"Password" "Fart noise" - Pitch Perfect 2

Halloooo!

Movietime Mondaaaaayyyy. And what movie is more perfect to discuss on this lovely Monday than Pitch Perfect 2? I couldn't see it on opening weekend, but believe me, if I could've I would've. This movie also made me, once again, envy the people that are natural singers. It makes me really wonder what my talent is... But enough of that. On to discussing the movie!

Pitch Perfect 2

**this blog post contains spoilers**

2015
Director: Elizabeth Banks
Cast: Anna Kendrick, Brittany Snow, Elizabeth Banks, Anna Kamp, Skylar Astin, Hailee Steinfeld, Rebel Wilson,...
Lenght: 115min = 1h 55min
Genre: Comedy, music

I have to admit, my first reaction wasn't: "Waaaauw! Better than the first one!" Although that is the opinion of the majority who've seen the movie. Music, acting, singing, humor, directing, etc. everything was on point, but the storyline was a bit 'meh'.

You're meeting Beca and the other Bella's in their senior year, three years after Pitch Perfect. The Bella's are doing great and they get to perform for president Obama. But, as faith wants it, something goes terribly wrong and the Bella's lose their status to the European accapella group Das Sound Machine. In order to reinstate themselve, the Bella's have to win the World Championships.

Now, that's a straight forward plotline. But then you have all these different side storylines. Beca's internship, Fat Amy/ Bumper, love story between newbie Emily and Benji, a random riff off at a random dude's house,... I mean, where did the dude came from? Just an excuse to insert a riff off? I don't know. And I think Beca's storyline deserved a bit more attention. In Pitch Perfect the main character was Beca. It was obvious that we followed her on her journey through freshmen year, her dealing with letting her guard down, etc. In Pitch Perfect 2 it's a bit of mix. We see Beca struggling with trying to figure out what'll happen after college, which I think is an amazing move, but they could've done a bit more with it. We have newbie Emily who tries to fit in, Chloe who finally decide to graduate, a Colombian girl who is the comic relief, a German acapella group, etc. All these storylines and characters make it a bit difficult to keep your head above water at times. I didn't get the feeling we got as much character development as in the first one. Enfin, just give Anna Kendrick more screen time alright? x) Oh, and Aubrey appears half way the movie by the way.

One initiny thing that really annoyed me whilst watching the movie were the fake eyelashes! Every single one of the female cast was wearing fake eyelashes... Ugh.

I'd say Elizabeth Banks did a tremendous job as director. We get to see a couple of shots you wouldn't expect in a movie like Pitch Perfect. For example: a collage of pictures on the screen, slow motion shots of people walking, at one point Brittany Snow is holding the camera,... Sometimes you get the feeling you're just watching a documentary or recap from the festival. It's refreshing :)

Then, let's talk music. I've heard and read that quite a few human beings think there is too much music. Wait, whut!? Seriously? It's a movie about music. What did you expect? 2 songs? As long you're not hitting Les Misérables music levels, I'd say you're good. In the first movie the complaints were that the riff off was too short and the Treblemakers won out of the blue. And in this one the riff off is too long. 'Surely you don't have to see every group eliminated?' Make up your minds folks. But, the songs and performances are on goosebump levels, so you are in for a treat!^^

I'm not going to lie, I'm a bit disappointed that we didn't get to see as much of Jesse as in the first movie. But I do absolutely love the fact that they didn't focus the story on Beca's and Jesse's relationship. It would have been too easy to make up some 'treble in paradise' (hehe) and then have them getting back to getter by the end of the movie. But that's probably why they wrote in the Fat Amy/Bumper and Emily/Benji storyline. Fair enough.

Oh, just a warning for those who really really really liked the first movie. The tiny college vibe you got from Pitch Perfect is nowhere to be found in Pitch Perfect 2.

Then, as per usual, here are the trailers and some videos :)

Trailer

Clips
Most embarrassing moments

Beatboxing with Pitch Perfect 2

So, here you have it :) I hope you're tempted to go see the movie now as well. Although you can probably wait till it's out on DVD or available on Sky or Netflix.

Oh yeah, one last thing. I think is an important question to ask: Will there be a Pitch Perfect 3? Let me know what you think :)

Thanks for reading!!!
xo - Sara

58hours in Belgium

Hallooooo!!

I hope you are all very well and are enjoying the bank holiday! That is if you are having a day off tomorrow of course. If not, Happy Sunday!!

Last weekend I went back home to see friends and family. I didn't film or take that many pictures, so my apologies in advance for the lack of pictures on the blog post. To be fair, I was too busy catching up with everything that is going on in Belgium and I just didn't think about picking up my camera...

Anyways, here's a short recap from my busy weekend on European mainland.

A 16h day.
Saturday was insane. It was the only day I could see friends and family so I had to make the most of it. The day started at 8am to be on the road to Bruge by 9. I hadn't seen my granddad since New Year's eve so I had to pay him a visit. By 12pm we were back home to set the table for lunch. My oldest friends from preschool were coming over^^ Lunch lasted for 2hours as we had a bizillion things to catch up on x) By 3.45pm the last of the preschool friends left and by 4.10 my buddy from high school arrived. He dropped me off in Leuven by 5.45pm where I met my sister at 5.55pm to grab some dinner. When I was last in Belgium during Christmas break we went to a sushi restaurant for dinner and we both liked it so much that it definitely was something to repeat. And here you go x) By 9pm I was back home and by 10pm I went over to one of the preschool friends house to see Leap Year. I wasn't home before 1am, so Saturday was definitely a busy day! Unfortunately I still couldn't see everybody that I wanted to see :(

30th wedding anniversary
Sunday was allllll family time! My parents are married for a whopping 30 years so of course that needs some celebration! We went to a museum about the history of sport, which I have to say was very interesting. At the end of the tour they had some traditional games and tests to compare yourself with athelets. Super funny^^


To end the day beautifully, nature treated us with this amazing view.

Back to the island
Monday morning I had to catch the Eurostar to London at 7am, so it was an early morning again. The journey went very smoothly and by 8am I arrived in London St Pancras. In time to head to the office :) On the train I watched Guardians of the Galaxy. The train ride takes about 2hours so it is the perfect time to watch a movie! Friday evening on the train from London to Brussels I saw Iron Man :)

As for the rest of the week, it went just as it always does. Sometimes stressful, sometimes laughter,... Thursday after work I went to the pub with a couple of my colleagues, which is always a nice 'break' from work and the week :)

That's it for this week! Nice and short in'it?x)

As always, thanks for reading!!!
xo - Sara

New City Kings, Rounders and St Dunstan in the East Church

Halloooo!

Week 19 just passed in a blink of an eye! It's been such a busy week. Seriously, I didn't get nearly enough sleep x) I went to Tower Hill, saw Cinderella again, made my way to Tufnell Park to see the guys from New City Kings (Team NCK!) and played rounders with the colleagues in Regent Park.

Lets start off with Saturday
Remember I had this room viewing in Mile End on Monday 5th May? Well, I went back. Not to see the room but to have a look around the area. I took my time so I spent the entire afternoon looking around. Thank god the sun was out : ) As for the rest of Saturday I finished watching Pride and Prejudice (1995) BBC series. Some movies or series just never get boring.

The Age of Adaline, Tower Hill, St Dunstan in the East church and evening movietime
Sunday was a loooong day. At 12.15pm I went to see the Age of Adaline, and I was up by 9am so I kind of had a morning. But once I left the house at 11.45am for Croydon, I was gone for the next 12 hours.

(Btw, I recommend the Age of Adaline!)

After the movie I took the bus from Croydon to Norbury station. And from London Victoria, Tower Hill is only a District line away. At first I only wanted to go to St Dunstan in the East Church near Monument, but since I arrived a lot earlier in city centre, I decided to get off the tube one stop further (at Tower Hill) and then walk to the church. But I ended up sitting on the steps at the Tower of London for about an hour. It was so lovely outside and I'm not that often in that part of town.

In late afternoon I walked to St Dunstan in the East church. It's not really a church anymore though. It was build way back in the medieval times and then the church got destroyed in the Great Fire of London (1666). Christopher Wren rebuilt the church and added a tower to the construction. However, the church got destroyed during the blitz krieg during World War II and was never restored. Instead of demolishing the remains they just left it like it was and planted some trees and other plants. Now its a pretty surreal place in the centre of London :) Thanks Time Out for suggesting the place!!!

I had dinner with Camilla somewhere in China town (and it was delicious!!!!) and at 8pm we went to Odeon Leicester Square studios. I had a voucher "2tickets for £10" and Camilla hadn't seen Cinderella yet. Safe to say I wasn't sorry to see Cinderella again. It just makes you feel all warm and fuzy. Such a lovely Sunday evening.

New City Kings at Boston Music Room (Tufnell Park)
Tuesday was a day for things out of the ordinary. Well, actually, just one thing x) A couple of weeks ago I decided, in the spur of the moment, to book a ticket for a show to see New City Kings. Remeber? Waaaay back in September 2014 I mentionned them here for the first time. If you like to read the blog post yourself, here's the link: Rounders, New City Kings and sushi.


Handing out free EP's of your work is in my opinion a very strong marketing strategy. Okay, New City Kings may not have earned a lot of money by giving away their music, but in the end I bought a freaking ticket to go see them on a Tuesday evening! Which is something I normally wouldn't do! Unless it's Paramore, Rise Agains or Foo Fighters... So I'd say mission accomplished NCK!^^ I'm even writing about them again! Don't ask me what kind of music they make though. I'd say it's rock, but I don't know anything about music, so I'm just gonnna stay out of it ; ) I enjoy their music immensly and that's enough for me.

I had such a blast! Around 7pm I went to the Boston Music room in Tufnell Park, London, so it was a looong evening. The first 'act' was a guy with a guitar, Tyler Nugent. I had never heard of him, but man, he can sing! He reminded me of Ben Howard :) The second act was Freedom of the City. They were good, but to be honest, not really my cup of tea. And then at last, at 9.30pm: NEW CITY KINGS!

It was kind of intens. The room was small and you're really close to the stage and the artists. And the artists can see everybody, which leads to a "where do I look without looking too creepy?" moment. Which for me was very awkward. You can't just keep looking at the singer or drummer like you can when the audience is larger. The artists wouldn't notice. Not in the Boston Music room though. But I got over it eventually and just enjoyed the music : ) I think these guys are going to make it quite big. They are active on social media, their music is catchy and something different and most importantly: they have talent. The singer can drum, sing, play the piano and guitar. The drummer and bass(?) guitarist (don't shoot me if I'm wrong!!!!!) can sing. Live they sound just like they do on EP. And, lets just say it like it is: they're cute.

I also had to think about something my sister said to me about 3 years ago when I went to see Rise Against in AB in Brussels. Back then I also went by myself, like I did last Tuesday and I remember really clearly that my sister told me: "Yeah, I see the picture. You, standing near the edge of the crowd, hoodie, backpack, glasses and your hair in a ponytail and just enjoying the music" The only difference on Tuesday evening was that my hair was in a braid and not a ponytail! But man, my sister knows me well! ^^ Yes you, I know you're reading this ;)

Rounders season kick off
The day after, on Wednesday, I played the first rounders game of the season with the colleagues. It was funny beyond words and I am looking forward to the next 5 games we've planned ^^ Thursday and Friday were hell though! I am soooo unfit and my muscles were aching! It kind of gave me an idea on how I most likely will walk around in 60 years. But I wasn't the only one, most of my colleagues were suffering too x) Anyway, we're all excited for the next game, which is in two weeks :)

So after two very painful days at the office, I went back home Friday evening to spent the weekend with my friends and family! But more on that in next week's blog post ^^

As always, thanks for reading!
xo - Sara


New words: avail= benefit; caress= stroke, flatter; adjudicator= juror

YouTube: Cinema Sins - No movie without sin

Hallooooo!

As promised last week, here's another YouTube channel that I really enjoy to watch: Cinema Sins. The name of the channel pretty much says what kind of content they make.

We are all familiar with the directorial errors in a movie. In one shot the door is open and in the next one it is closed, etc. But these guys go so much further than that. Cinema Sins is the YouTube channel of Jeremy Scott and Chris Atkinson. They are most know for their "Everything wrong with ... " videos. They point out every sin in a movie. Some sins are big, some small and others just silly.

As of last year they have two spin off YouTube channels: Music Video Sins and Everything Wrong with Brands. They also have ' Conversations with myself about movies' videos and 'What's the damage?' where they count the damage cost in a movie. When you're talking Man of Steel for example, you're talking a lot of damage x)

On their website they clearly state that the amount of sins doesn't reflect the quality of the movie in anyway. Their videos are purely for entertainment and have to be taken lightly.

Here are a few videos so can get a look yourself :)

I hope you can appreciate this as much as I do! ^^

Thanks again for reading this weeks mid week blog post. You can expect another one next week : )

xo - Sara

Local tourist part 2

Hallooooooo!

The first weekend of May = BANK HOLIDAY! Praise that one day extra off, not having to work on a Monday. Well, some of us anyway.

Far from the Madding Crowd movietime
Saturday I decided to change things up a bit. Instead of waiting til Sunday to go to the movies, I went to Vue Croydon Saturday morning. Crazy, right!? Anyway, it was an all female crowd and I think I was by far the youngest x)

As for the rest of the afternoon, I just watched the REACT videos x)

Local tourist
After living in London for over a year now, I think I can say I am no longer a tourist. But that doesn't mean I can't act like one ;) My plan was to visit St-Martin's-in-the-Field church on Trafalgar Sq but with it being the 5th Sunday after Easter (or something like that) there was no sight seeing inside the church -.-

St-Martin's-in-the-Field church

So instead I bought myself a bubble tea at the shop I usually buy my bubble teas and sat on the steps in front ot the Church :) The sun was out every now and then, so it was just nice to enjoy the warmth on my face, watch people passing by and just marvel at the fact that I'm in freaking London!

My view over Trafalgar Sq

From the steps of St-Martin's-in-the-Field church I moved to the steps of the National Gallery :) Man, the view up there is beautiful. You get a clear view over the square, the Big Ben in the background, etc.

View from the National Gallery

After seeing this view I just had to walk to the Big Ben :)

You are probably sick of yet another picture of the Big Ben or the London Eye or Westminster Abbey,... And I probably have a 1000 pictures of the Big Ben on my laptop already. But for me it is an awesome reminder that I'm actually living my dream.

Instead of taking the underground at Westerminster I decided to walk to Buckingham Palace and from there to London Victoria. It was a walk I'd never done before so I discovered some new parts in London myself :)

Victoria and Albert museum + a room viewing in Mile End
Monday was a really grey day. Very depressing. But I had a viewing to look forward to. As it was scheduled for the evening, I had a day to fill. So instead of watching the entire day REACT videos, I decided to finally go to the V&A. I've been meaning to go there for so long now. I covered the " floors of the Renaissance as I really think that periode is fascinating. But the V&A is HUGE and I'll have to back to see the rest of the museum.

After the viewing in Mile End I was home pretty 'late', but I was in bed early. If that makes any sense? Anyway, I was ready to face work the next day. Work was rather uneventful other then that Rounder seaons was announced ^^ Next week we'll have our first game and almost everyone in the company is going to play. Is going to be a lot of fun x)

That's it for this week!

As always, thanks for reading!
xo - Sara

New words: beguiled= cheated; arduous= difficult

YouTube: The Fine Bros and REACT

Hallooooo!!

So. Usual when I'm browsing the interwebs, I ended up on YouTube. I have a few channels that I follow on a very regular basis and the Fine Bros (+ REACT channel) is one of them. So I'd like to introduce you to the Fine Bros if you don't know them already ... :)

The Fine Bros is a YouTube channel created by Rafi and Benny Fine. They are well known on YouTube with their React videos and Spoiler Re-caps. They also own a company (Fine Bros Entertainment), are directors, writers and producers. Business men is probably the best way to describe them in one word :)

Personally I enjoy the REACT videos the most. They have 4 React panels: Kids react, Teens react, Elders react and YouTubers react. It is pretty much self explanatory: people react to certain things and are asked their opinion. They go from 'old' technology, to music lyrics, video games, music artists past and present, movie trailers, fashion, YouTubers, actors, (cyber) bullying, viral videos, news topics, etc. So they cover a wide range of topics. From the very silly to the more serious.

It's also interesting to hear different opinions on the same subjects. Some teens love 80's fashion while others despise it. You have elderlies who embrace today's technology and others who repel it. Kids who think VCR isn't the end of the world while other kids can't imagine having to rewind a VHS if you want to re watch a movie. YouTubers also have their opinions on viral videos and the latest apps.

Here are a few of my favourite react videos:
But just to be clear, there are waaaaay to many awesome videos to select just one. This is just more to give you an idea :)

Kids react:

Teens react:

Elders react:

YouTubers react:

In 2014 they created a new channel called REACT where the same panels would react to video games, lyric breakdown, give advise and opinions. Here are a few of my favourites:

How to fart in front of your boyfriend

Lyric breakdown

They also took the liberty to make some remixes out of the reactions. Here's my favourite ^^

I also really enjoy the gaming episodes where teens react to Outlast, the Last of Us, I am Bread, Five nights at Freddy's, Mario Kart, etc. The reactions of the Elders to the games is also priceless. Especially the episode where they react to the Oculus Rift :)

I hope these videos were a good introduction. They are the reason why I watch the Fine Bros videos anyway. I know they make a lot of other videos and have a lot of other projects as well. And although they are amazing too, they are not really the reason why I am an abonnee on their channels :)

Voila, that was my mid week blog post for this week : ) I have a couple of other YouTube channels lined up for my future mid week blog posts, so be sure to keep your eyes open for those if you liked this blog post :)

Thanks for reading! (and watching)

xo - Sara

One does not simply leave a Marvel movie before the end of the credits

Halloooo !!!

I'm going to warn you now: the highlight of my weekend was Avengers: Age of Ultron and I already wrote a blog post about that...

So, Saturday morning I woke up with a little hangover...  No point denying, sorry mum and dad. If you remember from last week's blog post (A Little Chaos, Battersea Park and Avengers: Age of Ultron premiere) Friday evening we had some leaving drinks for someone at Finance and my colleagues don't take no for an answer... Don't worry, I know my limits and my priority was to get home safely. But, if you haven't had a drink in a while, your body will react strongly to every glass of alcohol that you consume. With the result that I woke up on Saturday with a hangover. Now, on the bright side, I made myself an amazing breakfast: Heinz beans in tomato sauce, two eggs sunny side up and a baguette. De-lish. Every cloud has a silver lining ;)

Sunday morning I got out of bed feeling well slept for the first time in months. Might be a combination of sleeping for 10h straight for the first time in months and the prospect of watching Avengers: Age of Ultron. It was so quiet in the house. I even think I was the only one in the house. Heaven. Probably also my first stress free weekend in months :)

But anyways, I hopped on the bus to Croydon to see the first showing of the day. Surprisingly, there were more people in the theatre than one would expect on a Sunday morning. But then again, it was the Avengers. So if you're interested on what I thought about the movie, feel free to read: "Don't take from my pile" Tony Stark - Avengers: Age of Ultron :) And I was the last one to leave the cinema. I only left when an employee came up to me saying that there was nothing after the credits. I've seen Avengers Assemble and Captain America: Winder Soldier and it's just not that simple to walk out of the cinema before the end of the credits. Sean Bean has said it:

Then, this week another new colleague started. So we have two newbies and they both seem very lovely. I sometimes even forget that they just started :) They blend in very well with the team. Which is important!

I also received this super lovely postcard from my dear Lucie who was on a trip to New York City. That basically made my Thursday morning ^^ I met Lucie on an Erasmus programma in Amiens, France. We haven't seen each other since we hugged goodbye in December 2013, but we've kept in touch :)

Finally, to give you a little update on the search for a new home: I've had two more viewings and I applied for one of the rooms. But I didn't get it; yet again. So, there nothing really new to tell x) Except for the fact that I get to see new parts in London!

That's it for this weeks blogpost.

As always, thanks for reading!
xo - Sara

New words: Snotty= Rude; Aggravate= worsen