends inevitably contains douche bags who will find a way to drop you and make it your fault.
Seth Rogan proved that he has more to him than stupid comedies and I thought he did so well as Adam’s friend. His pure enjoyment when Adam dumped Rachael was funny and justified. His unapologetic hatred of her endears him to all who watches. Anna Kendrick always seems vapid but that worked out well with Katherine – she was truly a very awkward therapist. I need to watch more stuff with Bryce Dallas Howard in since I really despise her now because she was such a selfish woman in here and such a vengeful vampire in Twilight.
The endings with cancer movies are always a risk to take. I am not telling you if Adam lives or not, because you really want to watch this, but I think that the end was good and not obvious – things can swing either way right up until the end.
Life of this city girl 