Sunday, 31 January 2016

Trivia Round-Up: January 2016


It's the first Trivia Round-Up of the year! Technically. There's been two this month because we kind of forgot about December last year. Oops. My movies in December were pants for Trivia so I'm hoping for some better finds this time!

Napoleon Solo's trick of removing a tablecloth from a table while leaving all the objects undisturbed wasn't a visual effect - Henry Cavill actually did it, having trained in the trick from British variety star Mat Ricardo.
I want to see the outtakes of this so bad...

There was talk of a spin-off movie titled 'What We Do in the Moonlight' which would have followed the werewolf pack.
Why hasn't this been made yet?! "We're werewolves, not swearwolves!"
Edit: I've since learnt a sequel of sorts is in the making, called 'We're Wolves'. Ha!

Drena de Niro (Robert de Niro's adopted daughter) Plays the hotel manager
This was the best of a bad bunch!

The writer of the novel, Andy Weir, first published his book for free on his own blog for fun. Then people asked him to put it in a downloadable form, then to put it on Amazon for Kindle download which he did at the then minimum price of $0.99.
I love this so much. That's the power of technology these days. Without blogs we'd have never had the chance to see this movie!

Before Benjamin Walker was set to play the Captain, other actors that were considered included Benedict Cumberbatch, Tom Hiddleston, and Henry Cavill.
Anyone else really want to see these versions?! You rang?

While training, Adonis wears a shirt with the message "Why do I wanna fight? Because I can't sing and dance..." This was a line from Rocky to Adrian on their ice skating date in the first film of the series.
I can't wait to see this moment when we watch Rocky as part of our Blind Spot Series!
Edit: I spotted it. It was awesome.

Flightplan (2005)
Jodie Foster's role was originally written for Sean Penn. The original character's name of "Kyle" was even kept. Coincedently, Penn's role in The Game (1997) was originally intended for Jodie Foster.
I thought Kyle was an odd name choice. Now I get it!

Goosebumps (2015)
R.L. Stine makes a cameo and says hi to Jack Black while walking through the halls of the school at the end of the movie. The real R.L. Stine's character name was Mr. Black and Jack Black was Mr. Stine.

The Perfect Guy (2015)
The film was shot mostly at night using Sony digital cameras and anamorphic lenses. Much of the shooting used available light to create a "mysterious" look because they wanted it to seem dark.

Trainwreck (2015)
The first film by Judd Apatow not to be written by him, only directed.
I struggled to find trivia that interested me for this, I think because I disliked the movie so much!

Rocky (1976)
Sylvester Stallone insisted that the scene where he admits his fears and doubts to Adrian the night before the fight be filmed, even though production was running far behind and the producers wanted to skip it. Stallone had only one take for the scene, despite the fact that he considered it to be the most important scene in the film.
Good on him! I loved that scene.

Cloverfield (2008)
The first trailer for this movie played before Transformers (2007). It showed a giant explosion in the heart of New York City and the Statue of Liberty's head being thrown down a street. It was shot with a hand-held video recorder. There was no title.
I remember this now! Crickey that feels like so long ago. Why can't more trailers be like this?
Edit: Here's something else I learnt from Dell at Dell on MoviesMost of the city throughout the whole movie was cgi, not just the monster! Thanks Dell!

American Ultra (2015)
As a promotional stunt, Lionsgate gave away/delivered free marijuana at the San Diego Comic Con to anyone with a medical marijuana card.
Lionsgate, you crazy folks!

The Night Before (2015)
Director Jonathan Levine revealed on Collider that all of the film's comedy was mostly improvised and the dramatic moments were stuck to as per the written script, which he admitted was more like an outline guide.
You can't get Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen and Anthony Mackie together and not expect comedy to happen naturally!

Jobs (2013)
Almost all of the scenes involving Jobs' parents' house and garage were filmed in the actual Los Altos, California house and garage where Steve Jobs grew up in the 1970s.

Steve Jobs (2015)
The three sequences in the film were filmed on 16mm, 35mm, and digital to illustrate the advancement in Apple's technology across the 16 years depicted of Jobs' life.
As the film is divided in 3 acts, it was shot in sequence and the actors got to rehearse for 2 weeks for act 1, then shoot for 2 weeks and then come back and rehearse for 2 weeks act 2. Kate Winslet said that by act 3, Michael Fassbender didn't even have his script at the rehearsals, as he had memorized the whole 180 pages script.
I did love that the film was clearly in 3 acts, it great to see how this was created behind the scenes.

Saturday, 30 January 2016

Jobs Vs Steve Jobs

Strangely enough even though Job and Steve Jobs came out months apart, I watched them both within the space of a week which actually worked really well and they focused on slightly different aspects of Steve Jobs life.  Firstly, I enjoyed both of these movies, I don’t mind a TV movie as long as its not too cheesy and this one certainly wasn’t that.  


Jobs, with Ashton Kutcher in the title role, starts from his days at Reed College (where he technically wasn’t a student at the time) and focuses more on his business in his parents garage, the Apple 1 development and the relationships he built there and up to the release of the ipod.  Steve Jobs, Michael Fassbender’s version, starts at the release of the Macintosh and ends on the launch date of the iMac.
Jobs delves into Steve’s behaviour within work situations and he aggressive nature towards employees, colleagues and particularly people he considers friends.  It really highlights he want for success and how no relationship or person will stand in his way, including his pregnant girlfriend who he swiftly ditches upon finding out she was pregnant.  The film appears to draw attention to the key points in Apple’s history, rather than Steve Jobs as a person.  It skims over his relationships with his ex-girlfriend, his daughter, Steve Wozniak for example instead choosing to follow the timeline and build up of Apple the company.
Steve Jobs however, does have more insight into Steve as a person, mostly due to the interactions between him and xxx (Kate Winslet), his long serving colleague.  Bringing this character in has opened up a whole new level to the film which Jobs lacks, what Steve Jobs was like behind closed doors.  This version is also structured really interestingly, with 3 parts all taking place at product launches the Macintosh in 1984, the NeXT computer in 1988 and and iMac 1998.  He comes across much more aggressive and egotistical in this one, which from what I have read is closer to the real Jobs but some of his real life colleagues have noted that he did become softer in later life and that wasn’t depicted in the film.  Strangely enough, this movie is only set in work environments and yet appears to cover more of Steve's personal life than the previous version.


Both films include Steve Wozniak as a key player in Jobs life and career, however both seem to skim over the ins and outs of what happened with him.  In Steve Jobs there is countless arguments over mentioning the Apple II team but no indication of what caused this rift between them in the first place.  Kutcher played a good role as the lead character but Michael Fassbender nailed it, I found myself completely engrossed and forgetting that it wasn’t really Jobs.


I’m not going to lie, having read this back its all a bit messy to read because I have just thrown my thoughts on paper and it could probably do with structuring more like an essay to compare the two BUT this is a blog not University so this is what you get!! :-)

Friday, 29 January 2016

Mini Reviews: Ask Me Anything (2014), American Ultra (2015) & The Night Before (2015)


ask-me-anything-movie-review-2014

When Jenna texts me to tell me about a movie she’s just seen on Netflix that takes a dark and strange turn, I’m game. Just tell me where I can watch it! She also warned me that it was NSFW/T/P/D and other letters of the alphabet, so I made the most of an evening by myself to avoid any awkwardness! Just for the record, it’s currently watchable on Netflix.
Ask Me Anything (2014) is a quirky little drama starring Britt Robertson as Katie Kampenfelt, who takes a year off before college in order to try and find herself. She uses an anonymous blog to write about her innermost secrets and well, looking at her page hits, Jenna and I are clearly in the wrong blogging scene! Kidding, of course. It’s a decent watch, but takes such a crazy turn right at the end that it just left me a little cold, rather than awestruck.  As I had seen 2 out of the 3 movies on this post, I thought I would just tag along, hope you don't mind Allie ;-)

This was a really average film until the end, I was convinced it was a true story and set about finding out what happened, but it wasn't.  I was so shocked and dismayed by the ending, I had to find someone else to suffer with me, hence the text to Allie.  Between us we still haven't worked out a decent theory so I may have to just forget about it!

 


american-ultra-movie-review-2015

I’m pretty sure Jenna & I were meant to watch this together at the cinema but the times were weird, and then I forgot all about it! How can I even describe American Ultra (2015)? It’s like Pineapple Express, Kick-Ass and the Jason Bourne movies all had a baby together. Kristen Stewart and Jesse Eisenberg are stoners in love, but Eisenberg is also some sort of Government experiment which means he’s super skilled in combat, but he doesn’t know that. It was actually a pretty decent movie, but it got really messy at the end with far too many twists to keep track of!

Finally got to see this movie after missing it at the cinema with Allie and I loved it!  You may remember that I have a bizarre and inexplicable crush on Jesse Eisenburg which fortunately meant I could suffer Kristen Stewart for 2 hours!  It could have been funnier in places and there was a lot of talking but I was thoroughly entertained throughout and really did enjoy all the twists and turns.




the-night-before-movie-review-2015

So, I’d have liked to have posted a review for The Night Before (2015) actually around Christmas time, but as it does, life got in the way. Heck, I’m just super happy I got to watch this before Christmas!
Seth Rogan is back and has teamed up with Anthony Mackie and Joseph Gordon-Levitt for a surprisingly heartfelt festive movie. It has everything you would expect from Seth, including one of the funniest drug-induced scenes round a dinner table that had me in stitches. It’s just such a shame that the first half of the movie is pretty bland. It’s worth sticking with, though!  I have never heard of this but now I really want to see it...is it too late now Christmas is over?! Never! Christmas lasts forever!

Thursday, 28 January 2016

Thursday Movie Picks: Movies Adapted from Movies of a Different Language

It's Thursday! Time for Movie Picks. I'm so gutted I missed last week's theme, especially as I had only recently watched Flightplan! 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.


I really love taking part in this series, but every now and again there will be a theme that just sits right outside of my comfort zone, and I back out. This week’s theme in Movies Adapted from Movies of a Different Language. This is well out of my comfort zone. Firstly, I can count on one hand the number of foreign language movies I’ve seen, and I don’t need to use many fingers, either.

In fact, there are only 3 movies I can think of that I’ve seen that were adapted from a movie in another language, so this is not a ‘best of’ or a ‘hidden gem’ list in the slightest! They’re also all English language movies. So, please forgive me this week, but I’m looking forward to learning a lot from everyone else taking part.

brothers-movie-adapted-foreign-language

Brothers (2009) is adapted from the Danish-language movie, Brødre (2004). It’s actually a fantastic movie in my opinion, but hard to watch for sure. Jake Gyllenhaal’s character is left to comfort his brother’s sister after he goes missing at war in Afghanistan. This is heartbreaking enough, but when his brother, played by Tobey Maguire, is found and returned home, tensions run high.

delivery-man-movie-adapted-foreign-language

Delivery Man (2013) is adapted from the French-Canadian movie, Starbuck (2011). I’m a big fan of Vince Vaughn, but this was a bit of a let down. I didn’t actually realise until this week that it was a remake, and I’m curious to see the original now. Surely it wouldn’t have been re-made if it was terrible? Anyway, Delivery Man is based on a real-life situation where a man in the US came to realise that due to his donations, he was the father of 150 children.

girl-with-dragon-tattoo-movie-adapted-foreign-language

And now I’m breaking an unspoken rule by picking a movie I’ve already chosen for another theme. Sorry! The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011) is adapted from the Swedish-language movie, Män som hatar kvinnor (2009). Now say that 5 times quick. This is also based on a book of the same name, which I’m sure you knew already. It’s a great read, if you’re on the hunt for something new to start. It’s the story of a journalist who hunts down a woman who has been missing for over 40 years, with the help of a young computer hacker. It’s compelling, and gritty, and I highly recommend it!

Tuesday, 26 January 2016

Review: Cloverfield (2008)

cloverfield-movie-review-2008
When I heard about a trailer being released for 10 Cloverfield Lane, I got all excited and then when I tried to recall the plot of the original, Cloverfield, I came to the sad realisation that I never actually watched it. I think once a movie has been on your mental ‘watch list’ for 8 years, that’s when the long term memory workers decide it’s time to throw it away. If you don’t understand that reference, go and watch Inside Out already!  I had completely forgotten about this film until I heard rumours about the sequel but I do remember that I enjoyed it when I did!

Anyway, after trying to get into too many heavy Oscar contenders I decided this would be the perfect break. Cloverfield is a found-footage action/horror that follows a group of friends in New York City as they try to escape a devastating monster attack and rescue their friend who is stuck in Midtown.

All I looked up before watching this was that very straight to the point plot summary, and so I must have been about 20 minutes in when I got very close to taking the DVD out of the player and checking it. See, the movie starts with the friends all together at a leaving party for Rob (Michael Stahl-David) but it really drags, to the point where I honestly thought I was watching the wrong movie. If I remember right its all very shaky camera work as its supposed to be a home movie but it gave me a stinking headache!

cloverfield-movie-2008-lizzy-caplan

Not long after that though there’s what seems like an earthquake, the lights all go out, and then I know for sure I’m watching the right movie. Every moment from here has me on the edge of my seat! Found footage movies take a lot of stick I think, but I’m on the fence. I think it worked amazingly well here, we didn’t see much of the monster at all which adds to the suspense, it does give me a nasty case of motion sickness! I was okay with Cloverfield because it’s quite short and I watched it at home, but in the cinema I might have struggled.  Honestly, for me this achieved what I think Godzilla was trying to achieve a few years back, the suspense of what is happening rather than the fear of the actual monster, for me this did that, Godzilla didn't!

The funny thing is, I mentioned this movie to my Grampy who wasn’t very fond of it at all! Although, to an extent I couldn’t argue with his complaints. He said that not much really happened. Well, I suppose the whole movie’s plot is one escape/rescue attempt, but I think the suspense alone makes this a great movie to watch. There was a moment when the gang rounded a corner to find themselves face to face with the military that made me jump a mile, and the helicopter scene where the military were bombing the monster from the sky actually made me do a little scream!

cloverfield-movie-review-2008-monster

It’s all got me very excited for 10 Cloverfield Lane. Plus, the trailer gives nothing away at all, which is even better! I’m still wondering whether it’ll be a follow up from the events of Cloverfield or another side of the same story. I think I’d be happy with either!  Should be good and they've waited long enough that just the idea of a sequel is a surprise...






 

Monday, 25 January 2016

Blind Spot Review: Rocky (1976)

blind-spot-movie-challenge-2016

Ah, it feels good to be back on the Blind Spot wagon! Earlier this month, Jenna and I watched Creed, and although we really enjoyed it, we both agreed we’d have probably found it better if we had any knowledge of the Rocky movies. So that’s how the original ended up on our Blind Spot list! If you fancy reading an abysmal attempt at us both trying to understand how boxing even works, check out our review of Creed here.

rocky-movie-review-1976-blind-spot-series

Rocky (1976) is the story of Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone), a struggling boxer who works as a debt collector by day. When the undefeated heavyweight champion Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers) looks to set up an exhibition match to give a newcomer a chance at fighting him, Rocky, the Italian Stallion is chosen, and thus begins Rocky’s training and the wedding march ;-)

I’m just going to go straight out and say it. I wasn’t expecting to love this movie. I wanted to watch it, don’t get me wrong, especially after watching Creed, but all I was hoping to gain from it was an understanding of the story. I was engrossed from the first few minutes, and was kind of gutted when it ended, which is unusual for me, 2 hours is normally the point that I start to give up.

rocky-1976-apollo-creed-sylvester-stallone

Rocky is such a loveable character! This is a guy who goes from using intimidation tactics to collect debts to dropping by a pet store just for the chance to spend a few minutes with the girl who’s captured his heart. What a guy!  I didn't expect Rocky to be the character he was, i expected this big ol' hardman that never lets up so to see him fall in love and be all romantic was a pleasant surprise.

Watching Rocky and Adrian’s (Talia Shire) relationship grow was definitely a highlight for me. It reminded me so much of Adonis and Bianca's relationship in Creed, they've obviously really taken note from Rocky when making Creed.  A completely clueless Rocky asking Adrian’s brother what she liked to do, and then spending $10 for just 10 minutes on the ice rink with her just melted my heart. I even spotted the line ‘Why do I fight? Because I can’t sing and dance…’ which was on Adonis’ shirt in Creed! Mega proud of myself there.  

Like Allie, I didn't think I would be bothered by this movie but I really did love it.  I got very excited when I saw the 'Rocky' steps and even sent a photo to Allie.  In all honesty, I thought it would have ruined this film watching Creed first it had the same impact as if i had watched them the right way round.  I got so excited when I saw places in this that had been featured in Creed like Mighty Micks Gym.  I much prefer Stallone back in the day when I can understand what the heck he is saying and really loved the build up to the fight, I was adamant I knew what the outcome would be....I was wrong!

rocky-1976-stairs-sylvester-stallone

Then of course we had the famous music startup (which Jenna swears sounds like the wedding march, still does!) followed by Rocky running up the stairs which was nothing short of awesome. I can really see now why this is such an iconic movie! I was told it would really gear me up for going to the gym but I was in my pajamas finishing off a tub of chocolates from Christmas at the time so I can’t really comment on that.  I have been tempted to go to the gym of late, I didn't go after this however, I sat and ate a monster roast dinner! oops!

And then of course we had the final fight. Some of the tension was taken away from me because I knew the outcome, but when you watch a movie 40 years after it was released, I think you lose the right to scream ‘spoiler alert’ at someone!  Can you believe I didn't know how it ended, the movie has been out since before I was born and I have never heard a spoiler?!

I’m torn now between saving Rocky II for next year’s Blind Spot or just watching it next weekend…!  

Great start to the Blind Spot challenge, here's hoping the other 11 are as good!








Sunday, 24 January 2016

Mini Reviews: Goosebumps (2015), The Perfect Guy (2015) and Trainwreck (2015)


I had been looking forward to seeing this ever since I heard the rumours that Jack Black would play R.L Stine.  Goosebumps were some of my favourite books as a kid and I couldn’t wait to see some of the more interesting characters coming to life on screen.  I was right to be excited, it was a great film with a really clever idea that the original books are looked to keep the monsters inside but about Zack (Dylan Minnette) from next door opens one (or two) all hell breaks loose in Madison.  Someone who didn’t have a love for the books may find it a little confusing and probably not very good but the sense of nostalgia for me sold it.  I’m desperate to watch it again now so I can look out for the little details that I missed the first time around, there is so much going on it will most definitely take more than one viewing to get the most from it.



This is the perfect (excuse the pun) film to watch with someone who is willing to listen to your predictions and disappointment when they are wrong while the film is on.  Me and my best friend Claire spend the whole film ‘guessing’ what was going to happen next and shouting at Leah (Sanaa Lathan) for doing ridiculous things like being home alone when being stalked by a crazed psychopath (genius move!).  The film was pretty average but the shear entertainment of the predictions and shouting at the screen made it totally worthwhile, it was reminiscent of the first time I watched Scream or I know what you did last summer.





I’ve never been Amy Schumer’s biggest fan, I don’t really find her humour that funny to be honest, however people seem to love her and find her hilarious so I thought I would give Trainwreck a go in the hopes that it wouldn’t be just another rom-com.  I was wrong….it was just another rom-com, they tried to make it different by having the female lead, Amy (Amy Schumer) be the one scared to commit, sleeping around and generally being a not so nice person and Aaron (Bill Hader) the one who falls to quickly for the wrong person.  I don’t even need to go into the rest as its as predictable as it is unfunny, there were a couple of chuckle moments but not enough to make it any different from any other comedy.  Here’s the kicker, I usually like the ‘bad guy’ in a rom com and I will them to change for the ‘good guy’ and become a better person, but in this I disliked Amy so much that I just wanted Aaron to run screaming for the hills and find someone…anyone better.  Predictable story, unlikeable characters and they forgot to put the com in rom-com!

Friday, 22 January 2016

Review: Flightplan (2005)

flightplan-movie-review-2005
Another family recommendation for me here. My love of mystery/thriller movies must stem from them, but I do have to take their suggestions with a pinch of...something. They thought San Andreas was the best action movie of the year, and well, they’re still telling me how much they loved After Earth. Bless them. After I told them about Non-Stop (which I shamelessly loved, making me a huge hypocrite I know!) they said it had a very similar plot to Flightplan, and I should get on that. So I did!  I must have watched this the year it came out, it was so long ago i had forgetten the film even existed!

Flightplan (2005) centres on Kyle Pratt (Jodie Foster), a bereaved woman who is flying back from from Berlin to America with her young daughter. On board is the coffin carrying Kyle’s husband. Shortly after their flight takes off, Kyle’s daughter goes missing, and after a brief search of the plan, she is nowhere to be found. What’s worse is that the passengers around her claim to not even remember seeing her daughter in the first place.

So, it’s difficult to discuss this movie without spoilers, but I’m going to do my best! Kyle is aided in her search by Air Marshall Carson (Peter Sarsgaard) who honestly, to me, looked stoned the entire time. Is that part of Sarsgaard’s general demeanor? I haven’t seen enough of him to know, but he was instantly dislikeable to me. 

flightplan-jodie-foster

Of better help to Kyle is the plane’s main pilot, Captain Rich (Sean Bean). Now, come on...don’t you want to watch Flightplan now just to see if he lives or dies? I won’t tell you… My memory fails me so you'll have to tell me at the next movie night ;-)

As most movies of this nature do, we have several distractions thrown at us to confuse us about what’s really happening. Only, in this case, they seem to serve no purpose. At one point, Kyle picks out a couple of passengers and says she remembers seeing them outside her house the night before, watching her. The passengers act suspicious instantly and later in the film physically attack Kyle, which no one seems to care about, and unless I fell asleep like Kyle, I don’t remember that plot point being tied up at all.   Turns out I don't remember this film at all, I think I have a combination of this and Panic Room all caught up in knots in my aged brain!

flightplan-sean-bean-peter-sarsgaard

Despite that though, I did enjoy the movie overall. It’s not the best mystery movie I’ve seen, but it did keep me guessing. About a third of the way though I had a brainwave and sat all smug knowing I’d worked out the plot already, but I was proven wrong, and I like that.  So much for me adding to this review, can you please text me a plot summary so I have some idea what this film was actually about haha!

Give me Non-Stop over Flightplan, but it was an enjoyable watch at least. Now to adjust my Sean Bean ‘survived or died’ chart…


Wednesday, 20 January 2016

Our Most Disappointing Movies of 2015

Last year I titled this post something along the lines of ‘Worst Movies’ which was poor wording by me. Don’t get me wrong, some of the movies in that list really were terrible, and I don’t think anyone would disagree with me, but others weren’t bad movies per se, they just weren’t anywhere near as enjoyable as I hoped, and so I upset a few people with my choices. Yeah me!

So without further ado, here are the movies that disappointed us the most in 2015…

pixels-most-disappointing-movies-2015

I have only myself to blame for watching Pixels. As soon as I saw the trailer in the cinema with a group of friends (I think we were watching Age of Ultron) we all had the same reaction, this is going to be awful. But it’s got video games in! We love video games! Plus, Game of Thrones was airing at the time so I was on a Peter Dinklage high. It actually wasn’t as bad as I had geared myself up for, but it could have been so much better.  I had exactly the same thought process but replace the word 'game' with 'Sandler' and I was a disappointed as Allie was in this.

fantastic-four-most-disappointing-movies-2015

Superhero movies are just everywhere now, there’s no escaping them. I didn’t enjoy any of the other Fantastic Four movies WHAT?!, but when I heard how bad this year’s offering was, I had to see it for myself. I enjoyed Green Lantern, (this still horrifies me, but I suppose I liked the first Fantastic Four so hey ho!) I was bound to find some good in this. Nope. Nooooope. It was awful from start to finish. It was pretty to look at, but with a cast or boring characters I could care less about, it was doomed from the start. Bored bored bored, nothing interesting or good about this just complete waste of money and a rushed project developed solely to ensure Fox kept the rights to the characters.

self/less-most-disappointing-movies-2015

Ugh. Self/less. Let’s start with the trailer that gave away the whole darn movie, and move swiftly on to question why a multi millionaire genius would spent his fortune transferring his mind to a younger body when he has to let go of his old identity and his entire previous life? It was an entertaining watch, but made absolutely zero sense, sadly.

minions-most-disappointing-movies-2015

I’m sorry! This is my controversial choice this year. Let me explain. I love Despicable Me. Like, one of my favourite movies ever love Despicable Me. The sequel was really kind of rubbish, the only saving grace was those little yellow Minions. So I was so excited to find out they were getting their own movie! And it was okay! It’s just now, months after watching it, I can’t remember what even happened. There was an origin story, a convention, and London. No no no no no - how are we friends?! This film was completely ridiculous but I loved every minute and I quote the film on a daily basis, not one of the best of the year but definitely not one of the worst.

aloha-most-disappointing-movies-2015

Usually, when I spot a movie with an amazing cast and decide to watch it, despite knowing nothing about it at all, it really pays off. I thought that would be the case with Aloha, but it was so, so dull and I didn’t know what the plot was whilst I was watching it, let alone try to recall it now. It was such a waste of Bradley Cooper and Emma Stone’s talents, they weren’t themselves at all in this.  Still not 100% sure of the plot for this movie and or why any of the cast agreed to be in it after reading the script (I read the plot on paper as well and I still don't understand it!).

spooks-greater-good-most-disappointing-movies-2015

Maybe I shouldn’t have watched Spooks: The Greater Good without at least researching the TV Show first. I figured it would work as a standalone, and well, it has Jon Snow running around London in tight trousers, I thought it would be good! Sadly, it was a generic ‘there’s a terrorist and they have someone on the inside and we don’t know who’ movie, and for fun, I guessed who it would be at the start of the movie. I was right. Darn. Normally that feels good.

hot-tub-time-machine-2-most-disappointing-movies-2015

Whyyy was Hot Tub Time Machine 2 even made? The first was okay at best.  I assume this is a joke because the first Hot Tub Time Machine was freakin' awesome! Again, my own fault here because I thought Adam Scott would make everything better. Only he was wearing a skirt. Why?! Argh! Just bland, all round.  However, I fully agree with the second one being in this list, just terrible not even the cameo at the end could save this.

jupiter-ascending-most-disappointing-movies-2015

Ah, Jupiter Ascending. The reason I can never look at Eddie Redmayne without hearing his raspy voice in my head. I reviewed all of my movie choices in this list apart from this one, because I literally couldn’t. All I could muster was a vague outline of the plot as I saw it, which was a page full of drabble. Not even good old Channing Tatum could save this one for me. It was beautiful to look at, though!  I still can't explain why I have seen this film TWICE, after realising how bad it was the first time round I still sat through it a full second time. why why why?! This was awful, I wasn't convinced I knew what was happening in the story and the visuals, although stunning, were bizarre and didn't appear to add anything to the film.  Oh Channing why?!


Ok so this may not have been one of the worst of the year but bear with me, there is a reason behind my choice here.  I watched this on pay per view in a hotel room in Qatar, why would that affect my opinion on the movie I hear you cry... well it seems in the Middle East on pay per view they will in fact cut out all scenes of, what they consider, inappropriateness therefore there were no sex scenes, not one....in  Fifty Shades of Grey...therefore it was just a really bad romantic comedy.  I have since watched the film in full and still didn't think a whole lot of it so  here it is.... I still love this story! Please keep telling me it because it's funny every time!



Loved loved loved the books, the first film was ok and this one was bad...really really bad and Shailene Woodley seems to have lost the ability to act for this particular role. Whole film was choppy and confusing even having read the books I still had no idea what was going on. I think I may swerve the final installment completely.



I watched all eight seasons in a matter of weeks and as with all seasons when the end the possibility of finding out where the characters all ended up (am I only one still holding out hope for a Friends movie?!).  So the idea of the Entourage movie was exciting, that is until it started and I realised it was poop (to use the technical term).  It destroyed every neat little bow it set up at the end of the series in order to allow the boys the freedom to be the gross, sex mad lunatics they had been previously.



Trying to follow The Heat was always going to be tough and this did not managed to live up to it, not even close.  The characters are irritating instead of funny and the story is plain ridiculous (and not in a funny way!).  Disappointed in both the leads especially after Witherspoon's epic performance in Wild and Vergara's general hilarity in Modern Family. Not good at all.