Summer 2016 Movie Kickoff Review

For many, summer includes sandals, shorts, and sunshine.  For me, it definitely includes those things, but also implies an exciting time for movies.  Below is a mixture to appeal to most movie goers.  Check them out and and then go see one!

The Lobster
Type: Independent
Starring: Colin Farrell

In a city where it is illegal to be single, a man finds himself in quite a pickle when his wife cheats on him and leaves.  He is forced to do what all single folks do and checks himself into a hotel where you have 45 days to find your partner.  If you can't find a suitor, you must choose an animal to become and are forced into the woods.  Our friend David chooses......well I think you can guess based on the title.

The hotel does everything it can to portray just how awful life can be as a single person.  Men will choke without their wive's to save them.  Women will be attacked by awful men without their husbands to rescue them.  That is at-least what the hotel wants its guests to think.  You can forget masturbating.  David's friend had to place his hand in a toaster, turned on, after doing so.  It is pretty extreme at the hotel and David's days are numbered.  Alas he finds a wife but that goes sour when she finds out he was only pretending to be a certain way in order for her to like him.

David then escapes from the hotel and hides in the woods where he meets a group of single outlaws who refuse to conform.  You'd think this would be a good thing, but this group has a rule in which you are not allowed to find a companion.  If you do, you'll be killed.  So of course David finds the love of his life here.

As you can see, we have two extremes here which do make the movie rather stressful at times.  It has an ominous tone and is definitely quirky.  It's almost as if the writers were extremely caught up in their premise so much that it became a bit much.  I'd still recommend it for my indie movie friends as you will definitely be intrigued.

Central Intelligence
Type: Action/Comedy
Starring: Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Kevin Hart

Calvin Joyner was the king of his high school.  He was on top and assumed he always would be.  Unfortunately as he got older, married his high school sweetheart and became an accountant, his felt like a disappointment to his younger self.

Bob Stone, aka Robby Weird D*ck, was the opposite of Calvin in high school.  He had his own flare for life that his peers couldn't understand, so what did they do?  Bully him of course.  Fortunately, post high school was his time to shine and he definitely did.  Working out 6 hours a day for two decades proved to be quite beneficial in changing his once over weight physique.  Robby transformed into Bob Stone.  Oh yeah.......he also joined the CIA.

On the same week as their twenty year reunion, Bob and Calvin and reunited when Bob approaches Calvin to help him with a major CIA investigation.  As much as he fights it, this is exactly what Calvin needs to regain faith in his lack luster life.  Calvin has no idea that his kind gesture in high school of giving his jacket to Bob at one of his lowest moments would never be forgotten.  Calvin has  always and will always be Bob's hero.

We all know Kevin Hart is hilarious and he doesn't disappoint in this.  The Rock tends to play the character he usually plays in comedies; a meat head with a soft spot.  The duo do create some laugh out loud moments and the length of the movie is just right.  A definite action/comedy for the family.

Finding Dory
Type: Family
Starring: Ellen Degeneres (Dory) and Albert Brooks (Marlin)

I don't think I know a single person who didn't like Finding Nemo, so I am not surprised at how successful this movie was in the box office.

We are reunited with our friends Marlin and Dory in a tale of how Dory, in all her forgetfulness, gets lossed from her parents as a baby.  She spends her whole life trying to find them.  It isn't until after she meets Marlin and helps him find his son, does she remembers she needs to find them.  The trio then set out on their next adventure to swim across the sea to California to find them.

Finding Dory follows a similar pattern as Finding Nemo in the obstacles along the way.  I was excited to see the "surfer-dude" turtles back as well as other well-loved characters from the previous movie. I also must add how adorable baby Dory is.  You will absolutely fall in love with her cuteness.  Parents, children, couples, friends, and pretty much anyone will enjoy this movie.  Appropriate amounts of adult humor are included as well as refreshing innocence of an animated Pixar family movie.

Me Before You: Prepare to Ugly Cry......A Lot

I went into this movie knowing it was going to be an emotional one.  After reading the book and reading that the movie followed the same path, there would be no surprises.  I knew exactly what I was getting myself into, and yet I had no idea.  This movie not only portrayed the emotions, thoughts, and insights that the book did, but it extended them with such great actors to portray the characters.  Louis Clark and Will Traynor could not have been played by better people.  I must give major kudos to Emilia Clark (Game of Thrones) and Sam Claflin (Hunger Games) for truly portraying our beloved Will and Lou.

If you red my blog about the book, then you know what the movie is about.  To summarize, Louisa works as a caregiver for Will.  Will is quadriplegic after a motorcyclist hit him, leaving him paralyzed below the upper chest.  He had quite the extraordinary life before the accident with having a successful career, lots of traveling experience, and pretty much anything he wanted when he wanted it.  Will transformed after this accident into a dark state and felt this new life was not a life he wanted to continue living.  He promised his parents he would do his best for 6 months, but after that would end his life with dignity, as he thought, in Switzerland.  When Louisa came into the picture, she was able to reach out to him in a way nobody else had been able to.  Her compassion, zest for life, and positivity gave him a reason to wake up every morning.  Louisa was devastated when she found out about his promise and was then determined to change his mind.  She set forth several adventures for them to go on such as horse races, the Opera, and even an exotic vacation.  She was convinced she could make him happy.  What transpired during all of this was a love so deep, neither one could deny it.  But would this love be enough to keep Will alive?

As I said earlier, this movie did a fantastic job representing the novel.  The chemistry between Emilia and Sam was evident and created an authentic feel.  The evolvement of their relationship was paced well and the emotions from all characters were raw.  This definitely made it difficult to watch without tissues, but sometimes it feels good to see a movie that gives you a good cry.  I remember feeling this way when I saw P.S. I Love You.  It's one you truly enjoy while your watching, but know that due to the extreme emotions, will most likely only see it once, maybe twice in a lifetime.  These are the kinds of movies you don't need to see more because you will always have those vivid memories of the first time you saw it.  I hope you see it and may you, in the words of Will Traynor, live well.

Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping

If you were a Saturday Night Live fan during the glorious Andy Samberg years with his infamous digital shorts such as the classic I've posted, then you will love his new movie.  Basically add a bunch of his best digital shorts, then put together a storyline, and you have your masterpiece.
Popstar is about a guy and his successful boyband who are out to make their next big album.  The lead singer let's the fame get to his head(shocking) and ends up loosing it all.  The question is, will he be able to rise to the top once again?


Now please do not see this with any expectations of a deep movie.  If you see the previews and laugh, then this is your movie.  If you see the trailer and think it looks stupid, I would try for a different one. But I dare you to see it and not crack up.

The cameos with Justin Timberlake, Usher, and other stars claiming Conner 4 Real (Andy) is who inspired them to reach their potential along with his ridiculous crew of supporters was hilarious.  My favorites were his new songs; one in which I am fairly certain pokes fun at a Macklemore song about acceptance and another extremely appropriate hit with the phrase, "I am going to **** you like the US **** Bin Laden."  Needless to say, the movie does not play it safe, so if you are easily offended......not the movie for you.  If you love inappropriate humor, a for sure must see.

X-Men: Apocolypse

One of the things I love about my husband is how he somehow managed to get me to like movies based on super heroes, comic book characters, etc.  Now X-Men was actually one of the cartoons I loved watching as a kid, so I have to take some credit for this one.  So going into this movie, I had that anticipation of seeing something you are pretty confident you will enjoy.  The excitement of seeing a comic book movie cannot be denied and what rocks is that this movie did not disappoint.  

With the X-Men movies before this, we may have thought we have seen the most powerful mutants, but we were so wrong.  The movie begins with Apocalypse, one of the first mutants from thousands of years ago, whom was obtaining the power of self healing from another mutant.  Several who were against him tried to prevent the inevitable and instead of killing him, caused him to go to a deep sleep for thousands of years.  

Now we move forward to present day when he is accidentally awoken.  He learns what he has missed during all this time and is quite displeased with the world.  He intends on ridding the world of humans and allowing mutants to rise again.  Apocalypse finds three followers, and then finds Magneto in a desperate state after loosing his wife and daughter.  The four work together to destroy the world, but Apocalypse needs one more thing to feel complete, the power to be everywhere at once, the powers only Professor Xavier holds.  Apocalypse and his followers kidnap Xavier and attempt to do what they set out for but of course that isn't without a fight.  

Professor X has definitely met his match when it comes to powerful mutants, but he is determined to save the human and mutant races together.  His vision of peace among all is what keeps him going.  It isn't until Apocalypse attempts to steel his powers, that Xavier and he are connected, which gives Xavier an advantage, but Apocalypse still proves to conquer.  Luckily, Xavier has one more avenue in which to take, but he needs the help of a student from his school who is still understanding the level of her powers.  Jean is nervous and terrified all at once, but she must help the professor to prevent the end of the world.  It isn't until she unleashes everything she has that her true powers are revealed and the Phoenix is unleashed, but will it be enough?

What I loved most about this movie was the amount of storyline it possessed.  It may have been an action movie, but it wasn't all fight scenes and graphics.  The storyline was strong and really gave a foundation for the characters leading up to a powerful ending.  When watching the cartoons as a child, the feminist in me loved watching Jean evolve into the Phoenix, so seeing this in the movie was nothing short of amazing.  This was a great movie to show the X-men before they became the X-Men which only added to the level of depth of the characters.  A must see for sure. 

The Last Anniversary by Liane Moriarty

I'm sad to say that I just finished the last of Liane Moriarty's novels.  When you find an author you love so much that you read all of their books, it's bittersweet when you've reached the end.  The good news is that it was a wonderful read and she has one coming out in July!

Scribbly Gum island in al its enchantment and beauty has quite the history with the Monroe Baby mystery.  Connie and Rose allegedly rescued an abandoned baby near their home and raised her as their own.  Many theories have surfaced as time has passed and the sisters did not hesitate to allow this mystery to be the center stage for their charming island.  It evolved into the family business and as their family extended, more and more wanted to figure out what happened that faithful day when Enigma was found by her soon-to-be new parents, Connie and Rose.  The only people who knew what really happened were Connie and Rose.  They decided they would only tell their daughter, Enigma, when she turned 40 and so ensued the family legacy of finding out the truth at that age.  This extended to Enigma's children, and eventually grand children.

Time has passed and Connie, Rose, and Enigma have all aged.  Enigma has two daughters whom each have children of their own and have given her grand children as well.  Thomas, one of Enigma's grand children, found the love of his life, Sophie, who would eventually break his heart as the feelings were not mutual.  Sophie loved Thomas, but couldn't make up for the passion their relationship lacked.  Unfortunately, Thomas would move on, but Sophie had a long road ahead to find "the one."  She did however receive the best gift anyone could offer.  She got a chance at a new beginning and completely different life which would take her away from the city and back to the island she always loved visiting back in the days of dating Thomas, Scribbly Gum.  You see, Connie, Thomas's great aunt passed away and left Sophie her home.  She saw something in Sophie those many years ago and knew nobody would appreciate that house as much as Sophie.  Yes, this did cause animosity in the family, but everyone knew; what Connie wanted, Connie got, even in death. While Sophie is getting settled on the Island, she meets Grace and Callum, new parents whom were Enigma's grand children.  Little does she know what she is about to get herself into.

Grace knows what she should be feeling about her baby, but she just doesn't.  She feels nothing.  So she does what she is supposed to; bathes him, feeds him, puts him down for a nap, and all of the other motherly things, but that is all she can bring herself to do and even that is torture. What is wrong with her?  Callum is more loving and can keep the baby calm, what is she missing?  She needs to fix this and finally comes up with her plan when Sophie comes into their lives.  Sophie is great with the baby and makes the baby and her husband laugh.  She is exactly what they need, not Grace.  This is when Grace decides she will help Sophie and Callum connect so that when she makes her final exit, they will live on and raise the baby.  To her, a life without her in it is much better than the current scenario.

This book is complex with its multiple twists.  We begin with the mystery of what happened when Enigma was found in an empty house as a baby which continues throughout the story, then we have Sophie obtaining a house from the great aunt of her ex-boyfriend, and finally a complex triangle when Sophie falls in love with Grace's husband, which is exactly what Grace wants.  What stood out and resonated to me most was Grace.  She clearly suffers from post-natal depression and can't get out of her own mind.  The more you learn about her and her past, the more you route for her.  She's the friend you want to slap silly because she can't wake up from this sad dream.  Without giving too much away, I found myself teary eyed as I read the last few pages and felt that peaceful closure of ending a book you were so into.  This was definitely on my top 3 list of books by Liane Moriarty. Now I must wait for her next one.  Until then.....

The Hypnotist's Love Story by Liane Moriarty

My love affair with Liane Moriarty began when one of my girlfriends recommended The Husband's Secret.  Shortly after that I read Big Little Lies (my Liane Moriarty fav!) and was determined to read all of her books.  I'll never forget reading the synopsis of this one.  I saw the word hypnotist and assumed it to be some earth hippie type story......to all my earthy hippie friends, I love you and respect you, but as we all know......that's just not me.  Back to my point.  I only started reading it because my tasking oriented mind kicked in and therefore had to finish the last of her books.  I have to admit, I am quite glad I did.

Ellen is an independent woman with her own business.  What does she do?  She helps people overcome barriers through the power of their minds.  Yes, she is a hypnotist and a successful one at that.  Her clients come to her to lose weight, stop smoking, overcome chronic pain, and just about every other obstacle they come across.  Career wise, she has her life all figured out.  In the love department, however, she is still trying to find Mr. Right.  This luckily turned around for her when she met Patrick.  Patrick is kind, attractive, funny, and adores her.  He is also a widow with a teenage son whom he takes excellent care of.  It appears Ellen has finally met her person.  That is, until he admits he has a stalker.  This isn't a random stalker, but his ex-girlfriend who refuses to accept that it's over.

Saskia still doesn't understand what went wrong.  She was the perfect girlfriend and second mother to Patrick's son.  Why did it have to end?  He was her whole world.  She loved and still loves his son and Patrick, so why did this all have to be taken away?  She knows she needs to move on, but she can't.  She needs to be a part of their world no matter what and in any capacity.  She hates how upset this makes Patrick when he sees her.  He did love her once.  Now all she sees is rage in his eyes.  What's even worse is that now he's found someone else.  That's okay though, she'll find out more about the hypnotist.  After all, she has a pain in her leg she needs help overcoming and a hypnotist just may do the trick.

The beginning starts a tad slow when building a foundation for Ellen's life, but after the first few chapters, I was hooked.  Saskia's stalking is so annoying in the beginning and you want to smack Patrick for not getting a retraining order, but then you get to know her and feel what she went through.  Losing Patrick and his son was like a death in her life.  We get to mourn the loss of our loved ones, but what about when it feels like our loved ones died simply because they were taken away from us without warning?  Even Ellen becomes intrigued by Saskia both out of concern and also pleasure.  Is she really that interesting to be the victim of stalking?

I would definitely consider this the perfect summer read.  It is definitely not as intense as Big Little Lies, but provides just enough intrigue to keep you reading.

Three Wishes by Liane Moriarty

Lyn, Cat, and Gemma lead entirely different, yet exciting lives.  Each personality is the polar opposite of the other, and yet they manage to remain close even through adulthood.  Their secret?  They're triplets.

Lyn is the type A sister who runs a successful business, has the adoring husband, beautiful child, and gorgeous home.  Most people think she has it all figured out and don't even try asking to help her.  Lyn can do it all on her own.  Little do most know, she has panic attacks in parking lots where her thoughts seem to take over and she looses control.  The question is, how long will she be able to keep this up?

Gemma is the sister who will eventually figure out what she is doing......maybe.  Gemma lives a carefree life and enjoys falling in love, although a little too much.  Her list of ex-boyfriends is growing and she can't seem to begin adulthood just yet, even though she is in her early thirties.  Her sisters are driven crazy by her lack of motivation and carefree spirit, but what they don't know is that she was verbally and physically abused by her deceased fiance. It takes her a long time to come to terms with the abuse and as more life events occur, she finally forgives herself.  It isn't until she shuts out the guy who is most likely "the one" that she sees this.  

Then we have Cat.  Cat's story breaks your heart and I actually had to take a mental break when reading about her.  One minute Cat is watching TV with her husband and partner in crime of ten years, and the next minute she is being told he had a one night stand.  We later discover this isn't the whole story.  Cat's marriage is in shambles and the hope of  a baby to make it better is destroyed when she miscarries.  She is literally at the lowest point of her life and can't seem to let go of the anger and bitterness. 

This book was definitely one I experienced may emotions with.  If I wasn't angry with Gemma for not telling her sisters about her abuse, I was crying for Cat going through so much loss, or relating to Lyn with all her crazy Type A glory.  It showed just how much your sisters can get you through the tough times and even though you may not be anything alike, it's that balance that bonds you.  A definite great read!