Beauty and The Beast Review

So if anyone knows me personally they would know that beauty and the beast is my all time favourite film which I have been obsessed with since I was a little girl. The story means so much to me as I feel it carry's a great message of how you should never judge a book by its cover, but not only that the film is filled with beautiful musical scoring and breath taking animation. You can imagine when I heard the film was being made into a live-action movie I generally freaked out with excitement, but I honestly had quite a lot of doubts about it as well as it is a Disney classic and if it turned out awful it would have ruined my favourite film. I can honestly sit here now and say it exceeded my expectations by a million percent and I did have a good cry a few times throughout the film as it brought back so many memories of my childhood.

I was so happy to have found out that Alan Menken (Disney legendary composer) had composed the remake as he also done the original film so as soon as the beginning iconic overture came on I welled up with tears. The music throughout the film is hair-raising with stunning musical numbers both from the original film and with some new added songs which are true classic Disney style. The singing is on point especially by Luke Evans (Gaston) who I think was perfectly casted and has a stunning voice. I also love Audra Mcdonald (Madame Garderobe) her voice is honestly stunning and her version of 'Beauty and the beast' had me in tears. The iconic songs have be done justice in the remake like 'Be Our Guest', it is a visual masterpiece with the vocals of Ewan McGregor (Lumiere) and also 'Beauty and the beast' with vocals by Emma Thompson (Mrs Potts) honestly was everything I wanted it to be. My favourite song (which is a bit controversial) was 'The mob song' were the villagers have just found out about the Beast and Gaston declares an attack on the castle. I felt it really built up to the climax of the film and made an impact on me as an audience member.

I genuinely hand on my heart think this film was perfectly cast! I was sceptical about Emma Watson playing Belle as we all know her as Hermione Granger but I think she did an amazing job filling her boots and I feel Emma resembles the quality's of Belle in her own personality. Her singing isn't up to the standard of Paige O'Hara (original voice of Belle) but apparently she spent half a year having singing lessons which I give her credit for. Dan Stevens as the Beast brings the character a more humanistic quality and shows a more deeper understand of the Beasts past- also I fancy him very much. Ewan McGregor as Lumiere does an fantastic French accent and has great banter with Ian Mckellen (Cogsworth) who is an legend in his own right. Emma Thompson as Mrs Potts reminded me of my nan as she brings a very loving nature to the character.... and how can we forget Chip he was adorable. Of course I've already expressed my love for Luke Evans he done a stand out job, but  so did Josh Glad (LeFou) who I give credit to for giving the first openly gay Disney character a really honest performance. There are new characters added in the remake like Maestro Cadenza played by Stanley Tucci who is one of my favourite actors so I was frilled to find out he had a part in this movie.

The film has many new sequences, characters and songs so I feel that you cannot go in there with the mind of comparing it to the original as it an amazing film. Just seeing the little girls in their Belle costumes really hit home for me as this is now going to be their film for their generation which I think couldn't have been done any better. Thank you for reading this very long review but as I said this means the world to me and I hope you get the same experience as I did! xx

Art of Belle Mug





Harry Potter Studios Review

If you are a major Harry Potter fan like me than my new post will definitely be up your street! I have loved and grown up with the Harry potter films and they are my go to film series to watch on sick days. Just the whole concept of the films/books transport you into a magical universe and allows you to be immersed into the wizarding world. Obviously being a Harry Potter fan the one place I had to go was The making of Harry Potter Studio tour in Leavesden and I have been lucky enough to visit their twice! Today I want to talk about my general experience there and give you some insight details if you are thinking about visiting there.

So the second time I went there I booked it for George's birthday weekend (it was more of a present for me than him!) for September on a Sunday. We didn't have any trouble getting there as it is pretty well signed and a lot of car parking spots. You have set times to go in and whilst your lining up there is plenty of props and pictures to look at which makes the time go a bit faster until you enter the cinema area. You have host members greet and have banter with the guests whilst everyone gets seated and unlucky George got picked on by a host which he wasn't to happy about but obviously I found it amusing! You then watch the cinema presentation to be transported into the magic. The screen goes up to reveal the great hall doors. They usually ask if it is someone birthday to allow them to open the doors and the first time I went there my friend stuck my hand up so I was lucky enough to open them!

Honestly the feeling of walking into the great hall is amazing getting to see all the real props and costumes is a surreal feeling. After going through the great hall you then go into a big sound stage that is filled with props, costumes and sets including Dumbledore office, Hagrid's hut, Professor Snapes classroom and many more with added magical touches. In this part you can also take part in learning how to use a wand and also have an experience off flying on a broomstick which really was a favourite moment of mine and would recommend everyone to do it. After you have finished with this section you then walk into platform 9 3/4 to be wowed at the sight of the Hogwarts express. It truly is magnificent to see and there are many photo opportunity's as well.

After experiencing all that magic you might be a bit peckish so midway through there is a café to give you a chance to relax and try some butter beer- which I actually really liked but gets sickly after a while would recommend the ice cream instead. Once your ready to get back to the experience you go outside to witness the bigger sets including the purple night bus and privet drive. After this you entre the last sound stage to walk down Diagon Alley which is a lot smaller in real life but still amazing to see. You then get to see more of the special affects side of the films which is really interesting and I suggest taking some time to read and watch the videos in the area. Then you hit the grand finale..... seeing the massive full model of the Hogwarts Castle. This was my favourite part of the tour as it allows you to take time to really appreciate how much hard work that went into the films and the detail is amazing! At the end of the tour you go through the gift shop so don't forget to pick up a chocolate frog!

That was just a snippet of my experience at the studio tour and I can honestly say it is a great day out and allows you to appreciate the films more. I cannot wait to go to the Wizarding world in Universal studios to actually experience being in Hogsmead and Diagon Alley instead of looking at the props. I will definitely be returning to the studios tour to see the new expansion for the forbidden forest! I hope this post has help everyone to know what to expected when going there and I hope you have enjoyed reading thank you xx

Suffer With Anxiety?

Today I wanted to talk about a very serious subject that affects hundreds of people every day. Imagine a sudden rush of feeling uneasy and fear going through you which is uncontrollable and you have no idea how to calm yourself down. Anxiety is a serious disorder and many people are too scared to seek out help. Everyone experiences anxiety in their lives if it appears before going in for a test or a job interview, it's a natural human emotion. However anxiety may be more severe for certain people and can seriously impact their life.

I created this blog to talk about my own personal experiences which hopefully may help a few people who have or are going through the same things I have been through. I feel like by talking about these subjects I have opened myself up for the world to see and many people wouldn't have known a lot of this about me. I do suffer quite badly with anxiety which I do not know if it came from having cancer at a young age or If I generally developed it over time. Many people do not know this about me as I genuinely hardly speak about it and when people meet me they wouldn't even think I suffered as majority of the time I think I am an upbeat person.

As I've grown up I feel that it effects me more as I go to more crowded areas and have a lot more adult responsibilities in my life. One example was at New years eve standing in a small room in a club which was so packed I couldn't move, literally. I wasn't near my friends as there was too many people in the way and I could feel an attack coming on. I got pulled out of the crowd into a more quiet area and had to go home as I couldn't get myself to calm down. As a young lady I do not want to experience this every time I go out with my friends as I want to be able to dance and have a laugh but this is uncontrollable and can happen at any point.  The only way I know to deal with this properly is to seek help from a therapist but I am not ready to sit down and discuss this with a professional yet.  

I understand this post hasn't been exactly cheerful but I really felt passionate talking about this subject as I feel that people need to understand what it is like to live with this. On a lighter note to finish I have started to find better ways to calm myself down and I am also lucky to have family and friends that know I suffer with this so they take time to look after me and support me which is amazing and I am very grateful for. I hope if you also suffer with this you can find the courage to talk to someone about your feelings and get support as it genuinely helps out a lot! Thank you for taking the time out to read this post xx

Close Your Eyes Make A Wish

So today I wanted to talk about the amazing charity Make A Wish Foundation. You may already know about them but for everyone who doesn't the aim of this charity is to grant extremely ill children with a wish. They work extremely hard to make their wish come true from meeting their hero to going on their dream holiday. They also hold events for the children as well which is a great day out and also a good chance to meet other children going through the same illness.

How the charity works is you have to nominate a child to make a wish and the child gets to make 3 wishes and one of them will come true. Luckily when I was under treatment someone kindly nominated me and I was allowed to make 3 wishes. I was sent through a sheet of paper and had to write down my wishes (at the time I was about 6 years old). So at that age I was obsessed with Jamie Oliver... I have no idea why... but my first wish was to meet him and cook with him. My second wish was to become a zoo keeper for the day as I absolutely loved animals and wanted to feed penguins. Lastly my third wish was to go on a shopping spree... not asking for much was I! Trust me if I got to make those wishes again I'd probably want to meet Zak Efron, who wouldn't!

After we sent the paper back in the post we got invited to an event held at the rainforest café in London where I would find out what wish had come true. It was amazing event, we got to eat in there and watch all the animals come to life. The event was hosted by a presenter of blue peter (and for the life of me I can not remember his name) and he called every child up one by one to announce what wish they'd been given. So my wish I was granted was going to meet Jamie Oliver and cooking with him! At the time I was so excited and it was featured in the newspaper that I got this opportunity to do this.

Unfortunately Jamie Oliver was on holiday at the time I was supposed to meet him... Lets not go into detail still a sore subject! However the lovely people at make a wish made different arrangements and sorted out for me to be a zoo keeper for the day at London zoo. I was greeted by a lady who worked for make a wish and spent the day with me, I was taken behind the scenes, got to meet some of the animals in person and also was allowed into the penguin enclosure to feed them.

Honestly for such an ill child being allowed to do something that you would never normally be allowed to do is amazing and the experience will last with them forever. This charity creates great memories for families and allows a child to get out of the same hospital walls they see everyday. If you get a chance please donate to this charity or nominate a child you think deserves to make one of their wishes come true! Thank you for reading xx       

Nominate a child?