2015 Film Recap

Well, 2015 is over and it's been a crazy year for me both in my film viewing world and my real world. I've seen a truck tonne of films this year, and there was a point where I was religiously watching 3 or 4 films a week at the cinema. Recently, I've had a lot on in the lead up to the Christmas crazy and so the films I've been watching in the last 5 weeks of so have been on my new best friend Netflix.

I've also been smashing out my regular Saturday night features with the BFF, The Red Haired Amazona which might be up to date with if you follow either of us in old facie land, and we've had some crackers this year.

Anyways, I wanted to give you a bit of a recap of my film year with a list that has taken me over a week to compile (and I'm still not sure I'm happy with it);

* Total number of films I watched: 273 - I think...this year I'm going to keep a better documented list
* Best film I saw at the cinema: INFINITELY POLAR BEAR, maybe...but also STAR WARS THE FORCE AWAKENS...and also JURASSIC WORLD...ok, so I can't decide and I suck...
* 2015 I'm most looking forward to seeing in 2016: THE BIG SHORT and CAROL
* Oldest film I watched: HOLIDAY - Katharine Hepburn & Cary Grant, 1938
* Worst film I watched: ZOMBEAVERS
* Newest film I watched: TRAINWRECK - 3 weeks before release
* Most underrated film: CLOUDS OF SILS MARIA or LOVE & MERCY
* Film I was most looking forward to that was awesome: JURASSIC WORLD
* Film I was most looking forward to that was shit: JOY
* Cult movies I finally got around to watching: WET HOT AMERICAN SUMMER
* Last film I watched in 2015: NAOMI AND ELY'S NO KISS LIST (Netflix)
* Did I watch DIE HARD at Christmas: Obviously

I'm slowly working on my top films of 2015, and my Golden Globe and Oscar recommendations, but that's taking longer that I thought because it's hard and I suck at being ruthless about my choices. I need to work out how to be more discriminating about this!!

In the mean time, here's a recap of some of our Saturday night features in no particular order at Hooked on Classics where the BFF and I crochet, eat deliciousness and watch all the films;

December = Christmas movies = LETHAL WEAPON

We are Marvel addicts, so this means cinema viewing with the kids and our crochet 

The Amazona hadn't seen any of THE HUNGER GAMES trilogy, so we had to rectify that situation

Special viewing feature in Brisvegas with my long distance BFF

December = Christmas movies = another film cherry popped for the Amazona - BAD SANTA

Perhaps my favourite CHristmas viewing of 2015 - a Netflix special starring my favourite

back to the traditional Hooked on Classics theme of old classics

Crochet, tea and pornos...perfect combination no? 

Will Smith is extremely underrated as an actor...let's give him more jobs 

This was a film my brother recommended when I was on a fleeting visit to the homeland so I crochet and drank tea and sat in his squishy recliners

Carrying on with the cherry popping for the Amazona

Popping my own cherry with this cult classic

What a great film...little Christina...so tiny...

The Amazona didn't much love this film, for her it went for about 5 years...but I didn't think it was the worst...not the best, but definitely not the worst

Random find that turned out to be smile amusing

Again off to the cinema to feed our Marvel addiction

Was Anderson is one of our faves, so we indulge in his films when it's just the two of us sans man-friends

Eurovision doesn't mean we don't crochet, it just means we replace our standard film with Eurovision. 

We couldn't decide on a film so we took our Wednesday night series viewing and carried it across to Saturday night - Netflix series 

Some more HUNGER GAMES cherry popping

The Amazona's little bubba turned into one now half my age and almost twice my height and we celebrated with dinosaurs and cheesecake (I make a mean white chocolate and berry cheesecake let me tell you) 

Again with a cinema visit with our crochet to feed the addiction

Looking forward to the next year, I mean this year and all that it holds in both the film world and my real world.

Xoxo
The Blonde Bombshell

JOY - review

Director: David O. Russell
Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro, Bradley Cooper, Édgar Ramírez, Diane Laid, Virginia Madsen, Isabella Rossellini, Dascha Polanco, Elisabeth Röhm

Synopsis: JOY is the wild true story of Joy Mangano and her Italian-American family across four generations centred on the girl who becomes the woman who founds a business dynasty by inventing the Miracle Mop and becomes a matriarch in her own right. 

Ahhh Boxing Day, my favourite day of the year. It's new release movie day, and it's always been my favourite day. It was my favourite day when I worked in cinema and it's still my favourite day. It's the day that all the big new releases come out. The much anticipated films that everyone's hanging out for. When I worked in cinema, I used to get sneak peaks of everything that was coming and it would make me even more excited. Now I just wait with the rest of the world to see what Boxing Day aka New Release Day has in store for me. This year there were no massive titles coming out, STAR WARS was released a few weeks before Boxing Day, there was no HOBBIT film or HARRY POTTER instalment, no huge titles to speak of, but I was mighty excited about a couple of films that were due out and JOY was one of them.

A great ensemble cast that did their best

Image via 20th Century Fox

I dragged my butt out of bed on New Release Day even though I'd worked on Christmas Day and was pretty exhausted, because I wanted to be in amongst the madness that is the busiest day in cinema. The 10am session of JOY was relatively quiet - most people were probably still nursing their food babies and Christmas hangovers, but I was ready, and let me tell you, I was slightly disappointed. I have to agree with a lot of the critics out there, the question has finally been answered, Jennifer Lawerence can actually be in a film that's kinda shitty. There, I said it. She tried, lord knows she tried, but even she couldn't salvage this mess.

The storyline was all over the shop, Joy was pure victim, the struggling divorced mother of two who cares for both her parents and her ex-husband, who somehow managed to invent a wonder mop after cutting her hands wringing out a regular mop by hand. The film should have been incredible - it was brought to us by the team who gave is SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK and AMERICAN HUSTLE - I had certain expectations of its greatness. I wanted it to be great, and perhaps that was my problem. Perhaps I went in with the bar set too high, but whatever the reason, I didn't love it and I wanted to.

Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper couldn't save this mess

image via 20th Century Fox

The film opened with a disclaimer that the story was inspired by great women everywhere, like David O. Russell was trying to tell us his intentions were good, but that what we were going to see was a pile of crap. I ignored that warning and still hoped for the best, but the narrative was meh, and the acting was some of the worst I've seen out of any of this incredible cast. Shame, shame I tell you. Some parts of the film were truly laughable, and all the while Lawrence was trying to wring out every last bit of sympathy she could from the audience. I really feel for the actors in this film, they can only do so much with what they've got, and they didn't have much.

The narrative we open with from Joy's grandmother Mimi (Diane Laid) is quickly forgotten and when it returns later in the film it is intrusive and doesn't fit with the film. There are a few little side plots and twists that don't fit nicely within the storyline, that just complicate it and make you wonder why you're seeing it at all. Then we finish with Joy walking down the street after saving her entire empire all on her own putting on her hip sunglasses with her home job haircut and leather jacket that goes for what seems like years before we have the weirdest epilogue.

before the longest walk ever

Image via 20th Century Fox

I don't think that JOY is going to get a particularly long run at the cinema, so if you are wanting to see it, get in quick. I would guess 3-4 weeks at best, with limited sessions in the last couple of weeks. At 2 hours and 4 minutes, it's a long time to sit if you're not going to be completely wowed by a film, so unless you're a die hard fan of J-Law and Bradley Cooper (who we definitely do not see enough of to make it worthwhile) then I wouldn't rush out to spend your 20-something dollars on this film. Sorry Jennifer, lord knows I'm a fan and I think you're wonderful and that you can do no wrong, but even you couldn't carry this film.

2.5 out of 5

Xoxo
The Blonde Bombshell