Thursday Movie Picks: Road Trip Movies

It's Thursday, and that can mean only one thing, it's time for Thursday Movie Picks! This is an amazing series hosted by Wandering Through the Shelves. Each week brings a new theme, and all you need to do is pick 3 movies that fit the bill. They can be the best of, the worst of, or hidden gems.

Man, it’s been too long since I’ve last taken part in Wanderer’s Thursday Movie Picks. I couldn’t miss this week though. It’s Road Trip Movies, and despite never going on a road trip myself (I don’t think 3hrs to Cornwall counts) I love road trip movies. That makes this week a hard one, but only because I can only pick 3 movies! Here goes…

I’ve got to start with my favourite. National Lampoon’s Vacation (1983) is weirdly one of my childhood movies, mainly because it’s all my family would watch on a Sunday when we all got together. Clark Griswold (Chevy Chase) takes his family on a road trip across America to Wally World, and just about anything that could go wrong, does. They’re doing a remake this year which I’m equal parts dead excited and horribly worried about.

I had to check I hadn’t picked this before, but it seems we just like to talk about Little Miss Sunshine (2006) a lot on this blog. One of my favourite Drama/Comedies, this movie focuses on a truly messed up family as they take a road trip so that their daughter can take part in a beauty pageant. Olive’s (Abigail Breslin) dance routine at the end is a major highlight and Steve Carell gets to play a serious role, which he nailed.

Another movie I like to talk about! Chef (2014) is one of my favourite movies of 2014, another Drama/Comedy following a working road trip that Carl Casper (Jon Favreau) takes with his son in their food truck after he loses his job at a restaurant. The plot doesn’t sound like much but it’s one of the most heartwarming movies I’ve ever seen. It has tasty food too, what more could you ask for? Don’t watch on an empty stomach!

Honourable mentions go out this week to Zombieland (which I did choose before), We’re the Millers and Paul, which very nearly made my list.

Dream Vacation Blogathon (Allie's Version)

Summer is here and I can’t help feeling a little glum. I’m not going on a vacation this year, although to be fair it’s because I’m saving for my wedding next year which is much more exciting. However, Katy at Girl Meets Cinema has saved the day with her Dream Vacation Blogathon!

The idea is simple enough, we get to pick 3 characters to bring with us on our vacation, and we can go wherever we want. I’d say the sky is our limit, but it really isn’t. Please check out Katy’s original post here, she explains it much better than I ever could.

I’m not one for a ‘relax and do nothing’ holiday. I don’t do sitting quietly by the pool with a book, I’m much happier exploring local towns and beaches, so this holiday is going to be one big adventure. What use is an adventure like this without a seasoned adventurer such as Mr. Bilbo Baggins? We’ll be travelling to some weird and wonderful places on this vacation, and so I’m bringing Katniss along for protection. Plus, I’m hoping she can give me some fashion advice and teach me to braid my hair. For some fun during this trip, who better to bring than the God of Mischief himself, Loki! He’ll probably cause the trouble that Katniss will have to help us get out of.

To start us off, we’ll don our warmest gear and set sail for Arendelle, the home of Queen Elsa and Princess Anna from Disney’s Frozen. I’ll sing cheesy songs with Anna, and yes, I most certainly want to build a snowman! Katniss and Elsa with have some sort of braid-off, I’m sure. Bilbo heard that Arendelle throws a fantastic feast, so he’ll be happy, and Loki and Olaf will no doubt be creating some kind of snow-related disaster. That’ll be the signal that it’s time to leave.

After purchasing some souvenirs from Wandering Oaken’s Trading Post, Loki will show us the way to Asgard. I’ve been fascinated with Asgard ever since I watched the Thor movie for the first time, and would love nothing more than to take a stroll down the rainbow bridge, accompanied by Thor himself, for safety of course, you know, in case I swoon and fall. In the evening, Katniss and I will swap our furs for fine silk, and get ready to party into the wee hours of the morning.

Putting these fantasy worlds behind us, Heimdall will provide us with safe passage to Manhattan, New York. There are too many movies to name filmed in this action packed city, but I had Begin Again in my mind when planning this vacation. Who doesn't want to bump into Adam Levine whilst on vacation? I’ve been to Manhattan once before and will hopefully go back again next year. I’d love to spend a whole day just walking through Central Park in the summer. That is, if Loki doesn’t try to take over the world while we’re there. There’s always one, eh?

Using the powers of Twitter, we’ll track down which city in the US Carl Casper’s food truck from Chef is at the moment, and take a road trip for some tasty food. Have you noticed that food seems to be a prominent feature in this vacation? Oops. It’s for Bilbo I swear, not me! If you’ve never watched Chef before by the way you really should, unless you hate food, and well then I’m afraid we really can’t be friends.

For the final leg of our journey, and with Loki’s rebellious streak rubbing off on me, we’re going to break the blogathon rules and head to the beaches of Miami, home of Dexter Morgan, the star of the TV Show, Dexter. Living in the UK, we get to see very little sun, and living right in the Midlands as I do means I hardly ever get to visit a beach. After the journey we’ve had, I’m sure we would all appreciate some sunbathing and cocktails.

Finally, I want to thank Katy for hosting this blogathon and giving me the chance to create my dream vacation! I can’t wait to read everyone else’s posts, too.

Review: Chef (2014)

I wanted to see this at the cinema but ended up missing it but then I got on a(nother) flight and there it was in the menu (pun intended?), happy days! Or maybe not, one thing I always find on planes is that I'm hungry and always when there is no food being served so watching a film about this amazing food had my dribbling into my lap (not a good look!)

Chef is about Carl Casper, head chef at a fancy restaurant whose creativity is being stunted by 'stuck in the mud' boss Riva (Dustin Hoffman) which leads to a bad review by Ramsey Michael (Oliver Platt) which in turn leads to a viral twitter video and the loss of his job.  Instead of begging for his job back he decided to follow his creative ideas and buys a food truck...

This film was quite slow moving to start with but caught up once Carl invests in his food truck of dreams.  One of my fellow bloggers called this 'food porn' and they are not wrong.  The characters are good, the artsy shots of the truck and chalkboards are good, the comedy is good but the food...the food is EPIC.  It's making me hungry just thinking about.  Plus having just visited New Orleans for the first time it was amazing to see the sights on camera (I did sample the Café Du Monde Beignets that are mentioned in the film and they were incredible) and hear Carl announce that "this isn't Bourbon street that's for tourists, this is Frenchman Street..."

I agree completely, Chef started off really slow. I think the amazing food kept me going, but once we actually got to Carl buying the truck, the story flowed much better and the time whizzed by!

It's listed on IMDB as a comedy but I saw it as more of a drama as it was dealing with serious issues (and really wasn't all that funny).  The way the film was shot was different to anything I have seen, but it helped the flow of the film, so even the slower parts were so well shot that you almost failed to notice.

It had a few funny moments for sure, I don't think I'll ever stop laughing at the term 'amuse douche' but definitely not a comedy in my book. This was a heart-warming drama for me.

I was nervous about Jon Favreau taking a lead role, I wasn't sure whether he could step up but I think he is supported so well by John Leguizamo's supportive buddy Martin and Sofia Vergara's general charm as ex-wife Inez, that he couldn't really fail.  I even liked Percy (Emjay Anthony) when the child character in this type of film usually annoys me, he brings a real likability to character and you just want to hug him when you realise how much he brings to the business. Percy was an absolute sweetheart and the coolest social media guru I've ever seen!

I was trying to work out what else I had seen John Leguizamo in, and it wasn't until I turned away from the screen and realised it was actually his voice I recognised him from! He was absolutely fantastic in this and I can't wait to see more of his work. (Ice Age by any chance?!)

Is it just me though or did Chef have some huge names in that it really didn't need? How much did they pay Robert Downey Jr. for his very small role? Did we really need Scarlett Johansson at all?

Definitely watch this film, but do it after dinner otherwise you will find yourself eating yourself out of house and home. Scrap that, I watched this straight after dinner and still wanted to eat the contents of my fridge!