National Love Your Pet Day: The Best Pets in Movies

Hello pet lovers! Did you know that today, 20th February, is National Love Your Pet Day? I’ve had pets all of my life, and when I moved out of my parents house two and a half years ago to live with my fiance, the house wasn’t a place I could call home without pets around. Thankfully, just 6 months after moving in, we agreed to get two kittens to liven up the place. Well, they certainly aren’t kittens anymore!  Here is where me and Allie are soooo different, I don't like animals, I have no desire to have a pet and I have an irrational fear of dogs (this makes most dog lovers hate me!) and don't even get me started on farm animals!!

Meet our cats, Sherlock and Loki (also known as furr babies, fluff bums, buttholes, and other endearing terms) Most of the time we call them Sherly-Bum and Loki-Moo. I have no idea why. Our vets actually think Sherlock is a lady cat named Shirley now. Whoops.  I have to admit, I don't mind these pair, even when I go home from movie night covered in cat hair!

Anyway, before I drift dramatically off course, let's bring this back to something movie related. In the spirit of National Love Your Pet Day, I wanted to share some of the best pets in movies. Let me know in the comments section which pets you’d include!

I was never a dog lover until my parents got a Cockapoo 8 years ago. In fact, I was scared of him for the first week they had him. Now, I can’t actually pass a dog without saying hello! My point is, I watched Marley & Me (2008) before they got him, and so I wasn’t expecting the gut wrenching heartache this movie caused me. I’ve never been able to re-watch it! I really want to, because I can remember how funny it was, but I can’t go through that ending again. I am in the same boat, being terrified of dogs I assumed I wouldn't be affected by a sad dog movie, man was I wrong, I sobbed my little heart out!

Now, when I said ‘best’ pets, I didn’t mean well behaved. In fact, this statement stands for any cats picked. Lets face it, as much as we love our feline friends, the feeling isn’t always mutual, as much as we like to think so. Ulysses, the cat in Inside Llewyn Davis (2013) that Llewyn accidently locks out brings a lot of comedic relief to the movie, and I can only imagine what it must have been like filming those subway scenes!

In The Voices (2014), Ryan Reynolds hears voices. Specifically, the voices of his dog Bosco and his cat Mr Whiskers. It’s quite a grim horror/comedy, but a lot of the laughs come from these 2 pets. Bosco is very much a typical dog, telling his owner how much he loves him and pestering him to go on a dog walk, and well, I really shouldn’t repeat any of Mr Whiskers’ lines, but he gets grouchy when his food his late. When I say grouchy, I mean sweary!

Moving into animated territory, The Croods (2013) features 2 adorable pets. There’s Douglas, a cross between a crocodile and a puppy, who meets an unfortunate fate when doing ‘rollover’ tricks on a cliff edge (don’t panic, he’s okay) and the amazingly fluffy Chunky, a huge cross between a macaw and a sabre-toothed tiger amazingly enough. He starts out as one of the movie’s biggest villains, but as it turns out, who’s actually a big softy, and he joins the disjointed Croods family.  I was so sad when Douglas rolled over, I really thought he was a goner!

If Marley & Me made you cry, wait till you see the trailer for Max (2015). Max served his owner in the US Marines in Afghanistan but is left with PTSD after a terrible accident. It’s decided Max needs to be put down due to his aggressive outbursts, but he responds well to his owner’s brother Justin who takes him in and attempts to rehabilitate him. It’s actually a very different movie from Marley & Me, but a perfect family movie.  Oh my gosh, I thought nothing of watching this and then I spent the first 40 minutes crying and the last 40 minutes angry that they turned a really good concept into a terrible Disney action movie!

You’ll see more of Alien (1979) on this blog in a few days, as it was our February choice for the Blind Spot Series! With it so fresh in my mind, I couldn’t disclude Jonesy from this list. Every work space, be it office or spaceship, should have a cat I think, but perhaps not during a crisis. You can guarantee that cat will hide in the smallest space possible, ready to scare the living daylights out of you. He’s so cute, though.  That cat.......

Feast (2014) is a beautiful 6 minute Disney short shown before Big Hero 6. It tells a love story through the eyes of the dog, Winston, who is used to his male owner feeding him all sorts of junk food (which real-life doggies should definitely not eat!). When his owner falls in love with a vegan waitress, Winston’s diet changes dramatically, and I’m still not sure how a 6 minute animation about a dog and food made me cry so much!  I forgot all about this, I loved it!  I felt so sorry for him when he had to eat rubbish healthy food, its exactly how I feel every January when I start the obligatory New Year diet....

Cats are known to be extremely choosy in who they show affection for, and this couldn’t be truer in The Hunger Games series. Primrose’s cat Buttercup thinks the world of Prim, but can’t stand Katniss, often hissing at her. I suppose Katniss did threaten to drown her in a bucket, so the feeling is mutual. As distressing as the final half hour of Mockingjay: Part 2 was, the reunion of Katniss and Buttercup killed me a little on the inside. The book destroyed me. Sob!  This is an example of an animal that I was not at all bothered about, I couldn't care less who she liked or didn't like and I could have happily not had her included at all.  Reading this back, it seems a little harsh but still true!

I could pick all sorts of pets from the Harry Potter series! Scabbers, Crookshanks, Mrs Norris...the list is endless. But for now, let me focus on Hedwig, Harry’s first pet, a snowy owl gifted to Harry by Hagrid for his 11th Birthday, and his initiation to the wizarding world. Hedwig was one of the smartest creatures around, delivering letters all over the world, and craftily nipping Harry on the hand when she didn’t receive enough reward for her work. 

Review: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2

It’s finally here, the final instalment of The Hunger Games, it’s a bittersweet moment leaving me both excited and apprehensive.  I’ve been so excited about seeing Katniss, Peeta and Gale back on the big screen but this means that it is the end, what if it isn’t as good as the others (or only just as good as Mockingjay Part 1) what kind of sobbing mess would I be then?!  A gaping Hunger Games shaped hole in my life and no way to fix it (other than read the books again!).

Following on from the Mockingjay Part 1 (funnily enough), Peeta has been trained to hate Katniss, Katniss is the face of a revolution, Gale is a soldier and Primrose is a nurse.  Along with some firm favourites, Finnick Odair (Sam Clafin), Cressida (Natalie Dormer) and Pollux (Elden Henson), Katniss leads the team into the capitol and to President Snow’s mansion.  The route is fraught with ‘pods’ which release various terrifying booby traps from explosions to oil slicks. 

This is basically another Hunger Games, as noted by Finnick “Welcome to the 76^th Hunger Games” but set in the streets of the capitol instead of an arena.  All that was missing from that line was a 'looking into the camera breaking the fourth wall' moment. That would have been perfect! The gamemakers have made it near impossible for anyone to get to the mansion without being killed or maimed in the process.  

I will admit that the third was my least favourite book, there was a lot of talking and it seemed so much less action packed that the previous two.  However, what happened with the film it seems, is that all the boring stuff was jammed into the first film (my least favourite of the movies) and all the action and emotional gumph is in this one, making it ten times more awesome than I imagined.  Maybe it’s because I’ve see the first and second one a hundred times and this one is completely new but I think it might be my favourite of them all.  I spent much of the time tensed up while Katniss and co try to break free of another cruel booby trap and Josh Hutcherson was brilliant to watch as he fought the demons in his own head and tried to decide what was real and what was planted in his mind. After 4 years I'd thought I would have grown tired of being Team Peeta, but I loved all of his scenes!

I'd forgotten actually how much dialogue was in this part of the book. That's the main thing that frustrated me with this movie, the pacing was all over the place. It went from 5 minutes of solid dialogue to crazy action, back to chatter again. It was a bit stop start! I actually really liked that, it kept me on my toes - plus for me, the dialogue is what made the films so close to the books.

I think they really captured the reason behind Katniss’s choices, maybe more so than the books.  I don’t want to reveal any spoilers but her decision at the end of the book baffled me a little bit as it wasn’t what I expected but in the film it felt like the perfect ending.  I also didn’t find myself as emotional watching the film as I had in the book, I was sobbing like a small child when I read the third one but managed to scrape by this one without a single tear or sniffle.

One thing I'd forgotten from the books was how dark some of those scenes were! I won't mention because of spoilers, but with everything happening in the world right now one scene in particular was quite harrowing to watch.

I stand by my thought that Mockingjay didn't need to be split into two parts. If the dull, unnecessary moments from both parts were taken out and made into one movie, it could have been amazing, but my favourite from the series is still Catching Fire. 

I almost wanted this to be my least favourite of the films so I wouldn’t be sad that it was over but it has turned out to be my favourite, now I’m gutted all over again that it’s finished!  Back to the books I go…..

The Girl Week Blogathon

Dell over at dell on Movies has once again offered up an awesome blogathon for us to get our teeth into, this time it's Girl Week.  You can find the original post here:

The rules are simple and as follows:

1. Create a post about a film with a female lead character.  It can be a review, but does not have to be one. If it is a review, it doesn't have to be a positive one as I personally did not like every film I'm going to be showcasing this week. However, you are welcome to talk about women in any capacity relating to film.
2. Use one of the banners I created, or feel free to create one of your own.
3. Link back to this post.
4. Leave a link to your post in the comments section below.
5. Have fun!

I can't think of a better female protaganist than Katniss Everdeen and as I am super excited about the final movie release this weekend, it seemed daft not to comment on the series.  

If you don't know about them The Hunger Games is a trilogy of books by Suzanne Collins, recently made into four movies with Jennifer Lawrence in the lead role.  Katniss Everdeen spends her life providing for her younger sister and mother and when Prim, her sister gets called up to xxx in The Hunger Games she willingly volunteers to take her place.  The Hunger Games is an annual event where 12 girls and 12 boys between 12 and 18 are pitted against each other in an arena for both entertainment and to keep control of the lower classes in Panem.  It's a terrifying concept and yes the people of the Capitol watch it on the TV as if its Keeping up with the Kardasians, not young children being slaughtered by each other.

I read the books before the movies were even a blip on the radar and straight away I loved Katniss, I liked the idea that she wasn't always being saved by men, she was the fighter and particularly in the first book/movie she was the one saving everyone.  After the popularity of books and movie trilogies like Twilight and Divergent, where the woman is not safe until protected by a big strong man (or two!) it was refreshing to come across a character who could take care of herself and even the people around her.  

Although she is a strong female character, it has become apparent to me over the course of reading the books and watching the movies that in the world of Panem there actually is a level of gender equality.  The Capitol put together 12 girls and 12 boys in an arena and its considered a fair fights, there are the Careers (volunteers who have trained their whole life to be pulled up and fight) and the regular participants and that is the only divide line.  There is no mention of gender in the commentary nor a question when it becomes apparent that Katniss could win.

I may have gone a little off topic here, but I love the idea that Katniss is both a compassionate, heartfelt character that takes care of her little Sister and Rue but also intelligent, strong and skillful enough to win the Hunger Games against 23 (or 22 dependin on how you look at it!) others.

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

So when I came to do this post I went to search for all the films in the month and by mistake searched for October, because there is no way its nearly November....is there?! Where has the year gone....

There is only one film I'm looking forward to seeing this month and that is The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2.  Admittedly, the third is not my favourite book and the third film wasn't my favourite of the films but I'm so excited to see how they play this final out.  I don't think I need to say anymore, I'll just leave you with this:

Oh and the trailer of course:

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 2 will be released in UK cinemas on 19th November 2015

I am so stuck this month! Despite not making it to the cinema nearly as much as I would like to, there are two films this month I am desperate to see! They're both so very different, and that's why I can't pick. I need to pick though, I need to pick...eeney, meeney, miney, mo. Okay, I'm really looking forward to seeing Burnt! (but also The Lady in the Van!)

It's no secret that I love food (I mean, who doesn't?) so when I first saw Chef (2014) I instantly fell in love, and also wanted to eat the contents of my kitchen. That said, there are similarities between the two films, as they both feature down-on-their-luck chefs. Only, Burnt looks much more serious and dangerous, and I like that. How weird, I saw the trailer for this (and you know I too love food) and thought it looked terrible, I can't find anything to like about it.  I may let you watch it and give me an update ;-) Booooo!

Did I mention food? The wedding diet is going great, by the way. Anyway, here's the trailer if you haven't seen it yet:

Burnt will be released in UK cinemas on 6th November 2015.

Review: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1

This was my most anticipated film of the year and for November, see here for further information on that.  So, after looking forward to this film for 12 months, was it worth it...

The Hunger Games; Mockingjay Part 1 returns to not long after where we left off in Catching Fire, Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) has been captured by the Capitol, Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) is holed up in District 13 under the watchful eye of President Coin (Julianne Moore) and Plutarch Heavensbee (Philip Seymour Hoffman).  Katniss is recruited at the Mockingjay, the symbol of the rebellion and thrust into the limelight to rally the troops.

I loved these books, the last was my least favourite but was also the most dark and grown up of the three so I had high hopes for the movie.  What it definitely did was keep to the dark tone of the book, it was much bleaker than the first two and the death and destruction seen by Katniss is a lot more jarring and heartbreaking in this one.  They do a really good job of making you feel as though you are seeing these horrific scenes through your own eyes, I got a bit teary when Katniss goes to visit District 12 by herself and seeing the sights that I had toned down in my head when reading the books.

Jennifer Lawrence and the rest of the cast were brilliant as they have been in the previous two movies.  The make up work on Josh Hutcherson was great, but what I couldn't get my head around was if they have all these make up techniques in the Capitol why did they let Peeta go on camera looking gaunt and sick.  Logically, Peeta could have stayed looking his healthy self until Katniss sees him when he is brought back and then realised that he was being forced, after realising how damaged and gaunt he is.  It's a minor gripe but it bothered me!  Effie Trinket played by Elizabeth Banks brought some much needed humour to the proceedings, Banks did an amazing job of portraying someone who has been raised with everything handed to her having to fight with the 'lower classes' to save people she has actually grown to care about.  Her lack of understanding of why she has this bond with these people is brilliant and provides a bit of light-heartedness in a very dark movie.

There didn't seem to be much need for splitting the final book, this one felt quite dragged out and like it could have easily been half the length it actually was.  This has reinforced for me that they have only split the films for the finance side of it not because it would make better movies.  Bit disappointed but it does mean I get to look forward to another instalment next year :-)  I don't know if anyone else thought this, but when I read the Mockingjay book, everything that happened up to the end of this movie felt like an introduction to the real story, the attack on the Capitol.  In that respect, this movie just felt like an opening to the 'real' story in the next movie.

The only part of this movie that REALLY bothered me was Jennifer Lawrence's terrible wig, it was quite obviously not her hair and looked awful to the point that I probably missed a few key points obsessing about it.  (This is what happened to me with Footloose when I got obsessed with the leading ladies wide shoulders and missed most of the film because it was annoying me that much!!)

Fans will love it, even if they do find it a bit long for the story it's telling and it makes you itch for the next instalment but all in all really good adaptation of the book, kept to the story well and didn't shy away from the dark and sometimes uncomfortable.

Would have been 8 if it wasn't for that damn wig!!!

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

Oh wow, it's nearly time for binge watching Love Actually, Nativity, Elf and Jingle all the Way, surrounded by festive Yankee candles and over-indulging on home-baked goods. It's also time for what is probably the easiest and most difficult 'Looking Forward' posts, because whilst I can tell you what I'm most looking forward to in a heartbeat, there's another 3 films I'm super excited to see!

Horrible Bosses is probably my all-time favourite comedy. So far at least! I just don't know what it is about it, but if I had to choose just 1 film that I had to watch on repeat for a week, this is what I would pick. I'd probably still love it after that too.

So bring on Horrible Bosses 2, and with the addition of Chris Pine to the cast, I'm just really hoping I'm not setting myself up for disappointment. It's certainly a tough one to top. A few honourable mentions though if I may to The Imitation Game, Interstellar and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay.

Horrible Bosses 2 is released in UK cinemas on 28th November 2014.

How can my 'looking forward to' film not be Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1, I have been waiting for this film for 12 months already!  I really hope they do as well with this one as they did with the first two because they have been brilliant and I don't want this ruined right at the end.

I may have to squeeze in a quick read of the book between now and then so I can tell if they have changed too much.  At the moment I can't really remember it so they could get away with anything.

I'm looking forward to a bit more Gale action and a stronger introduction of Prim in this movie.  Excited!!

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 is released on 21st November 2014.

Review: The Starving Games (2013)

I haven't watched a spoof film for a while now. I thought they were great when I was younger but I guess I just sort of grew out of them. My brother text me the other day though saying that he'd seen The Starving Games on Netflix and loved it, and so while I had a friend over, we thought we would give it a try.  I won't say much on this one because I HATE spoof films, I enjoyed the first 2 Scary Movies and everything after that was daft and ridiculous so I haven't watched one since.  I can't comment on this review wise because I haven't seen it and I doubt I will ever watch it!

The film keeps to the plot of The Hunger Games, and sticks to it quite well actually. It doesn't go off on a huge tangent like others have done. There are many other film and popular culture references here but they all tie in with the main plot which is a relief.

Now, this is no Hollywood, $100m budget film, in fact some of the special effects are so awful that I think I could have done better with an iPhone app, but amazing effects just isn't what you should expect from these types of films anyway. I actually enjoyed most of it! It's just plan silliness, from the character names (Kantmiss, Effoff, etc) to other silly names such as:



Plus, who can say no to a silly cameo by The Avengers? Hawkeye getting picked on, as usual? Sure, why not.

The Starving Games isn't going to age very well, sadly. Will we all still know who LMFAO, Psy, and the Angry Birds are in 10 years' time? Probably not.

I wanted to give this a 4/10 originally. But then I remind myself of some of the jokes which are actually really funny, and so I don't think I can be that cruel. This definitely isn't a film that you should rush out and buy on DVD or anything, but if you have Netflix and an hour or so to burn, just give this a try.

Review: The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013)

I watched this film at the cinema when it was released but I recently saw it on a list of films on a flight to Qatar so I went for it again...

 

I had completely forgotten how much I love this film, I actually think I loved it more than the first one (which is impressive for a sequel), its tougher, scarier, grittier and more heartbreaking than the original.  I loved that the first half was not in an arena but showing Katniss, Peeta and Gale coping after the first Hunger Games and how they respond to being sent back in again.

 

The arena is much more brutal and horrific than the first with blood rain, deadly smoke and evil baboons.  There were more characters to get your teeth into and many hints to the 3rd book (3rd and 4th films) that only readers of the book will understand (makes be feel abit smug when watching it to be honest!).  

 

I'm totally one of those annoying people who sit there with a smug face, reminding everyone who will listen that I've read the book! I was pleased at how well they kept to the book in Catching Fire, they just played around a bit with the timeline and missed out one of my favourite moments which pained me.

 

There's a scene in the book at the party which in the book happened after the names had been picked for the Quarter Quell, where Katniss is dancing with Plutarch (I think) and he whispers in her ear, 'It begins at 12'. This was the major clue for the Quarter Quell arena and would have been an awesome inclusion in the film.

 

I loved the build on the characters from the first film, such as Cinna and President Snow but the additional characters added this time round really gave it more edge. Jena Malone's, Johanna Mason was amazing - ideally at the beginning you are supposed to hate the character but I loved her and the impact she had on Katniss.  She seemed to be the only character that could get a rise out of her, which gave Jennifer Lawrence's Katniss more depth.   

 

Jennifer Lawrence as always was amazing and stole every scene she was in.  She made the character more tough this time round but also showed more vulnerability than has been  previously touched on.  The scene where Katniss isn't allowed to say bye to her family and the scene when she's hit by the Jabberjays in the arena were heartbreaking to watch and admittedly I cried a little on the plane. 

 

Catching Fire was brilliant and I'll definitely be watching it again just before the third film comes out. I'm a bit nervous about the third book being split into two films though, and I hope it allows them to do justice to the book, and not to just make as much money as they can.

I would without a doubt recommend this to anyone, preferably after reading the books and watching the first film but definitely a must.  Everything was bigger and better, from the arena to Effie Trinket's hair and eyelashes.