Rock of Ages/Snow White & The Hunstman

Well what a really lovely day I had with my dad yesterday.  Like I said yesterday, we went to watch the Dalai Lama give a talk in Manchester.  I won’t go into the details here, but basically, the message from His Holiness was: treat ourselves, others and the world with compassion and love.  It was very moving actually and I enjoyed it immensely.

For my dad, it was a day of firsts (I love it when someone older gets to do things they’ve never done before - like I keep telling him, “You’re never too old ...”):

1.   He went to his first arena and was quite shocked about the size of it and how many people it could accommodate

2.   He saw the Dalai Lama – something he’s wanted to do since the 1960’s

3.   He had his first burger in the Hard Rock Cafe!

Oh, one little thing before I forget ... when I rang my dad to ask him where he wanted to sit in the Arena, I said, “Floor or tiers?” My dad replied, “Tiers because my knees aren’t good now Love and I may not be able to get back up off the floor” OMG, I died laughing!  He thought that because it was a talk by a Buddhist Monk, people would be sitting around on cushions on the floor!  Even he saw the funny side when I pointed out that ‘floor’ just meant the bit that wasn’t tiered.  Bless ... I love my dad.

It really was a lovely day and I really enjoyed spending so much time with him.  It was a real treat.

OK, so, moving on ... I told you I’d give you a quick review of Rock of Ages and Snow White and the Huntsman.  Starting with Rock of Ages, well I was a bit dubious about seeing this.  I’m a huge Classic Rock fan and always have been (it’s pretty much all I listen to if I’m honest) and I really wasn’t sure if I’d enjoy seeing some of my most loved songs re-hashed (and potentially bashed).  I’m also not a great fan of musicals or indeed Tom Cruise ... so I guess I was going out on a limb a bit. 

Well, I have to say that on the whole, I really did enjoy it.  Yes, it was a bit cheesy at times and more than a bit clichéd and it did get a bit annoying when they burst into song every couple of minutes (however, I guess I lasted longer than I would a normal musical because I loved the songs) and it did kind of have a story to it, but what I will say is, if you don’t like Rock music or musicals, don’t go ... you’ll probably hate it.

Unfortunately, there were 3 groups of teenagers in the theatre and I just knew they’d hate it ... and they did ... and weren’t quiet about it.  Every time someone broke into song, the girls would giggle and the boys would groan.  I can’t imagine that teenagers would like this film at all and they clearly didn’t know that it was a musical. So if you fancy seeing it ... be warned. 

Tom Cruise played quite a good part though ... I have to say that I’m privileged (if you’d call it that) to know quite a few rock stars ... and no, I won’t be spilling the beans here, now or at any other time, so you can get that thought out of your head ... and I have to say that his portrayal was quite accurate of some I know, at least in parts.  However, I will say that I was quite distracted by his stomach (and not in a good way) ... I couldn’t decide whether he was sucking it in to show his abs or pushing it out and channelling his inner Iggy Pop!  It’s a mystery that may never be solved. 


Russel Brand, well I usually like him, but the less said about his performance here the better.  He was trying to do some kind of Birmingham accent which just didn't work.  Why not let him use his normal accent I don't know.  It was all a bit weird and distracting.  Anyway, I know I’ve posted it before, but here’s the trailer in case you missed it...

Next, Snow White and the Huntsman ... I wasn’t too sure about this either because I’m not a fan of Kristen Steward (I think she’s bloody awful in the Twilight films and can’t act for toffee ... she actually makes me cringe when I’m watching her in those films).  However, she was surprisingly good in this and her English accent was fabulous (quell surprise!).  I think that may be because they kept her script to a minimum ... she doesn’t really have to say very much.  Charlize Theron who plays the evil queen was excellent ... her English accent was amazing too and she played a really good part ... probably the best I’ve seen her in.  The gorgeous Chris Hemsworth played the role of the Huntsman and what’s not to love about him?  Totally gorgeous, however, I wasn’t sure what accent he was trying to achieve ... it wandered between Cockney, Yorkshire and a weird take on Sean Connery’s famous Scottish accent.  Very odd and very distracting actually!

The dwarf performances were also a joy to behold ... Ian McShane, Eddie Izzard, Bob Hoskins, Ray Winston all played 4 of the 7 dwarfs beautifully!  I loved them.  The graphics were fab, the story was good (I’m sure I don’t need to go through it with you here) it was beautifully shot and well worth a watch.  In case you haven’t seen the trailer, here it is...

The only film left that I haven’t seen that I want to see is Prometheus.  I’ll see that at some point this week and let you know how it went.  Right lovelies, I’m off to do some work now.  I hope you all have a wonderful week and until next time, be fabulous!

Lots of love

Jx