Monthly Round Up + Links: September 2016

As I type this post, whilst tweaking my cinnamon loaf recipe, I can't actually believe that it's October tomorrow! Normally, we post a Trivia Round-Up on the last day of the month, but honestly? That was starting to feel like a chore, and I've been looking for a way to share links to my favourite posts of other bloggers, and so we're trialing a different kind of Round Up post!

This month has been pretty slow for movie watching, for me anyway. Being a movie fan and a gamer sucks up a lot of time, and I'm still burning a couple of hours a day on World of Warcraft. I managed three cinema trips though, a Flick Chicks catch-up to see Bad Moms, a girls night out to see Bridget Jones's Baby, and a mid-week treat to see Swiss Army Man. I'm still trying to gather my thoughts on that last one.

If you've missed any of our reviews this month, you can find links to them all here:

Tallulah (2016)
Everybody Wants Some (2016)
Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping (2016)
The Huntsman: Winter's War (2016)
Napoleon Dynamite (2004)
Sing Street (2016)
Wiener-Dog (2016)
Zootropolis/Zootopia (2016)
Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie (2016)
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot (2016) - Updated Post with Jenna's Review
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice - Updated Post with Jenna's Review

I've also got stuck into quite a few TV shows this month. I'm almost half way through Stranger Things, which I'm loving, and some of my favourite comedies are starting up again. One show I've caught up on and reviews is Wayward Pines, which is well worth a watch, and you can check out my review of it here. Don't worry, it's spoiler free!

Mid-September brought the birthday of one of my favourite actors, Tom Hardy. To celebrate the occasion I made a Top 5 List of my favourite roles of his, which you can read here. Quite a few of you mentioned roles of his from movies I haven't seen yet, which I'm planning on watching soon!

Also, the start of October brings the start of Halloweenie Season here at Flick Chicks! You may already know that we're huge babies when it comes to horrors, so we're trying to watch and review as many as we can in that month. Check out the announcement post here, and join in if you like! We have reviews's for The Human Centipede and It Follows on the horizon.

Last but not least, I want to share some of my favourite posts from our fellow bloggers. Check these out!

Those Assholes Watching Movies have been covering TIFF and got to see La La Land, which us Brits have to wait till January for. So jealous!

Margaret's Cinematic Corner is the place to be each Friday for all your movie news needs, and for the whereabouts of her J-Boo, Jared Leto. Seriously guys, she's converting me.

Kevin at Speaks in Movie Lines is the first person to get me interested in a Western, with his review of The Magnificent Seven.

Ruth at FlixChatter reviewed Florence Foster Jenkins. I scoffed at the trailer, but Ruth's words convinced me to give it a try, and I was so glad that I did!

Brittnay Brittani (sorry, I couldn't resist) at Rambling Film reviewed Snowden, a movie I really can't wait to see.

Jordan at Epileptic Moondancer reviewed Nerve, a movie I'm not gutted I missed at the cinema. Patiently awaiting a DVD or VOD release now!

Review: Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)

UPDATED POST with Jenna's Review: At this point in time, I could take or leave the whole superhero thing. There’s just too many shows and movies out there to keep track of. That said, the movie fan in me will never say no, so I’ll still be watching them all, even though I won’t have a clue what’s going on in some. However, the sheer number of trailers and TV spots for Batman v Superman infuriated me beyond reason. I watched the first trailer, which gave me more than enough, and by the time Wonder Woman and Aquaman were announced, I gave up.  Gutted!  I have been that busy the lsat few months that I completely missed this, I really wanted the IMAX experience as well.  I will add to this when I finally get around to watching the DVD! 

AND here I am having purchased the DVD and FINALLY watching it!

I steered clear of everything after that point, and so now I’m not sure what’s a spoiler and what isn’t anymore. I won’t mention the ending of course, now even I am that dense, but if you haven’t seen the movie yet, you might want to move along.  Now, here is where I fell down, I was desperate to see Suicide Squad when it was released, I didn't think anything of it...that is until the first 3 minutes of the film was a MASSIVE spoiler for B vs S...waaaaaaaah!!  Soooo I knew how it was going to end, before I even started it!

It’s taken me a few days to even work out what my feelings are towards Batman v Superman, but before I read too many other reviews, I think it best to get my feelings down before I change my mind about things. I want to be clear in the fact that I enjoyed watching this. It was entertaining, and I didn’t feel like it was as long as it was. However, it was a mess. The plot was all over the place. And so rather than try to write a well formed review, I’m just going to splurge my feelings all over this post.  I am struggling to form coherent thoughts about this but one thing I can say is that I DID enjoy it, even after hearing all the terrible reviews and people moaning - I still liked it!

So, in the style of the movie this post is about, here are my feelings about Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), in the order that it lands at the front of my mind:

How many times do we need to be reminded that Bruce Wayne’s parents were murdered in front of him as a child? Was there seriously anyone who watched this who really didn’t know how they died?

Let’s talk Batman himself. I’m not passionate enough about the comics to rank the multiple forms Batman has taken over the years, but I really liked Ben Affleck’s version. He’s got that grumpy charisma that I pictured. I still can’t shake the image of that batsuit looking like Lego Batman, though.

Seriously. Cannot. Unsee.

Superman, on the other hand, was the mopiest hero I’ve ever seen. Guy had a permanent ‘I can smell a fart’ face the entire time. Yes, okay, that bathtub scene was pretty hot, but then my practical side kicked in and started stressing about all the water on the floor. You’re so irresponsible, Clark Kent!

Jesse Eisenberg! He plays douchebag so well that I kind of assume him to be like that in real life. Was he really playing Lex Luthor though? He’d make a perfect Riddler, I think. Anyway, I appreciated all of his scenes, bringing the humour to an otherwise dark movie.  As one of my many obessesions, I thought Jesse Eisenberg was great, perfect combo of dark and twisty and comedy.

Wonder Woman, Aquaman, The Flash, and...the other one. Cyborg? Was there any point in them being here other than to promote their own movies? If not, couldn’t they just go Deadpool, break the fourth wall and have a sandwich board with their respective release dates on? On the subject of Wonder Woman, her score was awesome, but it felt so out of place with the rest of the soundtrack that it stood out for all the wrong reasons.  I had issues with this myself, one thing I really did dislike about this was that it didn't appear be a movie in its own right, rather a very looooong trailer for Justice League and all the individual movies that will go along with it.  I'm pretty sure I felt the same about the second Avengers movie which felt like a set up for Captain America: Civil War!!

The action scenes were really well done, and the main reason I enjoyed the movie itself. I’ve been spoiled lately with the fight scenes in Daredevil and there was one Batman scene in particular here that really stood out. It was one of those where you want to say ‘oooh, I really felt that!’

Am I remembering this wrong or was Lois Lane a total badass in Man of Steel? Her only purpose in this was to be saved. Oh, and to throw that weapon into a pool of water for no reason, only to have to fetch it again. And be saved. Doh. Man up, woman!  She didn't add much value to this one, did she?!  I do love Amy Adams though so I can't complain too much.

I have to say the action scenes were great, they weren't so fast that you couldn't see what was going on but enough action to keep you on the edge of your seat.  I liked the story, even if it was a bit confused at times but I did find myself annoyed at Batman going after Superman all the time, just get over it.  Why not just sit down and have a chat with him?! he seems like a reasonable guy "Listen Superman, people are scared of you because you are an alien and could kill everyone with a blast of your eyes - any chance you could take a sabbatical until everyone calms down?" Clark "Sure no problem, see you in a year or two, i'll be in Bali". Admittedly, it would have been a much shorter film but much more realistic!!

Did this scene remind anyone else of The Green Inferno?

Aaand that about sums it up! If you’re still reading this ramble, I both apologise and applaud you at the same time. Regular posting to resume shortly!

Liked the film, if I didn't think about it too much.  As I have just found out from the ranty rant rant above, if I overthink it I start to pick holes and enjoy it less!

Review: Whiskey Tango Foxtrot (2016)

UPDATED with Jenna's review: Tina Fey is my spirit animal. I absolutely love her. Currently, I’m binge watching 30 Rock like there’s no tomorrow, knowing the end is in sight and not wanting it all to be over whilst saying to myself ‘just one more episode’. So I knew as soon as Whiskey Tango Foxtrot (2016) came out, I was going to have to see it asap. I’d just come back off honeymoon and knew I needed something funny to pick me up, so this was perfect.  I am not such a Tina Fey fan, I don't dislike her at all (loved her in Sisters) but I don't actively watch things because she is in it, I can find her irritating so I have to limit my intake.

The movie is based on memoir of real-life reporter Kim Barker, titled ‘The Taliban Shuffle’, recounting her experiences with reporting on the war in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Kim, played by Tina Fey, had no experience in this field what-so-ever, but being unmarried without children was enough.

Maybe I should have worked this out on my own, but from the trailer I was expecting a bit of a parody, something to keep me laughing throughout. Don’t get me wrong, some moments are absolutely hilarious, for example, when Kim first arrived in Afghanistan a lady shouts abuse at her for not having her hair covered, and Kim’s local guide and translator Fahim (Christopher Abbott) tells her she is simply welcoming her to the country. Then there’s a moment where Kim describes the local women as ‘walking Ikea bags’ or something like that, which had me in tears!  Yeah I completely suprised by this, I was expected and full on 'Tina Fey' comedy and got nothing of the sort.  It had funny moments as Allie said but nothing that would make it a comedy, it is much more of a drama.  Luckily, as a drama it was very good so I didn't feel entirely cheated by the trailer.

Mostly though, the movie is a drama that hit me harder than I thought it would. I don’t watch a lot of war movies anyway, but the ones I have seen have focussed on the action, and the soldiers fighting these wars. They’re exciting, and fuelled with adrenaline. This is much different from that. Maybe it’s because I was seeing the war through the eyes of someone inexperienced to it all, someone who reacts the way I imagine I might have done.  It terrified me, I kept imagining what I would have done if I was in Kim's shoes and I just got all sweaty and anxious.  It really does show a whole new side to the war in Afghanistan!

There’s a great cast here. I’ve already mentioned Fahim, whose politeness when translating gets a lot of laughs, but I liked Tanya (Margot Robbie) more than I thought I would too. She’s a reporter too, and has been out there longer than Kim, but shows her the ropes and explains concepts such as ‘being an American 4 makes you a 10 out here’, making Tanya herself a 15. Obviously. General Hollanek’s (Billy Bob Thornton) bluntness caught me off guard several times. And then we have Martin Freeman as Iain, doing a brilliant Scottish accent, although the last time I saw him he was trying an American one in Civil War which was awful, so maybe my radar is off-balance. Honestly, it’s worth watching just to hear Martin Freeman drop the ‘c-bomb’ so frequently!  Not sure I was as impressed with Freeman's Scottish accent but maybe I'm still reeling from Captain America: Civil War. but yes the C-bomb ultimately made his character for me - you know I love a good swear!!

I’m realising now that I actually enjoyed this more than I thought I did. It was definitely mis-marketed, and the tone shifts quite sharply every now and again which throws you off balance, but it’s a war movie that I’m recommending left, right and centre, and I don’t think that’s happened before. Give it a try!

I can't even explain how I felt about this film, one minute I was laughing, the next I was hugging a cushion, thankful that I was in the safety of my little house.  That being said, I was completely hooked!!

Review: Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie (2016)

You might remember this from my looking forward post, I was really looking forward to it. Ab Fab was heavily present in my childhood, if we weren't watching it my Mom was quoting it trying to make me laugh.  So I was super excited about a new story and seeing where the likes of Edina, Patsy, Saffy and Bubble ended up.

The new installment in the Ab Fab saga, sees Edina (Jennifer Saunders) trying to get Kate Moss on her PR company but inadvertently knocks her into the Thames starting a enormous man hunt! Hated by all of London, Patsy (Joanna Lumley) and Edina decide to go on the run to the South of France until the chaos dies down.  Then it gets even more ridiculous.....

First and foremost, this is 90 minutes of my life that I can never get back but admittedly the 20 minute nap I had around the middle was decent enough.  There were a few moments that made me laugh a little but the story was so bloody boring that I couldn't keep my eyes open. It actually started off pretty well with the dynamic duo waking up after a heavy night and a particularly comical recovery session in the bathroom mirror!!  Once it gets to the trip to South of France it becomes utterly ridiculous and not funny in the slightest...I was so disappointed!

A bonus however was the cameos, it was like watching A million ways to die in the west again but if i'd have hit Lou everytime I spotted one like I did with Allie in that one she would have had no arm left!  It was one after the other, I couldn't keep up and I guarantee I missed a lot!  I need to find a list online to find out exactly how many cameos there were.

I have to admit his isn't really a review as much as a moan about my disappointment at the film in general.  Don't take my word for it though because lots of people in the cinema seemed to love it!!

Announcement: October is 'Halloweenie' Month!

Welcome to the Salty Spitoon, how tough are ya?

How tough am I? I watched The Woman in Black a few years ago, and I slept a whole 3 hours afterwards. What do you mean I’m not tough enough? You think I belong at Weenie Hut Jrs?

If you have no idea what any of that means, you really need to watch the No Weenies Allowed episode of Spongebob Squarepants, it’s the best. It also sums up mine and Jenna’s feelings about Horror movies. As film fanatics we like to say that we’ll give any movie a chance, but that doesn’t ever seem to extend to Horrors. We’re just too scared. Every October we say this year will be different, and in my own defence I got through a few Horror-Comedies last year, but still, we want to be brave.

That’s why, throughout October, we’ll be manning up and watching a few scary movies that have been niggling our curiosity just a little too much. Knowing us, we won’t be able to form actual coherent reviews of these, so we’ll be labelling those posts with ‘Halloweenie’.

Here’s the fun part - we’d love for you to join us! Whether you belong in Weenie Hut Jrs like we do or if you have a lifelong membership to the Salty Spitoon, there’s got to be a Horror out there that you’re nervous about. If you’d like to join us, either send us your Halloweenie review by email and we'll publish it here (flickchicks2014@googlemail.com) or post it on your own blog and tell us about it! At the end of the month we'll publish a list of all Halloweenie posts.

Review: Zootropolis/Zootopia (2016)

Before I kick off this post, I have to address the elephant in the room. No, not you Francine, but Happy Birthday. What I mean is the fact that in the UK, this movie is called Zootropolis. Despite being a menace to type without thinking about it, it’s just a ridiculous name. It’s not that uncommon for movies to have different titles in the UK, but there’s normally a sensible reason behind it. For example, Neighbors is called Bad Neighbours here, I’m guessing because of a popular soap opera by the same name. A bit of internet research shows that Denmark are opening a zoo called Zootopia in 2019, but I’m not convinced that’s the reason.

Anyway! Zootropolis/Zootopia is the latest animated movie from Disney, and it’s one of the great ones. Following from The Good Dinosaur (which I still haven’t seen) meant that something half decent would have been applauded, but this time round Disney have done what they do best - pack in a current, serious issue in a way that children and adults alike understand and relate to. Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin) has dreamt of becoming a police officer, and against all odds, makes it as the first bunny in ZPD history.

Put straight onto Meter Maid duty, Judy is desperate to prove that she has what it takes to become a real cop, which leads her to follow a sly fox by the name of Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman) as he runs an ice lolly scam. Fate brings the two together as Judy blackmails Nick into helping her look for a missing animal, and so Nick helps in the most unhelpful way he can, leading her to the DMV, a government office ran by sloths. A stroke of genius, there!

Obviously the movie is filled with laughs, but it’s Flash the sloth that wins the real comedy prize. It doesn’t matter how many times I watch that scene, it’s equal parts hilarious and painful every time. He speaks and types excruciatingly slow, and the act of him tearing off a receipt from it’s printer is making my hairs stand on edge just thinking about it. If you’ve ever had to visit an office like this, you’ll relate. It’s brilliant.

Essentially, the movie is a crime case that leaves you guessing as it goes along. For a children’s movie, it’s surprisingly in-depth and surprised me along the whole trail. There are some great references to look out for as well, for all ages. Chief Bogo (Idris Elba) pokes fun at Frozen, and there’s a glaringly obvious Breaking Bad (or should it be Breaking Baa’d?) reference in there, too. As always, the detail demands several rewatches, especially if you’re on the hunt for all those easter eggs.

The final third of the movie really drills home the message, that I swear, just like last year’s Inside Out is more for the adults rather than the children. Kids these days don’t notice things like race, nor do they judge each other on their family’s religion, it’s the adults. All too often we’re told that our gender or our age means that we can’t do certain things, which is wrong. I felt so pumped at the end of this movie, like I really could do whatever I wanted to. Okay, that feeling ended as soon as I got to work the next day, but still.

Bonus/Bragging Rights: We got to meet the adorable Nick and Judy in Disneyland for our Honeymoon! Nick was ever the sly ol' fox, after this photo he linked his arm with mine and marched me off down the road! The cast members had to chase us down!

Review: Wiener-Dog (2016)

Let me tell you about 2 of my favourite things. Number 1: Dogs. All dogs, to be perfectly honest. I’m the type of person who, whilst walking in the woods will say hello to every dog I meet, and completely ignore the human being on the other side of the lead. Dachshund’s in particular are extremely cute. Number 2: Those movies about multiple stories where they all end up linking together in some way. Okay, what I actually mean is that I love Love Actually, but you get the picture. So when I find out about a movie called Wiener-Dog, a movie about a little dachshund who changes the lives of a whole bunch of people, I’m hyped.

How then, can a movie let me down so badly?! Here, let me find you this movie’s description, straight from IMDB: A dachshund passes from oddball owner to oddball owner, whose radically dysfunctional lives are all impacted by the pooch.

Hmm, not quite. Let me give it a go: The unluckiest dachshund in the world gets passed on from one bad owner to the next, people who don’t deserve the bundle of happiness that is Wiener-Dog.

Perhaps I’m being harsh. Let me recap on the ‘oddball owners’ that Wiener-Dog gets passed on to.

Oddball Owners #1: A father picks up Wiener-Dog from the local shelter as a gift for his cancer-suffering child. Proceeds to keep her locked in a cage until ‘her will has been broken’. Parents leave said child alone in the house whilst they attend a yoga class, and the kid feeds the hungry little dog far too many granola bars, causing mass diarrhea. Father takes Wiener-Dog to the vets to be put down.

At this point the viewers are treated to a beautiful tracking shot of diarrhea in the street. It goes on for ages, and it’s accompanied by some lovely music, too. 

Oddball Owners #2: The vet’s assistant (Greta Gerwig) takes pity on Wiener-Dog, and steals her away. She names her doodie. As in, well, poo. Great. She then decides to take a road trip with an old school friend who is possibly the world’s biggest douchebag, and leaves Wiener-Dog with her friend’s disabled family.

I’m not sure what happens at this point, because we head straight on to…

Oddball Owners #4: A struggling scriptwriter (Danny DeVito) now owns Wiener-Dog, but instead of giving her a loving home, he has a crazy turn and straps a bomb to her. I’m not even kidding. The bomb squad have to disarm her before she goes boom.

Oddball Owners #?: Wiener-Dog now lives with an old, blind lady, who has named her Cancer. Wonderful. Old lady’s horrible granddaughter comes to visit with her new boyfriend Fantasy (arghhh!) and asks for $10,000 to help him with his artistic dream. She relents, and terrible granddaughter leaves. What happens next is some bizarre epiphany involving multiple versions of old lady’s younger self.

I won’t spoil the ending for you. Even though this post should ensure that you’ll never want to see this movie, I won’t do that to you. It will go down in history as one of the biggest ‘WTF’ endings. 

From what I can gather, Wiener-Dog got a lot of good reviews. Perhaps the story is just too spiritual or artsy for me, but all it did was turn me into a giant ball of rage. At least I wasn’t bored at any point. 

Review: Sing Street (2016)

Sometimes, a movie just sneaks up on me out of nowhere, and takes me by surprise. That’s what happened to me with Begin Again (2013), now one of my favourite movies. Then, a Tumblr blog brought my attention to the song from Once (2007), Falling Slowly, a song I eventually walked down the aisle to on my wedding day. Both movies were written and directed by John Carney, now a legend in my eyes, so how Sing Street got released without my knowing is beyond me!

Connor (Ferdia Walsh-Peelo) is having a rough time. His family life isn’t great, his parents (Aidan Gillen & Maria Doyle Kennedy) are struggling for money and arguing relentlessly, and to save money, Connor is forced to move schools. After a disturbing confrontation with the school’s resident bully, he finally makes a friend in Darren (Ben Carolan). Whilst chatting to Darren outside the school gates, he spots a beautiful girl. Determined to impress her, he tells her he’s in a band and needs a model for their music video. The girl, Raphina (Lucy Boynton) agrees, leaving Connor with the task of putting a band together and actually making some music.

The first third of the movie is spent introducing the rest of the cast as the band is formed, they’re a rag tag bunch, but highly likeable. Sadly we don’t hear much from a lot of them, but Eamon (Mark McKenna) helps Connor write the music  and the two have great chemistry together. This is the first major movie credit for a lot of the cast which is hard to believe at times, they’re all so talented. Mark McKenna stood out the most, but I couldn’t shake it from my head how much he reminded me of Corey Feldman from Stand By Me!

Sing Street is set in the 80’s, and obviously the music choices and inspiration is all gained from popular bands from this era. I was just about born in the 80’s myself, but never really was a fan of the music. It was off putting to begin with, but as the boys put together their own original songs, I got the same warm fuzzy feeling that I had with Once and Begin Again, and I loved it every moment after. The story isn’t new, but it’s done so well that comparing it to others is pointless, because Sing Street is better.

It’s just such a beautiful movie. Watching Conner and the gang’s person styles change as the movie went on, and some of the shots of Ireland were stunning. It made me realise just how beautiful the countryside, and even the villages themselves, can be. There’s a lot in this movie actually that made me feel warm and happy inside, and the ending did, too. In fact, I’m not even sure what happened, but once the credits started and stated that the movie was ‘dedicated to brothers everywhere’ I even shed a few happy tears. Maybe it was just the summer heat getting to me.

I’ve decided now that I’ll follow John Carney anywhere and everywhere, in the movie sense at least. That’s another soundtrack I need asap.

My 5 Favourite Tom Hardy Roles

I love making lists so much that I have a list of lists in my blogging notebook! Sadly I haven’t got around to actually turning any into posts for a while, so I started a to-do list, and the top item was ‘make a list’. Heard the word list enough yet? 

In honour of Tom Hardy’s birthday today, I thought I’d share with you a list of my 5 favourite performances of his. I’d love to make it a Top 10, but my Letterboxd is telling me that I’ve embarrassingly only seen 9 movies that he’s been in. Yikes! He’s an outstanding actor, so I need to raise that number as soon as possible. Can anyone recommend somewhere for me to start? 

Before I start I want to throw in an honourable mention for his character Tuck in This Means War (2012), because that movie is such a guilty pleasure of mine, no matter how absurd it is. Petition for another rom com starring Mr Hardy?

#5 John Fitzgerald, The Revenant (2015)

The Revenant is a movie that I never want to see every again, and I honestly mean that in the best way possible. It was brutal from start to finish, and as much as Leo was great and deserved his Oscar, there wasn’t nearly enough love for Tom Hardy.

#4 Max, Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

Mel Gibson himself gave Tom Hardy his blessing to play Max, and if that isn’t enough of a reason for being in my list, I don’t know what is. I think I could have counted the number of lines Max spoke during the entire movie on my fingers, but of course that’s all part of the persona.

#3 Stuart Shorter, Stuart: A Life Backwards (2007)

This might be one of Tom Hardy’s lesser known roles, but Stuart: A Life Backwards is a fascinating little made-for-TV movie. Hardy plays Stuart, a homeless alcoholic with some terrible issues. It’s certainly not a light hearted movie, but it’s certainly worth a watch!

#2 Ivan Locke, Locke (2013)

I swear, I’ll still be talking about Locke when I’m on my death bed. It’s such an underrated movie. It’s essentially a 90 minute movie in which Ivan Locke drives home from his workplace in Birmingham, having several conversations through his hands-free kit in his phone. That’s literally the entire movie, but it’s gripping.

#1 Reggie & Ron Kray, Legend (2015)

Boy, 2015 was Tom Hardy’s year for sure! It feels odd putting Legend at the top spot, because I didn’t really love the movie. That said, I’m ranking Tom Hardy’s roles rather than the movies themselves, and really, there wasn’t anything else that could take this spot. Hardy manages to play a set of twins with very different personalities and mannerisms, and he does it so well that it’s easy to forget that these twins are in fact the same person. Legend is worth the watch for those performances alone!

So please, let me know what other movies I need to see. Are there any I’ve missed that you would have put in your own Top 5?

Review: Napoleon Dynamite (2004)

Did you ever have a favourite movie during your teens, that was downright stupid but you watched it nearly every weekend with your friends or family, and quoted it constantly? For me, it was Dude, Where’s My Car, which I still love to this day. I’ve always been aware of a movie called Napoleon Dynamite and knew my husband loved it, I knew his siblings tease him and call him Napoleon, but it wasn’t until our wedding night when him and his Sister stormed the dance floor to do ‘the Napoleon Dynamite dance’ that my curiosity got the better of me.

If you’ve never heard of it, Napoleon Dynamite is a super low-budget comedy about a guy called, well, Napoleon Dynamite (Jon Heder). He’s a big of an odd-ball at school, doesn’t have many friends, and lives with his 32-year old brother and grandma, who goes missing for a while, leaving steak-loving Uncle Rico (Jon Gries) to look after the pair.

There’s literally no plot to this movie whatsoever, and that’s just all part of the charm. Napoleon eventually makes friends with Pedro (Efren Ramirez), the new kid who Napoleon eventually helps to run for school president (that explains all the ‘Vote for Pedro’ t-shirts I’ve seen everywhere). The two of them work together to ask out a girl to the prom, with varying levels of success. Along the way, they become close with Deb (Tina Majorino), who runs her own glamour photoshoot business at home.

Literally every scene in this movie has something stupid about it, and I mean that in the most positive way. It’s that kind of humour that you either love or hate, and it tickled me endlessly. Sometimes it’s not even the lines that are funny, it’s the way they’re delivered. I think my favourite line is when Deb first knocks on the door of the house and tries to sell Napoleon some of her crafts. She explains that she’s trying to earn some money for college, and Napoleon’s brother Kip (Aaron Ruell) shouts from inside ‘Your mom goes to college’. I guarantee it’s not funny now you’re reading this, but I had to pause the movie because I was laughing too hard!

Let’s not forget the most romantic line in movie history, “I see you’re drinking 1% milk. Is that cause you think you’re fat? Cause you’re not. You could be drinking whole if you wanted to.”

Not every joke lands of course, I’m still not sure what the scene with Napoleon and Pedro appraising cows and tasting milk was all about, but there’s enough here to keep you laughing from start to finish. It’s one of those movies that deserves a re-watch every couple of years for sure.

Of course, now I’m clued in, I can’t help but agree with my siblings-in-laws when they say how much my husband reminds them of Napoleon. I mean, in college his hair was exactly the same of course, and he was a skinny little thing who loved to dance! (He still loves to dance now, but I’ve fattened him up a bit with my home cooking). In fact, now that I think about it, before we started dating he drew a picture of me and gave it to me as a gift...I need to ask him about that one!

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Review: The Huntsman: Winter's War (2016)

This post has been sitting in drafts for MONTHS with no text in it, I have a theory that if I start the post title then that will remind to write the post - my theory does not work in case you were wondering!

So I am browsing Sky Box Office looking for something to watch and this popped up.  I really enjoyed the first one (preferably the parts without Kristen Stewart...) so this had to be even better due to her lack of casting and a replacement in the form of Jessica Chastain....

Winter's War takes place both before and after the events of Snow White and the Huntsman, delving into The Huntsman's past with his beloved wife and the present day trying to recover the stolen Magic Mirror along with a rabble of dwarves.  I don't want to add anything more for fear of spoilers, so that's all you're getting!

Any film with Chris Hemsworth being all manly man is a winner for me!!  The story could have been dull as dishwater and I still would have been happy.  Thankfully, the story wasn't dull, it was quite entertaining. There was plenty of action and the dwarves (Rob Brydon, Nick Frost and Sheriden Smith) provided some great comedic moments.  Finally, it never hurts to have a bad ass woman around (Jessica Chastain) who can kick all their butts into touch.  

It wasn't the best film I have ever seen, it seemed to have all the elements required for a good film but just fell a little bit flat.  The bad guys we're played by some of Hollywood's finest (Charlize Theron and Emily Blunt) a fact that seemed to be forgotten, leaving them both completely wasted.  Less fannying about in the woods and more screen time and history of these two would have helped.

It could have been better but it entertained me enough to not turn it off midway through. Probably wouldn't watch it again though.