Badly Drawn Movie Posters: My Zoom Quiz Round

June 9, 2020June 8, 2020 Often Off Topic15 Comments

Right in the depths of lockdown, it seemed like every man and his dog was taking part in a family Zoom quiz on a weekend – our family took a while to hop onto the bandwagon but we’ve Zoomed 3 times now! Of course, our latest easing measures mean we can meet up in groups of 6 as long as we stay outdoors but in true British fashion, that’s when our good weather ended, so who knows, we could be quizzing again soon.

Anyway, for our first family quiz we each picked a category and put together 6 questions; we would host our own round. It won’t surprise you that I picked movies! However, as us bloggers always do, I wanted to pick a theme within my theme, and so I chose to badly recreate 6 movie posters with the first marker pen I could find in my toddler’s craft box.

None of my family got all 6 right, the last one stumped them all – but I’m guessing you could probably guess them all…unless my drawings really ARE that bad.

I included the movie’s tagline in each poster, and they’re all movies that were 2019 releases in the UK! Let’s see how you do…

movie-poster-quiz-2019-part-1

movie-poster-quiz-2019-part-2

Movie Reviews

The Lodge (2019)

June 8, 2020June 4, 2020 Often Off Topic6 Comments

Director: Severin Fiala, Veronika Franz

Genre: Drama, Horror, Thriller

Runtime: 108 Minutes

Main Cast: Riley Keogh, Jaeden Martell, Lia McHugh, Richard Armitage, Alicia Silverstone, Katelyn Wells, Rebecca Faulkenberry

Plot: A tragedy in the family changes the lives of siblings Aiden and Mia. Around Christmas time, they visit the family lodge with their Dad and his Fiancee – but the atmosphere is as frosty as the weather outside. Aiden and Mia dig up some strange things about their future Step-Mum’s past – and then things get weird.

My Thoughts: With life starting to show signs of getting back to normal in a coronavirus filled world, I’m trying to get back into movies and blogging and generally just feeling a bit more ‘me’. I started with catching up on a movie I heard a lot of people talking about after the cinemas shut – The Lodge. I could tell it was a movie best watched with no knowledge about the story and so that’s how I went in, and I definitely urge you to do the same. I’ll hide any spoilers I happen to mention.

I think you would definitely be forgiven for drawing comparisons between The Lodge and the works of horror director Ari Aster. It blends extreme grief with horror elements to give that uncomfortable tone, and now that I think of it, it uses that dollhouse theme that Hereditary has, too. As much as I enjoyed The Lodge though, I don’t rank it as high as Hereditary or Midsommar.

It’s slow going until that point after the movie sleepover and all the things go missing, but it was wild after that. The ending, in particular, was one of those that made me audibly gasp – I certainly won’t forget it for a long time. Also, this is the second thing I’ve watched this year where Richard Armitage plays a Dad who makes terrible decisions. You should watch The Stranger on Netflix if you haven’t already!

Best Bit: I kept flip-flopping on the idea of #SPOILERS# the trio actually dying in the night because of the heater, as suggested by Aiden #END OF SPOILERS# but when it’s finally confirmed what actually happened? Oh man – I don’t think I’ve ever hated a character (or two) more than in that moment!

Worst Bit: What is it that horror movies have against pets? I get it, it made me feel the feelings that the movie wanted me to feel, but oh man!

Fun Trivia: The dog’s name is Grady, which is the character name of Overlook Hotel’s care-taker in Stephen King’s story of “The Shining”. (Coincidence? Maybe!)

My Rating: 3 and a half completely unsafe gas heaters that you should never, ever use. Especially when you’re likely to drop to sleep any second.

Movie Reviews

Extraction (2020)

May 7, 2020May 7, 2020 Often Off Topic12 Comments

Director: Sam Hargrave

Genre: Action, Thriller

Runtime: 116 Minutes

Main Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Rudhraksh Jaiswal, Randeep Hooda, Golshifteh Farahani, Pankaj Tripathi, David Harbour, Bryon Lerum, Ryder Lerum

Plot: Chris Hemsworth plays Tyler Rake (yes, you read that right), a fearless mercenary offering his services on the black market. He’s hired to rescue the kidnapped son of an infamous drug lord, and although the mission seems straightforward enough, things soon take a turn for the worse.

My Thoughts: I don’t even know what day of lockdown we’re on now. I lost myself along the way but I’m trying to crawl my way back. Now I’ve gotten back into movies I’ve taken the opportunity to start ticking movies off my watchlist, but today I’m here to talk about Netflix’s latest hit, Extraction (2020). Was I in it for the plot? Let’s not kid ourselves. I was in for Chris Hemsworth, covered in sweat and dirt, kicking ass. #sorrynotsorry

Maybe it’s because we don’t have many new offerings right now, but I really, really enjoyed it! It doesn’t bring anything new to the action movie scene, it’s terribly predictable at times, and David Harbour was massively underused, but everything else was just pretty spot on. I didn’t find myself drifting towards my phone at any point and I found myself pretty invested in the story, plus the action scenes ranged from pretty good to downright epic.

In fact, it can’t be that bad of a movie because I hear a sequel has been confirmed. Yikes, though. Do we really need a sequel? I get that the ending could be taken 2 ways depending on how you feel about that final scene, but the way I imagined it, a sequel isn’t really possible.

Best Bit: I know it’s all anyone can talk about when it comes to this movie but that 11-minute or however long one-take action shot was hella cool. I’ve never felt so part of an action movie before, what a shame none of us will be able to experience that scene in a cinema!

Worst Bit: When the movie started, with the scene of a battered Chris Hemsworth seeking cover behind a car on a busy bridge, I called how the movie would end. I kind of meant it as a joke, but…I’ve never been so disappointed to be right before.

Fun Trivia: The movie was shot in a city in India, Ahmedabad, and the public went berserk to see Chris Hemsworth. Many fans stayed at the set for as long as 15 hours to get a glimpse of him.

My Rating: 4 out of 5 rakes, which believe it or not, are used in one scene where Tyler Rake does, in fact, kill a man…with a rake.

Random Posts

Lockdown Day 14 & Downhill (2020)

April 5, 2020 Often Off Topic10 Comments

Here we are, at the end of week 2. I feel strangely better about all of this than I did this time last week. Maybe I’m starting to accept this as my new life now. Who knows when our lives will be back to normal and we can see our family and friends again? One thing is for sure, my Facebook feed is as toxic as ever. Our lockdown rules allow us outside once a day for exercise and yes, there are people ignoring the rules. They’re gathering in huge groups and filling parks, etc. So today’s big news was that if that doesn’t stop, we won’t even be allowed exercise.

My question? What are the police/government doing about these large gatherings? Because if they can’t control them now, how do they expect to be able to enforce a full lockdown? It’s an empty threat, at the end of the day.

For our little household, we’ve been enjoying the nicer weather in our garden and in the woods for our 1 trip out, as well as doing lots of arts and crafts at home. It mostly leaves me too tired to really do anything else by the time the little one is in bed, but it fills our day so what more can I ask for? My daughter wakes up each morning with a big smile on her face, and never wants it to be bedtime in the evening so if all my efforts mean she’s shielded from this mess, I reckon that’s enough.

downhill-movie-poster-2020

Last night I watched Downhill (2020) which was a movie Ii really wanted to see at the cinema, but the times were always rubbish and it only showed for 2 weeks. That’s a thought though, I don’t think I’ll complain about crap timings at the cinema again when they reopen. I’ll go and see everything I can, at whatever time they show it!

Anyway! I was expecting Downhill to be a complete disaster, and it kind of was. I almost turned it off after 15 minutes from sheer boredom but it got better. The mood and vibe of the movie was all over the place, though. With Will Ferrell and Julia Louis-Dreyfus as the leads I was expecting a comedy but it was surprisingly…more of a drama? Like, it wanted to be Marriage Story (2019) but it just felt…awkward. Julia Louis-Dreyfus was brilliant though, she stole the show in every scene.

I’m sorry I haven’t been catching up with anyone else’s’ blog lately. Weirdly, in a time we’re all stuck at home I’ve found myself with less free time on my hands than ever before, but I’ll make it up to you eventually, I promise. For now, I just hope you’re keeping happy and safe ❤

Random Posts

Lockdown Day 7 & The Upside (2019)

March 29, 2020 Often Off Topic7 Comments

So the world feels like we’ve entered the upside-down but at least one thing never changes, I’m great at making a plan and failing to stick to it. I’ve been stuck under a bit of a grey cloud these past couple of days, but I was determined to journal this crazy situation and so here I am.

Our supermarkets finally have strict measures in place. There is a limit on how many people are allowed in the store at any time, so you now have to queue to get in. There are now sanitising stations for trolleys and baskets too, huzzah!

You know what’s angered me though? I have an unwell family member right now. They used the NHS 111 online service to answer questions about their symptoms and was told yes, they most definitely have Covid-19 symptoms. They were given a reference number. And that was it. They won’t be tested. You what? How on earth can we report daily figures on the number of cases when we aren’t even testing people with symptoms?!

I’m dreading tomorrow. I’ve now been put on furlough so I’m not working, but my husband’s job falls into the grey area of not being an essential business, but not being public-facing, so he has to go to work still. This past week he’s been working shifts to reduce the number of staff in the unit, so 13:30 – 20:30, but for whatever reason, they’re now scrapping that and so he’s working his using 7:30 – 16:30 from tomorrow. It’s so tough keeping a 2-year old entertained at home all day, I really struggle with it, and now I’m losing my partner in crime, my help, and my only chance at conversation all day.

That’s what I’m finding the hardest about the lockdown. It’s so lonely. Plus, once we’ve finally got the little one to bed, I’m so exhausted and full of anxiety I struggle to enjoy a bit of ‘me time’ with a movie before going to bed and starting over again the next day. Urgh.

the-upside-2019-movie-poster

I’m still enjoying Animal Crossing, that game couldn’t have come at a better time, really. And I finally got around to watching The Upside (2019). I wanted to see it at the cinema, missed my chance and then forgot it even existed. Which is a shame, because it’s a really decent movie! Not the flat-out comedy I was expecting, more of a drama than anything else, but Kevin Hart and Bryan Cranston have such good chemistry it was hard not to enjoy.

It has a The Pursuit of Happyness (2006) vibe to it, with elements of Me Before You (2016). Well worth a watch if you haven’t already.

UK Netflix finally got Season 6 of Brooklyn Nine-Nine so that’s what I’m watching whilst I write this, and then who knows. I’m torn between watching Underwater (2020) or digging up an old Domhnall Gleeson movie. I hope you’re all keeping safe and well, wherever you are. We’re all in this together ❤

…and now I have that High School Musical song in my head.