Review: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2

It’s finally here, the final instalment of The Hunger Games, it’s a bittersweet moment leaving me both excited and apprehensive.  I’ve been so excited about seeing Katniss, Peeta and Gale back on the big screen but this means that it is the end, what if it isn’t as good as the others (or only just as good as Mockingjay Part 1) what kind of sobbing mess would I be then?!  A gaping Hunger Games shaped hole in my life and no way to fix it (other than read the books again!).

Following on from the Mockingjay Part 1 (funnily enough), Peeta has been trained to hate Katniss, Katniss is the face of a revolution, Gale is a soldier and Primrose is a nurse.  Along with some firm favourites, Finnick Odair (Sam Clafin), Cressida (Natalie Dormer) and Pollux (Elden Henson), Katniss leads the team into the capitol and to President Snow’s mansion.  The route is fraught with ‘pods’ which release various terrifying booby traps from explosions to oil slicks. 

This is basically another Hunger Games, as noted by Finnick “Welcome to the 76^th Hunger Games” but set in the streets of the capitol instead of an arena.  All that was missing from that line was a 'looking into the camera breaking the fourth wall' moment. That would have been perfect! The gamemakers have made it near impossible for anyone to get to the mansion without being killed or maimed in the process.  

I will admit that the third was my least favourite book, there was a lot of talking and it seemed so much less action packed that the previous two.  However, what happened with the film it seems, is that all the boring stuff was jammed into the first film (my least favourite of the movies) and all the action and emotional gumph is in this one, making it ten times more awesome than I imagined.  Maybe it’s because I’ve see the first and second one a hundred times and this one is completely new but I think it might be my favourite of them all.  I spent much of the time tensed up while Katniss and co try to break free of another cruel booby trap and Josh Hutcherson was brilliant to watch as he fought the demons in his own head and tried to decide what was real and what was planted in his mind. After 4 years I'd thought I would have grown tired of being Team Peeta, but I loved all of his scenes!

I'd forgotten actually how much dialogue was in this part of the book. That's the main thing that frustrated me with this movie, the pacing was all over the place. It went from 5 minutes of solid dialogue to crazy action, back to chatter again. It was a bit stop start! I actually really liked that, it kept me on my toes - plus for me, the dialogue is what made the films so close to the books.

I think they really captured the reason behind Katniss’s choices, maybe more so than the books.  I don’t want to reveal any spoilers but her decision at the end of the book baffled me a little bit as it wasn’t what I expected but in the film it felt like the perfect ending.  I also didn’t find myself as emotional watching the film as I had in the book, I was sobbing like a small child when I read the third one but managed to scrape by this one without a single tear or sniffle.

One thing I'd forgotten from the books was how dark some of those scenes were! I won't mention because of spoilers, but with everything happening in the world right now one scene in particular was quite harrowing to watch.

I stand by my thought that Mockingjay didn't need to be split into two parts. If the dull, unnecessary moments from both parts were taken out and made into one movie, it could have been amazing, but my favourite from the series is still Catching Fire. 

I almost wanted this to be my least favourite of the films so I wouldn’t be sad that it was over but it has turned out to be my favourite, now I’m gutted all over again that it’s finished!  Back to the books I go…..

7 reasons why I love The First Wives Club (1996)

How am I only now re-watching The First wives Club, I watched it when it first came out but I think I was little bit too young to quite grasp the awesomeness of this girl power ensemble.  Rather than a bog standard review (which could potentially go on forever) I thought I’d try something different:

7 Reasons why I LOVE The First Wives Club

1.  I have adored Goldie Hawn since the first time I saw Overboard waaaaaay back when and Diane Keaton has always reminded me of my Mom (who passed when I was 13) and I remember my Mom loving this film – so it’s a whole barrage of love for Momma P!

2.  That finale! I sang, I danced, I may have even clapped….

3.  That the least likely couple got back together, you thought you would be mad but you loved it <3

4.  Jennifer Lawrence (who we all love), quoted this movie in her Golden Globe speech in 2013! ‘I beat Meryl’

5.  They all had so much fun filming this movie and you can tell, the laughter between the main characters feels completely real.

6.  The soundtrack – all the songs you put on that mix CD after your first big heart break!

7.  Bette Midler, Diane Keaton and Goldie Hawn on the same screen at the same time as well as Maggie Smith, Stockard Channing and Eileen Heckart – it’s all just too much girl power!

Christmas Cast-a-Thon: Entries Round-Up

To celebrate our favourite time of the year finally here, we ran a Christmas themed Cast-a-Thon! Here are the entries we received. If you fancy taking part, please do! Just check out our announcement post here to find out how.

If you do feel like taking part, just let us know when your post is up, and we'll add it to this list.

John at Hitchcock's World's Christmas movie featured the most bad-add parents of all time, John McClane and Lara Croft!

Dell at Dell on Movies' Christmas movie had one of the greatest grinches ever, none other than The Penguin!

And finally, you can check out my post here and Jenna's post here!

Mini Reviews: She's Funny That Way (2014), The Overnight (2015) & Hot Tub Time Machine 2 (2015)

She’s Funny That Way (2014) is a crazy little comedy made from the same DNA as Love Actually and similar movies, where multiple stories all come together. Owen Wilson is a director who enjoys giving large amounts of cash to call girls, including Imogen Poots, who just so happens to be auditioning for the lead in his latest play. Every other main character in the movie is connected to one another, but I won’t spoil it for you because to be honest, that was one of the only things that kept me entertained. A decent movie nonetheless, but it just feels forgettable. I wasn’t sure whether the audience is meant to be on side with Owen Wilson or not, but he was a bit of a douchebag in my opinion.

What even is this movie?! I can’t tell if it’s a really low brow comedy or an indie dramedy! It’s a movie about a married couple (Adam Scott and Taylor Schilling) who are having intimate issues, and have just moved to a new city. They meet another couple at the park one day (Jason Schwartzman and Judith Godrèche) who invite them over for a pizza night. Things get very awkward very fast, when we learn that this couple paint buttholes and make breast pump videos. I’m not even kidding!

I felt awkward from start to finish, but it was still strangely enjoyable and funny. Not one to see in front of your family, friends, or anyone really. Watch this alone, or drunk!

Why did I put myself through this? I wasn’t overly fond of the first movie, but Hot Tub Time Machine 2 (2015) was pretty terrible. For the record, I love the idea, and there were a few jokes that were funny. Basically, Lou (Rob Corddry) gets shot and so the group have to go back in time to find his killer. Only they end up in the future instead. There’s a big debate about the theory of time travel, and many gross sex jokes that are just plain awkward. Not even Adam Scott in a skirt(?!) could save this for me.  (Is anyone starting to see a trend in Allie's recent reviews?! Like they all happen to have one particular person in them?! Shuuuush don't draw attention to it!) The nerd song made me laugh though, and the credits scenes are actually the best parts.

Looking Forward to Seeing in the Cinema This Month...December 2015

No no no no no no...how can it possibly be that I writing a post to be published in December, already. Our avid readers must be sick to death of reading pretty much the same line every month about how surprised we are at the date, so I'll shut up now.....I do think this year has flown by though, ha!

The movie I always look forward to in December is my family's big Christmas outing. Each year we go to the cinema together (about 10 of us!) to see that month's big release. The last 3 years have been The Hobbit movies, but this year? We're seeing Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens!

I've actually only seen one Star Wars movie so far, that being Episode I, which from what I gather is the worst, but I've been making a real effort to catch up before we see the latest instalment. In fact, I'm working on a post right now recording my viewings, but you'll see that closer to Christmas!

Now, this is the part where I tell everyone exactly why I'm looking forward to my chosen movie, but I still have no idea what it's about, other than the fact there's a shady looking guy with a funky red lightsaber. I think his name is Kylo. That's a cool name. Is that enough reason to look forward to it? Really, I'm looking forward to watching the entire series over the coming weeks!

If you haven't seen the trailer for Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens yet, then I'm not sure why you even have the internet, but here it is for you anyway:

Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens is released in UK cinemas on 17th December 2015. If you don't already have your tickets, good luck, and may the force be with you.

To be honest, there isn't much out in December that's got me excited.  I'm not really bothered about Star Wars (I have only see Episodes 1, 2 and 3 so would need to watch the original 3 before I can watch the new one anyway!) so I had to have  a rifle through YouTube to find something and finally landed on Christmas with the Coopers (AKA Love the Coopers for our friends across the pond).

I love a good family comedy, particularly when it revolves around Christmas and the cast list for this bad boy looks amazing, Diane Keaton, John Goodman, Alan Arkin, Ed Helms and the list just goes on and on.  With such a big cast I am slightly concerned about it ending up like Love Actually (I don't like films with lots of short stories within it so much) but either way I will leave the cinema feeling all christmassy and fussy inside!!

Here is the UK trailer for it:

Christmas with the Coopers is out in UK Cinemas on 4th December 2015.