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Movie Review – Star Wars: Rogue One

January 10, 2017 by Bel

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.

Tsum Tsum Tag

May 12, 2016 by Bel

1.How many Tsum Tsum’s have you got?

Lots, far too many to be honest! I think close to 200 though.

2. What was your first?

Our first official Tsum Tsum was bought in Florida. I’m pretty sure it was the Cinderella collection, though we bought so many during the holiday, that I can’t be sure (there were some Toy Story ones from Disney Store and a few from Target). However unofficially I bought Anna and Elsa from Ebay, not realising they were “fan made”, even before we went to Florida.

3. Do you have a full set?

Yes, lots actually. If I like a set, I tend to buy them all as it’s hard not to. However in some cases I will just grab the main characters.

4. What is your favourite set?

When it’s released, Beauty and the Beast will be I’m sure. However in the meantime it’s probably The Little Mermaid or Tangled sets.

5. Who is your most wanted Tsum Tsum?

Belle from BatB when it’s released, but otherwise Hiro and Honey Lemon as we missed them very early on and need them to collect our BH6 collection.

6. What set do you want them to make?

I think Sleeping Beauty would be pretty great, just to get the Fairies and of course Maleficent. Or maybe a Tinker Bell collection that featured her fairy friends. To be honest, once the Beauty and the Beast collection is released, I’ll be happy. (After thought – Hercules!!! I would love that)

7. Do you collect just Disney or do you collect the Star Wars and Marvel ones?

I’m not at all interested in the Star Wars ones and neither are the kids. However I did pick up a few for Chris. He has Boba Fett, Darth Vader, Darth Maul and a Storm Trooper. He also has Venom from the Marvel ones. We do have several of the Marvel ones, especially the Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy, but not all.

8. Do you have any ones from Clintons/Target/Other non Disney Store shops?

I prefer to get them from the Disney Store but our nearest one is over an hour away and postage online can be frustrating. We live 2 minutes away from a Clintons though so often we do grab them there, especially if we missed them at the Disney Store.

9. Do you dislike any Tsum Tsums?

I wouldn’t say I dislike any but I’m less fussed about several. I haven’t got any of the Jungle Book ones, I barely picked up any Nightmare Before Christmas ones and since I haven’t seen Zootropolis yet, I haven’t bought any of those yet either.

10. Who do you think they should have release with previous sets?

Not that I can think of! Thought honestly a part of me wishes there were 101 different dalmatians released. I might actually have been tempted to get them all (even though I definitely can’t afford that!) I do think it’s a shame we don’t always get the whole sets in the UK (King of Hearts from Alice being an example) and also the variants like Halloween versions or whatever else.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens – Movie Review

December 30, 2015 by Bel

As 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.

Rey, 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!

Game Review – Star Wars X-Wing

November 12, 2015 by Bel

This particular Star Wars X-Wing Miniature game (The Force Awakens) is a great fandom themed board game, released perfectly in time for the new Star Wars movie this December. There was a previous version too, based on the older movies and that has been out for a while. X-Wing is a tactical ship-to-ship combat game in which players take control of Rebel and Imperial ships, facing them against each other in space combat.

While I didn’t personally play the game myself, I watched my partner Chris and our mutual friend Jon, play the game together. The game itself isn’t played with a board, but instead on open table space. There are rulers to measure how far a move takes you and you use it from your ship in the direction you wish to travel, to see if you have enough moves to go the distance you want.

While there are a lot of instructions, game play isn’t that difficult once you’ve wrapped your head around it. Each player is allowed a certain amount of hits before they are destroyed but there are ways to use shield and protect yourself, so it isn’t as straight forward as three strikes and you’re out. You need at least 2 players to play, but you can have more – whereby you play in 2 teams. There are also three ships with this base game (2 vs 1) but you can buy extra ships, many of which come with additional cards and changes to the game.

To be honest, this isn’t really my kind of game but I can definitely see why it could be enjoyable. I’m not really a Star Wars fan and perhaps if it was the Star Trek version I would have been more into it, but at the same time I understood it and could easily played myself (and won, duh!). That said, Chris and Jon thoroughly enjoyed it and I know Chris is hoping for some ships in his stocking! The game is priced at £29.99 RRP and if you’re looking to buy it, this is a handy Store Locator link.

My Third Loot Crate (September)

September 24, 2014 by Bel

Yesterday my Loot Crate arrived, this time for September. Unfortunately I missed the delivery and had to pick it up from the Sorting Office today. I was eager to see what was in my box but from the moment I picked it up, it felt very light and rattly. I took the box home and opened it up… this is what I got.

Alright, it looks like quite a lot, but sadly I was a little bit disappointed again. Luckily my rule of thumb with these subscription boxes has been three boxes and then cancel – so being my third box, this will be my last.

The contents were:
– A tribble (Star Trek) a Loot Crate exclusive apparently.
– Star Wars magnet
– Alien figure
– Science Fiction figure, blind box
– Apple Pop Rocks
– Firefly money
– Star Wars poster

I have to admit the Tribble is pretty cool. I like Star Trek and I especially like the original series. I used to have a Pygmy Puff that reminded me of a tribble, so I’m fairly pleased to have this.

A fairly random Star Wars magnet (my magnet was actually upside down and I didn’t even realise till I went to place the picture on my blog). Even Chris wasn’t too fussed about it so sadly it went in the bin.

Of all the figures available, I guess the Alien was perhaps the best pick? I’ve seen the movie(s) and I don’t mind them, but honestly I’m not at all bothered about a figure from them. I passed it on to Chris so I imagine it will join his collection of things I’ve passed his way.

My Science Fiction blind box, could have been one of several random figures – from Firefly, to Aliens, to Predator, to Tron. Out of all the 16 or so options on the side of the box, only 3 of them were things I liked. LUCKILY, by some miracle, the figure I got in my box was one I liked. Malcolm from Firefly. So I guess that’s a win?

To be absolutely honest, he doesn’t look a bit like Mal, but as Chris pointed out, the Daryl in his My Geek Box, didn’t really look like Daryl either.

Apple Pop Rocks. I like Popping Candy and I like Green Apple. These are fine though I often find putting candy in these boxes a bit random. As I’m on a diet though, I passed it on to Lily who ate the majority of it and then passed it on to Chris. This was okay though.

Firefly cash. It doesn’t really have a name I don’t think, just money from the Firefly universe. This is probably my favourite thing from the box but at the same time I’m not entirely sure what I will do with it. Sadly, geek stuff like this, without even an ornamental purpose, just gets shoved in a drawer and never really seen. Not only that, but since Chris bought the Firefly board game at LFCC, the game contains fake money – and smaller at that.

Finally, a Star Wars poster. Han Solo in carbonite. Eh… I don’t even know what I can say. It went in the bin.

So that is the contents of my last Loot Crate. Sadly I’m yet again unsatisfied with this subscription and I’m happy to cancel again. My first box was actually pretty great, with its Villain theme – there was at least a t-shirt that warranted majority of the cost I paid. My second box had a Heroes theme and while there wasn’t that much I liked in it – the Groot Funko made up majority of the cost and I loved it. So for this last box, to only have… well cheap rubbish in it really, I’m more than a little disappointed.

Anyway, that’s me done with Nerd Block and Loot Crate. I’ve also done Birchbox and Glossybox as beauty subscriptions. What will be next you ask? Well you’ll have to wait and see! I have made another subscription though, only yesterday in fact.