Max My Movies: July Round-Up!

Oh boy, July was a huge movie month for me! My husband went away for work, the school holidays were on and my Dad took Mr 9 for a few days, so I spent a lot of time drinking wine and watching films! Since I saw twenty (yes 20!) films, I'll go through them pretty quickly, because that many in-depth reviews is not fun for you or me! This will be Spoiler-Free, just in case you haven't seen them. Here's everything I saw, in the order I saw them!

1. CARS 3
To be honest, I thought the third installment in the 'Cars' franchise was a bit boring. We saw this in a double with 'Despicable Me 3', and even Mr 9 preferred the latter. The saving grace is the amped up racing action, as Lightning McQueen tries to get back into the game. But for me it was all a bit 'meh'.

2. DESPICABLE ME 3
This was the perfect school holiday movie and a film I think both kids and adults would enjoy. South Park's Trey Parker was perfect as the former 80's child star Balthazar Bratt, bringing nostalgic 80's hits with his scenes. I loved this movie! It was entertaining from start to finish, funny, and did I mention the brilliant 80's soundtrack?

3. HOW TO BE SINGLE
I cried during a movie that featured cock lollipops (lollicocks?), Rebel Wilson in a light-up dress and the phrase 'dicksand'. And it wasn't due to Dakota Johnson's shit acting. I'm being super-critical, this was actually better than I expected and I did laugh. Rebel Wilson fans should check it out for sure.

4. WHAT IF
What if your best friend is also the love of your life? I can't stress how much I adore movies where best friends fall in love! It's just so satisfying and romantic to watch. This rom-com is based on Toothpaste And Cigars (remind you of Coffee And Cigarettes?) and stars the growing-on-me Daniel Radcliffe and quirky Zoe Kazan. Recommended if you, too, enjoy this genre!

5. OZ THE GREAT AND POWERFUL
This has a magnificent cast including James Franco, Mila Kunis, Michelle Williams, Rachel Weisz and Zach Braff, and was captivating from start to finish. My nine year old also enjoyed it, and it's always good when you find something suitable for family viewing. My main memory of this movie is how beautiful it looked; the colours popped and nearly every scene was a stunning sight to behold.

6. FOCUS
I really enjoyed this con artist movie starring Will Smith and Australia's own Margot Robbie. It was exciting to watch, there was plenty happening and to be honest, it was amazing just to be able to watch a more adult movie (this isn't porn! I just mean it's not kid-friendly!) without the constant interruptions a nine year old son brings. Parents, you know what I mean.

7. CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS
I loaded this up on Netflix for my son and was only half watching whilst scrolling Instagram, so I can't give my full opinion. It was pretty standard and didn't blow my socks off, but Mr 9 liked it well enough.

8. CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS 2
Much the same as Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs, I was only watching this sequel in a half-arsed fashion, and had mainly put it on for my son. The main thing I was thinking throughout was 'I really need to think of some non-animated family-friendly films I can watch with Mr 9, as animated crap often gets on my tits lol.

9. WALK OF SHAME
I saw the trailer for this a while ago and all I can remember is it's the movie with the girl in the yellow dress. Now I was drunk for a lot of these movies, but for some reason I thought I was watching 'Obvious Child' (which is still on my Watch List) instead of the yellow dress film. Oops. This was mildly funny, although a bit of a one-trick pony. It didn't take me long to get sick of the 'worst day ever' scenario but thankfully Elizabeth Banks was nice to look at haha.

10. THE SKELETON TWINS
I'm a big fan of both Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader and am always drawn to dramatic character pieces, so this film had been on my radar for quite some time. 'The Skeleton Twins' is definitely heavy and hard to watch in parts; a big part of it is about suicide and it can get depressing, but interspersed throughout are touching and funny moments. This film is about mending a broken brother-sister relationship, and it's just beautiful. Bring tissues!

11. HORNS
So I watched another Daniel Radcliffe film! This film is really hard to describe. It's certainly strange and I had to look up what genre it is, because I couldn't even work it out. It's 'dark fantasy horror' apparently. Umm, I liked it, it's different, it definitely kept me enthralled and I appreciated the mystery 'whodunnit' aspect.

12. WE'RE THE MILLERS
I actually enjoyed this more than I expected, especially given the presence of Jennifer Aniston. It's a ridiculous comedy, but it has heart at the same time, in its own warped, crude way. If you want to escape with a mindless offensive comedy, this could be the one.

13. ME AND EARL AND THE DYING GIRL
Because this is a spoiler-free post, I can't say why I didn't like this movie, and it actually really annoyed me. If you're easily depressed, probably don't watch this alone, with a bottle of wine, while your partner is out of the country like I did. Unless you have a good comedy on hand for afterwards.

14. THE WOLF OF WALL STREET
I can't believe it has taken me this long to see my lover Leo DiCaprio in the impossible-to-miss-yet-I-still-did 'The Wolf Of Wall Street'. It's a three hour epic about real-life Stockbroker Jordan Belfort, brilliantly portrayed by DiCaprio, and his rise and fall amidst a shitload of drugs and sex. It's excessive, ridiculous, funny, captivating and above-all, entertaining as fuck. Recommended!

15. WISHFUL THINKING
I only watched this because I'm a huge Drew Barrymore fan, and I didn't have high hopes. But still. Even with vintage Drew, this film is awful. I really dislike James Le Gros. Jennifer Beals haircut in this is the stuff of nightmares. And I'm pretty sure Drew Barrymore is just playing herself. Down to the daisy accessories and smoking Marlboro Reds, which she did at the time. Ugh.

16. BEE MOVIE
Both my son and I had seen this before, but he wanted to watch it again. And who can blame him! Jerry Seinfeld voices the main character, Barry the Bee, and part-wrote the screenplay, so it at least brings the laughs. Animated kids movies are one of my least favourite movie genres, but Bee Movie is great and I'd recommend it. It reminds me of 'Antz' and 'A Bug's Life', a couple of other kid-friendly hilarious animated films about the insect world.

17. THE OTHER GUYS
How do I say this without seeming like a bad parent? My son loves this movie. We've watched it together a few times, along with 'Dodgeball' (I make him look away at the bad bits). Yes, I've bred me a little Will Ferrell fan! This film is hilarious, and Mark Wahlberg and Will Ferrell together are gold. Their other film, 'Daddy's Home' is also great, but not as cool as 'The Other Guys'.

18. BEWITCHED
Obviously I love me some Will Ferrell, but not even his comedic genius (shut up, I'm a fan) can save this stinker. I watched the original Bewitched TV series when I was a kid, so I was interested in this despite knowing about the bad reviews. Really, the only good thing about it was that it was mild AF, so it was something non-animated that Mr 9 and I could watch together. Oh and Steve Carell as Uncle Arthur. Nailed it! I wish I could wriggle my nose like Samantha and make this hot mess disappear.

19. DRIVE
I love an intense Ryan Gosling action-drama, and this film really revved my engine (sorry). It's a bit of a slow burner, but it kept me interested the whole time and was suitably serious and moody, just like Ryan Gosling. Be warned though, the violence in this is brutal, so if you cringe at blood and gore, this may not be your cup of tea.

20. THE BOSS
I will always give Melissa McCarthy the benefit of the doubt, but let's face it, this is not her finest work. The Boss is just not very funny. Such a shame because I'm a huge fan and I love Kristen Bell, too. I don't think this has much going for it, so I'll just say I like how Director and McCarthy's real-life husband Ben Falcone has little cameos in her films, and I always look out for them.