Just before Christmas, me and my parents decided to finally start our free one month NOW TV Movie Pass, to coincide with us all being off for the Christmas break. And we decided to make it our mission to get the most out of it by watching at least one movie every second day. And that's exactly what we did.
There will be another What I've Been Watching blog post going live in February, which will showcase the TV shows that I've been watching so far in 2021.
But until then, here are the movies that we watched over the month, with brief reviews of each;
The Invisible Man ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I'm so happy to say that I started my NOW TV Movie Pass trial with what was easily the best movie that I saw in 2020. If you haven't seen The Invisible Man yet, I cannot urge you enough to hit play. It honestly blew my mind how good it was and how well done all the effects were. From the super tense first few minutes you are 100% in Cecilia's shoes and the twists and turns are brilliant. Seriously, just watch it as soon as you can!
The Hunt ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Without spoiling it for anyone who hasn't seen it yet. There are quite a few big names in the movie at the start. And you don't expect them to meet their end so quickly. Or at least I didn't anyway. It doesn't quite go as you would expect one of these 'the rich hunt the poor' style movies to go. And Betty Gilpin's Crystal is just a total bad ass!
Die Hard ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
For those of you who don't class Die Hard as a Christmas movie, you are seriously missing out come Christmastime joy each year. We watched this on Christmas Eve and it still holds up as an absolute classic til this day. I don't watch it every Christmas, like I do The Holiday or Home Alone. But it's just such a great movie.
Happiest Season ⭐⭐⭐⭐
When I saw the trailer for this I knew that I had to see it. So I was over the moon when I realised that it was on NOW TV over Christmas. There's a great cast, led by Kristen Stewart and I really enjoyed it. Even if there's no way that Abby and Harper should have stayed together by the end of it.
Jumanji: The Next Level ⭐⭐⭐⭐
I really enjoyed the first Jumanji remake. So I was happy to give the second in the series a watch when I spotted it on NOW TV. And I'm glad that I did. Having the original characters return but with the added bonus this time of Danny DeVito, Danny Glover and Awkwafina gave it a fresh twist and even more heart. I did not expect to get a little misty eyed at the end either.
Little Women ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
Despite studying English at University, I've never read Little Women but I was intrigued to see what I'd been missing out on. That was even if the episode of Friends where Joey is reading it had kind of spoiled quite a few of the plot points for me. The casting was excellent, even if Saul Goodman himself, aka. Bob Odenkirk, popping up was one hell of a surprise. And I felt myself feeling really inspired to potentially write that novel I've been dreaming about writing for years now, by the end of it.
Joker ⭐⭐⭐⭐
I didn't think anyone could even come close to Heath Ledger's portrayal of Joker but Joaquin Phoenix really does make the role his own in this. I wasn't expecting it to focus as much as it did on Arthur's mental health, isolation and the general state of a city like Gotham. But this made the movie for me and gave a dark insight into the back story of one of Batman's biggest foes.
Terminator: Dark Fate ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
Now I certainly wasn't expecting to love the latest instalment in the Terminator series as much as I did. But this is easily one of the best movies that they've released and I've watched all of them, even the terrible Salvation and Genisys. So much so that it felt like a close second to my absolute favourite in the franchise; T2. I mean, Arnie as a man who makes and fits drapes (curtains) should not have been that funny or made me smile as much as it did. The action, storyline and even most of the CGI was great as well.
IT Chapter 2 ⭐⭐⭐⭐
I was a big fan of the 2017 reimagining of IT (see my review here) but had been waiting impatiently until I could stream the second part without having to fork out for the movie itsefl. And that's exactly what happened in that strange period between Christmas and New Year for me. And I have to say, Chapter 2 was just as enjoyable and immersive as the first. They did so well at casting the adult versions of the Losers' Club. Bill Hader was a particularly inspired choice.
Escape Room ⭐⭐⭐⭐
I was pleasantly surprised by Escape Room and it definitely reminded me of the first few Saw movies in a few different ways. Plus the escape rooms themselves were really creative and engaging. This was on NOW TV when I watched it but it now seems to be on Netflix instead. So if you have Netflix, it's one to check out.
Last Christmas DNF
I'd heard a lot of mixed reviews but decided to give Last Christmas a go as it was Christmas. I got about 45 minutes in and had to give up. Nothing had really happened and the main character wasn't particularly likeable at all. Does it get any better or was I right to switch off?
Black Christmas ⭐⭐
I really enjoyed the original 1974 version and found the 2006 remake to be worth a watch too. But the 2019 version is just garbage! The murders themselves are pretty much PG-13, it tries too hard to be all about feminism and the fraternity stuff is just silly. You can honestly see the entire movie just by watching the trailer. Seriously, they put every single twist and reveal in it. And even the trailer is boring.
The King Of Staten Island ⭐⭐⭐⭐
I don't mind Pete Davidson. I liked him in Set It Up (see my review here). But I didn't really know anything else about him other than the fact that he was engaged to Ariana Grande and is on SNL. But this semi-autobiographical story was much more moving than I anticipated. There are some great funny one liners. But the story and Pete's character is much more than just your typical comedy. It actually has a lot of heart and because of that, you could definitely tell that Judd Apatow (director of Trainwreck, Knocked Up, etc.) had directed it.
Ratatouille ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
How I'd gotten until now and not seen Ratatouille is a mystery to me. If, like me, you haven't seen it yet and love a good Pixar movie, you need to get it watched ASAP. I loved the story, the setting and little Remy. So much so that even though we only watched it a few days before Christmas, I woke up on Christmas morning to my very own Remy toy from my Mum. I think it will take a few more watches for it to be up there with my favourites, the Toy Story movies. But it was just such a lovely film.
Pochahontas ⭐⭐⭐⭐
There are a handful of Disney classics on NOW TV, presumably there used to be more before Disney+. And I hadn't seen Pochahontas since I was little. I instantly remembered the songs and how adorable little Meeko, her racoon companion was. But I did have many questions watching it back as an adult. Like why is John Smith going back to England, however many weeks that took back then, when he'd just been shot?
So that's what I and we watched over the festive break.
We may or may not have extended our NOW TV Movie Pass as they sent us a deal before our month was up for 6 months at a reduced price. If we watch at least one brand new movie or classic that we would have bought anyway, it feels worth it to us.
It is a bit crazy how many streaming services we're signed up to as a household. I'm talking Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Sky TV, hayu and a year's free trial of Apple TV+. So that's something we may need to assess later in the year. But I guess when you're spending so much time at home, the TV and streaming platforms have been a bit of a saviour.
Have you seen any of the movies that we watched? If so, what did you think of them? And are you subscribed to too many streaming services as well?
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