TV Review: Girls Season 5

Last weekend brought the Season 5 finale of HBO’s Girls, in a double whammy that I wasn’t expecting, nor mentally prepared for. Now, I love the fact that Girls doesn’t stretch their Seasons out across an entire year like too many shows, but ten half an hour long episodes just isn’t enough for me! I was already mourning the fact that next week would be it for a year, but then both episodes came out at once and whilst one part of me thought I could save Episode 10 for next week, I also needed to consume both episodes as quickly as possible.

I only actually got into Girls last November, when I was on the hunt for a new show and heard it mentioned in too many places to ignore it. On the face of it, Girls should never have been a show I could enjoy as much as I do. It follows the lives of four girls (funnily enough) living in New York, struggling to find their places in the world. A world I’m very much not a part of. Maybe escapism is what I get from it. Either way, the second I saw Lena Dunham’s character Hannah eating a huge piece of cake whilst in the bath, I was hooked. I can relate to this girl in at least one way!

Maybe it’s because I’ve been watching it ‘real time’, but Season 5 has definitely been one of the best. I haven’t been happy with every storyline, but when an episode can focus entirely on my least favourite character (looking at you, Marnie) and be the most memorable, then something’s being done right for sure! I hated the way Hannah and Adam’s relationship was left at the end of Season 4, so I was dying to find out what would happen. Here’s what - it got torn out of my chest and ripped to shreds. 

I’ve got to start with the rollercoaster of emotions that is Jessa (Jemima Kirke) and Adam’s (Adam Driver) relationship. I’ve always been flying the flag for Hannah and Adam so I was absolutely not cool with this development, until their date at the fair, which was one of the sweetest things I’ve ever watched. Big thumbs down at the way Jessa treated Hannah over it all though. Not cool! Also not cool? Jessa and Adam’s fight in the final episode. I didn’t know whether to laugh or be absolutely terrified. Anyone questioning the casting choice of Kylo Ren need look no further, here! This has got to be the beginning of the end for them, surely?

Poor Shosh (Zosia Mamet)! It’s such a shame things didn’t work out for her in Japan, she seemed right at home there. Now that she’s back, I was half hoping she would turn Ray’s (Alex Karpovsky) coffee shop into a cat cafe, but she’s turning the place round, regardless. I’ve had my fingers crossed for a Shosh and Ray reunion for a while, and then Ray went and followed Marnie (Allison Williams) on tour. Ray! What are you doing, man?!

Marnie has been the character I’ve loved to hate. She’s so self absorbed she can’t see what’s happening around her, and yet some of the things she comes out with are absolutely hilarious, like her surprise that people still get mugged. When she walked away from Charlie mid-season, I had such high hopes for her. She was going to leave Desi (Ebon Moss-Bachrach), and realised she can’t spend her life trying to fix broken men. Of course, she ruined all those good feelings I had in the very next episode. Oh, Marnie…

And then there was Hannah. Hannah is controversial at the best of times, but she’s been really pushing the mark this Season. From showing her lady parts to her boss to forcing herself on Ray, it’s been hard to defend her. Yet in the final two episodes, she grew so much. She’s quit the job she neither enjoyed or was very good at, and re-discovered her passion for writing, which she is bloody amazing at! Her changed attitude towards Jessa and Adam was so grown up of her, but my heart breaks when I think about what she must have heard Adam shout about her. I honestly don’t think there’s a chance for them, now. I’ll still hold onto the hope they can become good friends by the end of the last Season though, they bounced off each other so well.

That finale was just so perfect that it felt like the actual final finale to the whole show. I’d have almost been okay with that, but I still have so many unanswered questions. Last year brings the final Season, though. Sadface!

HBO's Girls - 11 Reasons to Love Hannah Horvath

Whilst I can't claim to be a die hard Girls fan, (I only started watching the show in December last year) I can say that it is without a doubt one of my favorite TV shows of all time. It seems to really divide the nation between love and hate, and even though I can't fully relate to any of it's main characters, (I'm British, have a boring job and am not financially funded by my parents) there's something about the cast that has me hooked, and Lena Dunham's character Hannah is normally the one to thank for that.

Hannah isn't without her faults. She's selfish at times, reacts badly in social situations, and gets herself into some terrible relationships. But not one episode has gone by where I haven't thought to myself at least once, "omg that's me" and that's why, deep down, I love her. So, in true ramble and list form, here are just a few of the reasons I find her so loveable.

1. She attempted to cut her own hair, which went horribly wrong. I've had a fringe all my life, and on too many occasions I've resorted to trimming it myself. When I had something similar to a pixie cut, I went one step further, and that ended disatrously. 

2. Her dress sense changes dramatically to sophisticated chic to a complete mess. Come on, we're surely all guilty of buying a 'quirky' top that we were so sure we could pull off at the time? 

3. I think this was in the very first episode, but once I saw Hannah eating a cupcake whilst in the bath, I knew that Girls was the show for me. Not that I've actually done this myself. Yet.

4. Food might be a running theme in this post, come to think of it. Anyway, I'm 26 years old and still use the phrase 'I'm a growing girl'. Sadly I only seem to grow outwards now. Sadface.

5. This bridesmaid dress moment had me in stitches. Dresses are hard, okay?! Especially any dresses related to a wedding. I should know! For the record, I'm digging the way Hannah put this on.

6. Have I mentioned food yet?

7. I don't think I've heard such true words before. This is definitely who I want! Thankfully I found him, and we're making it official in May!

8. I honestly feel like I've learnt things from this show. For years I've said yes to every offer of plans, even ones I didn't want to do, and since I started saying no more, I'm a much happier person.

9. Hannah can be so overdramatic, and although this is normally when she can get irritating, the car crash moment was funny. I've certainly been a little theatrical for some extra sympathy in the past.

10. Hannah's enthusiasm and confidence are my favourite traits of hers, and this quote in particular is brilliant. You don't need to be skilled in all things, and I wish curiosity got you further in the real world.

11. Finally, and this might not mean much to you, but this is exactly how I'm blogging right now, and it wasn't until I was researching some imagery for this post that I even realised. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to run a bath, grab a cupcake and then cut my own hair...

Review: Happy Christmas (2014)

Despite my ridiculously long list of Christmas movies that I simply must watch every year, I’m always on the hunt for new ones I may have missed. So you can imagine my surprise whilst flicking through Netflix that I find a very recent movie starring Anna Kendrick that I’ve never seen! Erm, how is this possible, and would anyone like to buy the rock I’ve been living under?

Happy Christmas (2014) isn’t your typical festive family movie. Jenny (Anna Kendrick) has recently split up with her boyfriend, and moves in with her older brother Kevin (Joe Swanberg), his wife Kelly (Melanie Lynskey) and their young baby. Jenny makes a bad first impression straight away when she goes out and gets horrendously drunk, when she had promised Kelly she would babysit the following morning.

Around 20 minutes in, I had a feeling of deja vu, and a quick IMDB search showed me that this is directed by Joe Swanberg, who also directed Drinking Buddies (2013). If you haven’t seen either of these movies, Joe Swanberg basically gets his cast together, tells them a vague outline of the plot and leaves them to improvise the rest, there is no script. 

General consensus says that Drinking Buddies is the superior movie, but I actually preferred Happy Christmas. Perhaps it’s because this time I knew what to expect, I’ll have to re-watch Drinking Buddies to be sure. Swanberg’s movies are definitely like nothing else I’ve ever seen. There’s an almost awkward vibe going on, but at the same time, the conversations these characters have are so much more real, because well, they are real! 

I think I slightly preferred Drinking Buddies but I half wished Anna Kendrick was in that because I just love her, she is just too awesome!  Personally, I think both are ok but could just do with a little bit more story, if I didn't know it was improvised I would have been bored stupid, I tend to keep watching because I'm trying to work out what story they have been told to follow and what is completely pulled out of their heads.  I wish I could see a copy of the story they were given! I think that's why I didn't enjoy Drinking Buddies, I had no idea until afterwards that it was all improvised, so I was so confused!

This is the part where I normally gush about how much I love Anna Kendrick is and how she stole the show here, and don’t get me wrong, she was amazing in this, but it was honestly the baby who stole every scene he was in. He was just so darn funny! I couldn’t even pick a single example for you, but he’s the most happiest and lively little boy I’ve ever seen in a movie.  Fully agree,  he was so cute! I wonder if he is related to any of the cast (particularly Joe Swanberg) because he was just so comfortable with them. If he isn't, he's going to be a star one day!

Happy Christmas has some great characters who you really sympathise with, and when everything heats up during the night before Christmas itself, it’s hard to pick sides. I just wish the movie didn’t end so abruptly! I’d have loved just another 20 minutes or so to tie things up a little.

For me it felt like none of the conversations that happened in the film were tied up, I feel like there was more questions posed than answered (or the Lost effect as I have chosen to call it!) Did Jenny stay with Jeff (Mark Webber)? Did the family reconnect? What movie was she watching in the cinema? Why did they call the film Happy Christmas when other than the tree it wasn't remotely Christmassy?!

I guess my only other grumble is that this was in no way the full-of-festivity movie I was expecting, especially from a movie called Happy Christmas, but then I went into this blind so that’s my own fault for having preconceptions!