Journeys Are My Diary

Life, Adventures, Entertainment and more - A little bit of everything blog!

Movie Review – Sing

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During February half term, we have been lucky enough to see not one, but two family movies. The first of which was “Sing”. This was by far my favourite of the two and the one I was looking forward to the most.

It is not really a secret, that I love the X Factor and have watched it ever since the first series. Many other similar competitions have come and gone, but they never really grab me. Truth be told, I know it can be a bit rubbish and it takes a lot of flack from many people who watch (or don’t as the case may be). That doesn’t change the fact I enjoy it and will probably continue to watch it for as long as it remains on TV. So in November/Decemeber, when trailers started to appear for Sing, I thought it looked like an animated version of X Factor and truthfully I wasn’t that wrong.

The basic plot line is about a theatre, owned by a koala called Buster Moon. Over the years he’s been fairly unsuccessful with his endeavors, until he decides to host a singing competition and offer a reward of $100,000 (this was accidental, it should have been $1,000). There are huge amounts of talent that apply, but plenty of ridiculous acts too. There is a funny montage of auditions which reminds me very much of reality shows or even the scene in Pitch Perfect. Anyway a few acts are sort listed and these will be the main contestants of the show.

There are several side plots – each of the contestants have a home life or another story running alongside the main one. There is of course the discovery of the prize money being less than stated, the theatre struggling with money and even the whole thing coming unraveled. But of course there is a happy ending and I’m not ashamed to say I cried. I cried a lot actually. Overall the general plot was a bit predictable but the side plots at least gave some twists. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie and would recommend it to everyone who at least has a tolerance for talent shows with a sense of humour.

Movie Review – A Monster Calls

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It’s been over a week since I saw “A Monster Calls” so this review might be a little brief. However I didn’t want it to pass by completely without a mention. For a start, us going to see A Monster Calls was also a “date” for Megan as we picked up her boyfriend Daniel and took him with us to the cinema. They sat together as a couple and Lily and I sat together separately.

As I mentioned in my “Movies to look out for in 2017“, I didn’t know a whole lot about A Monster Calls. Megan had read it at school in English, which is how it ended up on my radar and then I realised it was being released as a movie very soon. I also saw a trailer that explained how Patrick Ness had actually taken the idea of another lady (Siobhan Dowd) after she died, having decided it was too good to just let slip away, and make it into a novel himself – obviously giving credit to her. With that in mind, I was keen to see the movie and although I thought it might be sad, I was still looking forward to it.

This movie did not disappoint one bit. In fact, it was possibly the best movie I have seen ever – or at least certainly in a very long time, excluding Disney which I love regardless. The basic storyline (with no spoilers) is about a boy called Connor, whose mum has cancer and is progressively getting worse. The “monster” is a nearby tree that comes to life (perhaps really, perhaps in a dream, perhaps just in his imagination) and helps Connor come to terms with what is happening in his life, specifically with his mum. The story is truly heartbreaking and if you can make it through without crying, I’m not sure if you are just cold hearted or deserving of my respect. I sobbed fairly constantly from the middle onwards and by the end I had even given myself a headache. I liked that the movie was British, I absolutely loved Liam Neeson and overall it was just a fantastic movie. Despite being somewhat predictable, it didn’t take away from the story at all and I can see why its a book that would be studied at school. There are many different layers to the story, lessons to be learned and symbolism to be analysed. I probably won’t ever read the book now I’ve seen the movie but I’m convinced it would be fantastic and would recommend it to anyone.

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Movie Review – Star Wars: Rogue One

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Yesterday, Chris and I went to see Star Wars: Rogue One. I’ve never really been a Star Wars fan (I don’t hate it, I just was never fussed) but I have seen all the movies. Last year I went with Chris to see Star Wars: The Force Awakens and really enjoyed it, but I wasn’t especially fussed about Rogue One. I have to admit to being pleasantly surprised though.

When the movie first started, I wasn’t particularly sold on Jyn’s character. It wasn’t that I didn’t like her but I do worry if we’re just getting female leads (like Rey too) because we’ve tolerated male heroes for so long. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all pro equal rights, but I just don’t want it to be a girl for token sake, rather than because they are genuinely the right person to be the lead. Anyway, Jyn just reminded me of Katniss Everdeen so I wasn’t really sold and in fact the first half of the movie didn’t really grab me. I cry at nearly every movie I ever watch and so when I tell you I didn’t cry when a certain person died on Eadu, you might be a little surprised.

However, when Jyn and Cassian go at each other on the way back to the council, and you’re kind of on both people’s side at the same time, it’s pretty obvious that Jyn is now going to start helping. Her speech at the council was actually quite emotional (despite being very typical of movies) and from then on, she was onboard and so was I. The gang getting together and becoming “Rogue One”, almost made me cry in itself but when it all really got going and everyone banded together, that definitely got me. I love a good villain and I’ve always been a champion of bad guys, but there is something about the Rebellion, that just gets me. The way that people fight, knowing there is a high chance they will die, is just very refreshing.

That said, and I don’t like to write these posts with spoilers, I was definitely surprised by many of the deaths on Scarif. I even leant over to Chris and said “its like Game of Thrones, no one is safe”. For the most part, I expected the storyline that happened and not just because you know what happens in the next movie. However there were several parts, especially deaths, that I didn’t. As I already mentioned, I loved the banding together of EVERYONE and the way they worked together to get the data out (and then even to safety in the big reveal last scene). I sobbed at the deaths, especially the (most?) surprising couple on the beach towards the end. It was completely devastating how it ended on Scarif to be honest, but somehow refreshing that it didn’t have a neatly tied up bow at the end too.

For me, the stand out performances were definitely Cassian and of course K-2S0 (he was amazing and hilarious and another sob!). The rest of the team making up Rogue One were pretty awesome too, the pilot, blind guy and his sidekick protector. I’ve never really followed the thread of who’s in charge when it comes to the Dark Side (it’s confused me through both the first trilogy and the second) so I can’t really comment on those (I don’t even know who is who) but Darth Vader was pretty cool. Watching 4-6 I never really understood how he was considered scary, because the movies always just seemed a bit outdated (I was in my twenties watching them) but I could definitely see it in this movie. However my biggest shoutout, has to be to a nostalgic feel. While the movie was made now, it didn’t feel too new. The pilots (fighting in and out of Scarif) all felt very much like they had in 4-6, as did Darth Vader. I loved that the filming just didn’t smack of better graphics, cgi etc all because it was made now and not then.

Overall I enjoyed the film a lot, though not as much as The Force Awakens (despite that feeling very NOW and modern and new by comparison to the other movies). I did like the way it fills the gap between 3 and 4, though honestly I still try and forget 1-3 exist.

Movie Review – Minions

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Last weekend we decided to go and see the Minions movie. Lily was going with a friend whose birthday party it was and so Megan and I went together too. We technically saw the same screening, though Megan and I sat separately from Lily and her friends. I had high hopes for the movie as I loved Despicable Me and while I didn’t think the sequel was as good, I still enjoyed it.

Sadly, I didn’t really enjoy the Minions movie. Yes there were funny parts and yes they were even laugh out loud, but for the most part, in my opinion, the movie was seriously lacking.

I will try not to spoil the movie too much for you, but these are my thoughts. Those of you who have seen the trailer that involves Minions looking for a boss – from the T-Rex, to Cavemen, to the Egyptians, to Count Dracula and so on, well you’ve already seen the first ten minutes of the movie. You’ve also seen the only part of the movie that really involves Minions as a plural and not just the specific three – Bob, Kevin and Stuart. The rest of the movie pretty much focuses solely on these three characters and their journey to find a new boss.

The story is average and if you’ve seen more than one trailer, you may even guess about Scarlet Overkill and how she is the boss the Minions hope to get. There is the odd twist here and there but for the most part it’s predictable. Right at the end, the plural Minions come back into it and there is another good five minutes or so of story as Gru arrives and opens up the storyline that leads into Despicable Me. However, none of it is great, a lot of it is actually quite boring and while kids might enjoy it on a surface level, my two also said that it was alright, nothing special.

If you like Minions, you’ll probably like this movie. If you love Minions, you might even love this movie. However if you like a half decent movie with a half decent plot, give this one a miss. Sure it would be worth a watch on DVD, when you’re not paying almost £10 each to visit the cinema, but otherwise you’re really not missing anything. Sorry Minions, I like you a lot but without Gru and with this particular plot, it just didn’t cut it.

Week 22 – Monday Round-up

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Hello, me again! It’s Monday round-up time again. A fab week this week, largely because it was filled with birthday celebrations, but also because it was both bank holiday weekend and half term, so loads of family/kids time! After a weekend away, Monday kicked off with a bank holiday day. The girls were both going to their dad, so Chris and I drove over to Lincoln to meet their dad at McDonalds and do the passover. We missed McDonalds breakfast sadly but after dropping off the kids we instead headed over to get Starbucks coffee and then wander around some stores together. I ended up buying a sewing book and a very early stocking filler gift for my mum! Chris bought us some new bedding for our bed. Chris and I then headed home and I spent the day relaxing and watching TV, while he made quiche! We didn’t really do an awful lot useful (except change the bedding and soft furnishings of course) but it was nice to spend time together without the kids around.

Next morning, Chris was at work early so I got a bit of a lay-in and then went to pick the girls up from their dad. On the way back we went to do the weekly shop and also picked up some food for my birthday murder mystery at the weekend. We came home and really just chilled out (same as most days to be honest) but it was nice having nothing to do for the first time so far in the half term break. On Tuesday night I convinced my two best friends into getting a tattoo with me on my birthday. I sorted out pics of what they wanted and contacted a tattoo artist for prices. I booked our appointment and got everything sorted.

Wednesday was a lovely day, spent completely at home. During the majority of the day, I worked on a new business idea, texting back and forth with Amy and doing research on the internet. I also spent some time working on and thinking about my blog. However in the afternoon I actually did some DIY in the house, with the help of the girls, laying some lino in the doorway. I was fairly impressed with how it turned out and the girls were so helpful, also helping me tidy and hoover around downstairs. I spent the evening having a bath and enjoying a new bubble bar called Big Bang which I’d bought from Lush at the weekend.

The next day was MY BIRTHDAY! It started off early as Chris had to go to work, then the girls brought me breakfast in bed which was lovely. Eventually we got up and went downstairs, the two of them having a bath while I relaxed and spent some time online. Once the girls were out of the bath, I got them dressed, straightened my hair and did my makeup. We then headed out to pick Amy up from the station, popped back home briefly and then went out to my mum’s for lunch. Mum made steak sandwiches with onions and mushrooms, she even got a cake. My sister was there so it was nice to see them both on my birthday. Afterwards we headed to Lincoln and to the cinema to see Tomorrowland. This was my main birthday treat and event, spent with Amy and the kids.

After the cinema, mum came to pick the kids up as Amy, Nat and I were going to get a tattoo. A little while ago I posted on Twice the Mum about wanting another tattoo and that it would be Disney themed. Shortly after the post I made a decision to have one of the ones I’d picked out in that post. I then decided it would be great if I had it done on my birthday. Knowing both Amy and Nat were wanting tattoos as well, I convinced them both into getting one that day. Amy and I headed down to the tattoo studio and met up with Nat, going in together. Amy went first as she was nervous – it was her first tattoo and she was obviously worried. Luckily it wasn’t anywhere near as bad as she’d thought. I went next, my Beauty and the Beast tattoo already being printed out and ready to go. It took much longer than my last tattoo (though still not long) and hurt a little more. I was quite proud of myself for being okay with it, since I’m awful with pain too. Finally Nat went last and after about an hour, we were all done.

Nat gave Amy and I a lift down the road and then we walked the rest of the way back to my car. Chris had finished work by that point and so met us there. We picked the kids up from my mum, popped via the storage unit for the murder mystery decorations and then headed home. The girls got ready for bed and I ordered takeaway. Nat came round after a little while and Amy, Nat and I spent the evening hanging out until eventually heading to bed.

Friday was a fairly busy day, starting with food shopping for my murder mystery that night and then cooking and tidying the house. At 4pm we headed out, dropping the kids with my mum and then going on to the cinema, where Amy and I met up with Nat again – this time to see Pitch Perfect 2 (it was awesome). Nat and I always go to the cinema together, as I’m sure you know, and since Amy was down and child-free it seemed like a good idea to cram it all in. Once the movie finished however we all rushed to go our separate ways as we still had a murder mystery to get ready for.

When Amy and I got back to my house, we quickly set the table and put some of the food into the oven. We then went to get changed, people arriving every now and again. By 9pm everyone was here and we settled in for photos, eating and then the murder mystery. It was a fun evening, even though the murder mysteries are fairly dull, and I was so glad I decided last minute to have the party. It was well past midnight by the time everyone headed off and we all went to bed. In addition, Nat wrote about Thursday and Friday in her blog post today.

As Amy was leaving early in the morning, I got up a bit earlier than I might have, just to make sure I said goodbye. Chris and I had a cup of tea and then he left for work not that long after either. I spent the morning still in my PJs, waiting for mum to bring the kids home. She stopped for lunch so we all sat down and enjoyed salt and pepper tiger bread sandwiches, followed by cake. Mum stopped for a while into the afternoon and eventually headed off. At that point none of us felt like doing anything so we just hung out, not doing much, though I did work on my new business idea. Chris came home eventually and we watched some TV together before heading off to bed.

Finally it was Sunday and the end of half term, sadly. We made the most of one more day of doing nothing, though I did work on a new website/business idea which is still in progress and can be found at www.ClosetGeek.co.uk On top of that I sorted out washing, tidied the dining room etc. In the afternoon the girls did their homework and I worked on a cosplay outfit for Amy – ordering a pattern and, later in the evening, ordering some material. Around teatime, Chris, the girls and I all watched The Emperor’s New Groove and ordered takeaway. We then watched Wolverine. Once the girls were both in bed, Chris took a bath and I watched some TV. After he was out of the bath, we watched some TV together and then headed to bed.

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It was a good week, lovely to spent time with the girls and Chris, but also because Amy came over and I got time with Nat too. A night with my friends was just what was needed and all in all it was a good birthday week and a week off school. Looking forward to what the coming week brings as I have a lot of stuff planned for my new site.

Movie Review: Disney’s Cinderella (motion picture)

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On Saturday we went to see Cinderella at the cinema and it was amazing! It was so much better than I expected and I would recommend ANYONE to go and see it.

To be absolutely honest with you, when I found out they were making a Cinderella motion picture, I wasn’t really that bothered. I was sure it would be nice and of good quality, but it was unlikely to be twist on the fairytale (like Maleficent was) and therefore didn’t really hold much interest. However, when it was announced that the Frozen Fever short would be at the beginning of it, I knew that it would probably be something we’d end up going to see. In the end, my mum said she wanted to go and even offered to pay, so the deal was signed and sealed – we’d be going.

Well! I can’t stress enough, just how fantastic the movie and the experience was. Frozen Fever was brilliant. I’m sick up to here *motions way past the top of my head* of Frozen but this short actually restored all my love of it. I remembered how much I liked Anna and Elsa, how funny Olaf is and of course how adorable Hans *edit, typo* Kristoff is. In just 10 minutes I was totally back on board the Frozen bandwagon and even laughing out loud. Bravo Disney!

Then came Cinderella. Well… beautiful, breathtaking, emotional roller coaster. That’s what it was. Forgetting the Disney ever made an animation of Cinderella (though there were clever references to it) this movie was just the most amazing re-telling of the Cinderella story and I loved it. I cried at ALL the sad bits and even at several happy bits. I didn’t expect to enjoy Lily James as Cinderella but I loved her. I didn’t care but for the Prince either (in the trailers I’d seen) but he was amazing too and I was sold on wanting my own Prince Charming afterwards. Not to mention (and how I didn’t know before I’m really not sure) Prince Charming is Rob Stark from GoT and he was DREAMY. Helena Bowen Carter as the Fairy Godmother seemed like such a ridiculous choice when I heard about it but she was amazing too and I wouldn’t fault her as a choice at all. Everything I thought I would hate, I loved and it was just great.

I really don’t want to spoil anything but honestly I loved it, the kids loved it, my mum loved it and it was great. I do think there is an age restriction on it’s enjoyment, just like any motion picture (kids just don’t get into them as much as animations) but I wouldn’t like to say what that age is as all kids are different. It’s definitely not a boys movie though I’m afraid but if you can persuade your guy or son etc into going, they probably would still enjoy it. If you haven’t seen it, then please do. If not at the cinema, then at least get it on Sky or DVD or something!

13/52

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Loads of lovely pictures to choose from this week but I picked this as it was a lovely unexpected moment. We went to see Cinderella at the Odeon in Lincoln and Cinderella was there to great people. It was a lovely touch and even nicer for us as we’ll be doing it for real in a few days time when we get to Florida!

A day of Sequels, thanks to Orange Wednesday

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I know many of you are waiting patiently for pics of my new house, plus “from disaster to decorated” progress shots. However “houses” are pretty much a swear word with me right now, as the tenancy on my old one comes to an end and the landlady shows her true colours. As such, today the whole family took a well deserved break from any decorating, moving, unpacking, cleaning etc. Today we went to the movies!

Its very rare that we go to the cinema and when we do, the majority of the time its to see a movie the kids would like to see. We do go outside of that, but rarely. Anyway, with it being Summer Holidays there are of course a lot of kids movies out. So today we saw not one, but two movies – both of which are sequels to other movies we had also seen at the cinema.

First up came Smurfs 2.
 

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I’m not going to get into synopsis and storyline, because I’m sure if you want to see them, then you’ll be doing so anyway. And if you’re not interested, then it won’t matter to you anyway! At 11.40am we headed into the movie, caught all the adverts and trailers, then watched Smurfs 2. I’m not going to lie, I didn’t think it was as good as Smurfs, but it was pretty good. The storyline was good, though there was just something a little lacking, that the first movie definitely captured. That said, Neil Patrick Harris was in it, so it didn’t matter as I love him and loved it.

We headed out of the cinema at around 2pm and wandered into Lincoln for some food. We ended up in McDonalds, Lily getting a Happy Meal. As there was a voucher on the box for a book at £1, we then headed around to WH Smith’s, to get said book. They girls had both got a Smurf from McDonalds anyway, so it was nice to get them a storybook, as they had both thoroughly enjoyed the movie too.

We headed back to the cinema for 4.40pm, this time to see Despicable Me 2.

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This was a movie we had wanted to see for a long time. I love the minions and some of the trailers had looked hilarious. I’m not going to lie though, pretty much all the funny bits were actually in the trailers, there wasn’t much to chuckle at outside of that. However that said, you still chuckled at those bits you’ve seen in the trailer and generally it was a very funny and enjoyable movie.

Discussing it afterwards with the kids, as tends to be the way (especially with Megan) we all had differing opinions. I personally preferred the originals of each movie – the first Despicable Me and the first Smurf movie. Megan preferred the sequels we had seen today. When deciding between the ones we’d seen today, I picked Smurfs 2 as my favourite, while Megan picked Despicable Me 2.

Overall though, we had a great day as a family and everyone enjoyed themselves. I was a bit worried that two movies in a day would be too much for the kids, but honestly I wouldn’t hesitate to do it again. I’m so glad we took the day off everything stressful, just to have a lovely family day. It ended for me as I arrived home to another landlord email, but forgetting that I’ve had a great day. I’ll just be glad once this week is over and I can hand back the keys, though I imagine there will be plenty of disputing over my deposit… oh well.

I’m gonna wreck it!!!

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Today we (me, my partner and my two daughters) went to see ‘Wreck-It Ralph’. I’m sure its not a spoiler and not even a surprise, to hear that it was awesome! In fact both myself and my eldest daughter ended up crying at the end, only for her to tell me – as the credits scrolled – “I want to watch it again!”

This movie is perfect for all ages. My youngest daughter who is 4 (almost 5) sat quietly and watched the whole thing without fidgeting. My eldest daughter who is 8, cried as I just mentioned and said she wanted to see it again. They both loved it. My partner who isn’t massively into Disney, also loved it – probably especially because of all the retro gaming references.

A video game villain wants to be a hero and sets out to fulfill his dream, but his quest brings havoc to the whole arcade where he lives. 

The story begins in an arcade, centered around all the different arcade games in there. They are all linked together via their power cables, with plug extensions acting as stations. ‘Wreck-It Ralph’ is the supposed bad guy, who just wants to be a good guy. Without spoiling any sort of a plot, the storyline follows Ralph through his “quest” to earn a medal and show everyone he can be a hero. However in crossing over into the ‘Hero’s Duty’ game, then on into ‘Sugar Rush’, Ralph manages to cause no end of problems, but of course gets a happy ending too.

As always Disney Pixar manages to create a story and movie that consists of two levels. The simple face value level that children love and understand, along with the higher level aimed at adults. If you have ever played on old-fashioned arcade games and retro computer games (such as Atari, Amiga, Sega, SNES etc.) you will love so much about this movie. To be honest though even if you haven’t, you will still love ‘Wreck-It Ralph’ just for its amazing Disney-esque quality.

If you were even slightly tempted to see this movie, I definitely recommend you do. AND if you own an iPod, iPhone or iPad you can also play ‘Fix-It Felix Jnr’ (the arcade game that Wreck-It Ralph is found in) for free.

If you love that, there is an app for £1.49 (I think) that incorporates the ‘Fix-It Felix’ game, another based around the trees in Sugar Rush called ‘Sweet Climber’, another based on Hero’s Duty and another based on Turbo’s racing game (I’d spoil the movie if I explained that!). There is also apparently a “coming soon” game to this compilation, I would imagine based on Sugar Rush too.

There are loads of great characters in this movie and I don’t doubt for a second that some of them will end up residing in our house, along with the DVD when it’s released. I have to admit that my favourites were those of  Calhoun (voiced by the amazing Jane Lynch), Vanellope (said like Penelope, but Van-elope) and of course Ralph himself. A small part of me is hoping that Disneyland Paris (which we visit this week) has some of the merchandise from this movie already!

One of my favourite parts of the movie, was definitely the Bad Anon meeting at the beginning. However I think its a shame that its also most overplayed, by acting as the main trailer for this movie. That said there were plenty of other good parts, many laugh out loud moments and definitely (in my opinion) a few tear jerking bits.
So what are you waiting for? Go watch it… now!!