The Force Awakes

Hello lovelies,

I have finally managed to go see The Force Awakens. I know I actually caught up to everyone else. 

I have been hiding my head under the sand and trying desperately to not see spoilers online as seemingly everyone else on the internet saw the damn thing. Well hiding and seething with jealousy. 

So yes, film seen, in glorious 3D IMAX which is a combination between feeling right in the action and blasting your speakers so loudly the bass gives you cardiac arrest.  

This film was one of the most anticipated of the year I believe. 

There had always been a huge Star Wars following and droves of fans despite the ages of the films, both the originals and the prequels.

Episode IV: A New Hope (1977)

Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (1983)

Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999)

Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002)

Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005)

Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)

Episode VIII (2017)

Episode IX (2019)

I did add in there the Star Wars films to come (dun, dun, dun)

Around the time of announcement there were mixed reactions around the interwebs, 

And of course because Disney now owns Star Wars

But mostly I agree with this

and after seeing it all I want is a BB8, they do have the really tiny model available but for the price it seems a bit steep.....does not stop me wanting it though.

So ultimately the film.

I never really am negative about films, I like going to the cinema, its a fun trip out and I always enjoy meeting up with people to go in a group, so a film has to be really terrible for me to have a bad experience.

So really its not a huge surprise that I loved this film, to some extent again, its Star Wars. The plot made sense and was understandable, the returning actors reprising their roles were all really good and the aging worked to their advantage. 

People were being quite cheeky online about Carrie Fisher, saying that she has not aged too well. I think that is unbelievably rude really to comment on. She still looks like the same person from the originals, still the same kind eyes and still quite clearly princess Leia. Lets face it, were people legitimately expecting her to still look like sexy slave Leia in the metal bikini? She is not super human and at just under 60 I would not believe it was her if she was still looking THAT good.

Harrison Ford is still pretty good looking for being in his 70's. Still 100% Hans Solo, down to the same/a flipping similar leather jacket, cheeky grin and general cocky attitude while running around the Millennium Falcon. I especially liked a lot of the throwback comments to the older films, such as one character asking if it was the ship that made the Kessel Run in 14 parescs, just for Hans to shout "in less than 12!"

Actually I am pretty pleased to have an action hero in a relevant piece who is older than 30. Nice to see you can still age and kick some ass. 

Speaking of ass kicking.....

I absolutely adored the new female lead, who managed to hold her own and live up to the Star Wars (almost) tradition of fighting ladies who are anything but helpless.


It feels annoying really to still be commenting on strong female characters in science fiction but they can still be argued to be in the minority. Either way regardless of gender this character, in my opinion, was really well written. Good dialogue that did not sound ridiculous to say, thought out and logical decisions and one of my favorite points, not wearing something ridiculously skimpy or impractical. One of my biggest pet peeves is impractical female attire in media. I was really annoying in Jurassic World at the female lead outrunning a T-Rex while still wearing high heels, or when something similar happens in Bond where the heroines never stumble or twist an ankle. 

There have been a few conspiracy theories trying to link who Rey really is, and there is a lot of wiggle room surrounding the family that is mentioned a few times but without any real details. 

One theory floating around is about her being related to Luke Skywalker as the light saber she ends up acquiring has belonged to two previous generations of Skywalker and now calls to her with such force. 

I sort of hope it turns out that she is not actually related to any of the other previous characters, not that it is really an issue but so far in the Star Wars universe everyone seems to be related to everyone else and it would make a nice change. I think it may also work better with the plot in general that, a little like with Aniken, this person was just found, and coincidentally has a way with the force. 

I think the best note to end on would be the array of random camio’s in this film.

Simon Pegg as Unkar Plutt, that is in fact the dealer who gives Rey various fractions of portions for collected scrap, and noticeably offers 60 portions for the adorable BB8 droid, which is refused.  

Greg Grumberg as one of the reistance mebers Snap Wexley,

And randomly and possibly my favorite, Daniel Craig who was an (unaccredited) susceptible Storm Trooper, the one who utters the line “I will tighten those restraints, scavenger scum.” 

As Always, thank you for reading :)

Edge Of Tomorrow

Hello everyone, guess where I have been?

That's right, I popped off to the cinema again, as I am prone to do each Wednesday if there is something of interest on the big screen. 

This week it was for this, action packed, explosion filled, would-kill-for-Emily-Blunts-body extravaganza.


Seriously look at that woman...

Right so anyways, for those who have not seen the film or its advertising the main trailer is below, feel free to check it out. This isn't going anywhere, don't worry. 

I was keen to see it after watching both of the main characters on the Graham Norton show,where they were talking about the rigs they were wearing in the film, (apparently horrendously heavy and even the weight training before filming did not prepare them), about the various sci-fi elements of the film, and (my favourite) the number of different death screams/noises Cruise had to come up with for the extensive and various deaths he has in this film, alluded to by the trailer. 

So, as always I shall try to not spoil anything, or at least anything vital. 

William Cage (Tom Cruise) and Rita Vrataski (Emily Blunt) are both military personnel who find themselves in a unique situation, predominantly that Cage is re-living the same day again and again, which just happens to be the day before the force they are in, deploys to a huge battle. As you probably gathered from the trailer, the attack is less than successful and does not leave many (any) survivors.

To combat this problem Vrataski realises what is happening to Cage, namely when he dies he wakes up, in the same place, on the same day, at the same time, being shouted at by the same sergeant. The key in this is that he is allowed to remember the days he has already lived, which by the end of the film we are led to believe is a rather high number. I would estimate over a hundred easily.  So using this knowledge Cage is trained by Vrataski, whose character is affectionately nick named the 'Full Metal Bitch,' to use this and try different things every time until they find something that works and allows them to survive. The plot follows on from there until, without spoiling too much, they are able to solve the entire battle/slaughter problem. 

H's review:

  "Ground hog day, but with GUNS!! :D"

This film was actually a pleasant surprise for me, I was genuinely not enthused to see this, it was more for H and my plan was to enjoy Emily Blunt for a while but I ended up really enjoying it. 

The plot was well explained, no major gaping holes or plot points, Good CGI effects particularly on the 'bad guy' creatures, which I did really want to show but was worried it would be too spoilerific (will probably stick one on the end of this blog so if you do not want to see don't scroll to the bottom).

Really loved the character of  Rita Vrataski, was not anticipating her to be a strong female lead, especially in a film with Tom Cruise who tends to have a large screen presence and sometimes forces other characters into the sidelines a tad, the 'Full Metal Bitch' was great for taking no shit, being the leader and making damn sure everyone knew it.

I also thought that the multiple time line[s] were handled really well, you are not forced to watch every single attempt, more you see how each one gets slightly further, or not as the case may be, and Cruise is funny in the sheer number of ways they manage to kill him and make it funny. As of June 15, 2014, the film has grossed $238 million worldwide (wow!). 

Overall I would recommend this film if you are a science fiction fan, or even fan of comedy as a genre. It works well and by the end it meets its goal of getting you to root for the main characters and will them on their way to the big, explode-y ending.

( ohh and If any of you are overly familiar with Heathrow Airport then you will see quite a lot of it in the film which ties it into the real world nicely.)


As always thanks for reading :)

CGI baddie below, I couldn't resist, I think they look really cool!

Now You See Me

Now You See Me 

So this weekend I went to see 'Now you see me."

It was a rather old release in that it was released at the end of May, so it is actually been out almost two months. In case you missed it, here is the trailer. There are a few others out there but I find them more revealing.

So even from the trailer some things are obvious. There are magicians, minimum four, who on stage rob a bank.  They are arrested, also shown in the clip, but it is less than effective. There is a detective, who time and time again I had to tell myself was not about to turn into the hulk,  who is on the case to solve/stop them. There is also Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman to name a few, the main magicians are all pretty well known actors, even with Jesse Eisenberg having some face fuzz.

Whole cast list here:  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1670345/

Overall I had high hopes for this film, I was mildly worried because the trailer shows some high tech elements and  some films have tried going down that line bringing in mega technical elements and they don't quite fit. They stick out or they just don't really mesh with the plot and sense takes a wrong turn. This thankfully kept it to a minimum, part of what helped this is that they don't take your hand and lead you through how everything worked step by step which in this sort of setting is good! For the most part it is fairly believable and the doesn't slip into matrix levels of headaches. 

The actual magic shown in the film is really fun, some older tricks are brought in like the rabbit in the box, and a lot, lot of new stuff that may not technically be possible in real life, the clip in the trailer shows a piece of equipment being unveiled with a magic type scarf expanding and swirling with a mind of its own. Most of the other bits though are believable and by the end when they connect the dots for you it makes sense as well as it needs to. Or you could be that suspicious person who talks and voices their suspicions out loud pointing bits out or saying don't believe that, don't trust that...until someone you went to see the movie with told me to shut up. 


Overall I was really excited to see this film and I wasn't disappointed which is always good. There is no point saying the word 'twist,' this sort of film screams it and lets be honest there are about 5 at an estimate. Its just that sort of film.

Either way if you fancy seeing it I really enjoyed it as did my family, with the teenager even going as far as saying " yea it was alright." In teenager language I think he was agreeing with the rest of us saying that it was rather good :P 


Hope everyone who is doing the summer holiday bit is having fun and those who are doing it a little less are still having a nice time. 

Thanks for reading :) xx

Review Writing is Tricky

Review Writing Is Tricky 

Sounds so simple when you put it like that, but I had a stab at it and literally wrote about 20 words a day, removed 15 of them and then said, "I'll have another go tomorrow."

I tried to write a good review, and express my opinions more than just "I liked it", "I didn't like it ect." 

What was I trying to write about you ask?


*mumbles sheepishly* Game of Thrones *looks away*

So if you are at all similar to me you probably spend waay too much time on the interwebs, by the way reading this does not count, and the new Game of Thrones has been all over most sites I visit such as Imgur or Facebook. People are shocked, those who were previously aware from reading the books what would happen are smug, and in typical internet fashion there have been various parodies and arguments over the episode. 


I tried to write a review that started with a recap of the previous episode, which I firstly couldn't remember in full, just snippets, mostly of Jeoffery being a *cough* unpleasant individual, and Tyrion looking unhappy and then drunk. That and the best quote for me so far from the series:

"I am the god of tits and wine."

Really must try and find more everyday uses for this phrase, I think it's fantastic.  Also I think my mothers reaction to me saying this often would be amusing. 


Right so in lieu of a proper episode review, with well thought out comments and witty remarks I give you, in bullet points, my opinions on episode 9 of Season 3 of Game of Thrones, I have aimed for one per faction:

The Lanisters

In this episode there was a distinct lack of activity from Kingslanding. While I am not overly fond of the Lanisters in general, Tyrion and Sansa I do like partly because Tyrion is a fantastic character who is the gem of the Lanisters, yet is treated like a curse, and Sansa who is at least half still a Stark although she does have a tendency to act differently to the rest of the Starks. Arya is and the other male children took far more after their father while Sansa started to emulate Cerci Lanister quickly after arriving at Kingslanding copying her hair and dresses and being only too happy to play the part of the little Lanister lady.

Those travelling

In this case I mean Bran, Rickon, Osha, Hordor, Jojen and  Meera (the boy with seeing abilities and his sister) John Snow, Ygritte and the other wildlings. Finally there is Arya and the Hound.

In this episode John is revealed as expected to still be a crow rather than a wildling and a fight ensues in which everyone apart from the leader of the wildlings, Ygritte and John are left alive, confusingly John gallops off and leaves the other two with little thought.

Meanwhile the other children and Hodor and Osha are hiding in a tower right by the action, tantalisingly close to John before he leaves. They come so close to meeting, especially with Bran fighting as one of the wolves to defend John before he goes gallivanting off into the forest.

Similarly frustrating is Arya being so close to her family and almost being safe and happy with them, only to have any chance of reunion permanently quashed.  If any character deserved to be reunited, in my opinion, it would be her, seeing as she has had to witness her fathers execution (almost), travel with rapists and vagabonds while pretending to be a boy, escape from the brotherhood and generally put up with the Hound, only to be finally knocked unconscious and carried off again as the scene ends.

The scene at the Twins

This is the particular part which has the fans and internet reeling.  I for one spend this final scene with my hands over my mouth kind of going “no no no” as if it would help….. I did not like this scene, I felt attached to the characters, particularly all the baby talk between Rob and Talisa, reminding the audience that Ned is dead but offering a sweet mental image of a little Ned stark named for his grandfather. Everything for a little while was happy, the expecting couple, enjoying themselves at the feast that would secure them the necessary forces to strike back at the Lanisters, and heck even the unwilling groom was happy at how things had turned out. Then Catelyn, too late, discovered that this was a trap, by finding one of the men is wearing chain armour under his shirt and then basically all hell breaks lose.

One of the arguments now in the news is questioning the level of gore in this scene. Yes is it supposed to be a gory scene, lots of individuals die and it does achieve its goal that if the viewers had any control Walder Frey would spontaneously combust where he stood.  

I did not like this scene and it seems many share this view, but looking on the positives, Walder Frey is a fantastic villain, and now In my opinion rivals Jeoffery in the villain ring. He is malicious and cruel and now the fans are baying for his blood. 

All in all a good episode from a point of moving the story forward, character developing or removing I suppose and heck no one can deny, it got a response, but a deeply saddening episode. Looking forward to the next but still not sure I will ever forgive George Martin for this. 

Examples of reactions to the episode 

For me this summed up a lot