Showing posts with label Lily James. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lily James. Show all posts

Thursday, 17 March 2016

Review: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (2016)

I like to think that I’ll give any movie a shot if someone recommends it to me, but there are two specific movies that I have zero interest in watching. Period Dramas and Zombie Horrors. I’m trying this year though to be more open minded, and with the arrival of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, I got the chance to put a tick in both boxes. Plus, the lovely Ruth at FlixChatter is crushing hard on Sam Riley right now, and I feel like I owe it to her to check him out!


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Now, I’ve never watched or read the original Pride and Prejudice so forgive me if I manage to completely butcher the plot or make a fool of myself in any other way, but the plot of this movie goes something like this. In an alternative 19th century England, Elizabeth (Lily James) and her sisters are desperately trying to avoid being pushed into marriages whilst also learning how to protect themselves from the zombies that plague the Earth. Along the way, Elizabeth meets Mr Darcy (Sam Riley) who is investigating a possible outbreak.

What struck me first of all was how funny this movie was! I’m not saying I was expecting a straight-faced horror or anything, and I can’t even think of a specific moment to mention, but it was multiple subtle moments in expressions and timing that had me laughing throughout. Plus Matt Smith’s character Parson Collins who was just hilarious every time he was on the screen.


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The main reason I can’t get on with period dramas is that the female characters tend to rub me up the wrong way. I don’t know how zombies solved this problem for me but they did! The 5 sisters in this movie are brilliant, they can hold their own ground, stand up for themselves and ultimately - kick ass! The scene where they all got ready for the dance, holstering their knives under their skirts was just great. This brings me on to the rest of the cast. When I first saw the trailer I didn’t recognise many faces, but now, I seem to know everybody! It's always fun trying to remember just where you saw that face.

I think what let me down was my own knowledge of the genre to be honest. I’m sure there were many nods to the original Pride and Prejudice and they would have flown straight over my head. In fact, I might just have to watch it now to find out, but I’m not going to be able to take it seriously anymore!


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Now, I can’t finish this review without telling Ruth what I thought of her beloved Sam Riley. Whilst he’s not going to knock Oscar Isaac off the top of my obsession throne, he was rather yummy I must admit! And Ruth I have to know, is his voice always that husky? I could listen to the man talk all day!

Anyway, as someone who dislikes horror and period drama, I had so much with this movie. In fact, I dare say I’m going to be rewatching it soon. 

Edit: I’ve just realised that the movie’s tagline is ‘Bloody Lovely’ and I’ve been laughing for about 10 minutes straight.



Sunday, 6 September 2015

Review: Cinderella (2015)

As anyone who reads this blog will know that I love Disney movies, which is why I couldn't believe its taken me this long to watch the new live action Cinderella, especially as it has Rob Stark in it - swoon! The King in the North, The King in the North!


Who doesn't know the plot for this?  I'll bash it out anyway, just in case!  Ella (Lily James) is the apple of her fathers eye, after her mother (Hayley Atwell) passes away he finds a new wife in the form of Cate Blanchett.  On his travels Ella's father falls ill and passes away also, leaving her in the care of her Step Mother and living with her two 'ugly' sisters (Sophie McShera & Holliday Grainger).  Ella's step family become increasingly demanding, making Ella do all the household chores and any other menial labour they deem necessary until Ella's fairy Godmother (Helena Bonham Carter) makes an appearance to save the day....


Best. Fairy. Godmother. Ever. I was so excited about this and because of that I was worried I may end up disappointed.  Fortunately, I loved it.  I noticed many a comparison to the Disney animated version but obviously slightly tweaked for the live action version.  For example, the mice... you could still work out which one was supposed to be which from the cartoon even with them not able to speak.  They were probably my favourite part! I loved the revamped version of the original 'A Dream is a Wish your Heart Makes' song too.

I was in for this at the mention of Frozen Fever and Richard Madden, so didn't give the actual film a single thought till it began! Actually, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it.


It actually feels like they have brought one of my favourite childhood films to life (which was all you ever wished for as a child!) and the creation and inevitable destruction of the pumpkin carriage is stunning to watch (although I still can't work out why the shoes didn't disappear - is it because they were made from scratch rather than changed from something else?! Answers on a postcard please!).  Cate Blanchett is an amazing bad guy and stunning to watch on screen, Lily James managed to hold her own but didn't quite channel Cinderella as well as I would have hoped.  The Prince (Richard Madden) - although beautiful - was a bit drippy and not a patch on the animated Charming of Disney's original outing. I'll agree with you on that one for sure, but he was definitely pretty to look at :)


Would happily watch this again and kids would love it.

Looking back on my scribbles I came out of the cinema loving this Cinderalla remake, but I actually kind of forgot about it until I spotted Jenna's post in our drafts list, which makes me a little sad because I really did enjoy it!