Review: This is Where I Leave You (2014)

This movie is where I got the idea from Flick Chicks latest Blogathon, which the round up post of which will be posted soon.  Here is the link if you want to check out what it's all about http://www.flick-chicks.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/dysfunctional-families-cast-thon.html

When their Father dies, four adult siblings are forced to come back to the childhood home and live under the same room for a week.  Judd (Jason Bateman) has split from his wife but has failed to tell his family, Wendy (Tina Fey) has to deal with seeing the love of her life again, Phillip (Adam Driver) arrives with his new (rich) girlfriend in tow and Paul (Corey Stoll) is dealing with his and his wife Annie's (Kathryn Hahn) delays in getting pregnant. Throw in their over-sharing Mother (Jane Fonda) for good measure and watch the chaos ensue.

I wouldn't say this film is terrible but I wouldn't say its great either.  It's thoroughly predictable (and I haven't read the book) and no matter how good the cast was the dialogue could not be saved.  I did enjoy watching it though, I wasn't bored by any means and it's certainly not the casts worst work (Admission and Bad Words spring to mind!) but it just didn't have enough to keep me laughing or keep me crying.  I'm tempted to read the book now, because it must surely be better than the film (they normally are!). The cast did an alright job, but it was a bit too silly for me. Every single character had too much crazy going on, it was hard to keep up at times!

Bateman's dry humour fits perfectly with the dramedy (as i have just been informed Drama/Comedies have been shortened to these days!), but he is the same character he pretty much always is, there's not depth to his character, he is just reading the lines off the page and then off home for tea!  I didn't buy his relationship with Penny (Rose Byrne) for one minute, they just didn't fit right for me. I'm a huge Jason Bateman fan but he didn't wow me in this. 

The rest of the cast seem to lack chemistry with each other or aren't a real character at all, Wendy's husband seems to have no connection with anyone in the family including Wendy and fortunately leaves pretty rapidly (obviously leaving Wendy open to reignite an old flame).  As much as I love Conne Britton (huge Nashville fan), she appeared to only be written in to showcase how screwed up Phillip is, which could have been done without her.  A lot of wasted talent here.

I read on IMDB that originally, Adam Shankman was going to direct this, and when he was, the main cast was Zac Efron, Malin Akerman, Leslie Mann, Jason Sudeikis and Goldie Hawn, alongside Jason Bateman. This would have been far better! Totally better!!

Overall, not great but not a disaster.  Happily watched it once but won't be watching it again.  If you want to watch s film about a messed up family and it's messed up issues, watch August: Osage County instead.

Review: Bridesmaids (2011)

There is something I really wanted to mention on this blog but with it being a movie blog, I feel like most things we write have to link back to a movie in one way or another, so I found a relevant movie to review!!

On the last Flick Chicks night out I was truly gobsmacked when Allie asked me to be her Bridesmaid, I didn't expect it at all but I was so excited and thrilled to say yes.  This will be my first time being a Bridesmaid as a grown up so I get all the fun of the hen do (bachelorette party for the Americans among us!) as well as the wedding -  happy days!! 

I'm so excited that you're turning this into a blog post! As my fellow Flick Chick you just absolutely have to be up there with me!

Anyway to make this relevant to this blog I have decided to review Bridesmaids, which I am surprised I haven't done sooner as I really do love this movie.  (I will the Melissa McCarthy character at Allie's wedding haha!! Oh lordy, I'm terrified for the dress shopping now!)

Annie's (Kirsten Wiig) best friend, Lillian (Maya Rudolph) is getting married and it's down to her to be her Maid of Honour, that is until Helen (Rose Byrne) steps in and starts to splash the cash and make Annie feel inadequate.  Add in the rest of the crazy bridesmaid cast and you've got yourself an all star comedy, the female Hangover if you will.

Side bar:  I feel like we need to learn the routine to Wilson Phillp's Hold on for all the Bridesmaids at your wedding - what do you reckon Allie? You know full well that I don't dance, and my Mum is already planning a flash mob dance which she'll no doubt get you involved in!

Sorry, veering a little off track there.  This film is hilarious and no matter how many times I watch it, I still find it ridiculously funny, it never seems to get one.  The chemistry between the group of Bridesmaids, including the amazing Melissa McCarthy, is brilliant.  Can I name a bad thing about this movie? not really!

Taking on rom-coms and wedding films galore this funfest kicks ass as well as showing the 'real' side of wedding planning, bachelorette parties and competitiveness streaks that affect many bridal parties in the run up to weddings.  Who wouldn't hate this 'new friend' that has turned up and is trying to take your Best Friend away from you?! Worse still, this new friend steals your ideas but has significant funds to take them one step further (I so would have destroyed the giant cookie at that point as well!).

The female version of every male ensemble movie ever made but with clever humour and a penchant for reality (and a bit of toilet humour thrown in for good measure).  You can't hate it, its too good!

There's nothing I can say here that Jenna hasn't already, and it's been far too long since I've seen this so there will have to be an extended Flick Chicks plus bridesmaids movie night where we can watch it together!

 

Review: Bad Neighbours (2014)

I'm used to busy cinema screens, as the only time I really go is on Orange Wednesdays. Who can afford a full price cinema ticket these days?! Certainly not me. What I wasn't expecting was for our screen to be completely full, every single seat sold, for Bad Neighbours this week. Wow!  See this is where we differ, I have a Cineworld Unlimited card, so I avoid Wednesday's like the plague, however they have recently introduced allocated seating which is AMAZING! - Sorry little off topic there! You leave my review sat in draft for 6 weeks and then hijack it with your Cineworld nonsense?!



 

The last time I was in a cinema screen that busy was a few years ago for Horrible Bosses, and the atmosphere was fantastic. It's always a worry, especially with a comedy like this, that the screen will be full of rowdy kids but apart from missing all the trailers so staff could find seats for everyone, it was absolutely fine! Cinema Etiquette is a big deal to us here, which you'll know if you've read our Guide to Cinema Etiquette before!

 

If you've seen the trailer you'll know the gist of the film. Mac (Rogen) and Kelly (Byrne) are trying to deal with their new 'grown-up' lives now that they have a house and baby together. The unoccupied house next door gets taken by a fraternity, and Mac and Kelly then face the dilemma of trying to keep cool but also getting some sleep at night! Things take a turn for the worse when they call the cops on the frat house one night, and war ensues...

 

 

From what I've seen, reviews for Bad Neighbours are mixed, but I loved it. I laughed from start to finish, and probably missed a few jokes because I was still laughing from the last. There was one moment that I thought was maybe going one step too far, but Rose Byrne made it fantastic! I really can't wait to see this again.  I reckon when I finally get around to watching this, I will find it hilarious.  Mainly because I have just watched 'That Awkward Moment' and laughed violently out loud (on a plane) multiple times! I'm actually super excited about That Awkward Moment now, I didn't know how to feel about Zac Efron but he was brilliant in this.

 

There's always a worry with comedies that all the funny moments were put into the trailer (Identity Thief, anyone? So painfully true!), but that isn't the case with Bad Neighbours. There aren't many clips on YouTube just yet but let me share this one with you... 

 

 

I will be buying this on DVD as soon as it comes out, invite some friends over, order some pizza, and stick this on for a night of laughs. Jenna I suppose you can come too!  I probably still wont have seen it so yeah I'm in ;-)