The Martian - Movie Review! No spoilers!

I know, I know! This isn't exactly a movie that has just come out into cinemas, but I have literally only just watched this and I need to tell you my thoughts on it!

The perfect way to describe this film in a short sentence is Apollo 13 meets Cast Away, yep.
I still get so excited when I see that Ridley Scott has brought a new film out because he is a pure genius, he has done yet another amazing movie, I mean this is the man that gave us Alien! Enough said. However he did make the mistake on giving us Exodus: Gods and Kings..but we won't go there.
Matt Damon, I have to be honest there is something about this man, but whenever I saw him in any film, he didn't do anything for me..nothing exciting. Now I've seen this, he's changed my opinion of him so much! He was amazing! I mean..I haven't read the book..but for those who have..he brought Mark Watney to life on our screens. I loved his character! I loved the fact that he woke up, after everything that just happened, the realisation that his team has left him stranded on Mars (believing that he was dead, not that they're just plain assholes) but he still had an amazing sense of humour. This film was so funny, it really did make me laugh out loud..it almost felt like you shouldn't laugh because of the situation he is in..but he makes it funny. That's the same with his team he worked with on Mars, from the start they all had banter with each other, and when they even get into contact with him, they still all roast each other even in the most toughest situations. He found humour in the most troubled situations, and that was his personality all over and throughout the film, that no matter what kicked him down he keeps on going and thats a big theme of this film..is persistence. He knows that he could very much die, but I love how he doesn't over do the drama, sitting around feeling sorry for himself he just gets straight to work, figuring out a solution to a main problem he will soon face..running out of food. When there were moments of Mark Watney showing some emotion in the film, again he didn't over do it which I loved, but those moments still make you believe that he is desperate, scared and so happy when he is able to make contact. Those moments can actually be a bit of a tear jerker.
So Matt Damon..bravo!
The writing was fantastic! Obviously a lot of that will come from the book (I really need to get my hands on that book!) but even though this was nearly a 3 hour film, it never felt like it dragged, I never felt like there was a scene that just went on and on. Noting felt like they milked it, for example, when Marks team found out he was still alive, yes they were shocked and felt a lot of guilt, believing that they just "abandoned" him, but you see that guilt for about 3 minutes maybe less, and then they start to focus on what the plan is to save him. The same with when Mark realises his team left him, yes he was angry, but you never focus on that because he doesn't drag that on, he understands, and gets to work. Now for those that don't know me, I'm not the smartest of girls believe it or not. However I still understood everything that was going on this film! They were all talking scientifically but I got everything that was happening! It felt great, I felt smart (for once) I never thought I would understand a space movie again after watching Interstellar. Gosh, I do love that film but it really made my head hurt, and to this day I'm still not sure if I really know what happened or what the result was. But I love Christopher Nolan, always have, always will.
Now the supporting cast. Everyone is great! At first when I saw the cast, I thought it would be a bit of a well-known-actors-overload, but you see that everyone is perfectly cast. You believe that when you see a couple of actors in, you almost think..'really?!' for me that was Kristen Wiig and Sean Bean, but they all did a fantastic job! I even thought Sean Bean was actually quite funny! Aaaaaand this is the first film I've actually seen where Sean doesn't die! Sorry for those that may be disappointed.
If I had to give a minor negativity, it would probably be that nearer the end of the movie theres about 20-25 minutes of scenes where its on Earth, Matt isn't in any of that, and there were a few moments where I wanted to get back to him. The scenes were fantastic still don't get me wrong but that would be my only criticism.

Overall I would give this movie 8/10, it was a really great film to watch, the visual effects were brilliant, the acting was really good! I really enjoyed it!
But hey, thats just my opinion. I would love to hear your thoughts!

S'laters!

Ellie
xx

Oreo Brownies!

Another recipe..YAY! It's three of my favourite things, brownie, chocolate and Oreos..put them together and you get this beautiful creation! I have made these babies sooo many times and I swear they get more and more gooey each time, so I decided to share this recipe with you all..your welcome!

Recipe

165g butter, plus a little bit extra for greasing

100g dark chocolate

100g milk chocolate (or if your a lover of dark chocolate you can just use 200g of dark chocolate)

3 eggs

2 egg yolks

2 tsp vanilla extract

165g soft light brown sugar

2 tbsp plain flour

1 tbsp cocoa powder

154g pack of oreo biscuits (I use original, but now they have invented a variety you can use whichever is your favourite!)

Method

Pre-heat your oven to 180 degrees/ fan 350 degrees/ gas 6. Before you begin grease the baking tin you want to use, then line with baking paper, let it overlap the sides a little bit so its easy for you take out.

Melt the butter in a pan (or microwave) when it has melted, break up your chocolate and add it to the butter. Leave it to stand for a few minutes until the chocolate has gone soft, keep stirring. If your impatient like me you can blast it in the microwave for a few seconds so the chocolate is fully melted.  

Whisk the eggs, egg yolks and vanilla extract until they begin to go all light and fluffy (I recommend you use an electric hand whisk otherwise you will be there all day and your arms will start to ace, but if you don't have one I recommend you buy one) Once it looks light and fluffy add the brown sugar, pour it around the side of the bowl so you don't knock out the air that has been whisked in to it. Once the egg mixture becomes more stiff add your melted chocolate/butter, again around the sides. 

Then add the flour, cocoa powder half the oreos (or as many as you'd like) stir until fully combined, then pour the mixture into the tin you prepared at the start. I then break up more oreos and scatter them on top, pressing them in slightly. 

Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes, the middle should be slightly gooey and delicious! 

Leave the brownies to cool in the tin for about 30 minutes, the top will sink and crack a little bit but have no fear its meant to do that! 

Once cooled pull the brownies out using that overlapping paper and then cut the brownies into however big or small you want them to be. I then just dust it with icing sugar, because icing sugar always makes it look better. 

Every time I make them, as soon as I take them out of the oven I always say to myself "the oreos in the mixture looks like fossils!!" Don't you agree?!

They are also so tasty if you warm them up slightly in the oven and then add some vanilla ice cream with them. Yum!

Let me know how you get on! 

Happy baking!

S'laters

Ellie

xxx