Movie Review: Bad Moms (2016)

Plot: When three overworked and under-appreciated moms are pushed beyond their limits, they ditch their conventional responsibilities for a jolt of long overdue freedom, fun, and comedic self-indulgence.

I really expected to be either wildly irritated or exasperated by Bad Moms. I wasn’t – It was actually a surprisingly fun film and catered exactly for its target audience. Mila Kunis plays Amy, an overworked mother of two young children. If you can believe she’s supposed to be washed out, well, you can believe anything. She’s still crazy gorgeous despite her wearing adult clothes all the time. Her husband is her third child – a boy-man who does nothing to help her with raising children and is eventually caught in an online cheating scandal. This understandably leads Amy to lose her shit. She drops pretending to be the perfect mother that actually cares about the strict rules Gwendolyn, who is the perfect president of the Parents association, sets. Gwendolyn subsequently loses her patience and war erupts in the pretty suburban life of these women. Amy decides to run for president at school and she teams up with Kathryn Hahn’s Carla, and Kristen Bell’s Kiki, and eventually ends up winning (if you don’t expect this you are a dumb-dumb) and shows the mothers their children are supposed to be kids and be fun and have a good time.

I didn’t expect this amount of heart in this silly little film. There is warmth and humor and some prodding reminders that children are supposed to be young and play outside, not to be rushed from exams to sports to cultural activities. Hahn has some funny moments, though she really is typecast at the moment. It is always good seeing Kristen Bell in anything – she’s so adorably weird and this film doesn’t try to change that – Kiki is weird as hell.

I can’t really comment on more in this film – it is just a for fun film, there is a pretty hot guy, some pretty hot moms and just a film to relax with. This really isn’t for all you I-only-watch-serious-movies people, so if you don’t want a silly comedy, just don’t watch it J

Rating: 6/10

August 28, 2017August 19, 2017 by Natasha Categories: 2016, Movies, movies, Review, ReviewsTags: 2016, Annie Mumolo, Bad Moms, Christina Applegate, Jada Pinkett Smith, Jon Lucas, Kathryn Hahn, Kristen Bell, Mila Kunis, Scott Moore 7 Comments

Watched, Read, Loved: October 2016

October was by far the slowest month in my year in entertainment. I’m really hopeful that this is the last semester where I will ever have to write a BSc Theoretical exam, so I’ve spent every moment that I wasn’t at work in front of a book. I really hope it will pay off – my heart won’t be able to handle the trauma of failing a subject. So it has been quiet on the entertainment front and even the blog front, but I’ve managed to include see and read some things here and there though, so here is a quick rundown J

Watched:

Bourne Supremacy

I really hope I wrote a proper review on this, because I can barely recall the film now. I know it was fast paced and good and very Bourne, and I guess that is what counts.

10 Cloverfield Lane

I LOVED this. The review should be up some time this week, and I am totally with the crowd on this one. It was a phenomenal performance from all three main characters, and they were able to create maddening suspense throughout.

New Year’s Eve (2011)

I was quite obsessed with this film (to get to see it), and it was so meh. It was probably one of the last films Gary Marshall ever produced, and I hoped it would be something similar to Valentine’s Day. In all essence it was but lacked the heart.

You Again (2010)

I enjoyed this on the most basic level. It had a pretty good message that bullying stays with you forever and it was nice to watch such a light movie where romance wasn’t the core of the plot.

The Choice (2016)

I have this game with Nicholas Sparks movies where I HAVE to watch it despite knowing it will probably end up being super crap. But The Choice is one of the better ones, certainly better than the awful Best of Me, and I has a somewhat of a decent time with it.

Read:

The Woman Who Stole My Life (Marian Keyes)

I finally finished TWWSTM. It was gigantic, and maybe 50 pages too long and then ended up with a rough ending, but this is the least bizarre book I’ve read from Keyes in a while.

Definitely Dead / All Together Dead / From Dead to Worse

Exam brain wants me back on books where I need no brain power, and I’ve been reading some of the Southern Vampire Mysteries again. I’ve actually been having a really good time with this non-Pulitzer material.

New Moon (Stephanie Meyer)

I’m slowly making my way through these books. Bella is a joy to behold in this particular novel, let me tell you. I always have fun with this – part enjoyment; part scoffing, and it has been the perfect read throughout exam time.

I am Number Four (Pittacus Lore)

This book is SO good. It is obviously a book that was written at the beginning of the dystopic craze; because the ideas are original and GOOD, and things are named intelligently (the naming conventions in other dystopian novels are quite ridiculous). I need to finish this still, but it is going well.

On a Life front, those of you who follow me on Instagram will know that I got myself a new car. It really wasn’t an option as I was in a car accident that wrote my little Suzuki Alto off. To say I was upset was an understatement, and it was pretty stressful sorting it out. I have to say my insurers were absolutely fantastic, and I will (and have) recommended them to anybody. However, it was the first car I’d ever owned, and I was so heart sore about the entire process.

It feels like a lot of things have happened the last month. I’ve had a dear friend in hospital, I’ve been in an accident, there was a break-in at my sister’s boyfriend’s house and another friend of mine got attacked and robbed at gunpoint.  So it’s been quite hectic. I’m in need of a Bilbo Baggins holiday to say the LEAST. Oh, I also went to a bachelorettes that was quite wild, and let me tell you, I was shocked at some of the actions there. I’ve been to a significant amount of wild parties in my young life, so when I am shocked, I am S.H.O.C.K.E.D. It feels like I need a peaceful December without any drama. I am on leave for two weeks at the end of December (hear me sobbing in gratitude), and I am so happy that I will get to a place where I don’t need to start functioning at 4:30 am. It will be great.

Anyway, what’s news on your side?

PS: Let’s not even talk about my Blindspot progress. It’s worse than the state of the American election right now.

PPS: I can’t wait until Hillary wins JUST so that Donald can shut TF up.

November 8, 2016November 6, 2016 by Natasha Categories: 2016, Books, Movies, movies, Review, Reviews, UncategorizedTags: 10 Cloverfield Lane, Abigail Breslin, Ashton Kutcher, Betty White, Bourne Supremacy, Charlaine Harris, Halle Berry, Hector Elizondo, Hilary Swank, I am Number Four, Jamie Lee Curtis, Jason Bourne, Jessica Biel, John Goodman, Jon Bon Jovi, Josh Duhamel, Katherine Heigl, Kristen Bell, Ludacris, Marian Keyes, Matt Damon, Michelle Pfeiffer, monthly rundowns, New Moon, New Year's Eve, Nicholas Sparks, October, Odette Yustman, Pittacus Lore, Robert DeNiro, Romantic Comedies, Sarah Jessica Parker, Seth Meyers, Sigourney Weaver, Sofia Vergara, Sookie Stackhouse, Southern Vampires, Stephanie Meyer, Teresa Palmer, The Choice, The Woman who stole my life, thriller, Til Schweiger, You Again, Zac Efron 4 Comments

Frozen (2013)

Anna and Elsa, two princesses in the Kingdom of Arendelle are the best of sisters and friends. Elsa has the startling ability of freezing things, and she and Anna have a great time playing with her powers. Anna is accidentally injured during one of these playtimes, and Elsa and their parents rush to the trolls to save Anna. The trolls say they are lucky that the ice went to Anna’s head and not to her heart, as ice in the heart kills. Anna returns, safe, but Elsa is now too afraid of her powers to play with her sister, and the two drift apart. Their parents are killed and they are alone, and yet Elsa still refuses to reconnect with her only remaining family member.

Years later it is time for Elsa’s inauguration as Queen. Anna meets Prince Hans of the Southern Isles, and immediately falls for him. They plan to wed, but her sister refuses to give permission as they only met each other. A fight ensues and Elsa accidentally sets of a catastrophic winter. She flees the city, and Anna feels very guilty that she provoked her sister. She makes plans to go to her sister and fix the problem and restore summer. Anna leaves Prince Hans in charge and sets out to find her sister, and meets Kristoff on the way, a young guy who makes a living by selling ice – something not really needed in such terrible winter. AccompanyingKristoff is his moose Sven, and the two are very tight. Anna is pretty sure her sister will listen to her, but she doesn’t know that Elsa has built herself an ice fortress and is rather happy with being by herself and not hurting anyone. They fight, and Elsa accidentally shoots ice into Anna’s heart, the very thing the troll had warned them against.

Kristoff takes Anna back to the troll where they hear that only an act of true love can thaw Anna’s heart now. Kristoff realises he needs to take Anna back to Prince Hans, who now has Elsa under lock and key.

Kristoff leaves Anna in Prince Hans’s care, and walks away, even though it is killing him because he has started to love her. Sven refuses to let this happen and Kristoff turns around, which is just as well because Prince Hans has revealed he only wants Anna for her lineage and throne, and now that she is dying and her sister is imprisoned, he doesn’t need to pretend anymore that he cares for her at all.

Will Kristoff reach Anna in time to save her heart? Will his kiss work the magic so desperately needed? Can Elsa reverse the winter she caused?

Rating: 7.5/10

Definition of Animation: Things Natasha only watches under duress.

Anyhoo, I have been hearing tons of adorable things about this movie, and everyone has been nagging me to watch it, and I eventually gave in because the day really called for frivolity.

It was quite good, and I will put it under my list of animation movies that make me happy when I watch it. I can see myself watching this again.

The things underlined: This is everything I could find in the movie that points to Disney changing its story on who saves who in life. They are working desperately hard to reverse the damage they did when they told little girls for decades, that you need a man to save you. These girls are doing it for themselves, and I say go for it!

I love the relationship between Elsa and Anna, even though Elsa is a brat most way through because of her powers. The two ladies prove that a sisterly bond is strong enough to equal true love, and I love and appreciate that as the people I love the most in this world is my two sisters.

I really enjoyed the singing – the songs itself were cute, funny, appropriate to the characters and original.

Olaf was also ridiculously cute. Does anyone else feel that currently all movies have these cute creatures in and that the producers are scared their movie will fail without some sort of an awwww feature? I mean, look at Toothless, Olaf, Groot, etc. The list is endless!

Have you seen/not seen it? Tell me!

September 2, 2014September 1, 2014 by Natasha Categories: Movies, Reviews, UncategorizedTags: Alan Tudyk, animation, Arendellle, Frozen, Indina Menzel, Jonathan Groff, Josh Gad, Kristen Bell, Movies, Prince Hans of the Southern Isles, Reviews, Wordpress 5 Comments

Movie Review: Burlesque (2010)

Ali Rose (Christina Aguilera) quits her job as a waitress in Iowa and moves to LA to become a performer. Because her manager won’t pay her the rest of her salary, she takes it from the till. Her friend warns her that he will come after her because of it.

After unsuccessfully applying at dance clubs she finds herself at a burlesque club. She is fascinated by the show they put on, and becomes determined to get a job there. Jack (Cam Gigandet) the attractive bartender tells her to ask to speak to Tess (Cher) for a position. Tess is very busy and sends Ali to Sean (Stanley Tucci), who in turn sends her back to Jack to leave her details. She takes matters into her own hands and starts working as a waitress, telling Jack that if she isn’t better than all his waitresses she will leave. She gets to keep her job.

Ali works as a waitress and keeps an eye on the girls, memorizing the routines. After her room gets trashed presumably by her ex-boss, Jack offers Ali his couch until she has the cash for a new place. She accepts, thinking he is gay (because of his eyeliner). He quickly tells her that he is engaged to a Natalie, a girl who is working on a play in New York. When Natalie’s play gets extended he asks Ali to become his roommate until she returns.

One of the dancers Georgia (Julianne Hough) learns she is pregnant and a replacement is needed for her. Ali auditions and convinces Tess and Sean to give her a chance. Nikki (Kristen Bell), the lead singer and bitch in the club is angry because she is jealous and competitive.

Tess and her ex-husband Vince (Peter Gallagher) co-own the club. They are in deep financial problems and the bank is threatening with closing them down. Marcus (Eric Dane) is a business man and frequent visitor of the club who wants to buy them out, but Tess is determined to keep control of the club even if Vince is trying to get her to sell. When Marcus sees Ali dancing he shifts his admiration from Nikki to her and intensifies Nikki’s dislike in Ali.

Sean notices Jack staring at Ali and tells him that she won’t be single forever. Nikki arrives drunk at work for the umpteenth time and Tess tells her that Ali is going on in her place. Ali goes on and Nikki pulls the plugs to embarrass Ali because all the dancers lip-sync the songs. As Sean is lowering the curtains Ali starts to sing and she is a raging success. Tess tells the dancers they are rewriting the show around Ali’s talent and Nikki just gets angrier about everything. Ali starts seeing Marcus socially and Jack knows it is his fault for not making a move earlier. Nikki pics a fight with Tess and she resigns and tells Tess that she slept with Vince the night after their honeymoon ended. Tess smashes Nikki’s window with a crowbar in anger.

At Georgia’s wedding, Jack fights with Natalie over the phone when she extends her stay in New-York once again. He tells Ali that he broke off the engagement and gets drunk. They sleep together afterward. The next day a furious Natalie (Dianna Agron) shows up to find them in bed together. Jack claims they broke it off but Natalie insists that she doesn’t just get dumped that easily over a phone. Jack asks Ali to leave the flat so he and Natalie can fight in peace and she leaves, very angry with him. She heads to Sean to cool off and accepts a dinner invitation with Marcus when he calls. At Marcus’ house she notices the set of buildings he plans to build on the ground where the Burlesque is. She tells him that he is wrong and leaves, and remembers something he told her previously – “air rights” – which means you buy the empty space above a building so that nothing can be built above a certain height. Ali gives the idea to Tess and they go to the CEO of the company that is building flats in front of the Burlesque club claiming beautiful views. They get them to buy the air rights on top of Burlesque and Tess has enough cash to settle her debts and buy Vince out.

Nikki shows up a few days later to apologize and admit she never slept with Vince. Tess accepts her apology and takes her back into the club. Nikki and Ali don’t make peace but acknowledges each other’s existence. Jack finds Ali and asks for her forgiveness and that tells her it is definitely over between him and Natalie. They reconcile and hey give her the song he finished “Show Me How You Burlesque” and she and the dancers perform it at the club.

Rating: 5.5/10

Burlesque was enjoyable but not spectacular.

The movie is a B-star all-star cast with people who are busy making it in Hollywood. The more things I watch the more I see how Julianne Hough climbed the ladder. Her acting has definitely increased in the last four years but I enjoyed her as Georgia, the girl who found happiness when she didn’t think she deserved it.

The movie was something that went aiming to be Moulin Rouge and never fully got there. Firstly, Baz Luhrman wasn’t involved. I think of all the directors out there he is the only one with a heart artistic enough to make musicals properly work on the big screen. Secondly, the lead cast (Cher and Christina Aguilera) are not as good as Kidman or McGregor – although both have significantly better voices. Thirdly, the script wasn’t that good and the punch lines and sarcasm not delivered with conviction – it seemed terribly rehearsed. Christina Aguilera debuted as an actress in Burlesque, and she will never be Oscar worthy, but she isn’t a complete hopeless case. Her voice is one of the most powerful things I’ve ever heard. The woman gives me goosebumps when she sings. Cher was distinctive and entertaining but I don’t find her a good actress. She did well as Tess, a faded star who is determined to keep what she dearly loves. I liked her stubbornness to not sell her club.

The movie had this one gaping plot hole that left me frustrated. Ali runs away from the bar she works at in Iowa, taking all the money she is owed and another waitress warns her that the manager will find her and make her pay. Her apartment is later trashed but it is never really clear that it was the guy from the bar. So did he really let her get away with everything?

The more I see of Cam Gigandet (what is with the weird surnames in Hollywood these days?!) the more I like him. Not just because of his looks which is mighty fine, but he seems to have a definite charm. He was hilarious in Easy A and played James in Twilight very well. He wore a lot of eyeliner in Burlesque as bartender slash musician. I completely understood Ali wondering about him being straight there for a bit.

Stanley Tucci is always so much fun to watch. I love him in everything. He is in the Hunger Games (excellent), the Devil Wears Prada (Really good), and he plays a mindboggling straight character in Easy A (I don’t care if he is straight or not, he is just always cast as a gay man). I always find him true to his character and he always gives an in-depth portrayal no matter what.

The costumes were spectacular. I thought the movie gave great attention to detail with the outfits and how every dancer’s was different but worked together.

Only worth watching if you enjoy musicals.

March 18, 2014 by Natasha Categories: Movies, ReviewsTags: Ali Rose, Burlesque, Cam Gigandet, Cher, Christina Aguilera, Dianna Agron, Eric Dane, Julianne Hough, Kristen Bell, Movies, Peter Gallagher, Reviews, Stanley Tucci 3 Comments