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!
That’s right, its Friday which can only mean one thing. The Reel Deal has its top picks for what you lot need to watch this weekend. Its a right old melting pot of film goodness, kicking off with a boy racer, moving swiftly on to a man on the hunt for reality and ending up with Scarlett Johannson well, seducing men and doing all sorts of random creepy weirdness with them – not to be missed I promise!
And if that wasn’t enough, every Thursday The Reel Deal give you the run down of what is hot at the cinema box office, so if you want to see where your hard earned cinema going cash has been spent this week, then check out Amon Warrman’s latest rundown.
Thanks for all your support please do keep subscribing to The Reel Deal and follow us on Twitter
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!
Calling all film fans! Stuck for something to watch at the cinema this weekend? Well we’ve got a treat for you! We’ve teamed up with the fantastic @realfilmshow to bring you a brand spanking, fun piece of video content that will answer all your “what should I do at the weekend?” questions.
PLUS! We loved that we spotted presenter @rebecca_perfect wearing one of our featured fashion pieces from Avenue Boutique! Check it out!!!
So make sure you subscribe to what looks to be the hottest film fix for all of you fanatics out there!
We’ve got a special treat just for you our very own Film Critic Rebecca Perfect has started work on a fantastic new film show due out in February, its called The Reel and aims to bring you all the fun of film in one bite size chunk! In the meantime they’re giving you a weekly round up of what’s hot and what’s not at the cinemas every Friday.
We thought we’d share the first pilot episode with you… we hope you like it, caveated with a small amount of technical glitches which are being sorted for its next episode, its a small nugget of information about what to watch at the weekend and we here at Snoochie Boochies think it could be the start of a very good (and useful) thing.
After you’ve picked yourself up from your chair following the three plus hour rollercoaster ride of entertainment that is The Wolf of Wall Street, you’ll reflect (for hours, possibly even days) on what this film contained before coming to the inevitable conclusion that Di Caprio and Scorsese have a) the best bromance in Hollywood, and b) that The Wolf of Wall Street really is a modern day masterpiece.
Unbelievably, this is a true story and follows the rise and fall of Jordan Belfort a Long Island penny stockbroker who served 36 months in prison for defrauding investors in a massive 1990s securities scam that involved widespread corruption on Wall Street and in the corporate banking world, including shoe designer Steve Madden.
Now this all sounds like thrilling, serious stuff, and of course it is, but cleverly intertwined with this is the knowledge that Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his merry band of stockbroker men, lived the most zany, outlandish lifestyle that really does only exist in the movies until their time is up.
Martin Scorsese is back to his very best in this punchy screen sensation that reminds us of the great and the good films from the late 1980’s and early 90’s. It’s hard not to describe this as Goodfellas meets Wall Street where DiCaprio plays our modern day Gordon Gekko to perfection! Although The Wolf of Wall Street is not for the feint hearted (it contains lewd behavior, copious amounts of drug taking, full frontal nudity and enough swearing to send your granny to an early grave) you cannot help but love and laugh through every minute of it!
Proving he’s the most qualified and under awarded man in Hollywood history Leonardo DiCaprio pulls off another stellar performance as Jordan Belfort, from the wide eyed rookie stock broker taken under the wing of Rothschild Bank to the greedy owner of his own unorthodox company, we see a true transformation of character right before our eyes, that will have us laughing and crying at the same time, and secretly urging him to come out OK in the end.
Jonah Hill again is perfectly cast as Belforts’ sidekick Donnie Azoff, the ‘loveable douchebag’ who supports his colleague and mentor to the end (sort of) and is often happy to remain the brunt of the jokes and rakes in the rewards of living this lavish lifestyle laid out for him. Margot Robbie is a surprise as the trophy wife Naomi Lapaglia who dons a fantastic New York accent and bombshell look to not only bring Jordan Belfort to his knees in lust, but to also secure her place as Hollywood hot property.
The only downside to The Wolf of Wall Street is that there are some excellent cameos throughout that you just wish would have hung around longer. Jean DuJardin plays the shrewd and straight talking Swedish banker who appears in the latter part of the film, and is a world away from his silent Oscar winning star in The Artist. But the real master cameo performance is Matthew McConaughey as Belforts’ first boss Mark Hana. In only a fraction of screen time, he captures the essence of the craziness of life on Wall Street in the late 80’s and hooks Di Caprio’s impressionable character onto the biggest drug of all, money. Its outlandishness will have you howling in your seat with laughter and re-creating a certain ‘chest chant’ for days to come!
The Wolf of Wall Street may be sexist, brash, punchy and full of what was wrong with the world pre-crash, but you’ve got to admit once watching this film, that they had one hell of a ball in their work hard, play hard lifestyles. The costumes, the humour, the references and the brilliant acting all captures this era perfectly, and with this creates, as previously stated, a modern masterpiece, three hours promises to whizz by like three minutes and you’ll be grinning and laughing all the way home. This film really has set the bar for 2014.
So Snoochers, how many have you taken? I’m talking about selfies, come on now, don’t be shy we’ve all done it…those self-portraits taken on a mobile phone, which is then shared via social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter etc.
I’m not going to lie, selfies have happened in the weirdest of places, there was recently an article released about the rising population of people taking selfies at funerals! (Not cool people!) and popular personalities from Rihanna to Rosie H-W love taking pictures of themselves posing to model perfection, its even given way to the birth of new TV shows based around the Instagram lives of the rich and famous kids, who love to share pictures of themselves and their wealth!
Recent research by Superdrug of 2,000 women showed that half of all young women (18 to 24 years) admit to taking selfies, with one in ten admitting to taking them ‘all the time’, taking on average five minutes and 45 seconds to get the perfect “impromptu” shot.
62 per cent of the young women questioned said they used their selfie as their profile picture on social media. In the battle of the social media big three, Instagram is the top place for posting selfies with 30 per cent, 21 per cent post theirs on Facebook while 13 per cent use Twitter to publicise themselves.
If only they had selfies back in the day!
Now these are some interesting numbers, but get this…
While it takes on average five minutes and 45 seconds for young women to take the perfect photograph, it takes them a staggering 11 minutes before then to ensure their hair and makeup are perfect. But why is there all the fuss? Well, Superdrug’s Buying Director Simon Comins, may have the answer, he said: “The rise of mega pixel cameras on phones ensures that today’s young women want to look picture perfect and this means high definition makeup, flawless skin and artfully styled hair.”
So with this in mind, is it any wonder why we’ve seen a huge rise in the purchasing of make up to help us look “picture perfect” just for our very own selfie?!!
Superdrug reports sales of makeup primers have increased by 21 per cent so far in 2013. Other products highlighted as essential for selfies also on the rise including eyebrow pencils and volume boosting mascaras.
So whats the verdict?!
Well, these aren’t going to please everyone, some may say that the selfie is an arrogant, immature thing to do from people who want attention; whilst others may applaud it for giving people the confidence to step in front of the camera and feel beautiful enough to take a snap of themselves. Either way its proving to be big business particularly in the area of make up. So whether or not you decide a selfie is a perfect expression of how you’re feeling at that particular “moment in time” or not, remember…its all a bit of fun, right?
Did you know that the average consumer goes to the cinema three times in a year?! THATS CRAZY!!! There’s so much good stuff out there that you’ll want to watch three films in a day to get through them all.
So to get you all excited about all the good stuff hitting the cinema this winter, we thought we’d give you some exclusive first looks at some brand new trailers!! ENJOY!!!
ANCHORMAN 2: THE LEGEND CONTINUES
With the 70’s behind him, San Diego’s top rated newsman, Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell), returns to the news desk in “Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues.” Also back for more are Ron’s co- anchor and wife, Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate), weather man Brick Tamland (Steve Carell), man on the street Brian Fontana (Paul Rudd) and sports guy Champ Kind (David Koechner) – All of whom won’t make it easy to stay classy…while taking the nation’s first 24-hour news channel by storm.
Anchorman turns the world classy on 20th December.
JACKASS PRESENTS: BAD GRANDPA
86 year-old Irving Zisman is on a journey across America with the most unlikely companion, his 8 year-old Grandson Billy in “Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa”. This October, the signature Jackass character Irving Zisman (Johnny Knoxville) and Billy (Jackson Nicoll) will take movie audiences along for the most insane hidden camera road trip ever captured on camera.
Along the way Irving will introduce the young and impressionable Billy to people, places and situations that give new meaning to the term childrearing. The duo will encounter male strippers, disgruntled child beauty pageant contestants (and their equally disgruntled mothers), funeral home mourners, biker bar patrons and a whole lot of unsuspecting citizens.
Real people in unreal situations, making for one really messed up comedy.
Grandpa causes all sorts of havoc as of today!!!
THE BOOK THIEF
Based on the beloved international bestselling book, The Book Thief tells the story of Liesel, an extraordinary and courageous young girl sent to live with a foster family in World War II Germany. She learns to read with encouragement from her new family and Max, a Jewish refugee who they are hiding under the stairs. For Liesel and Max, the power of words and imagination become the only escape from the tumultuous events happening around them. The Book Thief is a life-affirming story of survival and of the resilience of the human spirit.
The Book Thief stars Academy Award winner Geoffrey Rush and Academy Award nominee Emily Watson and will be released in the UK on 31st January 2014.
Need to upgrade your sound system? Then if you’re into the latest gadgets look no further than this bad boy! OTONE Audio is set to invade the speaker dock market with the launch of its very first docking system, SoundShip Micro.
It all sounds seriously space age, this cheeky device is named the SoundShip Micro because of its compact, orbital, space-like design, which also features a unique ‘push and pop’ core that houses all of the devices connectivity ports and also acts as a stand – so its streamlined to perfection with no unsightly wires etc need to be seen.
If you’re also on the move, the SoundShip Micro can be used anywhere thanks to its handy rechargeable lithium ion battery, which provides up to 10 hours of portable playback. The speaker also comes with a handy carry case, giving it license to travel.
I bet you my phone doesn’t work with this…
…well, you’re betting on the wrong card if you think that! One of the things that we love is that connecting to the Soundship (we like that phrase! – it sounds pretty space age!) couldn’t be easier. The system boasts an array of functionalities, including Micro USB connectivity for Android, Bluetooth and an AUX line in, making it compatible with any device.
Considering it measures just 115x250x45mm in size, the compact portable speaker also provides impressively clean and crisp audio via its two 40mm full-range drivers, packing a punch with a combined audio output of 6 watts.
How much does it cost?
At £99.99 its a pretty good investment for the long term. With optimum sound clarity, and original design its pretty much in demand by anyone who likes a high end spec to not only their lifestyles but also their gadgets too.
The SoundShip Micro is the latest in a line of product launches for the brand, following the successful launch of the Sonora AV-Lance soundbar in May.
For a full list of system specifications and features check out its website www.otoneaudio.co.uk.
Mark Wahlberg is making some clever role choices this year, showing he’s versatile, engaging and exciting to watch… in 2 Guns he positions himself against the great Denzel Washington and proves to be a fantastic sparing partner full of quick wit, muscle and great comedic timing.
The film itself follows the two Hollywood heavyweights play a DEA agent and a naval intelligence officer who find themselves on the run after a botched attempt to infiltrate a drug cartel. While fleeing, they learn the secret of their shaky alliance: Neither knew that the other was an undercover agent.
Speaking of working with Denzel Washington, Wahlberg said at a recent press conference in London, “It’s just one of those things, it either works or it doesn’t. He was game, I was game; we had a great part and a great director in Baltasar, who knows me and how I like to work. I like to improvise a lot, and I like to constantly be throwing curveballs at people, and he was just up for it, so it kind of worked.”
We certainly see this working to a tee in the film, as well as a fantastic pre-credits opening scene where the fun friendly relationship is established between the two characters, we also learn that some of the quick quips that Wahlberg throws out during a ‘chicken shooting scene’ are actually improvised, which will have audiences rolling with laughter throughout.
What’s great about this film is most certainly the relationships. When actors work well together on set it comes across brilliantly on scene, this is very apparent here. Not only from Wahlberg and Washington but with Paula Patton as a supporting DEA agent and love interest, plus the superb Bill Paxton who plays Earl a ruthless CIA agent.
2 Guns remains fast paced and exciting throughout, it brings back sentiments of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, but unfortunately its nowhere near as memorable. Its certainly a film that you could go to the cinema, and enjoy with your friends, but in terms of a staple addition to your collection, we’re not so sure. Never the less, if you’re a Denzel, or a Mark Wahlberg fan, you wont be disappointed, for Denzel he steps away from the serious and brings his smooth talking ability to centre stage with great ease, and for Wahlberg we see another slightly off the wall sidekick character which shows that he’s got some serious acting chops as well as his muscle.
2 Guns shoots straight into cinemas on the 16th August.
Snoochie Boochies 