athunderstorm Reviews

Starstruck (2021–2023)

What? Why did I watch all that?

[5/10 · 27 April 2024]

This was so annoying..! I quite liked the whole series, although I found Jessie a bit too much quite often.

The whole "will they, won't they" wars a huge pull to keep on watching and it was a GIVEN that they would end up together. But no..? What?

Instead Tom chooses to be with his unbelievably ultra-understanding fiancé (who would forgive a confession like that, when you're trying on your wedding dress??) and she thinks "Oh well, I'll give that Liam a call" after being rejected?

The final minutes of the final episode just ruined the whole show for me. I don't want reality and most plausible outcome. I want the Notting Hill ending, that's why I'm watching feel good fiction..!

Annoying. So annoying.

Our Christmas Love Song (2019 TV Movie)

My least favourite Hallmark so far

[2/10 · 21 December 2021]

This Christmas I've been binging Hallmark Christmas movies. I've found a lot of them to be sweet and funny and at least somewhat relatable. This one was my least favourite so far.

Alicia Witt plays this childish, cute woman with a sort of stiff face, unless she laughs out loud for unfathomable reasons. A lot of what's said you can predict a few seconds before, leaving you bored and unengaged, as it feels like "you've heard it, before you've heard it".

Nothing sweet, funny or relatable with this one. The whole film made me restless.

Two Turtle Doves (2019 TV Movie)

Surprisingly good

[8/10 · 5 December 2021]

The name is a bit cheesy, but the film really isn't.

There are some truly beautiful moments between the lead characters and the dialogue is believable and sometimes quite deep. They talk about grief and loss in a very true way and still somehow manage to bring Christmas spirit to the plot.

I've seen plenty of Christmas movies, but this might well be my favourite.

Christmas with a View (2018 TV Movie)

Based on a Harlequin novel...

[2/10 · 8 November 2021]

So adjust your expectations accordingly...

The film tries to be sweet and endearing, but is just a mess. Just really badly written, the dialogue was so naff. I was cringing watching it and sometimes shouting at the tv...

And also, what's up with the midi music? Can't Netflix afford to buy proper, well played Christmas music?

Someone, Somewhere (2019)

Slow paced, but beautiful

[8/10 · 14 June 2021]

This film is not for people who want action. It's slow paced and detailed. Some scenes are very beautiful and cinematic, something I personally really enjoyed.

In this film we get to see life as it is, it's far away from Hollywood. Poetic and little melancholic, but with a warm heart. Worth a watch.

Break (IV) (2018)

Nice story and some good dancing too

[7/10 · 29 December 2020]

I'm a sucker for dance movies and this one didn't disappoint, except for the final scene perhaps.

The acting is good and the way the film was shot is beautiful, someone really thought about the persepctive and angles of the camera.

The characters were believable and there wasn't anything "try hard" about it, which I sometimes find in dance movies.

Some of the dance scenes were really nice, but the final choreography didn't work for me, the dance was too edited and chopped, so I couldn't really see what the dancing was supposed to be.

On the whole I think the story of Lucie and Vincent was more prominent than the dancing, but that's alright by me, since the acting and story was so nice.

Definitely worth a watch!

Christmas Wonderland (2018 TV Movie)

Christmas Cringeland

[5/10 · 1 November 2020]

I lost track of the number of times I had to pause this movie, because it was so cringey.

Heidi is supposed to be a very talented artist, who forgot how much she loved painting. But when she finally does paint, her art work is infantile and silly looking, still everyone acts like she's amazing. That was quite funny.

The chemistry between her and Chris is non existent and the final kiss one of the driest I've ever witnessed between two lead charachters..

I did like the theme of "Do I live a life that makes me happy or just how I think I should live..?"

It was a cute film. Silly and cringey, but sweet somehow.

Emily in Paris (2020– )

Uplifting and silly

[8/10 · 4 October 2020]

This show kept me interested. It is light and easy to watch and was good company for a couple of evenings.

Emily, the lead, seem to be unstoppable. You rarely see her think about what she's doing or consequences for her actions, she just acts. Which in one way is quite annoying and unbelievable, but in another way, not. She's just acting like she would have done if she was a man. Which is quite refreshing.

Anyway, give it a go. It's stupid, but that doesn't mean it's not enjoyable..!

Love, Guaranteed (2020)

Predictable, but fun and easy to watch

[7/10 · 3 September 2020]

A nice feel-good film with a sense of humour.

You can predict the ending of this movie within the first minutes, but who cares? It's light hearted and sweet and the two main characters have good chemistry.

Worth a watch if you're looking for some light entertainment.

Work It (2020)

Give it a miss if you want to feel something

[4/10 · 13 August 2020]

I love dance movies, but this one didn't do it for me.

The dancing and the acting was so vacuous, it left me feeling empty inside. You didn't get to know the characters at all, it was just the lead's voice over explaining it to you, like the director really didn't trust you to understand any subtext.

Shallow and generic, but good if you want something cheesy to talk over. :)

The Choice (I) (2016)

Just laughed all the way though

[2/10 · 30 July 2020]

This is supposed to be a "tearjerker" according to Netflix, but I ended up laughing for most of it. Why?

Because of the unbelievably bad and cringy dialogue and the awful directing choices. I usually love watching chick flicks and romantic dramas and I'm no stranger to crying if it gets emotional, I was shattered after "The Notebook" for instance. But this movie didn't offer a single moment where I felt anything but amusement and slight embarrassment.

The main actors have no chemistry and when they speak lovingly to each other you don't believe a word of it. The plot is predictable, to say the least...

But I still enjoyed the experience. Not because it's a good film, it really isn't, but because sometimes is fun to watch something that is so bad you end up shouting at the screen, even if you're home alone. So, if you fancy having fun like that, I totally recommend The Choice.