Review: Hail, Caesar! (2016)

Picking a movie as my ‘Looking Forward to this Month’ choice each month seems to put some kind of curse over it, meaning I don’t even get to see it at the cinema. How does this keep happening?! Hail, Caesar was my choice for March, and I think I had 3 different occasions planned to see it, all of which got cancelled on the day.

I’ve been excited for this since the trailer first came out last year. I think I was on a bit of a George Clooney hype, and the addition of Channing Tatum was too much for me to take. Then I watched (and loved) Inside Llewyn Davis and decided from that point I was a Coen Brothers fan. Still haven’t sat through the whole of Bridge of Spies, though…

So, the plot is fairly simple. This movie is about a guy who makes movies! Eddie Mannix (Josh Brolin) runs the joint, and spends every living moment of the day solving problems within the studio. Things go a little more pear shaped when his leading star Baird Whitlock (George Clooney) goes missing. 

I think even if you didn’t enjoy the movie itself, you have to appreciate how beautiful it is to watch. If the film world in the 1950’s really is this colourful, then sign me up! It’s greatest strengths are ultimately its greatest weakness, sadly. A lot of the movie is filled with snippets behind the doors of different sets. We see Scarlett Johannson put on an incredible synchronised swimming act, and Channing Tatum dressed as a sailor, dancing on tables. I mean come on, what more could a girl want? The only problem is that most of these acts have nothing to do with the plot of the movie at all.

That sounds harsh, especially when I really enjoyed watching Hail, Caesar! It’s just that I hyped it up so much in my head, I was thinking of placing it next to Fargo on my hypothetical shelf. And it definitely doesn’t deserve a place up there. Although the twist is takes is unexpected, it takes a weird, political turn that kind of bored the pants off me. I don’t do politics. Or history. Sorry.

By far, the star here was Hobie Doyle, played by Alden Ehrenreich, as the young actor, famous for his Westerns, that is suddenly thrown into a highbrow drama, directed by the ever patient Laurence Laurentz (Ralph Fiennes). Would that it were so simple...It doesn’t matter how many times I watch that scene, it will be hilarious every single time! I heard Alden is in the running for playing a young Han Solo? Don’t let Jenna know but I think he would be great!

All in all, and despite sounding negative, I really did enjoy this. I was just my own worst enemy and hyped it up too much. It’s not the best Coen Brothers movie out there, but as a fan of quirky humour, this was definitely my cup of tea.

Review: Magic Mike XXL (2015)

I  have been quite looking forward to this since Magic Mike.  I know you're all thinking, typical woman, can't wait to watch muscular chaps get their kits off and dance around.....and you would be right!  But also, the original one had quite a dark story which I really enjoyed....I did....I swear.....

Magic Mike XXL starts 3 years after Mike (Channing Tatum) bowed out of the stripper game for good.  A phone call from Tarzan (Kevin Nash) brings the old gang back together (less Matthew McConaughey's Dallas and Alex Pettyfer's 'The Kid') for one last hurrah as a convention in Myrtle Beach.  Tito (Adam Rodriguez), Ken (Matt Bomer), Big Dick Richie (Joe Manganiello) along with Mike and Tarzan embark on a road trip (interjected with various strip teases) to perform their final routine.

I can't say I didn't enjoy this film, I really did but not for the story.  That was poor in comparison to the original and it became a bit more cheesy than dark and sometimes grim original which was a bit disappointing to be honest.  I can say however that the strip sequences made the film watchable, i'm not even being a pervert (i swear!), I love dance routines in films and that is effectively what they were.  It didn't hurt that they were half naked mind......

The ensemble don't quite nail the chemistry that they had in the first one and they overplayed some of the elements from the first film but the finale absolutely blew the whole film out of the water, I replayed it twice!!  

Awesomely entertaining but didn't quite match up to the first one.

Mini Reviews: Dear John (2010), Enchanted (2007) & The Interview (2014)

Rom-coms used to be all I would watch, but since starting this blog and widening my horizon, it’s left a whole ton of films like Dear John sat around just waiting to be watched. I get the TV all to myself on Tuesday nights whilst the other half is away, so I got to tick Dear John off my list not too long ago. It stars Channing Tatum as John, a US Army soldier, who meets Savannah (Amanda Seyfried) whilst on summer leave.

It’s exactly what you’d expect, and it’s fairly predictable, but I enjoyed it nonetheless, and I can’t speak for the rest of my fellow ladies out there, but I’ll happily watch Channing Tatum shirtless on the beach any day! Not a film I feel the need to re-watch any time soon, but enjoyable nonetheless.

I was overwhelmed by the sheer amount of comments I received on the Thursday Movie Picks: Fairy Tale Adaptations post I did which featured Enchanted. It felt like I was the only one in the world who had never seen it! Needless to say, I made sure I watched it very soon after. If you’ve been hiding under a rock like me for the last 8 years, Enchanted is a real-life, Disney musical about the princess Giselle (Amy Adams) who gets sent to real-world New York city.

It was just the right kind of cheesy, with songs that are catchy and easy to recall (as my 20 year old brother can prove!) and it was so full of charm from beginning to end that I just couldn’t stop smiling. The CGI work is a little off, but that can be forgiven. Glad to say that I’ve finally watched it!

Why do I keep doing this to myself?! I can’t stand James Franco, I really, really just can’t bear him, and yet I just can’t help myself and keep giving him chances. I guess I’m still trying to find another This Is The End. I’m not sure how much of the ‘The Interview has been banned/Oh no it hasn’t’ scandal I believe, but it was enough to get me to watch it one weekend. So, in this, Dave Skylark (James Franco) and his producer Aaron Rapaport (Seth Rogen) run a celebrity chat show, and are tasked with interviewing North Korean dictator, Kim Jong-Un. Um, and kill him.

Honestly? I thought James Franco was alright in this. He surprised me. However, the film itself fell flat. The first half was decent, just the right kind of silly, but it wasn’t the un-believable factor that killed it for me. It just wasn’t very interesting! I got bored halfway through and caught up with Twitter instead. Sorry!

Jupiter Ascending Explained in 30 Seconds

For the record, I really do wish I could review Jupiter Ascending, and score it at the end. But how can you review something that made absolutely no sense to you?! Normally, when I draft up a review, I do a little introduction which normally has nothing to do with the film, locate a poster to make the post look pretty, and then summarise the plot of the film. Well, that’s where I got stuck.

What you’re getting instead is me, attempting to explain the plot, as I understood it. This may or may not be in chronological order, it’s been a whole week since I saw the film and I’ve kind of forgotten half of it. Apologies in advance…Oh! Spoilers ahead...

Some guys in uniform bust in on Mila Kunis’s parents and murder her father. He was trying to protect his telescope. I don’t know why. 

Skip to the present day. Mila Kunis cleans toilets for a living, although she’s always dreamed of more… p.s. her name is Jupiter...Jupiter - really!

Channing Tatum’s stealing some kind of medical records for a girl who’s name I can’t remember. It’s not Mila Kunis though. A group of weirdos, one with pink and blue hair, one with a crazy mohawk, and I think there was a third (?!) try and steal them from him. Channing uses his inner Magic Mike and escapes.

In the night, some alien things try and murder Mila Kunis’ friend, who just happens to be that girl whose records were taken. Mila manages to get a picture of it all on her iPhone. The aliens are cool with that.

The next morning, Mila goes to sell her eggs using the name of her friend. What was the friends purpose in this movie?! (see further rant below!) She really wants/needs the money to buy a telescope just like her father’s. Plot twist! The doctors are aliens who think Mila is actually her friend, and try to kill her. Channing to the rescue!

Once rescued, Channing takes Mila to his friend Ned Stark, who is alive and well. He lives with a lot of bees, bees which love Mila Kunis. Channing and Ned reckon this means Mila is actually royalty, so they take her to space.  I've never been stung by a bee, does this make me royalty?!

In between all of this, there’s some royal arguments over who owns Earth and when it needs to be ‘harvested’ Eddie Redmayne does a brilliant Voldemort impression.  I couldn't understand word he said!

Turns out that not only is Mila royalty, she’s the re-incarnation of the Eddie Redmayne and the other two’s mother. Err, what? Pretty Boy, Eddie’s brother hatches a master plan to marry his re-incarnated mother, murder her, and then take Earth for himself. Did we ever learn why Earth was so important to him?  Moreso, Why did he want to marry his own Mom?! yak!

If you hadn’t guessed, Channing to the rescue. Again. Mila is a little in love with him and his wolfy ears.

I really forgot what happened next. There was some fighting, some sort of betrayal, and Mila realised all she really wants to do is go back home and clean toilets. Somehow, her wish is granted. Everyone lives happily ever after, Channing Tatum now has wings, and Ned Stark got to see the credits with his head intact. Huzzah! haha!!

Sorry to anyone who really enjoyed this movie. If I may add, it was visually beautiful. It's just that it felt like it was based on a book that was mandatory reading material before walking in to the cinema!

I feel exactly the same as Allie (which is saying something because I usually understand films when she doesn't!! Sorry mate!) so I only have one thing to add to this.  Why, why, why did the Wachowski's decide after the debacle that was The Matrix Reloaded AND Revolutions, to make ANOTHER film that was visually stunned but appeared to be written by a small child.  The dialogue was painful and the story was ridiculous (what I could understand of it) and there was numerous characters/characters names that were brought in and out with no logical explanation.  Why have a film with such a complicated plot and vast volume of un-necessary characters and mentions with such simplistic and cheesy dialogue.  I wanted to love it, I had high hopes for it....unfortunately my hopes were dashed after 10 minutes!!

Looking Forward to Seeing in the Cinema this Month...February 2015

Is it really nearly February already!! Oh my gosh, the year is getting away from me...again!!  Both me and Allie struggled to come up with our looking forward to this month, we think that everyone has released movies in December and January for awards season so February doesn't get a look in!

Luckily, I have been looking forward to seeing Jupiter Ascending and it got delayed to February, win!  If you read my 'White Christmas' post you will know that I only finally saw the trailer for this on Christmas Eve after reading about it loads in my movie magazines. Don't get me wrong, I don't think this is going to be film of the year by any stretch but it looks entertaining enough and a bit different to other action/sci-fi films.   If you're like me and you think you've watched the trailer but haven't - here it is...

Jupiter Ascending is out in UK cinemas on 6th February.

This is the first time I've ever had a problem picking a film for this little series we do. Well, not truly anyway. Normally I have 5 to pick from, and I don't even get round to seeing all of them! This month though, the only thing I really want to see is Jenna's film, Jupiter Ascending, and even then I'm not completely sold by it. There is a film coming out this month that I want to see though, but I won't be seeing it in the cinema. Therefore, I'm re-naming the title of this blog post for myself to:

'Sort of Looking Forward to Seeing out of Curiosity but Definitely not at the Cinema...February 2015'

Yes, I read the books, I'm a warm-blooded female, of course I did! I was one of those weirdos on the train trying to hide their kindle from everyone, making it more obvious than I needed to. I didn't care about the quality of writing, quite frankly, I co-run a 'just for fun' blog and so as an amateur writer myself, I'm hardly one to judge!

I can't quite believe the film is nearly here though. I honestly didn't think it would happen. Of course it's going to focus on the fluffy, romantic parts of the book, but really, I think anyone who's read it is at least curious as to how the film is going to pan out. I won't be there at the cinema though. It's going to be filled with old people and weird couples! I don't think I'll be able to go to the cinema for a while after either, not until they've dry cleaned all the seats (sorry).

Do I really need to look up the trailer for you all? I'm at work right now, it might be weird...oh, okay then, here you go.

Fifty Shades of Grey is released in UK cinemas on 13th February, 2015

Review: 22 Jump Street (2014)

Sun's out, guns out! You just can't beat a good summer comedy sometimes, and they're great Orange Wednesday films. I really loved 21 Jump Street, I know I've said before but I think I picked up the DVD when it was cheap, not really knowing what it was, and just fell in love. There's always a lot of pressure on sequels though!

 

You know what the deal is, Schmidt (Jonah Hill) and Jenko (Channing Tatum) have already gone undercover in High School for a drugs bust, and now Jump Street has moved across the road to 22 and Schmidt and Jenko need to go undercover in college for another drugs bust. The film follows the Muppets in pointing out that the sequel is never as good as the first, although Jump Street is a little more subtle!

 



This film was everything I wanted it to be. The laughs were there, and even though the storyline was pretty much exactly the same as the first, it still felt fresh. The comedy was spot on, and didn't fall into the spoof trap that other films have. I'm now wondering where I can find one of these tops, but I don't think it's the same really! I'll have to get one for the other half instead... Or you could get to the gym and get some GUNS!!

 

My only real whinge about 22 Jump Street is that the bromance was a bit overdone. I love a good bromance as much as the next girl, especially a bromance with Channing Tatum, but it did start to get a little old as the film went on. I really liked the bromance jokes, when they were acting like a couple breaking up, I was in bits. 

 

I really enjoyed this, which I didn't expect to being a comedy sequel.  As Allie said the story was pretty much the same but they basically take the piss out of that themselves at some points throughout the movie.  I loved the car chase "I mean it looks cool...but it's just so wasteful" had me in stitches (maybe I was just in the mood to laugh when I watched it!).  The gags are painfully crude and grim for the most part but Hill and Tatum's chemistry makes it watchable and actually funny.  Better still is Ice Cube whose anger takes over every scene he is in.

 

You'll understand what I mean if/when you've seen it, but my favourite part of this film was the credits. That sounds harsh, doesn't it? But trust me! Best. Credits. Ever. Couple of cameos thrown in too for good measure. 

 

The film felt a little bit too long, they could have easily cut 20 minutes out without ruining it but if that's the only real issue then its not too bad all in all.  Fully agree, the credits were the best part of the whole film without a doubt, absolutely brilliant!

I think this is the end of the line now for the Jump Street films, but I've fallen a little in love with Channing Tatum and I can't wait to see some of his other films.

Looking Forward to Seeing at the Cinema this Month...June 2014

I still haven't seen my 'Looking Forward to Seeing at the cinema' for May yet, although I am seeing it tonight so that's not too bad.  I am super excited for X-Men: Days of Future Past, review will be posted soon.  But enough about May and onto June... What am I looking forward to this month... How to Train your Dragon 2...

The original of this was amazing, not just the story which was completely original and well written but the visuals, everytime I watch this film I find something new, individual hair strands blowing in the wind, single blades of grass.  It is a truly epic visual as well as characters that you love and even the ones you hate you love.  So how can I not look forward to the second part, an older, stronger and cooler Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) with metal parts instead of a leg after the action in the first part.  Dragons are now a normal part of life on Berk, but they will stumble across a new batch of wild dragons and must work together to keep the peace.

I can't decide however if I will see this in 3D, I am not a fan, particularly not with live action movies (I never watch live action movies in 3D, I think it spoils it more than adds to it!) but rarely I will watch an animated film in 3D if I think it will be worth it.  If there are flying scenes are anything like the first movies then my guess is it will be worth it...

How to Train your Dragon 2 will be released on 27th June 2014.

Ohh you totally got in before me this month! This is probably one of my most anticipated films of the year, let alone month! But, in the spirit of chosing a film each, I'm also super excited for 22 Jump Street.

 

I don't think I saw the previous film, 21 Jump Street, at the cinema. In fact, I'm pretty sure I just picked up the DVD in a sale around Christmas last year. I love Channing Tatum more and more every time I see him, and although I'm a bit weary of Jonah Hill, I thought he was really funny in 21 Jump Street.

It's the perfect Orange Wednesday film and I have no doubt that the screens will be rammed when it comes out. Sequels, in many cases, aren't as good as their predecessors but I hope that won't be the case this time, as I laugh out loud every time I watch the trailer and it definitely hasn't got old yet. Look out for my review soon!

Here's the trailer if you're a hermit and haven't seen it yet:

22 Jump Street will be released on 6th June 2014.