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

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!

 

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.

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!

Review: The Longest Ride (2015)

Anyone who knows me (and I think you guys know me pretty well by now!) knows that I have a soft spot for Nicholas Sparks movies, I know they are all predictable and samey but I can't help but enjoy setting one up on the DVD player on a Sunday night with a blanket and a cup of tea.  With that in mind, I couldn't wait to watch The Longest Ride.  I thought I had read the book but turns out I hadn't (just shows how samey they all are, I can't determine one from the other!)

Weirdly enough I think we both ended up watching this on the same Sunday night, but separately and without even mentioning it to each other? We've got some weird film-connection going on right now! I don't even know why I watched The Longest Ride, I wasn't thrilled with the last Nicholas Sparks film I saw but I needed something easy to unwind with I think.

Sophia (Britt Robertson) and Luke (Scott Eastwood) find a wrecked car on the side of the road and save the elderly driver, Ira (Alan Alda) and his box of letters.  While he's recovering, Sophia reads him letters that his wrote to his late wife over the years and flashes back to their lives together.  Meanwhile, Sophia and Luke try to work out where they fit into each others worlds so they can be together.

 

This is your typical heart breaker, I sobbed for most of the last half and hour and didn't stop until the film ended, which is nothing knew for me with these films.   I really like Britt Robertson after watching Life Unexpected and The Dome, so I'm really glad she could hold her own as the lead female in a feature length film.  Scott Eastwood was a little bit disappointing however, although lovely to look at, he lacked the emotion and passion that Jack Huston brought to a young Ira in his flashbacks. (He was pretty though!)  The reasons behind him risking his life to bull ride also didn't sit quite right with me, I was expecting some big revelation as to why, that never came.

For me, Ira and Ruth's story was far more interesting and emotional than Luke and Sophia's. Whether it was down to the acting or the script I really don't know, but I was captivated by the flashbacks and that's what made me sob in the end.

Ultimately, I think I expected typical Nicholas Sparks and I got something a little bit different.  Great for the franchise, maybe a little but disappointing for me.  I like the tried and tested formula so this knocked me out of my comfort zone more than I expected.  After all that moaning though, I did enjoy it, I was never bored and the crossing back and forth into flashbacks kept the pace up.

If you don't like Nicholas Sparks movies, maybe this one is a shift from the formula enough to change your mind. It definitely got me on board!