Movies I watched: March + April

Hello Friends!

I'm back again with some movie reviews!

Frozen (2013)

Everyone has been talking about this movie for AGES, so when it was on the big screen during my flight home I decided to finally watch it all the way through! Caroline (the girl I nanny for) has been obsessed with it, and will not stop singing Let It Go, so I guess it was about time! I did really enjoy it, but I think my expectations must have been too high, because I wasn't as into it as I expected to be! I liked the overall message, and Hans is such a great character. The soundtrack is really great, it's perfect for doing housework and singing along to. But yeah, I didn't love it as much as I expected to.

Captain Phillips (2013)

This is another movie they showed on my plane to Sydney, and while I didn't really intend to watch it, this is one of those movies where once you've started watching it, you literally can't tear your eyes away until you find out what happens. In fact, I needed to go to the bathroom really badly about 3/4 of the way through, but couldn't move because I HAD TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED. I think this movie was really well done, they kept the suspense up really effectively, and Tom Hanks was (as he is in literally everything) completely fabulous. Of course it's completely one sided, but I didn't really care, I was just so relieved that it was finally OVER. 

Saving Mr Banks (2013)

As a huge fan of both Mary Poppins and Disney, I'd been meaning to see this movie, but never found the time, until my flight to Vancouver! This movie is magical and I love it so much and if I could I'd watch it again tomorrow I love it so much. I love it so much I've started writing in run on sentences. Now, I'm not saying that it's a great movie, or an honest movie, or anything like that - I just love it. Mary Poppins (the movie) was a big part of my childhood, and I can sing along to pretty much all the songs word-for-word. This movie tells the story of how Walt Disney got P.L. Travers to sell him the rights to the movie. She was very protective of Mary Poppins, and hated musicals and animation, so was wary of Disney from the start. We see why Mary Poppins is so precious to her through flashbacks to her own childhood growing up in rural Queensland. Despite the fact that the title gives away the movies punchline, it is, in my opinion, completely wonderful. Tom Hanks is a fantastic Disney, but honestly the whole cast is amazing. I am not personally a fan of Paul Giamatti, but he is does an absolutely wonderful job in this. B.J. Novak (author of one of the books I read this month!) and Jason Schwartzman are completely amazing, and it was so fun to see Bradley Whitford in something other than the West Wing! I'm not going to say anymore because... well because I've gushed enough! But I really love this movie. 

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013)

Another movie I watched on a plane! And another I'd been intending to watch for ages! I really, really love this movie. It encourages adventurousness and imagination and impulsiveness and it's really, really wonderful. It stars Ben Stiller and Kristen Wigg, both of whom are brilliant, and it was so fun to see Adam Scott (Ben Wyatt in Parks and Rec) playing a mean guy! The soundtrack to this movie is absolutely beautiful, and features the David Bowie song Space Oddity used perfectly. The movie is visually stunning, and shows so many beautiful places around the world. This movie is really fun, really beautiful, and has a perfect soundtrack. You should see it.

Richie Rich (1994)

Okay, so this movie is generally considered to be really terrible, but I watched it when I was a kid and am unnaturally attached to it. Yes, it's completely ridiculous and silly, but I love it. He has his own McDonalds! They put foam in the fountains! They have an artist carve their faces into a mountain and call it Mount Richmore. What more could you want?? (I also watched this on the plane).

The Book Thief (2013)

This was the second time I watched this movie and I think I loved it more the second time. Don't get me wrong, I loved it the first time too, but the Book Thief is my favourite book (favourite ever, of all time) and I found it difficult to adjust to the sound of Death's voice. This movie is absolutely brilliant, and while nothing will ever be able to compare to the book, this is one of the best book-to-movie adaptations I've ever seen. If you haven't read the book I highly recommend you do, and then go see the movie! I had a lot of doubts about the casting, and while some of the characters don't visually match their descriptions, the actors have all managed to capture their spirits very well. Max in particular is completely brilliant and I love him and I'm not going to talk about it any more because if I do I'll cry. Just see this, please. (After you've read the book, obviously).

Mean Girls (2004)

I'm not ashamed to say that I love this movie A LOT. Tina Fey wrote it, and it stars both her and Amy Poehler. It is a masterpiece. Mean Girls is so funny and clever and memorable that it is still constantly quoted. My generation is obsessed with it, for good reason. Love it forever.

Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier (2014)

It's no secret that I love Captain America very, very much - he is my favourite super hero by FAR (he was already a hero before he got super serum-ed) (let's not talk about it), so I was expecting to like this movie - and I did! It's nothing miraculous, a lot of it is very predictable, and the twists were really obvious, but it was a really fun superhero movie, and it introduced a totally badass new character (Sam is my favourite). The Black Widow continued being amazing, and the movie basically completely changed the game for all future Marvel movies involving SHIELD. Yay!

Divergent (2014)

This movie is based on one of my favourite book series, and so I had high expectations. It's a trilogy of books, and the first one is amazing (and will blow your mind). The 2nd & 3rd go downhill (and the third book actually ends up going into totally bizarre territory) much like the Hunger Games series, but they're definitely still worth reading (in my opinion). Divergent was the first movie I ever went and saw by myself in a theatre, and I really, really enjoyed the whole experience. I really, really like the way they adapted this book! I think having Veronica Roth, the author of the books, producing would have really helped. I think they did a fantastic job. They made it a lot more of an action movie, and took away some of the more interesting character rivalries, but they did a good job. Despite leaving out several of my favourite scenes and quotes. This is a good movie! Yay for good movies! 

View from the Top (2003)

This is an old Gwyneth Paltrow movie I remember watching once with my Aunt & Uncle when I was babysitting for them. It's super corny, and is generally considered to be a really terrible movie (it has a 14% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes!). One critic said "The characters have no wit or charm, the plot has no conflict or development, nothing happens for any reason." Ouch! Nevertheless, I love watching bad movies, especially when I've had a bad day! This movie also stars the adorable Mark Ruffalo, and was really fun to watch. It's definitely not good, but it's fun.

The Sweetest Thing (2002)

Another bad movie, this was the first "raunchy" movie I ever saw, it was shown on TV one night and I accidentally tuned in. It's again, another fun movie, with a weird romance. But it has 3 girls having fun, and introduced me to the Pina Colada song, so I love it. 

America's Sweethearts (2001)

This movie is another fluffy movie I used to love, it doesn't stand up particularly well to rewatching, but it's nice enough. I love Julia Roberts and would watch whatever she was in, no matter how terrible (same goes for Tom Hanks). Billy Crystal basically is just Billy Crystal, Catherine Zeta-Jones plays a witchy A-lister, and it's all pretty predictable. 

That's all for now! 

Love
Jess