Love Actually
2003 | 136 min | Rom-Com
J: I’ve seen this before but it was a looong time ago, and I’d forgotten pretty much everything about it. So it was basically like I was watching it for the first time! It’s alright, but for me there’s just too many different characters and plots for you to get to care about some of them. The Prime Minister and the bird from Eastenders plot is alright, and Liam Neeson and his horny little kid’s plot is alright, but I can’t say I was that bothered about anyone else’s. It’s not a bad film though, it was enjoyable enough.
L: It’s been years since I watched Love Actually so I’d forgotten just how much I enjoyed it. Okay so some things are a little far-fetched but they’re allowed to be in a rom-com right?! I personally don’t think that there’s too many characters considering most of them are linked in some way and I like that there’s different stories. The scene where Mark holds up those cards gets me every time and Harry and Karen’s story just breaks my heart! I’m not a huge fan of rom-coms but Love Actually is one of the only few that I can firmly say I love.
Muppet Treasure Island
1996 | 99 min | Musical / Adventure / Comedy
J: Love a good Muppets movie, and Muppet Treasure Island is one of my favourites! The songs are catchy (“cabin fever, aaaaaah!”) and the Muppets themselves play their roles brilliantly! Similarly Tim Curry as “Loooooong” John Silver. Though I will say this movie sorely lacks Pepe the King Prawn. He made his debut in 1996…the same year the film came out, so surely they could have worked him in!
L: There’s certainly some great catchy tunes in here which is what the Muppets seem to do best and Tim Curry is great as Long John Silver but for me other Muppet movies cast a bit of a shadow over this one. Don’t get me wrong it’s enjoyable and I do like it , I just prefer the other Muppet movies. However one of my favourite characters has to be Clueless Morgan the goat, I wish he’d appeared in other Muppet films.
The Good Dinosaur
2015 | 100 min | Animation / Adventure
J: Disney/Pixar are back with their latest offering, and as usual it hits the mark. The premise of the story is that the asteroid that wiped out dinosaurs missed the earth, so early humans and dinosaurs ended up co-existing. Timid and scared dinosaur Arlo and the puppy dog like human Spot end up teaming up and going on an adventure to find their way home. Needless to say Lauren cried. As usual.
L: This film is just devastating. Brilliant but devastating. I loved it so much, Disney Pixar really cannot do any wrong. Spot and Arlo are such good characters and the story of their friendship is the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. The story is set in an alternate history where the asteroid never hits earth so dinosaurs are now roaming the earth at the same time as some of the first humans. I seriously recommend watching this, just have plenty of tissues ready.
Big Hero 6
2014 | 102 min | Animation / Comedy / Action
J: The most I knew about Big Hero 6 is that it featured some big kind of robot that fist-bumps you and then goes “fa-la-la-la-la-la” while wiggling his fingers. Not much to go on, I know! But we gave it a try on Christmas Day, and it was actually pretty good. The story and animation were both great, and I like that the whole movie was heavily inspired by the Japanese Manga comics. I mean, two of the main characters are called Hiro and Tadashi and they live in a city called San Fransokyo! I really enjoyed it!
L: I’ll be honest, for a Disney film I’d not really seen anything about Big Hero 6. It seems to have flown under the radar a little compared to other Disney films and after watching it, I’m not sure why because it’s a great film. It’s Disney’s first superhero film and also the first to feature Marvel Comics characters. Baymax has to be the best character by far though. I personally think the film was left wide open for a second one to be made so I’m guessing we can expect to see that over the next few years.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
2015 | 135 min | Sci-Fi / Action / Adventure
J: STAR WAAAAARS! YAAAAY! I’ve only been waiting, like, 3 years for this film to come out (since Disney bought Lucasfilm and announced that they were making a new Star Wars), and it really didn’t disappoint! I mean, yeah there’s a lot of elements of A New Hope in there – a droid carrying important information, a cantina band, a planet destroying superweapon, a tense trench run, but you know what…it was different enough that I didn’t care. Both the original and the new cast are fantastic, and a massive shoutout goes to Adam Driver who made Kylo Ren a villain that we could not only hate, but sympathize with too. Absolutely fantastic film. I’ve seen it twice and I’ll definitely be going to see it again!
L: I’m really not a fan of Star Wars at all, whereas Josh absolutely loves it, so when he asked me to go and see it with him (even though he’d already been to the midnight showing of it when it was first released) I was very reluctant. I was told I’d love it, that it felt more modern and a bit like a Marvel film, but knowing how much I disliked the other 6 films I wasn’t holding out much hope. How wrong I was, and as much as it pains me to admit I actually really liked The Force Awakens. To me it feels a lot different to the other films, the humour in it is very much like a Marvel film and I love that they’ve got a strong female lead, I think that’s what made it even more appealing to me. Even if, like me, you don’t like the other Star Wars films, I would actually recommend watching this because it’s pretty good!
If you only watch one of these films it should be…
If you only watch one of these films it should be…
J: Star Wars
L: The Good Dinosaur
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