Tag: ChloeGraceMoretz

Oh. What. Fun.

Published on by DanielaLeave a comment

Every year at Christmas, Claire (Michelle Pfeiffer) goes out of her way to make it a special time for her family. Her husband Nick (Denis Leary) is clueless and spends most of his time in his garage. Claire’s eldest daughter Channing (Felicity Jones) thinks she’s better than everyone because she’s writing novels now while Channing’s husband Doug (Jason Schwartzman) is never taken seriously. Middle daughter Taylor (Chloë Grace Moretz) shows up with a new girlfriend each Christmas and youngest son Sammy (Dominic Sessa) has just been dumped. When her family actually forget about her, Claire packs a bag and sets off to find her own happiness.

The cast is absolutely stacked and that is a good enough reason to check this film out. In addition to the names mentioned above, there’s also Eva Longoria who stars as TV host and Claire’s hero Zazzy Tims, Danielle Brooks who portrays Morgan, a delivery driver who Claire meets shortly after she leaves her home and Maude Apatow is Mae-bell, the girl who breaks Sammy’s heart. Unfortunately many of these characters are kind of awful. They are mean, selfish and as a result do not have very many redeemable qualities. That made it hard to root for any of them. At times even I was yelling for Claire to just speak up and give her family a piece of her mind.

While the film was trying to stand out from others in its genre, it became evident that ideas had been borrowed from other, more well known titles. I saw snippets of Home Alone, The Family Stone and Planes, Trains and Automobiles. It wasn’t obvious or in your face at least, but it would have been nice for some more originality.

I did appreciate the message they were trying to get across. The fact that mothers (and fathers or really anybody else who finds themselves in a similar situation) give it their all over the holidays can be under appreciated. At the beginning, I really felt for Claire because her family clearly didn’t even seem to really know her. Over time, however, I felt like this stance was being repeated a bit too much and that took away its importance.

Overall, while I did like Oh. What. Fun for the most part, though it didn’t quite hit the mark. Part comedy, part drama, it was as if the film didn’t know what it wanted to be. It could have made more of an impact if it had leaned a bit more into the drama side of it, but the problem was solved rather quickly.

Rating: ♥️♥️♥️

Tom and Jerry

Published on by DanielaLeave a comment

I grew up with Tom and Jerry so this movie sparked my interest from the beginning. While I wasn’t an avid watcher, I have seen my fair share of episodes and enjoyed watching the feud between the cat and mouse. I was curious to see how these characters would be brought into 2021. Additionally, the premise of having them in a live action setting was quite appealing and I was curious to see how that would be done.

When Jerry (himself) moves into New York City’s most prestigious hotel on the eve of the biggest wedding of the year, his rivalry with Tom (himself) is inevitably reignited. In order to get rid of Jerry, accidental event planner Kayla (Chloe Grace Moretz) hires Tom to get rid of Jerry. This task will not be easy and as the battle between the two escalates, not only is Kayla’s job on the line, but the future of the wedding and the hotel are in jeopardy.

The combination of bringing cartoon characters into a real life setting was really well done. I thought the way it was done seemed normal in the grand scheme of things and it kind of made me wish we actually lived in such a world. I liked how the people were still themselves, but the animals were all animated. I feel like it made sense that way since the story was mostly told from Tom and Jerry’s perspectives.

Another positive point for me was how Tom and Jerry was given a modern update. The choice to put upbeat, hip hop music was genius and really made the story more relevant. This in comparison with the new special effects really gave a fresh spin on things. It seemed like the way in which the cartoons were drawn in particular was much sharper than they used to be as well.

Unfortunately, that is where the enjoyment stopped. I didn’t feel the plot was extraordinary by any means and couldn’t help but feel like this was targeted to a younger audience. All in all, I do think that Tom and Jerry is a fun movie than can be appreciated by families around the world. The hilarious antics of the cat and mouse will be thrilling for children while parents can relive their younger years while watching.

Rating: ♥♥.5