carlypi Reviews

The Grinch (2018)

Incredibly festive, magical and beautitul

[10/10 · 23 December 2018]

Me and my boyfriend are both in our 30s and I really wanted us to go along and see this movie to get in the festive spirit on Xmas Eve-Eve, and this movie was everything I wanted it to be!

The animation and colours were just stunning, the storyline adorable and we were giggling the whole way through. The movie was just the right length, didn't go too silly or ridiculous, just good quality.

Just go in with a fresh mind, wanting to see a cute festive movie and not comparing it to any Grinch movie you've seen before and you will have a fab time!

Finding Dory (2016)

Not a Disney-Pixar movie for children

[4/10 · 15 August 2016]

I went to the cinema today with a very happy and excited 5 and a 7 year old to see Finding Dory on their school vacation, and came out of the movies with both of them red-eyed and crying.

I loved Finding Nemo, it is a beautiful movie that I've watched time and time again, and I couldn't wait to see this sequel. Worse case scenario for me was this movie would be bad because it was a repeating the story-line of Nemo, but I was not expecting it would be because Disney Pixar took this movie to a sad and upsetting place.

The movie started with story-line based around a young fish Dory with a memory loss illness, loosing her parents (a young kids worst nightmare). All of the characters had a scary odd feel around them, even the ones who were supposed to be Dory's friends and helping her, came across terrifying. This movie had no laughter, no fun, no cuteness, it was one hideous scary ride from one moment of peril to the next with no let-up. Touching on some real adult themes such as losing parents, illness and death... It was all too much for the children, and for me.

If someone had told me before I went to see the movie that Finding Dory would be scary and unsuitable for children I would have said they were being overly sensitive, or ridiculous, but sadly it's true.

Nativity 3: Dude, Where's My Donkey?! (2014)

Huge smiles and Christmas fun with Mr Poppy!

[10/10 · 20 November 2014]

If you have seen Nativity, and Nativity 2, you won't be going into this follow-up movie expecting anything worthy of an Oscar! But what you will be expecting is a movie full of very lighthearted fun, ridiculously silly jokes, and hugely laughable plot-holes, which is exactly what you will get - but that is what makes the Nativity movies so great!

With a cast of great British actors (and a donkey), just go into this movie with a giant bag of popcorn and a huge sugary drink and just giggle like a child along to the singing, dancing and our lovable Mr Poppy and get yourself into the Christmas spirit! Well worth a watch if you aren't in the mood for anything serious and want to feel festival, and I promise you will be singing "Dude, Where's My Donkey" for several hours after watching!

The Lucky One (2012)

My Favourite Book... Completely Changed

[8/10 · 6 May 2012]

I have been waiting for this movie to come out in the UK for about 8 months because it is one of my favourite books of all time, it was a complete page turned and whilst reading last few pages of the book I completely lost my breath and it took me a few moments pause before I could read the last page to find out how things ended.....

The movie however was so incredibly disappointing compared to the book. They missed out massive chunks of the storyline from start to finish and changed things around for reasons that I REALLY do not understand, making the beginning of the movie feel rushed, the end of the movie feel flat and not thrilling at all, and you just didn't feel connected to the characters. I also agree with other reviewers when they say Logan's dog had a massive role to play in the book but hardly appeared at all in the movie.

I have given it 8/10 as I love Zac Efron and his acting in this. As an actor he has really grown up from his High School Musical days and can perform brilliantly.... He's also super gorgeous!! Other than that, blah..... PLEASE PLEASE everyone go read to book instead.

The Smurfs (2011)

Adorable, Funny and Nostalgic

[9/10 · 27 August 2011]

I don't have any children of my own, but I am a big child myself. Born in the 80s and having grown up watching The Smurfs cartoon on television I was really looking forward to seeing The Smurfs on the big screen and for me it didn't disappoint.

This movie has got so many awful reviews but let's be honest, it was never going to win an Oscar but it can win the hearts of people who want to enjoy a lighthearted movie with silly giggles along the way.

The Smurfs stayed true to their cute and happy selves throughout, and the voices of the characters were extremely well suited, especially Jonathan Winters playing Papa Smurf and Katy Perry as Smurfette.

I had a lot of fun watching this movie and would definitely recommend it.

Due Date (2010)

I really wanted to like it....

[5/10 · 10 November 2010]

....but I didn't.

I usually love this type of movie and absolutely love Zach Galifianakis and Robert Downey Jr. and have been looking forward to watching this for months but only to be hugely disappointed.

This movie had the odd funny moment which did make me chuckle and quite a few people in the movie theatre were doing huge belly laughs throughout so they obviously were enjoying themselves, but really I was wondering what they were laughing about the majority of the time!! I thought the film was quite dark, nasty and mean and I came out feeling a bit low. Ethan Tremblay (played by Zach) was clearly a slob who would get on your nerves quite a bit, but I thought the behaviour of Peter Highman (played by Robert) was truly awful. Having a fight with airport security, punching a kid in the stomach, spitting in a dogs face and just his treatment of Ethan throughout the film was simply cruel. It was extremely difficult, almost impossible to like him. One of the worst moments of the story for me has to be when Ethan and Peter accidentally drink Ethan's dad's ashes which were being kept in a coffee tin and then the remaining ashes get knocked onto the floor of the kitchen and Ethan crawls around trying to sweep them up back into the tin. This scene just made me want to cry, not laugh.

I don't think I would like to watch this movie again.

Get Him to the Greek (2010)

10/10 for puke

[3/10 · 4 July 2010]

Admittedly, 2 minutes into this movie I realised it was a mistake of mine to bring my mum with me to watch it on a lazy Saturday afternoon! Completely embarrassed from beginning to end and I didn't know where to look. Whoops!

I was disappointed by this movie as from the trailers it looked like it would be a lot of fun, a bit rude at times but mainly a bit of a giggle. I was upset to see that quite a huge amount of the scenes I laughed at in the trailers weren't included in the movie itself which did give me the wrong impression of what it was going to be like.

The swearing in the film was truly awful and no sentence was without an F-word or obscenity. The very rude sex scenes were completely unnecessary and again were a constant theme throughout the movie and added nothing to the actual storyline. I am absolutely not a prude at all and loved The Hangover last year and have seen the likes of Knocked Up and Forgetting Sarah Marshall and really enjoyed those movies but Get him to the Greek was really an excuse for Russell Brand just to be as filthy as possible and I didn't find it remotely funny.

I found the movie to be endorsing and glamorising alcohol and drugs and I kept waiting for the moral message of "this is the wrong way to live your life" to come through and it really didn't until the last 2 seconds of the movie.

I'm a girl so maybe this is more of a blokes film but definitely won't be recommending this to any of my friends. No real plot, no real likable characters... no real point!

Sex and the City 2 (2010)

I got Carried away!

[10/10 · 29 May 2010]

Me and my girlfriends are huge SATC fans and have been waiting for this movie to come out for an extremely long time and have been so excited. Having read all of the terribly bad reviews I was sad at the thought that I might not enjoy the movie, but it was fantastic!!!!!!

I thought the first film was great but if anything this second film was better. Yes the first film was more gritty and emotional but that also made it a bit of a somber experience, whereas this second film had really lightened up and was fun from start to finish.

I know a lot of people were disappointed that the girls didn't stay in New York and have complained that there was no storyline, but of course there was! We had already seen the girls in the first film fall in love with their husbands and realise they were the men that they wanted to be with and as they grow older their stresses in their lives move away from having to find the right man, now they need to worry about...... trying to keep the spark alive in a marriage where the husband wants to watch TV.... trying to take care of young children.... having bad bosses at work and feeling unappreciated. This story was about the girls getting away from it all together miles away from home so they were able to unwind, have fun and go back to their lives and families with fresh eyes and appreciate what they have got. Why should the fact that Carrie kissed Aidan turn into a 3 hour problem? Why can't it be solved in 10 minutes by 2 adults who have been together for a zillion years who clearly love each other? Sometimes I think people want drama where it isn't needed and instead should be content with having a giggle and seeing their favourite characters back on the big screen.

I went to see this film with 7 of my girlfriends and we all really enjoyed ourselves and had a lovely night out. If you are a SATC fan you will be going to see this movie regardless of the reviews so I hope that you all enjoy it!

The Back-up Plan (2010)

Loved this movie - don't be put off by bad reviews

[9/10 · 24 May 2010]

Zoe (Jennifer Lopez) doesn't ever think she will find 'the one' so decides to have a baby through artificial insemination, then she meets Stan (Alex O'Loughlin)...

I really enjoy watching romantic comedies, there is nothing like a nice romantic story with a few giggles and a guaranteed happy ending to make a girl smile! When I heard that Jennifer Lopez was coming back to the big screen with The Back Up Plan I was so excited to see this movie and I wasn't disappointed.

I went to see this with a friend of mine who is due to give birth in 3 weeks time with her first baby and she was laughing the entire way through the movie. My friend tells me the experiences that Zoe (Jennifer Lopez) went through in the movie during her pregnancy were spot on and she could really relate to all the pregnancy ups and downs! For me I found the story extremely funny also, and very heart warming. The chemistry between the 2 actors was lovely. Alex O'Loughlin did an amazing job as the leading man and Jennifer Lopez was looking as gorgeous as ever!

Yes it has a few moments every so often when it goes a little bit too silly, but that is what chick-flicks are all about. If you enjoyed Monster in Law you will enjoy this for sure. Don't be put off by all the negative things people are saying about it, go see it and make your mind up for yourself!

The Bounty Hunter (I) (2010)

I really wanted to like it

[7/10 · 22 March 2010]

I am just the sort of person this type of movie is aimed at. I absolutely love romantic comedies and I am a huge fan of Jennifer Aniston and Gerard Butler but after waiting for the release of this movie for several months unfortunately I was disappointed.

The storyline seemed promising and quite original. A reporter (Aniston) skips bail and her bounty hunter ex-husband (Butler) is given the job of hunting her down. The result however is quite a bland movie and it could have been so much better.

Whenever Gerard Butler is in a romantic comedy he does bring a slightly edgy 'tough guy' quality to the movie but I'm not sure that it entirely works. We want to fall in love with our male lead, not wince as he locks Aniston in his car boot.

If you have a few hours spare with really nothing else to do it is probably worth a watch and there is the odd giggle here and there. If like me you enjoy 'chick flicks' you have probably sat through a lot worse, but just don't expect this movie to be amazing.

Alice in Wonderland (I) (2010)

I don't usually like Tim Burton movies, but.....

[9/10 · 11 March 2010]

I will start off by saying that I am not a huge fan of Tim Burton. I usually find his movies a bit strange but if there is one place you can be strange and fit right in, it's Wonderland.

I am probably one of the few people who did not see this movie in 3D, but even in 2D it was visually stunning. Wonderland and all it's inhabitants look just as you would imagine, complete with giant toadstools, a blue smoking caterpillar and a Mad Hatter drinking tea.

The story is not a remake of the original but rather a 'what happened next' version based around a more grown up 19 year old Alice and this is what made the movie so enjoyable for me. It was great to see the characters that we all love so much having a new adventure.

I thought that Johnny Depp might over-egg his part as the Mad Hatter and he would be a bit too much like Willy Wonka in the Chocolate Factory again, but his character was actually really likable and understated. Mia Wasikowska made a very sweet Alice, Helena Bonham Carter hilarious as the Red Queen and Stephen Fry as the Cheshire Cat really stole the show.

I agree with other reviewers when they say the storyline of the movie isn't edge of your seat stuff, but for me it didn't need to be. I was happy to sit back, watch the story unfold and enjoy the silliness.