Looking forward to 2014!

Hello you lovely people,

I hope you've all had a brilliant Christmas and hope you'll also be having a fantastic new years to bring in 2014. Thought of a new years resolution yet? Not long to go!

I had a great Christmas with lovely family and friends, and had some exciting news that my uncle and his wife are expecting a baby which means I'll have a lovely baby cousin and for a few years at least I will no longer be the shortest person in the family! Lots of presents and yummy food, plenty of laughs and fun made it even better.

Obviously I'm looking forward to the start of 2014 and seeing what it has to bring, all good I hope but unfortunately this isn't always the case but fingers crossed anyway, no bad news please. Everyone always says the same thing with the beginning of any new year and this is the old 'new year, new me' blah, blah, blah. I don't see it like that, I'll always be me, the same little Lily I've always been but I'll just try to improve on how I am already and be better person. No need to change so much that I become a 'new me', just little things that I'd be happier to change.

For this blog the new year will also bring some changes, not big ones but just things I'd like to add. I'll be trying to post more regularly instead of long periods of time with no posts then lots all at once, however as this blog is currently mainly film reviews this may not always be the case. I'd like to try to keep writing my film reviews and posting them but not each post will be a review. I'd also be sharing anything I like and enjoy and maybe fun and exciting things that have happened.

Hopefully you lovely readers will still continue to take a look at my blog every now and again, and maybe even share it with friends, why not.

For now I'll wish you a happy new year and hope 2014 brings you all happiness and fun.
Until next time, thanks for reading :) x

'Buddy the Elf, what's your favourite colour?'...

Hello lovely people,

Haven't blogged in a little while because I've been busy and trying to work out which Christmas film is my favourite and it's down to two so this is just a short post to let you know the ones I've enjoyed so far this December.

There are so many Christmas films and I like watching them all, especially while snuggled up with a nice hot drink with the Christmas lights twinkling away.
Surprisingly I haven't watched that many Christmas films this year but so far I have watched Home Alone, Elf, Love Actually, Nightmare Before Christmas (I hope that counts as one), and A Muppets Christmas Carol. But obviously there are also so many more!

As much as I enjoy watching them all in the time leading up to Christmas day I have worked out what my favourite two are as its too hard to choose just one. So the final decision is that my favourite two that I enjoy most have to be Elf and Love Actually. I just love them so much and can never watch them too many times or get bored of them, I seem to watch them every Christmas and this will always be the way it is, nothing will keep me from my Christmas films :)

Hope everyone is enjoying the holidays so far and feeling very festive, 3 sleeps left to go!
Until next time, thanks for reading ... And have a merry christmas and a happy new year!!

Disneyland Paris trip!

Hello my wonderful readers,

Been a while since I last blogged and there are a few reasons for that but the main one being that I went to Disneyland Paris!! My friends and I went away for a weekend in November with our university to visit Disneyland and it was simply amazing! The adverts say that it's where your dreams come true, and they may be right. You're never too old for Disney and when you're there it just feels like you're a child again surrounded by characters, rides, and magic!

Statue/water feature in our hotel.

The journey there was so long and tiring but even the very little sleep didn't stop my friends and I going straight out to the park once we'd arrived at the hotel, which was rather nice.
The wind and the cold were a bit much while we were waiting for the shuttle bus to the Disney parks but once we got into Disneyland we forgot about it and headed for lunch then off to our first ride.

 Day one we headed into the Disneyland park and then day two was mostly spent in the Disney studios before going back over to the other park for the Christmas Parade, which was simply amazing!
I can't quite remember all the rides we went on but I can easily say I loved every one of them and would go on them all over again, don't even think I'd ever get bored of them!

The welcome sign to the Disneyland park.

Magical Christmas lights!

Some of the rides that I remember we did go on are:

• Space Mountain 
• Thunder Mountain
• It's a Small World
• Tower of Terror 
• Pirates of the Caribbean
• We walked through Alice's Curious Labyrinth 
• Phantom Manor

And probably a couple more that I forgot.

Everything about being there was just wow! Not just the rides, the way that there was so much detail put into everything in the park was simply fantastic. The people working the different rides had different uniforms depending on what that particular ride was based on.

There were different lands within the park and these were:

• Discoveryland
• Fantasyland
• Adventureland
• Frontierland
• as well as Main Street USA that you first walk along when you enter the park. 

Even the shops and restaurants within the park were nice to go in and look around. I have to say that the Rainforest Cafe is the most spectacular and breathtaking restaurant I have ever been into, I think it may even be my new favourite! There's so much going on inside that it actually makes it seem like you're in the middle of the rainforest! And the food was so, so good, if I could I'd happily eat there everyday. We also went to Planet Hollywood which was still good and the food was yummy, but nothing will ever compare to interior of Rainforest Cafe. 

Inside the Rainforest Cafe. 

As we went mid-November they had already put up all the Christmas lights around the park which made it look more magical as it got darker throughout the afternoon/evening. The Christmas tree was the biggest tree I think I have ever seen, and I think the baubles may have been nearly as big as my head!!

Giant Christmas tree.

Huge bauble!

Christmas lights along Main Street USA with
Sleeping Beauty castle in the background.

Obviously going to Disneyland wouldn't be complete without meeting at least one character, I would have hoped to meet a couple but some of the lines were just too long and we saw them all in the Christmas Parade anyway. We managed to meet Minnie Mouse and I was strangely surprised about how short she was bless her, I thought I was small (I like to think good things come in small packages so it's ok)! But anyway it was lovely and I felt like a child again, to be honest I felt like a child the whole time I was there.

Unfortunately the trip had to come to an end at some point, but it was the best weekend I had had in a long time. Disneyland Paris was absolutely positively amazing, and it was lovely to be able to go away with my friends too. Was a great break from studying at uni and was a stress free weekend. Everyone describes Disneyland  as being magical and the land where all your dreams come true. I think I'll have to agree to this. You can never be too old for Disney and you can only be happy there, there's nothing to be unhappy about while you're at Disneyland.

One day when I have the time and money I think I will most definitely go back again and I'd never get bored of it. Would always recommend Disneyland to anyone for a holiday, whether its a family trip, a couples trip or a group of friends going away together, its the type of place that everyone and anyone could enjoy.

Until next time, thanks for reading lovelies :) 

Sleeping Beauty Castle. 

Look for the bare necessities...

Well as my Disney trip is coming up tomorrow evening/Friday morning I'm cramming in the Disney films tonight and I started with Jungle Book.

I already knew roughly what it was about and knew the songs so I enjoyed being able to sing along with the cute animal characters and Mowgli. I can happily say I loved this film! So basically Mowgli is a young boy currently living with a wolf pack but journeys through the jungle with Bagheera, a panther trying to  get Mowgli back to the village to be with other people. They meet many other animals along the way which makes the adventure more exciting for them.

The have to work around some tricky characters like Shere Khan - the tiger everyone is afraid of, King Louie - a rather crazy orangutan and Kaa - a sneaky snake. With these characters avoided, the reach the edge of the village where Mowgli gets caught up and distracted by a young girl as he slowly starts to follow her.

Another lovely Disney film with of course a happy ending as usual. I enjoyed every minute and loved the characters that we met along Mowgli's jungle adventure. I'd definitely show this to any kids I know. The characters are all such fun to watch and the songs make it that bit more enjoyable, this could also be a family film as anyone can watch a Disney film, you're never too old for one.

Until next time, thanks for reading! :)

Pinocchio

I've lost track of how many Disney films I've been watching but last nights was Pinocchio, and I have to say even though I'm an adult I still found it a bit weird at times and if I was a child there are parts that I know I'd find scary and not like.

Most people know what/who Pinocchio is but if not I'll explain anyway. Mr Geppetto had made Pinocchio as a wooden string puppet, but that night when laying in bed looking at the stars, he made a wish that Pinocchio could be a real boy, and this was half granted as Pinocchio had received the gift of life, and had to earn the right to be a real boy.

With a cricket, Jiminy Cricket, as his conscience and guide what could go wrong as he always had someone to help him choose between right and wrong, but things weren't always that easy. There were some tricky people around (and when I say people I guess I also mean cats, you'd know if you've seen the film, it's all very odd really), and Pinocchio doesn't always take the right path, in fact the first wrong path he takes leads him onto the others creating a big adventure for the wooden boy.
After a lot of ups and downs for Pinocchio and Mr Geppetto, Pinocchio proves that he can do well and gets the gift of being a real boy, giving the film a happy ending as we know all Disney films do.

I did enjoy the film and think I could have liked it as a child too, but I wouldn't have liked some of the more scary, weird things within it, but I would have liked the happy ending. I now finally know where the song 'When you wish upon a star' came from finally, and also Jiminy Cricket, these two things I had heard of before but never knew where from. I'll be sure not to let any crazy cats distract me from my journey when I go out like Pinocchio.
It's a good film but maybe a bit creepy and scary for kids, still enjoyable though and they'd like the happy ending.

Until next time thanks for reading! :)

A Bugs Life

So last nights Disney film ended up being A Bugs Life and it was quite nice just to lay in bed, relax and watch before going to sleep.

It doesn't need explaining as its pretty simple due to being mainly a kids film so the basic over view of the story is as follows. A colony of ants had been collecting food for a rather greedy horde of grasshoppers when an ant named Flik makes a clumsy mistake losing all the food they'd collected.
Flik is then sent out in search of tough, strong bugs to help the ants defend themselves against the grasshoppers when they return for more replacement food. However, the group of bugs he returns with is not what he had in mind and is not what everyone else in the colony expected, he had mistakenly brought back a group of circus bugs, but luckily they get an idea together to beat the grasshoppers and although things don't quite go to plan all ends well, and Flik even gets the Princess by his side at the end of the film too.

I did enjoy this film as its an easy one to watch and follow, and though there are bits that may have made me laugh if I was still a kid, it didn't have me laughing out loud but I still enjoyed it none the less.
Another Disney film to cross off my list :)

Until next time, thanks for reading!!

Well done, You just Decapitated your Grandfather...

Well where do I start, instead of focusing on the story in this review I'm going to look at the action, adventure, comedy and a couple other points that I enjoyed about it.

Thor: The Dark World was such an action packed film with so much going on. It always had my attention as I just wanted to know what would happen next. The action with added comedy made it a fantastic film to watch and I would happily see it again and recommend it to anyone. It was just one big adventure with the film taking us from Asgard to Malekith's ship and planet then to Greenwich. The settings were never boring and they were all very different from each other making them more interesting. The locations were obviously chosen well and the effects they used for them and within the film as a whole were outstanding! There was so much action that it was nearly non stop and I think watching it in 3D may have made it better, however I still would have loved it if I'd just seen it normally.

This time Thor (Chris Hemsworth), is faced with an enemy that Asgard is in no way safe from, not even the city's protective force field can help hold them off. Malekith (Christopher Eccleston) is just to strong for Odin and Asgard. Thor puts himself in danger on a long journey in order to save Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) and Asgard, and to defeat Malekith once and for all. In order to make the trip he is forced to turn to his brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston) for help.

Obviously the audiences favourite character within the film is meant to be Thor himself, however I also think that Loki is a great character and Tom Hiddleston play him brilliantly. I loved the comedy that was brought out when Thor and Loki were together and clearly that's where the title of this post came from as it was my favourite line throughout the film, also said by Loki.

The acting from everyone who played a key part within the film was pretty perfect and I don't think I could fault any of them, they all took on their roles so well and fit their characters perfectly.

Anyone who likes Marvel would obviously love this film, but I don't think you need to be a huge Marvel fan to see it and enjoy it. If you like action and adventure with the added comedy value then its definitely a must see film for you. I know there have been reviews saying that there are a couple of bad points about this film but I just don't see it. Maybe its because I'm not a professional reviewer but I still gave the film my full attention, maybe its because I was so caught up with everything happening, maybe other reviewers didn't enjoy it as much, but everyone has their own opinion and mine is that this was a great film!

Everything in the film made it a proper story and not just a few actors thrown into a randomly chosen location with added music into the background. The locations worked well with the story that they were telling to the viewers, the actors worked brilliantly at portraying their characters with a different personality for each and the soundtrack added suspense and tension to the film in the right places.

Honestly, just go and see it and make your own opinion on it instead of going off of mine, but to me it was fantastic and I recommend you all go and watch it.

Until next time, thanks for reading!  

I Can Show You the World...

Well it's that time again you lovely people.  In the weeks leading up to my weekend trip to Paris and Disney Land, a friend of mine has been lending me DVDs of all the Disney films that I still have never seen and this week Wednesday nights film was Aladdin. I don't want to give away too much in case there are others that have yet to see it but I'll give you a brief outline of how the story unfolds.

Like many other Disney films, this is a love story but between a princess and a young boy living on the streets. The princess is being made to marry before her next birthday but she may only marry a prince. Aladdin runs into a spot of trouble but is soon offered what seems like a helping hand but is actually a trick. Luckily Aladdin becomes the owner of a rather special lamp, with a very bold character awaiting inside. He becomes the new master of a magical genie who is able to grant Aladdin just three wishes.
With these wishes a lot happens and the Sultans evil adviser, Jafar, makes things worse for Princess Jasmine and Aladdin. Luckily with the genie's help, Aladdin is able to make things right again, impressing Jasmine and her father in the process. As Aladdin has shown his love for Jasmine, beaten Jafar and shown the Sultan that his daughter loves Aladdin in return, the Sultan agrees to change the law, allowing Princess Jasmine and Aladdin to be wed.

While watching this film, things were becoming familiar and I was starting to think that maybe I had seen this film before but I still enjoyed it anyway, because who doesn't love a good happy ending.
The genie was by far my favourite character with his wacky ways and outgoing personality, imagine just how much fun it would be to actually have your own genie! And of course, Abu, Aladdin's pet monkey, so cute and I want one.

Any child would love this film, a sweet love story with a couple of crazy characters and a happy ending, would keep the kids quite for a while. Or even if you're a Disney lover, you're never too old for a Disney film!

I still have a couple of the songs floating around in my head, and now if I ever hear them again I'll actually know what Disney film they're from and may even have a sing along, as you're never too old for it!


I've had three different DVD's lent to me to watch over the weekend, not sure which will be tonights film yet, we will have to wait and see but looking forward to watching them all anyway.

Until next time you lovely people, thanks for reading!

From Zero to Hero...

Disney film number two on the list of films to watch was Hercules, and I was pleasantly surprised with how sucked into the story I was even though it's a children's animation. But you're never too old for a Disney film! 

Hercules was such an adorable baby and I want a baby Pegasus for myself. Could you imagine being able to ride around on a flying horse, how amazing! But for now I'll have to keep dreaming (Yes I really am an adult, just don't act like it much). 

Evil Hades wants to try and take over Mount Olympus, so for 18 years he makes his plans to beat Hercules and take over the Gods home. One night when baby Hercules is sleeping Hades creatures Pain and Panic steal him from his bed and take him to Earth to make him mortal, meaning he won't have his god like strength any more, however the don't quite achieve what they set out to do. Fortunately Hercules keeps his strength but doesn't quite know how to control it yet. 

One day when he really starts to feel like he doesn't fit in with everyone else on Earth, he goes in search of his real parents and talks to his father Zeus, who tells him to find Phil and be trained as a real hero in order to return to Mount Olympus.

Phil gives Hercules the best training a god could get and the people around him all respect him and always look to him to protect them against any creature that comes to harm their town. During all the training, fighting and evil plans made by Hades, Hercules meets Meg and slowly but surely falls in love with her. 

Even with everything that gets thrown at Hercules, he still continues to become the hero he knows he can be and should be. He uses all his strength and saves his father, then together they fight to defend Mount Olympus against Hades and the titans. Once the battle is over, Hercules becomes a hero and a god, he gets welcomed back home but chooses to spend his life on Earth in order to stay with Meg. 

I really enjoyed this film, I think if I watched it when I was a lot younger then I may have been slightly scared of the weird creatures and scary monsters but I would have been happy to see Hercules beat them. 

Hercules is certainly an action packed animation but it keeps people wanting to watch and see if he can ever get back to Mount Olympus. I loved the way that there was five singing and dancing ladies telling a lot of the story instead of a narrator, makes it a lot more fun to watch. Even now I still have parts of a couple of the songs still going round in my head. 

Soon I'll be dreaming up some weird Disney world of my own from watching these films. Can't wait 'til the next one, wonder which one will be crossed off the list next. 

Until next time, thanks for reading :-) 

I know a guy, who knows a guy...

I finally finished watching Breaking Bad on Tuesday and I loved it! Whenever I hear someone talking about it  or mention the name Heisenberg, I automatically want to join in the conversation, whether I know the person or not. I know that's strange.

So as I spoke about the story in my previous Breaking Bad blog post, I guess this one will be about my opinions on the programme and some of the characters that I have something to say about.

For a start, Bryan Cranston did a great job at playing such a serious, slightly crazy at times, character, especially as I was used to seeing him in Malcolm in the Middle. I just wanted everything to work out for him and hated it when his family left, but I guess that's what happens when you hang with the wrong crowd. Be warned guys.

Aaron Paul as Jesse Pinkman I loved! There were so many times when I felt bad for him and just wanted to hug him when he was sad and crying. Even as a bad kid that cooked crystal meth I still liked him and wanted things to go well. When he was happy with Jane, I was happy for him, then after she died it was so sad. No tears though, I just wanted to look after the poor guy. Aaron played the role really well, especially during the times when he flipped out and went crazy when he thought Brock had been poisoned with the ricen. I loved watching him and Bryan Cranston together, they played the lead roles so brilliantly.

I don't really have a lot to say about Marie (Betsy Brandt), other than the fact that she was clearly pretty much in love with the colour purple. She'd wear it everyday, have a purple car, and every purple decoration/accessory ever! Bit too much purple for my liking, but she played the character well. There was a storyline that I felt was slightly pointless and didn't lead to much really, this was when she'd steal things quite regularly while looking round homes. I didn't quite understand how that fit into the whole plot but maybe that's just me being slow.

Bob Odenkirk as Saul Goodman was a great character in my opinion. The man with a guy to do everything, help you out of anything, supply whatever you need. He had any contact you could ever need in life. Clearly a man with a plan to get out of any sticky situation that Walter and Jesse found themselves caught up in.

I would often find myself coming home after a busy day of uni work and just getting into bed with Breaking Bad on but now it's all over I feel slightly lost. it's sad I know, but I'm a student so its acceptable. I'd get caught up in it all and not want to turn it off to go to sleep which resulted in some late nights but it got me through all the seasons.

I loved the whole story of it but was a bit disappointed by the ending really. I just think it ended a bit suddenly and could have done with a bit more to it. I for one would have loved to see how Jesse got on after being set free and would have loved it if Walter could have seen his family again. I think the last episode just ended too soon without resolving a lot. So, ok, Walter rescued Jesse and killed the guys that murdered Hank, but getting shot in the side with his own gun just seemed like a bit of a quick and easy way to end the series without doing a lot. Overall though I enjoyed it and would happily watch it again at the end of a long day at uni.

If you like crime and drama genre programmes then I think you'd really enjoy this, just watch a couple of episodes and you'll find yourself hooked wanting to know what happens next.

Until next time, thanks for reading :-)

Just around the river bend

In last nights blog post I mentioned that I'd been given Pocahontas to watch as its one of the many Disney films I had never seen, and even though I'm not a child, I still enjoyed it.

When a ship full of English sailors/soldiers go to visit a new world in search of gold for the governor, they arrive to the home of Indians and Pocahontas. One of the men, John Smith, meets Pocahontas and slowly they fall in love, which makes things hard when John is caught and battle preparations are made between the sailors and Indians. Sadly things get misunderstood resulting in John being shot, luckily it doesn't kill him but his recovery splits up the couple as he travels back to London with the sailors to get better.

I think this would be a great film for kids, or even anyone of any age really. It's a musical film so anyone could learn the songs and enjoy singing along while watching the story unfold. There are also some parts that still made me laugh a bit but that I'm sure would make children laugh more, like some of the animals doing silly things.

I'm happy to say that I can now cross this off my long list of Disney films that are still waiting to be watched, and I still have the song that Pocahontas sings (just around the river bend) going round in my head, very catchy! Give a watch if you haven't already and especially if you love Disney.

Until next time, thanks for reading :-)

So, I have a confession...

Hey!!

So I feel like I should probably confess something to you all, some may already know and some of you may be shocked to find out.
Even though I am a film lover and love Disney films, there is still a long list of old Disney movies I have yet to see. My list includes Pinocchio, Aladdin, Dumbo and yes, I'm afraid to admit even Bambi!

Now due to this my lovely friend Hannah has decided to give me some homework tonight and I ended up leaving her house with the Pocahontas DVD under strict instructions to watch it tonight and let her know what I think.

I guess I'll finish it there then and get to the DVD, this may even mean there's another review up tomorrow. Ooh exciting!

Until next time, thanks for reading :-)

First of many films to cross off the list! 

So this just happened....

Just a short post as I made a long one this morning.

Decided to have a bit of a re-organise of some of my things and found these.
Something tells me my boyfriend and I have seen a few 3D films :) Can''t complain though as I nearly always enjoy them. Although I'm sure I should be re-using these glasses and not somehow managing to collect them, woops!

Wonder what the next one will be, who knows?!

My boyfriend Nick and I while waiting for one of the 3D films to start, not sure which one we were waiting for though. 

The Rocky Horror Picture Show (In Theatre)

Wow. Just wow! Last night myself and three friends went to Bournemouth Pavilion Theatre to see possibly my favourite musical, The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

If any of you haven't seen the original film and are wondering what I'm talking about then seriously go find it and watch it, now! You'll thank me later. At first it does seem rather strange but as you watch it more and more you understand it a lot better and can enjoy it more, as well as pick up song lyrics that end up getting stuck in your head.

Now I already love the film but actually seeing it all happen in person was just something else. Sat just a few feet away from the cast on stage was brilliant. I didn't have to worry about being stuck sitting behind someone taller than me with their head right in front of my face like I usually do. Instead I could see everything perfectly, all the sequins and glitter that add sparkle to the show. The set design, costumes, actors, actresses, band, music, singing and dancing were all simply fantastic. Unfortunately, there was no photography allowed so you'll just have to take my word for it that the show was spectacular! 

During the Time Warp the whole audience joined in with the cast to perform the well known dance as a huge group and this happened twice! So much fun.

Something that just has to happen when you go to a show like this is dressing up, so naturally we did. Three of us dressed as the Transylvanian's that appear throughout different scenes in the show and one was dressed as Columbia (Ceris Hine), the squeaky high pitched female character in gold sequins and multi coloured clothing. Many of the audience members also threw out their glad rags and instead replaced them with characters costumes, some more 'out there' than others but all looking great.

There's not one single bad thing that could ever be said about this show, every minute was so amazing and even better when the audience love it as much as you do. The amount of people that had arrived dressed as the different characters was really great, shows that they love it enough to dress up just to sit in a crowd and watch it.

It's definitely not everyday that you watch a group of people dance around on stage in pretty much just underwear and stockings, but this cast pulled it off well and made it work. The changes of scene and scenery were done perfectly and went so smoothly that helped with the way the show was overall.

I really loved all the acting by each cast member but there are some I feel I should mention in this post.

Growing up watching Dani Harmer play Tracy in Tracy Beaker then to see her perform as Janet Weiss in The Rocky Horror Picture Show was definitely a weird change from what I was used to as a child.

I was also surprised by how well the lead male actor Oliver Thornton played Frank n Furter, what a voice that guy has, I was simply stunned and loved singing along to Sweet Transvestite while he was performing it on stage.

Rocky, Rocky, Rocky (Henry Davis) what a great representation of the character from the film, young and vulnerable, but brave and strong too, slightly distracting being covered in glitter though but very well played.

Riff Raff (Kristian Lavercombe) and Magenta (Jayde Westaby), well what a pair they are, they worked so well together as brother and sister, and really steal the show at the end.

One person I also feel I should mention is the narrator Philip Franks. Just by coming on stage between tell the story he really added to the experience of seeing the show, and had an answer for anything the crowd shouted at him (whether those people were placed in the audience or not) it definitely made everyone have a good laugh together.

Personally I would really recommend this to anyone as it was such an enjoyable experience and I would definitely go to see it again and again if I had the chance to. I think its one of those shows that if you have the opportunity to see it then take it and don't miss out because you'd regret it. There's not a single fault I can think of, just an absolutely amazing show and I didn't want to leave when it was over. 

That will be a night I won't be forgetting!  

Until next time, thanks for reading! 

My friends and I waiting for the show to start.

Poster outside the theatre.

Poster for the 40th Anniversary of Rocky Horror. 

Runner Runner

So my boyfriend and I went of to the cinema again and this time to see a film that I hadn't heard much about but he had, so I trusted his judgement and off we went to see Runner Runner.

The new Justin Timberlake film, directed by Brad Furman, revolves around a college student trying to fund his way through to graduation. Richie Furst (Justin Timberlake) works to get people onto gambling sites to then get paid a commission for each person that joins up, but when he gets caught he decides the only thing left that he can do to be able to afford the rest of his college education is to join the site himself.

He uses all the money he has in his bank account in hope of winning more than he already had, however thing don't quite go his way. After being up all night trying his luck, he is out of the game with nothing left and no winnings. Unhappy about how the game ended he heads out in hope to find the person behind the site, Ivan Block (Ben Affleck), but gets himself into a bit of a trouble when he tries to explain what happened to Ivan.

I know normally I'd say more about the storyline, but to be honest, there really isn't much else to say about this one. Yes, it wasn't bad but also wasn't amazingly interesting or entertaining either, however I did still enjoy it, it fits into the middle ground between great and awful films.

As acting goes, Justin Timberlake is definitely a better actor than he once used to be, and Ben Affleck does a good job of being the big, rich, powerful, bad guy, but there's just nothing that sticks out as being a particularly fantastic piece of acting.

To be really honest, I don't think I'd be that bothered if I didn't see this film again, but sure if you like Mr Timberlake or Mr Affleck a lot more than I do then you may have a different view on this film as people have different opinions, but in my eyes its nothing spectacular and it wouldn't hurt to not see this film.

Sorry Brad Furman, nothing against your directing, I'm just not too fussed by this particular one, maybe the next one I see.

Until my next post, thanks for reading!!

We're The Millers

So between two lectures today, my friend Hannah and I had a four hour break and thought it would be a little bit pointless walking home just to have to leave again not much later, so instead we headed out thinking of ways to waste the time while we had nothing to do.

About an hour later, bored of wandering around shops Hannah jokingly suggested to go to the cinema, however this soon turned into us going to see what films were on, checking ticket prices, then finding our seats in the cinema to watch We're The Millers.

While watching the adverts and trailers it soon became obvious that we would be the only two people to be sat watching this film at that particular time, which made enjoying the film a whole lot better.

We're The Millers was a great film and had me laughing so hard at certain points, and wishing I had a perfect body like Jennifer Aniston at other points. It was a fantastic comedy, but not one for the kids as there is a lot of swearing involved in the script of this particular film.

The basic story line behind this film is as follows:

David, a drug dealer, ends up being in debt to his boss, Brad, who then asks him to go on a bit of a road trip to make up his debt. Brad is trying to get a large amount of drugs into America to sell off but has no one to do the job for him, which is where David comes in to get Brad's forgiveness. To make his trip to Mexico more believable to the guards at the border he hires three people, Rose, Kenny and Casey,  in order to create a fake family for a fake vacation.

Rose, the fake wife, lives in the same apartment building as David but they tend not to see eye to eye and rarely get along well at all, she also happens to be a stripper which we see later in the film comes in handy as a way of distraction.

Kenny, the fake son, also lives in this apartment building but was left alone by his mum, and as he is a pretty much normal kid David decides to bring him along to make up the family.

Casey, the fake daughter, is a young girl who has run away from home and has been living on the streets. Even though she has a bad attitude and is generally an unhappy teen, David hires her to make the family more believable and realistic.

They each know what David is doing and go along with the plan for a cut of the money at the end of the trip, but at some points in the film it all seems like its not going to go to plan.


Now I love a comedy and of course everyone has their own opinions about what's funny in a film and what's not, but I personally found myself laughing more than I expected to and still have one of the songs stuck in my head that featured in the film. There is still one thing in this film that bugged me but its just silly and it makes the film what it is, this being as the character Scottie P and the way he spoke irritated me, which is ridiculous I know but that's just me being picky.

I think if you like a comedy and don't mind a lot of swearing, some violence, and a tad bit of nudity then you'd probably enjoy this film. I think the acting a whole was really well done by each actor and actress and I still chuckle to myself when I think of a funny scene.

Until my next post, have a good time everyone, ta for reading!
:-)

So I've got caught up on Breaking Bad...

So again I've noticed how rubbish I've been at blogging but I have just come back to uni for my second year and have been a tad busy, eventually I'll set myself a day a week to blog and review but I'll try my best.

So recently I've been on Netflix catching up with the very popular series that is of course Breaking Bad, and I have to say I have definitely found myself caught up in the story and whenever I have the spare time in the day I've been watching numerous episodes in hope that I'll soon be up to date with them all. However, once when that time comes I'm not sure what I'll be doing with my spare time again.

I'll try to sum up the series without spilling any details that may ruin it for anyone thinking about starting the programme from the beginning. Breaking Bad is a TV series about a high school chemistry teacher, Walter White, who is sadly diagnosed with lung cancer. Worrying about how his family will be able to afford the bills and the extra bills from his treatment, Walter gets himself into a bit of dodgy business
with an ex-student in hope to make a lot of extra money to cover any costs the family have now and if he dies.

No when I first heard about it and when I'd watched a couple of random episodes with my boyfriend, I wasn't sure if I'd like it as I didn't think it was the type of thing that I'd normally find myself getting interested in, however it soon became obvious that I was hooked and had to know what was going to happen with Walter and his family.

I can easily say I have thoroughly enjoyed the programme so far and I've got through a couple of seasons now. I wouldn't say its one for the family as it's really not but it is interesting for teens and upwards.

Being a media student as well as enjoying films and programmes, I also look at the camera angles, locations/settings and the acting, and in Breaking Bad I have liked it all so far and think it all works really well together for this particular programme.

When I'm all caught up and am up to date with the most recent episodes I'll let you know again what I'm thinking of Breaking Bad and its story lines.

Enjoy all the weird and wonderful films and programmes, guys!
Thanks for reading :)

The Wolverine

For a start, Hugh Jackman as Wolverine (Logan), you can always tell just from this that it'll be a great film and with the added bonus of choosing from 2D or 3D!

Its action packed and full of excitement with fist fights, sword fights, chases on the top of a speeding train and even ninja attacks. Yes, that's right, ninjas!

This film sees Logan being tracked by a young girl called Yukio, then brought back to someone who's life he had once saved many years ago, called Yashida, but sadly he is in very sick health and close to passing. In hope to live longer and protect his grand daughter he tries to make an agreement with Logan, this being that he will hand over his abilities to Yashida and lead a normal life, however Logan declines thinking he's saving the old man from something that is more trouble than it's worth.

This then takes a turn for the worse as Yashida passes away, or so the viewers are lead to believe, leaving Logan protecting Yashida's grand daughter, Mariko. During this time the two them get into several interesting situations which I won't spoil for you. Little does the pair know that it is actually Yashida himself behind the whole extreme ordeal with the help of his once seemingly normal doctor. Throughout the whole time Yukio is able to see visions of the future which makes for one very scary situation for Logan and she is also the one looking out for the Wolverine while he is looking out for Mariko.


I very much enjoyed this film and all the action it had to offer. There was, however, some annoying camera shots in my personal opinion as I'm not a fan of hand held camera movements which there is a bit of. I liked the surroundings and settings that director James Mangold used as these are each interesting themselves due to a lot of the film being set in Japan.
Anyone with a love of the X-Men films or action films in general will thoroughly enjoy this, however be sure to wait when the lights come on in the cinema as there is quite a surprise scene at the end of the credits.

Enjoy Wolverine lovers!

'I like the way you die boy' Django Unchained 2012

 The first thing I should probably mention is that I am normally not a fan of any western genre films, however after seeing the trailer for this particular film I thought it looked quite good so I gave it ago and can say I was honestly surprised. So even if you don't enjoy westerns, you may like this one.

This film I may add is also very gory and gutsy but not in a way that I think looks really disgusting and off putting, so if you're the type of person, like me, that doesn't like blood, then don't worry because its not going to make you feel ill or like you can't watch the rest.

I found this film quite enjoyable and interesting to watch because as its a Quentin Tarantino film he mixes genres, so this one would be a western and I'd say not quite horror but most definitely gory with hints of comedy. It has scenes that you'd expect in typical westerns with the cowboys, horses and shoot outs and the same typical scenes that you'd expect in a gory type of film such as violence and a lot of blood shed.

The big story line for this film is that Django (played by Jamie Foxx) is freed from slavery when a German bounty hunter Dr King Schultz (played by Christoph Waltz) is after his help tracking down three brothers to then collect his bounty. From this Dr Schultz helps Django to rescue his wife who is currently being made to work for a very nasty plantation owner (played by Leonardo Di Caprio) in Mississippi.

The main cast in this film, the three mentioned above, play their characters very well and it makes the film great to watch. The way they work together and embrace the settings and surroundings make it seem like that's where they should be in real life as they each fit the part so well. The acting is also good as they get right into the roles of their characters and don't let it slip. The settings they use fit the part in the western side of things they have the dusty towns and open films, the camera work is also very well done and there are some scenes that I particularly enjoyed with the camera angles but I'll leave that for now.

I actually really enjoyed this film and would most definitely recommend it to anyone (other than children obviously), its quite what you'd expect in a Tarantino film which makes it interesting as you may think you know what's going to happen but then it's slightly different from the typical things in these genres.

All in all, if you enjoy Tarantino's previous films and already like these genres then take a look as its a good watch and is easy to follow and understand.

There's a reason it's won two Oscars, you know!

Despicable Me 2

Firstly, if you haven't seen the first Despicable Me then what are you doing with your life, go and see it now, then the second and then come back and read this post.

I'd been looking forward to this film for a long time before I went to see it as I loved the first one, and personally I think the minions are the best part of the film as they are so funny and cute. The main story point is that instead of being a lone wolf villain, Gru is taken on by the mighty anti-villain league to help them deal with a new powerful criminal, while at the same time trying to keep his eldest adopted daughter, Margo, away from boys and out of love.

Gru is teamed up with the very over excited agent Lucy Wild to use his evil ways of thinking to track down the person responsible for stealing an entire facility based in the Arctic. They take the roles of cupcake makers in a mall store to keep eyes out for anyone looking mysterious and up to no good.

The film is funny and enjoyable for people of all ages as there is humour for those old and young, and no one can hate on the minions. It has so much going on but its put together so well in one main story line that it flows well and is easy to follow for a young audience.

Steve Carell continues to do a great job in the voicing role of Gru, who seems to be turning to the right side of good and bad, and enjoying the gadgets and craziness along the way. He's turned into a guy who knew nothing about parenthood to a guy that loves his three girls and does what has to be done to keep them safe.

Now there has to be a point in this review about the minions as I simply love them and want one of my own. They are simply hilarious and make every situation a funny one. Everyone I know that has seen this film only ever has good things to say about the minions, and their silly antics and language.

All in all I would most definitely recommend this to people as a great family type film so everyone can have a great laugh together.

Very enjoyable and easy to watch!

Many apologies :(

So I realise I said I'd blog regularly with my film reviews but I got a bit caught up with uni work etc, so I apologise to anyone that reads my blog. I'm home for the summer now though and have just seen a new film too, this being Despicable Me 2, so I shall have to get started on a review for this along with others from films I've seen since my last post.

I can't give a specific time as to when my reviews will be up but this isn't the last post this blog will see. They will be up when they're ready and I'll have to make sure it's not such a long time between posts this time.

For now though I hope everyone is having a brilliant summer, and to those in the UK make sure you enjoy this beautiful weather that we're having while it lasts :)

Our Girl Review

So I know I said this was going to be a film review blog, but I recently watched Our Girl on BBC One and loved it.

Our Girl is a single drama about a young girl, Molly Dawes (Lacey Turner), living in London with her parents, two brothers and three sisters, while her mum is also expecting another baby. 

On a drunken night out and about she finds being sick just outside the army recruitment office and notices just what place it is the following day. She is treated badly by her dad who is 'on the sick' after a fall at work and is fed up with her boyfriend Artan, doing what he wants and not treating her right. All the poor girl wants is a bit of respect! 

When she notices that it's a recruitment office she gets talking to a sergeant while he's working and he starts telling her about the army and gives her a chance to take the BARB test (British Army Recruit Battery test) that is needed to get onto the training. 

When she gets the letter she's been waiting for she can't away soon enough. When herself and many other recruits make it through the physical tests they then arrive at Pirbright for training they are immediately out through their paces to see what they're made off and if they've got what it takes to be in the British Army. 

Molly and the other female recruits help each other out to ensure each of them get through without fail, and before they know it they're on their passing out parade being seen for the first time in their uniforms by family and friends, although for Molly its not quite the same as she has no visitors. 

She stays strong and fights on through everything that get's thrown at her throughout the film. She gains the respect she wanted at the beginning and turns her life around to become a better person. 

In my opinion this was a brilliant drama to show life through training for the army. Personally I feel like I can relate to this quite well as I once wanted to join the army from spending 6 and a half years in the Army Cadet Force and loved it all, hard work included. This drama shows you how tough it can be if you're unaware of what recruits go through. It shows you how important it is to stick together and work as a team to get through. 

I'd happily recommend this to anyone just so they can see and understand what some people are going through each and every day, not knowing if they're loved ones will make it through to fight for their country and then make it home again. 

Wreck-It Ralph Review

Wreck-It Ralph is a computer animated comedy to film for people of all ages to enjoy. The video game based film directed by Rich Moore, introduces the viewers to many characters from games they may well have seen many times before, such as Mario and Pac-man, both well loved characters. It is most likely to be a film that any gamer would very much enjoy however, not being a gamer myself I still really liked it, especially as I watched it in 3D.

When the arcade closes at night, the characters from various different games travel between games until morning comes around again. One of these characters is Ralph.

Ralph, a villain in Wreck-It Ralph, dreams of becoming a hero and earning medals like his game colleague Fix-It Felix. Unfortunately he doesn't have the best of plans and doesn't choose the best way of going about getting himself a medal, but becomes a hero in his own way.

As he journeys through 'game central station' on his journey to earn a medal, he visits many other games, however as he ventures into one Sugar Rush, so does an unwanted creature that can only bring trouble and chaos with it.

Ralph finds himself having to defeat this uninvited threat in order to save the game and the friends he has made on his new adventure, but in doing so this earns him the new respect he had been waiting for from Fix-It Felix and the other characters within his game.

When I was sat in the cinema I thought I was going to be one of the oldest people in there until the parents started coming in with their children and families. It's a family friendly film that can easily be enjoyed by anyone.

As I was watching this film I was being told about the game characters within the storyline, so it was a bit of a new learning experience for me too in a different way. I enjoyed watching Ralph on his travels to try to make himself the better person that he'd always wanted to become, and I liked seeing the different games that he ended up within along the way. I thought the 3D made it quite cool as there are a few moments when you notice it quite well although there are also moments where the 3D isn't very effective.

As I sit and think about the film right now, there aren't any faults that come to mind. The only one thing that could possibly count as slightly annoying after a while was that when I left the cinema I constantly found myself repeating Ralph's catchy phrase and attempting to say it in his voice.

All in all, I enjoyed this film even without the knowledge of the many games and the characters. I'd recommend it to all families with children, to people that like games and to anyone that loves a good animation film.

The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus Review

The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus is quite a strange film and there are times when it’s hard to understand and could get very confusing at times.

The basic outline of the film is about a travelling amusement company that lets their audience have the chance to go inside their own imagination. They get given a choice between a happy and pure path or a dark and evil path. The imaginarium works behind a magical mirror and is controlled by the immortal Dr Parnassus and his mysterious powers.

He has a deal with Mr. Nick (some say he’s the devil) that when his daughter, Valentina, is sixteen years old she will then be Mr. Nicks. The amusement travel around to different places to get a good audience. Along the way they stop over a bridge in the middle of the night to find a young man hanging by his neck under the bridge.  They get him up on top of the bridge and make sure he’s alive and take him with them but when he wakes up in the morning he has no memory of what had happened that night. 

He works with them in a few of their shows and soon later Dr Parnassus gets a visit from Mr. Nick who tells him about the young man. Later on the Dr convinces the young man that he can read his memory and tells the young man that his name is really Tony and he had a charity for children.

Tony decides he wants to help them with their show to get them a bigger audience, and it works, but somehow along the way things don’t work to plan and the amusement team/family turns their backs on Tony and to complete the deal with Mr. Nick they have to kill him.

This film was quite strange and confusing, however it was also good in a weird way. When my friends and I were watching it, we found it odd and hard to understand at some points. 

There are films that I may find confusing that I would watch again to understand them fully, but I can't find myself properly getting into this film enough to watch it again. 

The Hurt Locker Review

An award winning film from Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker is based on a bomb disposal squad going around de-activating and disposing of any bombs that they get made aware of. 

It shows viewers what life is like being a member of their team and having to spend time away from your family in a foreign country to work.

At first the team go out to de-activate a bomb, but unfortunately it doesn't quite go to plan. Sadly the leader of the team gets killed in an unexpected explosion and the team are devastated as he was a great leader and helped the team to work well together.

A few days later a new guy arrives at the camp and becomes a new member of the team. They then have to work together on more jobs to de-activate and dispose of a lot more bombs. The new guy seems to be quite cocky which makes one member of the team think he is trying to replace their old leader.

At first they don’t seem to work that well together but they start to get along better as they realise he’s not trying to fill the old guys shoes; he’s just trying his best to finish and complete the jobs properly with no problems.

I enjoyed this film as it helps the audience to get a better understanding of what it is that these disposal squads do. It helps people to see what their lives are like when they have to leave the ones they love for long period of time and travel across the world just to work. It shows the kind of conditions they live in and helps the viewers to see clearly what the team has to go through out there. I feel that it helps people to have a knowledge of what life is like for a soldier and what the families must go through.

It's an exciting action film and definitely one of the best wars films I've seen. I would definitely recommend this film to anyone I know. 

Ill Manors Review

Ben Drew’s 2012 film Ill Manors, about life after growing up in foster care shows the characters doing what they feel they have to for them to get by, even if some of those decisions are bad ones. Using his rapping as a way of narrating the story gave it a unique feel, instead of it just being a completely stereotypical film about gangs, violence and crime.

The film shows people what others feel is necessary to get along in life. Even if we don't agree with their choices and actions, we can understand the reasons behind them. At times I felt the storyline was a bit difficult to follow as there was always a lot going on at once with the different gangs. The storyline would switch between the gangs so that the audience could see what each were doing at the time. The locations used are the expected stereotypical ones you would expect to see in a film like this where drugs, gangs and violence are involved, for example a park where the gang hang out waiting for people to come and buy the drugs from them, this makes it work in its genre.

The acting, well, what is supposed to be called acting, I personally felt was poor from some of the actors involved in the film. There were some lines in the film that could have sounded so much better and come across as more convincing, and I think this applies mostly to the character Kirby (Keith Coggins) as it could have been played so much better.

This isn't the type of film I would choose to watch for myself and the reason behind that is because I don't particularly enjoy this sort of drama in a film as that's not my scene. Seeing this film gives me more of a reason to dislike it as I didn't enjoy the acting or storyline. I wouldn't recommend it to people I know unless I was aware that they enjoyed this type of thing.