Hey Snoochers, so its been a little while, and we’re sorry for our absence but as you may have seen on Twitter we’ve been working super hard to set up our sister site The Reel Deal.
Now we are back! And kicking off a brand new load of fun lifestyle content just for you with our very first review for the brand new refurbished Travelodge Hotels. We sent Becks to the heart of Theatreland in London to spend a night at the Covent Garden hotel to see what its got to offer… and she even did this very kind video review just for us!
So we hope you’ve got a good idea of what its like to stay in one of these very convenient and affordable hotels (rooms start from £29, our recommendation is that you sort out your booking online). To be fair, you’re going to spend most of your time outside of the hotel, exploring the great cities they’re based in, so why pay through the roof for a bed!
Its that time of the week where we say a huge bonsoir, bienvenue, and welcome to the weekend! What better way to spend it than down your local multiplex, so make sure you check out our friends at The Reel Deal as they give you the run down of what’s hot to trot at the cinema this weekend!
If you’re keen on seeing more content from this lovely love (and if you love films we thoroughly suggest you do!) Then make sure you subscribe to The Reel Deal film channel, where you can get other content like this!
There’s lots of exciting stuff coming from The Reel Deal in the next few weeks, so make sure you stay tuned and follow them on Twitter!
Its not only the government who are trying to get kids more green fingered, we’re all thinking about exciting ways to get the youngest of the younger generation excited about their own little green patch. The lovely people at Suttons Seeds have come up with an engaging and light hearted way to get children super excited to put down the playstation and explore their back garden (when the weather gets better of course!)
With more school gardening clubs popping up in and around the country, kids gardening kits could mean big business, and if we help inspire a new mini Titchmarsh then thats not such a bad things…. or is it? Well anyway, lets make gardening cool from the youngest to the oldest member of your family. Give them one of these and get everyone excited about our great British summer ahead. What are you waiting for?
Film Fans, and movie maniacs you need to head to your local cinema this weekend to see the hottest films around. If you’re after Tom Hiddleston as a blood thirsty vampire, or Shia laBeouf wearing far less than a paper bag, well its all here in one bite size package just for you and courtesy of our friends at The Reel Deal.
So watch our resident film critic take you through whats hot on the big screen this week. Its a corker!
Did you have a New Year’s resolution? Going to hit the gym three times a week and bust that gut? Cut back on the booze and un-pickle your liver? You tried hard too didn’t you, but by about mid-January, well…
Don’t beat yourself up though. It can be tough to make big changes to your life, and sometimes making a small change can be more sustainable and have a surprisingly big impact. That’s the idea behind Plan UK’s new campaign Give Up To Give Back.
If you don’t know about them, Plan UK is a global charity that works around the world to help improve the lives of some of the most disadvantaged children. We’re talking about kids who have no access to clean drinking water, no schools, no hospitals and those affected by disasters like the recent typhoon in the Philippines. Plan UK get their hands dirty at the ground level to provide resources, help train and educate people and build vital infrastructure to improve entire communities.
Most people want to give to charity, but somehow the financial aspect of a monthly donation seems a bit scary in this day and age, so they’ll flick a few coins in a collection bucket and leave it at that. But what if by giving up something for a renewed New Year’s resolution, something small, something that would help improve your life, you then gave that money back as a child sponsor? Not only would you see your belly shrink a bit, but you could help someone who really, really needs it.
Need an idea? Then have a look at this infographic from Plan UK, and you can see how something small and seemingly inconsequential can have a meaningful effect:
See. You don’t have to go all-or-nothing to make a difference. Would you really notice one less pint on a Saturday night? Not there and then, but over the course of a month you’ll feel better for it and that money will have a monumental effect on a child’s life. What’s even better is that when you sponsor a child the money doesn’t just go to helping them, a further 55 kids will benefit directly from your money.
So don’t sweep your broken New Year’s resolutions under the rug. Instead of going large, go small and #GiveUp2GiveBack.
You can find out more about the campaign and sign up here http://ow.ly/tdt2h
Get up, get out of your seat and move to a slightly more comfy one laced with red velvet and beautifully moulded bum imprints. Yep you guessed it, its one of the cheapest and historically romantic places to go on a date. Watch out though, the back row may be a little full!
On Valentines day the cream of the romantic movie crop hits cinemas and 2014 is no exception. Today of all days has some movie lovers magic just for you, whether you’re up with a dynamic dance film (well sort of) or lonely and needing some solace in future technology, or just after some good nostalgic fun then we can guarantee there there are some top choices ready and waiting for you!
So why not check out @thereelfilmshow and their latest picks of the top films to hit the cinemas this weekend, hosted by our very own resident film critic @rebecca_perfect
If you’ve heard of the brand Holler Watches you’ll know that Mike Tysons face dominates some of the its clever marketing campaigns, with his distinct facial tattoos you know expect that this brand of stylish, hip hop inspired watches will pack a punch too.
When invited to meet the founder and owner Darren McCormick we half expected to be meeting Tyson times two, and were slightly intimidated by the thought. However, we couldn’t be more wrong. Who we ended up sitting opposite at the table was a very unassuming, softly spoken, clever man with a slightly northern twang, how refreshing!
Darren is a man who is passionate about music, loves fashion and heads up a very impressive business that helped launch the hugely popular Pandora jewellery brand in the UK. He has since been watching the rise and rise of its popularity whilst quietly working on new concepts and ideas and 2014 is now the time for him to be getting back on the promotion wagon with the two next ventures which he believes will be the next big things. First we have the aforementioned Holler Watches. A cool, young brand, impactful and stylish, to be worn as a statement piece with stars galore backing it up for endorsements. Its even opened up an opportunity for bright, young, beautiful things to become a ‘Holler Girl’ (in Belgium! – but maybe here soon too!)
Quite different is Nikki Lissoni, a softer, more elegant brand, something that has a much more subtle and worn by the likes of Nicole Scherzinger and the Made in Chelsea lot. Both aiming to be hugely successful in their own right, its clear that Darren McCormick knows how to find a diamond in the rough idea and make it a money spinner.
I love the idea of Holler tell me more!
Well it’s a unique lifestyle brand which brings together a compilation of northern soul inspired designs and something very unique for the UK marketplace. Holler isn’t just about watches, its about caps, t-shirts, and sunglasses – we like to think of it as being one of those slices of American pie, bringing the bling from across the pond and one day becoming just as popular as those developed by leading music artists in the US.
The idea behind Hollar is that you buy into it as a whole, which is a great concept and it is quite easy to see by its unique designs and funky colouring why it could very easily become the next big trend in watches and fashion, so watch this space.
Nikki Lissoni sounds more up my street…
Well if Holler was born out of his passion for music and fashion, then Nikki Lissoni could be set to follow in the footsteps of Pandora and become the next female fad. The European fashion capitals saw this gorgeous collection of medallion based jewellery, which combines a mystical backstory with contemporary design and took to it like a duck to water, hailing it as ‘revamped retro’ and perhaps the next big trend to follow on from Pandora.
Bottom line is that both these brands are set to make big business in 2014 both in the UK and abroad, so if you’re looking to give something very special to a loved one this Valentines day, then get ahead of the trends and say it with a piece of jewellery.
You can find out more information on both the Holler and Nikki Lissoni brands here.
Well it truly is Oscar season and if you haven’t had it yet then Oscar fever will well and take hold in only a matter of days. The frontrunner (in our view) in the acting categories (Best Actor/Best Supporting Actor) has to be Dallas Buyers Club. With Golden Globes well under their belts, Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto set to storm the big kahuna and walk away with a couple of Oscar shaped statues.
So in light of all this awards commotion, we headed to meet the men themselves for the press conference last week. Now if you were expecting any Wolf of Wall Street chest beating antics, then we’re sorry to disappoint. Apart from Jared Leto praising Mr McConaughey and giving his own mini monologue about the tribal chest tappings, the focus was very much on Dallas Buyers Club and its incredible journey over many years to the silver screen.
Dallas Buyers Club is the story of Ron Woodruff. A man from Texas living a simple life as an electrician. He likes, women, drugs, drink and rodeos. That is what his life mainly revolves around. The turning point comes after a work accident where he ends up in hospital and finds out that he is HIV positive (which at the time had a huge stigma with homosexuality) and only 30 days to live. This story follows his battle to use any means possible to stay alive and it is fascinating.
Apart from the incredible dedication to the character where McCanaughey had lost an amazing 47lbs to play the part. Without his determination and sheer Texan will power this film would never have been made. The script for Dallas Buyers club has been passed from actor to actor and essentially lay dormant for around fifteen years until now. Even days before shooting McCanaughey must have used his rom-com charm and Magic Mike moves to get this production going because it very nearly halted with location and timing delays. Never the less, his star power prevailed and the set was up and running on time with immense focus from all the cast and crew in what seemed to be a very short space of time. The end result, well lets just say that boy was this film worth the wait.
The performances in Dallas Buyers Club are jaw-droppingly powerful. McCanaughey seizes the screen with his alpha male attitude and ego which out sizes his scrawny frame. We see his journey from “macho” Teaxan, to outright denial of his situation, to a new position of power as he not only tries an innovative way to help himself but other sufferers as well. This is a very different performance to all the other Oscar nominees but it’s a brave performance which is very giving and totally absorbing, you end up fighting for Ron as much as he is, willing him to have that fairy tale ending where all is well, and are constantly on edge throughout pushing away the tears. Really powerful stuff.
We also see Jared Leto provide the counter balance as Rayon. The drag queen who’s vulnerability and desperation to live rather than die at the end pulls strongly on audience members heart strings. This subject topic is about desperation and will to survive, and the highly quoted line from Rayon of “a girls gotta do, what a girls gotta do” speaks volumes to this. Leto’s transformation is equally as impressive if not as shocking. He managed to get kudos from the gay community on his performance and managed to win the role by chatting up the director via skype! Even though he hasn’t seen the film, its easy to say that you can’t help but love Rayon and the way that he plays the character is with such a natural charisma that you can’t help but think he’s done this before!
Finally in the supporting role as a sympathetic doctor (Eve), Jennifer Garner also helps us understand another side to this ongoing battle against HIV. The inner hospital politics are very much the same today as they were in the 1980’s and although drug advancements have happened, there are still the same old problems of getting certain medicines to market.
Overall this film is another important watch, which is why it has been heralded throughout the award season. It is a talking point, a simply made movie with great characters, with a lot of thought, heart and fact which have been too controversial to put on to screen in previous outtings, its honest and insightful and we should all be glad that it has been made as it really does open your eyes to this disease and the stigma attached to it.
Well acted, well shot and engaging to watch. Definitely something to catch at the cinema when you can.
So Valentines Day is (unbelievably) just around the corner, but do you know how much love costs? If you’re J-Lo, obviously love don’t cost a thing…. but there are varying differences for the average ladi-dah, so our friends at Prezzybox developed this fantastic run down of just how much love costs, so enjoy!
Yes film fans, its that time of the week (as in the end of the week – yippee!) And we have the best way of celebrating. Our great friends at The Reel Film Show have a bite sized nugget of information for you called Gone in 60 Seconds (presented by our very own film critic Rebecca Perfect!)
It brings you the big releases that are being released every week and gives you a quick indication of whats hot at the cinema so you can make your mind up on what to watch over the weekend!
This week there’s something in it for everyone, boys, girls, cyclists!!! So make sure you tune in and subscribe to their ace You Tube channel which is officially launching in the next two months. So beat the crowd and be part of a film going revolution!
Snoochie Boochies 