Peppermint Friday Review #48: Love Rosie

I never thought I'd do a review of a Chick Flick or Rom-Com, but I really liked this film and plus the only reason I kinda watched it was that apparently and this is so not me fishing for compliments, but I sorta look like Lily Collins who is Rosie. 

The film is based of the Cecelia Ahern Noval 'Where Rainbows End' and its about two best friends Rosie Dunne and Alex Stewart (played by Lily Collins and Sam Clafin) who have known each other since they were kids. At Rosie's 18th Birthday Party she kisses Alex who realises he really likes her and Rosie just wishes it never happened. Alex then loses his virginity to Bethany (played by Suki Waterhouse) Lily gets asked out by Greg (played by Christian Cooke) the 'fittest guy' in the year and she has sex with him, but the condom slips off inside her. Causing her to get pregnant and puts her dreams of owning a hotel on hold whereas Alex gets a scholarship to Harvard, but Lily doesn't tell Alex that she is now pregnant as she doesn't want to get in the way. 

5 years on from this, Lily now a mum to Katie visits Alex in Boston who now lives with his girlfriend who's pregnant and to put it mildly a complete psycho. Lily tries to talk to him about it as she's concerned he rebuffs her and says that the child that he and his girlfriend are having is gonna have two parents. Lily goes back home and reconciles with Greg who she now marries, Alex splits from his girlfriend after discovering that the baby isn't his. Rosie's father dies and Greg behaves horrifically at the funeral, Alex writes her a letter to tell her how he feels and that she deserves better. Greg finds the letter and hides it from Rosie, Rosie then finds out Greg has been cheating on her, Rosie finds the letter and is about to tell Alex how she feels, but she then finds out Bethany and Alex are engaged to be married and would like her to be the 'best man'. 

Katie and her friend Toby kissed at Alex and Bethany's party, a friendship that mirrors Rosie and Alex's. Alex then realises (finally!) that Bethany was all wrong for her and should've gave the relationship with Rosie a chance. In the end of the film well I don't think I need to tell you as we all know what happens in the end in these films in particular. I love this film the costumes, and for me I can really relate to Rosie not that I have a child which I definitely don't! but in some of the things she's been through and how she is towards her friends and Alex in particular and its the most accurate I feel of Rom-Coms. I know that it's kinda wrong where everyone in her life is beautiful even the 'ugly' moments, when she's pregnant she still looks stunning. 

The acting was all brilliantly done in this film, I know its not meant to be dramatic or anything. What I'm trying to say is it's not like its a Shakespeare or some deep emotional drama so acting for me when I watch it I don't really care about it. I loved the intense, sweet moments between Alex and Rosie throughout the whole film from when they were kids to adults it was always, always there so in the end when they finally get together you almost wanna cellotape them together and make sure noone splits them up because you love them so much. The comedy was perfectly timed aswell, loved the guy in the lift when Rosie is telling Alex about the condom on the phone is in the scene at the end when she has her own hotel and he's like 'Do I know you?' and she was remembering what happened when she was 18 and was like 'noo course not' I loved the use of that and how brilliant it was. 

Minor characters were brilliant aswell, Greg was fantastically written and played. Loved the difference of Alex's love interests to Rosie as they are all blonde and abit clingy, and Rosie is this beautiful brunette and a total opposite to the others and plus the fact that she's a brunette and supposedly looks like me I immediately like her. Rosie is played out as 'that girl' and I think that's why people like her because we can all relate to her and how she is. Plus she's not the Bridget Jones where she wants a man and is abit clumsy, she's a girl with a dream of running her own hotel but things happened and she put it on hold, not because of a man (well it is) but things happen and she does run her own hotel eventually. 

                                                                 
I love this film, the characters, the costumes are pretty aswell and fits with every character wonderfully. Katie was played brilliantly from as a little 5 year old girl and a 10 year old she was brilliant, but 10 year old Katie was amazing played by Lily Laight. You should all watch this film, as you'll love, Love Rosie! It's funny because the people who have told me to watch this film were mainly guys and they also said I'm like Rosie which is a big compliment. Give this film a chance even if you're not into Chick Flicks and Rom-Coms like me, it'll surprise you and you'll love it! I'll see you all later and have a wonderful weekend! 

Review: Spiderman: Homecoming

I know its been like a week or so since it came out but I need to talk about this film as I was just blown away. 

I have watched all the Spiderman films from Toby Maguire to Andrew Garfield, I love all of them in different ways and they were also Spidermen at different times of his life. Toby felt to me too be alittle be like a giant nerdy teenager who loved Mary Jane who was and is his one true love. Andrew Garfield was brilliant aswell and bought a different twist to the character, and became this moody teenager who skateboarded had Gwen, but the way they were directed felt abit too forced, looking back but at the time I just love it and still do not to mention that Andrew Garfield was about 26, 27 when he played Peter Parker/Spiderman. That's quite old, considering the fact that at the time, he's supposed to be a teenager, hence why he had such a short time being Spiderman. With Tom Holland who I love so much now, its amazing he is 20 and I think he could easily play Spiderman for atleast 10 years if he wants to (I think he should!). 

The way the film was written wasn't like the previous films either where it was shown as a typical Action Spiderman film. It was written and approached like a Teen film, which for me makes it really refreshing and gives it a new twist to the characters and the franchise. Everyone was worried that Iron Man would be in too much, but he wasn't it was still Spiderman's film. I also liked that they introduced Iron Man/Tony Stark into Spiderman/Peter Parker's life, as that had to be done and they way it was done, was a job well done for me. Loved Vulture he was just brilliant, the writing of him was fantastic loved that he had a real passionate hatred that was justified. The bit where Peter went to Homecoming with Liz and he met her dad who was the Vulture that was brilliant because again it took it back to being very Breakfast Club style. 

I'm gonna say it here, I'd love it if Micheal Keaton got an award for this role, like I'm talking a prestigious award because he really was brilliant and well done to the writers because from what I heard about the Vulture was that he was this old man, but Michael took this role and made it his own. I loved Ned and MJ at the beginning particularly with MJ I was abit sceptical as she wasn't in the comics and I just think 'did they give Zendaya that part, because she's Zendaya?'. I loved her, she played a part that so unique but I'm interested to see how her character develops, because I just assumed they casted her in this film because she's Zendaya, that's it but its not the case at all she really is good at acting. 

Jacob Batalon was just brilliant as Ned, he's such a good character especially for Peter Parker/Spiderman as in the past all his best friends have always seemed 'cool' like Harry, but Ned doesn't give off that 'I'm intelligent, cool and rich' vibe its just he's a funny, intelligent guy. One of my favourite scenes of the film was when Ned was helping Peter as Spiderman during Homecoming in the computer room and a teacher comes in and goes, 'What are you doing?' and I thought he was gonna say studying or something boring but he just comes out with 'looking at porn'. I tell you not the whole cinema was in tears of laughter, he's such a great character again I'm intrigued to see what's gonna happen with him in the future. 

I don't know about you guys, but I am so excited for the future of Spiderman because it looks brilliant. The difference I've seen with this Spiderman aswell is the fact that he has witt and is similar to the cartoons and again I love that. I needed to talk about this film on here because this blog wouldn't be Peppermint Friday if I didn't talk about Comic Book/Action films and this is one film I've been so so so excited for. I hope you all are well, and have a lovely day/week wherever you are! 

Peppermint Friday Review #42: The Prince and the Showgirl

From watching Some Like It Hot I kinda went abit crazy over Marilyn Monroe and plus I just realised I haven't done a Friday review with Marilyn yet, I did All About Eve but that was before she became the big star, with this one its so amazing and a film is based on her experiences of this film, My Week With Marilyn which I may do a review on. 

Its about a Carpathian Prince (played by Laurence Olivier) who attends a performance of The Coconut Girl and meets the cast afterwards he takes a particular liking to Elsie Marina (played by Marilyn Monroe) she is invited back to his house to her thinking it was for a party or a big dinner but it was for the Prince to seduce her, the two end up falling in love and its just about her being an American Showgirl and a Prince who's used to doing things in quite a restricted way. As his upbringing is very much don't do this, say this and constantly being told what to do, whereas with Elsie she is very bubbly and is much more outspoken than the Prince, even though if he doesn't like something he'll say it.

I love the couple individually and together, but if you knew what happened behind the scenes where Laurence Olivier was horrible to Marilyn. Olivier also directed this film and acted in the play version of the film by Terrence Rattigan, Olivier's wife Viven Leigh played Elsie in the play version, which is really funny as we all know what kinda characters Marilyn plays and the characters Viven plays, you wouldn't think they could ever play the same character. But Marilyn really bought something different and special to the role, its a flirty character, but also very emotional and empathetic.

The costumes of the film were just beautiful, and wonderfully made as all the characters had a particular style, I love Elsie's dress the colour, the length, the style of it all, I just love it and need it plus she makes it look gorgeous. The party scene was amazing everything was in such synchronicity with the dancing, not one person was off. I also loved Sybil Thorndike as Queen Dowager she was just wonderful, one thing I loved about the script and the writing of it all was whenever Elsie spoke to her, the Queen had to be reminded of what she said it made me laugh for some reason I don't know why. 

I love how the scenes were shot and made its as if they were created just there on the spot so effortlessly done. A few characters who made it on the favorite list were, King Nicolas who was played by Jeremy Spenser I loved his voice whenever he shouted or lost his temper, it was always really high and it made me laugh. Northbrook played by Richard Wattis was brilliant loved how he used his voice. All of Elsie's friends were just brilliant, so funny and amazing totally unaware of what pressure she may be under. 

                                                                   
The ending was amazingly done, I like that its kinda up to us, as to what happened between them, did they ever meet again or was there classes far too different from each other. I might actually do a review of My Week With Marilyn as I always find it interesting the behind the scenes of films. This is a wonderful film to watch with a great story to tell, whether you are a long time fan of Marilyn or just heard about her, regardless you should definitely watch her as she is a real star. 

Review: Some Like It Hot

Its been awhile since I talked about a classic and I was having a bit of a bad day and what do you do on a bad day? you watch one of your favourite films of course. It's also one of my mum and dad's favourite films and one of the first films that got me into Classic Films. 

If you don't know what this film is about I'll give you a brief synopsis as everyone has seen this film. Its about two men Joe and Jerry (played by Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon) who are Jazz Musicians and they have to get out of town so they get jobs as Jazz Musicians on tour the only problem is, that it's only female Jazz Musicians. So Joe and Jerry go undercover dressed as women called Josie and Daphne they meet Sugar who is the lead vocalist (played by Marilyn Monroe) they make friends with her and Josie/Joe falls in love with her by pretending to be a millionaire. 

It is such a funny film, I like that its been out since 1958 and yet its still funny and brilliant. I don't think I've met anyone who's said a bad word about this film, its either they love it or they haven't seen it. Its got so many memorable quotes and I mean its got Marilyn Monroe that's already an amazing film, and I've spoken about Marilyn in depth before but I always love talking about her. Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon are so brilliant and they bounce off each other so well, with both of them being funny and none of them being boring at the same time.

Both of them have such different personalities Joe/Josie starts off being serious and getting the job done, whereas Jerry/Daphne is taking is seriously but can't help but love being around beautiful women, Joe/Josie ends up falling in love with Sugar by pretending to be a millionaire. Jerry/Daphne pulls Osgood Fielding III (played by Joe E Brown) who is completely smitten by her and has the hilarious line in the end 'nobody's perfect'. It's great with comedy especially with duos as its always one person has to be the clown and the other has to be a little be serious the 'straight one' as we say in comedy. 

One of the things I find when watching this film is that its such a classic and I know people's comedy tastes are different and they've changed over time but you can't beat two men dressed as women that is a classic its worked for hundreds of years, and will still carry on working, its funny as its just over 2 hours but it doesn't feel like it which for me indicates that's its a good film. I should say also this film is Directed by Billy Wilder who is just a legend in the directing world if you know your film history, and he also directed Sabrina in which I did a review on. 

                                                                  
The only thing that slightly frustrated me was the end where Sugar didn't really care too much that her friend was a guy and was cat-fishing her, but hey its a film and Marilyn Monroe so i'm not gonna judge her too harshly on that. Its also a film I'd recommend to anyone who isn't into or hasn't seen Classic films, as it's a light hearted comedy with Marilyn Monroe. It's an amazing film that everyone should watch and enjoy, if you haven't already I'll speak to you all soon have a wonderful day/evening wherever you are. 

Peppermint Friday Review #41: Life Is Beautiful

Life Is Beautiful is an interesting one, as it a World War II concentration Romantic Comedy. I know those two things should not be in the sentence and it sounds like it shouldn't work but it does. 

Its directed by Robert Benigni who also stars in it as Guido the main character, the story is based on Rubino Romeo Salmoni true life I say based but I'm pretty sure its not word for word. The story is about Guido who is a funny charismatic man, who falls inlove with Dora (played by Nicoletta Braschi) at the beginning she is engaged to a man who's horrible and big-headed. Soon she doesn't love him anymore and falls in love with Guido and they get married and have a son called Giouse. World War II breaks out all of them are sent to a concentration camp, Dora is separated from her husband and son, but Guido trys to pull stunts and pranks to get messages sent to Dora. Guido tells Giouse that this whole thing is a game and they have to reach 1000 points, Guido puts himself at risk to save Dora and Giouse. 

I love Roberto Benigni already, he is just a genius and so funny I'd describe him as the Italian version of Kenneth Branagh where he directs his own stuff and gives himself a main role. I can understand with this film if it offended some people or before it was released people were humming and ahing on whether it was the right choice to make. Simply because the concentration camps and World War II are very sensitive subjects to some people, and to portray it like a joke I can completely understand. But with this story its simply a story of a father who wants to protect his son, and wants his son to not hate anyone because if he told Giouse what was actually going on and its not a game, it would change Giouse's outlook on life/people and his dad. 

One of my favorite moments of the film was the scene in which Guido was translating what the German Soldier was saying was the funniest thing ever, as Guido was trying to ease the tension and make his son laugh, because whatever happens he wants his son to remember to keep smiling no matter what, which is a very positive thing to enforce. Giouse was wonderful to watch, I googled the actor to find out if he's still doing acting but I think the acting career stopped from when he was a child, which is a shame. Roberto Benigni and Nicoletta Braschi were fantastic to watch with such beautiful chemistry not a surprise really as they are both married. 

Another moment I love and shows Guido dedication towards taking care of his son. When Guido wants him to get mixed with the German kids as they are treated much better than when he's at the concentration camp but tells him to say nothing. There's bit where Guido is serving the Germans and the kids and Giouse says 'Grazie' and its a shock as they'll find out he's not German but a Jew, but Guido quickly tries to resolve to situation by teaching the kids Italian. 

                                                                   
This film is a wonderful story, of a man who wants the best for his son and wife its a sad but happy ending as he set out to do the thing he intended to in the first place, which is family at first. I loved how different this film is compared to other films about concentration camps and World War II as it was more about family and love than the history of it itself. You should definitely give this film a watch as its so wonderful, and shows life is beautiful yup I had to throw that in there. I'll see you all later and have great day/weekend wherever you are.

Peppermint Friday Review #40: Amelie

This is a weird one as its a film thats pretty much on every list of 'Films You Should See Before You Die' most of the time I don't listen to these lists as they are written by white old men, and the same with Books aswell. Not to say that Classic older films are bad not at all, because we all know how I feel about old films! but if you haven't watch a film thats on that list its like 'you can't truly call yourself a film buff!' and I don't agree with that, but we're gonna talk about this film and is it worth it being on those list? 

This is a weird film directed and story by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, as the storyline for me anyway didn't make much sense, from what I got its about a girl called Amelie (played by Audrey Tautou) and her life story I guess from when she was a girl who was very lonely and still is in her adult years, developed a very active imagination.  Its the first live action French film I've ever watched, its also I think anyway one of the first French films to make it into the Mainstream Film Industry I guess, so thats really good and I can see why. The film is entirely in French and I don't speak French or understand it but I enjoyed the film very much its not my favourite film or the best film I've seen but its a good film.

Its funny because the way people talk about this film is as if there is no other film quite like it at the time of its release which was in 2001 but not anymore I don't think because there are films and tv shows I've seen that are in the same vein as this. For example Submarine that film is very similar to this not in the story line but the genre its about quirky people, its about love and the stylising and colours of different scenes are very similar, but baring in mind that Submarine came out in 2010 and this in 2001. But I love the colours and the style of this film, the costumes are wonderful too as they really represent each character and how they feel. 

One thing I do love about Amelie is the fact that she is a Waitress and I used to be a Waitress, so I feel abit of connection with her she is also very isolated kinda like me, but she uses her loneliness to help other people in her life. The film also has alot of sentinmental quotes as I've seen this film being quoted quite a lot, mainly by teenagers who think their so #weird. I love the quotes and the sentimentality of the film as it shows us we should help people if we can't help ourselves. Another thing with the antagonist and it made me laugh was her opinion I guess well she starts her job single, but not a virgin and her take on sex I think is funny. 

This film is very peculiar because its set in France and its the stereotypical venison of what we imagine of what France, it shines all the good bits. The peculiar thing is with the setting of the film we know its set from the 1970s when Amelie was born to late 90s-early 2000s. The costumes of what the characters are wearing is very in keeping with the times, but Amelie is very unique and shows to be the odd one out because she is wearing clothes that either don't fit in or that are abit quirky and different. I like the style and costumes of what she and the rest of the characters are wearing, all the colours its wonderful, but like with the Cafe Society Review if I only like the colours and scenery is it a film that's really worth watching? 

                                                                
I liked this film, mainly down to Amelie but would I watch it again if it was on Film4 then yeah. If you wanna watch a different film or you wanna get into French films or films that have no English in then give it ago 100%. I can definitely see all the inspirations that directors have taken from this film and what inspirations gave to this film. If I'm honest I'm abit lukewarm to this film as I liked it but I don't really see the hype in it, because there are films that are just as good and are in the same vein, but I can understand why people like it so much. Thank you for reading let me know what you think of this film and I'll see you all very soon have a great Peppermint Friday and I shall see you all next week! 

Review: Bandidas

So we're gonna be talking about a film that I briefly mentioned on my last post this was the most recent film I watched and we're gonna talk about it today, because I really liked it.

One thing I will say about the plot of the film, its kinda like a Ping Pong Match just very sporadic and everyone just happens at once particularly at the beginning of the film, but the way it deals with it is really good. We start with two girls from different backgrounds Sara Sandoval and Maria Alvarez played by Salma Hayek and Penelope Cruz. Sara is from a very wealthy privileged background, very intelligent and Maria is total polar opposite to Sara, poor, very street wise. Their fathers Maria's being very kind and caring and Sara's very arrogant and money hungry, Maria's father is being forced off the land by a land Baron called Tyler Jackson played by Dwight Yoakam, both Sara and Maria's father come under attack from the Baron and Maria's father is killed but Sara's survives, and as an act of revenge they team up and become robbers and give back to poor Mexicans.

I like at the beginning they bicker and squabble like girls do and especially if they come from two different backgrounds. They soon meet Bill Buck who is an infamous robber and he helps them trust each other, the whole film is very funny and entertaining to watch. I even like the storyline, I do find it just bonkers its like the explaining the story scene from Moulin Rouge where its very OTT. But I'm not sure if some people will find that rhythm of storytelling in film annoying because I know some people do, but if you like Baz Lurhman then you'll love this as the style of film and his style are very similar. Its interesting because the joint Directors of the film are Joachim Ronning and Espen Sandberg, there films are not OTT and Happy Clappy, well I mean they've only done two major films this one and Pirates of the Caribbean Dead Man Tells No Tales which is out now eek!

Bit of a fan of the Pirates of the Caribbean films, so expect a review of that coming soon. I loved with the dynamic duo of the film, Sara whenever she held a gun her instant nervous

reaction towards it was to just have hiccups, and whereas with Maria is fantastic at guns but can't swim, but Sara can and is incredible at knife throwing. One scene however that not necessarily confused me, but I just didn't get why it was there. It was the scene when they recently met Quentin Cooke and they were trying to seduce him and they bickered about who's sexier and about how they kissed him wrong and such. I just didn't get what that scene bought out of the characters, was it meant to show their friendship and how they can bitch and moan about each other? was it meant to show Quentin being slightly intimidated by these girls? either way I just didn't get it at all.  

The costumes of the film were just brilliant, I already love that Spanish/Mexican part of it as it plays a huge role in the film. Penelope Cruz and Salma Hayek are always amazing and actresses that don't often get talked about for the roles they've done, as they usually especially Penelope only get talked about because of how beautiful they are as if that's more important than them being a good actress or how well they played the role, not to say they aren't of course. A part of me wishes they made this film into a franchise but another part of me liked that they didn't as I would've loved to see the characters develop, change and grow older, but also it might probably will be just a remake but slightly different from the last one. Also it might have made it seem abit cheaper, so in some ways this film is like a golden nugget. 

                                                                        
I love this film, if you want a bit of a laugh and to entertain yourself then give it a go, but if you want something serious and hardcore then don't watch it. I have a feeling the whole two females taking on the world kinda thing will come back again, so I think maybe you'll see something along the lines of this again soon. Give this film ago even if you aren't a fan of Penelope Cruz or Salma Hayek as its very funny and quick to watch. I will see you all later and have a good day/evening wherever you are!

Peppermint Friday Review #35: Licence To Kill

I get the feeling you guys can get the pattern we've got going, so we started from the 60s, then the 70s and now 80s, so who knows what decade we'll have next hmmmm its the 40s, obviously joking. This bond film is slightly different because the story has much more of a background and its not my favourite but I still love it. 

It stars Timothy Dalton as James Bond and I love his portrayal of Bond being this quite stern man, and not as jokey not to say all of the others loved having a laugh, its just they had abit of sense of humour that was much more louder, whereas his was I guess more British and drier, so I loved that. Its funny because the books are so British and yet this film was written by two Americans and I'm surprised that they got not only the bond feel of the film right, but also the dry, sarcastic humour because not being racist but sometimes when I watch Americans try to do British humour, where we're quite dry and sarcastic its just like 'oh don't do that'. It reminds me of a mum trying to be cool and down with the kids and you're the teenager like 'god mom you're so embarrassing'. It also stars Carey Lowell as Pam Bouvier who is a CIA informant and I don't know why but I just didn't warm to her as much as I did Barbara Bach. 

Loved Sanchez played by Robert Davi and he is fantastic my favourite Bond villain so far, if he and Jaws can team up because that would be the best combination ever. The whole film is set in Florida, and Mexico and it looks beautiful, and I love how 80s the film is. I know that sounds weird but the beginning of the Bond films are always amazing to watch because they represent the film, story and just the whole Bond genre really well. Plus it represents the time really well, the whole 80s feel to it, its just wonderful to watch. 

The costumes to this film are really good, because as well all know I love the 80s, and costumes. I think the reason that may be is because I feel a costume really represents a character, and show their emotions and makes them much more 3D and people who might be real. The one thing that let me down a little bit which is the most important thing was the story wasn't that good. I just didn't feel the story had much charisma to it, I mean it did the job it went from A to B and that's what stories are supposed to but I just didn't like it. For some reason it felt like it was written as a Soap Opera rather than a Bond film. 

It's funny I know because I mentioned I love the humour, and was pleasantly surprised by how good it was and how British it was made out. But getting from A to B on the other hand just felt abit stiff and annoying going from scene to scene. That was the one down side to the film well that and Pam but the story is the most important thing in a film its the bread and butter in a way. Other than that its pretty good, but like I've said before I wouldn't watch a film purely based of the costume or the actors and go away saying its great and I loved it. I feel the actors and costume are just an element to the film, and can make the film from good to amazing. If a story isn't very good then it isn't very good, theres no going back its just that. 

                                                                 
Over all I like this film, but I don't love it and I'm gonna be honest with you guys I hate it when films make me feel like this. With films I wanna either love it and its my new favourite film or I hate it and I can't stand it, and when theres an in between its like 'eh'. Especially when I have to write about it on here, because I hate writing reviews that are just lukewarm. Anyway I liked it but I didn't love it, and there are better Bond films out there I feel anyway. You never know you could be totally lukewarm about a film, and watch it a few years later and finally have an opinion that's not lukewarm.

I will speak to you all later and have a lovely weekend and I shall see you all next week!

Review: The Women

So we're gonna talk about Joan Crawford abit this week as I wanna talk more about Bette Davis, and Bette and Joan had quite a history so why not. Plus this film is very interesting and totally unlike any film that I ideally like to see, basically I didn't think it'd would be my cup of tea as it just sounded like a Bridget Jones Chick Flick from the plot summery that is. 

What this film is about is a group of friends who all live in fairly middle class standards, one of them called Mary Haines (Norma Shearer) who's husband called Stephen may or may not be having an affair with this beautiful, flirtatious woman called Crystal Allen (Joan Crawford). When Mary finds out about this and confronts Crystal about it and tells her to stop, Crystal just refuses and Mary and Stephen get a divorce. 2 years later Crystal and Stephen are married and Crystal has been having this affair with this new man who is married to one of the friends who's a countess and it just blows up. 

The plot of the film annoys me somewhat as the friends are good and so is Mary's mother as they're both very supportive of Mary because she's the innocent one and going through quite a bad time with everything. Also none of Mary's friends who are played by Rosalind Russel, Paulette Goddard and Joan Fonatine and a plethora of other brilliant actresses, none of the friends seem to like Crystal which is justified I guess as its the thing where its 'you've hurt my friend so automatically I don't like you' but it just seems like they all just gang up on her, which is horrible.

Crystal's character is someone I actually like, because she is a woman who knows who she is and is fine with it. She is very much of this bacheloresque woman in a way, because she is so strong and doesn't care what people think of her or her relationships, which I think is great as you shouldn't care what people think, but at the same time you should take people's feelings in to account if you're doing something like what Crystal did and she was very selfish and hurt other people. I mean she's a bitch but she admits it and is fine with it and not shady or denying that she is. 

Mary the main character is something I can't relate to or understand as she in the end and this frustrates me. In the end she goes back to Stephen the man who cheated on her in the first place! It annoyed me that Mary confronted Crystal and not Stephen who did the dirty and its more of a marriage and couple thing rather than it being another issue, but that's just me. They really tried to make Crystal a real bitch, from her costumes she wore to her attitude towards people, particularly towards her Step-Daughter little Mary. I like little Mary she is very passive aggressive towards her and it just makes me love her so much, because she does it in such a polite way you can't be annoyed at her. 

 Overall this film is good, but some of the characters are abit crap I should say, like Mary she just annoyed me at the end where she went back to Stephen who broke her trust but she loves him anyway. I feel like there should have been more of Stephen in the film, because that way he's more 3D you didn't even see his face throughout it. Love Joan Crawford in this obviously, and Paulette Goddard was brilliant aswell, because both are so mesmerising you can't stop watching them. 

Review: Inside Out

Been a bit absent recently not gonna explain why life just happens thats all. But I really wanna talk about this film, as its a Pixar and we all know and love Pixar yes we do, and its fascinating because its a Children's film with themes and messages that kids won't understand and I'm not talking about dirty jokes. 

Those of you who don't know, Inside Out is essentially about Mental Heath and how the human mind works. That already is very big and heavy for a kid to understand, but I think kids are more intelligent for what they're parents and teachers give them credit for. The plot is about a girl called Riley and is just an average kid with two parents who love each other, and she loves Ice Hockey, hates Broccoli. She is moved to a new town, at the start of the film in her mind she has her emotions: Joy (Amy Poehler), Anger( Lewis Black) Sadness (Phyllis Smith) Fear (Bill Hader) and Disgust (Mindy Kalling). all control Riley in certain situations like if she's playing Ice Hockey she's happy and Joy takes control.

They also take control and organise all the memory orbs, a memory orb is a prominent moment of your life well in this case Riley's so for example it could be her first Ice Hockey game, because Ice Hockey is one of her passions. Until one day Sadness touches on of the orbs and Riley associates it with being sad. It just teaches kids about mental illness and how the minds work, and I love that as its important for not just kids but everyone to learn about emotions and empathy for what people are feeling and respect those thoughts in which we are indifferent to and such. 

It also has the witty dialogue Pixar are known for that fits well with both age demographics with kids and adults. I love that Pixar incorporated both the serious side to growing up and the fun and happy side to it aswell. Its got the wonderful talent from Mindy Kalling who was in the Office, and Amy Poehler who both are so funny and witty already as they are comedians, to put them in an animated film and they just riff is brilliant, because they can add so much to the character and make it 10 times more lively. I also love the differences between Mom and Dad's emotions with Mom its very attentive to what Riley's actions are and how she speaks. Dad on the other hand is up with the fairies and as soon as Mom looks at him he just panics and agrees. 

I love this film so much and I'm so glad Pixar made it, not because its wonderfully done with the animations and all that, but with the story arch and what it shows to everyone as its important to understand empathy. Some of the other characters in the film are brilliant aswell, like Bing Bong Riley's old imaginary friend, he is the best and so funny, and adorable. I also love how important he is to Riley as it shows you should never forget about your childhood best friend regardless whether you still talk to them or not. 

                                                       
You need to watch this film if you haven't seen it, because its funny with it being very mature as it tackles with emotions and the human mind. Because feelings are complicated and to put it in such a simple but also being witty about it, is very impressive. Its such a great film as Mental Health is getting better and much more support its wonderful to have a story like this to exist. 

Review: Travels With My Aunt

Last week was abit wishy washy, as there was no usual Wednesday post, there was but not the Peppermint Friday way post if that makes sense. I did touch on something I'm really happy that I touched on and thats women in film, the posts I did were both involving Elizabeth Taylor and Tennessee Williams, and I spoke alot about the women in those stories. So we're gonna carry it on and it was a long time coming so thats what we're gonna do. This weekend I watched Travels With My Aunt, with Maggie Smith and Alec McCowen and thats what we're gonna talk about today.

Travels With My Aunt is about a man called Henry Pulling who's mother has just died (Alec McCowen) and at the funeral his Aunt Augusta played by Maggie Smith who says she raised him and not his mother. She has an African boyfriend called Zachery who is waiting for her, she is then received a package containing a served finger who belongs to her true love Ercole along with a note saying they will be reunited with payment of $100,000. Augusta asks if Henry can accompany her to Paris aware that she is has pay ransom, and its just as the title suggests 'Travels with my Aunt'

Firstly it has Maggie Smith in it, so you're immediately gonna enjoy it, plus its Maggie Smith as more of herself than anything you know what I mean if you watched her in interviews particularly back in the day. She's so acid tongue and witty, that's the Maggie that isn't shown that often and thats why I love it so much. Alex McCowen plays the opposite of Maggie Smith's character Augusta, he's shy, straight guy in the comedy. The character dynamic is amazing love how different they are to each other and it makes it so much more funny. The costumes are amazing aswell, love all the clothes Maggie wears in this film, its set in the 70's and that's an interesting and fun era of fashion and film. The fact that Henry is younger than Augusta and he's much more mature is one of the things that makes me love Augusta and Maggie Smith that much more shes's internally youthful.

The minor characters they meet on the journeys are just wonderful, they're such full of colour. Tooley is a firm favorite she's so quirky and adorable one of my favorite scenes was when she was flirting and encouraging Henry to smoke marijuana. She reminds me of Danielle Foussard from To Catch A Thief that cheeky, funny, slightly naughty girl and that kinda character is always fun to me. All the interesting funny peculiar people they encounter are just so brilliant, like the Taxi driver they meet as soon as they get to Paris he's so positive and can't speak that much English its so accurate its hilarious because we've all met someone like that when we go to different countries and its so bonkers you've gotta laugh at it. 

There is a serious side to it in terms of Augusta and the genuine of her being Henry's Aunt as it can be wishy washy, because throughout the film you're questioning whether or not she's his Aunt, but I'd like it to be one of those make of it what you will moments of film and storytelling. Another serious part of the story is, the problem with Augusta's relationships and how she feels about them. I loved that Augusta has that mind of an 18 year old, and doesn't give a thought about long term marriages, and focusing on the hear and now of relationships and flings. I just hope that I'm like that when I'm at that age. Adding that the 1970's of film and I think I've said this before, but its quite a serious era of film I feel it had much more of the dialogue and styles we see now, and I haven't seen that many 1970s films so its a good one to watch of those who haven't seen many. 

                                                                    
If you watched The Lady In The Van or read the review I did #promo then you'll see the similarities of characters in them both. Maggie is a fantastic Actress and if you loved The Lady In The Van then you'll love this film, just think of Travels with my Aunt as a younger version of Maggie in The Lady In The Van. Alec McCowen was amazing in it, just total opposites from each other, and I love that, just found out Alec McCowen past away only a month ago, so RIP. Give this film a go as its so funny with its witty lines, and brilliant Acting talents from Maggie Smith and Alec McCowen. 

Peppermint Friday Review #21: Sabrina

So to end the wonderful week, we're gonna talk about a film that I love very much that stars two of my favorite people Audrey Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart and I did mention it in a post a couple of weeks ago. It was also directed by the same man who directed The Seven Year Itch which I did a review of at the start of this week. 

The story is about a girl called Sabrina (played by Audrey Hepburn) who has been in love with a guy called David Larrabee (played by William Holden) who doesn't really return the favor. Sabrina tries to commit suicide due to it, but fails but David's older brother Linus (played by Humphrey Bogart) intervenes she then goes to Paris to go to cooking school she returns home after two years and looks completely different, stunning, new attitude adjustment.

First of all the costumes are stunning, then again its hard to make Audrey look awful even when before Sabrina went to Paris she looked beautiful. But when she got back she just looked abit more groomed shall we say, and much more glamorous. Even with William Holden and Humphrey Bogart's characters looked amazing, with there character arcs and I know that they just wore suits but for the characters and the personality types they looked amazing. Thats my girly bit of the review done for a bit, but we all know

I loved Sabrina as a character, I saw allot of myself in her that she wears her heart on her sleeve which can be a bad thing, but a very human thing and thats something I love about her. Linus is so brilliant and opposite from Sabrina I actually love that they develop feelings for each other as the film goes on from the character development from Sabrina at the beginning of the film lusting after a man who clearly doesn't show the same affection back, to the end of the film where she's beautiful, graceful and a woman who knows her worth.

The script was so flawless and I loved the way they said the lines that needed to be said in that way. William Holden's character David was the perfect mix of arrogance and charm, the way I describe it is Gaston who went to finishing school and actually tried hard and completed it. In some ways this film is a mixture of Beauty and The Beast with Sabrina being Belle, David, Gaston and Humphrey The Beast, and a modern romance film that wants the characters to get together you know, like a Team David and Team Linus sort of thing. 

Now you all know this by now, I'm not a fan of chick flicks, romcoms things like that, but when it comes to Classic films that have romantic bits and are largely romantic in terms of genre, who has a Hollywood star in like Audrey, Marilyn or Veronica Lake or whoever I like the list goes on I will 100% watch that film. Billy Wilder who directed this film, is a fantastic director who is well known to direct Romantic films with an edge of Comedy to it.
                                                                       
I think you should all know that there is a 1995 remake of this film, which isn't as good as this one, even though it has Harrison Ford in but this one has Audrey Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart, so who wins? Not that I don't like Harrison Ford he's brilliant but its Audrey and Humphrey. This film and story is so beautiful to watch even if you're not a huge romance fan you will still love this film, as there are some funny bits of the film which are incorporated in brilliantly by the wonderful directing of Billy Wilder. I will talk to you all next week, and have a lovely weekend!