The Lego Movie: Everything is (kind of) Awesome

By now you’ve probably heard kids and adults alike all raving about the Lego movie. You might be wondering if it’s really worth the hype or is it just a way for the big kids’ to relive their Lego-obsessed childhoods?

For me it was a bit more of the latter. While I may have set the bar just a little too high for The Lego Movie, many of these expectations were simply nowhere to be found – scattered like the contents of my neighbour’s red and white striped cardboard box. Before you Lego enthusiasts start throwing lego sticks at me, I’ll happily admit that for a kids film, this was fantastic. And as much as I act like one sometimes, I cannot review the movie totally from a child’s perspective so cover your eyes children, ’cause this review might sound a little harsh. 

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 *Mega Spoiler Warning*

I know this has been out for a while now but heck “The Lego Movie” wasn’t showing at that time of the night. Needless to say my expectations were very low, especially after having seen the first one, so much so that if I didn’t fall asleep before 11pm I’d be giving this at least 3 stars.

The film was alllrrriigghhhhhtttt. Anybody who knows me knows that that’s the way I say “alright”  to you when I mean it was actually bad but I don’t want to insult your taste since you obviously enjoyed it so here’s something that will mask my distaste.

The Other Woman (2014)

The Other Woman (2014) was a highly anticipated movie of mine. The trailer made me laugh and I thought it would be one of those chick flicks with a message that stuck.

It’s hard to say whether it lived up to my expectations because it definitely had its flaws but also its moments so let’s start with the good.

Although it’s not something to credit the movie with, I quite liked the idea of the film. In today’s day and age where the media love to feed on the scandals of prominent celebrities and promote a sense of competition between women (note team Jen and Ange), it’s heart-warming to be reminded of the common ties of the female condition – I am all for the idea of blaming the real scumbag instead of turning on each other. Unless of course there’s a real bitch on the other end who doesn’t share the same sentiment and in which case I feel it’s best to use the site: shesahomewrecker.com. Just Kidding.

5 Stars for ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel’

From the first few minutes of the film, Wes Anderson keeps us guessing.

Just as we begin to wrap our heads around one scene, this layer is immediately peeled back to reveal another equally perplexing one. The story in a nutshell centres around M. Gustave, a renowned concierge who prides himself on his impeccable service, and his unlikely friendship with Zero Moustafa, a bell boy at the establishment, as they try to reclaim what was rightfully theirs with the help of a mish mash of random characters and Agatha and her sweet delicious cakes from Mendl’s.

Divergent – just another Hunger Games?

For those who haven’t read the Divergent series by Veronica Roth, you might be wondering about all the similarities between this film and The Hunger Games – both set in a dystopian future with a very powerful ‘state’ controlling every aspect of life, society divided up into a number of classes and a fearless lead female who’s willing to fight and take on the State. Well, you would have wondered right. But having said that, The Hunger Games turned into a massive box office success for a reason and if it ain’t broke don’t fix it right?

I found the concept quite fascinating – society is divided into 5 different factions based on their personality traits. But, as expected with teenage fiction, it was a little too oversimplified for my liking. Another issue I had with the faction system was the overlap between Abnegation and Amity, as they both value kindness, peacefulness and forgiveness as their core life principles. So isn’t Amity just a less extreme version of Abnegation, disguised as a bunch of barefoot hippies?

12 Years a Slave: Oscar-worthy or Overrated?

With all the Oscar buzz surrounding this film you just know ’12 Years a Slave’ cannot possibly disappoint. And most of it doesn’t. Even though the issues explored are confronting as hell, they are explored in such a raw and yet strangely beautiful way by director Steve McQueen. One such example of this was his use of off centre close-ups with the camera lingering just long enough for us to process and reflect on what had just happened in the scene.