The “superman” of the Marvel comic world finally got her own film, and quite honestly, it delivered! Now I think I may have went in with the bar set a little lower due to other reviews I read and the social media reaction, but I was thoroughly entertained. And that is what movies are supposed to do!
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Singles of the Week
I’ve decided that since I love music, I’d let you all know what I’ve been jamming to during the week!
Read moreTelevision Round-Up
This week in television, for me at least, saw two season finales, a season premiere, and some great episodes all around! See below for my brief takes on all!
Read moreAlbum Review: I Don’t Know How But They Found Me’s 1981 EP
What does Dallon Weekes of Panic! at the Disco noteriety plus Ryan Seaman of Falling in Reverse fame equal? A ridiculously long titled band called I Don’t Know How But They Found Me. And wouldn’t you know, their new EP isn’t even made up of words, called 1981. Fascinating.
Despite all of that potentially unnecessary, but fun, wordplay I really liked this six-track EP! If I had to give a gut genre labeling I would call them disco cabaret. Is that a thing? I have no clue, but it is now! It was a nice mix of both and the composition and lyrics were really fun, albeit a little morbid (“Choke”, for sure). One of those six tracks is a 30 second intro, but it bled nicely into their lead single, the aforementioned, “Choke.” It’s a standout for sure, but I found myself really enjoying “Do It All the Time” and “Social Climb.”
I’m definitely looking forward to more music from these two in the future and hopefully a tour!
Greta Movie Review
In a shocking turn of events, I only saw one movie this weekend! I know. I’m as disappointed in me as you must be. Even though I only saw one movie this weekend, I made it count with the campy thriller, Greta, starring Chloe Grace Moretz and Isabelle Huppert.
Read moreAwards Season Finale: The Oscars
Folks! It finally came! The end to awards season, The Academy Awards. And they did not disappoint. I’m going to recap my thoughts, favorite and most awkward moments for you all below, as well as my thoughts on those that took home the hardware.
Despite not having a host this year, the show went pretty smooth in my opinion. No listening to jokes that might not land or an over the top opening number/monologue. Just getting straight into presenting awards after an opening performance from Queen with Adam Lambert. That performance fell a little flat for me, but I still enjoyed it.
Read moreBook Review: Me Before You
It’s been a long time coming for me to read this romance novel by Jojo Moyes, and I can see why I put it off. It’s freaking sad! Like devastatingly sad! And if you haven’t seen the movie that came out based on this novel three years ago, then shame on you and too bad for spoilers.
The book starts with Louisa, “Lou,” losing her job at a cafe. After failing at some oddball jobs she finally lands a job as more of a companion for quadriplegic Will Traynor. Will is as bitter as ever against Lou’s typically sunny outlook on life that she almost quits. But she’s the sole financial provider for her family, so she is determined to stick it out. That’s when she overhears some jarring news: in six months time, Will is heading to Switzerland to end his life with dignity. After learning this, Lou fights tooth and nail to get him to change his mind, but rather unsuccessfully for the most part. Cue the romance part of this novel: they fall in love. Then cue the awful part of this novel: he still chooses to die! Talk about making yourself feel shitty! I will say I was glad I watched the movie when it came out because otherwise there would have been a lot more tears.
Despite its seriously depressing ending, I do feel compelled to read its two sequels: After You and Still You. I’ll be sure to review if I do!
Weekly Movie and TV Round-Up
Lucky for you all I had a pretty packed week of content, and I intend to share. It will be a brief sharing, because let’s be real, you’re more interested in what I have to say about the Oscars (hopefully).
First up in movies this weekend was At Eternity’s Gate starring Willem Dafoe as Vincent van Gogh during the final few years of his life. Look, Willem Dafoe has such a distinct looking face that I never realized how perfect he was to play van Gogh! The movie itself had a pretty slow pace, but outstanding performances including Oscar Isaac as Gauguin and Rupert Friend as van Gogh’s brother, Theo. It was great glimpse into the mind of a man suffering and longing to dispel his loneliness with friendship. Dafoe’s performance almost had me convinced he was going to take the Oscar away from Rami Malek or Christian Bale.
Next I headed to the theater for a double feature. First up was Fighting with My Family about real-life WWE star Paige and her path to stardom. It was a really earnest film about the close and strange relationship Paige (played by my new favorite Florence Pugh) has with her family. It also touches on being lonely in a new place, judging a book by its cover, and perseverance! Just the right amount of laughs and cameos that it’s a must-see in my opinion.
Following on the heels of Fighting with My Family I switched gears to watch the kid-friendly, third installment of How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World. Good God was this movie adorable! Since the first film came out in 2010 (yes, you read that right), I was transported back to my childhood days and fell in love with Toothless the Night Fury. So many precious cat mannerisms I could’t take it! This final film follows Toothless as he finds a lady friend and the “hidden world” where dragons can live without being hunted by humans. Cue departure tears. But you seriously better go see this film if you even remotely liked the other two.
Last up, literally two hours before the Oscars aired, two hours before Glenn Close did NOT win best actress, I watched The Wife. It was a very solid effort. I loved Christian Slater as the sketchy biographer, Max Irons as the snide son, and Johnathan Pryce as the diabolical husband to Glen Close’s tough as nails wife. This story gives ghostwriting a whole new look, and that look is bitter. I can definitely see why she was the front runner.
Standout episodes in television this week for me included Brooklyn Nine-Nine, where Amy tries to help organize the office while Captain Holt is looking for a new assistant. The latter scenes had me cracking up pretty hard. How to Get Away With Murder‘s penultimate season finale episode was slightly less interesting than last week, but there are still so many potential plot twists that I can’t wait until Thursday! Finally, Gotham finally brought back the best villian duo this series has to offer: Penguin and Riddler! It also touted the return of Jeremiah (cough, Joker) and his face-off with Bruce by cruelly teasing him with people who looked like his dead parents. Friendship.
This week I’m looking forward to the return of Shadowhunters and Roswell, New Mexico along with that season finale of HTGAWM, so keep your eyes peeled for reviews!
Weekend Movie Review
Trying really hard to get all of the Oscar nominees and movies that I genuinely want to see in before this coming Sunday, so here is what the weekend in movies looked like for me.
Happy Death Day 2U – I wasn’t quite sure how a sequel was going to be made of the original, but it was done and I’d say they nailed it. Success came in the form of a parallel universe and more use of two of the original film’s supporting characters. And her roommate wasn’t a psycho killer this time! Ultimately Tree is left with the tough decision of choosing her still alive mom in this alternate universe, or love with Carter in her current universe. No spoilers here, but I did recently learn that the plan for this film is a trilogy and I want to see that happen, so flock to the theaters for this one please!
Isn’t It Romantic – The “anti-romantic comedy, romantic comedy” is a mostly accurate description for this fun film starring Rebel Wilson as the lead Grinch of love/rom-coms. Living an okay life, Natalie is convinced by her co-worker to open herself up to love, a move which results in Natalie getting mugged and knocking herself unconscious. When she wakes, she finds herself in a PG-13 romantic comedy with all the fluff of a perfect apartment, being the star employee and her own gay best friend (played wonderfully by Brandon Scott Jones). She comes to the conclusion that in order to escape someone must fall in love with her, but in the process of getting wooed by Blake (Liam Hemsworth), Natalie realizes she loves her best friend Josh (Adam Devine, the Pitch Perfect reunion none of us realized we wanted) who is about to get married to someone he just met (Priyanka Chopa, unironically?)! It all works out in the end and we get two quality musical numbers in between.
Roma – Holy shit was this movie boring. I went in trying really hard to like it, but in black and white, subtitled, and clocking in at over two hours about the life of a house maid means I definitely fell asleep in the middle of this. Don’t get me wrong, the parts I did see validated my opinions that it will win Best Picture this Sunday at the Oscars. It’s someone’s cup of tea out there…just not mine.
The Favourite – The last of the Oscar nominees I needed to watch and it was definitely worth the wait! Coming off the heels of The Lobster and The Killing of a Sacred Deer, The Favourite was perhaps the least strange film to come from Yorgos Lanthimos. It was still strange, though and that’s why it was fantastic! The cast was stellar with its trio of leading ladies, led by the magnificent Olivia Coleman, but I was most fond of the comical supporting performances of Nicholas Hoult and Joe Alwyn. I would say my “favourite” part of watching this film was the audience reaction. Clearly no one had educated themselves on Yorgos’ previous films or the meat of what this one would be about. More fun for me that way!
Hello Again – What a terrible musical film! But seeing as I’m newly obsessed with Roswell, New Mexico I had to watch it for Tyler Blackburn! I will say the rest of the cast was pretty intriguing, and I know most of them can sing, but not in this film apparently. It was even a good concept, but good grief! Don’t waste your time.
Television Review – Week 2/11-2/15
Here to recap all the television I watched this week! I’ll keep it brief, too!
I Am the Night – Three episodes into this limited series and I feel like I have more questions than answers. India Eisley’s Fauna is awkward and looks terrified all the time, and Chris Pine’s Jay is a hot mess. It’s all still just vague enough to keep me interested, and the fact that it’s based around the Black Dahlia murder makes it a must-see. Hopefully more exciting news in the weeks to come.
Drunk History – Switching it up this season means that sometimes host Derek Waters isn’t actually interviewing anyone, but some of his friends are. I’m okay with it and so should you because it’s still the same drunk mess that actually makes learning about history (sort of) tolerable. This week’s episode focused on love, since you know, Valentine’s Day, and notable guests included Josh Hartnett and Alison Brie.
Will & Grace – Grace and Jack try a crash diet for Jack’s upcoming nuptials and so they won’t split any more of their pants. Will is trying to be a more exciting professor after getting some negative reviews, so he ends up doing a mock case Judge Judy style between Karen and one of her former step children who actually liked her. Hilarity ensues!
Brooklyn Nine-Nine – Rosa sports a plethora of hairdos (ridiculous) and Jake makes a promise to a victim’s mom that he’ll solve her son’s murder case. he can’t and goes crazy trying to solve it, talking to “olive Rosa” and walls. Eventually they do manage to find the culprit, after some hilarious dialogue and a fantastic turn by CSI agent Daryl (“very uncool name, Daryl!”).
How to Get Away With Murder – Five seasons in and this show is ridiculous but still so darn compelling! Only two episodes left and I’m still not sure what’s going to happen. This week saw a Christmas gathering with Annalise’s mother, played by Cicely Tyson, and some of her firm friends. her boss is awkward, but not as awkward as dinner with the Keating Five (now that Oliver is a part of it) and Conner’s mom. Bonnie thinks she might be pregnant, but she’s not. The feds are onto Annalise and all she’s been up to these past five years, but Tegan’s potential lady-crush on Annalise ends up saving her some time and gets her case reassigned. Side note: I am all on board for Frank and Bonnie to be a thing already!
And as if watching twelve shows simultaneously wasn’t enough I decided to add two more to the mix this week!
Miracle Workers – This limited series where Daniel Radcliffe and Geraldine Viswanathan play angels answering prayers and Steve Buscemi is God has some serious potential. Daniel Radcliffe’s character has been answering prayers for centuries and is really good at finding keys and gloves, but anything other than that gets sent up to God. Meanwhile, God has the news on 24/7 and is sick and tired of seeing how awful it is that he plans to destroy earth. In walks the newest angel, played by Viswanathan, hellbent on saving earth by answering one of the “impossible” prayers: helping two people fall in love. Very interested to see where this half hour comedy goes!
Roswell, New Mexico – I discovered this show at five episodes in, so naturally I binged them all Monday in order to be caught up for Tuesday’s new episode! Yes, this was a series in the late 90s, but besides the name and book as source material, these are distinctly different imaginings. This series takes place ten years in the future with a more cultured cast. Primary focus is on Liz trying to figure out what actually happened to her sister Rosa’s mysterious death a decade ago. Pretty quickly she realizes three siblings are aliens, but being a scientist now, they mainly just fascinate her. The aliens, Max, Isobel, and Michael, couldn’t be any more different but they all love each other fiercely and would like to keep their identities a secret, especially from the government who just moved into town for some secret project. My favorite characters so far in the series are Liz & Rosa’s best friend, Maria, and Michael and his former lover Alex (favorite ship, as the kids would call it). I recommend!