Film Review 'Blended'

This was one of those many films which I saw the cinema trailer for, and kept trying to arrange to go and see but I was always either busy, or my friends were busy or whatever, until it was no longer in the cinema or in the forefront of my head! Recently, my family were away on holiday and I had an evening to myself and nothing particular I wanted to watch so I went into the DVD rental store and saw this.


I always enjoy a good Adam Sandler comedy. I just think he's hilarious! I also love the movie '50 First Dates' which sees him star alongside Drew Barrymore, as is the case in 'Blended'.


Brief Summary: Barrymore's character is a single mum. She works as a wardrobe organiser and has no real love life to speak of. Sandler is a single father with three daughters whose wife died when they were very young. When they meet on a blind date it does not go well. However, when Barrymore's business partner and Sandler's boss (another couple) cancel their holiday with the kids in a family resort called 'blended' (a resort designed specifically for bonding time between members of non-traditional families) Sandler and Barrymore are each offered a room. What they're unaware of, is the fact that the other will be there.


The story is funny. Unbelievable, but funny. While it does end up as a romance (which I'm a sucker for!), the real charm of this film lies in the extra storylines: the teenage daughter without a mother longing to be treated like an adult and be noticed by the cute guy at their dinner table, the little kid restricted by his mother's overprotective attitude, the daughter who thinks she can talk to her invisible 'mum', the dad who think he's a dad but is never around, the funny dancing guy at the holiday resort who seems to appear out of nowhere, the list goes on...!


A very funny duo, and  a film I found myself not wanting to end! Made me kind of sad coz I watched it on the first night that my family was away and I couldn't see them for 10 days! But otherwise, a great watch!

Film Reviews: 'The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel' & 'The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel'

I bought the first of these films on DVD from a car boot sale a while back, but never got round to watching it. Then, at the end of July, I had a close friend of mine from England up to stay for the weekend (it was a really awesome weekend- so maybe I should do a post just about what we got up to?) and we decided to watch the first one, and rent and watch the second one too! I then reached the first one a couple of weeks later with another friend who had just returned from the part of India in which the film was shot!

The best word to describe these films is heart-warming. The first follows the stories of several elderly people who have made the decision to uproot their lives and check into a hotel in India which is a 'retirement community' (but id really a financially unstable crumbling business run by a young man, played by Dev Patel, with a big heart and a big dream, who's simultaneously coping with the pressures of a controlling mother who won't allow him to marry the girl of his dreams).


Throughout the first film you see each resident develop as a person, watch them discover who they really are and make peace with the fact that they have a limited number of months left in this world. The cast, which included Maggie Smith, Judi Dench, Penelope Wilton, Celia Imray, Bill Night, Tom Wilkinson and Ronald Pickup, were sensational and the plot inspiring.


The second film carries their stories on, as competition from another buyer casts doubt on the future of the Exotic Marigold Hotel Franchise dream. These stresses test the lead characters devotion to each other, and their collective goal and reminds us all that life is worth living, and that we should make the most of every single day (I don't care if some of you view that as cliché haha!)


All-in-all, a fantastic duo of films and I definitely recommend them. They would make for a really nice family movie night too, as their inspirational messages and comedic value hold something for everyone!

Book Review: 'Did I mention I love you?' by Estelle Maskame

I bought this book for my kindle because I had seen it among other popular Young Adult books in the bookshops and then came across it mentioned in a Facebook group I'm a part of, saying that it was a book which originated as a self-published novel on Wattpad and had inspired many girls my age to pursue dreams of writing. I finished it about a month ago but I've been really bad at blogging recently!


Brief Summary: Eden agrees to spend the whole summer at her dad's new house, finally meeting her stepmum and 3 step brothers. While at home she was battling issue of breakdown in friendships and a lack of positive self body image, at her dads she finds herself hanging out with teens who party every other night. Eden must learn to deal with all of this, on top of discovering that being the new girl automatically makes her attractive to boys, including her eldest stepbrother!


I didn't think the standard of writing in this book was particularly sophisticated, however it was perfectly well written.


Parts of the story were very relatable and realistic, such as groups of guys and girls hanging out and getting ready for parties and getting drunk!


But, without giving too much away, the sudden romance between Eden and her step brother was quite unrealistic, considering how deeply she hated him and how much of a jerk he was!


It also bothered me a little bit that Maskame hinted that Eden was obsessively exercising and perhaps even skipping meals, but never sort of came to any real conclusion on whether she was struggling with her body image or anything, which I felt gave the wrong impression about how 'normal' girls react to being made to feel overweight, and how they should be acting. I may have read far too much into it but, that's the problem, it wasn't really made clear- in fairness I didn't realise that this book was the start of a trilogy when I was reading it.


I was also a little disappointed in the ending- it was fine, but a wee bit of a let down!


That said, DIMILY was a great summer read, and had an appeal to it that made me want to keep reading and never put down my kindle! Perhaps for a slightly younger audience? Actually maybe not the issues of drugs and parties and sex are more repayable to my age group I think! Although, increasingly from 15/16 upwards....


The second book of the trilogy is to be released at the end of this month and I think I will read it, but I won't be rushing to run out and buy it on the day its released, so I guess that gives you an impression of how I enjoyed it overall, but it won't make it in my top reads of all time!


Catriona Xx

Book Review: 'Paper Towns' by John Green

Ok, so once again I've been absent from my blog for far too long!! Just getting round to getting on with it really, but definitely hoping to use it more in the next few weeks- missing regular writing!

I read this book at the start of summer, about a 5 or 6 weeks ago! So I apologise for my lack of detail! I decided to order it from my library when I heard that the film was being released on August 17th (3 days ago!), but it was in high demand so I didn't have a long loan of it, causing me to purchase it on my kindle when I wasn't done in time! I considered just reordering it but I was at a very gripping point and just wanted to find out what happened! Actually, the whole novel was gripping and addictive!



I liked how well the lead characters were developed. The relationship between leading male Quentin and his friends Ben and Radar is very realistic, particularly in terms of their chat about girls and prom and cars.... In fact, the whole final weeks of school setting was very relatable to me and helped the book to appeal to me especially, as I mentioned in my last post: 'A Lot of Lasts'



The leading female character of Margo is largely not in the novel, as she mysteriously disappears, leaving the story to follow Quentin's search for her. Overall, I found Margo a fairly unrealistic character- imagine every drama and extreme in one person and you're almost there! HOWEVER, that said, I found many of the individual traits of Margo very realistic: her confidence, her rebellion, her loneliness despite popularity, her emotion and anger, her desire for a fresh start and many many more.


As usual, I read far more deeply into the characters than perhaps everyone would, because it helped me to relate better, and I therefore suspected that John Green had intended Margo to suffer from some sort of depression, but put on this brave, independent front in an attempt at masking it. That's one of the many great things about Green's characters; everyone can interpret something different from them.


Overall, this was a fantastic book, and I am so happy that I read it when I did, because it meant I could relate to it on so many different levels! It will be very interesting to see Cara Delevingne and Nat Wolff's portrayals of the lead characters when I go to see the film on Wednesday. I'm very excited so watch this space! (cheesy I know, but I've always wanted to day that)


Catriona x