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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Star Wars: The Force Awakens – Movie Review

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Star_Wars_The_Force_AwakensAs you know, I like to avoid spoilers in my movie reviews so don’t worry, you won’t find any here. Besides, spoilers for Star Wars seem to pretty much be forbidden and I wouldn’t like to upset anyone!

Yesterday, Chris and I finally made it to the cinema to watch Star Wars: The Force Awakens. I was definitely keen to see it at the cinema and I was more than happy to accompany Chris, but I definitely wasn’t desperate to see it – not really being a Star Wars fan.

Now… before I continue, I do just want to clear up a few things about not being a Star Wars “fan”. I’m not really a fan of much. I love Disney and Harry Potter, then I tend to get into things that come along – love them while they are around and then move on. Divergent, Hunger Games etc. are examples of these things. I have one Harry Potter tattoo and one Disney tattoo and I sort of feel like this sums up my major fandoms. Of course I love and enjoy a lot of other stuff, but these are top. When it comes to Star Wars, I’m just one of those people who likes it but isn’t really into it. I’m pretty sure I was about 16-18 before I saw any of the movies. It wasn’t intentional but I don’t remember my mum or dad being into them so I’m sure that’s partly why. I watched them and that was that. When the newer movies came out (Ep. 1, 2 and 3) I saw each at the cinema because my partner at the time was into them and so that was fine. Again, they were okay but while the modern aspect interested me more, they seemed to be more cheesy. So when new movies were released, I knew I would end up watching them but it didn’t excite me in anyway. As the release day drew near the commercial aspect of it all just made me roll my eyes but I did look forward to seeing the movie. As such, as soon as we’ve been able to go see it, we’ve gone. It was my suggestion, I made sure we were child-free – Chris paid, because for the first time he wanted to see something more than me!

Anyway we headed to the Vue cinema yesterday for 1.30 and I knew there would be trailers and the end time was 4.05. The time genuinely flew by and it didn’t feel like a long movie at all. I cried many times and thoroughly enjoyed it all. I know there will be people that love it and people that hated it, but for me – as a non-fan but not a hated – I really liked it. And I’m sure for fans this will be sacrilegious for me to say so, but it’s my instant favourite.

starwarshorizontalRey, Finn and Poe were by far my favourite characters, with of course a nod to BB8. It was lovely seeing Harrison Ford back in a movie too, as I’ve loved him ever since Indiana Jones. I enjoyed the plot, the little hints at past storyline and I guess what most would explain as the “twist”. I liked Kylo Ren as a bad guy (though Chris didn’t think much to him) and Carrie Fisher as Leia looked so good for age.

On the whole I don’t have any negatives to say about the movie. There was of course one tragically sad part that was great for story but bad for future movies, but I won’t spoil that as I promised! Honestly I rolled my eyes a little at how the movie ended, feeling they could have saved themselves Mark Hamill’s wage packet, for the thirty seconds he was in it, but I suppose the point was to have all three of the originals back (though more if you add Chewy, C-3P0 etc). I loved that General Hux was a Weasley, but I was sad Gwendoline Christie (who is such a bad ass Brienne) played a female Storm Trooper (Captain Phasma) that was just kinda lame.

All in all, a good movie and I would actually happily watch it again. I’m looking forward to the next one, to see where the story will go!

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.

Movie Review: Into the Woods

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As I mentioned last week, during the first 2 weeks of January, I was lucky enough to see both Big Hero 6 and Into the Woods, within the space of seven days. I reviewed Big Hero 6 last week and now I want to talk about Into the Woods. However as with all reviews I make (movies, books etc.) I don’t want to spoil any plot so my review will be of what I enjoyed and what I thought, with no spoiling of plot.

From what I can gather, Into the Woods, is a musical that is usually on at the theatre. I actually hadn’t heard of it before it was made into a movie and I think that’s a shame as I’d actually like to go and see it on Broadway or the West End. However a) it was Disney and b) I’d heard good things, so when c) the trailer looked good – I was booking tickets for the opening weekend!

The movie itself was actually really good. I didn’t know what to expect at all, but basically its a mash-up of Cinderella, Rapunzel, Jack and the Beanstalk and Little Red Riding Hood. It’s set largely around “the woods” and of course the storyline is musically lead. As I mentioned, I hadn’t heard of the actual show, so all I can judge is the movie and to me it was pretty good. As always, Johnny Depp was weird and wonderful in his role as the Wolf. Sadly though, he wasn’t in it for long enough – for my liking. The Baker and his wife were great (I loved both James Corden and Emily Blunt) as was Anna Kendrick as Cinderella (no surprise there). Jack and Little Red were fairly annoying, but perhaps deliberately so and also it didn’t especially matter. Meryl Streep as the Witch was AMAZING but by far my favourite was Chris Pine, but I’ll explain why in a minute. Rapunzel and her Prince were pretty much a waste of time and I was quite annoyed their storyline wasn’t properly tied up. The rest of the cast were pretty good too.

The music… well I’m not sure. A part of me loved it, while a part of me hated it. I can’t deny, majority of it was terribly catchy, though that’s not always a good thing is it? I came out with a feeling that you could sing any words to the same tune, add “into the woods” and you had majority of the songs that were sung. That said “Stay With Me” stood out especially as a song to be enjoyed – even though its a little sad.

The movie was good but the pacing was a little off at times. I enjoyed the first half and as is often the case, I lost all track of time. As such, I began to think the movie was ending, in a part that turned out to only be the middle. After that, some of the movie dragged and while the pacing was on and off, I found myself struggling to get to the end. Plot-wise there are elements that are predictable and others that weren’t. There were sad bits and there were funny bits and overall I would recommend it to see – though nothing would be lost if that was on DVD rather than the cinema.

Without a shadow of a doubt, my favourite part was the one pictures above. There is a scene, where both Princes (they are brothers) come together and discuss their love issues. They both end up singing, one trying to outdo the other and its actually hilarious. The Princes are, for the most part, pompous idiots – but because they are supposed to be, its okay. It was actually quite scary how much Chris Pine reminded me of William Shatner, in his early role as Captain Kirk. He was suave, charming and completely up his own ass. It was wonderful! It actually made me realise why they probably cast Chris Pine as Kirk in the new Star Trek movies.

Anyway, don’t be put off by my review! Sat in the comfort of my own lounge, perhaps I would enjoy the movie more. Like I said, I knew nothing of the plot and after thinking it was almost finished – only to find it was about half way – I probably caused my own decline! I’ll actually definitely be buying it on DVD and I will absolutely be watching it again. Try it out for yourself but don’t feel the need to see it at the cinema – would be my advise.

Disney Countdown – Days 86 – 80

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Monday (86) – Jan 5th – Draw or Make Disney
Tuesday (85) – Jan 6th – Read a Disney book
Wednesday (84) – Jan 7th – Watch Tinker Bell & the Pirate Fairy Play Tsum Tsum
Thursday (83) – Jan 8th – Play a Disney Game
Friday (82) – Jan 9th – Make Disney themed food
Saturday (81) – Jan 10th – Paint Cinderella peg doll
Sunday (80) – Jan 11th– Watch a “random” Disney movie

This week has felt very busy and incredibly tiring, due to it being the first week back at school for the kids. Even though I’m not currently working, I’ve still felt just as tired – making me wonder how I even functioned before. Monday was make or draw Disney and Lily opted for making a picture on her computer while Megan sat down to actually sketch. As always, Megan made a beautiful drawing, this time of Mickey Mouse. Tuesday the girls were with their dad after school and it was the first day back at school. Luckily the task was read Disney, meaning when they got home we could all snuggle up in Lily’s bed and read a Bedtime Story. We’re now onto the second Never Girls story and its called “The Space Between”. On Wednesday we were due to watch Tinker Bell & the Pirate Fairy but as we’d watched it recently as a “random” pick, we decided we’d watch Snow White as we’d skipped it last Sunday in favour of Big Hero 6. However in the end we were all exhausted and just wanted to sit and do nothing. Both girls ended up on the sofa, on iPads, playing Tsum Tsum so we classed this as our Disney task for the day.

Ironically the next day’s task was play a Disney game. The girls were ready early for school so Lily got in half an hour of Disney Infinity before school. The girls were both staying at mum’s that night so I dropped off Megan’s iPad there for her and she played Tsum Tsum again after school. I believe she also got my mum sucked into it! When the girls got back from school on Friday we discovered our task was to make Disney themed food. We didn’t have much in and it was very last minute so we settled for making Mickey Mouse shaped cupcakes. Sadly we didn’t have time to decorate them and although we vowed to do so the next day, the temptation to eat them for breakfast got the better of us and they were gone before we got around to it! Saturday the task was to paint the next peg doll, this time it was Cinderella. Since Megan had the blues and yellows out anyway, Lily decided to paint an Elsa figure which we’d bought in a sale, just before Christmas. Finally, Sunday’s task and when we looked it was to watch a “random” Disney movie. Luckily we had tickets booked to watch “Into the Woods” at the cinema, so we used this as our task for the day, since it is a Disney movie.

As always, every day is full of Disney, not just the tasks we’ve set ourselves to do. Megan and I attempted making Disney bows this week and though it was pretty tricky at times, we had a lot of fun!

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