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: 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 #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! 

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!

Review: The Seven Year Itch

Now this week, is gonna be an Audrey Hepburn and Marilyn Monroe week, as they are both very different but both were very successful around the same time. They are also not only brilliant actresses and women I highly admire but also they're fashion and sex icons, which is new to me to talk about. But I shall talk about that on Wednesday! 

We all know this film, predominantly from the icon Marilyn Monroe picture of her with the white dress standing on top of vent and the dress, yup we all know the scene and pictures. But the story goes abit deeper than that, yes her character is very free and relaxed but not slutty. It's about this man called Richard Sherman who is abit nerdy and talks to himself quite often, and he tends to overthink and has a very wild imagination. He is married and has a child who are in Maine, and he is in New York working through the summer. He lives near a woman who is Marilyn Monroe, and she is an Actress who is very glamorous and its Richard's imagination that the main thing of the story.

I love this film, the costumes are great then again the costumes in the 1950s will always be appealing to me so its a given. The film was originally a stage play which I can completely understand with as Richard's imagination and tendency to overthink would be quite fun to portray on stage. I love the bit where Marilyn says something along the lines of 'Not all girls find handsome men, or men that have confidence particularly attractive' I can't quite remember but I like that because it is true in many cases, girls and boys are attracted to what they're attracted to.

Marilyn's character and I think in her true character aswell, are very beautiful and they know they're beautiful, but she's not insecure about it or arrogant and cocky about it, she is very casual with it. Thats something I don't think people get from watching her in much more serious films, than in comedy films. But I will talk about her in much more depth in the Wednesday blog post. In this film, she proved that she is perceptive and doesn't just think about men all the time, and isn't this ditzy blonde girl.

I think Richard's stream into madness is what I really love about this film. It is accurate to what a person with anxiety is and I know its very farfetched from this being a romantic comedy and I'm jumping it to what its like with someone who has a mental illness. But Richard overthinks allot mainly around Marilyn as she is this beautiful woman and he is a man who has been married for 7 years has a child and boom he is faced with this gorgeous woman who lives just above him, and he's going mad.

One moment of the film that I loved was when Richard tried to kiss Marilyn, and he then started to imagine what would happen if word got out that he is a married man and kissed another woman and he didn't do gently he did it quite aggressively in a sexual way. I loved how intense he thought it would be and how his wife would react and how Marilyn would talk about it on TV and how crazy it was. That something that made me laugh, and made me like the film even more, as in comedy sometimes the funny thing can be quite vulnerable and absurd.

                                                                       
I adore this film, I love Marilyn in all her films, her serious, dark, mysterious side and her funny, blonde and ditzy side.I'm not that big into romantic comedies or chick flick, but when it comes to Audrey and Marilyn or any Classic Hollywood Actress that I love I'm all over it. This week for me is gonna be allot of fun as I've talked about men on here whether it'd be Comedians, or Directors or Actors they've predominantly been male, not that thats a bad thing, its just nice to talk about women who I love also for a change. If you want to buy this film go ahead by all means if not thats fine. I hope you all have a lovely week and I'll see you on Wednesday!

Peppermint Friday Review #19: La La Land

I have been meaning to watch this film since I saw the previews and trailers, and songs anything that had anything to do with the film I watched it. I finally saw it on Wednesday night and I just had to do a review on it, as its just soo ahhh.

Oh this film, its so good its my favorite film of 2016 I say that as it came out in December 2016 but that was in USA but I'm still gonna say it was my favorite, as 2016 was pretty eventful so to end it with an amazing musical was amazing I adore musicals already so seeing this film was a no brainer. The story takes place in LA it centres around Mia who is played by Emma Stone and she is a Barista and an Actress, she goes from job to job not getting a big break as such, she then meets Sebastian who is played by Ryan Gosling who is a pianist for a restaurant and  dreams of owning his own jazz bar, they find solace in each other and are determined to conquer their dreams.

The film's songs were all written by Pasek and Paul who I already love, as they did a musical called Edges and I adore them they are the next big thing, I'm telling you all. My favorite songs in the musical are City Of Stars, The Planetarium Dance song was amazing, and Someone In The Crowd aswell. From watching this film I now want a date at a Planetarium, where they just watched the stars, and danced it was so wonderful and romantic.

It was so perfect and romanticly done, I loved the simplicity for it all like there was no pressure for them to get together. Ryan Gosling is now my new crush as he can sing really well, and tap dance. Emma Stone was already talented but even more so after this, she was just fantastic and so beautiful. The chemistry is very similar to that of a couple like Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, like I adore the chemistry when there's no need for sex or just screaming with hormones. I love romantic films that has no sex or hormones, I love it when they're just expressing themselves through songs.

Sometimes in a romantic film or scenario all you need is good actors with good chemistry, sometimes that can be just all you need. Thats something I learnt from myself where I prefer romantic films with no sex, you can tell that the inspiration of the film from the music and styling and costumes that its very much inspired from 1940s, 1930s romantic comedies, musicals and that's an era that I just adore and possibly one of my favorites if you didn't tell already. 

I love the costumes and the way its set out, it appears modern and current but also inspired from the colours of the 1940s films, where colour films became much more popular, and the costumes and dresses were just screaming with bright vibrant colours, and it really shines and shows LA as I've heard its a very sunny, beautiful place. The way they incorporated the dresses and clothing is just the best, and perfectly done.

Everyone should watch this film regardless of if you like films or not you need to watch this film. It does have some heartbreaking moments, like all good musicals do. The music is amazing, as are the costumes and Emma and Ryan are so beautiful to watch.

Review: To Catch A Thief

On Friday I did a review of 'His Girl Friday' but today we're gonna do another Cary Grant film, its also a Hitchcock film, the first Hitchcock film I've done on this blog. 

Its about a man called John Robie played by Cary Grant who used to be a jewel thief, because of a recent events of jewellery going missing, so everyone assumes Robie is back stealing jewels. He then wants to catch the real jewel thief in the act to prove its not him. And one of the best bits is that its set in Monaco, and let me tell you its so beautiful to watch. 

This film also stars Grace Kelly, who I'm not a big fan of, but I do love this film and Cary Grant. Grace plays a rich girl who falls in love with John Robie, however as one of her jewels goes missing, she accuses of buttering her up basically to get close to her so he can steal the jewels, but he isn't the thief, we all know that. She is the typical rich girl, but she's not spoilt in any way, she's much more of a woman, she's not stupid in anyway. I mean I still don't like her, but that doesn't mean she's a crap actress, she's just not my cup of tea. But her costumes in this film are so gorgeous. 

Another girl that's caught John Robie's eye who I actually prefer, because she's just so much more relatable to me than thats Danielle, she is French teenager I love her because she is just so fun and I see alot me in her. In a positive way of course, one of my favorite scenes in film ever is the scene where she meets John Robie in the ocean, I love it so much its wonderful. She is just oozing with charm, and grace as she is played by an actual french actress Brigette Auber. 

This film is brilliant as its described as a 'Thriller' which it is, and does this outstandingly. I found watching this it didn't feel heavy or scary, it felt much more like a light comedy with abit of action/thriller to shake things up abit. As I love films that have something else other than just an 'Action' or a 'Thriller' I like films, and sometimes TV with abit of extra to it, it makes things livelier. I mean thats just what I think, but I love this film, you don't feel like you're watching a Thriller I mean you are, but you don't feel like you are.

As this is an Alfred Hitchcock film, and yes I will be doing a post all about that man in one way or another. Its a legend, and any Hitchcock film is a staple but honestly if you wanna start watching Hitchcock films, if you haven't already then you should watch this film first as it's a great way to get into his style of film.