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Movie Review – The Lego Batman Movie

February 24, 2017 by Bel Leave a Comment

As I mentioned in my previous post about Sing, we were lucky enough to see two movies over half term and this was the other movie – The Lego Batman movie. If you have seen the original The Lego Movie, then you may well be prepared for the humour and ridiculousness of The Lego Batman movie, but if not then be prepared!

I want to start by saying, I did really enjoy The Lego Batman movie. It was pretty much exactly what I expected it to be. The humour was there in heaps. But so was the stupidity. If you were to say the movie wasn’t ridiculous in parts, then you’d be lying. That’s not to say it’s a bad thing, but its just a fact. Kids will love it – they will probably even laugh at parts they don’t understand. People who love Batman, will probably love it or hate it. Adults will definitely find humour in it – but may well be divided on whether or not it’s a good movie. There are so many nods to older Batman movies, comics and even the original TV series, that you can’t help but appreciate the effort that has gone into the movie, even if plot is definitely somewhat lacking.

Anyway, the movie is obviously about Batman. He’s a loner. He doesn’t really like people. He doesn’t really do anything other than fight crime, but even then he’s just indifferent about it all. There are so many DC villains in this movie, it’s unreal. The movie really starts with the realisation that Batman just sort of takes everything and everyone for granted and doesn’t even care enough to dislike the Joker – shock horror! This upsets Joker somewhat and sets him on a path to prove that Batman wouldn’t be happy if Joker wasn’t there to be his biggest enemy. The story then gets a little far fetched – but in someways adds more humour, especially with the addition of other bad guys (my favourite being Voldermort). So without spoiling things, the movie twists and turns in a fairly predictable but still enjoyable (and funny) manner, resulting in a sort of sad/happy moment (where some may cry – my kids did – but I didn’t, as it was still a bit stupid).

I’m sure my review doesn’t make it sound great but it also probably doesn’t give it enough credit where credit is due. I laughed. I laughed a lot. I enjoyed it. But it was ridiculous. Would I watch it again? Yeah probably. Would I buy it on DVD? Nope…

Movie Review – Zootopia (or Zootropolis as it is here)

June 9, 2016 by Bel Leave a Comment

This weekend, I finally say Zootropolis! The girls had seen it with their dad when it first came out but I wasn’t too fussed (it was an animal movie after all) so I figured I’d just wait. I wasn’t at all excited by its upcoming announcement and I didn’t actually even watch a trailer until the week the girls went to see it. I have to admit it looked pretty funny and I would have taken them, had their dad not done so first. From what I read online, Zootopia/Zootropolis seemed like it was a big hit (especially Judy) and so I figured I would see it whenever I could. Then at the weekend, Vue showed it on their kids special (£2 each) and so I booked for all 4 of us to go.

Luckily, I wasn’t disappointed. Generally I’m not a fan of animal movies – it doesn’t matter if it’s Lion King, Finding Nemo, Bambi, Dumbo or whatever – I just don’t find them that interesting. However Zootropolis was a lovely surprise.

The thing I love about Disney movies, its their multiple appeal levels. For kids, there is the basic storyline and kids story humor. For older kids there are even world topics like sexism, racism etc. And then for adults there is a whole level of humour and pop culture that goes over most kids’ heads but that we love and appreciate. Zootropolis was just like this and I loved it from start to finish.

Yes, I cried. Several times actually. I loved Judy and of course Nick. I spotted the bad guy quite a way off though, even before it was obvious. The characters were great though and I laughed out loud at several of the sloth scenes.

As always, a highly recommended Disney movie to watch for all the family. Despite having a lead female character, having a male co-star makes this definitely a unisex movie. Disney tackles taboo topics in subtle ways and lets you believe that if a Bunny can be a Cop, you can be anything!

Movie Review – Deadpool

March 4, 2016 by Bel Leave a Comment

Last week on Wednesday, Chris and I finally got around to watching Deadpool. We’d been wanting to see it since release day but for one reason or another, we just never got a chance to go. However we made the most of our Meerkat movies 2 for 1 and headed off to the Vue in Scunthorpe, grabbing some midday tickets in a cinema with no more than 10 people in it!

I always write my movie reviews with no spoilers so of course that limits what I can tell you. However I loved, LOVED this movie and I would recommend it to anyone with a good sense of humour and a dirty mind.

Deadpool, while sort of classed as a superhero, is actually more of an anti-hero. There are parts of the plot that are actually pretty sad – I won’t give anything away if you don’t know about the plot already – but when Wade Wilson (as a regular human) realises his whole world is going to change, it’s kinda upsetting, you can learn character scene study classes LA by clicking here. It’s also sad seeing the transformation, the way he is treated etc. However the thing I love most about Deadpool/Wade Wilson, is that his humour is the same before, as it is afterwards. The person, or the superhero, depending on what you want to call him, is basically the same before and after, he just has kick-ass powers!

The film is funny from start to finish – the opening credits being very amusing with things like “God’s perfect idiot” (that would be Deadpool), “A hot chick,” “A gratuitous cameo” etc. instead of the names of the actual actors. It also says things like written by asshats, produced by idiots etc. The humour continues with references to both Stewart and McAvoy when talking about Professor X, many many references to Wolverine – both the character and his actor, reference to Ryan Reynolds, “Your friendly neighborhood Deadpool”, plus many many more!

Deadpool is a much underated character and while Ryan Reynolds wasn’t fantastic in Blade Trinity or Green Lantern (though I loved it regardless), he was fantastic in his brief cameo in X-Men. I’m so pleased that Deadpool got his own movie as it’s not only hilarious, disgusting and rude, Ryan Reynolds is amazing. It’s not often that I re-watch a movie but I honestly can’t wait for its DVD release as I will be watching it again straight away.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens – Movie Review

December 30, 2015 by Bel Leave a Comment

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!

Week 30 – Monday Round-up

July 27, 2015 by Bel Leave a Comment

This week has been a fab week and I’m hoping there are more to come! I’ve been very well behaved with my diet which is giving the motivation to continue and that in itself makes some days easier! Also the kids broke up from school this week and that has been so nice, spending loads of time together but more importantly, not even needing to get dressed on some days!!

On Monday Megan didn’t feel very well and so the girls didn’t go to school. Sure it was a little naughty to keep Lily off too but we were all wishing we were on Summer Holiday already that we probably needed a day! We were incredibly lazy and did nothing all day. It was actually very nice. However I did manage to get some sewing done and finally finished the Briar Rose cosplay outfit I was working on for Amy.

On the Tuesday, the girls went back to school and Chris was off work so we had one of those days when we got all sorts of little bits done. We took his drum kit to a friend’s house as he was selling it, we went shopping, we went out for lunch and eventually we headed back to pick the girls up from school. It was a nice day but I’d hoped to get loads more sewing done and that didn’t happen! I did however manage a lovely long bath in the evening, a read of my book and an early night.

Wednesday was the girls last day at school, so we headed out with presents and cards galore. Chris was at work all day and I had website training for the Saxilby School website, round at my mum’s house. The training took all morning and then after everyone left, Mum and I had lunch. In the afternoon we headed down to storage to sort it out, as we’re hoping to hand the keys back next week. It didn’t take half as long as we expected so I headed back to mum’s for another cup of tea before eventually going to get the girls. Once I picked them up we popped to the post office, to get petrol and then eventually to Pizza Hut. This is fast becoming our end of term/summer tradition as we’ve now been to Pizza Hut every summer for about the last five years!

When we were finished, we headed home and it was still pretty early (especially since the girls were now on holiday time bed time) and we all settled down to chill. Lily went on her computer, Megan her iPad and I sat down to finish off the book I had been reading on Kindle. When it was time for Lily to head to bed we read some James and the Giant Peach which was the current bedtime read. Megan went a while later and eventually Chris got home from work and we headed to bed not long after.

On Thursday we were all wanting a lazy day (though Chris was at work) and so we did a whole lot of nothing till midday. However we got lunch, got dressed and headed out in the afternoon to get Megan’s ears pierced. She was incredibly brave and I was honestly so surprised. I bought her some extra earrings for when her ears are healed and she is allowed to change them, and also some magnetic ones for Lily so she didn’t feel left out.

Since we’d paid for parking anyway, we went to get coffee from Costa. Megan had a Mint Choc Chip, while Lily had Belgian Chocolate, mine was technically the only coffee as I had a Caramel Latte. We shared a mint choc chip cake too and it was delicious. After we finished out coffee we walked around for a little bit but then headed home. Once we were home we unpacked some boxes from my car and started to go through them. They were a mixture of photos, scrap books and cuddly toys, as well as a box of my old memories, dating right back to school and including school reports and letters I’d received from friends.

The rest of the day was just spend doing out own things, relaxing or getting work done etc. Next came Friday and that started off fairly lazy too. However both the girls needed showers as they were going to their dad’s house and we weren’t sure what the situation was with showering there (they just moved house!). We grabbed showers, packed a bag and then their dad arrived to take them away. Next came a message from Amy to say her and Liv were on time with train and since Chris was going down to catch the train they were getting off, I walked down with him and waited at the station.

Once Amy arrived (and Chris left), we went to Aldi on the way back and then came home. We didn’t do an awful lot with the day, just occupied Liv and chatted to catch up on the last few weeks. Eventually Liv went to bed, we had jacket potatoes for dinner and then chatted some more. The wine came out and Chris arrived home with even more for us. We all sat watching YouTube videos for Five Nights at Freddy’s and it was really nice.

The next day I woke up because Chris had a driving lesson. I got up and started to make some bows for the girls to wear to the cinema that day, but sadly it didn’t work out! The day ended up a bit rushed – heading out to get the girls from their dad, mum getting a flat tyre, coming home to get changed and heading out to the cinema again. However in the end it all worked out and we made it to the movie on time!

Everyone loved Inside Out and I was so glad we’d booked to see it early. To be honest I wouldn’t be surprised if we ended up going to see it again! Once it was done (we stayed till the end but there was no extra clip!) we headed out and went for a walk around Scunthorpe. It wasn’t somewhere I had been before and I was curious as to what shops were available. We popped into Primark (and Chris did CEX) and then wandered back to the car. Even better it was free parking all day Saturday so I think it’s somewhere we would go again.

Picture taken from @livvybirdadventures Instagram

We came back home and once we’d settled, ordered takeaway. It was our one weekend treat but it was so good. There were burgers, chips, pizza, garlic bread and donner kebab. I was stuffed afterwards and knew I’d have put on several pounds! In the evening once everyone was in bed, Amy and I relocated to the dining room and I made the finishing touches to her Briar Rose dress (the zip and hem). After that we were all tired and so headed to bed.

In the morning, the kids all got up and since I stirred I figured I would get up too. Amy and I sat chatting as always and Chris went upstairs to play on his computer. Eventually I had to get the girls ready for going back to their dad’s for the day, so we left around 10.30am. By the time I came back, there wasn’t long before Amy needed to go, so we measured out the Wendy dress pattern so I could get on with that and figured out what else needed doing to her Snow White dress. After that I took Amy and Liv to the station, it was pretty miserable as it was raining. Once they had left, I went to Tesco and did some shopping, coming back and getting myself upset about how empty the house was!

Chris humoured me for a while so I wasn’t lonely but in the end I settled down to do absolutely nothing and just mong on my computer. The girls were back earlier than expected, so I had to figure out dinner for them. Chris went for a bath and the girls and I just spent the evening together. Finally the girls went to bed and Chris and I watched TV (well he did and I continued to do nothing on my computer). It was a nice end to a nice weekend but I’m looking forward to continuing on these nice days, for the next six weeks!