Tag: 3.25 Reviews

Review: The Nun

Posted July 15, 2021 by Rowena in Reviews | 4 Comments

The Nun

Starring: Taissa Farmiga, Damien Bichir, Jonas Bloquet
Year Released: 2018
Rating: R
Run Time: 1 hour, 36 minutes
Genre: Horror
Country: USA
Where I Watched It: HBO Max
Recommended By: Theresa
Who I Watched It For: Theresa

When a young nun at a cloistered abbey in Romania takes her own life, a priest with a haunted past and a novitiate on the threshold of her final vows are sent by the Vatican to investigate. Together, they uncover the order’s unholy secret. Risking not only their lives but their faith and their very souls, they confront a malevolent force in the form of a demonic nun.

Last month, my best friend and I binge-watched all of The Conjuring movies and I decided that I was going to review all of the movies so that I can keep my thoughts straight on all of them. I’ll be reviewing them in chronological order instead of by release date. Which means that first up? It’s The Nun.

In the Nun, we meet Sister Irene and Father Burke who are sent to Romania to investigate the suicide of a young nun. When they get there, they’re escorted by a young man who found the dead nun. Together they uncover a pretty dark story about dead nuns and evil spirits and they unravel secret after secret after secret. Not all is as it seems and they have no one to lean on in trying to figure out what’s going on, or to fight the evil spirits at the abbey so they must rely on each other to fight evil.

I’m new to watching scary movies and I thought this one would be a scary one since it’s got the religious tilt to it but I don’t know. There were moments in the movie where I jumped from being scared but overall, I didn’t think the movie was all that scary nor was I heavily invested in the characters and what was going on for that matter. I was much more interested toward the end when things started clicking about just who Sister Irene was and then seeing the French guy at the end and putting two and two together of what I know from the other conjuring movies. I mean, during the movie, I was putting the pieces of the conjuring puzzle together but once everything is confirmed – I was like, oh. Oh, okay. Nice touch with casting Lorraine’s real life sister as the main character in this one. I kept thinking, OMG is she connected to Lorraine cause she looks just like her…only to find out that their characters don’t connect in any way other than Lorraine talks about Irene’s case in her present-day lectures and talks.

I watched this movie in parts because I fell asleep in the beginning twice but was determined to finish it so I did just that. I’m glad that I did because even though the beginning was slow, I still enjoyed the overall story and how it connects the other movies together. Will I watch it again? Probably not. Am I mad that I watched it at all? Nah. So, would I recommend it? If you’re interested in the Conjuring series and watching all of the movies connected then yes, I recommend you start with this one. That’s all I got though.

Final Rating

3.25 out of 5

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Review: Where the Camellia Blooms

Posted September 25, 2020 by Rowena in Reviews | 0 Comments

Where the Camellia Blooms

Male Lead: Kang Ha Neul
Female Lead: Gong Hyo Jin
Secondary Lead: Kim Ji Seok
Also Starring: Ji Yi Soo, Oh Jung Se, Yeom Hye Ran,Son Dam Bi, Kim Kang Hoon, Go Doo Shim, Lee Jung Eun
Year Released: 2020
Number of Episodes: 20
Genre: Contemporary, Drama, Romance, Romantic Comedy
Country: Korea
Where I Watched It: Netflix
Recommended By: Kang Ha Neul
Who I Watched It For: Kang Ha Neul

“When the Camellia Blooms” is the story of Oh Dong-baek, a single mother who moves to the fictional town of Ongsan and opens a bar named Camellia. Six years later, Dong-baek meets playful Yong-sik, who declares his love for her. Dong-baek does not reciprocate his love, but Yong-sik persists in wooing her. When Yong-sik’s mother finds out about this, she strongly opposes it, as Dong-baek is a single mother with a son, as well as the fact that Dong-baek’s past lover and father of her child is trying to win her back. Yong-sik eventually gets Dong-Baek to fall for him. Meanwhile, a notorious killer sets out to claim Dong-baek as his next victim, and Yong-sik protects her fiercely, doing his job as a policeman and figuring out who the killer is.

After watching Kang Ha Neul in Midnight Runners with Park Seo Jun, I wanted to watch him in something else so when I came across this show on Netflix, I loaded that bad boy up.

The story centers on the romance between Dong-baek, a single mother who just moved to the small town of Ongsan and opened a bar named Camellia, and Yong-sik, a loud mouth police officer who transfers back to his hometown after being a cop in Seoul for a while. Right off the bat, Yong-sik likes Dong-baek but she ain’t got time for him. She’s a single mother with a business to run and that keeps her more than busy. Yong-sik isn’t deterred by her rejection, he plans to run the long game and stick around, hoping that he’ll win her over eventually. On top of the romance, there’s a mystery thread running throughout the show. Dong-baek gets caught up in a serial killer’s plan when he finds out that she was in the tanning bed when he shows up at the spa to kill his last victim. She’s a loose end that needs to tie so she becomes the most important target for him.

Kang Ha-neul was a great male lead and I really enjoyed his character. It wouldn’t have taken me that long to warm up to him. He was charming and so endearing that it was hard to not root for him. Dong-baek was a lot harder for me to connect with. She was pretty cold to Yong-sik at first and I understood it and even appreciated how honest she was with him but she frustrated me a lot because I thought it took her far too long to stand up for herself. She came off really weak in the beginning and throughout most of the show that even her son was fed up with the BS. I’m glad that I stuck with it and gave her a chance to grow because she really does grow over the course of the story. She grows in character, she grows into her feelings for Yong-sik and I was really glad for that.

This was an enjoyable show for the most part but I’ve got to be honest that as much as I enjoyed the show overall, there were times in the beginning where I really struggled with the pacing of the story being told. There were episodes where long parts of the episode dragged because there was too much telling and not enough showing. I hope that makes sense because that’s the only way that I can explain it, haha. I’m still glad that I watched this show and while it wasn’t a favorite, it was still a pretty solid show. I will also mention that I thought the whole serial killer mystery was pretty weak but still, if you’re in the mood for a romantic comedy with charming characters and a male lead that will crack you up, this is a good one to check out.

Final Rating

3.25 out of 5

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Christmas Movie Round Up

Posted December 18, 2018 by Rowena in Reviews | 10 Comments

It’s that time of year…the time of cheesy Christmas movies that I can’t get enough of. I haven’t been watching as many Christmas movies as I usually do but I’ve watched a few. Brenna has been watching a movie a night before she goes to bed so she’s got me beat but I’m sure I’ll fix that. Here’s a quick rundown on the movies that I’ve watched in the last week or two.

The Holiday Calendar (2018) | Netflix
Starring: Kat Graham, Quincy Brown, Ethan Peck
Director: Bradley Walsh
Rating: TV-PG
Run Time: 1 hour, 35 minutes
Genre: Drama, Romance
Release Date: 2 November 2018
Rating: 4 out of 5

A struggling but talented photographer inherits an antique holiday advent calendar, the contents of which seem to predict the future. Will this magical calendar lead her to love this holiday season?

This was a super cute movie that had me grinning from beginning to end. Bonnie Bennett from Vampire Diaries and Derek from Star were the perfect best friends to lovers pair and though the premise of the movie was kind of cheesy, I thought Kat Graham did a wonderful job as the main lead. Quincy was a great love interest too. What a cutie!

The Princess Switch 2018) | Netflix
Starring: Vanessa Hudgens, Sam Palladio, Nick Sagar
Director: Mike Rohl
Rating: TV-PG
Run Time: 1 hour, 41 minutes
Genre: Romance
Release Date: 16 November 2018
Rating: 4 out of 5

A Chicago baker (V.Hudgens) is competing in a Christmas baking competition in Belgravia. There she bumps into the prince’s fiancee. They look alike and switch for 2 days. “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.”

I saw this movie just a couple of days ago and enjoyed it so much. I thought this movie was fun and it was great to see Gunnar from Nashville as a dashing young Prince in this movie. Vanessa’s British accent was a lot of fun too. I thought Kevin’s daughter was adorable and enjoyed both of the couples stories. It was so much fun watching them all fall in love. Cute!

Christmas Wedding Planner (2017) | Harlequin
Starring: Jocelyn Hudon, Stephen Huszar, Kelly Rutherford
Director: Justin G. Dyck
Rating: PG
Run Time: 1 hour, 26 minutes
Genre: Romance
Release Date: December 2017
Rating: 3.25 out of 5

Wedding Planner, Kelsey Wilson, is about to have her big break: planning her beloved cousin’s lavish and exclusive wedding. Everything is going smoothly until Connor McClane, a devilishly handsome private investigator, shows up and turns Kelsey’s world upside-down. Hired by a secret source, Connor quickly disrupts the upcoming nuptials but wins Kelsey’s heart in the process.

I saw this movie on Netflix and I guess it’s a Harlequin movie, which…okayyy Harlequin. This was a quick watch with a cast that I haven’t seen in too many movies. Actually, I don’t think I’ve seen anyone in this movie outside of this movie. I thought the heroine was pretty extra over every little thing and the hero made me want to smack him upside his head a little bit there but for the most part, this was a cute movie. That ending though, talk about cheesy! Still, it was cute.

Christmas with a View (2018) | Harlequin
Starring: Kaitlyn Leeb, Scott Cavalheiro, Vivica A. Fox, Patrick Duffy
Director: Justin G. Dyck
Rating: TV-PG
Run Time: 1 hour, 31 minutes
Genre: Drama, Romance
Release Date: December 2018
Rating: 3.25 out of 5

This Christmas, Thunder Mountain Ski Resort is abuzz when celebrity chef Shane Roarke is named the new head chef. Clara Garrison isn’t as excited and is instead focused on getting resettled after her failed attempt at opening a big city restaurant. With their paths constantly crossing, will their shared passion for cooking bring them together or will secrets keep them apart?

Another Harlequin movie, I didn’t even know that Harlequin made movies. Where the heck have I been? Anyway, this was another cheesy but cute movie that I had fun with. The two main leads were great though the heroine leaned toward silly from time to time but still, this was fun and I thought the hero’s backstory was cute. He went to the place that he knew his parents were and found love for himself there. Awww.

Christmas Joy (2018) | Hallmark
Starring: Danielle Panabaker, Matt Long, Lucia Walters
Director: Monika Mitchell
Rating: TV-G
Run Time: 2 hours
Genre: Family, Romance
Release Date: 3 November 2018
Rating: 4.25 out of 5

Joy Holbrook is an intuitive market researcher in DC who has captured the attention of the account’s CEO and is about to get a sweet promotion, just in time for the holidays. She receives an urgent phone call from home and she rushes back to Crystal Falls, NC to help her Aunt recover from surgery and is reunited with her former crush, Ben. To keep her Aunt focused on healing, Joy volunteers to take Ruby’s place with the town’s legendary baking competition, the “Cookie Crawl,” much to the amusement of Ben who knows Joy has absolutely no idea of the Herculean task before her. Though Joy initially refuses Ben’s attempts to “co-captain,” she begins to soften and let him in, all the while remembering that there truly is no place like home.

This movie was so much fun. I adored most everything about this one. Killer Frost from Flash was such a treat in this one. I really like her acting and I thought she did a great job in this one. Both her and Jack from Jack & Bobby (old TV show) were fun to watch and I wanted them to win the Cookie Crawl too. There’s some cheese, some light-hearted moments and loads of fun that I didn’t mind the cheesy stuff. Cute!

Have you watched any of these movies? What did you think of them? Any Christmas movies I should add to my watch list? Share your favorites in the comments below!

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Buddy Review: Highlander Most Wanted by Maya Banks

Posted November 20, 2018 by Rowena in Reviews | 0 Comments

Buddy Review: Highlander Most Wanted by Maya BanksHighlander Most Wanted
by Maya Banks
Narrator: Kirsten Potter
Series: The Montgomery's and Armstrongs #2
Also in this series: Never Seduce a Scot
Published by Random House, Ballantine on March 19, 2013
Genres: Historical, Romance
Point of View:Alternating Third Person
Pages: 352
Format: eBook, Audiobook
Source: Purchased
Length: 9 hours, 48 minutes
Add It: Goodreads
four-stars

In Highlander Most Wanted, a reclusive woman content to live in the shadows shows a Highland warrior the true meaning of love.

Genevieve McInnes is locked behind the fortified walls of McHugh Keep, captive of a cruel laird who takes great pleasure in ruining her for any other man. Yet when Bowen Montgomery storms the gates on a mission of clan warfare, Genevieve finds that her spirit is bent but not broken. Still, her path toward freedom remains uncertain. Unable to bear the shame of returning to a family that believes her dead or to abandon others at the keep to an imposing new laird, Genevieve opts for the peaceful life of an abbess. But Bowen’s rugged sensuality stirs something deep inside her that longs to be awakened by his patient, gentle caress—something warm, wicked, and tempting.

Bowen seizes his enemy’s keep, unprepared for the brooding and reclusive woman who captures his heart. He’s enchanted by her fierce determination, her unusual beauty, and her quiet, unfailing strength. But wooing her will take more than a seasoned seducer’s skill. For loving Genevieve, he discovers, means giving her back the freedom that was stolen from her—even if it means losing her forever.

Highlander Most Wanted is the second book in Maya Banks’ Montgomery’s and Armstrongs series. It picks up right where the first book in this series, Never Seduce a Scot leaves off and that’s where Bowen and Teague Montgomery, along with Aidan and Brodie Armstrong march to the McHugh keep to seek revenge for the abduction and abuse of their sister, Eveline Montgomery.

Bowen is tasked with running Laird Patrick McHugh down and killing him before taking over the keep and all of the lands. He expected to come in, handle business and then check out but what he finds at the McHugh keep changes those plans. He finds a clan without leadership and a young woman who intrigues him.

Genevieve McInnis has lived through things no woman should live through and she has suffered so much in her short life and all she wants is freedom. She wants to live the rest of her life out in peace and she needs to get to an abbey to make sure that happens. She wasn’t expecting Bowen Montgomery to throw all of those plans out the window when she met him. But love doesn’t always ask your permission.

Rowena: Tasha, Shy, and I are back at it again with another group review of our book club book of the month. This month’s book was a continuation from last month’s book so let’s get to it, shall we?

Alright guys, what did you guys think? Yay or nay?

Tasha: Meh, it was okay this second time around for me. I’m a sucker for happy endings, so this gets a yay.

Rowena: You know, the first time that I read it (a couple of weeks ago), I really enjoyed it. I cried, my heart broke and I was super happy with the story and then I did a re-read of the book before book club and the book was a lot more problematic for me.

There were so many things that I didn’t buy reading it the second time around. But first, let’s discuss the characters. What did you think about Bowen and Genevieve?

I enjoyed both of their characters. Bowen was the knight in shining armor that Genevieve needed and Genevieve had gone through too many things for me to hate her. My karma wouldn’t let me hate her. LOL.

Tasha: I’m with you on Bowen. It was easy for me to like him. I mean, what wasn’t there to like. He was very handsome, came from a strong clan, close to his siblings and he seemed to be fair person. His character was pretty consistent.

My heart initially went out to Genevieve. I truly felt bad for her and all that was done to her. But as the story went on, there were some things about Genevieve that really got on my nerves.

Shy: My opinion is a little skewed because as much as I loved Bowen in the first book, I ready to gut him halfway into this book. It made me cringe at how much of an idiot Bowen was in this book.

Genevieve, omg I felt for her whole situation. Okay, maybe I wanted or needed to kick her upside her head a few times. Why in the hell did she feel the need to continuously help those aikaes (assholes) that constantly made her life hell? We’re all strong but at some point, I would have given in and skinned a few of them.

Like you both, there were just a few too many things that didn’t really make sense to me.

Rowena: My issues stemmed around the romance and the lack of resolution with the members of the McHugh clan.

After everything that Genevieve suffered at the hands of Ian McHugh, the constant rape and abuse that went on for over a year, I thought the romance with Bowen happened too fast to be believable. She had known Bowen for a matter of weeks before they started sleeping together and I just didn’t quite believe that nothing triggered her. It felt, to me, like she was healed by Bowen’s magic peen.

The other thing that bothered me was that nobody stood up for Genevieve the way that Graeme stood up for Eveline, especially after those awful women stoned her. It really bothered me that nothing of consequence was done before Bowen took her away to the Montgomery keep. My bloodthirsty ass wanted all of them bitches to pay.

Tasha: I guess that’s why I’m so mad at Genevieve. After all she suffered, why did she bother standing up for them? She didn’t owe them anything. Why didn’t she shoot her bows and arrows and drop assholes left and right? She didn’t have any problem laying Patrick out with her arrows? Why not everyone else?

Remember how upset I was at Graeme for letting his clan mistreat Eveline for so long? The thing is, those people were Graeme’s people. The McHughs weren’t Bowen’s people. These guys swooped in and took over their clan. Bowen didn’t know those people, he didn’t know if he could trust Genevieve. There was no way he could demand the bullying and name calling to stop. For Graeme, he was Laird. His people were obligated to obey him. I don’t think Bowen, Brodie, or Teague had it like that. Not yet, at least.

Rowena: Sure, it was a different situation but they certainly could have been handled it in exactly the same way. Bowen had proclaimed himself their Laird until Graeme came along to take over so for all intents and purposes, Bowen was the boss. His word was law, and he should have reprimanded and handed out consequences to all of those women and men for the treatment of an innocent woman. Especially the women that freaking stoned her. By then, he knew and was in love with her, he should have taken the time to flay those bitches alive for hurting Genevieve before they left for Montgomery keep. He was too busy healing her with his magic peen though.

Too many things didn’t add up for me that I don’t feel I could give this book a higher grade than 3.25 but I did enjoy the friendships between Gen and Taliesan, and Gen, Eveline and Rorie.

Tasha: LOL at magic peen.

Shy: LOL, Mr. I got the magic stick.

Exactly. He held the authority to be judge, jury and executioner. I didn’t understand why he tried to cut them the benefit of the doubt after glimpsing how vile they were toward Genevieve.

I will say what brought be back around to really loving the book was when she reunited with her family. OMG I love her dad and her mom. But I found myself so irritated with Bowen, I felt like he should have went with her the first time. I would have made up some bloody excuse, knowing all that she’s gone through and that you love her, no one would have faulted him for the extra assurance if we went. But no the ai kae waited for her to ride back in all her pregnant glory.

Tasha: Her being reunited with the family was very sweet of Bowen. I can only imagine how hard it was for him to reach out to them. But the ultimate for me was their reaction when they saw her. They cried tears of joy and embraced her. Ahhhhhhh, loved that part!!!

Final Grade

Shy: 4 out of 5
Tasha: 3.75-4 out of 5
Rowena: 3.25 out of 5

The Montgomery’s and Armstrong’s Series

four-stars

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Review: The Kissing Booth

Posted July 24, 2018 by Rowena in Reviews | 4 Comments

The Kissing Booth (2018)
Starring: Joey King, Jacob Elordi, Joel Courtney
Director: Vince Marcello
Release Date: 11 May 2018
Rating: TV-14
Run Time: 1:45
Movie Type: Comedy, Romance

When Elle Evans (Joey King), a pretty, late-bloomer who’s never-been-kissed, decides to run a kissing booth at her high school’s Spring Carnival, she unexpectedly finds herself locking lips with her secret crush- the ultimate bad boy, Noah Flynn (Jacob Elordi). Sparks fly, but there’s one little problem: Noah just happens to be the brother of her best friend, Lee, (Joel Courtney) and is absolutely off limits according to the rules of their friendship pact. Elle’s life is turned upside down when she realizes that she must ultimately make a choice: follow the rules or follow her heart. Based on Beth Reekle’s self-published coming-of-age novel that became an international sensation, THE KISSING BOOTH is a Netflix Film, written and directed by Vince Marcello.

I’m always all about the books to movies to when I heard this movie was coming out and it was based on the book by Beth Reekles, I was in. I haven’t been too disappointed in the stuff Netflix has been coming out with so I had high hopes that this movie was going to be decent.

This movie is about Elle Evans and her pact with her best friend Lee Flynn. Elle and Lee have been best friends for forever and they have rules that keep their friendship on track. One of those rules is that Lee’s older brother Noah is off limits. Noah is stupid hot and he’s a bit of a jackass so Elle hasn’t had trouble keeping that rule…until the start of junior year and things start to change between them. Elle struggles with her feelings for Noah and keeping it from Lee, but she can’t seem to help herself. Noah is a lot more than she was expecting and her connection to him is inescapable.

So over the course of the movie, Elle and Noah get closer and closer but Elle makes Noah keep their relationship a secret from everyone, including Lee. You know, just until she can tell Lee about them because he needs to hear about it from her. They’re best friends and this is something that can only come from her. Only, she never tells Lee and her secret becomes bigger and bigger until there’s no way out without hurting everyone.

I did enjoy the movie, for the most part, but I don’t know if it’s because I’m older and a Mom or whatever but I thought Lee and Elle were assholes to Noah. They treated Noah like he wasn’t a real person with real feelings and I hated that he suffered the most for something that Elle was just as much to blame, if not more since Noah wanted Elle to come clean from the start. That scene at the dance where Noah declares himself in front of everyone? I wanted to junk punch Lee for being a little shit since he had a girlfriend and didn’t like Elle that way so what did it matter that she fell in love with his brother? Their pact was a pact between children. Lee was an asshole for not being happy for them and I want to smack the shit out of Elle for bowing to Lee’s pressure.

Other than that, the movie has cute moments and funny moments but it’s a movie for a younger audience because a lot of the drama in this movie is so extra. I think I ruined Brenna’s movie experience because I kept complaining about what assholes everyone was…still, the movie itself was decent and I hated certain things but not the entire movie.

Movie Trailer

My Rating

3.25 out of 5

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