Looking Forward to Seeing in the Cinema: October 2016

Welcome to October, the start of Halloweenie Month here at Flick Chicks (more on that here) and the time of year where it's perfectly acceptable to either live in a cardigan or pajamas, with smells of spiced apple and cinnamon in the house. Ahh, Autumn. As a break from watching scary movies, I'm looking forward to squeezing in a couple of cinema trips. There is of course the latest offering from Marvel, featuring my beloved Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange, but there's something I'm looking forward to even more than that. Sorry, Benny.

I don't do nearly enough reading, but when I heard about the upcoming release of The Girl on the Train, hailed as 'the next Gone Girl' I knew I needed to read the book. I'd just finished consuming Ready Player One in 5 days and I had the reading bug, so I sacrificed a couple of hours sleep each day and read The Girl on the Train. It's good, guys. I never read Gone Girl, so I can't really make a comparison until I have, but it's good.

If you've not heard of it yet, The Girl on the Train stars Emily Blunt as Rachel, an alcoholic still suffering after her marriage broke down. On the train to work every day she fantasizes about a house a few doors down from her old house which the train passes, and creates names and stories for the couple she sees there. One morning she sees something which shocks her, and the next day the woman from that house goes missing.

Overall, I'm really happy with the casting choices, they matched what I had thought up in my mind really well. What's kind of bugging me is that the movie will be set in New York rather than London. It shouldn't be a big deal but it is to me, it was set in a beautiful little town just on the outskirts of London and the New York setting might just change the tone completely. We'll see.

This is normally the part where I share the trailer but for the love of all that's holy, don't watch it if you haven't done so already. Maybe it's because I know what happens but it has so much to say! Go in blind, please. It'll be worth it.

The Girl on the Train will be released in UK cinemas on 5th October 2016.

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.

Review: Sicario (2015)

Argh, I was so gutted to have missed Sicario in the cinema! It’s one of those movies that only came on my radar because of being a part of the movie blogging scene. There wasn’t much promotion of it at all in the UK in the run up to its release, but once it came out in the US my Blogger feed was full of reviews, and every single one was singing its praises. It just turned into a moment of too many movies and not enough time, so I had to wait till the DVD release before I got my chance.

Sicario is the story of FBI Agent Kate (Emily Blunt) who volunteers to join a government task force with the aim of ending the escalating war on drugs at the border of the US and Mexico. The cartel they are hunting down are responsible for the deaths of multiple of Kate’s team members, and that’s her reason for joining, although she quickly finds herself way out of her depth.

It sounds like a typical, generic ‘war on drugs’ plot but it’s just done so well. Straight off the bat you know what you’re in for, as the first scene throws gruesome images at you and sets your stomach on edge. This is not your everyday action movie, and should not be watched with your Sunday lunch, as I did…

Emily Blunt is just my hero at the moment. She’s so badass! If you loved her role in Edge of Tomorrow you’re going to love her in this. There’s a scene early on in the movie where you see she’s clearly the only woman in this task force, surrounded by menacing men, and in that scene she seems so small and vulnerable, but just minutes later she’s absolutely holding her own, and I love it!

I didn’t realise a movie that wasn’t a horror could have so much tension. Seriously. There are a few scenes like it, but a fairly early one takes place on the road leading right up to the Mexican border, and the pacing, coupled with the music, had me on the edge of my seat hiding behind a cushion. I was almost glad in that moment I wasn’t in the cinema where I couldn’t hide! 

What I wasn’t expecting was the performance by Benicio Del Toro. Holy moly, this guy was terrifying! His character started off as fairly quiet and sort of faded into the background a little, but then he came out of nowhere!

Sicario is simply a must watch. As someone who has very little interest in movies like this, it was one of my favourites of the whole of 2015. Now why did I have to write that list just a week before watching this?!

Looking Forward to Seeing in the Cinema....October 2015

We say this every month but I really can't believe its nearly October, nearing the countdown to Christmas.  I'm in full swing of preparing my Christmas gifts (I'm usually skint so I make rather than buy my presents!) as I need plenty of time to get ready!!  Anyway back to what I'm supposed to be writing about... what I'm looking forward to seeing in October.

It's obviously the end of Blockbuster season because there is hardly anything worth mentioning being released in October.  However, I am looking forward to The Intern because it seems like something I would like - maybe like a cross between The Devil Wears Prada and The Proposal?!

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

The Intern is released in UK Cinemas on Friday 2nd October

After taking a blogging break throughout August I've felt completely out of the loop with new movie releases, so when I checked the UK's October release schedule my reaction was nothing short of 'what?!' as I didn't recognise anything other than Spectre, which I could honestly care less about. Hence an hour session on IMDB catching up on all the trailers I've missed. One movie in particular really caught my eye and I hope I can catch it in the cinema this month!

At face value, the plot didn't sound like anything groundbreaking to me. An FBI Agent played by Emily Blunt is enlisted to a government task force to aid in the war against drugs at the border between the USA and Mexico. Then, I realised that Sicario is directed by Denis Villeneuve, who also directed Prisoners (2013), Enemy (2013) and Incendies (2010). I love all three of those movies. Sicario is going to be dark and gritty, and I'm so excited to see it now!

Sicario is released in UK cinemas on 8th October 2015.

Review: Into the Woods (2014)

I have no idea what to expect when I rocked up at the cinema to see Into the Woods, I knew it was a musical but I didn't know if it was serious like Les Miserables or funny or complete fantasy.  It seems I was surprised on all counts...

Somehow I didn't even realise it was a musical until about a week before it was released in cinemas, and then my other half wouldn't go with me! Boo...

 

Into the Woods is the story of a Baker (James Corden) and his wife (Emily Blunt) who are desperate for a child but in order to be able to do that they have to lift a curse put on their house by the wicked witch (Meryl Streep).  They venture into the woods to gather four items that the witch needs to reverse the spell, at the same time Cinderella happens to be in the woods running from her prince, Jack is escaping and giant from the beanstalk, Little Red Riding Hood is wandering having lost her Grandmothers house and Rapunzel is banished there by the queen. 

 

This is a great mixture of lots of different fairy tales but it took me at least half an hour to settle into it.  In this first half an hour I was desperately trying to take the film seriously (and losing) and finding it cheesy and awful.  But then, I was about to give up when the Prince brothers (Chris Pine and Billy Magnussen) meet in the woods and break into a rendition of Agony, which was hysterical.  This brought me back, I stopped taking it so seriously and enjoyed it for what it was.  It has it's serious moments, comedy scenes and completely ridiculous sections but I was engrossed.  I couldn't take my eyes off the screen and, considering these are well known fairy tales, I had not idea what was going to happen next.
 

 

The mixture of different fairy tales is what really captured my interest. These are stories we all know, stories we've heard a million times before, but take a bunch of them and put them together, and suddenly they're no longer boring to see brought to life for the hundredth time. Red Riding Hood and the Wolf was a tad creepy, but really, what could they do to tone the theme down without losing the story?

 

I know there have been some mixed reviews about this but I think the benefit for me is that I haven't seen (or heard of) the stage version (which I have been told is better by far).  This meant I went in with no expectation and because of that I was pleasantly surprised.  The music, what can I say about the music, it took a bit to get used but it was totally gripping, I have already downloaded the soundtrack and the original stage version (as there were some songs missing in the movie) and I can't wait to listen to them.

 

 

I didn't even know it was based on a stage show until now, oops! It makes perfect sense now. The music got me instantly and I found myself humming 'Into the Woods' all evening, much to the annoyance of my fiance. Could anyone else listen to Chris Pine singing for hours on end? Is it too late to cast him for Pitch Perfect 2?

 

After all that though, there was one clear cut highlight of the whole film.  That was Meryl Streep.  She stole every scene she was in with complete ease and her singing voice is unreal (apparently she sang everything live even though she has pre-recorded the songs).  Last Midnight was amazing, so much so that it gave me goosebumps.  Is it just me or (once she was made young again) did Streep look as good in this as she did in Death Becomes Her way back in 1992, she has got some good ol' genes!

 

The film is pretty much in two halves, and the first half was amazing, the second dragged a little and there was a huge break between songs which wasn't great, but the twists in the story made it worthwhile I think.

 

I know many won't agree with me but I really loved this, I can't wait to learn all the songs and then (attempt) to sing along. 

Apologies to Jenna's neighbours, because I'll be blasting this soundtrack in the car on my way to her house next time I see her!

Mini Reviews: Edge of Tomorrow (2014), Unknown (2011) & Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2 (2013)

I've been putting off Edge of Tomorrow for ages now, but I did finally relent and watched it just before Christmas. Jenna's already written a full review which you can read here. I really enjoyed the film actually, and I can see why friends of mine really pushed me to watch it! I'm just not a huge Tom Cruise fan; he's the main reason I waited so long. Emily Blunt was brilliant though I thought, I'm liking her more each time I see her. I also wasn't expecting there to be so much humour in what I thought would be a dead pan serious film! Worth a watch for sure.

I was talking about films with my Grandparents the other week and Liam Neeson cropped up. They mentioned seeing him in something good where he was a complete badass (probably not their exact words) and so I said 'Oh, you mean Taken!' No, not that. 'On a plane? Non-Stop?' Nope. 'Did he punch a wolf in the face? Was it The Grey?' Definitely not. It was Unknown! A film which, until then, was unknown to me. (Plenty more where that came from) 

Feeling the need to watch more Liam Neeson we watched it the very next day. Neeson plays a man who, after an accident, suffers memory loss, but it's a little more than that as his memories come back to him, but his wife doesn't know who he is. There's a twist I didn't see until the very last second, and I really enjoyed it, but it just didn't have the wow factor for me.

Sometimes, I just need to watch a fun, animated kids film. Do you ever get those days? I haven't seen Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs all in one go yet, I somehow watched the last half and then the first half about 2 months later. I got the gist though! I know the sequel wasn't for everyone, but it's filled with bad puns and tasty food and that was all I really wanted and needed! It was enough to make me want to watch the first one properly. 

Review: Edge of Tomorrow (2014)

I didn't really want to see this film, I've gone right off Tom Cruise since the debacle that was Jack Reacher so I just didn't want to be disappointed again!  Luckily, I didn't judge a book by it's lead actor and went anyway and I'm glad I did...

William Cage (Tom Cruise) is a scared officer, unwilling to go anywhere near the front line until he is thrown in the deep end by General Brigham.  Once in the action, he gets caught in a time loop that wakes him up at the same point whenever he dies.  He then meets Rita (Emily Blunt) who knows what's happening to him and promises him to train him up.  The rest of the film is them working as a team to save the world from an alien invasion, the same day at a time!

I haven't seen this yet, but I will, begrudgingly. A friend at work made a joke about Tom Cruise's film roles, basically saying that he plays the exact same character in everything that he's in. I shouldn't judge him for that, because for me, Liam Neeson could play the same role in every film and it would take a while for me to get bored of that. But still!

Whenever I watch a movie that involves time loops or time travel I have to fight the urge to analyse it to death, looking got plot holes and paradoxes that can't be explained away.  A two hour discussion with my dad about Paycheck with Ben Affleck ruined that film for me, even though I quite enjoyed it initially, I can't watch it now.  Looper is another one that I have analysed to death and never want to watch again because the one major plot hole has ruined it for me.  So I tried to watch this with an open mind and not think about the time loop aspect and just enjoy the film.  That is exactly what I did, I really enjoyed this, it had a twist on your classic alien fighting film in that the bloke is the weak scared one and the woman is badass (which I loved!).  If you had told me last year that Emily Blunt was going to play a badass alien fighter, I would have laughed in your face, but she absolutely nailed it.

There were some great comedy elements throughout and it touched on a complicated romance between the guy who's learning all about the girl and the girl who has only ever known the guy for a day but didn't focus too much on it.  The action sequences were great and not so rushed that you can't see what's happening (a failure of all Transformers movies in my opinion) and they managed to not make it at all repetitive considering the film is a constant repeat of the same day.  When they had to go through the same scenes again they used comedy to make it different from the first time around which I loved.

I promise I'll watch this, once the DVD is out probably, and give it a chance. I know I'll enjoy it once I see it!

Definitely worth seeing, even if you are like me and have lost faith in Tom Cruise, this might just bring you back.