Movie | The Internship

The Internship
Distributed By: 20th Century Fox
Released On: June 7, 2013 (USA)
DVD Release: October 22, 2013 (USA)
Rated: 12
Genre: Comedy
Format: TV
Rating: 4.5

Billy (Vince Vaughn) and Nick (Owen Wilson) are salesmen whose careers have been torpedoed by the digital world. Trying to prove they are not obsolete, they defy the odds by talking their way into a coveted internship at Google, along with a battalion of brilliant college students. But, gaining entrance to this utopia is only half the battle. Now they must compete with a group of the nation's most elite, tech-savvy geniuses to prove that necessity really is the mother of re-invention.

After the company they work for is shut down, two salesmen with very few skills apply for an internship with Google. Due to their unusual interview answers, and for the sake of diversity, the two are somehow accepted for the internship despite their lack of experience or skills.

I hate to admit that I could not get into this at first. I don’t know if I just found the start to be a bit slow or if I just didn’t find the initial plot aspects interesting, but it wasn’t until they reached the Google headquarters that I began to enjoy it. Even then, I don’t think I really loved the film until the second task.

The main characters annoyed me to begin with. This may be the reason I didn’t enjoy the start of the movie. I found the two main characters, Billy and Nick, really annoying until around the second team task. After they had taken on the almost fatherly role, I really began to like them.

I really enjoyed the humour in this film. As a comedy, you obviously expect this film to be funny. I loved the fact that this was not in your face comedy but a subtle, more realistic comedy.

I loved the team. I completely fell in love with the team of rejects as soon as the characters were introduced. They were all dismissed by the rest of the interns but their coming together as a team, though initially unwillingly, showed them as a genuinely nice and very intelligent group of people. I am also a little bit in love with Dylan O’Brien after watching this film. Well maybe more than a little bit.

Overall, I really liked this movie. Although I struggled through the beginning, it was completely worth it for the rest of the movie. It was one of those movies that left me grinning and gave me that warm, fuzzy feeling long after it was finished. In fact, as soon as it finished I wanted to watch it again.

Movie | Our Idiot Brother

Our Idiot Brother
Distributed By: The Weinstiein Company
Released On: August 26, 2011 (USA)
DVD Release: November 29, 2011 (USA)
Rated: 12
Genre: Comedy
Format: TV
Rating: 1

After his early release from jail after supplying a police officer with cannabis, Ned (Rudd) is dumped by his girlfriend and denied custody of his dog, Willie Nelson. With nowhere to go, Ned arrives on his sister's doorstep. He then spends his time moving between the homes of his three sisters and although at first they are weary of having their pot-smoking hippie brother living with them they grow to love his eternally positive and honest manner.


After a brief stint in prison for selling drugs to a uniformed police officer, Ned is forced to move back home to his family – his mother and three sisters – after being thrown out by his girlfriend, who will not let him take his dog. With nowhere else to go, he invades his sister’s lives leaving a trail of destruction behind him.

I now understand why I had not heard of this movie. I was surprised, given the cast, that I had not heard anything about this movie. I now wish I still had not heard anything about this movie.

I was expecting so much better from this cast. With the likes of Paul Rudd, Elizabeth Banks and Zooey Deschanel, I was expecting at least good things. I was so disappointed. Their fantastic acting skills, which were still up to par, were completely wasted on this film.

I didn’t even like the plot. From the description, this could have been a good plot. Again, I was disappointed. Surely no normal grown man is as stupid as Ned. Some of the things he does were just ridiculous. I was also quite annoyed by the importance of the dog to the story. I love dogs but there was no need for that aspect of the plot, it just added to the stupidity in my opinion.

Overall, I did not like this movie. The plot underwhelmed me and the whole movie was just annoying to me. The only positive thing I can say about this was the acting. The cast were great but I feel like this movie was a waste of their talents.

Movie | Grown Ups 2

Grown Ups 2
Sequel To: Grown Ups
Distributed By: Columbia Pictures
Released On: July 12, 2013 (USA)
DVD Release: November 5, 2013 (USA)
Rated: 12
Genre: Comedy
Format: TV
Rating: 3

After moving his family back to his hometown to be with his friends and their kids, Lenny finds out that between old bullies, new bullies, schizo bus drivers, drunk cops on skis, and 400 costumed party crashers sometimes crazy follows you.


The sequel to 2010’s Grown Ups follows four childhood friends – Lenny, Eric, Kurt and Marcus – three years after their eventful trip to the lake house. In this time, Lenny has quit his job and moved his family back to his hometown to be with his best friends. Summer is just around the corner and the four friends plan to make it just like the old days, with bizarre consequences.

The start of this movie is ridiculous. A deer appears in the bedroom without anyone knowing. I don’t know about you but all I would expect from leaving your front door lying open during the night is a whole lot of things missing. I really can’t get my head around this beginning at all.

You cannot take this movie seriously. There is almost nothing realistic in this movie. If you were to try and take it seriously, you would completely hate it. However, I found the majority of the unrealistic situations to be so bizarre they became funny. The whole thing was ridiculous but it somehow worked, to some extent.

I liked that the children had more of a story in this movie. The first movie was very focused on the “adults”, with their children providing additional jokes. I found that this movie involved the children a lot more and I thought it added to the family comes first message of the film.

Taylor Lautner as a frat boy is just cringey. I mean this in the best possible way. His character is so arrogant and stupid that I couldn’t help but cringe during every scene he was in. For some reason, I found this hilarious and ended up loving his character for that reason alone.

Overall, I did actually like this movie. I was expecting awful things and it was a lot better than I expected. However, it was quite stupid and unrealistic. Although these aspects mostly made it funny, some were just too much and ruined the film a bit for me.

Book | Friends Forever by Danielle Steele

Friends Forever by Danielle Steele
Published By: Bantam Press
Published On: July 1, 2012
Genre: Contemporary
Pages: 380
Format: Paperback
Rating: 4

Five children meet on their first day of school, one bright September morning. Drawn by that magical spark of connection that happens to the young, Gabby, Billy, Izzie, Andy and Sean - each bursting with their own personality, all with strikingly different looks and diverse talents - soon become an inseparable group, known to everyone else as the Big Five. As they grow up, their seemingly perfect lives are altered by families falling apart, unfortunate mistakes, and losses and victories great and small. Throughout their adolescence, the five are able to turn back to their trusted group to regain their footing and steady their course. But as they emerge from school, their futures seem neither safe nor clear. As their lives separate, the challenges and risks they face become greater, the losses sharper, and it becomes much harder to know the right path to choose. But despite life's ups and downs, together they are able to face up to challenges with the help of the important bonds forged all those years ago. And the five realise just how lucky they are to treasure valuable friendships that last a lifetime.

Friends Forever follows five best friends – Billy, Sean, Gabby, Izzie and Andy – who met on their first day of school. As the Big Five grow up, they are each faced with the struggles and trials life throws at them and must learn to support each other as they continue through their journey in life.

Heart-warming story of love and friendship this is not. More like a heart-breaking story of tragedy and loss. This book broke my heart and had me in tears on more than one occasion. This is not the book to read if you are looking for a ‘pick-me-up’ kind of story.

This book was so confusing to begin with. There are a lot of characters in this book and the majority of the main characters are introduced in the first chapter. As you can imagine, this was very confusing. It took me about four or five chapters before I could keep track of every character and remember their storyline but after that it was fine.

It is predictable yet shocking all at once. Within the first few chapters I had guessed a lot of the big events but I really did not mind, I just thought it was going to be an easy read. However, when the main events began to happen, it was not at all as I had expected. Despite having predicted what was going to happen, I was in shock every time those things did happen. I am struggling to explain it; I think it is something you need to read the book to understand.

I loved the characters. I loved all of the Big Five, as well as their siblings, parents (well maybe not Larry) and everyone else in their lives. I love the bond between the Big Five, the family bonds, even the bonds between the friends and parents. Everything about the characters was just great.

Overall, I really liked this book. I picked it up expecting it to be something completely different and I did not expect to like it. However, I was very pleasantly surprised, despite the confusing start, and would highly recommend this book.

Book | In Stitches by Dr Nick Edwards

In Stitches by Dr Nick Edwards
Published By: The Friday Project
Published On: June 12, 2009
Genre: Memoir, Comedy
Pages: 275
Format: eBook
Rating: 3

Dr Nick Edwards is an Accident and Emergency (A&E) doctor working in the UK and a passionate believer in the NHS. However the reforms, political correctness and the Anglo-Saxon culture of binge drinking and fighting and the resulting A&E visits are a strain on his sanity. So to keep up his morale, he began writing down his feelings - a form of literary cathartic therapy - the results of which make up this book.
So join Dr Nick Edwards as he describes the frustrations and joys of working in the NHS. The traumas and tragedies, the patients and colleagues and most of all the successes and humour that make up life at the frontline of medical care.

Nick Edwards, an A&E (Accident & Emergency) doctor with very strong opinions about the NHS, shares both rants and anecdotes in his book documenting some of his experiences within the fast paced world of A&E.

Again, I love the insight into a career I could never have. I made this point in my review of Further Confessions of a GP. I am fascinated with the medical profession. I watch countless medical TV shows but, of course, the majority are fictional and don’t give a very accurate insight. Books like this, however, document the highs and lows of this profession through real situations.

I love the anecdotes and patient interactions. My favourite parts of books like this are the stories of patients that the doctor has come into contact with. This book contains some heart warming anecdotes along with the funny ones and a few sad stories thrown in as well.

I now see A&E in a different light. Never again will I set off for A&E before being sure I have either an accident or an emergency. Never again will I complain at how long I have waited to be seen. Never again will I be annoyed if a member of staff is grumpy or tired. I have gained much more respect for the A&E staff through reading this book.

There is just too much ranting. It is mentioned at the start of the book that the he is only writing when he has something to say, and most of those times it is because he is angry. For that reason, I was expecting some moaning throughout the book. However, I was not prepared for a political rant, or just any kind of complaint, almost every chapter. It was beginning to get repetitive and quite annoying.

Overall, I thought this was an average book. I enjoy this type of book but have definitely read better. I would recommend this book if you would like an insight into the trials of working in A&E, but only if you like a lot of political ranting.

Book | Reached by Ally Condie

Reached by Ally Condie
Series: Matched #3
Published By: Penguin
Published On: November 30, 2012
Genre: Dystopian, Romance
Pages: 532
Format: eBook
Rating: 4

After leaving Society to desperately seek The Rising, and each other, Cassia and Ky have found what they were looking for, but at the cost of losing each other yet again. Cassia is assigned undercover in Central city, Ky outside the borders, an airship pilot with Indie. Xander is a medic, with a secret. All too soon, everything shifts again.

Ally Condie’s Matched trilogy comes to a conclusion in the third book of the series, Reached. In Matched we see Cassia matched with both Xander and Ky. In Crossed we follow Cassia’s adventures in her search for Ky and the Rising. Crossed follows the journey of the Rising as they attempt to destroy the Society. After a plague has been introduced into the Society, it is up to the Rising, the only people with a cure, to step in and take over. However, things don’t quite go according to plan.

In general, I really liked this book. I love the details about the Society and the way these people are living. I love the history of both the Rising and the Society itself. These details are what make you realise that a society like that could exist in the future.

I feel for all the characters. I feel the pain and emotion of every one of the characters in Reached. I love all three of the main characters – Cassia, Ky and Xander – and I really enjoyed the introduction of some new characters in Reached, such as Lei, Anna and Oker. Unlike in the second instalment, Crossed, these new additions were developed more, as were those who had been introduced in Crossed, and added to the book. I also have to add, I love Bram!

I loved having the story told from Xander’s point of view. This was always something that I felt had been missing from the first two books so I was so glad to see Xander finally had a voice. I felt that it really added to the story to see things from his point of view as well as Cassia’s and Ky’s.

While much of the medical talk both confused and bored me slightly, the development of the Plague and the problems that arose in regards to it were quite interesting to read. These problems also meant that the story was not at all slow. In fact, I began to wonder what was happening as what appeared to be the main event of the book began very early on.

I was glad to see a lot of the lose ends were tied up in this book. Things that had previously seemed irrelevant in the first two books were proven to be essential to the story. The one disappointment for me, however, was the ending. While most questions had been answered and it appeared as though the ending would round off the trilogy nicely, the ending was abrupt and a little unclear, as if leaving opportunity for another book.

I did thoroughly enjoy Reached, and the trilogy as a whole, but do feel as though the last chapter of the book was missing, as if it needed just that little bit more. However, the last instalment of the trilogy did do a generally good job of answering the questions and ending things relatively nicely.

Book | Pop Tart by Kira Coplin & Julianne Kaye

Pop Tart by Kira Colpin & Julianne Kaye
Published By: Avon
Published On: June 5, 2009
Genre: Contemporary
Pages: 397
Format: eBook
Rating: 3

An eager, aspiring make-up artist, Jackie O'Reilly has always dreamed of a high-profile Hollywood career—and now fate has made her fantasy a glittering reality. Filling in at the last minute for her boss, Jackie finds herself working with America's newest sweetheart—wild and glamorous Brooke Parker, who's on the brink of superstardom.
Jackie's right where she's always wanted to be: in the entourage of an "it-girl," a globe-trotting world of private jets, long white limos and all-night parties. Brooke is fun and real, but also impetuous and unpredictable. And when the pop princess begins to unravel, Jackie will have to decide where her true loyalties lie—or become a victim of the unrelenting chaos of the twenty-four-hour media circus.
A blistering, dazzling, and authentic novel written by two knowledgeable Hollywood insiders, Pop Tart is a high-speed roller-coaster ride through the treacherous playland of pop culture stardom.

Kira Coplin and Julianne Kaye’s novel Pop Tart is the story of an aspiring makeup artist, Jackie O’Reilly, who befriends a rising young pop star, Brooke Parker, after a one off job as her makeup artist. The story follows Jackie and Brooke through the highs and lows of their new found fame and the love, heartache, friendships and fallouts that come along with it.

Although on the surface this appears to be nothing more than a story of a newly famous pop star and her tag-a-long makeup artist discovering the problems of the paparazzi, beneath the superficial Hollywood story are some real life lessons and relatable circumstances.  It was those life lessons, and the way they were so seamlessly slipped into the story, that made me like this book.

It terms of the story, I have read better. It was very repetitive and I felt as though I was simply reading about party after party, concert after concert, boy after boy. However, the characters were, for me, what made the story. The relationship between Jackie and Brooke, although at times slightly strange, was heart warming. The way their relationship was written made me genuinely feel for both characters through the good and bad.

I was not greatly impressed by the way the romantic relationships were portrayed throughout the book. While Brooke and Jesse’s breakup should have been, I feel, a hard-hitting, emotional moment, I was rather unaffected by it. I did not feel that their relationship had been explored and built up enough before being torn down.

Another disappointment was the ending. I felt as though the story was leading to a great climax but instead seemed to build up before fizzling out. It seemed as though parts of the story and relationships between characters were not so much tied up neatly but rather came to a confusing, abrupt and messy end.

Overall, I was not a huge fan of the basic story of the book but the characters, life lessons and relatable circumstances made it an enjoyable read. It was more of an easy, beach read than anything else so I would recommend it if you are not looking for anything too complex or hard to follow.

(PS Another old review, new ones coming soon!)