The Films I Watch

[mrspbolt]

2 January 2018

I’m not American so wasn’t entirely sure who P T Barnum was, however, I can appreciate the story.

It wasn’t amazing and it was slow in parts but some of it was so very beautiful to watch. The ‘This is Me’ sequence was an absolute delight. Loved the song, loved the meaning.

The bit at the start on the rooftops when he makes a little star lantern for his girls to wish on was stunning, though that song went on a bit too long.

Hugh Jackman did his stage show best and it was a pleasant surprise to me that Michelle Williams had a lovely voice, they were both as charming as ever.

[mrspbolt]

4 March 2017 I tried to get my son to watch Ghostbusters but he didn't like it - 'it was too scary'. Turns out that 12 certificate is for a reason! So then we tried The Spiderwick Chronicles but that was 'too scary' too. The third choice of Alice Through the Looking Glass went down much better and he very much enjoyed it. I thought it was visually stunning but it lacked substance. So I started internet searching holidays instead and while I booked a holiday in the end, my boy did get annoyed that I didn't watch it. I must get better at being present in the moment that I'm in.

[mrspbolt]

21 February 2017 I really wanted to see Manchester By The Sea but I wasn't in the mood for the sadness so I went to see The Founder with a friend instead. On paper a film about the man who founded McDonalds sounded a little tedious, especially when I didn't know who that was off the top of my head, but it was hugely enjoyable. Michael Keaton was excellent as the man with the vision, determination and ruthlessness to put a McDonalds in every town in America. Nick Offerman (aka Ron Swanson and man who I wish was in everything!) and John Carroll Lynch were great as the small town brothers who had their McDonalds idea taken away from them. In fact for me a highlight of the film was when they did their sequence of how they came up with McDonalds fast food. It was very slick, witty and charming. Like I said, very enjoyable film.

[mrspbolt]

7 February 2017 January's over so I got to go to Tuesday night cinema which I'd hoped for since new year. This week was Trainspotting 2 with a friend from work. 20 years after the first one, makes me feel really very old! I remember watching it in my mid teens because my big brother did! The second one was every bit as good fun as the first but like the first one where the baby dying was too much, there was a bit in this one where one of them was almost hanged to death and I couldn't watch that bit - too close to home.

[mrspbolt]

5 February 2017

We were definitely more excited than our little boy to go see Lego Batman, we even had to persuade him to go when he just wanted to stay home and play!

It was every bit as good fun as The Lego Movie.

My only criticism is why do kids films have to be so dark? I was not expecting the theme of Batman adopting Robin (though turns out I should have been expecting that) and the things they would say, which my 6 year old thankfully didn’t get upset about. However, it did upset him that Batman didn’t have a mumma. Bless.

[mrspbolt]

La La Land 12 January 2017 I adore Emma Stone & Ryan Gosling - Crazy Stupid Love is one of my favourite films of recent years. Add John Legend, one of my favourite singers, to a film directed by Damien Chazelle, director of Whiplash and I was very excited by this film. I'd had a rough week and on the Thursday night I thought, sod it, I'm away to the cinema. I went on my own to the fancy showcase with its reclining seats and got nachos for dinner. I was in my happy place! I didn't like the opening song on the freeway and I thought, oh no, but after that I loved it. It made me laugh (more than others in the cinema), smile a lot and even cry a little. I was very invested in them and wasn't prepared for the ending. Highly recommended. I could listen to City of Stars over and over again.

[mrspbolt]

7 January 2017 My 6 year old loved it, there was enough excitement and colour to keep him entertained. I hated it. The CGI was was very poor, it looked like people running in front of green screens. The story line wasn't much better. Give me Hook any day over this.

[mrspbolt]

1 January 2017 I wanted to love it, I really did. However, like the first Harry Potter (which I now love but didn't on first viewing) it felt like an introduction. It was still enjoyable though and had many likeable characters, though Newt was irritating after a while, so maybe I'll grow to love this one too later down the years as my boy gets older. Good to see Colin Farrell being a menacing bad guy, he relishes roles like that.

[mrspbolt]

I didn't get to see many films in 2016, probably averaged once a month to the cinema (for a non-kids film) rather than 3 or 4 times a month like I used to. So I don't know where The Nice Guys ranks on everyone else's list of 2016 but it was my film of the year. Excellent film by Shane Black - very much like Kiss Kiss Bang Bang before it. The Gosling and Russell Crowe were great together.

[mrspbolt]

30 December 2016 Watching Harry Potter with our 6 year old was a lot of fun. It was all so fresh and new to him that it made it more enjoyable for us. However, he was afraid every time Snape was on screen and was a little frightened by wizard chess so this may be the only one he gets to watch until he's a bit older.

[mrspbolt]

9 April 2016 This looked very good - about a man who has premonitions about a severe storm coming to his small town and starts to build a shelter for his family. It was very dull. It meandered along, jumping around a bit and I didn't care by the end if the storm really was coming or not.

[mrspbolt]

9 April 2016 Ah Zootropolis is awesome! The story was great about the bunny that wants to be a police officer even though everyone said she couldn't and the fox who wants to be good but is a crook because everyone assumed he was sly. They join together to solve a crime in Zootropolis. I also loved the colour and the detail in the animated world of Zootropolis. It was full of heart, humour and charm. Disney at its best.

[mrspbolt]

8 April 2016

It was glossy, slick, high energy and good fun. Changing Tatum’s charm could carry anything but I did miss Matthew McConaughey being in the sequel.

[mrspbolt]

7 April 2016 This looked like it would be really good. Unfortunately it wasn't. I got bored and didn't care for any of the characters as it plodded along.

[mrspbolt]

6 April 2016

It was a whole lot of fun watching this as a family with the boy, having pizza and popcorn.

It was funny and it was good to see that Gonzo takes centre stage in this one.

[mrspbolt]

5 April 2016 It takes a lot for 3 characters to carry a film. I mostly enjoyed this story about a man testing his latest Artificial Intelligence creation by bringing in a young coder to determine whether or not they could think, feel and love like a human. I just wasn't sold on the ending. We may live in a world where virtual reality and artificial intelligence are getting better and stronger but will a machine ever be able to truly love? I think not.

[mrspbolt]

4 April 2014 One of the good things about having a child is introducing them to old films. I can't wait until we watch Back to the Future, X Men and Batman for example but for now we're on cartoons. I forgot how much fun Shrek is. Good times with Shrek, donkey & Fiona.