Movie Review- Sisters

Blogmas Day 23

Non-spoiler Review

Film- Sisters
Starring- Amy Poehler, Tina Fey
Directed by- Jason Moore
Genre- Comedy
My rating- 1.5 stars
Trailer

So my rating may seem extremely harsh, but I really did not enjoy this film. I was definitely ready for a comedy this morning when I went into the cinema, I love Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, also directed by Pitch Perfect's Jason Moore. But this film fell completely flat for me. I love the comedy genre and I'm pretty easy to please normally, but I think I laughed two times in this whole movie... Of course everyone has a different sense of humour, so one person may find this film hilarious whereas another might not even crack a smile. If you really want to see this film, then don't be put off by my review because obviously this is just my opinion, you might absolutely love it, but this is what I thought of the movie.
This film is about two sisters who, after finding out that their parents are selling their childhood home, come back to pack up their old bedrooms and throw one last party to re-live their glory days.
If you strip back this film a little, you can tell what it was trying to do, I would say that it has heart. But for me, I just felt nothing for these characters... When things went wrong I wasn't sad for them and normally thats not something that I have a problem with in films. 
The kind of comedy in Sisters was too forced for me, I found that the parts that I tended to laugh at were the Amy Poehler scenes. Other than that, I just really did not find this film funny, which is kind of a let down for a comedy. The type of humor portrayed in this movie is not for everyone, and it just wasn't for me. 
There were random people in this film who I feel like were supposed to be main characters, but I just thought that they didn't need to be there. They were definitely put in for comedic value instead of adding to the story, but because I didn't find them funny they felt unnecessary.
The end of this film had a different vibe to the rest of the movie and I found that this was the part that I enjoyed the most. But it was probably 2 or 3 minutes of a 2 hour film and I found  myself wishing that the whole film had the same vibe as this part.
The plot wasn't riveting to me, it felt like lots of random scenes were just stuck together and there were quite a few plot lines which were just left hanging and unresolved.
So I guess this just was not my kind of film, I didn't find it funny and I found it lacking in the way of direction and plot, but if you have plans to see it then I hope you enjoy it more than I did! I can see lots of people liking this film because at the end of the day its a fun film, but just not for me. 
I hope you enjoyed this post and I will see you again tomorrow for the LAST day of Blogmas 2015... 
-Darcy

2016 Resolutions

Blogmas Day 22

So tonight's post is going to be a little bit shorter than normal because I wanted to get straight to the point with it. These are going to be my 2016 resolutions- somehow I got the idea into my head that if I posted this list onto my blog, I would stick to it better. I guess we'll see, but it will probably be extremely unsuccessful. 

• To post more on my blog. Okay, yes, due to Blogmas I have done a lot of posting recently. But in 2016 I want to keep it up and post at least twice a week. Of course it will get busy- but I'm hoping to make time to do this because I love it!
• To drink more water. I am notoriously bad at this and every year I say the same thing. This year I really hope that I can do it, I feel like lots of people have this same problem and I am constantly seeing people put this as their new years resolution. 2016, the year of water? Hmmm..
• To finish all of those series which I started and never finished. I have started way too many book series and just never gotten around to finishing them- I look at them on my shelf and feel literal guilt. Okay, so I probably won't finish them all next year, but I want to atleast finish up 3.
• Be driving by the end of the year. So, I am going to be starting my driving lessons in January and today I applied for my provisional license. Hopefully I can conquer driving next year, I'm nervous but excited.
• To say yes to more things. I feel like every time I have said yes to something which I have been hesitant about, I have ended up having the best experiences. Too many times I have said 'no thankyou' or 'its not for me' and I  have missed out on some really cool things. Next year I want to generally do more 'new' things.
• To have a good time. Whatever I end up doing next year I hope that its awesome and that I'm happy. Who knows what new things will come in 2016, but I hope that I make some good memories.

I got a little bit deep towards the end of this post but I hope you enjoyed this none the less. I will probably stick to none of these resolutions, but what's new year without making promises to yourself that you will never keep? Thank you for reading and I will see you tomorrow with another day of Blogmas!
-Darcy

My Year in Photos 2015

Blogmas Day 21

So today I am going to be doing something a little bit different, I haven't posted anything like this on my blog before. But essentially I wanted to make a post which shows my year in just photos, I love looking back on my photos and reminiscing. So this is what I did this year in the format of pictures, I wish I could have included way more photos, but sadly it would go on for far too long... I hope you enjoy!

Watching/ Meeting One Night Only

Berlin 

Monaco

Prom

 Sunny Days and Friends

Harry Potter Studio Tour

France

'The Sunset Obsession'

One crazy dog

Friends, Old and New

'The Sunrise Obsession'

Gigs

Definitely wishing that I could add lots more photos (it would definitely go on for too long), but that was 2015 for me. Roll on 2016!

-Darcy 

My Bookish Wishlist

Blogmas Day 20

I cannot believe that it is already day 20 and it is so close to Christmas already, December has passed so quickly. Today I wanted to make a wishlist of all the bookish things that I am desperate for, so I hope you enjoy it and maybe find something to add to your own!

Happy Hello Art Bookmarks

I adore these little reading buddies and I have wanted to buy some for so long! I have my eye on these gorgeous Buffy ones and I hope they don't sell out before I get a chance to order them! There is such a huge range of bookmarks on this Etsy page and I am in love with them all... 


Carry On by Rainbow Rowell

It feels like everyone has this book but me, I am desperate to get my hands on it. Carry On is Rainbow's latest book whereby she creates the world of Simon Snow, a book which features in her other book Fangirl. Its kind of difficult to explain. The cover is absolutely beautiful and the story just sounds so interesting to me... Hopefully in the new year I will be making an order of this book because the hype surrounding is making it too tempting. I know for a fact that I will be reading this book in the year of 2016...

Sleep Less Read More Cushion Cover

I see this cushion all over Instagram and I absolutely love it. 'Sleep less read more' is the absolute story of my life and I love the design on the cover. I feel like book worms can definitely relate. 
Every time I see someone with this in one of their Instagram pictures I always become so tempted to purchase my own, but at the moment I have to restrain to save money...



Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

Everything I have heard about this book has been amazing and its making me so desperate to own this book. I love the cover and concept, this book is told in case files and just seems very different to a typical book. Everyone keeps saying to go into this book without knowing what it is about, so that is definitely what I'm going to being doing. I'm intrigued because at first I didn't think I would like this book, but after hearing all the incredible reviews I am wanting to see for myself. 


I hope you enjoyed this little post and I will be back tomorrow for Day 21 of Blogmas, which is kind of crazy... This month is going so quickly!
-Darcy

Review- Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Blogmas Day 19


Film- The Force Awakens
Franchise- Star Wars
Directed by- J.J. Abrams
Rating- 5 stars

Star Wars is the absolute love of my life, so it is no surprise that I went to see this film on the first day it came out. When I first heard about this film I completely freaked out, this franchise has always been such a large part of my life, knowing another film was on its way was extremely exciting. But of course, as a fan, I was extremely hesitant and did not want this film to be a complete disappointment. Although going into this film I was filled with all kinds of excitement and joy, I didn't have sky high expectations and wondered how on Earth they would pull this off. They definitely had big shoes to fill if they wanted to live up to the original trilogy.
This review is going to be quite hard to write, as there is so much to this film and I have so many feelings- so bear with me, I hope it isn't too rambly and annoying! 
The first part of this review will be without spoilers, however I suggest going into this film knowing nothing and making up your own mind about it (because I always feel that is the best way) but I will eventually get onto some spoilers because this film is extremely hard to talk about without them! This film was completely action packed and something was always happening, there seemed to be constant nostalgia, the new characters were easy to love and I warmed to them as soon as they hit the screen. Ray and Finn are our new main characters in this film, ofcourse its always tricky to adjust to new characters... Especially in a franchise like Star Wars. But I immediately connected with them, Ray especially, she is already a fantastic character who has only just begun her journey and I am so excited to see what comes next for her. Finn seemed to be the comic relief in this film, and for that I really enjoyed his character- I'm ready to see more of him. Lots of people were hesitant about these new characters, but the writers did a good job with them in my opinion. Every new character in this film was on point, I even loved the side characters. Poe is an awesome new addition- he was a badass right from the start, as well as our main villain, who was played excellently. BB-8 was literally awesome, I actually want a life size version in my room, probably one of my favourite parts of this movie...
And then we had the classic characters. The mix of the old and new was done so well, Carrie Fisher was straight back into her role of Leia and every detail of her personality was back. Harrison Ford also returned excellently, Han and Chewbacca's chemistry was exactly how we saw it back in the original films and I loved it. The question that lots of people have been asking is whether Luke returns in this
movie, so I feel like I shouldn't really go into this until the spoiler section because I don't want to give anything away.
There were lots of call backs to the original trilogy, but obviously lots of time has passed since Return of the Jedi so things are going to be different. The film also seems worlds away from the prequels and it is quite difficult to see similarities between the two. But it is always great to see something new, I personally loved the style of this film and was constantly seeing the attention to detail, I thought that the visual effects in this film were done really well, I don't think they over did the CGI and it was just very visually pleasing.  
This film is completely worth the watch and I think they did an immaculate job of it. Of course it must have been tricky to get this film right and not everything was complete and utter perfection, but its not often you watch a film and it has no faults. I am already absolutely dying to watch this film again, just wanting to see things that I might have missed the first time I watched it. But now I am going to go into spoilers, so if you have yet to watch this film then I wouldn't read this section as a lot goes down in this movie, definitely recommend taking a trip to the cinema to see this film!


Spoilers
I am still a complete and utter emotional wreck, even after letting this film sink in. I was not expecting half of the things which happened in this film, especially Han. I would like to talk about this first because I have been dying to discuss it after the horror of watching it unfold. Kylo Ren is probably one of the most complex villains I have ever come across, Adam Driver played him so well and the odd thing is, you can sympathize with him a little in a really messed up way. The fact that he is Han and Leia's child made it so much worse, you could understand his emotional struggle and it was painful to watch at times. I am heartbroken about Han, it feels like my childhood has been ripped away from me and I don't know how to feel about it. His death was done so well but I am gutted and fail to understand why, oh why, they had to kill him off. Maybe his death was necessary, but right now I am in mourning over his character, when it happened I stared at the screen in a mix of absolute horror and shock. RIP.
One of my main problems with this film was the Supreme Leader. Maybe this is just me being super critical, but to me he just reminded me more of Lord of the Rings than Star Wars and I couldn't really take him seriously, he didn't feel that menacing. For me he stood out too much in this film and not particularly in a good way, but maybe it is too early on to judge him- these are my first impressions and I'm not a fan so far.
So we don't see Luke until the final scene, which is obviously going to be annoying for quite a few people. But considering Luke wasn't in most of the film, I didn't feel like there was something substantial missing- which means that it was done quite well essentially. Seeing him at the end was so satisfying and sets up episode 8 so perfectly, I am so ready for this next film and after episode 7 finished, I just wanted to go straight onto the next part of the story.
Like I said earlier, I absolutely love Ray and think that she is going to be perfect for this new trilogy, I am super excited to see her train as a Jedi and work with Luke. Everything is put in place and set up for her to descend into being a character who will be unforgettable and I feel so happy to be able to watch that unfold. 
Poe has already impressed me so much, his pilot skills were so epic and when we thought he was dead, I was gutted that we wouldn't be getting more of him. His relationship with BB-8 was so sweet and I absolutely loved it. Seeing that he was alive after all, I felt literal relief. 
I want more C-3PO in my life. When he and R2 returned, I was so very happy to see them, I would happily watch a whole film about those two. I missed them and although R2 wasn't himself, I am so excited to see him come back as the droid we know and love. C-3PO was immediately hilarious and his red arm was so endearing. 
I feel like I have gone on way too long in this review and there is still so much more I could discuss. But for now I am going to leave it at that, let me know what you thought of the film if you have seen it and may the force be with you.
-Darcy 

Review- Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman

Blogmas Day 18 
Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman

'Two young people are forced to make a stand in this thought-provoking look at racism and prejudice in an alternate society.

Sephy is a Cross -- a member of the dark-skinned ruling class. Callum is a Nought -- a “colourless” member of the underclass who were once slaves to the Crosses. The two have been friends since early childhood, but that’s as far as it can go. In their world, Noughts and Crosses simply don’t mix. Against a background of prejudice and distrust, intensely highlighted by violent terrorist activity, a romance builds between Sephy and Callum -- a romance that is to lead both of them into terrible danger. Can they possibly find a way to be together?'

My Rating- 3 Stars
Genre- Young adult/ romance/ dystopia
Review- Non spoiler until there is a spoiler warning

I feel like this book has always been sat there waiting for me to read it. For years I have had teachers, friends, random people, telling me to 'read Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman!' So after all these years I finally decided to pick it up. The reason I avoided it was because it didn't really seem like my style of book, so I went into this with quite low expectations and not really thinking I would enjoy it. I feel like I was wrong and right at the same time, I haven't decided which of the two yet.
Noughts and Crosses shows a society whereby black people are in control and the white people are completely below them as 'second class citizens'. Stephy is black- a Cross. And Callum is white- a Nought. The two have always been best friends, so when they start to develop feelings for one another, the obstacles start falling in their way because a Nought and a Cross cannot ever be together. 
I have really mixed feelings about this book, I found it really hard to rate and settled on 3 stars which I think I will stick with. 
This book wasn't a difficult read, I was never bored and I  wanted to keep reading... So it was a quite fast one for me. But my issue with it was mainly the characters. I can deal with 'the annoying characters' in books normally, when a protagonist makes a bad decision I normally just let it slide. But when I say that there were no redeemable characters in this book, I mean  it, with the exception of maybe one single (and minor) character who was kind of okay, I could not understand these characters and their actions. I get that this was what Blackman was trying to achieve, but for me it wasn't really what I was looking for, at points I was fine with it... But at times I got a little frustrated. Sorry if you love this book and the complex characters are the best part for you, but personally it wasn't really my thing.
I am glad this book got as much hype as it did, we need more books in the young adult genre which deal with serious topics like segregation and racism and I feel like that is a very important part of the novel. 
The chapters in this book are pretty short so it reads quickly, also the writing is quite simple so you don't have to think too hard to get through a page. Maybe I should have read this a couple of years back, but I think that this book was aimed at a slightly younger audience than me. It seemed like every couple of sentences ended with an explanation mark and I'm not sure how to describe it to people who haven't read the book, but this made Sephy and Callum kind of annoying to read at points. 
It may seem like I disliked this book by the amount of criticism I'm giving it, but I did enjoy reading it. I wanted to know what was going to happen and the story was definitely interesting. If you are interested in reading this book then I would definitely give it a shot, mine is just one opinion and many people adore this book. 
This is going to be the end of the non-spoiler part of this review, so if you have yet to read this book then I would recommend not going any further. If you read the book at some point then definitely come back and discuss!

Spoilers
So I'm gathering that everyone reading this knows what happens in this book... I was definitely expecting the book to end the way it did, I completely knew that one of the two had to end up dead because there is a feeling from the start that the story just won't end happily. So I wasn't too shocked at how the story ended. 
I was so angry at all of these characters during this book. Lets start with Callum. I thought that Callum was going to be a good character and that he would make the right choices- he really did not. When he joined the LM I wanted to shake him, then he just kept making bad decisions. Kidnapping Sephy was probably the worst. He was definitely a complex character and I seemed to be constantly shaking my head whenever he did something. But at the same time I just felt bad for him and rooted for his relationship with Sephy- Malorie Blackman must have super powers considering how utterly conflicted I am about all of this.
Sephy was alright at times, but her character was just kind of off. Her priorities weren't always in tact and I kind of felt like shaking her as well. I really wasn't expecting her pregnancy so when it came I was pretty shocked, this was when I felt really bad for her. I don't think Sephy ever did anything wrong to deserve any of what she got, it all felt pretty unfair. But I didn't really relate to her character and she was pretty annoying at times, so she wasn't all that redeemable.
So much happened in this book, I look back at it and I don't know how Blackman managed to fit so much into one book. Nearly every member of Callum's seemed to die, Stephy's Mum trying to commit suicide, the bomb, Callum's Father's court case, the pregnancy, the kidnapping- there was always something going on. This was either a really good thing because it meant that the reader was always engrossed, or maybe bad because it led to significant parts loosing their meaning a little. The death of Callum's sister and father seemed to be swept under the carpet for much of the story which was sad. 
I feel so bad for Callum's Mother, she basically lost everything. All of her children, her home, her life in general- when Callum left her all alone I literally could not believe it.
I enjoyed the relationship between Minnie and Stephy, although a little messed up, I enjoyed watching their sisterly bond grow a little. And on that good note, I am going to end this review. I hope you enjoyed this post if you have read this far and I will be back tomorrow for another day of Blogmas,
-Darcy 

TV Shows to Binge Watch

Blogmas Day 17

I absolutely love a good series, so the feeling of being addicted to one is the best feeling ever. If you have exams coming up or any major deadline, I highly recommend not starting these shows, a mistake I have made one too many times. But these are the shows that are perfect to binge watch, not all of my favourite shows are in here- but these are the ones which will have you clicking 'next episode' all the way. So here goes!

Buffy The Vampire Slayer
Genre- Supernatural/ Paranormal
Old but 100% gold. I would recommend Buffy to absolutely anyone, it is one of my all time favourite shows and it is SO addictive. I know that many people grew up with Buffy and so you may have already seen it, but if not- I recommend it so highly. Once you're into this show, you cannot escape. Its not just vampires, this show is witches, monsters, were-wolves, romance, friendship and pure addictive-ness. 

Jane The Virgin
Genre- Romantic Comedy
This show is very young, only on its second season and already I will call it one of my top shows of all time. During the summer I started this show, in one day I watched the first 8 episodes and I was completely addicted. Jane the Virgin is hilarious, adorable and there is always something going on. The concept of this show is kind of confusing, but if you are even remotely interested in this show- watch it and fall in love. To those who have already watched it, I would absolutely love to talk about this show with someone. Nobody I know has seen it!

Once Upon A Time
Genre- Fantasy
I watched 4 seasons of this show in two weeks flat. It is now one of the loves of my life and I just want absolutely everyone to watch it. There is so much to the world, meaning every episode is jam packed and easy to be completely engrossed in. This show is definitely for people who like the concepts of fairy tales, but I really didn't think I would like this show and look at me now. Now we are on season 5 and it is just as good as any other season, so many shows start to lack after a while and this is not one of them.

Gossip Girl
Genre- Drama/ romance
I feel like this is probably one of the most addictive TV shows ever, I go through phases where all I will watch is Gossip Girl and nothing else. Those are good times. Gossip Girl was
something I went into hesitantly because I didn't think I would like it, how times change. Gossip Girl is shamelessly bitchy and dramatic, but it also has a lot of heart. Of course this show is quite obvious and many people have seen it on one occasion or another, but it would be wrong for me not to put it in.

How I Met Your Mother
Genre- Comedy/ romance
I wasn't actually going to put this in because I thought it would be kind of obvious, but it felt wrong not to put my absolute favourite show of all time onto this list. Its addictive, its funny, its adorable, its loveable. There's something so charming about this show, I will never stop watching and loving it. Haven't watched this show? Just do it, I honestly think that it is for everyone. It won't feel like 8 seasons whilst you're watching it because it goes (way) too quickly. 


There are so many shows that I haven't mentioned in this post, so maybe I will do a part 2. For now though, these are the ones that are perfect for you to binge watch over these winter months! Honorable mention goes to Friends which I thought was pointless to recommend considering how popular it already is (Its joint number one with How I Met Your Mother in my list of top TV shows). Hopefully there are already enough shows in this list to satisfy you, even though I feel bad for leaving out so many amazing ones.
Thankyou for reading this post, I hope you enjoyed it and I will see you again tomorrow for another day of Blogmas,
-Darcy