Rating Every Film I’ve Watched in 2025: Part Two

Posted in Movies, Personal, Uncategorized by hozzieb

We’re nearing the end of the year so here are the next thirty movies on my list! If you want to read the first thirty you can find them here.

Mickey-17 (Bong Joon Ho, 2025)

Rating: 6/10

Don’t get me wrong, this was a good film and I did enjoy it but it felt very long at the time. I remember at one point in the movie thinking we were nearing the end but then it kept going. Overall a decent film but probably not one that I would personally return to.

M3GAN (Gerard Johnstone, 2022)

Rating: 10/10

Cheeky little rewatch ahead of the sequel coming out. Mostly I put it on for background noise but then ended up getting sucked in and I watched the whole thing. Absolutely love this movie – I was lucky enough to meet Amie Donald this year who portrays M3Gan so that was pretty cool. She was even wearing her screen-worn M3GAN costume!

Death of a Unicorn (Alex Scharfman, 2025)

Rating: 3/10

This film low-key gave me the ick for Paul Rudd, there must’ve been ways to show he had allergies without making him so icky LOL! It was an okay movie but the trailer definitely made it look way better than it was. Will Poulter was of course amazing but otherwise it’s just not one that I’d return to and is possibly one of my biggest film disappointments of the year.

Star Wars: The Phantom Menace (George Lucas, 1999)

Rating: 9/10

Wasn’t sure how I’d feel about the prequels but I really enjoyed this one! Fun plot twists and an interesting story overall.

Star Wars: Attack of the Clones (George Lucas, 2002)

Rating: 7/10

It’s been a while now since I watched this so I can’t remember why but I wrote in my notes this was probably my least favourite Star Wars movie so far. Interesting plot, Anakin was definitely a walking red flag though!

Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith (George Lucas, 2005)

Rating: 9/10

As luck would have it this film was playing in the cinema again this year so I got to experience it for the first time on the big screen. Very long but very iconic and really enjoyable. One of the best Star Wars movies and definitely the best of the prequels. Would watch this one again.

Black Widow (Cate Shortland, 2021)

Rating: 10/10

Whilst I LOVE this film it’s actually so annoying to me that we only got one Black Widow movie and that it took until 2021 to bloody get it. On one hand I’m glad because Florence Pugh as Yelena isn’t a want, it’s a need but also why did it take so long? Anyway, I watched the film originally in the cinema the night after the Euro 2020 final so was quite tired and hungover, and therefore didn’t appreciate it enough but I absolutely love this film. One of the best Marvel films of all time. I’d love another film showing more of the Red Room because it’s so interesting to me.

Ant-Man and the Wasp (Peyton Reed, 2018)

Rating: 6/10

Rewatched this ahead of ‘Thunderbolts*’ coming out so I could remind myself of Ava’s story – her bits were quite interesting. Honestly I can’t get too excited about an Ant-Man film and as I said, after ‘Death of a Unicorn’ I have a bit of ick for Paul Rudd now!

Thunderbolts* (Jake Schreier, 2025)

Rating: 10/10

My top film of the year and I don’t care what anyone has to say about it. I watched this three times at the cinema, twice in 4DX because I just absolutely loved it. It’s so annoying because I’d love to see more of the Thunderbolts/New Avengers but now I’m worried with Doomsday coming out that we’ve had this perfect found family movie and that it’s going to immediately be ruined. Time will tell I suppose. Anyway, loved seeing Bucky on the big screen again and loved getting more of an insight into Yelena. I just loved that these characters who are used to fighting and punching their way out of problems had to face a different kind of villain. All the people who are like ‘her der the power of friendship saved the day’ really didn’t get the film in my opinion. I loved it and it’s clear a lot of love went into the film.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens (J. J. Abrams, 2015)

Rating: 8/10

Watched this on Star Wars day with Jess, we made a whole event of it and she made us a lovely Star Wars themed dinner. I really liked seeing the old characters with the introduction of new ones. Overall a solid movie.

Captain America: Civil War (Russo Brothers, 2016)

Rating: 10/10

Honestly I have bias towards this film because I remember seeing it like eight times when it came out at the cinema, it was my ultimate comfort movie at the time. I do really love this film, I don’t care how many times I watch it or the small irritants I have (why was the Stan Lee cameo in a Captain America film all about Iron Man?) Also Team Cap until I die, he was right about the accords and genuinely when would he have had time to sit Tony down and tell him how his parents really died (and to be honest, would Tony truly have wanted to know?). Still do love Tony but yeah. Amazing film!

Sinners (Ryan Coogler, 2025)

Rating: 6/10

Okay I liked this film but I didn’t love it if that makes sense. It wasn’t personally my cup of tea and it took a long time to get to the horror section. Beautifully made film though and the acting was incredible.

Final Destination: Bloodlines (Zach Lipovsky, Adam Stein, 2025)

Rating: 10/10

Thank GOD they didn’t end this franchise with the bullshit that was ‘The Final Destination’ because this film was absolute perfection. A really amazing opening disaster, lots of twists and turns, and some really interesting deaths. So glad Jess didn’t let me watch any trailers because the garden scene was so tense not knowing who had the bad drink and then seeing how it went – AH just such a good film! What a great send off for Tony Todd as well, so glad he was in it – may he rest in peace.

Companion (Drew Hancock, 2025)

Rating: 9/10

I’d been warned not to watch any trailers for this in advance but to be honest I thought it was obvious from the poster what the twist would be. Regardless, it was a really good film. SPOILER ALERT: I wish she hadn’t said at the start that she kills him, I don’t get why they do that in films because it spoilt a lot of the tension for me knowing she was ultimately going to get away? The plot twist with Patrick was fun and I didn’t see that coming although it made sense once it was revealed. Solid film, definitely enjoyed.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi (Rian Johnson, 2017)

Rating: 8/10

This would be one of my top films, all I would say is that it was just slightly too long. I loved the concept of them just being stuck there and looking for a way to escape. Lots of twists and turns that I didn’t see coming and I really enjoyed it but yeah it could do with being a little shorter.

Ant-Man (Peyton Reed, 2015)

Rating: 7/10

Rewatched this as part of my MCU timeline rewatch and I’d been putting it off but actually it was okay. Again, I can’t get too excited about Ant-Man but it was an alright movie.

John Wick (Chad Stahelski, 2014)

Rating: 7/10

Jess convinced me to watch this in preparation for ‘Ballerina’ so I’d have a little bit of context and I’m glad she did. I didn’t think this film would be my cup of tea but I ended up enjoying it. I’d definitely watch the others!

28 Days Later (Danny Boyle, 2002)

Rating: 9/10

As a horror fan I don’t know why I didn’t watch this sooner. With ’28 Years Later’ coming out this year Jess convinced me to watch this and I loved it. Loved the rage virus and how quick it took over so it had been difficult to contain. I was less keen once the military got involved but it was still a really good film.

28 Weeks Later (Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, 2007)

Rating: 9/10

Really decent sequel, I liked the idea of them trying to return to the UK then the virus spiralling out of control again, and the militaries reaction to that. Made me really excited for ’28 Years Later’, really enjoyed it.

Ballerina (Len Wiseman, 2025)

Rating: 7/10

Enjoyable film! I like Ana de Armas, it was also great to see Sooyoung in a movie and they even played an Ashnikko track so all around a great film. Not sure how I felt about Norman Reedus’ appearance but it was enjoyable.

28 Years Later (Danny Boyle, 2025)

Rating: 5/10

I really wanted to enjoy this film but I just didn’t. There were aspects that I did enjoy – the world-building was cool, seeing how the UK has just been abandoned and everyone has been left to survive. I also loved the introduction of the Swedish guy and how he had to just accept he could never go home, and the differences between his life and Spike’s. Ralph Fiennes storyline was… Interesting? Just a bit of a miss for me although I will be seated for the next one in January.

How to Train Your Dragon (Dean DeBlois, 2025)

Rating: 7/10

Although I liked the cartoon I must admit I only watched this to kill a bit of time while looking after my brother. It was enjoyable though!

M3GAN 2.0 (Gerard Johnstone, 2025)

Rating: 8/10

I did enjoy this but I’m not sure I liked the jump from horror to action. Will say that the scene where she sings was so fucking funny, probably funnier than when she sang ‘Titanium’ in the first film – I was sobbing. Decent film but I think the first one was better.

Jurassic World Rebirth (Gareth Edwards, 2025)

Rating: 9/10

Scarlett Johansson and Jonathan Bailey in the same film is always a yes, helped by the fact it was a Jurassic Park film. You can’t really go wrong with these films and I loved it, loved the suspenseful scenes combined with the action packed ones. Definitely a good addition to the franchise and one I’d watch again.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (J. J. Abrams, 2019)

Rating: 7/10

Decent film and I’m glad to have finally watched all the Star Wars’ in the main trilogies. Jess has said the next step is to watch the stand alone films and maybe ‘The Mandalorian’ but we have a lot of things to get through so we’ll see!

The Fantastic Four: First Steps (Matt Shakman, 2025)

Rating: 8/10

The only Fantastic Four I ever watched was the 2015 one which wasn’t very memorable so my expectations for this film were pretty low but I ended up really enjoying it. I loved the world building and the cast, just generally a great film. I was hoping we’d see the Thunderbolts* team in the post credits scene but beggars can’t be choosers I guess.

Bring Her Back (Michael Philippou, Danny Philippou, 2025)

Rating: 2/10

I didn’t like this – I personally found it longwinded and irritating without being scary. It had all the tools to be good but it just wasn’t. Parts of it were just infuriating and really would me up. Definitely not one I would rewatch.

Longlegs (Osgood Perkins, 2024)

Rating: 1/10

Watched this as part of our Summerween celebrations and oh god, how is it popular? Boring, slow, confusing – one of those that none of us were enjoying but we stuck with it in the hopes it would make sense at the end but it just didn’t. Really unsatisfying and painfully slow. Awful, awful, awful film.

IT Chapter 2 (Andres Muschietti, 2019)

Rating: 8/10

Cheeky rewatch of this on Summerween. You can’t go wrong with the IT films really, both of them were pretty solid. Quite long but worth it.

There we have it, the next thirty movies from my list – stay tuned for my next thirty!

30Oct2025

For the Love of Horror Manchester 18/10/25 – 19/10/25: Review

Posted in Personal, Review, Travel by hozzieb

Last year I went to Liverpool Comic Con which was my first con ran by Monopoly Events and I was REALLY impressed. Not only did my dream of meeting Sebastian Stan come true I also just thought generally that the con was ran really well and there was plenty to do. When I noticed they ran a yearly ‘For the Love of Horror’ convention I was tempted to go but what sealed the deal was when they announced Matthew Lillard as a guest.

Let’s address this immediately before getting into the actual event – Skeet Ulrich was also announced not long after Matthew. That was exciting but to be honest I only really wanted to meet Matthew, mostly to save money but I’ve also seen more of Matthew’s work outside of ‘Scream’ and I really love him. Monopoly Events didn’t immediately release their photo ops but one Friday announced duo photos for the pair were going on sale that night for £160 if memory serves correctly. That price seemed really reasonable to me as I figured both individually would be about £80 which again, very reasonable. So I decided not to buy the duo but to wait for more info about solo photos.

The duo photos sold out and then a couple of weeks later we began to hear whispers that there wouldn’t be any solo photos which really irritated me because this should’ve been made clear before duos went up. Eventually Monopoly ended up discussing this in a livestream and said initially they had planned to do solos but when the duos sold out had decided to release more duos and only do those to save time queuing for attendees. They hadn’t announced this in advance in case the duos didn’t sell out in which case they would’ve done solos.

I accept the explanation – they’ve ran cons for a long time and I do genuinely think they want it to be a good experience for everyone so if they thought the best decision was to combine Matthew and Skeet then fine. Again, I also thought the price was reasonable so no complaints there. But I do think they were the main headlines so if people knew the cheapest way to meet them was to buy the duo then people would’ve done so and it would’ve sold out anyway. So it wasn’t the best start to an event.

HOWEVER, there were people sending horrible, nasty and personal comments to staff at Monopoly about all of this and that’s not okay. To express your disappointment was one thing, which I and a lot of others were doing, but do it politely and reasonably and DO NOT slip into someone’s personal DM’s to do it. I don’t think people realise how much work goes into these events and they are doing it for fans benefit so even if decisions are made you don’t agree with you don’t abuse staff like that.

I ended up managing to get a duo ticket on Twickets anyway, a little bit more expensive but I didn’t care and I was looking forward to meeting Matthew & Skeet. This all became a bit of a moot point though as the announcement came through (on my bloody birthday!) that Matthew & Skeet could no longer attend the event and would now be going to the next FTLOH con in April.

Disappointing but you are advised when booking your ticket that guests can do and cancel. I’m glad Sebastian didn’t cancel last year as I would’ve been far more gutted. I also think it was good of Matthew & Skeet to rearrange rather than fully cancel. Guests do have to do this sometimes for a multitude of reason and again this is not Matthew, Skeet or Monopoly Events fault. Lots of people were complaining they couldn’t get refunds on their weekend tickets, their hotels, transport etc. but again, this is in the terms and conditions of your ticket.

I don’t think people realise how much this would screw over Monopoly financially and ruin the event for everyone if they had to refund everyone’s entry tickets just because popular guests have dropped out. Ultimately the venue, other guests, staff etc. all still need paying. Everyone was either refunded or given the opportunity to swap their duo photos to the April event. I thought this was well-handled and again, no one’s fault.

Matthew & Skeet aside, let’s get into the actual event!

Me and the girls travelled up to Manchester on Friday 17^th October after work and made it to Manchester around 8PM. Me and Jess had booked this event together and when we’d told Becca about it she had wanted to come too. Mine and Jess’ hotel was non-refundable by that point so I got in touch with them to ask if we could upgrade to a triple room only to be advised to speak to booking.com so I did only for them to tell me to speak to the hotel so Becca ended up booking her own hotel.

Mine and Jess’ hotel was reasonable, about a ten minute drive away from the BEC arena where the event was held and I was impressed with the room which was a decent size and clean. We got into bed at about 11PM, yapped until midnight and then went to sleep. I’m not sure what happened to me but I woke up at 5AM, went to the bathroom then came back to bed and was suddenly just wide awake. I literally laid there and laid there but could not drift back off. When Jess’ alarm went off at 7AM I’ve never been so relieved to just start the day before.

I’d brought along some pastries so we had a quick breakfast in the room, got ready and then met Becca at the arena for about 8:20AM. The event was advised as starting at 9AM but when we got there the venue was already open so we got our tickets scanned (I’d printed mine and Jess’ tickets whilst Becca had hers on her phone, both were fine) and went in. Our first stop was the various photo opportunities in the hall as it was still relatively quiet so we managed to get all of these done without really having to wait.

These were cute, I was a bit disappointed with the ‘Saw’ bathroom set build LOL but there were some great photo opportunities. It was nice to go with friends this time to take the pictures because I went solo to Liverpool Comic Con and whilst I’m sure someone would’ve taken the pic if I’d asked I wasn’t feeling very confident.

We finished these pretty early then went over into the vendor’s hall which was already a little busy and bear in mind if you go to one of these events it will probably stay busy all weekend. We went for both days and LOTS of stuff sells out so if you see something you want I would recommend getting it immediately. On day one I bought a little Bonnie pin (from Five Nights at Freddy’s) which is super cute then the next day I bought a ‘Trick r Treat’ poster and a ‘The Descent’ poster. Jess got a 3D printed egg from ‘Alien’ with the face hugger crawling out. This was so cute and I was tempted to get one too but when I went back the next day they were sold out!

Becca got quite a bit of stuff, some posters and other things, the main thing I remember was her Ghost Face figure which had cost about £100 but was super cute.

Our first point of call for the day was our Devon Sawa photo op at 10:30AM. With ‘Final Destination: Bloodlines’ coming out this year me and Jess had rewatched all of the ‘Final Destination’ movies. As a teenager I’d watched the first one but had never watched the others and I quickly fell in love with the franchise. Because of this when Devon was announced all three of us wanted our own photo with him. I was expecting him to be about £70/£80 so when his photo went up for £50 that felt like a bargain! He was absolutely lovely, he really pulls you in for a hug and we were all super pleased to have met him.

Once we were done Becca had a photo with the siblings from ‘Terrifier 2’ so we saw her to the queue then me and Jess went off in search of water, we finally located a water refill station at the end of the bar which was really helpful for the rest of the weekend. There was a bit of a queue for the toilets but I didn’t think this was too crazy and staff did come along to tell us there were other, quieter toilets available.

We hadn’t realised but there was no signal in the venue at all so it was a bit of a challenge to locate Becca again – signal hadn’t been a problem at Liverpool Comic Con so I assume it’s a venue thing rather than the sheer volume of people. We had a bit of a gap and we were all hungry so we headed outside where the majority of food vendors were to get an early lunch.

At this point it’s worth mentioning that my feedback would be the venue was very small for the amount of people there and they needed more places to sit. I wish the venue had been bigger to accommodate the food stalls being inside as well as it was pretty cold to sit outside to eat. At Liverpool there had obviously been a large space so I remember a patch of floor left available for people to just sit and chill, there was pretty much nowhere a little away from the crowds at this con to just chill out a little.

Me and Jess shared some Chinese salt and pepper chicken whilst Becca had a halloumi wrap and then we headed back inside. Me and Jess had bought a photo to meet Ted Raimi after really enjoying ‘The Quarry’ so went to his slot at 12:25PM. We’d bought the ticket relatively last minute in respect of everything else but meeting Ted was actually the highlight of my weekend. He was genuinely one of the loveliest guests I’ve ever met, shook both our hands and asked for our names. Just before we left Jess asked if she could have a hug which he agreed so I stood there because I was like ‘well if she’s getting one, I want one!’ and he hugged me too. Genuinely one of the loveliest men I’ve ever met and the absolute highlight of my weekend.

Not long after we had a photo op with Simon Pegg too – we hadn’t bought his photo originally and it had sold out. I like Simon Pegg but not enough to want to buy a ticket however the closer we got the more I kept thinking about it. When me and Jess had been on the train I’d mentioned to her I’d been looking and she said depending on price she would be willing to go halves. So once we were in the hotel we found one on Twickets and the seller was accepting offers. Simon was only there for the Saturday so if the ticket didn’t sell that night it wouldn’t sell at all and the seller would lose money so she accepted our offer and we got to meet him the next day!

As he was only there one day and sold out he was insanely busy but still really lovely, he shook our hands and said hello then posed for the picture. Really nice guy, not much time to chat but there generally isn’t in the photo op’s and I was happy to have met him at the last minute.

Me and Jess then went over to the panels because there were three in a row we wanted to see so we grabbed some chairs to watch Dead Meat’s panel. I don’t know much about Dead Meat, I know we were expecting both James and Chelsea but ultimately only James ended up coming. As I said, don’t know much about them but ended up enjoying the panel actually, it was really interesting and I didn’t realise James had worked so closely with Ice Nine Kills. He was also really enthusiastic about his work and about horror, and I thoroughly enjoyed the panel.

My only criticism would be the one guest who decided it was appropriate to take to the mic and ask if James could sign her labubu. Please do not be that guest. If you want something signing then go to their autograph table like everyone else, the panel is absolutely not the place to do that. You could tell James was put on the spot so agreed but as with everything else if you want a pic or an autograph then you need to pay and do it correctly, not beg at panels.

I feel like it was up to the guy hosting the panels (sorry, didn’t catch his name) to have jumped in and said something but I guess he was put on the spot too. However I do wanna take this opportunity to say I thought generally he was a really good host over the course of the weekend. I mentioned at Liverpool that I prefer fan questions so didn’t really think a host was necessarily needed but I definitely saw the necessity this weekend. Rather than queuing up for questions this time guests could just put their hand up and someone would come to them with the mic. Sometimes this took a minute and for less popular guests sometimes there weren’t as many questions – I thought the guy hosting kept it running seamlessly with no awkward silences and he had a lot of interesting questions at his disposal ready to ask whilst also sitting back and letting the audience ask plenty of questions too.

After the Dead Meat panel we managed to move forward and got some good seats for the rest of the panels that we wanted to watch and Becca came to meet us. We all watched Ted Raimi’s panel and he came across so well, I thought he was so lovely. It was fun to hear about his experience working on ‘The Quarry’ and I’m glad that he seemed to enjoy it. He’s been in loads of movies so his panel was really interesting.

Next up was Devon’s panel which I’d been looking forward to and it did not disappoint. He was obviously asked about ‘Final Destination’ a few times, it was nice to hear him talking about how with every new movie we get to see a new young, talented cast continue the franchise – he spoke highly of every film, including ‘Bloodlines’ which came out this year. He also mentioned he didn’t realise (spoiler alert) that his character was at the end of ‘Final Destination 5’ and he kind of wished he’d been told in advance but he still enjoyed the little twist. His panel was also amazing, he seems really lovely.

The final panel of the day was the ‘Scream’ panel because despite Matthew & Skeet not attending there were still a few ‘Scream’ guests. We’d pre-booked a taxi and with no signal in the venue we couldn’t see whether it was coming or not so we did have to leave early. To be honest I’m not sure what to make of Jamie Kennedy from that panel – that’s all I’ll say.

We popped back to our hotel with Becca because Jess had forgotten to bring her glasses with her and it had been a long day wearing her contact lenses before we set off again to meet our lovely friend Olivia who’s recently gone back to university in Manchester. Seemed like the perfect opportunity for a catch up and it was lovely, we went for dinner and then walked to Odeon to see ‘The Black Phone 2’. Not going to get into my thoughts on that film because that’s not the point of this blog post however it’s a thumbs down from me.

Got back to our hotel quite late and I slept a lot better this time because we’d done so much throughout the day. Stayed asleep all night this time until I heard Jess’ alarm go off – her alarm tone is ‘Ma City’ by BTS. Go and listen to the first five seconds of that song if you’re not familiar with it, it’s literally the most jarring thing to be woken up by ever, I don’t know how she copes. Similar morning of quick hotel room breakfast before taking our luggage down to the hotel to store then headed back to the arena.

We went back into the vendor’s hall for any last minute purchases – I got my posters and we got a couple of other last minute bits and retook some pictures before sitting down for a bit and having a drink. We were pretty tired from the full on day before so Sunday was more of a chill day for us. At 10:30AM I went to get my picture taken with Amie Donald who portrayed M3GAN, she was really sweet and she was wearing her screen-worn M3GAN costume which was really cool.

After that me and the girls had another early lunch outside before heading back inside to watch Amie’s panel. Her accent was interesting and I struggled to place it at first before someone mentioned she was from New Zealand which I hadn’t realised! It was interesting to hear about her experience working on ‘M3GAN’ and her panel was enjoyable.

We had more back-to-back panels because up next was ‘The Descent’ panel which I’d really been looking forward to because I LOVE that film, I had been tempted to get ‘The Descent’ trio photo but ultimately didn’t have enough money. This panel was so interesting though, it’s great to see that they all seem to be genuinely good friends. Shauna MacDonald, Nora-Jane Noone and MyAnna Buring were the guests in attendance at this panel and yeah, it was really interesting because I love this film so much. I can’t believe it’s been 20 years since ‘The Descent’ came out! It was the first horror movie I ever watched at eleven years old so that was really fun.

Stayed in our seats for ‘Terrifier 2’ panel which consisted of Lauren LaVera and Elliott Fullam – I’ve never seen the ‘Terrifier’ films so was there for Becca’s benefit but the panel was actually really good and interesting despite having not seen the movies. Lauren and Elliott seemed really sweet and lovely, and it was interesting hearing about their experience on the movie even though I hadn’t seen it.

Those were the last panels of the day that we’d wanted to catch so we headed outside to do the ScareMaze – we usually do a proper ScareMaze yearly but this year we hadn’t booked one so decided to spend extra to do the one at the con. This was fun but also very steep at £6 for what you ultimately get, I think £3 would’ve been a bit more reasonable for the experience to be honest. Still, it was a bit of fun!

After that we went back into the vendor hall to pick up the spooky cupcakes that we’d purchased earlier and then came out to get a taxi to the train station because we’d done everything we wanted to do so we decided to head back a little earlier ahead of work starting on Monday. This was a good idea because by the time we got home I was able to have a bit of chill/alone time before having an early night after a weekend of hardly sleeping!

My biggest take away from the weekend was that honestly although it was disappointing Matthew & Skeet had to reschedule I actually didn’t feel the loss as much as I thought I would because there was still plenty to do and I still knew a lot of the other guests.

I also thought the organisation was really good – popular guests like Simon Pegg who were sold out had pre-booked timeslots, me and Jess joined the queue at 1:25PM and as I say, this was organised really well and we didn’t have to wait very long to meet him. I think some people had to queue longer for autographs, particularly for Linda Blair, but I thought all my guest photos were pretty well organised.

The only things to improve like I say would’ve been preferably a bigger venue or at least somewhere to sit and eat indoors or just somewhere to sit and have a bit of a break from the crowds for a while. Also working on the issue with signal as this was a problem for vendors sometimes with card machines and also meant splitting from your friends quite difficult. I remember also at Liverpool Comic Con because I was there alone my phone was a bit of a lifeline – I text Jess before my second photo op with Sebastian Stan and her encouragement meant I was brave enough to ask him for a hug.

Overall though another great event ran by Monopoly – I love getting back into Con’s, I only went to London Comic Con (ran by MCM) as a late teen then used to go to a yearly Supernatural Con (ran by Rogue Events) which was on a much smaller scale. Becca’s already booked an entrance ticket to ‘For the Love of Fantasy’ and I’ll be keeping an eye on the Liverpool Comic Con line-ups because I’d love to go back. I was tempted to go in November to meet Brie Larson but I really can’t afford it right now unfortunately.

If you were there let me know your thoughts or if you’ve been to a different Comic Con lately I’d love to know how it went!

21Aug2025

Rating Every Film I’ve Watched in 2025 – Part One

Posted in Movies, Personal, Review, Uncategorized by hozzieb

At the end of every year I write a list of every new film I’ve watched in 2025 and a paragraph on my thoughts about the movie. This year I wanted to include any rewatches and already the list is quite long so I thought I’d split it up into parts throughout the year rather than having one long overwhelming list. So we’ll start with the first 30 movies I either watched for the first time or rewatched this year!

Avengers Assemble (Joss Whedon, 2012)

Rating: 10/10

Nothing like kicking off the New Year with an old favourite. I’ve been rewatching the Marvel films in chronological order and I love this film, it’s the first Marvel film I ever watched and it’s still one of my absolute favourites. Watched it on New Year’s Day and thoroughly enjoyed it all over again.

Knives Out (Rian Johnson, 2019)

Rating: 9/10

Finally got round to watching this film after hearing how good it was. I was convinced to watch it because I absolutely love Chris Evans which unfortunately meant I’ve been getting a lot of clips on TikTok so I had seen some spoilers about the film after avoiding them for so long. I remember going to my friend Hirst’s house a few years ago and she had this film on as background noise as she’d seen it before and enjoyed it but the moment she heard I hadn’t seen it before she quickly turned it off and told me to watch it because it’s so good. And I have to agree, I loved the twists and turns. Amazing!

The Mummy (Stephen Sommers, 1999)

Rating: 8/10

Watched this for the first time – when me and the girls went to Norway we had to get up early of the morning of our flight so we decided on the first night to get some food from the store and have a little movie night in the apartment we were staying in. Nothing says ‘happy winter holiday’ like ‘The Mummy’, right? Becca’s been talking about this film for ages so we finally watched it together and I ended up really enjoying it.

Ice Age (Chris Wedge, 2002)

Rating: 8/10

Now this film made more sense to watch in Norway, we watched it together after a long, cold day of sight-seeing. This film is really good and it was a good rewatch after not seeing it for ages.

Ice Age: The Meltdown (Carlos Saldanha, 2006)

Rating: 7/10

When picking our next movie it made sense to settle on the sequel rather than scrolling through hundreds of movies. Not as good as the first film but still a good movie!

Brother Bear (Aaron Blaise, Robert Walker, 2003)

Rating: 9/10

Unfortunately whilst in Norway I got sick. My friends whacked this film on and I tried to watch with them but I did fall asleep a few times much to their annoyance! From what I did see this is a really cute, emotional film – I need to watch it again when I have a bit more energy!

The Simpsons Movie (David Silverman, 2007)

Rating: 8/10

When this film first came out I watched it A LOT to the point where I got a bit sick of it. But it had been a few years so I decided to give it another go and I think it still holds up – an enjoyable film.

Alien (Ridley Scott, 1979)

Rating: 8/10

Me and Jess watched ‘Alien: Romulus’ last year and also played the game ‘Alien: Isolation’ so we decided to watch all of the ‘Alien’ films. Obviously starting with this one. I ended up really enjoying this, the effects for the time period were insanely good and it got me excited to watch the rest of the ‘Alien’ films.

Prey (Dan Trachtenberg, 2022)

Rating: 7/10

We decided that since we were watching the ‘Alien’ films we decided to include the ‘Predator’ films since there’s obviously some overlap and we decided to watch them in chronological order so we started with ‘Prey’. It wasn’t the best film I’ve ever watched but it was enjoyable and I’m glad we watched it.

Mama (Andy Muschietti, 2013)

Rating: 9/10

A rewatch of one of my old favourites – this will always hold a special place in my heart as it’s the first horror film I ever watched at the cinema when I was slowly becoming a fan of the horror genre. I don’t like the ending but it’s still a really good film, one that I always enjoy watching.

We Live in Time (John Crowley, 2025)

Rating: 9/10

My first cinema trip of the year and God it was good. Florence Pugh you will forever have my heart, you talented angel. It was obviously incredibly sad but still so good. I love that it was told non-linear and just… God, I loved this film.

Predator (John McTiernan, 1987)

Rating: 5/10

Preferred ‘Prey’ in terms of plot but did enjoy this one, the soundtrack was actually iconic. I felt like in ‘Prey’ the vibe was that we should already know plenty about the actual ‘Predator’ so I was looking forward to learning more about it in this film but we didn’t learn as much as I’d hoped. Still enjoyable though!

Thor: The Dark World (Alan Taylor, 2013)

Rating: 6/10

Better than I remembered but still not a film I could get worked up about to be honest. Some funny moments. I’m not really in my Loki era anymore which probably didn’t help!

Final Destination (James Wong, 2000)

Rating: 8/10

Given there was going to be a release of a new ‘Final Destination’ film this year me and Jess decided to rewatch all of the ‘Final Destination’ films – well, she’d seen them all before, I’d only seen the first one. The first film is amazing. I have a fear of flying so the opening disaster always sets me on edge but I love the way it’s done and I love the over the top dramatics of every death. Just an incredible horror film.

Final Destination 2 (David R. Ellis, 2003)

Rating: 8/10

A really good sequel – I loved the opening disaster of the pile up in this one and all the warning signs that she had along the way. I also loved the interlink with the first film and how they had their own theories of what was going on rather than it just being a repeat of the first film. Absolutely amazing sequel.

Predator 2 (Stephen Hopkins, 1991)

Rating: 2/10

I wanted to enjoy this but I just didn’t – I think it was the cop theme, that immediately made me lose interest before we’d really begun because cop movies are not my thing at all. The army doesn’t interest me either which is why I didn’t love the first one as much as ‘Prey’ either. Just not an interesting movie for me.

Final Destination 3 (James Wong, 2006)

Rating: 8/10

One of my favourites from the series actually, Jess loves Mary Elizabeth Winstead so we watched this on Valentine’s Day. I loved the opening disaster on the rollercoaster, I think it’s one of the best, and a lot of the deaths were iconic. I had heard in advance about the sun bed scene and it was just as traumatic as everyone had said. I liked that again they had their own theories and the addition of the photos predicting the deaths was good, this series could easily get repetitive but they put their own twists on each movie which keeps it refreshing.

Alien vs Predator (Paul W. S. Anderson, 2004)

Rating: 7/10

Insane but in a good way. I prefer the ‘Alien’ films so far to ‘Predator’ so it was good to have a combination of both. This film really worked and I enjoyed it.

Captain America: Brave New World (Julius Onah, 2025)

Rating: 8/10

Genuinely feel like the majority of bad reviews on this movie just didn’t want to see Anthony Mackie as Captain America. I also have to say though that I’m sick of people openly discussing movies that have barely been out a day – I remember when ‘Avengers: End Game’ came out the vibe was that you didn’t openly discuss the film for like 4-6 weeks and even then you tagged your spoilers. People will just say anything these days as soon as the film is out and it’s so annoying.

Anyway, my only complaint about this film is how heavily they advertised Red Hulk in the trailers given the majority of the film focuses on whether or not he actually will turn. Other than that though the film was solid, all the bits with Isaiah were so sad. Enjoyable film (though I wish a certain person hadn’t been in it but that’s another discussion).

The Final Destination (David R. Ellis, 2009)

Rating: 4/10

Worst one in the series and I can’t believe they were even considering ending on this film – worst opening disaster and worst plot. The lady in the hair salon was a fun death that kept the suspense building but that was about the only decent bit in the film. It really fell flat and I’m so glad they made another film because this would’ve been such a disappointing ending to a great franchise.

Iron Man 3 (Shane Black, 2013)

Rating: 8/10

The film that fully turned me into a Marvel fan! I was looking forward to rewatching it and I really enjoyed it all over again, an absolutely solid film. Jess said a lot of people don’t like the villain plot twist but I thought it was really good and gave an original slant on the film!

The Monkey (Oz Perkins, 2025)

Rating: 6/10

Going through my films I watched this year and I’m surprised to read that this came out this year, it feels like it came out forever ago. Parts of this were good, I loved the first half of the movie where the twins were good but I felt it went downhill once they were adults. The humour was also good and parts were spooky but it still fell a little flat for me unfortunately.

Final Destination 5 (Steven Quale, 2011)

Rating: 8/10

Here we go – this is everything that ‘The Final Destination’ should’ve been. Another great opening disaster and I loved that again they had their own theory on how to cheat death but it still didn’t work. LOVED the way it came round full circle to the first film. Absolutely amazing and again, I’m so glad they didn’t finish with ‘The Final Destination’.

Alien vs Predator Requiem (Greg Strause, Colin Strause, 2007)

Rating: 6/10

I think in terms of plot I preferred this to the first one but like others I wasn’t a fan of how physically dark it was. You could tell it was a 2000’s film which was fun. I understood the point the directors made which was that monsters are a bit scarier when you can’t fully see them but the sewers scene when the predator and alien were fighting was so dark and also we already know what they look like so… Was made a bit redundant really.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier (Joe Russo, Anthony Russo, 2014)

Rating: 10/10

Upon a rewatch… This film is actually perfect. ‘Captain America: Civil War’ holds a special place in my heart but God this movie is so good! Sebastian Stan deserved an Oscar nomination for this one to be honest. The plot was just so good; everything about it was pure perfection. No notes, no flaws, just a perfect movie.

Guardians of the Galaxy (James Gunn, 2014)

Rating: 7/10

Solid Marvel film – the Guardian films aren’t my favourites (still haven’t watched the third one, I know, I know) but it is enjoyable and I’m glad it did well at the box office and they made more.

Guardians of the Galaxy 2 (James Gunn, 2017)

Rating: 8/10

I prefer the sequel for some reason – maybe it’s because Mantis is introduced, she’s definitely my favourite guardian. I also just love the plot, finding out more about Peter’s past. I also just love Baby Groot so much. Really great film!

Avengers: Age of Ultron (Joss Whedon, 2015)

Rating: 8/10

Actually this was better on a rewatch. I HATE Natasha’s storyline throughout this film which makes it lose points – getting with Bruce, having her be kidnapped because she’s the only woman in the team so of course she does etc. But I do feel like it’s the only Avengers film where we get to see genuine moments of friendship in the team, for example I love the party scene. Love the introduction of Wanda, wish we’d gotten Pietro for a bit longer. Also loved the humour in this one, Steve in particular gets to be quite funny.

Star Wars: A New Hope (George Lucas, 1977)

Rating: 8/10

I finally delved into the Star Wars universe for the first time! Was convinced by Jess after enjoying the ride ‘Star Tours’ at Disneyland Paris so much, it made sense to watch the movies so that next time I went to Disneyland Paris I would actually understand the ride. I’d seen the Family Guy episodes based on the films so it was interesting to see how the film was actually done. Ended up really enjoying it.

Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (Irvin Kershner, 1980)

Rating: 9/10

Was so good to finally watch the iconic film. Enjoyed this one slightly more, was great to have the iconic score and the iconic lines. Really good film.

Star Wars: Return of the Jedi (Richard Marquand, 1983)

Rating: 8/10

This takes me up to 31 films but it made sense to add the last Star Wars film from the original trilogy to this list rather than starting with it on the next one. Another great film, great conclusion to the originals. ‘Empire’ was probably my favourite but this one was still really good and had me hyped to watch the prequels. I’m glad I finally watched them!

There we go, the first 31 films I saw this year. Let me know what films you’ve been watching!

17May2025

Top Ten Favourite Marvel Characters

Posted in Movies, Personal, Uncategorized by hozzieb

So… I’m in my Marvel era at the minute. It’s my current main fandom, I recently got a Stucky tattoo, I went to the Infinity Saga with live orchestra concert, I saw Thunderbolts* three times at the cinema – I’m all about Marvel right now. Therefore I thought I’d write an updated list of my favourite Marvel characters. ‘cos why not? I only wrote about five last time here but decided to up it to ten because I have a lot of favourite characters. These are in no particular order!

Bucky Barnes

Let’s start with the obvious – the man, the myth, the legend, Bucky Barnes himself. He’s a fan favourite for obvious reasons, who doesn’t love a brooding man with a tragic backstory?

Seriously though, Bucky’s been my favourite ever since I went to the ‘Captain America’ triple bill when ‘Captain America: Civil War’ got released at midnight. I was quite late onto the Captain America hype but in my defence I wanted to watch the first two movies but kept getting told they were boring and ooooomg my friends were wrong, the Captain America movies are literally my favourites in the MCU.

I love Bucky Barnes so much that I spent a ridiculous amount of money to meet Sebastian Stan at Liverpool ComicCon last year because since then I’ve become a big fan of Sebastian’s, branching out and watching more of his stuff. So yeah, Bucky Barnes has the number one top spot and was my main reason for being so excited to see Thunderbolts*.

Steve Rogers

Another obvious choice because who doesn’t love Steve Rogers? I have a lot of thoughts and feelings on the way they ended his story in ‘End Game’ because whilst I’m happy they didn’t kill him off and they let him finally live a peaceful life THAT’S how they chose to do it? Really? It also ruins previous moments from the earlier films, like when Steve visits Peggy in ‘The Winter Soldier’ or when Steve kisses Sharon in ‘Civil War’ like it ruins the emotion of his visit knowing that he did live with her the whole time and also, he literally just snogged his niece so like… It’s just weird all around.

But I digress, I love Steve Rogers, I love his backstory and how he always defends what’s right even if it means everyone’s against him. He spit nothing but facts in ‘Civil War’ and his stance made perfect sense after the events of ‘Winter Soldier’.

It’s made me love Chris Evans as well and people being rude about his filmography these days are so rude like films like ‘Knives Out’ and ‘Gifted’ were brilliant, and I really respect that he’s just signing on to projects he wants to do these days.

Yelena Belova

On one hand I’m really salty it took us forever to get a Black Widow movie but on the other hand I’m glad it did because it means we got Florence Pugh in the MCU as the iconic Yelena. I was already hyped for a Black Widow film but by the time it came out I was a firm Florence Pugh fan so I was even more excited. I went to watch the film after the Euro 2020’s final so I was a little tired and I remember enjoying it but I didn’t appreciate the film as much as I should’ve.

I rewatched ‘Black Widow’ the weekend before ‘Thunderbolts*’ came out and I actually think that film was damn near perfect. One of my absolute favourite Marvel films, it’s got everything, it’s so interesting and also so heart-breaking. I was convinced to watch ‘Hawkeye’ because I found out Yelena was in it and ‘Hawkeye’ actually ended up being one of my favourite MCU TV series, it was a lot better than I was expecting and not just because of the addition of Yelena.

No ‘Thunderbolts*’ spoilers here but I’m glad the film mostly focused on Yelena because she’s such an interesting character. I’m hoping we get to see her in many more projects because I just love everything about her.

Natasha Romanoff

People saying they are preferring Yelena to Natasha are really frustrating me – because I understand but Yelena is getting what Scarlett was fighting to get for Natasha. Scarlett literally did her best for Natasha with what she was given and I wish she’d had the opportunity to develop her the way Florence can with Yelena.

With what we did get though I loved Natasha. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I wish they hadn’t introduced the romance storyline with her and Bruce in ‘Age of Ultron’ but at least that died quite quickly. Her ending in ‘End Game’ kills me, like whhhhhy? We needed more Natasha and I’m glad we still got a Black Widow film in the end and that it was perfect.

Wanda Maximoff

I loved Wanda from her first introduction and only grew to love her more. I’m hoping that ‘Multiverse of Madness’ wasn’t her last appearance because if so that would be really poo. I also don’t like the jump they made, like I get she wanted her children after ‘WandaVision’ but like… It felt very sudden?

Speaking of ‘WandaVision’, what an AMAZING series. It definitely takes the top spot of Marvel shows for me, it was incredible – I need to give it a rewatch soon actually. I’m not gonna lie, I don’t really like Vision and I don’t like them together but either way, I love Wanda. I love her arc particularly in ‘Civil War’ where she clearly wants to do the right thing – I’m with Steve, she was just a kid and that damn bomb was gonna go off anyway, she did what she could! Either way people were going to die, that wasn’t her fault!

Peter Parker

I still remember the disappointment when Andrew Garfield wasn’t going to be the Spider-Man who was in the MCU but then being blown away by Tom Holland’s portrayal. His movies are AMAZING, I can’t wait for the next one and ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ was actual perfection. I hate people who describe Tobey and Andrew and all the villains in that film as ‘cameos’, they were all important characters to the plot – the only cameo was Matt Murdock.

I haven’t seen Tobey’s Spider-Man movies but I loved the Andrew Garfield ones and I’ve loved Tom Holland’s Peter ever since he first appeared in ‘Captain America: Civil War’. I’m looking forward to seeing what happens with his character next, the end of ‘No Way Home’ was actually heart-breaking but it’s going to be good to see what they do next.

Mantis

Whilst I enjoyed them I wouldn’t say ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ are my favourite movies (I haven’t watched the third one yet, I’m working through my MCU time order and I’m looking forward to seeing it for the first time). I do like the characters, particularly Drax but even more I do love Mantis which is why I prefer the second film to the first one. I also love the Guardians appearance in ‘Infinity War’, their interactions with Peter, Tony and Dr Strange are actually hilarious.

I’m looking forward to watching the third instalment, I did start watching it on the way home from LA back in 2023 but I was so tired my eyes kept drooping and I’ve heard this film is incredible (I don’t know why I didn’t catch it at the cinema?) so I wanted to be able to pay full attention to it.

Carol Danvers

I’m siiiiiiick of people who love Tony because he’s sarcastic and just says it like it is then criticise and hate on Carol for the exact same things? ‘She’s really cocky’, she’s literally one of the most powerful characters in the MCU so like yeah, okay? And I’m SICK of peoples hate towards Brie, why do people not understand when women are joking? I saw a video of her and Chris Hemsworth and people understood Chris’ joke but not hers and thought she had an attitude, it was so frustrating!

If I had more money I would be so tempted to meet her at Liverpool Comic Con this year but I’m not sure I can justify it with For the Love of Horror as well. But Captain Marvel will always be one of my favourite characters.

Sam Wilson

So… When ‘Captain America: Brave New World’ came out, I didn’t get chance to see it at the cinema on opening weekend, me and Jess waited until the following week for a two for one night. I was not thrilled to see people immediately talking about the film without even tagging spoilers – because to be fair most people talking about ‘Thunderbolts*’ were keen to warn of spoilers, not the case with Sam’s first ‘Captain America’ film. So I tweeted my frustration with this and someone replied to me to say ‘not a spoiler to say the film was shit’.

First of all, clearly not what I was talking about? Second of all, that’s an opinion and a dumb one at that. I don’t think ‘Brave New World’ will ever be my favourite Marvel film but I enjoyed it. Honestly my main gripe is that they showed red Hulk in all the trailers when it happens so late in the film and there’s these teasing moments of ‘will he, won’t he?’ I heard someone say it had been leaked so they felt like they had no choice but to put it in the trailer but like I didn’t see any leaks, I only saw the trailer?

Anyway, Sam has spat nothing but facts across his every appearance in the MCU and I’m so glad the decision was made to give the shield to him and not to Bucky. Don’t get me wrong, I would’ve loved to see Sebastian Stan as Captain America but this definitely felt like the right decision for the way the characters had been written and I’m glad Anthony Mackie is getting the opportunity. I’m hoping that soon people will just accept him as Captain America and he won’t constantly be told he’s ‘not Steve Rogers’. Sam is perfect for the role of Captain America, Steve himself gave him the shield and he’s doing amazing. Case closed!

Ava Starr

To tell you the truth I had forgotten much of ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp’ before I decided to rewatch it ahead of ‘Thunderbolts*’. And I liked Ava immediately, I liked that she wasn’t a full villain, like she was just a girl who was desperate to survive and not be in constant pain anymore. She was willing to go as far as it took but when asked didn’t cross into any irredeemable territory.

I loved her even more in ‘Thunderbolts*’, I loved her sarcasm, I loved her chemistry with Yelena and John, like every scene where Yelena and her were making fun of John was sheer perfection, they had that perfect sibling energy. I’m so excited to see Ava in future movies, I love her character so much.

BONUS: John Walker

When Jess rewatched ‘The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’ I was glad to hear her opinion that John wasn’t the irredeemable asshole that the internet seemed to make him out to be. I also gave it a rewatch before ‘Thunderbolts*’ and whilst I don’t agree with everything he did I also don’t think he was entirely unreasonable? He was under a lot of pressure and the moment everyone keeps coming back to ‘oh he killed a surrendered innocent person’ I mean, no, he didn’t, the guy was a terrorist and he hadn’t surrendered and whilst I don’t agree with the fact John killed him or the way he did it I don’t think it was the worst thing any MCU character has ever done, particularly given the circumstances.

I wasn’t sure about how they’d written John in ‘Thunderbolts*’ at first but the more I’ve heard other John fans talk about it I actually think it was perfect, particularly the tweet that said he was hurting but hiding it behind his bravado. I love John actually, I’m not accepting any criticism about him at this time and I’m looking forward to seeing him in more MCU projects.

There we have it, my top ten (or eleven!) favourite MCU characters – be sure to let me know yours in the comments!

20Apr2025

Plus Size Disneybounds

Posted in Movies, Personal, Travel by hozzieb

So this is going to be a rolling post where I’ll add any more Disneybound’s that I’ll do but I wanted to write a post about the outfits I’ve put together. As a plus size girlie it is a little harder in my opinion to put together a Disneybound but not impossible so I wanted to show off the ones I’ve done as well as any I’m planning. I’m always on the lookout for more ideas so let me know in the comments who you Disneybounded as!

For those of you wondering what Disneybounding is – basically Disney don’t allow adults or children over 12 to dress up in costumes in the parks. Adults and older children wanting to join in on the fun can wear outfits in the theme of their favourite characters as long as it’s not an official costume.

Winnie the Pooh

My first Disneybound was last year when I decided to go as Winnie the Pooh and this has proved to be my most popular Disneybound so far. I decided to go for red overalls and a yellow t-shirt as I thought this would personally be more comfortable for me than a t-shirt and trousers or skirt. I used to have a pair of yellow tights and considered pairing those with the outfit but decided this would be too much and settled on black tights. I was a bit worried I looked more like those cars you played in as a child but with the accessories people could tell who I was. My best friend Jess also Disneybounded as Tigger so together it was more obvious who we were meant to be.

As I said, this has definitely been our most popular Disneybound so far, we got great interactions with Winnie the Pooh and Tigger, and also some other characters. When we went to the Avengers Station and met Black Widow the cast member introducing us described as ‘cute new interns’ because we were the Winnie characters!

Overalls – Vinted
T-shirt – Vinted
Tights – Snag Tights
Disney Ears – Etsy (Beccasmagicalearshop)
Loungefly – EMP and also another one gifted from Jess (I have two!)
Earrings – Etsy (Lornahandmadegoods)
Necklace – Gift from Mum

Loki

When me and Jess booked a longer trip to Disneyland Paris we decided to do a few more characters. Disneyland Paris has Avengers Campus, we were both booked in to the Marvel hotel restaurant and we like the movies so decided to do a Marvel Disneybound whilst we were there. Jess settled on her favourite character Scarlet Witch and I chose Loki – not my favourite character anymore but a character I really liked. These were probably my favourite Disneybound’s of ours but they got the least amount of reaction sadly!

Dress – SHEIN
Tights – Snag Tights
Sleeves – SHEIN
Harness – SHEIN
Ears – Etsy (TinksImaginEars)
Loungefly – Vinted
Earrings – Etsy (SecretlyBookish)

Darth Vader

Now I’m not really a Star Wars girly and the Star Wars section at Disneyland Paris isn’t exactly massive but Jess loves The Mandalorian and was going to dress as him. I hadn’t seen any of the Star Wars films at the time (though me and Jess are working through them at the minute and I definitely think I’m becoming a Star Wars girly) and was tempted to do something different but she’d dressed as Tigger to match my Winnie the Pooh Disneybound so I decided to match her with the Star Wars theme. I settled on Darth Vader because we’d met him and the Mandalorian on our last trip and we were likely to again (which we did!) and since he wears a lot of black and I already own a lot of black clothes it seemed like a relatively easy option.

This was probably the first outfit where I kind of already had the dress and focused more on just adding accessories rather than putting together a whole outfit. I also went for cheaper options as I wasn’t a Star Wars fan at the time so for example instead of forking out for a Loungefly I just got a black backpack and added Star Wars keyrings to it.

Dress – Killstar
Tights – Snag
Backpack – Primark
Keyrings – Etsy (KeyringKrew and DarkHex)
Ears – Etsy (KEHBoutiqueStore)
Earrings – Etsy (GeekGoddessUK)

Bucky Barnes

Given that Bucky is my favourite Marvel character of all time and me and Jess were staying in the Marvel hotel it made absolute sense for me to swap out my Loki Disneybound for a Bucky one. In fact I did two Marvel Disneybound’s on my June 2025 trip but I’ll get to the other one later! As I said to Jess, I had to be Bucky. So whilst Jess Disneybounded as The Mandalorian again I went for my Bucky Disneybound.

I got so many compliments on this Disneybound, way more than the Loki one, and also had a great interaction with Thor because of it. I also love that I met Captain America dressed as Bucky, it made for such a good picture! This is probably one of my most favourite Disneybound’s that I’ve ever done, I love it.

Dress: Etsy (BeBaGo)
Tights: Snag
Dog Tags: Amazon
Ears: Etsy (EarAllAboutIt)
Earrings: Etsy (Bingeworthycrafts)
Loungefly: Vinted

Princess Aurora

Me and Jess previously booked the character breakfast at Disneyland Paris so on our June ’25 trip we decided we would swap to the Princess breakfast. As we were also having a summer trip we decided to retire our Winnie and Tigger Disneybound’s for this trip and go as the princesses instead. Jess settled on Rapunzel so I went for Aurora as the colours would compliment each other.

Honestly, I don’t think I was very obviously Aurora, I didn’t really have the money or time to get loads of accessories but I still love the cutesy vibe of these outfits.

It was also a great talking point with the princesses at breakfast. I wish I could’ve worn some cute shoes to go with it but we did 30,000 steps on that particular day so I’m glad we were wearing comfortable shoes!

Dress: SHEIN
Ears: Claires
Necklace: Harry Potter Shop at Platform 9 3/4
Tights: Snag Tights

Captain America

I just loved my Bucky dress so much and I also really love Captain America so I just figured, why not? Ironically during my June ’25 trip I met Steve on Sunday and Monday but not on Tuesday when I was actually wearing his outfit! There’s always next time I guess!

This was another outfit that got us great interactions. Jess rewore her Scarlet Witch whilst I wore this one and I feel like they complimented each other better than when I was dressed as Loki. We got an amazing interaction with a cast member working on Star Tours who loved our outfits and also the lovely cast member who saw our outfits and us trying to meet Star-Lord and helped us get a picture even though he was leaving. I wanted Mickey ears for this one but our next planned Disney trip (at the moment anyway) is in Florida which doesn’t really have much Marvel theme as it’s all at Universal Studios so I decided to save the money… However if we go back to Disneyland Paris I might buy some!

Dress – Etsy (BeBaGo)
Earrings – Etsy (Bingeworthycrafts)
Tights – Snag Tights
Backpack – Vinted (Discovered it was a fake loungefly as it melted in the hot sun!)

So that’s six so far, I already have another new one planned for our Florida trip and I’m sure I’ll have plenty more. It’ll be interesting planning some for Florida as me and Jess are trying to think about the individual parks that we don’t have at Paris for example Animal Kingdom. I’ll keep this post updated!

Tips

Pick comfort over style. There are a few outfits where I’d love to wear boots instead of converse but given I generally do over 20,000 steps a day whilst at Disneyland it’s better to go for something comfortable rather than something that will look good.

If you’re plus size like me don’t be afraid to go for characters who aren’t plus size – let’s face it, our options for plus size characters are pretty limited so don’t be afraid to pick someone who isn’t plus size and tailor the outfit to suit you. There’s literally no right or wrong when Disneybounding, it’s not meant to be perfect.

Accessories go a long way when Disneybounding so don’t be afraid to use clothes you already have and just accessorise them a little bit! If you’re crafty then it can be good to look into making your own accessories like Mickey ears – sadly I’m not crafty in the slightest, my writing is the closest I get to creativity, crafts are just not for me. When my friend Jess was Disneybounding though she wasn’t afraid to get creative, for example painting her trousers for her Scarlet Witch Disneybound – she’s good with things like that!

If you want to go for a character that’s less easily recognised don’t be put off – it’ll make any interactions that you do get worth it. I was in my Winnie the Pooh Disneybound and got a great interaction with Clarabelle during the parade ‘cos she pointed out we were wearing similar colours which obviously wasn’t my intention but a great interaction nonetheless!

Bare in mind the weather when visiting – for example my Winnie the Pooh Disneybound was perfect for Disneyland Paris in March and October but wouldn’t be perfect for America, I would need to redo it in a summer style. Similarly if you’re visiting Disneyland Paris in Winter you’re going to want to account for that.

Let me know any Disneybound’s you’ve done and if you have any ideas for some! As I said, this post will get updated with any new Disneybound’s that I do.

26Feb2025

The Marvel Cinematic Universe Tag

Posted in Movies, Review, Tag, Uncategorized by hozzieb

I found this tag back from 2019 and wanted to do it – it’s been a long time since I wrote a Marvel themed post and I’m in the midst of rewatching the Marvel films in chronological order at the minute so I just figured why not!

1. How were you introduced into the MCU fandom?

I’m not sure why because I wasn’t even really a fan of superhero films at the time, let alone a Marvel fan, but I went to the cinema to watch ‘Avengers Assemble’ when it came out. To be fair a lot of people I knew at school were going and I think I got invited by a friend. I ended up enjoying it and I think I saw it twice in the cinema. When ‘Iron Man 3’ came out I wanted to watch it but hadn’t seen the first two so was a bit worried but a girl at school reassured me as long as you had watched ‘Avengers Assemble’ you would be able to keep up – this is the film that converted me into a proper Marvel fan and convinced me to start watching the other films.

Still remember going to buy the first ‘Iron Man’ DVD at hmv because I wanted to get to know the other films better and the man serving me went “For Robert Downey Jr or for the comics?” and neither of those answers was right so I had to say RDJ EVEN THOUGH THE ANSWER WAS I JUST WANTED TO ENJOY THE MOVIES! I would say that now but I was only a teenager at the time.

2. What’s your favourite Marvel film?

It has to be ‘Captain America: Civil War’. I think I watched that about eight times at the cinema. I went to a convention one weekend and the hotel was near a new cinema so on the Friday when registration had finished I went and watched ‘Civil War’ at the cinema and then on the Monday before I went home I went and watched it again!

I just loved it, I loved seeing the tension rising between the two groups, characters meeting that hadn’t met previously and also the introduction of new characters like Tom Holland’s Spider-Man debut. It’s definitely the Marvel film I’ve watched the most and it’s just perfect to me, I doubt anything will ever top it.

In terms of actual experience at the cinema I’m torn between ‘Avengers: End Game’ and ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’. I went to the midnight screening of ‘End Game’ which was obviously full of Marvel fans and I loved every little reaction to everything – especially the portals scene but also when we found out Captain America could lift Thor’s hammer. Amazing.

Seeing everyone’s reactions to Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire making confirmed appearances in ‘No Way Home’ was amazing as well but I also saw that movie in 4DX and I swear they’d amped it up and watching my friend Hirst get thrown around in her seat like a ragdoll was actually hilarious, I barely saw the first ten minutes of the film because I was sobbing from laughing so hard. I’d watched ‘End Game’ in 4DX but it definitely felt more intense at ‘No Way Home’!

3. Top favourite Marvel character?

Bucky Barnes – all the girlies on TikTok who are like ‘he’s my comfort character even though he’s never known a day of comfort in his life’, I really felt that. Over the years I’d say it’s gone back and forth between Bucky and Loki but Bucky will probably remain in the top spot now – I’m fairly confident!

It’s really funny because in November of 2024 I saw Sebastian Stan was going to ‘Liverpool Comic Con’ and because I’m such a big fan I forked out £200 to get a photo with him and then forked out a further £200 the next day to get another one. On our way back from Norway in January 2025 Jess found an old group chat on Facebook messenger when we were still quite new Marvel fans and she had put ‘well the guy who plays Bucky is kinda hot’ and I replied ‘he’s okay’ – HE’S OKAY!?

In my defence, I hadn’t really watched the Captain America films at the time and I had expressed an interest in them but Jess and Hirst had told me they were ‘boring’ so I didn’t bother. When we saw ‘Captain America: Civil War’ we went to a triple bill of the Captain America movies watching the new one at midnight and I loved the movies and instantly fell in love with Bucky so there we go!

We were also comparing favourite characters in that old group chat and I had chosen Clint and Bruce Banner at the time for some reason? That makes me feel physically ill.

I also have a soft spot for Yelena, I’m so glad Florence Pugh is now an MCU girlie. I literally wasn’t going to watch the ‘Hawkeye’ series but was convinced when I knew Yelena would be in it and actually ‘Hawkeye’ ended up being one of my favourite Marvel TV series, I thought it was really good.

4. If you were transported into the MCU and had to trade places with one of the superheroes, who would you choose?

Assuming I got their abilities I’d like to be Scarlet Witch, she’s powerful and gets to hang out with the main avengers. Vision would have to stay away from me though, I’m not about that. We also wouldn’t have to worry about the events of ‘WandaVision’ or ‘Dr Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’ because no way am I going on a rampage for Vision or any children.

Another fun fact for you all when I went to see ‘Dr Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’ I went to watch it in IMAX 3D. I had some 3D glasses with me and asked the guy at the counter if they’d be okay and he assured me yes. I thought the new ‘Avatar’ trailer looked a bit weird but decided that was the directors ‘vision’. It wasn’t until the movie started and I couldn’t understand the subtitles from the first scene that I realised the guy was wrong and I had to leave the movie to ask for IMAX 3D glasses!

5. What are some of your favourite quotes from the films?

I remember watching ‘Avengers Assemble’ at Becca’s house one afternoon and finding it really funny when Tony said ‘doth Mother know you weareth her drapes?’ I’m sure I have loads more, there were so many funny moments in ‘Avengers: Infinity War’, especially the entire first interaction between Tony, Peter and the Guardians. I also saw a ‘Steve Rogers core’ video on TikTok the other day and I’d forgotten how many funny lines he had in ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’, I can’t wait for that film to come up on my Marvel chronological rewatch – I didn’t love aspects of that film but I am really looking forward to a rewatch.

I also have ‘I’m With You Till the End of the Line’ tattooed on my arm now so I guess that’s a favourite quote!

6. Which crew would you want to be part of the most: Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy, or Revengers?

It’s gotta be the Avengers, I’m sorry but they have the most iconic characters. Otherwise it would be quite cool to hang with the guardians as well.

7. Favourite and least favourite ship?

I hated Bruce and Nat and I’m so glad that was nipped in the bud after one film to be honest. Everyone on TikTok keeps talking about how we could now get WinterWidow through Bucky and Yelena and I’m really hoping we don’t – I wouldn’t have minded Bucky with Nat but the thought of him being with Yelena gives me the ick, I want them to have more of a brother/sister type relationship.

I’ve never really been a big shipper but I do like ‘Stucky’ now (Steve and Bucky) so the end of ‘Avengers: End Game’ actually kills me because whilst I do agree that Steve finally deserved some peace I’m so mad that he left Bucky behind for some girl he barely knew for five minutes. Like Bucky literally had no one and it’s great that he became friends with Sam, I love that friendship so much, but like seriously!? What happened to the end of the line bro!?

I thought Nat had great chemistry with Clint and with Steve so to suddenly pair her with Bruce in ‘Age of Ultron’ was such a strange decision, I really didn’t see it.

8. Favourite and least favourite villain?

As the obvious answer Loki is my favourite villain, he’s so iconic but I do think he went beyond being a villain. I loved Thanos as a character, ‘Infinity War’ and ‘End Game’ were both such good movies. Obviously don’t agree with his actions but loved the actual character. I’m actually not sure who my least favourite is, maybe I’ll have a more definitive answer once I’ve finished my rewatch of all the films.Maybe literally anyone from Hydra – I recently read the ‘Winter Soldier: Cold Front’ book by Mackenzi Lee and literally nothing could make me like Rostova, I’m sorry, girl can meet me in Hell as far as I’m concerned.

9. Unpopular MCU opinion?

Maybe not unpopular depending on who you’re talking to but ‘Captain Marvel’ was an amazing film and Brie Larson does an amazing job of portraying Carol Denvers – Carol isn’t even that different to Tony so everyone saying she’s too ‘cocky’ to be likeable whilst fangirling over Tony are so annoying. I also loved the more light-hearted phase of the MCU, the first two ‘Thor’ movies compared to ‘Thor: Ragnarok’ were just not it in my opinion. Although to be fair ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’ wasn’t particularly my favourite either.

I also think people complaining that fans only want cameos these days isn’t entirely fair, especially when they bring up ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ – the only cameo in that film was Matt Murdock, Andrew and Tobey’s Spider-Man’s were actually kinda important to the plot. Cameos like Bucky in ‘Captain America: Brave New World’ also make sense because why wouldn’t Bucky show up for his friend like that?

10. What’s your favourite Stan Lee cameo scene?

I love his cameo in ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’, that’s the most iconic in my opinion. Like I said, not my favourite movie, but I did love his cameo.

My least favourite is probably his in ‘Captain America: Civil War’ because someone pointed out his cameo was all about Tony in a Captain America film? And then that irritated me haha!

There we have it, the MCU tag! Catch me counting down the days until ‘Thunderbolts*’ comes out because I’m so excited!

2Jan2025

Rating Every Film I Watched in 2024

Posted in Movies, Personal, Review, Uncategorized by hozzieb

I’ve been keeping track of every film I watched this year and thought I’d give them a rating – to confirm, this list does not include any films that I rewatched but does include films that weren’t released this year but I watched for the first time. I’m not gonna go into too much detail otherwise this would be the longest post ever but a rating and quick overview of each film.

Edward Scissorhands (Tim Burton, 1990)

Rating: 8/10

I know, I know, I’m very late to be watching Edward Scissorhands for the first time – me and the girls went to watch the Edward Scissorhands ballet at Birmingham Hippodrome and I confessed I hadn’t seen the movie so on Valentine’s Day me and Jess sat down and she made me watch it for the first time. I ended up enjoying it – not one I’d watch all the time but it made the ballet make more sense.

Imaginary (Jeff Wadlow, 2024)

Rating: 6/10

Originally I gave this film an eight but after thinking about it a bit more I think a six is more appropriate. I just feel like there was more they could’ve done with this whole concept and it wasn’t that memorable. Jess didn’t like it and thought it was very similar to Coraline which I suppose it was.

Damsel (Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, 2024)

Rating: 9/10

I LOVED this film. I love Millie Bobby Brown, I think she’s fabulous and I loved the whole concept for the film. This is one that I would absolutely watch again, I really enjoyed it.

Scream (Wes Craven, 1996)

Rating: 8/10

For someone who loves horror as much as me it does seem pretty criminal that I hadn’t seen Scream earlier. I remember trying to watch it a few years ago and switching it off but after seeing everyone talk about the franchise I decided to give it another try when I spotted the DVD in a charity shop. Unfortunately the DVD put the film in a teeny tiny box which wasn’t the best way to watch it but I did end up enjoying it. I absolutely love Matthew Lillard which definitely helped.

Abigail (Tyler Gillett, Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, 2024)

Rating: 8/10

I loved this film but I do feel like they should’ve kept it hidden that she was a vampire – in the film there was A LOT of build-up to get to that reveal so it seems strange that we already knew this going in. I think there was definitely an element of trying to cash in on the M3GAN success and don’t get me wrong, the film was definitely still good, I just wish they’d kept it a secret in the trailer.

Alisha Weir was absolutely perfect as Abigail, she’s an amazing little actress. I loved Sammy and Peter as characters but really struggled to warm to Joey – she was just as bad as the rest of them and the fact we were meant to feel sympathy for her throughout because ‘oh she’s doing this for sympathetic reasons’. She still chose to kidnap a kid but then acted like she was better than everyone else. Didn’t like her at all. Still an amazing film though.

Kung Fu Panda 4 (Mike Mitchell, 2024)

Rating: 7/10

This is one of those films that I wouldn’t have gone to see (I’m pretty sure I haven’t seen any of the other sequels) and I only went because I was looking after my brother and one of our things to do is go to the cinema and this was showing. It actually ended up being pretty decent, I was prepared to just sit there and have a nap if it was boring but it kept my attention and I ended up enjoying it.

The Garfield Movie (Mark Dindal, 2024)

Rating: 5/10

Another one that I only watched because I was looking after Ian. I’ve never been the biggest Garfield fan but I did vaguely enjoy this at the time however it was relatively forgettable. I’ve been tracking my movies this year and I wrote in my comments box ‘I thought the plot twist with the Dad was pretty good’ but I’ve already forgotten what that was a reference to so it can’t have been that exciting after all. Decent film at the time but relatively forgettable.

Snowpiercer (Bong Joon-ho, 2013)

Rating: 8/10

I’d seen the trailer for this film a few years ago and I went to watch it on Netflix only to end up accidentally watching the TV series – I’d enjoyed it but I never finished watching it. However me and Jess both wanted to watch the movie so we decided to give it a go this year. I enjoyed it – probably not one I could watch again and again but it was interesting. I explained the concept to my Mom who decided that she wouldn’t mind watching this film which surprised me. As expected it wasn’t her cup of tea but I thought it was enjoyable!

Evil Dead (Fede Alvarez, 2013)

Rating: 9/10

It’s funny, I first started getting into horror around 2013 and I remember because I went to watch ‘Mama’ at the cinema, the first proper horror film I ever saw at the cinema and they played the trailer for this film and since I was at the start of my horror era I remember thinking ‘not for me, that’d be too intense’ so I didn’t go and watch it. Jess had seen the sequel ‘Evil Dead Rise’ but neither of us had seen this one so we decided to give it a go.

I’m definitely glad I waited until now when I’m more acquainted with horror films; I wouldn’t have coped back then. I loved this film now though, one of the scariest I’ve ever seen. Some of the characters weren’t that likeable but generally I thought it was a decent horror.

Let Me In (Matt Reeves, 2010)

Rating: 7/10

Me and Jess were dog-sitting for my sister and we decided to watch this film for some reason, not really sure why. I enjoyed it, I think it was a bit too ‘artsy’ for me to be on my favourite films but I did really enjoy it.

Evil Dead Rise (Lee Cronin, 2023)

Rating: 9/10

Preferred the first film but the sequel was still good. We did a walk through for this film at Universal Studios Hollywood last year and Jess raved about how good it was so I was excited to see the film it was based on. The setting for the first one was better but I preferred the characters in this one, it felt like we had more time to get to know them before everything kicked off. Still a really good, scary film.

The Watched (Ishana Night Shyamalan, 2024)

Rating: 7/10

I really, really loved the idea for this film but I do think it could’ve been executed better. I thought the editing was really weird and choppy, like we’d be watching something and then it would suddenly, almost randomly cut to ages later. I’ve read that the book was really good so I might give that a go but this won’t be a repeat watch for me.

The Evil Dead (Sam Raimi, 1981)

Rating: 6/10

After enjoying the remake so much me and Jess decided to give the original a go – I definitely preferred the remake. I get that this is of it’s time but the make-up was horrendous. The flesh melting scenes were also horrific. Some good moments and a scary film for it’s time but not one of my favourites.

Inside Out 2 (Kelsey Mann, 2024)

Rating: 9/10

Inside Out is one of my favourite Disney films so I was really excited for the sequel. Not as good as the original film but still enjoyable. I loved all the new elements in this film and I also loved that Joy had clearly learnt her lesson from the first film but she still had a lesson to learn in this film. A really great concept and it was interesting to see Riley as a teenager and I’m glad they didn’t just go down the romance route for a teen, like she actually had an interesting story.

Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin (William Eubank, 2021)

Rating: 6/10

I think this film was okay actually I just wish it hadn’t been linked to the Paranormal Activity franchise – I love the Paranormal Activity films and this didn’t really seem to link in to them at all? Like, even ‘The Marked Ones’ which was a spin-off had tie-in’s back to the main series, this had nothing to do with any of the other films? It felt more connected to ‘Devil’s Due’ than Paranormal Activity. Otherwise it would’ve been a fairly decent film if it wasn’t connected to the franchise.

Bodies Bodies Bodies (Halina Reijn, 2022)

Rating: 10/10

I had meant to watch this at the cinema when it came out but unfortunately missed it for some reason. My friend watched it on the plane to America last year and told me she hadn’t particularly enjoyed it but when I spotted this on Netflix earlier this year I decided to give it a go. I ended up really enjoying it actually; I thought this film was iconic. Unfortunately I’d already the plot so knew how it ended; I wish I hadn’t known because I loved it. I would really recommend this one, I loved it.

Halloweentown (Duwayne Dunham, 1998)

Rating: 6/10

This one is a bit random but me and the girls decided to celebrate Summerween this year after seeing the TikTok trend and we all put films into a random generator. This was Hirst’s choice and it came up first. I loved the aesthetic of it but wasn’t as keen on the plot – I thought it was being hinted that the older sister had missed her opportunity to be a witch whereas her younger sister would still have a chance but no. A cute film but not one I’d watch every Halloween.

The Hills Have Eyes (Alexandre Aja, 2006)

Rating: 8/10

This was one of the films Becca put in for Summerween and it came up on the generator next. I was a bit worried about this one when it got picked but I ended up enjoying it more than I thought I would and I’m hoping we’ll all sit down to watch the sequel together at one point. It’s not one I could watch over and over again but I did enjoy it at the time.

Trick r Treat (Michael Dougherty, 2007)

Rating: 9/10

This was my pick for Summerween and it was the last film of the day that we watched it. I had been wanting to watch this for ages and I’m glad I watched it with the girls for my first time because it’s absolutely unhinged and I love it. I loved the intertwining stories and that there’s so much to look out for. Becca got me the DVD of this for my birthday because I enjoyed it so much so it’ll definitely be a repeat rewatch for me.

Trap (M. Night Shyamalan, 2024)

Rating: 4/10

This dragged on a bit too long and got a bit too ridiculous. I love an M Night Shyamalan movie because I love a good plot twist but this was just… Weird. Like the concept was interesting I guess but then it just kept going on and on and it got a bit stupid. Also I feel like the killer wasn’t even that smart it was just that everyone he encountered happened to be a moron, y’know?

Deadpool & Wolverine (Shawn Levy, 2024)

Rating: 8/10

Okay I loved this movie but seriously, what the fuck happened to spoiler etiquette? Fans talking about it openly less than a week after the film has been out is annoying but kind of understandable, why were major news networks posting articles about cameos and other spoilers in the film so quickly though? Give us a chance to watch the fucking film? Other than that, I really enjoyed this. Deadpool isn’t my favourite superhero and I’m not really an X-Men fan but I still really liked this.

Alien Romulus (Fede Alvarez, 2024)

I’d never seen an ‘Alien’ film before and even though the trailer for this looks decent I probably wouldn’t have bothered until Jess asked me if I’d come with her and I agreed. I actually ended up really enjoying it and it’s made me want to watch the original Alien films (paired with the fact me and Jess also played ‘Alien: Isolation’ this year). On one of my dating profiles my question is what’s your favourite horror movie and I always raised an eye-brow when people said Alien because I thought it was more sci-fi but I now see it’s definitely in the horror genre. A good watch!

Afraid (Chris Weitz, 2024)

Rating: 3/10

Not a fan of this one. I was excited to watch it but I didn’t really see the point and felt like it didn’t really go anywhere. It had a great cast so it’s a shame but yeah, not a repeat watch for me.

Shaun of the Dead (Edgar Wright, 2004)

Rating: 7/10

This year me and Jess started keeping a list of films we wanted to watch and whenever we want to watch a film now we look at the list and one of us picks two films and the other picks one of the two films. Jess suggested this film and another one so I picked this one. I wasn’t sure it would be my cup of tea but I ended up enjoying it. The scene where Shaun walks to the shop without noticing any of the zombies or creepy things going on was very much something I’d do if I had my headphones on.

Speak No Evil (James Watkins, 2024)

Rating: 8/10

I thought this was really good – probably not one I could watch again and again but I still really enjoyed it. James McAvoy was incredible, what an amazing performance. I predicted some things that would happen but not everything. I loved the tension throughout the film and how it wasn’t always outright scary but it just kept up a creepy, tense atmosphere throughout. This is another one where I feel like they gave away a bit too much in the trailer but it was still really good.

A Different Man (Aaron Schimberg, 2024)

Rating: 8/10

Watched this purely for Sebastian Stan but ended up really enjoying it – it felt a bit long but it was still good and I loved the overall message. Sebastian Stan literally deserves all the awards and Adam Pearson was also incredible. Went to watch it opening night, the night before I went to Disneyland with Jess as I was worried about missing it and I’m glad that I caught it.

Woman of the Hour (Anna Kendrick, 2024)

Rating: 9/10

I hadn’t seen much about this movie but Jess suggested we watch it on Halloween and I ended up really enjoying it. I can’t believe it’s based on a true story – I know obviously the film was exaggerated but even so, that’s crazy. Anna Kendrick was fabulous and I feel like she did the story justice. Daniel Zovatto also played the part perfectly, what an amazing actor.

Creep (Patrick Brice, 2014)

Rating: 8/10

Jess also suggested this for Halloween because it’s not too long of a film. Once we finished it I wasn’t sure what to think but the more I’ve thought about this film the more I think I quite liked it. It’s a little bit insane; some parts are just absolutely crazy whilst some parts were very creepy. I struggled to have sympathy for the main character but ultimately did still really enjoy it.

Heretic (Scott Beck, Bryan Woods, 2024)

Rating: 4/10

The more I thought about this film afterwards the more I don’t think I liked it. The acting was absolutely incredible, I loved Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East but the actual plot fell a bit flat for me. The part where they had to choose between two doors was interesting and I kind of wish it had been a bit more of a maze and puzzle throughout his house. It felt like a lot of talking and not much action and I don’t mind talking but… I don’t know, it just didn’t really go anywhere for me?

The Wild Robot (Chris Sanders, 2024)

Rating: 8/10

I thought the trailer for this looked good but probably wouldn’t have bothered if I hadn’t been looking after my brother. I took him to watch it and ended up really enjoying it. It was really cute and I’ve just realised what a good cast it had. Probably not one I would watch again and again and again but it was definitely worth a watch.

Creep 2 (Patrick Brice, 2017)

Rating: 2/10

After enjoying the first film so much me and Jess decided to sit down and watch the sequel. Now I completely respect that they didn’t want to make a repeat of the first film so they switched up the plot but this… Just wasn’t good. This was weird but not in the good way that the first film had been. I will happily rewatch the first film but not this one. It was such a letdown.

Wicked (John M. Chu, 2024)

Rating: 8/10

Hearing everyone’s reaction to this film was interesting because a lot of people I worked with didn’t realise this film was only part one. I do think the advertising for this film was weird as they didn’t outright advertise it as only Part One and they didn’t even really advertise that it was a musical.

When I first heard Wicked was being made into a movie I wasn’t ecstatic and I was doubtful as the cast got revealed, particularly Ariana Grande as Glinda. I couldn’t have been more wrong, she was literally perfect for the part and I loved the film. Everything about it was incredible and I’m looking forward to part two.

There we have it, every film I watched in 2024! Let me know any films that you watched, your opinions on the ones I watched or any that you think I missed.

14Nov2024

Liverpool Comic Con Saturday 9th November – Sunday 10th November

Posted in Personal, Travel, Uncategorized by hozzieb

Don’t ask me why but my love for Sebastian Stan has returned at full force this year – don’t get me wrong, I’ve always been a big fan but this year he’s definitely gone back to the top of my list and on a whim back in August I decided to google if he’s doing any UK Comic Con’s, not really expecting to find anything… Only to discover he was planning to attend Comic Con Liverpool in November.

I booked my ticket for the con immediately and was debating whether to book Sebastian’s photo immediately with money from my savings or wait until pay day when I noticed he had a deposit scheme so I signed up for that – honestly I kinda regret it because of the stress it caused me but ultimately I did get it paid off and I got my e-ticket.

As we got closer to the con I decided to also meet Elliot Page because ‘The Umbrella Academy’ is one of my favourite TV shows (not finished the most recent season yet) and I also love the film ‘Juno’ and I’ve played the game ‘Beyond: Two Souls’ and what if he doesn’t get announced again? I looked at a few other guests but with Christmas coming up and other things I’ve got going on I’m not swimming in money at the minute so I decided to stick with Sebastian and Elliot.

The day before the con I had Friday 8^th November off work and spent the entire morning in the hairdressers. I haven’t been to the hairdressers for literal years because I hate going – I used to go after school as a teenager and because my hairs so thick I would be there until after the salon had closed. I also can’t afford to go that often so I often go for home hair dyes but I can’t do it myself and the timing meant I couldn’t really ask anyone to do it for me so I bit the bullet and made an appointment. It cost me frickin’ £197 but to be 100% fair I was really impressed with the hairdressers, they were really good and I was really impressed with the end result. The colour was meant to be purple and it ended up coming out more blue but I still thought it was really nice. It took four hours which in the grand scheme of things wasn’t too bad.

I went home, finished packing, ran some last minute errands and then caught the train to Liverpool. My connection in Wolverhampton was cancelled so I had to wait a bit longer but this wasn’t too bad and soon I was in Liverpool and on my way to my hostel.

Unfortunately every hotel I looked at in Liverpool for that weekend was stupidly expensive but I managed to find a hostel for £70 for two nights which compared to the £200+ that most hotels were asking for this seemed incredibly reasonable. I don’t love staying in hostels but I don’t mind them too much. I thought this one was really good because it was single beds instead of bunk beds and the room was a good size. It was a four bed female dorm and there were three of us in there in total. The other girls were nice enough and we mostly kept to ourselves – I’m not a very sociable person haha.

Didn’t have the best night’s sleep as there was a bar right outside the hostel although the noise stopped at around 1AM which I thought was reasonable for a Friday night but then one of the other girls fell asleep and I discovered she was a loud snorer. Luckily I had my sleep headphones with me and that’s the risk you take when you book a hostel I guess!

Up early the next day and set off for the Exhibition Centre, it was about a 20-30 minute straight-forward walk away. I had considered doing cosplay because it is on my bucket list to cosplay at a Comic Con event and I nearly packed my Kara outfit but chickened out whilst I was packing. I’d tried that on and my Sailor Moon outfit and just had a bit of low confidence so decided not to bother – maybe I’ll have to put an outfit together for if I go to any next year!

I’d heard security could sometimes be unfair and not always follow the rules laid out by Monopoly Events but they were fair to me and soon I had my ticket scanned, got my wristband and was heading into the event.

It’s been a LONG time since I went to a proper Comic Con – the only one was with Jess at London Comic Con and we would’ve been late teens or early twenties. I used to go to a yearly Supernatural convention but that was held in a hotel and the vibe was very different from a massive Comic Con. So walking through the doors at first is a bit overwhelming. I looked around the stalls but then decided to familiarise myself with the layout and figure out where my photo op’s later in the day were going to be so I wouldn’t get stressed out.

It was split across two buildings and there was a one way system in place so you had to go outside to get to the other building – after about an hour or so I’d figure out where both my photo op’s were going to be and then I started to relax. I tend to be a worrier but rest assured that if you are a bit lost there are plenty of staff to ask who’ll be happy to point you in the right direction.

I’m not gonna lie ‘cos I was so out of the swing of things I feel like my first day kind of disappeared. Also I was anxious because due to me using the deposit scheme I didn’t get emailed to book onto a timeslot for Sebastian’s photos so by the time I’d sorted it and finally got the link I could only book onto his last session at 4:40PM which left a lot of time for me to feel nervous! You only pre-book for the bigger headlining guests and then for the others you pick which slot suits you best – Elliot had one at 1:40PM and one at 5:10PM so I decided to go for the one at 1:40PM to save me stressing.

I looked round the stalls and found myself some cute bead bracelets and bought one that said ‘Winter Soldier’ and one that said ‘Captain America’, I’d been meaning to buy some from etsy before I came to the con but just ran out of time so I was pleased to find some. I also found a cute necklace but found the seller a bit intimidating due to the anxiety I was feeling so I left it and decided to buy it the following day (and then it had sold out so lesson learnt I guess!).

I went upstairs to see what video games they had in that area, they had some retro ones which I played for a bit and then I also managed to play Crash Bandicoot on the Switch they had before I got too hungry so I went downstairs for an early lunch and then just chilled before my photo op with Elliot.

So the way it works at Comic Con Liverpool is that you buy one ticket for the guest and then you can have up to two people in one photo. They scan your ticket before you join the queue and they ask how many people you want so I obviously said one ‘cos I was on my own (I did ask Jess if she wanted to come but she declined) so I got a token with ‘1’ on it that you hand to someone at the front.

Elliot was really lovely, he was very quiet though. I think he had landed in the UK quite early on Saturday and it was his first photo op session, I saw a lot of people saying he was really sweet throughout the event. He didn’t say an awful lot to me but that was fine, he still seemed really lovely. I was worried what the photo would look like but I was quite pleased with it actually, it kind of gives awkward sibling vibes.

To be honest I hadn’t queued for that long so I was done by about 2PM which gave me more time to look around the stalls and then I decided to go to the Supernatural panel because although I never finished it and I don’t really care about it anymore I did used to be a MASSIVE Supernatural fan back in the day. The queue was quite long, the upstairs area was so busy that we had to queue downstairs in front of the escalator but the hall where the panel was held was quite big so we eventually got up and I got a seat towards the back.

It was a good panel that consisted of Jim Beaver, Mark Pellegrino, Felicia Day, Alaina Huffman and David Haydn-Jones. I’d almost forgotten just how funny Jim Beaver is, the host asked them what their favourite like fandom/media is and Jim Beaver responded that he only watched things that he was in. It was a good panel although I wish there had been more opportunity for fan questions – when I went to Supernatural panels back in the day there was no host and it was entirely fan questions and I’m not saying it wasn’t good with a host but I do prefer fan questions.

After that we were filtered through a tunnel back into the other arena and so I had to walk all the way back round because the time for my Sebastian photo was coming up. I saw other people complaining about long waits but I feel like I genuinely never waited that long for anything, you have to queue early for panels but I got through really quick on my photo op’s. I joined Sebastian’s queue early and because he was completely sold out there were obviously a lot of people he had to get through so you are sent through quite quick.

I’d heard that he’s really nice and I wanted to ask for a hug but nobody in front of me asked for/got one and when it was my turn I just completely froze up. I walked over and he smiled at me and said ‘hi, how are you?’ and that was it, I was gone. So starstruck that I barely said a word to him and then just… Didn’t look into the camera?

To be fair, it’s not a bad photo! But I did think it was really funny that there are straight up no thoughts behind my eyes – just ‘holy shit, I’m meeting Sebastian Stan’. I sent it to Jess and then just sat on the floor in the arena for like an hour just processing what had just happened. They were showing the Ralph Fiennes and Jason Isaacs panel (this cost money so I couldn’t go in) which I half-watched and then got chatting to one lady who’d left the panel because her baby was being fussy, she was really nice.

The lady in the panel also pronounced Ralph Fiennes name as ‘Raif’ so I told my friend Becca because she’s a fan of his and she’s talked about him a few times this year, we all thought it was funny until I discovered his name is genuinely pronounced ‘Raif’ so we learnt something new!

Eventually after wrapping my head around the fact I’d just met Sebastian frickin’ Stan I got up off the floor and walked back to my hostel. I had looked to see if there was anything on at the theatre in Liverpool for that weekend but no luck so I had dinner at an Asian buffet, came back to the hostel and had a shower, then just chilled for the rest of the evening.

The next day I got up a bit later as one of the girls in my room was going to Comic Con but only on the Sunday and had randomly suggested to me on Saturday morning that we go together and I had said yes, fine even though secretly I didn’t want to. Look, I’m not a very sociable person and if I book an event alone I like knowing that I can please myself. Anyway, when I’d got back that night she’d asked me a few questions about photo ops etc. but didn’t mention going together again and the following morning she got up and set off by herself which I was quite pleased about (if she’s reading this, you were genuinely lovely, I am just anti-social!).

I went back to the Con and didn’t have any photo op’s or autographs booked for the Sunday. Now all week I had really wanted to book Sebastian’s autograph for Sunday but after meeting him on Saturday I was just desperate to meet him in any capacity again – because he was completely sold out I’d been checking on twickets every day but nothing had come up so I resigned myself to the fact I wouldn’t meet him again which was fine, I was very lucky to have met him once.

However I had a look in the Liverpool Comic Con Facebook group I was part of and one girl had posted asking if it would be at all possible to meet Sebastian as she’d seen everything was sold out and she hadn’t got anything in time and someone had advised her if you go to the last photo op of the day and ask if you can just pay the staff might let you. I’d gone to Sebastian’s last slot the day before and had seen someone paying which had confused me at the time. So I figured there was nothing left to lose so I would just do that…

Except the thought of waiting all day not knowing sounded like torture. His first photo session started at 10:10AM and it was 10:05AM so I decided to just ask straightaway – if they said no then no big deal, I was no worse off but it couldn’t hurt. I headed over and went up to the lady sorting his queues and went “I know it’s a long shot but is there any chance I can pay for a photo?” to which she said “Yeah, go straight through.”

I was thrilled and went through before she changed her mind, paid my £200 and was surprised at how short the queue was, I was like 7^th in line and not many people joined behind me either. The curtain to the photo bit was pulled across because I think he was in between auto and photo sessions at the time and so I sent a quick message to my bestie Jess to tell her the good news and she sent back some words of encouragement immediately.

I’d messaged her the day before laughing about how I hadn’t been looking at the camera and also that I regretted not asking for a hug after seeing everyone else’s hugging photos. I’m glad she sent it to me actually ‘cos I do think it helped because the thought of messaging her like ‘I forgot to do both of those things’ was too much. It also helped that when I got to the front the girl ahead of me spent a while explaining a pose she wanted to do that ended up being too difficult so I was like ‘I’m sure a hug will be fine’. When it was my turn I went up and asked if a hug would be okay and he immediately said ‘of course’ SO I GOT MY HUG WITH SEBASTIAN STAN.

I’m so, so, so happy that I got to have a second photo. I still love the first one but this second one is so much better, I got my hug, remembered to look into the camera, I actually look like I have a thought in my brain… So grateful to the staff who gave me the opportunity. I popped up in the Liverpool Comic Con Facebook group messenger to let other people know they’d let me go in and they were messaging during his last photo session and apparently they were turned away and told it was sold out so my anxiety actually came in clutch for once in my life?

What was harder was trying to find a little wallet to put the photo in to protect it. Yesterday after my first photo with Elliot I was given a little plastic wallet for free so once they handed me my photo on Sunday I asked for another one but was told they didn’t have any but to ask the frame people. I must’ve spoken to about SEVEN different people across both arenas and there were no more little plastic wallets so eventually I had to buy one – but this one was good because it was firmer which meant my photo would be protected against anything!

I was glad I’d been able get my photo in the morning because then I felt like I could relax more for the rest of the day and I also feel like I got more done now I was in the swing of the con if you get what I mean? I was torn between going to Elliot Page’s or Lucas Grabeel’s panel but settled on Lucas because I’d already met Elliot and I hadn’t seen Lucas yet. Really don’t regret that decision, Lucas was in a smaller hall and his Q&A was really fun, he seems like a lovely guy, I kinda wish I’d met him at some point over the weekend. Worth noting that for a lot of guests you can pay at their autograph table on the day if you want one and you can also get a selfie but this gave me anxiety for some reason so I didn’t do that. Didn’t mind doing it for Sebastian ‘cos obviously it’s Sebastian Stan but also ‘cos you pay way before you get anywhere near him whereas the thought of paying at the table in front of the guest made me feel violently ill for some reason.

Anyway, Lucas’ panel was really good, he talked about how he hadn’t got on with Ashley Tisdale at first but he now loves her as they grew closer, about how he would love to be on Broadway some day and has unfortunately had three contracts fall through and he also got emotional talking about some of his experiences whilst the craze of High School Musical was still running high and how he was grateful he’d been told to savour every moment. Really enjoyed his panel, like I said he seemed genuinely lovely and all the people I’ve seen talking about meeting him said he was really nice.

I was getting hungry but wanted to stick around in the general area for the Harry Potter panel next and there weren’t many savoury food places nearby so I got some crumble which ended up being really tasty whilst I waited. Joined the queue early and got let in, I got a pretty decent seat in the first few rows but far over on the left. This panel was good as well – it consisted of Jessie Cave, Harry Melling, Warwick Davis and Devon Murray. It was interesting as Devon has mostly given up on acting, he now lives on a farm breeding and selling horses whilst Jessie seems to be dipping into a lot of things whilst Harry and Warwick are still acting. It was also interesting to hear about Devon and Harry’s experiences of the films as they were obviously quite young when filming began.

The panel was really good and when it was finished I headed back to the main hall in the other building to get some savoury food and then had one last look around the stalls and managed to get a couple of Christmas presents for my friends before heading back over for Sebastian Stan’s panel.

Sebastian’s panel was another one you had to pay for which I’d done when tickets went on sale – I was originally in Row M but kept going until I managed to get Row F and then sold my Row M ticket, it got snapped up almost instantly. I nearly had front row but there were two seats together and I only needed one and it wouldn’t let me leave an empty seat – in hindsight I should’ve just bought both, I would’ve easily sold the other one but never mind, row F was still pretty good and I was right in the middle so I had an amazing view of the panel.

This was probably my favourite panel of the weekend and not just ‘cos it was Sebastian Stan but I feel like this was the first panel where fan questions were prioritised and we got through quite a lot. I’d got chatting to one girl before the Lucas panel and she’d told me she was going to ask a question and I heard her get to ask hers which was nice. The little kid who asked if Sebastian thought Bucky would be a good Dad was really cute. There were some really good questions and it was a really good panel, definitely worth going to. He said he’s hoping to come back next year and he would try and convince Anthony Mackie or Adam Pearson so I’m keeping my fingers crossed he does come back although my bank account would probably not cope.

I had a train ticket booked back home for 7:33PM but unfortunately that train was cancelled and they were once an hour. The panel finished at 5:30PM and I had to walk back to the hostel which was luckily on the way to the train station to grab my bags before heading to the station. I didn’t really want to catch the 8:33PM train ‘cos I would’ve been waiting around forever but luckily I made the 6:33PM train.

My connection was cancelled and the next train was such a long wait that I ended up booking a taxi because there was no way I was waiting forever so now my bank account really is upset with me.

Overall I really enjoyed Liverpool Comic Con – I thought the organisation was really good. I’m in a Facebook group and some people were frustrated by certain things but I think because I went in without many expectations I ended up having a really good time.

Here are my tips for if you’re considering going to a Comic Con:

– Plan your day in advance. The schedule for guests photo ops and their panels are released a few days in advance. I feel like my day two went a lot better and I achieved more because I had more of a plan whereas on day one I was more overwhelmed and didn’t really know where to start. If there are certain guests you wanna meet or panels you wanna see make sure you plan where you’re going to be in advance and account for any queuing or travelling through the venue.

– If there’s a guest you wanna meet and they’re sold out on the official con’s website have a look on twickets and keep checking, people will put things on there. And if not it’s always worth asking on the day.

– Don’t be afraid to go solo, plenty of people in the Facebook group were also going solo and some people are more sociable than me and will actually want to meet up. And even if you don’t find anyone online beforehand there will be plenty of people at the con happy to have a chat with you.

– Speaking of the Facebook group if you can find one for the con you’re going to I would really recommend it, I learnt a lot about what to expect beforehand and it was nice to know I could ask questions at any point and find things out.

– Be respectful of the guests – yes you’re paying to meet them but they’re human too and they have a lot of people to meet throughout the day. A lot of the guests can do selfies at their autograph table for an extra fee whereas some are too busy – one person in our messenger group was advised not to ask a headlining guest direct for a selfie as their handler would have to say no and it would make the interaction awkward, they ignored this advice and then moaned that the interaction had not been what they were hoping for. Same for photo op’s, most guests are happy to do poses you suggest and to give hugs but make sure you ask first and accept that they might not want to.

– By the same token be respectful of your fellow con attenders. During the free panels seating was on a first come first serve basis but for the paid cons it’s assigned seating – it’s really not hard to find your own seat and not pinch someone else’s. Areas of the con can get quite busy, make sure you leave room for people to get through, help people if they look like they need it, don’t push in queues etc. It’s just about being a decent person.

– The Monopoly Events staff were genuinely the loveliest people on this God’s given earth, be nice to them and ask if you have a question. Have two photo op’s that clash? Just explain, they will probably be more than happy to help you.

So there we have it, that was my experience of Liverpool Comic Con. If you were there then let me know what you thought and which guests you met!

10Aug2024

Christmas Eve Box Ideas for Adults

Posted in Christmas, Personal, Uncategorized by hozzieb

In 2020 to cheer my Mum up after such a strange year I put her together a Christmas Eve Box. Since then it’s become a tradition and I refill it every year. Sometimes I struggle to know what to put in there so I thought I’d share some items that I’ve previously put in, items that I regularly put in and items I might put in in the future.

I know this post might seem a bit far in advance but if you’re anything like me then you’re already thinking about Christmas!

Christmas DVD

It’s pretty traditional to put in a Christmas DVD in a Christmas Eve Box as the recipient then has something to watch before bed. With streaming services these days it can be a bit useless for some people but my Mum still watches DVDs and so far I’ve managed to get her ones she doesn’t have. In 2020 I gave her ‘Last Christmas’, in 2021 it was ‘The Snowman on Stage’ and then in 2022 I bought ‘Holiday Inn’ in HMV thinking it might be a cute Christmas movie before googling the plot and realising it had a blackface scene in it – yikes.

Last year I bought her ‘A Bad Mom’s Christmas’, a movie I wanted to buy her last year but for some reason Amazon wouldn’t deliver it to my local Amazon pick up as it kept saying it was too big despite it being a DVD and I was ordering other stuff there? But I managed to get a copy from eBay in the end.

I think this year I might go for a book rather than a DVD as she has a few now to pick from but that might change if I find something decent!

Alcohol

My Mum likes prosecco so I used to put her in a mini bottle but she eventually told me she has plenty of prosecco around during the holidays so asked if I could find her a mini bottle of baileys. I couldn’t find just a little bottle on it’s own so I bought her a baileys and candle set. Last year I had the same problem but found a little set of three with chocolates which went in the box.

Mum then changed her mind and said she quite liked the little prosecco as it meant she didn’t have to open a big bottle so I guess we’ll go back to that this year!

Scratch Card

I usually put a scratch card in Mum’s Christmas Eve Box, I think in 2020 she won a tenner but then hasn’t won anything since but it’s just a little bit of fun. Mum usually likes to put together her own Christmas crackers because she doesn’t like the cheap presents in the shop bought ones and she normally sticks in a scratch card for the adults. I like to get a Christmas themed one so I wait until closer to the occasion to buy this.

Chocolate

The point of Christmas Eve Boxes for children was to give them plenty of things to keep them occupied on Christmas Eve along with some treats to have the night before the big day. Obviously it’s different when putting one together for an adult but I normally include some kind of sweet treat for Mum. She’s not mad keen on chocolate so I usually look out for something small or something I know she’s enjoyed previously. One of those small packets with about four ferrero rochers works and I also got her a box of Toffifee one year. I would get her something Christmas themed but it’s better to play it safe and get her something small she’ll actually enjoy. Last year she asked for cherry liquor chocolates which ended up being a struggle to find but luckily I told my friend Jess and she managed to find me a box.

Hot Chocolate

Hot chocolate is something I’d want if someone was putting together a Christmas Eve box for me but it’s not something I’d put in Mum’s box because she’d prefer the alcohol. But it might be there’s an adult in your life who would also rather have hot chocolate and it would probably also be a hit with teenagers. I like getting the little sachets or a chocolate that you melt in hot milk rather than a big packet.

Christmas Jewellery

Who doesn’t love a bit of festive jewellery? One year I got my Mum some earrings in the shape of Christmas lights and another year I got her some mini reindeer ones. I get mine mostly off etsy but last year I thought Tesco had a good stock of Christmas earrings, I got some really cute big snowflake ones from there. Primark might also do a good selection, I prefer dangly ones but studs are good too! This year I’ve seen a nice range of Christmas jewellery and I just think you can’t go wrong with them.

Christmas Socks

You literally cannot beat a lovely pair of fluffy Christmas socks or slippers. I normally go with socks because slippers can be a bit bulky and take up too much space. I bought a pack of about five on Amazon one year, put one pair in Mum’s Christmas Eve Box, put a pair into each of my three friends stockings that I’d put together for them and then kept the last pair for myself. Again Primark is normally a good place to get fluffy socks from.

Christmas Decoration

I usually include some kind of Christmas decoration in the box, most years it’s a decoration for the tree. The first year I realised Mum had a decoration with mine and my siblings names on it, one with my nephews name on it and one with my step-dad’s name on it but there wasn’t one with her name on so I bought a little reindeer with her name on to add to the tree. Other decorations included a little brussel sprout with a paper hat on and I also made one for her at Jess’ pottery decorating birthday last year. I usually get them from etsy but The Range would probably be a great place to grab a decoration from or Home Bargains.

When I go on holiday I do also keep an eye out for Christmas decorations with the theme of the country so those can be a good idea too if you travel!

Christmas Candle

My Mum likes a good candle, she has several that she lights at night but the first one I got her was to be used as decoration instead of actually lighting it. I got one for myself as well because I thought it was so cute, mine had a Christmas tree on and Mum’s had Santa with a little reindeer. But a Yankee candle would work just as well or just a small candle, preferably with a Christmas scent. I never used to be keen on candles when I lived with my parents because if I’d lit one in my room I would’ve just burnt the house down as my room was so overloaded with stuff but now I have my own flat I can safely light them and I love how cute they look, especially at Christmas.

Game – preferably Christmas themed

My Mum likes a good game so one year I bought ‘Santa Banter’ which was a perfect sized game to put in her Christmas Eve Box. This year I’ve bought her a little Christmas trivia card set. Preferably the game would be Christmas themed but it doesn’t have to be – I also bought my friend the game ‘P for Pizza’ which is a nice small size to put in a Christmas Eve Box, me and Jess played that at our local gaming café and I actually really enjoyed it. Big Potato Games have a good selection of games!

Christmas Book

I know some parents like to put the same copy of their child’s favourite Christmas book in their Christmas Eve Box, something like ‘The Night Before Christmas’ which is a good idea. This year I might not necessarily pick a Christmas themed book; my Mum has gotten into the Lisa Stone thriller books so I might choose one of those. I wouldn’t say no to a Christmas book either if I was having my own box.

Christmas Toiletries

I usually get my Mum a Christmas face mask which I think are cute, I like receiving them too – there’s usually a good range in most major supermarkets or places like B&M or The Range. Last year I had a Reindeer one which was cute. I also looked out for Christmas scented shower gel, I didn’t find much but I think I eventually found one shaped like a bauble last year which I bought for myself. Who doesn’t love a seasonal toiletry?

There we have it, some of the things I include in my Mum’s Christmas Eve Box! Let me know some of your ideas for an adult’s Christmas Eve Box.

15Jul2024

The Travel Tag (2024 Updated Version)

Posted in Personal, Tag, Travel, Uncategorized by hozzieb

I last did this tag back in 2019 and although I haven’t been to LOADS more places since then (can’t afford to travel as much anymore as I have adult bills to pay now) I wanted to give it an update to see how much my answers have changed. Here we go!

What countries of the world have you already visited?

England (because I live here), Scotland, Ireland, Cyprus, Spain, Tenerife, Gran Canaria, New York, France, Luxembourg, Lithuania, Poland, Greece, The Netherlands, Japan, South Korea, Romania, Belgium, San Francisco, Hong Kong, Florida, Germany, Los Angeles and Las Vegas – I don’t think I’ve missed any?

What destination is number one on your bucket list?

For literal years it was Japan and although I ticked that off in 2018 I have really struggled to pick a new number one location I would love to visit. Briefly I guess it would’ve been Los Angeles but I’ve been there now as well!

Recently me and the girls each pitched a holiday destination in Europe and we voted for where we wanted to go – I ended up pitching Prague so that’s probably my top European destination at the moment.

However I’ve seen some TikTok’s of Salem in Massachusetts and that’s what I’ll be pitching for our big 30^th trip celebration so potentially right now that’s top of my list because I would absolutely love to go there. It would probably have to be combined with another location though so if you’re planning or have done a big holiday to Salem please let me know if you combined it with anywhere else and what you thought!

What is your most ideal holiday?

Last year me and the girls went to Los Angeles and Las Vegas – now I know that’s not everyone’s idea of a good vacation but hear me out. For the same reason I loved our trip to Japan I love a trip that combines fun and proper sight-seeing. So for example in LA we had theme park days combined with sight-seeing but then we also had time to have a day relaxing on the beach which for such a long holiday was definitely needed.

Any holiday where we can do a few fun things combined with the proper sight-seeing is a good holiday for me. Don’t get me wrong I do love sight-seeing but a day in Disneyland is also a ton of fun. And a day where we can just relax a little bit is also really appreciated as more often than not my legs and feet end up aching really bad!

I don’t really have a preference in terms of weather – next year me and the girls are going to Norway and I’m not too worried about the cold but equally it was nice to have some sunshine in America.

What place do you think was so special that you’d love to go back to someday?

Obvious answer but Japan, me and Jess always talk about going back one day but unfortunately since we’ve already been and there are places we want to visit higher on our list I don’t think it will be for a while yet. We had a full week in Tokyo and still didn’t see everything we would’ve liked to. There are also other cities in Japan I’d love to visit, for example Hiroshima. I probably wouldn’t visit Kyoto again because I feel like we saw everything we wanted to there but I’d make a return visit to Osaka.

I wouldn’t mind flying back to Luxembourg one day to see if our lock was still there but I think that would be in many, many years – Luxembourg wasn’t very big so even though we only had one night there I don’t feel like we missed out on much!

Show us your nicest holiday photo!

I actually already posted my favourite at the top of the post so here’s a different one!

Did you have to travel for work sometime? If so, where?

My job has never involved travelling anywhere outside of my hometown unfortunately. My sister has flown to Hong Kong for work so she gave me some tips whilst I was away which was really appreciated, I’m really jealous that she got to travel for work!

Whilst I’d love a job that required travelling I do think one of my favourite things about it is that I can leave responsibilities like work behind and just focus on doing what I want and prioritising what I’d like to see and experience. I’m not saying I wouldn’t jump at the opportunity though!

Who are you most likely to go on holiday with?

My girls – Jess, Becca & Hirst. We travelled originally for a concert and then after that we each got a holiday for our 21^st birthdays. Belgium was our first holiday where we travelled just for the sake of it and now that COVID is over we can get back into our proper annual trips.

We realised last year that our two week trip to America would be the longest the four of us had ever hung out for and we had a few laughs about how this would truly test our friendship. I think at this stage we’ve known each other so long that we gelled along okay. There weren’t any major fallouts or arguments and I think we’ve learnt when to just leave each other alone. We have a good balance when the four of us travel as well, when we caught the bus to Vegas Hirst sat with Jess so the two of them could talk on the long journey whilst me and Becca sat together because we wanted to put our headphones on and have some quiet ‘me’ time.

The other person I travel with is my Mum although her attitude of ‘let’s just walk and see where we end up’ does grate on me so I’m planning a proper itinerary for our trip to Italy this year! I do love travelling with her though, I’m so lucky to have a Mum who also enjoys sight-seeing.

Who would you like to go on vacation with sometime?

I’d like to go on holiday with my siblings and my step-mum again someday, they tossed around the idea of returning to Florida and I’d like that. I went on one holiday with them as a kid to Cyprus, I had some fun times and some not so fun times but now we’re older it would be nice to travel with them again one day.

Who or what would you take to an uninhabited island?

As I asked last time – am I trapped here or just visiting for the day? Either way I would take my three best friends because I feel like we could either come up with a plan to survive and then eventually be rescued or we could just have a good time exploring.

The one item I would bring is sun cream, something we learnt we definitely need on hot days whilst in America last year!

Have you been on vacation to The Netherlands? If so, where?

Yes and I would love to return one day. Me and the girls went to Amsterdam for a concert and whilst it wasn’t my favourite trip ever for a number of reasons I did really love Amsterdam and The Netherlands. I’d love to get the Eurostar there and visit again but hotels are quite pricey and since I’ve already been it’s not a top priority to return just yet.

There was a lot we didn’t get chance to see though, for example the Anne Frank house, so I definitely will have to go back one day!

Would you rather go to an amusement park or a zoo?

On the few occasions I have visited a zoo or aquarium whilst abroad I have found myself feeling sorry for the animals. I do love a theme park day abroad to be honest – we mostly visit Disney or Universal but I also visited ‘Ocean Park’ in Hong Kong and we went to ‘Knott’s Berry Farm’ in Anaheim. I wish we’d done the Halloween events for Knott’s Berry Farm but you live and you learn I guess!

Anyway, in answer to the question, I would pick a theme park. I’m not really a big rides and thrills kind of girl but I still love the atmosphere of theme parks and always end up having a good time.

Would you rather go on a ski or sun vacation?

I prefer Autumn and Winter as seasons but if I had to pick between sun or ski I would probably pick sun. Knowing my luck I would absolutely break my legs whilst skiing so I’ll play it safe and go for a sun holiday!

What is your nicest holiday memory?

I have so many but the one that instantly sprung to mind is actually probably not a ‘nice’ memory but it’s still one of my favourites. When me and my friends landed in LA I was really relieved because I had worried about the flight all year but I’d conquered it and we were there, ready to start the vacation. We got an uber to our hotel, checked in and then went to find somewhere to have dinner. We decided to go to The Cheesecake Factory and after a small wait we managed to get a table.

It would’ve been about 4AM back home and we were all feeling the jetlag. Jess took a selfie of the four of us but started laughing because our friend Hirst had pushed her hair forward and it had left her with a bit of a quiff and it did look quite funny. Jess was making fun of Hirst, started laughing and threw her head back to laugh even more only to smack her head against the glass panel behind her.

Okay, written down it doesn’t sound very funny but we were so sleep-deprived and the sound of it had us all in absolute hysterics. Genuinely if I had needed a wee I think I would’ve wet myself. All of us were hopeless with laughter for probably a solid five minutes. We’re lucky the waitress didn’t come over during this time because I physically wouldn’t have been able to stop. After an eternity the laughter died down and our friend Becca managed to ask “Sorry, we should check, are you okay?”

I hadn’t laughed that hard in a really long time and knowing that was literally the first evening of our trip? It instantly put me in a good mood and I was looking forward to everything we had ahead of us.

What is your least favourite holiday memory?

The very next day at the end of our first full day at Disneyland my feet ACHED, the pain was so bad. My tights literally just gave up and burst open on my thigh so I had to walk back to the hotel as carefully as possible because I knew if my thigh began to chaff it was game over for me. Genuinely my feet have never hurt so bad in my entire life, I should’ve probably worn socks with my tights to protect them a bit more.

The following day we spent at the California Adventure park, I watched Hirst put some padding on her feet and I have never been so jealous in my entire life. My feet just about coped all day but when we were told we had to stand for the evening show I genuinely could’ve burst into tears. That 20 minute walk from the hotel to the park had seemed so nearby on the Thursday morning, by Friday evening it felt a million miles away.

Planning a theme park vacation? Protect your feet by all costs necessary!

To which country (countries) are you going to this year?

At the start of the year I had some A/L leftover so decided to book myself a solo trip to Paris which quickly became a joint trip to Paris with my friend Jess. We had such a good time at Disneyland that we decided to book to go back for her birthday in October for a few nights.

I’m also going to Italy with my Mum which I’m super excited about. I have wanted to visit Italy for absolutely years. Becca and Jess have both separately gone to Italy, Becca to Rome and Jess to Venice and I’m excited to go to Rome. Me and Mum haven’t been on holiday together for ages so I said this year to make up for the few we’ve missed we should go abroad and then next year we can look at doing a caravan holiday again!

Whilst it’s not happening this year it will happen very early into next year and that is that I’m going with my friends to Norway. I always figured if we went to Norway it would be to Oslo but we’re actually going to Tromso and I could not be more excited. We’ve booked our flights and accommodation so if nothing else we’re definitely going and sitting in a Norwegian apartment for a week! I can’t wait for a lovely winter vacation and all the fun things we’ve got planned!

Where would you never go on holiday?

Anywhere where I didn’t feel safe. I love the idea of going to Brazil one day but having to leave everything valuable in my hotel, looking over my shoulder everywhere I go, potentially having to be with a tour guide most places, it just doesn’t sound relaxing or fun to me. Obviously I’m aware every city comes with a certain level of risk of violence or thieves and I am vigilant but I don’t want to be on guard all the time.

I’m also not particularly interested in locations like Ibiza. I just don’t think it would be my vibe at all.

So there we have it, my updated travel tag! If you decide to give this a go then please tag me, I would love to read your answers!

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Hozzie Writes

A place to document my thoughts and feelings on pretty much anything that takes my fancy