Title: The Grinch [LINK]

Director: Yarrow Cheney, Scott Mosier

Series? Standalone, Remake

Genre: Fantasy, Christmas

Triggers: Orphan MC

Publication Date: November 29, 2018

★★★☆☆

Originally I wasn’t even going to see this movie but then Christmas came and bit me on the a** and suddenly I was at a pre-release screening with my brother and a bunch of 5-year-olds and bored dads. Until yesterday, I had never read the book and honestly, I can’t remember the last time I watched the Jim Carrey version of the film. So basically, I walked into this film only knowing it was about a green guy who hates Christmas and has a cute dog.

So, watching this was a fun surprise, especially because I walked into the film with basically no expectations! I really enjoyed watching this film for the most part, until the actual “stealing Christmas” plot started I began to dislike the movie a bit more and it became pretty mediocre but the last quarter or last third of the movie was mediocre.

I can definitely see myself watching this movie again next definitely because this had some fun humour and for me, a really relatable main character in The Grinch. Honestly, if I lived near the people of Whoville I’d be a Grinch too. Also, there was a fat Reindeer in this movie named Fred who I loved but, he has nothing on Max because that guy hauled that sleigh all around Whoville and he’s a legend.

All up, this is a pretty average movie but it’s a lot of fun and honestly really relatable if you’re a Grinch like me. Also, just a quick note – depending on your age you might have a totally different experience with the film. For example, most of the 5 year olds were getting pretty bored/hyper by the end of the film and I know that my 13 year old brother was bored the entire way through, whereas I had a pretty good time.

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Title: A Star Is Born [LINK]

Director: Bradley Cooper

Series? Standalone, Remake

Genre: Music

Triggers: Alcoholism, Suicide,

Publication Date: October 18, 2018

★★★★☆

Wow, much like The Grinch I had no intention of seeing this movie and oh, boy that would have been a mistake. I don’t see myself ever watching this again, but I am still really glad I saw it at the cinema because it was a great experience.

The soundtrack for this film was fantastic and I really appreciate it, my favourites would have to be Maybe It’s Time, Is That Alright? & Shallow.  Also, this is a total deaf-reviewer note, but I’m writing about it here because I heard no one talking about this in their reviews but Bradley Cooper mumbles his way through this film and I’ll be honest I didn’t really understand any of the things he said in this film and had I known, I probably wouldn’t have gone to see the film.

I did enjoy the film and I thought the cast was great – Bradley Cooper plays his character (Jackson) so so well and Lady Gaga was fantastic, I really think this was her breakout role (I haven’t seen her in AHS).

Also, I will add that I have not seen any of the previous versions of this story, but I did really enjoy this version of Bradley Cooper’s character and how Cooper portrayed his character slowly going deaf (not a main plot point so pay attention) throughout the film. I really thought it was interesting, and a good point to make about performing on stage.

Overall, I did enjoy the film and I will continue to listen to the soundtrack, but I don’t see myself going back and watching this movie in the future because I don’t need to see another movie about a man with jealousy issues and an alcohol addiction.

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Title: Bohemian Rhapsody [LINK]

Director: Bryan Singer, Dexter Fletcher

Series? Standalone

Genre: Music, Biopic

Triggers: Alcohol, Substance Abuse

Publication Date: November 1, 2018

★★★★☆

This was so so good. The music was ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC! and Rami Malek was fantastic as Freddie Mercury and if you watch a play-by-play with him from the film, next to the actual footage of Freddie Mercury and you can see how much Malek studied the band and Freddie Mercury’s movements. Honestly, seeing him with the haircut towards the end of the film is amazing because he really does look like Freddie and it’s so so cool!

I know that some fans were upset when the first trailer came out and they thought maybe there was some queer-erasure going on. But, I assure you there isn’t, the word bisexual is said onscreen by Rami Malek and it is made completely obvious that he has been with both women and men. They don’t shy away from Freddie Mercury’s bisexuality at all.

I really enjoyed this, especially as someone who only had a very base knowledge on Mercury and as someone who had only really listened to the most known hits from Queen. This sounds so cliche but the band really was before my time and I’m not known for looking up the life backgrounds of musicians or actors. So, from my completely blank perspective, I really enjoyed this film and learned all about the band, though this was mostly Freddie Mercury’s story.

Side note: Rami Malek doesn’t actually sing in the film, he is lip syncing but you can’t even tell so who cares because he’s great in the role!

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[YOU CAN FIND WHAT ELSE I’VE BEEN WATCHING ON LETTERBOXD]

HAVE YOU SEEN ANY OF THESE FILMS?

DO YOU LIKE MUSIC-BASED OR CHRISTMAS MOVIES?

HAVE HAD