Tag: Featured

Pitch Perfect (2012) Film Review

Well… sometimes I have the feeling I can do crystal meth, but then I think, mmm… better not.

Rating 12a
Length 1h52
Release 21.12.2012
Director Jason Moore
About Beca, a college fresher, reluctantly joins an all-girls a cappella group and later infuses freshness into their repertoire. They then take on a male a cappella group in a competition.
Moon: no moon sighting
Where to Watch: Netflix
Trailer:

The Good

  • Anna Kendrick gives an opinion changing performance with this film and sees me going from avoiding anything with her in, thanks to Twilight, to her being someone I’d watch in everything.
    Not only is she likeable and relatable as Freshman Beca, I was left with a want to see how Twilight would have played out had she secured the role of Bella Swan.
  • There is a really good plot thread in which Leader Aubrey, feeling challenged by natural leader Beca, doubles down on her management style and makes it clear that Beca is not liked, or wanted. Now this may appear to be a clique that has been seen in many films. Even music competition film Sister Act has a similar theme with Whoopi’s teacher nun and the class she has to look after.
    However, Pitch Perfect makes it feel fresh and new.
  • The music is awesome. Every song collected for this soundtrack is upbeat and will have you humming along for days after you watched.
  • I like that the romance, while present, takes a back seat, favouring a slow burn and friendship.

The Bad

  • I do love both Elizabeth Banks and John Michael Higgins. However for every line that hits a funny bone, there’s about three that will have you cringing. I guess that’s the nature of ad lib.
  • I wish they’d put subtitles on Lilly, because what she actually says is genius. They should have been there for every line even in the cinema. I absolutely cannot recommend strongly enough that the next time you watch, you put on the subtitles.

The Ugly

  • Some of the jokes, particularly those that are aimed at Cynthia Rose’s sexuality, feel very dated and boarding on being phobic.
  • In the same sense, the whole concept of “Fat Amy”. While not so much that it hasn’t aged well, but more that it was never funny. Yes, I’m saying that as a larger lady. However, the point is that even if you have the “fat” character poking fun at themselves it’s rarely going to work if she’s written by someone who has never had weight issues.

Final Thoughts

This is such a comfort movie for me, despite the flaws. I think I watch it at least once a year and this is quite significant considering I watched it on one of the worst days of my life.

The Basics

Name

It is Hannah, but I will answer to Han (as in Solo. I prefer Trek to Wars, but I figured this moniker pissed my brother off).
Actually, I’ll most likely answer to anything, because there’s a good chance, I didn’t hear what you’ve said but you’ve continued to talk to me.
If anyone calls me the wrong name, I tend to just go along with it so if you hear me being called something else, it’s okay. The experience of attempting to correct but still being called Helen (In email of all things, it was right there IN WRITING. Writing cannot be misheard!) or Sarah (this happened only the other day and after posting this.) and equally not correcting and eventually being told off (Like, literally told off. I hadn’t realised the first few times then it was too late. Told me I’d embarrassed him) when they’ve been told means I just take the path of least resistance now.

Disability

I’m now almost completely deaf in my left ear.
It is another thing I’m awaiting an assessment for, but back in 2008 I was 70% deaf and given a hearing aid. In October 2023, an infection in the ear caused the ear drum to burst and the hearing has I’ve not really heard out of it since.
It’s also still really painful and I occasionally get a sharp pain in that ear

WHAT THIS MEANS

  • Well, this means that conversations with me can be a little harder. I rely on lip reading to support my hearing, so if you’re speaking when my head is down or I’m engaged in something else, I may not hear you.
  • If the room is loud, I may miss things you say
  • On the other side, I can talk loudly myself. Sorry for that, I cannot always regulate my volume. Please just tell me.
  • The focus on hearing can make me tired and/or cranky. It’s not you.

Tips

  • You may need to tap my arm, wave or even message me to get my attention.
  • *if* you’re wanting to sit next to me and there’s a choice, the right side is always best.
  • If what you want to talk to me about something important, get my attention then talk.
  • If it’s really important and/or its noisy, ask if I have time and take me to a quiet spot.

I'm a Literal Kind of Gal

I take things literally sometimes. It’s largely to do with tone of voice, but it’s not that clear cut. A lot of this was learned behaviour from childhood and as much as I’ve pushed against it, it sometimes slips back.

Examples

ONE – Growing up, if I was told to “shut up”, I would for the rest of the day. I’m nowhere near as bad, but I do still only really speak when I’m spoken to as a default. It’s not that I don’t want to talk to you, it’s that I believe it’s what most people want from me.

TWO – A more recent example is that upon saying ‘oh I’m sat away from everyone’ someone replied, ‘because no one likes you’.
It was meant as a ‘joke’, but because nothing else was said to me and the body language didn’t match a joke, I took it as fact.
This actually made me really ill. I was having panic attacks going to work and physically couldn’t speak to anyone. The biggest problem being that nobody liking me is a core belief and a permanent train of thought. Now it had someone else’s voice and I couldn’t shut it off.

THREE – When I was eight, my dad told me any boy I brought home was ‘dead meat’. I took this literally and I became mute to most males. I still struggle today.
Yup, despite being in my 30s I still struggle to have conversations with men because while I know how to talk, put one foot in front of the other and all that jazz, I’m petrified that speaking to a man first about anything other than work related stuff will lead to their untimely death. (This doesn’t mean I fancy you by the way, 8-year-old me still thought the feeling I had for Joe Mazzello was because I wanted to be there experiencing Jurassic Park than thinking he was adorable so you just need to be that gender for me to have this sticking point. However, the problem is made a thousand times worse if I find someone attractive).

WHAT IT MEANS

  • I can be hurt by some jokes.
  • If you repeat certain types of joking behaviour that I haven’t gotten the first few times, it will take its toll.
  • I can isolate myself as this is a quick way for me to become overwhelmed; trying to consider what was meant.

TIPS

  • If I hyper-focus after a ‘joke’ directed at me is said, there’s a good chance it was a put down and you might need to reassure me that it wasn’t meant
  • Don’t tell me to ‘shut up’, even in a jokey way.
  • Calling me stupid is a massive trigger for me. I don’t know why but this is where I’m most vulnerable.
  • I tend to speak only when spoken to. This sometimes makes me seem standoff-ish and rude.
  • If someone I don’t know touches me, please suggest going for a coffee to get me away, even for 5 minutes.

Back to the Manual

The Birdcage (1996) Film Review

Rating 15
Length 1h48
Release 26.04.1996
Director Mike Nichols
About Gay lovers Armand and Albert disguise themselves as a heterosexual couple in order to meet and impress the conservative family of their son’s fiancee.
Moon: no moon sighting
Where to Watch: Amazon Prime
Trailer:

The Good

Robin Williams in one of his understated performances makes for a rather charming and contrasting role. Not only in terms of his own body of work, but the performance really stands out against the delightful flamboyance of both Nathan Lane and Hank Azaria. Knowing that Williams could have equally nailed the part of Albert and would have been the audiences expectation, makes the role of Armand all the more impactful being in the hands of Williams.

On the most part, the comedy really lands. Particularly when it comes to the Conservative Family and this is one time in which the audience knowing something characters don’t.
The comedy really ramps up when everything starts to fall apart and utilises all of the tropes that come with a set up based on lies.

I adored the resolve. How they protect Gene Hackman’s senator from the media is charming. It’s also the only way I would buy the acceptance from the family. Which dies make me wish that the outro had been held back and we got to experience a sequel.

The Bad

I love Hank Azaria, I really do. The performance is funny and I love almost all of it. The except being the accent. It’s too ‘crafted’ like many of his other ethnic accents in the Simpsons. It just needed toning down slightly to make it more authentic.

The son, Val, and his fiancé are absolute dicks. What they ask of Armand and Albert is heartbreaking and, certainly for me, doesn’t work. They need to really have already met, and love, Barbara. The decision to fictionalise the Goldman’s lives also really should have come from Armand and Albert. There’s no way a Senator’s daughter who seems as intelligent as Barbra would ever think she could get away with such lies, particularly when the media have just uncovered a scandal.
By making this change, Val doesn’t come across as so entitled and cruel.

The Ugly

There’s no doubt, this film is a trailblazer for the LGBTQ community. However, the plot doesn’t come across as an LGBTQ positive film. The majority of the plot is about putting Armand into the closet and teaching Albert “how to be a man” and doesn’t scream positivity.
Then there’s the use of the word “fag” repeatedly. I’m aware that some words we now consider slurs are used by an intended community in a positive way, and that words have different means depending on the country of use. However, I’m pretty certain by 1996, the word “fag” was considered more slur than not. The use did make me wonder about the creation of this film, it’s predcessor and the play they’re both based upon and whether anyone involved was part of the community. It feels like gay representation by straight creatives to me. It just meant this wasn’t the uplifting film I thought it was going to be.

Side Note

This film made me think about the recent call for all gay characters being played by gay actors and why this is a very bad idea.

Nathan Lane is openly gay. Now.
Back in 1996? Not so much. Although he was almost outed on Oprah while promoting this film.
By enforcing the rule above, means you’re forcing people to out themselves when they’re not comfortable to. It also means you’re writing off a performance like the one Nathan Lane gives in this film.

Final Thoughts

This film, however flawed, walked so the LGBTQ genre could run and it’s a must watch for anyone who loved the amazing talent that is Robin Williams.