Arrival

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Being an adult kinda sucks - I so wish I had more time to spend with my family.

But work is looming and reality a-beckoning.

Arrival was one of those films where we saw the trailer before watching another film and though it might be good.

It was certainly a different take on an alien film. Most have a tonne of action thrown in with the threat of their invasion.

But this one was different. Good different as well, mostly.

I say mostly because the ending threw me off a bit. I don't want to spoil anything but there is a twist that just hurts my head to think about.

Adeel had kind of made sense of it at the time with a random explanation (not that he understood his own explanation, aha) but after five minutes of thinking about it, I was baffled again.

Amy Adams was wonderful. She was charming and innocent and relatable. Her backstory was heartbreaking (definitely tugs at those heartstrings early on!) but her development was great. Although the ending was weird, it was also sweet and I could see how her character would progress.

Jeremy Renner was also good. It was interesting to see him play something other than a superhero (is Hawkeye a superhero? I can never tell these days). His character was intelligent and hardworking and determined. I loved the way his and Amy Adams's character worked together.

The setting - and even the tone of the movie - was quite bleak and eery, but not in a bad way. It just had a kind of calmness about it which makes a difference from all the full on action you see these days.

There was definitely tension in it though when the small group of humans made contact with the aliens - you didn't quite know what they wanted or if they were there to hurt them or not.

I loved the special effects, they were really neat and captivating. I especially loved how the aliens communicated and found it fascinating to watch Adams and Renner's characters decipher the language.

On a side note, Forest Whitaker is also very good as the military colonel. He's fierce and is quite tough in this character, but I think he's a great actor.

Don't let the ending put you off, it's rather an intriguing film and one I would probably watch again.

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Rating:
★★★★☆

Alice Through The Looking Glass

The day we saw this was during that bank holiday weekend where I'd planned for me and Adeel to just be constantly busy the entire time. 

We'd just spent a day at the zoo, doing more than our recommended 10,000 steps a day, and decided to make a pit stop on the way home to watch this at Westfield.

It was a decision we later regretted some two hours later as neither of us enjoyed the film at all.

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Alice Through the Looking Glass was, unfortunately, a huge let down.

The trailer built it up to be another exciting adventure for Alice (Mia Wasikowska) in that she had to save the Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp) - and the rest of the Wonderland beings in the end - from Time himself (Sacha Baron Cohen).

The plot, unfortunately, did not work out. The beginning was too long and slow and the rest not very dramatic or captivating. The climax not really very much of one at all.

I liked Alice. I never had any problems with her, being strong and independent. I think Mia Wasikowska played her extremely well with her quick wit, determination, ambition and imagination.

I obviously think Johnny Depp played the Mad Hatter well, but I am very biased. One thing I didn't like about his character was the eccentricity to him. The make-up and costumes were a little too much and needed dialling down a notch.

Time was an interesting character - one I thought I would love the idea of - yet, Sacha Baron Cohen did not succeed. He was rigid, lacked any humour even though jokes were told and was quite boring.

The rest of the characters were only okay. I still enjoyed Helena Bonham Carter's portrayal of the Red Queen, the backstory to how she got her enlarged head was an interesting one, but one that made me detest the White Queen even more. 

I don't know what Anne Hathaway was trying to do with this character but she failed. She was irritating, too busy prancing about with stupid hand movements and over-the-top actions than actually focusing on her acting.

One good thing I do have to say about the film are the sets and majority of the costumes. For the time period outside of Wonderland and Wonderland itself, they were all extraordinary and a spectacular site to see for a fairytale land. 

There are two scenes that stand out to me the most. One is where Time enters a room full of pocket watches dangling from the ceiling. This is a beautiful scene, one that represents each persons life and is entirely captivating. 

The other is one of the final moments of the film where everything is being frozen in a red crust-like formation as time dissolves and Alice reaches to restore the Chronosphere in an attempt to rectify her mistake.

It's a shame this was one of Alan Rickman's last films, he deserved better. The best moment was when I saw his name come up at the end in dedication.

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Rating: ★★☆☆☆



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What I'm Loving Right Now

It seems summertime is when all my time is eaten up by countless trips home, social events and actually going out with my boyfriend.

It was only a mere few months ago that I remember complaining to my housemate that I never do anything on weekends. I just sit at home and watch TV.

But, now, I don't honestly remember a weekend that I haven't been busy.

Today is the first day in ages that I feel like I can get back to my usual self and slob out. Except, because I haven't done it in a while, it feels wrong and I have all this pent up energy spent on doing nothing.

Eh, who am I to complain?

Here are the things I've been loving recently:

1. One Tree Hill - yes, I've given in and am re-watching it for the third time. I just can't seem to get enough of all the drama and twists in this ridiculous programme. I had to find something to fill the PLL-shaped hole (although I am watching series 7 of it, but weekly episodes is never as good as a full on binge).

2. Travel confidence/striving to better my anxiety again and again - This goes hand in hand with the following point but it deserves its own mention to be honest. It wasn't all that long ago that I felt jittery and worried about leaving the house, even for work, let alone letting it all go and just going everywhere and anywhere I get the opportunity to. Beckenham, home, Faversham, Oxford. It may not seem a lot to those accustomed to just following their heart, but I'm proud of myself for how far I've come and how much I can truly push myself.

3. Oxford meal with Adeel and his work colleagues - Last Friday I left work at 4 o'clock, headed to Paddington for the first time and caught a train to little ol' Oxford for a three course meal in a boathouse. It was amazing. I'm going to do a full post about it later down the line, but it deserves a quick mention as I just loved it. Take me back.

4. The City of Mirrors - mannnnnn, this is also going to get its own post in review format but this book! Final instalment of Justin Cronin's vampire, end-of-the-world trilogy and it was as good as I could have hoped and better. READ THEM.

5. Runtastic - hey, look who's kept it up and hasn't given in to laziness again?? I'm actually loving it, it's hard work and a killer on those muscles, but the feeling of completing 1-2 miles twice a week is the best feeling ever and this app is a huge motivator.

6. Empire soundtrack - I'm always looking for new music since joining Spotify and the Empire season has not long finished and I found myself craving to hear Jussie Smollett's lovely tones. Powerful and You're So Beautiful seem to be my favourites at the moment.

7. Counting down the days to moving out - okay, so we haven't set a date or anything for actually moving in together, but it is getting nearer and nearer to our presumed month at least. I just cannot wait to leave this shared accommodation and live with my best friend and boyfriend. Sure, he'll probably drive me nuts at some point but, God, give me that any day over sharing with someone I completely loath.



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