Trivia Round-Up: September 2015

Wow, Autumn is here! It's been a busy month catching up on everything I missed while I was AWOL in August. As always, here's some fun trivia we've found for all the movies we've reviewed this month.

Cinderella (2015)

In the ballroom dance, many of the dresses designs are based on the dresses of various Disney princesses. Those of Belle from (Beauty and the Beast (1991)), Tiana (The Princess and the Frog (2009)), Aurora (Sleeping Beauty (1959)), Snow White (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)), Mulan (Mulan (1998)), and Ariel (The Little Mermaid (1989)) can be spotted.

Desperately want to go back and check this out!

Penguins of Madagascar (2014)

The sheep that North Wind was holding hostage is from the "How to Train Your Dragon" series also produced by DreamWorks.

Oh em gee. I didn't realise this!

Citizenfour (2014)

Since Feb.16 2015 the feature film Snowden (2016) is in production and will be released in the US on the 25th Dec. 2015. Actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt is set to play Edward Snowden in a film directed by multiple Academy Award-winner Oliver Stone. Academy Award-winner Melissa Leo will play filmmaker Laura Poitras.

This has some pretty good potential in my opinion!

Self/less (2015)

This is the second body switch movie starring Ryan Reynolds. The first was The Change-Up (2011).

True, IMDB. Very true. Wish I'd seen The Change-Up instead actually, ha!

Spooks: The Greater Good (2015)

Kit Harington received spy training from an ex-SAS soldier, so he can play a former MI5 agent in this film.

I guess he knows something after all then...

Everest (2015)
This movie is based on the worst disaster to ever occur in the Mount Everest region in Nepal but a striking coincidence occurred when this movie was being shot in Nepal. An avalanche on April 18, 2014 killed 16 people on Everest and the casualty was higher than the 1996 disaster which this movie is based on. The shooting had to be postponed and the disaster took the most lives ever taken in an Everest Disaster mostly Sherpas (all Nepalese) who were preparing ground work for the upcoming climbing season.

Pixels (2015)
The movie's video game high scores are based on real scores. Sam Brenner's Pac-Man high score of 3,333,360 is the highest attainable Pac-Man score, first achieved by Billy Mitchell (a higher score is possible on the Namco Pac-Man Anniversary edition machines). Ludlow Lamonsoff's Centipede score of 16,389,548 is one point higher than the real-life marathon world record set by Jim Schneider. Eddie Plant's Donkey Kong score of 1,068,100 is 100 points higher than Hank Chien's former world record.

Review: Pixels (2015)

Gamer nerds, unite! Okay, that was a little lame, sorry. But seriously, I’m all in for a movie that celebrates being a gamer. It’s just taken me a while to get round to watching this one. When I first saw the trailer for Pixels, I though, this is one of those movies that’s going to be terrible, but a little bit awesome at the same time. As the terrible reviews flooded in, my enthusiasm died a little, but I still wanted to give it a chance.  I hadn't read any reviews so I had no idea what to expect....

Pixels (2015) starts off in the summer of 1982, and when a new arcade opens up in town, friends Brenner (Adam Sandler) and Cooper (Kevin James) race over to master the games. Whilst there they meet Ludlow (Josh Gad) who’s in love with Lady Lisa, the main star of the game Dojo Quest. After working his way through the ranks, Brenner goes head to head with Eddie (Peter Dinklage) in a game of Donkey Kong. The host announces that footage of the competition will be sent into space by NASA, and consequently, an alien race treats the footage as a declaration of war, and use video games to attack Earth.

It’s a pretty silly plot, there’s no moving around that one, but it’s a fun one at the very least! I would class myself as an Adam Sandler fan, but I enjoyed this a lot more than the last movies I saw of his, both Grown Ups. Admittedly, I think I’m just a few years too young to fully appreciate Pixels. I played Pacman and Donkey Kong, but remastered versions on early generation games consoles, and they were the only game characters I actually recognised. There’s definitely a lot of nostalgia here for 80’s gamers though!  I recognised more from watching Wreck it Ralph than from actual video games (I was more of a Barbie kid!!).  I will readily admit that I am a huge Adam Sandler fan and I to disagree with Allie on this one because Grown Ups (the first one) was awesome and this didn't even come into the same league (it was pretty much on par with Grown Ups 2 - Grown Ups 2 was horrendous, at least Pixels had a plot!).

The visuals were a pretty sight to see, and I reckon they would only be better on the big screen. The final Donkey Kong scene was nothing short of awesome, and even though the trailer already showed it, I loved the idea of using coloured Mini Cooper’s for Inky, Blinky, Pinky and Clyde!  Agreed, the visuals were amazing and the Mini Coopers were great (but how did they know they were going to need them -just another of the little niggles that bothered me throughout!)

As much as I enjoyed this, it certainly wasn’t without it’s flaws. I lost interest in the plot several times, and a few of the characters got on my nerves a little. Why did Peter Dinklage have to put on a ‘douchebag’ voice throughout the entire movie? It just wasn’t necessary. Also, I realise the soundtrack was from the 80’s but the whole Centipede battle scene would have been 100x more awesome if it was backed by Knife Party’s Centipede. Look it up on YouTube, and please internet, make this happen for me. Oh, and spoiler alert, but if you’re going to cast Sean Bean in your movie, in a military role no less, kill him off! Wasted opportunity there, Sandler. YES! I know this film was completely unrealistic and unbelievable but I could not get my head around Kevin James being President, it was so irritating.

All in all, I was really disappointed, I wanted to love it but I just didn't!  It pushed the unrealistic too far and wasn't even remotely funny....at all! (that's hard for me to say about a Sandler film)

Not the best movie out there by a long shot, but give me Adam Sandler over James Franco any day! 

Disappointed in Mr Sandler...sort it out man!

Review: Everest (2015)

We managed to get together the other Friday night for an actual night out! These nights are very rare, in fact the last proper night out we had might have been just before Christmas last year. With bellies full of amazing American-style food and cocktails at Birmingham’s Smoke Rubhouse (my cocktail was far from amazing, it has the taste and consistency of vomit...yak!!), and 2 hours spent watching the harrowing movie Everest, we ended our night curled on the sofa watching Family Guy! Real party animals, we are! You're lucky I made it to the cinema after that cocktail!

Everest was Jenna’s most anticipated movie for September and although I’d heard little about it the cast and the real-life story was enough to sell it to me. Plus, we got to see it in IMAX which is always a bonus!  I have now seen this twice (my Dad was desperate to see it and I couldn't let him go alone) and I thought I might be bored the second time but far from it!

It’s based on the real life story of the expedition teams climbing Mount Everest, the highest point on Earth in 1996. on May 10th, the teams start their final ascent to the summit, after finding a window of opportunity in between the bad weather. A horrendous storm approaches the climbers without warning, and their expedition rapidly turns into a fight for survival as the conditions get worse.

My first thought whilst watching Everest was how quickly it got into gear. There was a brief introduction to the main characters, and very soon after we were already in Nepal at Base Camp, and found out more about each character as they went on with their trek. Too often I find myself bored with the introductions so this was perfect for me, especially with such a large cast. There are some brilliant names here, Jason Clarke, Emily Watson, Sam Worthington, Josh Brolin, Jake Gyllenhaal and Keira Knightley to name just a few!  My biggest criticism of this film (and personally I found it hard to find any) was the fact that is was ensemble, I wanted to get to know the characters and their relationships more, especially as it was a true story.  There just wasn't enough time to delve into each character and tell the story it was trying to tell.

The IMAX was just the icing on the cake of Everest. I’m sure there’s an icing joke to be made here, but my funny bone just isn’t tingling right now - argh I can't think of anything clever!!. When the storm hit, I could literally feel it through the power of sound. How weird is that? It’s not that it was overly loud or anything, it just felt like the air around us vibrated in some way. This is definitely the way to experience this film, I just don’t think it would translate as well on your home TV.

I can't really explain my feelings towards this film, I want to say I loved it because I was completely engrossed throughout but I feel like saying you love something that was so devastating and true feels a bit off.  I think the story was told well (I may change this statement when I've read 60 different books on the subject!).  The whole thing really stuck with me after it finished, I couldn't forget about the characters nor the sheer determination and pain it takes to summit Everest, I don't think I ever really thought about it before!!

The IMAX, what can I say about that, I don't think you can truly experience this film without IMAX.  The ladder scene where Beck Weathers (Josh Brolin) topples and is hanging precariously over a terrifying chasm, the camera shoots downwards and its terrifying, I was on the edge of my seat!  The sheer volume and giant screen make you feel like you are there (all they need is a good snow machine and aircon and it could be 4D!).

I knew nothing about the real life story, neither have I read Into Thin Air, so I had no idea what would happen, and if you haven’t either, I won’t ruin anything explicitly for you, but you might want to skip the rest of this paragraph. There’s definitely a sense of ‘real life’ to Everest in the sense that it was entirely realistic. That sounds stupid I know, of course it’s realistic, but in the movies the characters always seem to defy all odds and even in worst case scenarios there’s some sort of happy outcome, which just wasn’t the case.  I have since downloaded every book I can find on this disaster because I just want to know more about these people, who they were and what happened on the mountain.  It's fair to say that I can get a little obsessive over some things and this is one of them, I can't stop thinking about the film and I'm desperate to know more.

Everest was exhausting and mind-blowing at the same time, and I’m really glad Jenna chose it for us to watch!

I watched the whole film tensed upright in my seat and I found myself exactly the same the second time round.  If you don't care about the story, go and see it for the visuals, they are truly stunning!

Thursday Movie Picks: Adopted/Foster Families

Happy Thursday, everyone! And a happy Autumn to you too, or Fall. Yesterday marked the 2015 Autumnal Equinox, and so now is the time I can officially put cinnamon in everything I eat and drink. I have a nice supply of autumnal fragranced Yankee Candle Tarts ready to burn until it’s socially acceptable for me to feel Christmassy.

Anyway, Thursday Movie Picks is a fantastic series hosted by Wanderer at Wandering Through the Shelves, where each week she picks a theme and we all choose 3 movies that we feel fit. This week we’re looking at Adopted/Foster Families, and it’s a weird one for me, as all 3 of my choices are animated, family movies. I’m not sure if that means a lot of family movies contain adopted/foster families, or that I just watch far too many animated movies. Hey ho, here we go!

Perhaps not the most functional adopted family in the world, Despicable Me (2010) features Gru, a super-villain decides to adopt the 3 orphaned girls who tried to sell cookies to use them as part of his master plan to steal a shrink ray from his nemesis. Gru tries to abandon the girls at an amusement park, but is forced to ride the rollercoaster with them, and slowly, he grows to love these girls as his own. It all ends happily ever after for their little family with a ballet dance recital the girls perform for Gru, his Mother and all the Minions. 

My favourite ever Disney movie, Lilo & Stitch (2002) has a slightly unconventional adopted family. I mean ohana. Lilo lives with her sister who struggles to look after them both after their parents died. Lilo’s sister lets her adopt a dog from the local shelter and of course, Lilo picks the weirdest looking one out of them all, Stitch, who just happens to be an extraterrestrial experiment gone wrong. Stitch’s behaviour almost winds Lilo up in care, but he eventually learns the meaning of ohana, which means family, and family means that no one gets left behind, or forgotten.

Perhaps it’s odd to choose the sequel, but  thought Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011) has some really endearing moments in regards to Po the panda and his adoptive father Mr Ping, a goose. In the sequel, Po struggles with his past as memories come to the surface about his mother. After learning that she died protecting him from Lord Shen of the peacock clan, and eventually defeating Lord Shen himself, he returns home to Mr Ping and declares him to be his father.

Mini Reviews: Citizenfour (2014), Self/less (2015) & Spooks: The Greater Good (2015)

I’m back with a round of Mini Reviews! I haven’t done a post like this for a while, but there are 3 films I’ve watched recently which have either been a bit ‘meh’ or just far too mind blowing and terrifying for me to review properly. Here we go!

Citizenfour (2014) has been on my radar for a while. It’s a documentary by Laura Poitras about the findings of Edward Snowden, who has evidence of the illegal surveillance programs ran by the NSA in conjunction with other intelligence agencies around the world. It was a fascinating watch, but it was only went I went to bed that night that it really hit me, how terrifying it actually is. and I’ve been thinking about it ever since whilst using my phone or tablet. Is someone really watching me right now? Freaky! Citizenfour is a must watch.

I watched Self/less (2015) purely down to my undying love for Ryan Reynolds, but I wish he would stop appearing in terrible movies. Ben Kingsley is a dying man, but a highly successful and clever man, so he spends million on a dubious scientific program to have his mind transferred to a younger body. Only now, he can’t use his actual identity, rendering the point of the program useless. That’s just the start of the many plot holes, but it was an entertaining watch at the very least. 

I’ve never watched the TV Show, Spooks, but assumed Spooks: The Greater Good (2015) would stand on it’s own, which it did. It’s a typical terrorist on the loose movie in every sense, with the added twist of a traitor amongst the MI5 staff. My fiance and I took a stab in the dark guess on who it was within the first 10 minutes, and err, we were right. An interesting and fun watch, especially for Jon Snow fans, but it doesn’t bring anything new to the table.

Saturday Catch Up, Vikings, Marvel's Daredevil & Links!

Goodness me, is it really the weekend already?! Where has the week gone?! If you’ll allow me to do my usual and treat this blog like my personal diary (boring you with my real life nonsense) I have a tale to tell.

Have I mentioned my two cats on this blog yet? They’re brothers by blood, and they’re gorgeous. Their names are Sherlock and Loki. We have some woods and a big park at the back of my house so these guys absolutely love it, and bring me back all sorts of...gifts. Shudder. At the start of August, Loki went missing, and despite neighbours telling me they see him all the time (he’s a fuss monster) just 2 days later no one had seen him at all. I stayed hopeful but by week 4 1 had well and truly given up.

That’s when I got a call exactly a week ago from a veterinary centre in Worcester (30 miles away) saying he had been handed in by a local family! Unfortunately, he was nothing but skin and bones, and, having got one of his front legs trapped in his collar, he had a massive gaping wound so deep you could see all his insides. Wednesday night, after reconstructive surgery, he was able to come back home, and after two weeks of cage rest everyone seems hopeful he will be okay. He’s already put on 500g of weight, the little scamp.

Anyway, back to something blog related! I’m finally all caught up with Vikings, and wow. That Season finale! I won’t spoil it for anyone, but I had a moment where I turned to my fiance and said ‘wouldn’t it be amazing if XYZ happened right now?’. His response was that would be amazing, but there was no chance in hell it would happen. And it did! Word for word, blow by blow, it happened. Hit me up if you’ve seen the finale so I can gush about it.

We’re also nearing the end of Marvel’s Daredevil, which has been equally amazing. I’m one of the rare few who didn’t mind the 2003 movie, but I was reluctant to watch Netflix’s show. I just feel an exhaustion with superheroes right now, does anyone else feel that way? If I caught up with all of them I’d have to quit my real job! Daredevil is well worth it though to be honest, and the casting in particular has been perfect. I can’t wait to see how the last 2 episodes pan out.

Finally, here’s what I’ve been reading on the blogosphere this week:

Caragale has made me want to watch The Visit more than after after her Duet review

Those Assholes Watching Movies have been reporting all week from the Toronto International Film Festival

Alex at And So it Begins lists his Top 10 Movies he’s seen the most

Brittani at Rambling Film has predicted the 2015 Emmy Winners 

Thursday Movie Picks: Journalists/Reporters for Print/TV

Happy Thursday everyone! Did you know that there’s only 99 days to go until Christmas? Sorry. 

In a week where politics seems to have taken over the radio and TV in the UK, I’m more than happy to switch off and  immerse myself into movies, and what better way than with Wanderer’s Thursday Movie Picks? This week we’re looking at Journalists/Reporters for Print/TV, and here are my picks:

Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa (2013) is a British to the bone Comedy about a chain of events which sees DJ Presenter/Reporter Alan Partridge’s radio station being taken over by a group of corporate big-wigs. The situation worsens when Alan (Steve Coogan) upsets a colleague who then decides to hold everyone hostage. In a crazy turn of events, Alan becomes a hostage negotiator between them and the Scotland Yard. I was dragged kicking and screaming into the cinema for this, but it was actually a lot funnier than I expected. Complete silliness of course, but good fun!

One of my favourite films of last year, Nightcrawler (2014) is the story of Lou Bloom (Jake Gyllenhaal), a desperate man trying to get into the world of crime journalism. As he becomes more and more successful, his morality blurs into the point of darkness. I initially overlooked this film completely but I’m so glad I gave it a go in the end, it really left me cold by the time the credits rolled. Our full review is here.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2009) is a movie based on the book of the same name by Stieg Larsson, in which a journalist seeks the help of a female hacker to find a woman who has been missing for forty years. This is the only version I’ve seen, I’m yet to watch the Daniel Craig version, but I just loved how gritty this was and how true it stayed to my vision of the book. The book is definitely worth a read, too!

Saturday Catch Up & Links

As long as I don’t look out the window (it’s unusually sunny) the signs of Autumn are all around. My sunflowers have refused to stop growing, I only got one of them to flower this year but it was a much better attempt than last year. The local shops are full of cardigans, and I’ve bought 2 already. Also, I came down with a big stinky cold this week and I’m still feeling sorry for myself.

Thanks to my sick-day, I finally caught up with New Girl. I was at least 30 episodes behind, which is really unlike me, but at least I’m prepared now for the Season 5 premiere later this month. Is it this month? With a Jess shaped hole in my viewing schedule, I’ve watched more Teen Wolf than usual. I’ve decided I definitely enjoy Teen Wolf now, but it’s more of a guilty pleasure than anything else, and I feel like I’m too old to be watching it really. It has the coolest title sequence though!

My fiance and I have also started watching Netflix’s Daredevil at long last, and we’re probably the last people on the planet to be watching it. It’s like Breaking Bad all over again. I wasn’t expecting to enjoy it as much as I am actually, and the fighting scenes are nothing short of legendary.

Earlier in the week I stumbled across a post (I think on Buzzfeed) of movie-themed cakes. They were amazing! I have a newfound appreciation of cake since starting to plan my wedding, and although my budget is nowhere near big enough to allow a cake as epic as some of these masterpieces are, they’re still pretty to look at. I might just dedicate a whole blog post to my findings soon!

On the subject of blog posts, here are some of my favourites this week:

Movierob and Darren of Movie Reviews 101 are hosting an October Steven King-a-thon, and are still open for reviews. Check it out, I’ve chosen Stand By Me.


Dell at Dell on Movies has been nominated for another Liebster Award, congratulations dude!


Caz at Let’s Go To The Movies has reviewed Gotham Season 1. I never got around to watching Gotham but I might try and catch up.

Drew’s Movie Reviews now includes Footloose, a classic that Jenna and I only got round to watching for the first time last year.

Thursday Movie Picks: Train Movies

It’s Thursday again! Time for another round of Thursday Movie Picks hosted by Wanderer at Wandering Through the Shelves. 

This week, it feels like Autumn is well and truly on it’s way, and it won’t be long before the work commuters will be hearing the dreaded ‘...delayed due to leaves on the line’ whilst they wait for their busy train to work. I’ve been there! So, without further ado, here are my train related picks this week.

"Tickets and passes please...tickets and passes..."

Probably one of the most obvious choices, but absolutely one of my favourites, Source Code (2011) is a cracking thriller in which Jake Gyllenhaal discovers he is part of an experimental government program in which he needs to find out who the bomber of a commuter train is. He has only 8 minutes to find his target, or the train will blow up and he’ll have to start all over again. I thought it would be a little stale with the repeated scenes, but it’s actually one of my favourite movies ever.

It’s only September, I know, but we’re talking about trains, and how can I not mention one of my favourite Christmas movies, The Polar Express (2004)? A magical movie in which Tom Hanks plays over 50% of the entire cast, Santa’s elves not included, and I can’t believe that it’s 11 years old now. Since starting to blog I’ve come to realise not many out there like The Polar Express much, but the songs in it give me festive goosebumps!

The only reason I watched Unstoppable (2010) a couple of years ago was for Chris Pine, and I fully expected it to be a bore-fest. How interesting could a movie be about a freight train out of control? Very, it turns out, and I was sat on the edge of my seat for quite some time. It had a great mix of action scenes and drama, and I was really proved wrong.

I want to put out an honourable mention to Snowpiercer which I would have included, but I’ve picked it for a different theme already. 

Review: Penguins of Madagascar (2014)

You know those movies you watch for the sole reason that one of your favourite actors or actresses is in it? I’m not the only one who does this, right? Jenna I know you do this too! I might have gone a step too far this time. We’re all a little fed up of Madagascar by now, are we not? I don’t think I could take any more of King Julien, and if I hear that song (I don’t even want to name it) one more time I might just cry, but the other night I watched Penguins of Madagascar.

Because Benedict Cumberbatch voices a wolf. Bonus, Benedict Cumberbatch doesn’t know how to say penguins! Sigh. Even I know I did a terrible thing. But do you know what? I really enjoyed it! The film, too. Ha.

I guess you could say that Pengwings (sorry) of Madagascar follows the same principle as Minions. It takes a bunch of cute, loveable, but minor characters from a major movie and gives them the limelight for an hour and a half. The penguins were actually my favourite characters in Madagascar, in my defence. And boy, Madagascar takes some effort to type! I’ll be a pro by the end of this review.

The film itself starts with an origin story of sorts of how Skipper (Tom McGrath), Kowalski (Chris Miller), Rico (Conrad Vernon) and Private (Christopher Knights) joined forces, and rapidly moves into the main storyline of their lifelong, but unbeknown nemesis, Dr. Octavius Brine, AKA Dave (John Malkovich). Dave might just be my favourite villain ever, I was actually crying with laughter at some of his lines. His little octopus henchmen all have very human names, but each time Dave shouts out a command, it ends up being an actual actor or actress’ name. Such as!

“Nicholas, Cage them!”

“Drew! Barry! More power!”

“Hugh! Jack! Man the battlestations!”

You get the gist. They might eek out a cringe from most, but puns and dad jokes are my favourites. I might even have to dedicate a blog post to some lines like these I’ve thought up myself. Can anyone start me off?

The penguins are supported by an organisation known as North Wind (yes, there’s a fart joke in there) which is headed by a wolf known as Classified (Benedict Cumberbatch). That’s not his name apparently, it’s Classified. Team North Wind try to take over the operation with their fancy gadgets, but I’m sure you can guess how that ends.

Honestly, I was really glad I watched this in the end. It was an entertaining hour and half and much better than I thought it would be. Give it a go!

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!

Thursday Movie Picks: Teachers

Hellooo. Allie here, remember me? I kind of disappeared for a long time. I’m back now, I promise! Whilst I’m still kicking myself into gear I thought now would be a great time to jump back on the Thursday Movie Picks wagon, what with it being Thursday and all that.

Thursday Movie Picks is hosted by Wanderer at Wandering Through the Shelves. Each week brings a new theme, and each week we all pick 3 movies that fit the theme. This week is Teachers, which is very fitting as all the kids are heading back to school. Is summer really over already?

My first pick is a movie I haven’t seen in years, but I’ve seen it so many times I remember it clearly. Plus, any time I hear the song ‘On My Way’ I start thinking about pancakes. Anyway, there are a number of teachers in Matilda, but the one on my mind is Head Teacher Mrs Trunchbull. She was the worst! I think we all saw our own Head Teachers that way though. The scene with her and Bruce Bogtrotter will forever be etched in my mind, and chocolate fudge cake never tasted the same after I watched Matilda.

Moving on to something a little more obscure, my second pick is Starter for 10. It’s so conventionally British it’s almost cringey, but it was an entertaining watch. James McAvoy joins his University’s University Challenge team, schooled by the leader, Benedict Cumberbatch, who takes on a teacher’s role for his team. Only he’s a bit of a jerk, and gets a well deserved fist in the face. Even I laughed at that part!

I realise I’ve picked 2 terrible teachers so far, so for my third choice, let me pick my favourite movie teacher of all time, Professor Lupin, played by David Thewlis. Okay, so Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban isn’t a movie about a teacher, but it’s filled with teachers! Professor Lupin in my opinion is/was the best Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, and his bond with Harry was one of my favourite things about the whole film.

Looking forward to seeing in the cinema: September 2015

As most of the summer blockbusters have come and gone for this year, I couldn't even guess what Allie would be looking forward to in September so i'm not going to take shot in the dark - she can update us all when she is back :-)

I cannot believe I am doing the looking forward to post for September.... SEPTEMBER...Where the heck has the year gone?!  It'll be Christmas again soon!!

I actually have 4 films i'm looking forward to this month and I am struggling to decide which one to choose.  I'm going to go with the 'blockbuster' style one and provide a brief mention for the other three....

Ok admittedly, the main reason fro choosing this is not because its a big budget blockbuster but because it has one of my many favourite eye candy in it - Josh Brolin!!  Regardless of that, it does look really interesting and a bit like Vertical Limit, which many may dislike but I LOVED and still do.

If you haven't seen the trailer, here is it:

Everest is released in UK cinemas on 25th September 2015

Couple of special mentions have to go to America Ultra, Me, Earl and the dying girl and Legend.