Recently Viewed Part 2

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300 Rise of an Empire

Hubster and I both really loved 300 so we were greatly anticipating the follow up, Rise of an Empire. We were sadly disappointed. We realised afterwards that the reason why we loved the original so much was because it was so original; the fight scenes, the slow motion killing, the colours, the creepy monsters. It was all so dramatic but the storyline was also captivating; you really got behind the Spartans and wanted them to win. This fella though, was like watching your boring next door neighbour getting mildly upset over how long the paint was taking to dry on his fence. I couldn't even tell you now what his name was. Lena Headley (the Queen) is in this one again and I like her but I felt she was underused. I loved the character of Artemesia (Eva Green) who was strong, merciless and more than a little bit evil. Although you clearly weren't meant to, I was backing her all the way, as was hubster. We cared that little for the plight of "the good guys" cause it was just so badly written. I could also rant on here about the lazy scriptwriting that insists that any female character who is seeking revenge is doing so because she was raped but I may leave that for another post. Either way this gets a giant MEH from me.

Captain America The Winter Soldier

We're also big Marvel fans so obviously couldn't wait to see this, especially after catching a 10 minute trailer of it before something else. If I'm honest, I was a bit nonplussed by the first Captain America but I really enjoyed this one. It seems to have found its feet a bit more and it seemed more like a proper action/adventure movie than it did a cartoon (which is how I felt about the first one). This time Captain America is up against a super soldier (that Winter fella in the title) who appears to be unstoppable while also dealing with S.H.I.E.L.D who may or may not be compromised (I'll say no more). This moved along at a nice pace, the fighting scenes were really well done and overall It was just really entertaining. Don't get me started on all the ass shots of Scarlet Johannson though. You know, it just annoys me; she's this amazing fighter, a super-assassin and yet they still have her saying things like "Oh, hello sailor" in a sexy voice before punching a guy on a boat. Why? Captain America doesn't do that, why should she? All I'll say is that her character said nothing so stereotypically "female fighter" when Joss Whedon wrote her lines in The Avengers but whatever. 

Non Stop

This is just your standard Liam Neeson action film. He plays a US Federal air marshal on a regular flight when he starts getting text messages from someone to say that people on the plane will start to die unless money is transferred into an account. Unfortunately, as events unfold it appears more and more obvious that Neeson's character is being set up and now everyone thinks he is the guilty party, which means he now has to stop the terrorist and clear his own name. This wasn't bad at all, I mean it's total nonsense but it's entertaining nonsense and Julianne Moore is in it too, so that's a reason to see it right there. Love her.

Dallas Buyers Club 

This is the true story of real life AIDS sufferer Ron Woodruff who upon diagnosis, finds out he cannot gain access to medications that could prolong his life because they aren't FDA approved. He then sets up a smuggling business to bring these medications into the country and give them to fellow patients as part of the 'Dallas buyers club". From there it's basically about his many run-ins with the law, how his illness affects him as a person (his growing tolerance for others and his friendship with Rayon, a HIV positive trans woman who he originally is hostile towards but grows to love as a friend) and his lengthy fight with the FDA to make his medications legal. This film was just brilliant. Difficult to watch at times but so compelling and so well acted. I loved it really and cried like a baby a couple of times. Both Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto truly deserved those Oscars.

Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs 1 & 2

I'm way late to this party (the first film was out in 2009 I think) but himself recently found these on Netflix and we said we'd give them a go (I said I'd give them a go- he loves animation, I have to be in the right frame of mind for it). Regardless, I loved both of these, more so the first but they are both very, very funny. Incredibly witty actually. Although one of the more basic jokes was the one that got us the most- Flint is a wannabe scientist, all of his inventions are terrible, including a monkey speech translator for his pet monkey Steve. All Steve ever says is "Steve!", so now himself and I spend a lot of time going "Steve!" to each other. Sad, yes. Hilarious also. Anyway, Flint comes up with a machine that turns rain into food, which is great to start with but goes a bit awry...the second film is a follow on from the fallout of his invention in the first film. This is one of those ones that's suitable for kids and adults. If you haven't seen them you definitely need to watch these!!

Lego Movie

I really loved this computer animated comedy, all about the world of Lego (unsurprisingly). So many brilliant in-jokes, visual gags and hilarious characters. The cast list is great too- Will Arnett as Batman was a stroke of genius! Lets also not forget the amazing soundtrack...EVERYTHING IS AWESOME!!! etc. 

Love.

Have you seen any of these? Any other good films recently I should be checking out?

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