meh

Film Review – Unfrosted (2024)

films, reviews

Rating: 2 out of 5.

I’ll be honest, I don’t know a lot about Jerry Seinfeld. It’s going to piss plenty of people off but I’ve never seen his sitcom. Well, other than the random clips I’ve stumbled upon. It just never really seemed like something I needed to watch. I guess it’s also evidence of just how stubborn I am. The more people told me I needed to watch it, the less likely I was to do it. So, my knowledge of Seinfeld is limited. Really, the main thing I know about him was that he dated a high schooler when he was almost 40 and that tells me a lot about him. I’m only saying all this to adequately portray my indifference to this film. I wasn’t really bothered by it and would happily have ignored it. I just needed something quick to watch this week.

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Book Review – The Men by Sandra Newman

books, reviews

Rating: 2 out of 5.

I was totally on board with the concept of this book. I know it could be seen as divisive but I wanted to see how the premise would play out. I’m not a huge fan of dystopian fiction and gender based apocalypse narratives don’t always work out as well as they should. I still can’t get over how disappointing books like The Power by Naomi Alderman were and how horribly miss-sold we’ve been. Do we not want to hold ourselves to a higher standard with our feminist science-fiction? Even Margaret Attwood has slipped from her place near the top with the sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale. They’ll publish anything if it’s a feminist dystopia these days. I’m absolutely sick of it.

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Book Review – The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece by Tom Hanks

books, reviews

Rating: 2 out of 5.

Years ago, I started listening to a film podcast. It was a great podcast that I really enjoyed. Until one day I stopped. The reason? The host said something so pretentious that I couldn’t bring myself to listen any more. It the year that Roma was nominated for an Oscar and the controversy of it being made for Netflix. He and his guest were saying that not seeing Roma on the big screen was the worst thing you could do. Something that irritated me no end because of how ridiculous that is. Firstly, it was only released in certain cinemas, so not everyone had access to it. Secondly, it was made for a streaming service so that must have been taken into account. I hate that breed of film people who try to make people feel guilty for not going to cinemas. The people who pretend that going to watch a film is the greatest thing you could do. I love films but I also have a little bit of perspective. I love films but there is a little more to life. So, I wasn’t sure how this book would go. I was interested but wary that it would be a similar thing How would it turn out?

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Film Review – No Hard Feelings (2022)

films, reviews

Rating: 2.5 out of 5.

I don’t really want to be that guy but I do have to agree that this film would never have been made if the genders were reversed. Imagine the outrage at a film where a father pays a 32-year-old to take his 19-year-old daughter’s virginity. Nobody in their right mind would allow that film to be made. So, why is it okay when the 32-year-old is Jennifer Lawrence and the 19-year-old is a socially awkward boy? It just made me feel icky. Age gap relationships are fine but not when the younger partner is so close to being underage, right? Anyway, I was happily never going to watch this film but I decided that it wasn’t fair if I never even tried. Maybe it would be better than I expected? Maybe it would be nuanced and show how awful the concept is? Or maybe it would just be a load of slapstick comedy that saw an Oscar-winning actress get hurt in a variety of ways?

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Film Review – Candy Cane Lane (2023)

films, reviews

Rating: 2 out of 5.

In the first week of my Christmas holiday, I went to see two Christmas movies at the cinema. First off was the best festive film of all time: The Muppets Christmas Carol. The day after, I went to see Die Hard which is only a Christmas film in some people’s minds. There are a few more films that I feel like I need to watch every year but, if I’m honest, I’m not a fan of many Christmas films. It was much easier to write my list of Worst Christmas Films than it was to write my list of Best Christmas Films. So, you might think it’s weird that I review new Christmas films every year. It’s just morbid curiosity. I mean, how man different ways are there to write a Christmas film? The message is always the same and there are only a number of ways to go. Either do the Hallmark romance angle or do the helping Santa saving Christmas angle. Of course, occasionally, you’ll get someone going dark and doing violent or horror based things. Yes, it’s different but it’s also getting to be fairly overused. I didn’t think Eddie Murphy’s latest film for Prime would be that original but I figured it was worth a look.

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Film Review – Family Switch (2023)

films, reviews

Rating: 2 out of 5.

Everyone bangs on about how Hollywood is only bothered about remakes, sequels and reboots. One of my favourite things at the moment is seeing Simon Farnaby QTing everyone on Twitter that claims Wonka is a remake. He just responds with the phrase “it’s not a reboot” which is fair. It’s an origin story and I’m kind of interested to see it. Mostly because my love for the Paddington films runs so strong. Despite the misinformation flooding social media about that film, there is definitely a lack of originality in the film industry. Why else would we have a Christmas film starring Jennifer Garner and Ed Helms that sees them switching bodies with their kids?

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Film Review – The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023)

films, reviews

Rating: 2 out of 5.

As soon as Chris Pratt was announced as the voice of Mario, I was adamant that I wasn’t going to spend money watching this film. I don’t really have anything against him but I did think it was terrible casting. I feel like there’s a bit of a Chris Pratt overload at the moment and I didn’t see why he was chosen over anyone else. Maybe it’s just because I secretly think Bob Hoskins is the only person capable of playing him in a film. Obviously, this isn’t possible anymore but what a person to replace him with. So, I had pretty much decided I would wait until it was on Netflix or something. Then I needed something to watch and it was on offer for Prime members. I decided it was worth just giving it a go.

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Book Review – The Woman in Me by Britney Spears

books, reviews

Rating: 2 out of 5.

It’s supposedly one of the biggest releases of 2023 but I never thought that I’d end up reading this book. I guess I had a slightly morbid curiosity about it all. For one thing, I had been paying some attention to everything that happened with her legal battle recently. For another, I wanted to hear her dish the dirt on Justin Timberlake. However, my interest wasn’t enough to get me to actually buy a copy and actually read it. I figured it might eventually become available on my library app and I’d request it then. I didn’t have to wait for that because it suddenly appeared on my Spotify recommendations. I always forget that I get a certain number of hours free with my subscription, so I figured I’d use them on this.

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Book Review – Rouge by Mona Awad

books, reviews

Rating: 2 out of 5.

I read Mona Awad’s debut novel 13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl when it came and enjoyed it. I can’t really remember if I really enjoyed or just kind of enjoyed it though. Still, it went pretty well. Although, I never read any of her other books. Even when everyone was going mad for Bunny on TikTok. It wasn’t until this book was released that I was tempted to pick up a book. It sounded really good and I was excited to read it in October. I figured the gothic themes would fit perfectly into my Halloween TBR.

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Film Review – Haunted Mansion (2023)

films, reviews

Rating: 2 out of 5.

I’m not a big Disney guy these days. Don’t get me wrong, I loved Disney in my youth and I’ll watch Disney movies when they grab my attention. However, I’m not one of these adults who make Disney part of their identity. So, I don’t really know much about the lore of Disney. Meaning I no nothing of the theme park ride that this film is based on. It also means that I never saw the Eddie Murphy film from 2003. It just didn’t appeal to 15-year-old me. I’m sure you can understand. Why, then, was I interested in watching the latest adaptation? Well, the sheer number of stars that were involved. Get that many big names in a Disney film and it’s either the best thing ever or their overcompensating for something.

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