A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night

2014 - 0/5

with the black and white, with the music, they’re trying way to hard.

the taxi driver from HIMYM

this was too artsy for my liking.

The “sex” and pac-man tattoos were pathetic.

Why would he cower like a baby just because his finger was cut off?

It’s soooo slow.

Instructions Not Included

2013 - 4/5

My cousin had recommended this to me a while back and it’s been on my list to watch, so I decided to give it a go. From what I remember my cousin telling me, I had immediately thought it would be the Spanish version of Big Daddy. Don’t get me wrong, this movie does have some Big Daddy qualities, but the main difference, it was never juvenile. The comedy coincided with Valentin’s character, but the comedy changed as the character developed.

The acting was pretty good from all parties, so no qualms there. I did like that the people that were bilingual in this movie are actually bilingual people. It made for smooth dialogue and you could tell that it was never a struggle to get their lines out.

From the get-go its obvious that Valentin wants nothing to do with children. Being the type of movie that it is, you know he’s going to love Maggie and would truly do anything for her. I absolutely loved that at times, he and Maggie would be wearing the same outfit – he really went all out. From what I read on IMDB, Maggie’s character was actually supposed to be a boy, but I’m really happy they didn’t find anyone right, and ended up with Loreta Peralta. I think it made it that much more heartfelt to see Valentin’s relationship with his daughter.

I’m not one to cry during movies, but this movie had me in tears… twice! I don’t want to give anything away because I think this is a great movie for people of all ages. It has the typical ups and downs, but it does have a curve ball thrown in. The director was able to blend the comedy and drama together, but also knew when to keep the two separate.

I got my mom to watch it and she loved it.


***SPOILER ALERT***
My heart sank when Valentin found out Maggie wasn’t his. He sacrificed everything he had for his daughter and to find out she wasn’t his, was a big blow.

Then, what made it worse is that we find out that it was Maggie who had one foot in deaths door! I thought it was the dad, but looking back, Maggie’s “vitamin” bottle was funny looking. That’s when it hit me as to why he spoiled her so much, didn’t mind if she skipped school, kept giving her letters from her “mom” to ensure that she felt love, and mainly just spending every waking moment with her. He wasn’t “overcompensating” as the principle said because her mother abandoned her, he was doing it because he knew she was going to die.

The part at the end when the mom was there with the cop to take Maggie, and Valentin holds up $10 and asks if she needs to pay the cab left the biggest lump in my throat.

It really put things in perspective with regards to him knowing that she didn’t have much time left and he did what he felt was important. He really wanted her to love and enjoy life to the fullest.

The Babadook

2014 - 0/5

A friend recommended this a while back and I can’t say I remembered what it was about. When I saw the cover, I knew it was a scary movie. I didn’t bother reading the synopsis in order to go with a blank slate.

The easiest way to explain this is that it was not a “Sally movie”.

The Barber

2015 - 0/5

When and how I heard of this movie, I don’t remember, but it looked like it had potential.

It had some similarities to the TV show Dexter.

You hope that it’s not as cheesy as it could be. It is.

There were a few scenes in which it was supposed to be tense, but really, it was done so badly that you just don’t care.

If you think this move is going to have a good script, here’s a snippet: “then I saw this pretty, yummy girl” – did he REALLY have to use the word “yummy”. Ya, so now you know you’re not missing out.

Everything moves so fast; yes it is only an hour and a half long, but at the 50 minute mark, a lot had happened. The movie was rushed, but that’s not to say this it needed to be any longer than it was.

The acting is terrible.

Zoolander 2

2016 - 2.7/5

I went into this movie not having seen a single trailer. How I managed to pull that off, I have no idea. I didn’t do it on purpose, I just never saw the trailer. That’s not to say that I haven’t seen pictures, but I had no idea what the movie was actually going to be about.

From my perspective, if you enjoyed the first one, you’ll like this one too (keep in mind I saw it for free, so whether or not I would have felt any differently if I had paid for it, I don’t know). It has the exact same type of humour, but the first one stuck to what it was, whereas this one kind of moves away from full on parodying the modeling world. At one point it reminded me of The Da Vinci Code, and it was just unoriginal.

I do recall that Justin Bieber was going to have a cameo in this movie. SPOILER ALERT (for the next sentence): his death was done in a dumb way, but I will admit that I loved that not only did he take a selfie, he went through the filters before he shared it. I actually thought that was funny.

As for the rest of the cameos, I can’t say I cared for them; they each had their bit, some of them funny, some not and the movie went on.

Going in, I had seen that Kristen Wiig was in this movie, but I did not recognize her until I saw her name in the credits; then it hit me. I didn’t care for Penélope Cruz, I think anyone could have played the role of Valentina.

My friend said that the first half was better than the second half and I do agree. The first half of the majority of comedies are far more funny, then the plot actually starts to creep in and the comedy starts to take a hit. There were a few parts in which the build up seemed like it had potential, then it kind of just fizzled out – it wasn’t developed as it could have been.

Zoolander

2001 - 2.7/5

I did like how Derek would say words completely wrong.
This movie did have a fun script, but not one that I would quote like I do Mean Girls.
Ben Stiller as Derek Zoolander was the best when it came to the acting; everyone else was fine and played their role well enough.

Trainwreck

2015 - 3/5

It really didn’t seem like Bill Hader and Amy Schumer would have that much chemistry, but it worked so well!

Amy Schumer was hilarious!!! Her timing and delivery were spot on.

LOL at the Kanye West part. OMG, FUNNY!
LOL at the trampoline part; “I thought I got a lot of height”

Had no idea this was directed by Judd Apatow, but Amy Schumer was the person who wrote the script.

I did enjoy this and I would recommend it, but I don't see myself watching it a second time.