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Licorice Pizza (2021) review by Hannah Pooley

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Set in sun drenched early 1970's California, Licorice Pizza is a coming-of-age comedy/drama directed by beloved auteur Paul Thomas Anderson. Gary (Cooper Hoffman) and Alana (Alana Haim) have a wonderful meet cute where their chemistry bubbles right away. The problem? Gary is 15 years old and Alana is 25, which even in the 70’s is considered off. Alana is at his school to help take the class photographs, and on their first meeting Gary throws in all matters of charm and flattery on her. Alana is firstly baffled by his bravado and tells him outright that he is far too young for her. But despite herself, she winds up going to meet him for dinner.  Whereas Alana seems stuck her in suburban life and craving direction, Gary is already an actor and helps with his mum’s business, working his way around California with a jarringly confident manner. What follows is a will-they, won’t-they friendship with Gary and Alana most definitely flirting with anyone else except each other. Gary even st...
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A Quiet Place Part II (2021) review by Hannah Pooley

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A Quiet Place Part II is directed by John Krasinski, and is the sequel to surprise hit A Quiet Place (2018), with events taking place right where we left off. You may know Krasinski as Jim from the US Office – this is his second film as director. Krasinski's real life wife, Emily Blunt, is back in front of the camera as Evelyn Abbot who is determined to find a new home for her children, including a newly born baby, after battling horrifying alien creatures that have taken over the world.  The monsters are blind, but are hypersensitive to sound, hence why there are not many humans left. Carrying a baby around is definitely not for the faint hearted in this world. As their farm burns to the ground, they must seek the help of other survivors to find some form of safety. After many delays due to the global pandemic, a Quiet Place Part II is  FINALLY   now showing in cinemas! It feels so good to be back in the cinema after such a long time. Just like our real world went d...
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Run (2020) review by Hannah Pooley

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  Run , directed by Aneesh Chaganty, is a new claustrophobic a nd nail biting thriller – now streaming on Netflix! Like most of us, Chloe Sherman (Keira Allen) has been stuck at home a lot recently. Chloe was born with many health problems – she has asthma, arrhythmia, diabetes and she is paralysed from the waist down, so has spent most of her life in a wheelchair. Her overbearing mother Diane (Sarah Paulson) home schools Chloe and controls everything from her mail, phone privileges and her medication. With college acceptance letters looming, Chloe is hoping to move away and begin her newly independent adult life. However, her mother has other more sinister plans for her… What follows in this gripping 90 minute thriller is an intense roller-coaster ride of twists and shocks, and things are not all as them seem as Chloe begins to unearth the truth about her mother. Run is a very confident film, with a short (appreciated) run time and it does not hold back, starting with barely ...
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Rocketman (2019) review by Hannah Pooley

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  Drenched in glitter, copious amounts of vodka and a surprising amount of emotion is the new film about Elton John – Rocketman. The film follows John’s huge rise to fame in the 1970’s, from his humble upbringing in suburban Britain, to massive sell out shows at Madison Square Garden. Taron Egerton plays Elton, first seen in the film waltzing into a rehab facility wearing what can only be described as one of the most flamboyant outfits ever captured on screen. He is dripping in orange rhinestones, flares, horns and even red angels wings. Whilst sat disenchanted and downtrodden, Elton realises he is at a crisis point and begins to look back at his tumultuous life. Young Reginald Kenneth Dwight, as he was once known, was a dab hand at the piano from an early age, picking it up just from hearing a few notes and replicating them. Son to a disgruntled mother and a practically absent father, Reg at least had the support from his grandmother who encouraged him to get piano lessons. After ...
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A Star Is Born (2018) review by Hannah Pooley

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A Star Is Born (2018) stars Bradley Cooper, Lady Gaga and Sam Elliott – and it is now streaming on Netflix! Jackson Maine (Bradley Cooper) is a huge rock star in his own right when the film begins, swigging on liquor and popping pills before he takes the stage in front of thousands of adoring fans. But something is missing, he is lost in the fame bubble and he is losing his identity.  After his set, he demands his driver to take him to the nearest bar where he sees the enigmatic Ally (Lady Gaga). She is singing “La Vie en Rose” complete with black stick on eyebrows at a local drag club where they let her take up the stage once a week. Jackson instantly falls in love with her voice, and with her jaw dropping performance. He tells Ally that she has something special. Their spark is undeniable.  Later that night, after a bust up at the bar (and a bag of frozen peas) Ally sings to Jackson one of her own songs and he becomes spellbound. Ally works in a deadbeat job at a restaurant ...
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HELLO THERE!

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  My name is Hannah, and I have a huge adoration for all things film and cinema. I am starting this new blog because I love movies to the point of obsession and I am hoping that if you are reading this, either now or in 10 years when I am shrivelled and grey (at 40), that you love the cinema too!! Movies just make me happy. Even the shittiest films, that have the lowest budgets…I love watching and anticipating how it will all turn out. When I sit in that theatre, start munching my popcorn and the lights go out -   I get goose bumps every time. Films bring us together; they offer solace from our own lives for a couple of hours, but they also give us hope, inspiration and make us cry, laugh and even THINK! I have varied taste when it comes to movies, I love everything for Donnie Darko to Dirty Dancing. I love an 80’s classic – Back to the Future and Ghostbusters are perfection in my eyes. I also shamelessly love Star Wars and the Marvel films (Guardians of the Galaxy is my...
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