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!

Thursday Movie Picks - Unrequited Love

It’s been ages since I took part in Wanderer’s weekly Thursday Movie Picks, I really need to kick myself up the backside and get involved more often because I’m loving the look of this year’s themes! If you want to take part check out the master post here.

This week the theme is Unrequited Love, and I er, had to look it up to find out what it meant. You learn something new every day, right? Well now I know! This theme is more challenging than I originally thought, but I had great fun scouring my brain for movies I’d seen that fit the subject. Here’s my list!

(500) Days of Summer (2009)

Possibly my favourite movie of his, Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays broken-hearted Tom, who reflects on the time that he spent with Summer (Zooey Deschanel) - all 500 days, funnily enough. The tale is told in a non-chronological way, which really sets it apart from similar movies.

Tom falls for Summer almost instantly, but the feeling sadly isn’t mutual and Summer admits that she doesn’t believe that love is real. That doesn’t stop Tom, and for a time, the two of them seem to have a relationship, but it sadly doesn’t last. It’s a brilliant movie, and it wasn’t what I was expecting at all. Worth a watch!

Love Actually (2003)

Hold up, don’t worry! I do understand what unrequited love is. Google told me, remember? Love Actually is one of my all-time favourite movies, and one of the tales sums up unrequited love perfectly. Juliet (Kiera Knightly) is convinced her husband’s best friend Mark (Andrew Lincoln) hates her, but when she finally convinces him to show her the wedding video that he shot, she realises that the camera was focussed on her for every moment.

It all concludes with a beautiful scene of Mark stood on her doorstep to silently explain with the use of signs that he loves her.

All About Steve (2009)

This one came to me as I was scouring my Letterboxd account for inspiration. How could I forget All About Steve? Easily, clearly, as it wasn’t the best movie around. But it’s Sandra Bullock! Of course I can forgive it, and it’s a more lighthearted take on the unrequited love theme. Mary (Sandra Bullock) is a crossword puzzle creator and a bit of an oddball. She gets set up on a blind date with Steve (Bradley Cooper), a news cameraman, and she’s besotted with him. Unfortunately, the feeling isn't mutual, but Mary doesn’t see this.

It’s a nice twist on the usual romantic comedy tale of the guy trying to get the girl to be honest!

Review: Premium Rush (2012)

I tried really hard to watch Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy last night. Maybe I was just too tired, or maybe it's not the film for me, but I had to turn it off after ten minutes. Instead, I put on Premium Rush, a film I've been meaning to watch for a while. It kept popping up on IMDB as a film recommend to me, so I thought, 'why not!'.  I've tried to watch this film twice and fallen asleep both times, maybe I need to try one more time.  Third times a charm! Ok I tried again and got 30 minutes in before I fell asleep - I give up as much as I love Joseph Gordon-Levitt, this is just not a film for me :(

Wilee (Jospeh Gordon-Levitt) works as a bike courier in New York City, and he's also a complete mad-man, riding around on a bike with no breaks. I didn't believe bike couriers were even a real thing until I looked it up! Anyway, one afternoon, Wilee ends up picking up an envelope which is also being hunted down by a dirty NYPD cop who will stop at nothing to get his hands on it.

As a car driver myself, I have a natural aversion to cyclists anyway. Birmingham might not be New York, but it's still a nightmare to drive around in rush hour, and cyclists are such a nuisance! I thought Premium Rush might change my view and actually sympathise with the dangerous journeys cyclists have each time, but Wilee and his colleagues are so reckless that it just fuelled my aggression!

Serves you right, Wilee...

It terms of the film itself, I actually really enjoyed it. Wilee had some great witty lines, and there's one particular cop trying to catch him for his dangerous cycling that had me laughing out loud. He just can't catch a break and you can't help but feel sorry for him. The actual storyline surrounding the letter doesn't make much sense if I'm honest, but the chase scenes and humour make up for it.

One particular thing I liked about Premium Rush was some of the effects. When Wilee approaches junctions and crossings, time slows down as his mind processes which route he should take. You also get some pretty cool clips of the routes that the cyclists have to take. I can't find a great clip to emphasise this but here's a goof example of the chase scenes:

Although it had its flaws, Premium Rush is something a little different and it was fun to watch. Plus, come on ladies, who wouldn't want to watch Joseph Gordon-Levitt on a bike for an hour and a half?

Jenna, I now realise that you are the exception to that!

Review: Don Jon (2013)

I have every faith in Joseph Gordon-Levitt, I have been a fan of his since his Third Rock from the Sun and 10 Things I hate about you days.  So when I discovered that he has written, directed and starred in Don Jon, it became a must see for me.  I never once doubted JG-L's ability to succeed and I was right not to...

Don Jon has been on my radar for a while now, but knowing I could never bring myself to watch it with someone else has made it difficult to get round to watching! Jenna's review popping up in the drafts list gave me the push I needed.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays 'Don' Jon Martello a cocksure New Yorker who spends his time rating women with his friends and encountering one night stands with the higher scaled ladies and masturbating.  The voice over makes it abundantly clear that Jon is addicted to porn and fails to find the same satisfaction in real women. (This is when I thought it became predictable)  That is until he meets a 'solid 10' in rom-com lover Barbara (Scarlett Johansson) who refuses to sleep with him until she is good and ready. 

I really enjoyed this film, particularly the two halves that seemed like two different films.  The first half was a fast paced raunch fest, cut with porn scenes to emphasise Jon's addiction but still comical and the scenes with his friends in the bars were really funny. 

Yeah, the film's introduction was great, and as cringy as they were for me, the porn cut-ins were fantastically timed and really aided Don's story. I just couldn't stand Barbara though. I tried to picture Janice from Friends whenever she was on the screen (that's who she reminded me of) and that just didn't help me at all!

Then the second half surprised me, it became almost a romantic drama once Julianne Moore's character Esther got her toe in the mix.  It went from a comedy about porn addiction to a drama delving into these characters and finding out why they are the way they are.  This mix of two genres really made the film for me, I didn't expect it and when he met Barbara I thought I had the film penned (maybe Jon's confidence and attitude rubbed off on me) but this gave it a whole new depth.

It was definitely something different, and I do appreciate that. I've seen films that although enjoyable, are completely predictable so major kudos to Joseph Gordon-Levitt here. However, for me, the romance between Don and Esther was just too unbelievable, and a little uncomfortable to watch. I don't blame either actor/ess for that, it's just how I felt.

This movie never holds back, its got all the confidence of the lead character.  It never shies away from awkward, uncomfortable or damn right gross scenes instead it draws attention to them repeatedly.  Although, there were a few moments in this film where I cringed, the corridor scene outside Barbara's apartment had me covering my eyes but it was effective in showing Jon's desperation. I also found the family dinner scenes uncomfortable, but I think that was the effect they were going for, if so it definitely worked.  Basically, anything that made this film uncomfortable, made it better.

I liked how blunt and un-afraid Don Jon is, and it was a film like no other that I'd seen before. I was also surprised at Joseph Gordon-Levitt as an actor, as I would never picture him in a role like this, and he pulled it off well.

There's a cameo towards the beginning that I just had to text Jenna about (I was excited) and she told me that they were actually meant to have the lead role until Joseph took it for himself. I couldn't help but picture that actor in the role then and I think I might have preferred him!

Brilliant work from Joseph Gordon-Levitt and a real surprise, not at all what I expected.

An enjoyable and un-expected film all round, but sadly it's just not one for me.

Currently Watching...3rd Rock from the Sun

It's not possible to buy this on DVD in the UK yet (I think this is a travesty!) so imagine how excited I was when I woke up the morning after getting back off holiday and finding two episodes playing back to back on Channel 4. 

Sorry, totally butting in here but is that the Trinity Killer?!

I couldn't resist checking and yes, there is was, every day 2 whole episodes... this was my face...

So what is so special about 3rd Rock from the Sun?  I never watched it properly when it was first on, I was a bit too young I think and not yet fully addicted to TV series as I am now!  But what's not to love... John Lithgow, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and this guy....

This show is so ridiculous it's brilliant, the jokes (that I probably didn't get as a kid) have me in stitches and as it's on first thing in the morning I have destroyed my make on numerous occasions laughing and crying.

The characters are bats**t crazy but that makes you love them even more.  Each episode has it's own storyline which means you can watch them in any order or if they just happen to be on TV (as with Friends) but it's worth watching the Pilot to know who the characters are and why they are on the 3rd rock.

The downside is, that because I'm watching them on the TV, I miss episodes and they are not necessarily in the right order (i.e. Joseph Gordon-Levitt aged about 6 years overnight last night!) this is why it needs to be released on Region 2 DVD NOW!!

If you've not seen this, you need to give it a go and if you hear any rumours of Region 2 DVD's let me know ;-)

Up until recently I thought 3rd Rock from the Sun and 30 Rock were the same show. Funnily enough I've just started watching 30 Rock so I may have to try this now! Like Jenna, I remember this show from when I was younger but had little interest in it back then.