Mini Reviews: Love and Mercy (2014), Hot Pursuit (2015) & Unfinished Business (2015)

This was a complete accidental find, I hadn’t even heard of this film but I love the Beach Boys music so I thought I may enjoy it.  It’s based on the true story of Brian Wilson, who was once a member of and continued to write for the Beach Boys, he wrote some of their iconic song such as Wouldn't it be nice and Good Vibrations.  I can say that the soundtrack to this was brilliant, I was singing along and I loved hearing the development of the music as Brian (John Cusack/Paul Dano) was developing it. It was terribly sad to watch his breakdown over the years but great to see his relationship with Melinda (Elizabeth Banks) develop and her save him from his manager.  Heartwarming and awesome awesome soundtrack.

When I first saw the trailer for this, I thought, great a rip off of The Heat but not as good.  Then I warmed to the idea (since falling in love with Modern Family and Sophia Vergara) so a quiet Sunday night on the sofa with my duvet led to this.  Turns out I was right the first time, it was a terrible version of The Heat with Cooper (Reese Witherspoon) as the ‘play by the book’ cop and Mrs Riva (Sophia Vergara) the high maintenance witness in her ‘care’.  The jokes are poor, the story is worse and the characters are completely unlikeable.  Where Sandra Bullock was hilarious in portrayal of the stick in the mud cop, Witherspoon was just irritating, I know Vergara can be funny but the script just didn’t give her enough to work with.  Pretty poor across the board to be honest.

Vince Vaughn’s movies have always been of the hit and miss variety, The Internship – big hit, The Delivery Man – big miss!! Unfortunately, this was the latter.  I really wanted to love it, I really liked the cast and as a story it has kind of potential, it just didn’t play out well.  Honestly, I saw it a few weeks ago and I can’t remember most of it already.  What I do remember was a host of gross out comedy (if you can call it comedy) and ridiculous surname jokes (Mike Pancake, really?!).  I wont be watching this again and I am rapidly losing faith in Vince Vaughn as a leading character without his partner in crime, Owen Wilson.

Review: Pitch Perfect 2 (2015)

Hey there, pitches! Gosh, it feels like I’ve been waiting for Pitch Perfect 2 for a long time. Not longer than most mind, I only watched the original last year, and it was the first ever film we reviewed on our blog. You can check that out here. 

Pitch Perfect 2 starts off with our beloved Barden Bellas making fools out of themselves in front of the US President, mainly thanks to Fat Amy (Rebel Wilson). Now they need to work from the bottom to regain their respect and fame, and try to win the World Championship which no American team has ever been able to do. Beca (Anna Kendrick) is trying to juggle her duties as a Bella and an internship at a recording studio, and we’re also introduced to a new Bella, a ‘Legacy’ by the name of Emily (Hailee Steinfeld) who has a natural talent for songwriting.  Did anyone else find the story oddly familiar, like it was the original but with a new Beca?!

I was unsure about the new addition to the Barden Bellas, especially as she stole so much screen time from Beca, but I grew to love her in the end. The story was predictable without ruining any enjoyment, and didn’t feel like a ‘copy & paste’ job to me. The jokes we loved in the original were taken one step further this time, especially John Michael Higgins, sexist remarks. There were huge gasps of horror followed by laughter to most of his one-liners at the cinema I was at.  I was a bit disappointed to be honest, I had read a review beforehand which said it was as good as the first but I didn't think so.  Although, it was still really funny, the story wasn't as good for me (a little bit too far fetched!) and it felt like that had to make up story so they could bring in past characters who would have graduated since the first movie.  Don't get me wrong, it was still brilliantly likeable and I will love having Pitch Perfect marathons with the girls and a bottle of wine but the first one is still a winner for me.

The songs and the mash-ups were just as good this time round, although I thought we could have done with some more recent hits. My favourite performances were put on by the German group, Das Sound Machine, I want the soundtrack just for them! They scared the crap out of me, they were just so aggressive and reminded me of Ben Stiller's dodgeball team! Beca’s attempts at comebacks when the two groups were confronted were just hilarious, and I’m sure I read somewhere that Anna Kendrick improvised most, if not all of those.  She was hilarious with her comebacks - another reason to lurve her...

As much as I loved Pitch Perfect 2, I haven’t made my mind up yet whether it’s better than the original. The sequel feels bigger, everything that worked well in the first has been improved on, but it just doesn’t have the magic of the original, but I guess that’s the problem with all sequels. I think they’re on a par for me.

What I will say (without ruining it) though is that the ending scene was awesome, and actually gave me goosebumps. Oh, and that mid-credits scene was amazing! So glad I stayed for that.  The ending made it for me, if it hadn't been as good as it was I may have been seriously disappointed but I came out smiling and happier for watching it so that can't be a bad thing!

 

Review: The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013)

I watched this film at the cinema when it was released but I recently saw it on a list of films on a flight to Qatar so I went for it again...

 

I had completely forgotten how much I love this film, I actually think I loved it more than the first one (which is impressive for a sequel), its tougher, scarier, grittier and more heartbreaking than the original.  I loved that the first half was not in an arena but showing Katniss, Peeta and Gale coping after the first Hunger Games and how they respond to being sent back in again.

 

The arena is much more brutal and horrific than the first with blood rain, deadly smoke and evil baboons.  There were more characters to get your teeth into and many hints to the 3rd book (3rd and 4th films) that only readers of the book will understand (makes be feel abit smug when watching it to be honest!).  

 

I'm totally one of those annoying people who sit there with a smug face, reminding everyone who will listen that I've read the book! I was pleased at how well they kept to the book in Catching Fire, they just played around a bit with the timeline and missed out one of my favourite moments which pained me.

 

There's a scene in the book at the party which in the book happened after the names had been picked for the Quarter Quell, where Katniss is dancing with Plutarch (I think) and he whispers in her ear, 'It begins at 12'. This was the major clue for the Quarter Quell arena and would have been an awesome inclusion in the film.

 

I loved the build on the characters from the first film, such as Cinna and President Snow but the additional characters added this time round really gave it more edge. Jena Malone's, Johanna Mason was amazing - ideally at the beginning you are supposed to hate the character but I loved her and the impact she had on Katniss.  She seemed to be the only character that could get a rise out of her, which gave Jennifer Lawrence's Katniss more depth.   

 

Jennifer Lawrence as always was amazing and stole every scene she was in.  She made the character more tough this time round but also showed more vulnerability than has been  previously touched on.  The scene where Katniss isn't allowed to say bye to her family and the scene when she's hit by the Jabberjays in the arena were heartbreaking to watch and admittedly I cried a little on the plane. 

 

Catching Fire was brilliant and I'll definitely be watching it again just before the third film comes out. I'm a bit nervous about the third book being split into two films though, and I hope it allows them to do justice to the book, and not to just make as much money as they can.

I would without a doubt recommend this to anyone, preferably after reading the books and watching the first film but definitely a must.  Everything was bigger and better, from the arena to Effie Trinket's hair and eyelashes.

Review: Our Idiot Brother (2011)

I watched this on my iPad (thank you Sky Go Extra) on route to Geneva for work.  I knew exactly what I was getting myself into, I knew it wasn't going to be intellectually stimulating or hilariously funny but it was going to be an easy watch, and that it was...

 

I think that because I didn't put too much pressure on this film to be amazing, I just enjoyed it for what it was.  It is the story of Ned (Paul Rudd) who unwittingly gets himself arrested for selling weed to a cop.  Once out on probation his (mean) girlfriend has moved on and taken his lodgings with her and he finds himself in the big bad world by himself.  Enter his three controlling sisters played by Emily Mortimer, Zooey Deschanel and Elizabeth Banks - who do nothing but try to change Ned.

 

The rest of the film is the development of the relationships between Ned and his sisters and how all of their lives are changed because of his arrival.  It has really lovely moments between the family and also some very realistic moments, the argument between the three sisters near the end of the film (I can't say anymore because it would be a spoiler) is so much like my three cousins, they absolutely nailed it.  The film flowed well but it was lacking the comedy that the cover/trailer promised and replaced it with drama which I wasn't expecting when I started watching it.  The drama however is good enough to keep you watching even though it doesn't make you laugh.

 

Now I want to say that Jenna's review is a bit of a shame, because Our Idiot Brother has been on my radar for quite some time now, but when I think about it, the only reason it was ever on my radar is because of the cast, none of the plot really gripped me. I'll probably give it a watch at some point, I'm just not rushing out to do so.

 

Overall, I probably wouldn't watch this again but I would recommend it to someone looking for an easy watch that takes no real thinking.