Captain America: The Winter Solider

ONLY VERY MINOR SPOILERS.

I wouldn't say that Cap is my favourite Avenger (that honour goes to Thor) but he is a very close second. One of the reasons I love him is he is just so caring and loving. He absolutely does not want to hurt anyone and if you're his friend, then you are his friend for life and he will go out of his way to help you. Now I'm just getting emotional thinking about how I'd like to be his friend.

The Winter Soldier is much better than the first one. For one, the inclusion of the Black Widow makes the film a thousand times better. I need to see a Black Widow movie and soon. I would see that movie ten times just to do my bit for its box office numbers. She's intelligent, thoughtful, caring, stunning and my eyes just automatically go to her every time she's in a shot. I also liked that it's not just about one mission they all go on, but it's about SHIELD and we get to learn a lot more about the organisation and what is really going on there. 

My favourite scene: My favourite scene is definitely the part where Natasha and Steve are trying to hide so they go to the shopping centre and the Apple Store. That whole scene is hilarious and I could not stop laughing. I also have to say that I got the most excited I think I've ever been in the cinema at the mid-credits scene. We actually got a look at the twins, who are going to play a very big role in The Avengers 2, one of them is being played by one of my very favourite actors ever, Aaron Taylor-Johnson. 

My favourite character: There are too many! However, I think I have to say The Winter Soldier is my favourite character in this film. He just makes me so sad the entire time, I wanted to sob every time he was on screen, especially at the ending. Sebastian Stan is truly an amazing actor, especially seeing as most of the acting he had to do was in the eyes. I'm excited to see where they go from here with this storyline. It's already confirmed that they are making a third instalment, set for release in May 2016. 

My least favourite character: I'm probably going to have to go down the easy route and say Alexander Pierce, played by Robert Redford, who is everyone's least favourite character. If you want a slightly more controversial answer I will tell you that I am not a big fan of Nick Fury and I find his scenes quite tedious.

Overall this was a really great film which I 100% recommend for everyone to go and see (if you've seen the first one - it won't really work if you haven't seen the first one). It's really encouraging to see that each of Marvel's works keep improving and it just makes me more excited for the films yet to come (I'm looking at you Guardians of the Galaxy!). 

Loki 2: The Dark World . . . Oh No, Wait

NOT a Spoiler Free Post. I'll let you know when they're coming up. 

I love Thor. I love Chris Hemsworth. If I had to pick between Liam and Chris Hemsworth, I know very well it would be Chris every single time.
However, this is nothing compared to my love for Loki. I am sure that this would be the same for so many people, as I know both Loki and Tom Hiddleston are loved throughout the world. When I was watching the film, when the part (finally) came to when Loki was in the cell and Thor came to see him I turned to my friend and whispered, "I have been waiting for this the whole movie" and she laughed and said "same". As much as I love Thor, is anyone really here for him? Or are we all just waiting patiently for Loki?

Having just watched the first instalment of Thor the night before, I can tell you with complete confidence that it's follow up was so much better. It's a better storyline, there's better character development, better fight scenes and better jokes. I loved it so much that only three days later I saw it again.

source: liesmithed

One person I have a problem with in the film is Jane. There is just something about her which just makes her dull. I mean, for starters her name is Jane, just plain Jane (apologies if that is actually your name) and yeah, she loves science and that's definitely better than nothing, but she needs something more. I'm not asking her to be a warrior, that's Sif, but I think what's missing from her is a sense of humour. Jane doesn't have to be hilarious like Darcy but they could give her a few lines which make her a bit more likeable and a three-dimensional character. 

(SPOILERS BEGIN HERE) 
The first fifteen to twenty minutes was definitely not my favourite part of the film. I felt like it dragged on a little and although it was needed to explain to the audience what was going on, it could have been done in a better way. When the Elves invade Asgard, that's when the movie gets going. All of a sudden there is action, humour and development. It gets even better once Thor comes up with a plan, and that plan includes Loki, and then for the next twenty minutes the movie is at its best. 

I am glad that Loki was not redeemed. As much as I loved the scene between Thor and Loki, and wished that it could be true, another side of me, the correct side of me, knew that Loki would never do something like that. And although that scene was heartbreaking, the worst was Loki's reaction to Frigga's death. Not only immediately, with his small nod, nor his smashed up room and trick to hide it from Thor, but also his small comments: "trust my rage" and "but she wouldn't be that surprised" when Thor tells Loki that "mother wouldn't want us to fight". He believes he knows Frigga better than anyone, and he's going to get his revenge. 

The film passes the Bechedel test, which is every film should now be passing, but unfortunately isn't. I hate the poster for the movie though, with Jane clinging to Thor as if she needs him to keep on existing, and I hate that Darcy is happy that Jane is on a date because she's basically been waiting around for Thor to come back for the last two years. However, after this Darcy and Jane have a long and excited talk about "science" before Thor gets to Earth and that's enough for the movie to pass. The rest of the movie isn't too good, but it could have been way worse. Sif doesn't pine longingly over Thor and she gracefully rescues Jane without so much of a complaint. Frigga is not only a mother, but skilful at both tricks which she passed onto Loki and a sword. It is also half Thor and half Jane (with her science) that save the world. 

Overall though, I loved it and I'm definitely going to be buying the DVD when it comes out if only so I can watch Captain America as Loki over and over again. 

Catching Fire

What about you, girl on fire? Got any secrets worth my time?

Spoiler Free Review. 

After seeing the midnight screening of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire earlier this morning, I was discussing with my best friend what I was going to write in my review. 
I believe what we came up with was pretty accurate: you have to see this movie. It's just that simple. 
I don't think many of you will need much convincing. I know the kind of audience numbers this movie will be raking in and I don't want to give too many things away because I know a lot of people will be watching it over the weekend, so I'm just going to write a few non-spoiler things below (later next week though, look out for a more spoiler-filled/detailed review because I'm seeing it again on Tuesday).

Everyone's performance in this film is absolutely perfect from beginning to end. I want to give a special mention to Josh Hutcherson (plays Peeta Mellark) who is unbelievable, even standing out next to Oscar winner Jennifer Lawrence. 
I am a huge fan of the character Finnick Odair and when we got into the car to drive to the cinema I confessed I was nervous that I was going to get bored/restless waiting for him to come into the storyline (those of you who have read the books will know he only comes in about halfway through the book). Fortunately, I did not have to worry about that at all. I was absolutely enthralled from beginning to end. There was not a part where I drifted off and started thinking about what I had to do tomorrow or what time I had to wake up in the morning, which so often happens to me during films. 

Another thing I had been really nervous about were my expectations of the film. They were just so incredibly unrealistic that I could not imagine the movie meeting them, let alone surpassing them which it did by a mile. I don't even know how Sam Claflin (who plays Finnick) managed to exceed my expectations they were so unreasonably high. 
If you are a fan of the book, you'll be a fan of this movie. It used the book so incredibly well. There were so many lines that I recognised to be taken straight from the book, including two of my favourites: Finnick's sugar cube introduction and Haymitch's "you could live a hundred lifetimes and still not deserve him, you know" heartbreaker. I also have a new found love for Johanna Mason, who was played so brilliantly by Jena Malone and I wish she had more on-screen time.

I hope that everyone who hasn't seen it yet has an experience like I did and I would love to hear from anyone who has (or hasn't!) seen it in the comments. 

The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones

I have been following the Press Tour of Mortal Instruments like it’s my job. You’re probably well aware by now that I love every single person in this movie’s cast, and so I was so excited to see all the interviews and outfits they would be wearing. I have been so pleased, Lily Collins has been dressed so immaculately and all the interviews have been so hilarious and lovely seeing the cast interact (except for Jonathan Rhys Meyers - where the hell was he?).

I saw the movie over  two weeks ago, the day after it came out. I would have seen it the day before, but unfortunately I had a lot of university work to finish, however there was no way I wasn’t going to see it opening weekend.

Firstly, I want to say that I had very high expectations for this movie, and they were met. They weren’t, however, exceeded. It was exactly what I expected from this type of genre movie: funny, a little bit cheesy at times and enough action that I didn’t get bored. Secondly, you don't have to have read the books before you go. I do recommend them if you liked reading Divergent, Twilight, just YA Fiction in general really, but it's not a necessity. 

In regards to the cast I think everyone was picked perfectly. Jaime Campbell Bower was exactly how I pictured Jace when I was reading the series. I knew that Robert Sheehan had been cast as Simon, so that was just how I pictured him the whole time too and it fit the character so well. Jonathan Rhys Meyers was an amazing Valentine, I adore that he was cast because I absolutely love him so much and I feel like I don’t see him enough.

If you haven’t seen it yet, definitely check it out. In Australia it was number one at the Box Office on it’s opening weekend. If you want see a sequel, definitely see it at the movies because it all counts and they won’t make it unless there are the numbers to back it up.

Overall I give it an seven out of ten, mainly because I really enjoyed it and it was a bit of lighthearted fun, especially if you've read the books. 

Now You See Me

After seeing Now You See Me earlier this week, I still feel cheated.
This movie had such a fantastic cast. I would have seen this movie no matter what it was about with a cast including names such as Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, Mark Ruffalo, Isla Fisher, Melanie Laurent, Dave Franco, Woody Harrelson and Jesse Eisenburg. That kind of cast is just too good to resist.

The problem with the movie begins with the fact that there are just so many good actors. That's because it means there are so many characters, and each have their own back story. Add in three magic shows which have to be both performed and then explained, two love stories and a chase to find who is actually behind the burglaries, and by the end I felt cheated. Parts were also very predicable, and although I didn't see the final twist coming, it was very disappointing and I did hear a few groans in the audience (or was that me?).

What needed to happen was less of a focus on Mark Ruffalo, both his pathetic detective work and his love story, and more of The Four Horsemen (played by Isla Ficher, Jesse Eisenburg, Woody Harrelson and Dave Franco). These four all had great dialogue and too little time on screen. All my favourite parts belonged to them, especially the action scene where Franco uses magic to attack the police, which was very funny to watch and quite cleverly choreographed. Plus there's just something about Dave Franco's accent, isn't there? It's this sultry, slow, deep voice that I just cannot resist and from the moment he appeared on screen he was my favourite character . . . okay back to the movie!

The film uses Freeman to deconstruct the magic and explain how it actually worked in a sort of Ocean's 11-esque style, with different layers and you hear Danny Ocean explain how it's going to work while watching it happen. Apart from the fact that Ocean's 11 pulled it off brilliantly, while Now You See Me fell short. There are just far too many holes in the plot for my liking, and I can usually accept a few in most cases. Another thing that was extremely off putting was the spinning camera style that was used during the magic performances. I was sitting quite close to the screen (the cinema was packed!) which probably made it even worse, but it was still very annoying and I found it hard to concentrate on what was going on and what was being said during those times.

All that said I did enjoy it while I was watching it and it's actually a nice, light, enjoyable-if-you-don't-pay-too-close-attention film which has already done so well at the box-office that a few days ago they announced that there is to be a sequel.

What did you guys think? Have you seen it yet? Do you have plans to see it? Do you love Dave Franco as much as I do?

The World's End

What would you do if you came back to your hometown only to find everyone had transformed into robots? Finish the pub crawl of course!

This is why I love Simon Pegg films: it’s because they’re so crazy and unpredictable you always end up in stitches laughing. I will forever remember seeing my first Pegg film “Hot Fuzz” in the cinema when I was about fifteen. Jess and I couldn’t stop laughing, and then we were screaming, and the whole time I was thinking just what kind of movie was this? There are far too little sci-fi comedies.
llenge that they had attempted when they were younger but never managed to actually finish. Returning to their old town they find it has become inhabited by “robots”.

At World’s End is about a group of men going back to their hometown to finally complete the “Golden Mile” Pub crawl cha

Surprisingly, this movie has a lot of serious undertones to it. Pegg’s last speech to the robots reminded me a lot of the one Nathan Young (played by Robert Sheehan) makes in the final episode of Season One of Misfits on the rooftop: “we were so beautiful!”. 

I felt the beginning got off to a slow start, and there weren't too many laugh out loud moments, but I found myself getting into the film much more once they had actually realised something was wrong with the town. The ending is a bit weird too (but I loved the end to Martin Freeman’s storyline, I personally thought that was the best part), and I never actually found myself taking a liking to any of the characters very much.
It’s got a stellar cast though, with people like Pierce Brosnan and Bill Nighy making appearances, along with Rosmund Pike (who has been confirmed to play Amy Dunne in David Fincher’s Gone Girl), Martin Freeman and David Bradley (who has been popping up everywhere lately, from Broadchurch to Game of Thrones). 
I definitely recommend this film for those looking for a good laugh with nothing better to do on a Friday night (don’t cancel your plans or anything) or if you've seen the other two in the so-called "Cornetto Trilogy" (Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz are the other two) then you should definitely finish it. 

Week in Review #2

Hei hei lovely readers, 

I hope you guys have had a fantastic week! I've been visiting friends in Melbourne and it's been such an amazing week. I ate so much delicious food, caught up on some reading and dvds and did plenty of shopping (the photos are from the shopping I did). Here are just a few of the things I have been loving this week:

(Loved) Reading: I am still reading the Mortal Instruments series. Last night I finished book three City of Glass. I was just trying to think about which one so far has been my favourite, but I can't decide! Out of all of them so far I finished the second one the fastest, but I loved the first one because you're getting to know everything and then there is one hell of twist at the end which I'm still getting over. The third one is amazing too because there are so many questions finally answered. I stayed up most of the night because I just couldn't put it down. I'm just waiting (not so patiently) for the film now!

(Loved) Television: I watched three episodes of Luther in a row on Monday. Then I was annoyed at myself because I was going to Melbourne later in the day and couldn't watch the season finale on Wednesday until I got back on Friday. While I was in Melbourne I bought season one of New Girl. I fell into a sort of NG vortex after that. I watched episode after episode. I had to pull myself out of it for work on Saturday. These two shows have been my life this week (aside from exploring Melbourne, of course). 

(Loved) Film: This week Jess and I watched a couple of films on a girly night in with the friends I was staying with in Melbourne. One of them was 21 Jump Street which is one of the most hilarious films ever. I remember going to see it in the cinema with Jess and we were just so surprised at how funny it turned out to be, and how Channing Tatum was suddenly a comic genius. I feel as though it's a really clever, stupid, silly comedy. If that makes any sense at all.

(Loved) Random: I just downloaded the app Candy Crush. I've heard a lot about it before but had never actually remembered to download it. Work was utterly quiet on Saturday, and so when one of my friends from work brought it up I immediately went to install it. I've been hooked since! Sadly, I'm currently waiting to get my lives back but it's kind of worked out as a good thing because I'm not sure this post would have gone up in time otherwise. Also loving the Best Song Ever by One Direction which came out earlier this week. I've got it on repeat while playing Candy Crush . . . it's probably a good thing uni goes back tomorrow, eh?


Please let me know what you guys have been loving this week in the comments. I love hearing from you! 

The Impossible

14 hour flights suck. 

This is not a new discovery of mine, having done six of them in the past three years. However, the one I just got back from has to be one of the worst of all time. It had everything: bad food, crying babies and I was separated from my friend so I was sitting next to two strangers. On top of all this I just couldn't pick what I wanted to watch. I had resorted to watching my two favourite scenes in Skyfall over and over again, which must have confused the two strangers sitting next to me greatly. You know when you can just feel the tears welling up? I was at that point, and so I turned off the Ben Whishaw scene in Skyfall and flicked through the movies trying to decide which one would be the saddest. I found The Impossible. 

source: kubrickit

Now I don't know whether it was the fact that I was on one of the worst flights ever and the complete lack of sleep, but I sobbed the whole way through this movie. 
The whole cast of this amazing movie is absolutely perfect. After seeing this, my doubts about Jennifer Lawrence winning the Oscar for Best Actress spring up again. Naomi Watts is just too good. Ewan McGregor as well, although I felt like you didn't get to see him as much as everyone else. Even the little boys were so perfect I was crying.
The heartbreaking thing about this movie is that it's a true story and it's just one story of the thousands that occurred because of the tsunami in Indonesia Boxing Day 2004, and you get glimpses of those how those stories end throughout the movie. 

I give this movie a nine out of ten and would highly recommend it to anyone. 

Trailer Tuesday #1

As I wrote in my Weekly Review post earlier this week, I promised that I had few things up my sleeve for improving my blog. Trailer Tuesday is one of these and hopefully will be something you guys like and I can write one for many Tuesdays to come!

This week I'm talking about two trailers, both of which I am frothing over. Both you might have seen, but I'm hoping at least one is relatively new to you guys. 

The Wolf of Wall Street trailer did come out a while ago, I admit. This has not stopped me watching it at least twice daily. This is an example of a perfect trailer. Scorsese. The music of Kanye. The editing. Leo. 
Yesterday I asked myself a very tough question "If you just had to watch one movie at the cinema for the rest of the year, what would it be?". With so many great ones coming out, you can understand this question was impossible to answer. I got it down to a top three, and this was definitely one of them. 

The second Catching Fire trailer is so amazing. It's one of the other three movies in my top three (the third is The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug) most anticipated this year. What I like about this trailer is that it is a continuation from the first one they released. The first one focused a lot on the revolution going on and didn't include anything really about the Quarter Quell (and hence there was no Finnick, which is the main thing, lets be honest). This second trailer on the other hand, focuses much more on the Games and shows not only Finnick but a lot of the other contestants too. 
I'm really sorry but while I'm writing this the trailer isn't up on youtube, I think it's a copyright problem as it was just shown at Comic Con. I will edit this later to include a trailer for it. Instead I've added the small part Finnick is in (so worth the wait for this, right guys?). 

source: drunkstilinskis

Let me know what movie you would pick if you could only see one more in the cinemas this year. 

The Heat

"Do you wanna go and see a movie tonight?"

source: the collider

I literally ask my family this weekly. It never happens. For some reason this week, it did.
I wanted to go and see Man of Steel, mainly because my trip to Europe has meant that I've totally missed out on seeing it so far. But no, my mum had requirements. If we were going to see a movie, she wanted to go and see The Heat. Yeah, not really the one I had in mind.
You know me though, I won't say no to a movie, especially if someone else is paying (which it turns out, she wasn't, but she did pay for the popcorn so that was alright).
I little to no expectations for this movie. I had seen the trailer so many times and thought (like so many films these days) that I had seen all the funny bits. I was so wrong! My brother (who is eighteen)  tagged along too and he was laughing a lot as well. It works for a lot of different ages as there are plenty of jokes for everyone.

source: red carpet fashion awards

Plus I'm loving that it's two women, Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy, who are doing a classic cop comedy. It totally passes The Bechedel Test, which we really shouldn't still have to be congratulating films for doing that any more, but for some strange reason, here we are. One review I read stated: "The Heat isn't a hilarious buddy-cop flick with women. It's a hilarious buddy-cop flick, period. It's also the funniest film I've seen all year." 

This movie gets a six out of ten. Although it's laugh-out-loud funny and totally passed my expectations, the plot line is a bit of a disaster and quite predictable.

But It's A Classic, Right?

He's so handsome. Just like his reward posters. 

Source: Daily Classic Disney

The other day I was messaging Sara about what movie we should watch on our upcoming "Pop Tarts and Movie Night". We had both excitedly agreed that it should be a Disney classic. She asked me what I had in my Disney DVD collection and I replied "Robin Hood" because I really felt like watching it again. Basically she said no, which was fine, but I sent back something like: "whatever, cool foxes aren't for everyone" because I was trying to be funny, but I was really just being lame. She didn't reply for ages which I just assumed was because she thought my joke was horrible (which it was), however the next day she sent me a message saying "Foxes? Isn't Robin Hood a man?" I literally could not stop laughing, she must have been so confused by my "cool foxes" message.

Source: Daily Classic Disney

Then I got to thinking. Why didn't Sara understand the my (terrible) joke? Had she not seen Disney's version of Robin Hood? So the next day at work I asked her and she said that she had never even heard of Disney's version before I had sent her that message. I was shocked. Robin Hood was one of my favourites. I paid forty dollars for it when it was released from the vault a few years ago. That's how much I loved it. I won't even pay $38 for Cinderella now, and I'm earning more than I was back then. So then I was worried, if Sara hadn't heard of it, who else was missing out on the amazing-ness of Robin Hood? I asked a few more of my colleagues. Out of the four others that I asked, all around my age, only one knew what I was talking about. So now here I am: spreading the word.

Source: Daily Classic Disney

Disney's Robin Hood is definitely a classic. I believe this is for one main reason: it's hilarious. I honestly think this is one of the funniest classic Disney movies there is. It's definitely up there, along with Aladdin, for sure. Can you think of any others? Let me know in the comments if you can! I would also mention Toy Story but I'm almost 100% sure that's a Pixar film and not Disney, although I'm totally confused by the whole Disney-Pixar Studios thing now. Todays post isn't really a review of Robin Hood, more just a note to let you know it exists and that you should watch it. If you haven't seen it, you're missing a little piece of your childhood.

Watching it has made me want to re-watch all my old favourites and add to my collection of Disney movies. Right now I'm trying to find a copy of Peter Pan on ebay, and I'm thinking about renting The Sword in the Stone this weekend. What are you favourite Disney classics?

Current DVD Wishlist

I wish it was Christmas again. I don't know about you, but at the moment I have so many things I want to buy but can't possibly afford. I shouldn't complain, because I could buy them, however I've banned myself because I'm saving up for my trip to Europe in June. I know, poor me, right? Instead, I've compiled a list of everything I'm wishing for at the moment and so when I get back I can print out my list and buy them one by one (or how I usually do, which is three or four at a time). 

By the way, if there is an * then I haven't seen it yet, but I just want to buy it because I know I'll love it. 

1. Community Season Three
2. Game of Thrones Season Two
3. Mad Men* (any season, but I'd prefer to start with one)
4. Pulp Fiction
5. The Borgias Season One* (I've started it!)
6. Girls Season One*
7. The Avengers
8. Crossfire Hurricane
9. Sherlock Holmes (1 and 2 please!)

The one I absolutely want to buy, and I might just give in before I get to Europe is Game of Thrones Season Two. 

ESPECIALLY now that Season Three has started. It's like throwing it in my face every week: "hello, you haven't bought Season Two yet, what are you doing? Don't you want to look at Renly and Loras together again? Remember when Renly was alive, and Loras wasn't  all sad, with his sad little smile and remember when Margaery was married to Renly rather than engaged to the creepy Joffrey?". Yes. I do. However, I would also like to be able to afford food on my three week trip to Europe. Otherwise it might be a little problematic.

Anyway, hopefully sometime later this week I'll be able to write about Game of Thrones a bit more! I've just handed in my last thing before the mid-semester break, so now I'll have some time to sit down and write! How exciting, I know you guys are looking forward to that. 

What DVD's do you guys want to buy at the moment? Or are you like me, and you've banned yourself too?

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