Film Reviews: Old. Black Widow. The Forever Purge. Uncle Frank. The Silence. Images. Troop Zero. November. Aurora Teagarden Mysteries: Till Death Do Us Part. Framing Britney Spears. Paris When It Sizzles. Runt Page.

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Old

Old is the film I’ve been looking forward to the most this year. I do however have to question the kids’ mental growth. A simple non-spoilery example is a 6 year old wouldn’t know what sex or prom are. The biggest con for me was the pregnancy storyline, which felt extremely forced and plain ridiculous. Cropped faces is one of my biggest pet peeves and there’s a lot of this sort of cinematography going on here. While the young actress looked a lot like Thomasin McKenzie, the adult version didn’t, they even forgot to give her green coloured lenses. Despite the aforementioned, I loved the concept and this was a pleasing watch.

7/10

Black Widow

So Florence Pugh is getting her own Marvel film? If you’re in the UK, Odeon is handing out A3 posters of Scarlet Johansson as the Black Widow, I recommend you grab one with your ticket. I haven’t seen all of the Avengers, because I don’t normally watch superhero movies, so the post-credits scene was a surprise to me. I originally went to see Black Widow because it stars Rachel Weisz, but I ended up enjoying the film quite a lot. The opening scene was probably my favourite and the opening sequence made me emotional partially because of Malia J’s lovely cover of Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit, making me already more invested in the superhero film than I ever thought I could be. Black Widow features multiple strong female characters and I had a lot of fun watching it. The Nirvana cover is going straight into my playlist.

8/10

The Forever Purge

I love the Purge series despite all of its flaws. It’s a brilliant idea, and The Forever Purge is one of the best ones in a while. There are no rules and people no longer want the Purge to be limited to a single day. My favourite moment was when they said they would open the Canadian and Mexican borders to those unarmed, it made me tear up.

6/10

Uncle Frank

I’ve always been a huge fan of Six Feet Under, so naturally I’ll watch anything written by Alan Ball. I cried a lot during the last 30 min or so. The film is nominated for an Emmy this year.

I’ve got two words for you, “no problem”.

8/10

The Silence

I seem to fall in love with every Iranian film I come across. The Silence is a beautiful and tender film about a blind boy.

7/10

Images

While I would rate Nashville, The Long Goodbye, Short Cuts and a few other films directed by Altman higher than Images, it’s still a really good psychological drama.

7/10

Troop Zero

If you like David Bowie’s music, you’ll enjoy this. This film clearly waited years for its realese, Mckenna looks about ten here. Mckenna Grace has been in almost 60 films and TV shows including The Handmaid’s Tale and I, Tonya, and I’ve seen at least 15 of them.

5/10

November

Back in 2005 I bought this on Ebay, but there was something wrong with my disc and the film would freeze halfway through. I still have that DVD and never got around to finishing this film, until now.

5/10

Aurora Teagarden Mysteries: Till Death Do Us Part

Did I see Candace shamelessly holding one of her children’s books in an early library scene? While her dress was lovely, this was probably the weakest instalment in the series. Aurora Teagardens are officially tied with Lori Loughlin’s Garage Sale Mysteries at 16 films, this will soon change with 17th Aurora arriving next month.

3/10

Framing Britney Spears

For a group of journalists, they didn’t do much digging, did they?

4/10

Paris When it Sizzles

My whole family hated this. Did they really have to act out the character’s entire script?

2/10

Runt Page

Wait, so this series was all a dream? The first instalment wasn’t on Filmbox, so I ended up looking it up on Internet Archive. The dubbing is distracting and the storyline is poor. It’s one of the weakest ones, but definitely not the most disturbing one.

2/10

For more, add me on Letterboxd: letterboxd.com/joanneholly

Film Reviews: Cruella. Dream Horse. Fear Street Part 1: 1994. Arizona Dream. Lords of Chaos. Destination Wedding. Made in Italy. Balto. Here and Now

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Cruella

From the moment Emma Thompson appeared in that brown wig, I spent the rest of the movie thinking Helena Bonham Carter would have made a better Baroness. I went in a bit sceptical, thinking the film is just another excuse for Emma Stone to practice her British accent, but she is really good as Cruella. 101 Dalmatians was never a film I liked as a kid and at least Cruella is much better than both of the Glenn Close films.

6/10

Dream Horse

How did they get Toni Colette to star in this little Welsh film? This movie is a one time watch you’ll forget the minute it’s over and a film you would never check out if it didn’t star Toni Colette. They crammed so many British things into the first five minutes of this film, I thought for sure this wasn’t written by a British person, but to my surprise, I was wrong. Oh yeah, and I was the only person at my screening.

6/10

Fear Street Part 1 1994

Goosebumps books and TV show were a big part of my childhood, so I will always watch anything based on R.L. Stine’s work. I have never read the Fear Street books, but this film made me want to buy some of them and pretend It’s 2002 all over again.

6/10

Arizona Dream

Do you guys remember how big Johnny Depp’s career was in the 90s? Between What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, Edward Scissorhands and many other hit films, he was the A-lister people wanted to see in every film they watched. Arizona Dream, one of the few 90s films starring Depp I haven’t seen before is expiring from Mubi tonight. It has many memorable scenes, but since I’m a sucker for nostalgia, my favourite part is Depp’s character reminiscing about his childhood. I wasn’t paying attention to the opening credits and was nicely surpised when Lili Taylor and Faye Dunaway walked into the shop. Also, this made me want to act out the plane scene from North by Northwest just like the characters in this film. I need to get this on DVD.

8/10

Lords of Chaos

A good example of ‘necessary’ exploitation. I loved the film’s portrayal of self harm and that shocking suicide scene.

7/10

Destination Wedding

Keanu and Winona’s characters are skeptical and sarcastic and spend the entire weekend complaining and bickering. Apart from that, it’s a very average romcom.

5/10

Made in Italy

Liam Neeson and his son Micheal Richardson star as a father-son duo in a film about grief. There are parts that are painful to watch because of what happened to Natasha Richardson. It’s a touching little film you should check out.

6/10

Balto

I didn’t know this was inspired by a real story, nor have I ever heard of this story, as I’ve never been to Central Park, but this was a moving film for kids and the fact that it’s partly true gets an extra half star from me.

6/10

Here and Now

Replace Paris with New York and you have a US version of Cléo from 5 to 7.

4/10

Film Reviews: Sound of Metal. The Passion of Joan Arc. Punishment Park. A Quiet Place Part 2. Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway. Rocco and His Brothers. My Week with Marilyn. Blue Dessert. The Last Family

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Sound of Metal

The film features excellent sound design and a beautiful performance from Riz Ahmed. There were three scenes I particularly liked, the one where we learn that he didn’t understand he would never hear the same despite the cochlear implants, when he finally found solace in silence and when that morning light hit her self harm scars. There was a pre-recorded Zoom Q&A after my screening, where Paul Raci talked about his day job of being an interpreter for 40 years and the differences between growing up with two deaf parents in 1950s Chicago, and living in more inclusive Los Angeles in the 90s. First film I watched at the cinema since the third lockdown started back in October! I’m glad I started 2021 with this one.

9/10

The Passion of Joan Arc

When I was a kid, older women would often say, ‘oh yes, after Joan of Arc’, when I introduced myself to them when accompaning my parents to the shops (I was born in a country where 92% of the populaton identify as Catholic, probably even more then. I do too, despite being the only kid in class to refuse to have their confirmation, because 15 was my time to rebel and I also disagreed with the church on a few things). No one’s mentioned Joan of Arc’s name around me in 20 years, but I still remember it to this day. I’ve seen this film before many years ago, it was on TV every Christmas and Easter, but I didn’t remember it well. I love all the close-ups and Maria Falconetti’s acting.

‘Why do you dress like a man? If we give you a dress, will you wear it?’

10/10

Punishment Park

‘Why do you dress like a man? If we give you a dress, will you wear it?’

7/10

A Quiet Place Part 2

I was supposed to see this on March 20th last year, but we went into the first lockdown a few days prior. Glad I finally got to see this. It’s obviously not as good as the original, but it’s still plenty eventful and I can’t wait for the 3rd one.

7/10

Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway

The soundtrack including a Green Day song took me back to the early 2000s. I didn’t grow up in the UK, so I haven’t even heard of these books as a kid, but how cute are these films?

7/10

Rocco and his Brothers

And this is exactly why I love Italian films. This movie is currently 146th highest ranked film on Letterboxd.

9/10

My Week with Marilyn

So this guy became famous by claiming he made out with Marilyn?

5/10

Blue Dessert

Blue Dessert has been on my watchlist since the 90s. This film is exactly what I was expecting, in a good way. You can find it on Amazon Prime.

7/10

The Last Family

Zdzislaw Beksinski has always been my favourite artist. His dark paintings are unique and truly exceptional. While this was a good film, I recommend you watch The Besksinskis A Sound and Picture Album documentrary instead.

6/10

Film Reviews: The Conjuring 3: The Devil Made Me Do It. Friends The Reunion. Those Who Wish Me Dead. Wake in Fright. The Cold Day in the Park. Plan 9 from Outer Space. Krisha. Fantastic Planet. 300 Miles To Heaven.

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The Conjuring 3: The Devil Made Me Do It

The second one was a love story and this is a continuation of their beautiful relationship. I also loved that straight-from-The-Exorcist shot of the priest standing in front of the house. This series will always be superior because it’s based on real people. I used to google the Warrens’ cases as a young teen and I’m so glad their cases inspired this series. Please tell me there are another 3 films I can look forward to?

8/10

Friends The Reunion

Friends was a huge part of my childhood and early teen years. I still have a giant poster hanging on the wall of my childhood bedroom I doubt I’ll ever take down. I’ve rewatched the show 10 times, and stopped myself when I wanted to start it for the 11th time back in 2010. For years the box set was my most prized possession. I know some fans wanted this to be a proper 17-years-later continuation, but I’m glad it wasn’t. I want the characters to stay happy and in their mid 30s, when life is still relatively simple.

10/10

Those Who Wish Me Dead

This felt like the last 10 years never happened and Angelina never ‘retired’ from acting. I wish she chose a better film to make her comeback with (I’m ignoring Come Away, because she had a small role there and I didn’t like the film anyway), but it still made me happy. I definitely would have liked Those Who less if it stared some random actress whose career I didn’t follow closely since late 90s. Also for smoke jumpers, they didn’t do much jumping, did they?

6.5/10

Wake in Fright

This was brutal. Can we not hunt kangaroos please? I know I say this every time I watch an Aussie film, but this made me miss Australia. Thanks Mubi, you truly never disappoint!

‘It’s the best place in Australia!’

7/10

The Cold Day in the Park

I’ve had an awful couple of days, and yet this is what I chose to watch? It’s expiring from Mubi soon.

‘She was very masculine, our English teacher. But quite…pretty. And many of the girls had crushes on her.’

6/10

Plan 9 from Outer Space

This film had a budget of only 60 000 dollars and the funny thing is, if it wasn’t a sci-fi film, we would have never noticed it. I watched Tim Burton’s biopic on ‘the worst director ever’ Ed Wood starring Johnny Depp a few years ago, but I never actually got to see Wood’s work, until now. I lasted 20 minutes, but then again I don’t have the patience for sci-fi unless it’s Jurassic Park, so I’m not the best person to rate this.

2/10

Krisha

If everything else fails, write a script slightly based on your family and cast them in it. I love that Krisha is shown as an introvert, who feels uncomfortable surrounded by a large group of people. She tells her pushing-30 son or nephew (played by the director) he needs to go to film school while he’s still young, otherwise he will become trapped in something else (the actress who plays Krisha didn’t start acting until she was 35) and that he should do it because he had a great passion for it as a kid. I can relate to all of the above. I also loved the thrilling score heard in the background through most of the film. I watched 4 films on Mubi today, and this one is my favourite.

8/10

Fantastic Planet

Let’s… torture some humans. This was on my watchlist for the longest time and I finally got to see it thanks to Mubi.

7/10

300 Miles to Heaven

I love that this is inspired by a real story. I also loved the scene with the parents telling their kids not to come back, because they knew they would have it better in Denmark than in 1980s Poland.

8/10

Film Reviews: The Woman in the Window. Under the Silver Lake. The Legend of Bagger Vance. The Haunting of Hill House. Overboard. Black Mirror: Arkangel. Little Giants. Isn’t It Romantic. Float

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The Woman in the Window

I’ve waited two years for this, and this is what I got? I know everyone is calling this a Rear Window knock-off, so I won’t. This movie should have had more scenes with Julianne Moore.

5/10

Under the Silver Lake

Some kids egged my car back in January, then they took the cracked eggshell and pressed it into the side of my car. To this day my dad is convinced it was a bird carrying an egg that dropped it on my car and that I scratched my car with a petrol noozle and there is no convicing him otherwise. Anyway, this is relevant, because the character’s car also gets egged by some kids. When the characters talk about hidden messages in song lyrics, my mind automatically went to Charles Manson thinking the same about The Beatles’ lyrics. There is a lot I didn’t like about the script, which should have been cut. Most of the cinematography is beautiful though, and that’s what saves the film. I got an A1 poster of this movie at my local cinema 3 yrs ago, but it took me this long to check out this film. I watched this on Mubi in two sittings and let me just say, I was glad when it finally ended.

6/10

The Legend of Bagger Vance

This was directed by Robert Redford? I knew there was a reason why I DVR’d this. Jack Lemmon only narrates this, he’s not actually in the movie, something I wish I knew before going in. Unfortunately, this was extremely boring. If you enjoy watching golf on TV, give it a go, otherwise, stay away.

4/10

The Haunting of Hill House

I wish we did not spend that much time with the adult characters, half of them were plain boring. I got sick of them in episode four and started fast forwarding through some of their scenes. I hated that this was 80% drama and 20% horror, instead of the other way around.

7/10

Overboard

I laughed when Edward Herrmann said ‘I never saw her before in my life’ and proceeded to leave. RIP, Edward Herrmann.

6/10

Black Mirror: Arkangel

Obviously I’m starting my Black Mirror journey with the episode directed by Jodie Foster. I’ve only seen Nosedive before, and It left a good impression on me. Brenna Harding from Puberty Blues stars. Also, why would you ever chip your child.

7/10

Little Giants

I couldn’t stop laughing at Al Bundy being sporty and chewing gum agressively. That’s it, that’s my review.

5/10

Isn‘t It Romantic

The first twenty minutes of her mocking romantic comedies is watchable, and the fact that the viewer knows Wilson and Devine’s chemistry from Pitch Perfect helps a lot. Everything that happened after she hit that pole is a mess. Vanessa Carlton’s ‘A Thousand Miles’ is constantly heard in the film, tranferring me back to early 2000s.

3/10

Float

I’m tagging this as LGBT because to me this short is about a father learning to accept his child’s queerness.

‘Why can’t you just be normal?!’

7/10

Film Reviews: Gentleman Jack. The Fountain. Muriel’s Wedding. Mulan. Isle of Dogs. The Lie. Love, Antosha. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. The Fruit Fix

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Gentleman Jack

I’ve been putting this series off since it came out, saving it for a special occasion, but I couldn’t possibly put it off any longer. The parts of Anne breaking the fourth wall to mischeviously smile at the camera are my favourite.

‘You do know what people say about her, don’t you? That she can’t be trusted in the company of other women.’

‘Not me, I was there to study anatomy’.

9/10

The Fountain

I read a review once saying this film is Aronofsky’s love letter to Rachel Weisz and I can certainly see that. After several attempts over the years, and with complete lack of patience for sci-fi or fantasy, I finally decided to give it another go, since it’s on Mubi now and all. The Fountain is metaphysical, artistic, slightly pretentious and visually beautiful.

6/10

Muriel’s Wedding

My obsession with Australia and my love for ABBA started with this film. And Rachel Griffiths and Toni Collette of course. Whenever my parents listened to ABBA when I was a kid, I would roll my eyes and say they were lame. And then I watched Muriel’s Wedding at 12. Since then I cannot listen to ABBA and not tear up thinking about this film. Favourite quirky film right here.

‘When I lived in Porpoise Spit, I used to sit in my room for hours and listen to ABBA songs. But since I’ve met you and moved to Sydney, I haven’t listened to one Abba song. That’s because my life is as good as an Abba song. It’s as good as Dancing Queen’.

‘You listen to 70s music. This is the 90s!’

‘I’m not alone. I’m with Muriel.’

10/10

Mulan

This was added to HBO Go today and I finally got the chance to watch it. Despite all the controversy, I enjoyed it a lot. Gong Li stars in a supporting role as the Witch. I also really like the fact that Disney cast a 32 year old Liu Yifei to play teenaged Mulan.

7/10

Isle of Dogs

It took me 7 sittings to finish it. I am glad I refused to see this at the cinema, because I would have slept through this fairytale and wouldn’t have understood anything. This surely could have been told just as effectively without sending dogs off to an island and teaching them how to talk. The Fantastic Mr. Fox is much better.

6/10

The Lie

‘This is a paid advertisement for birth control’. Convince me otherwise.

I miss The Killing, it was one of my favourite shows. I would have seen this sooner had I known it was co-written and directed by Veena Sud who created the US version of The Killing, and yes it also stars Mireille Enos. I liked the scene on the bridge at the beginning when the father finds her and tries to figure out what has just happened.

‘How long has she been cutting herself?’
‘She started a few months after you left. I had her talk to somebody, but she didn’t stop, so I don’t know what to do.’
‘She was such a happy little girl.’
‘Yeah, she was.’

5/10

Love Antosha

According to Letterboxd, I’ve seen 15 films starring Anton Yelchin, but as it turns out I didn’t know much about him. I didn’t know anything about his parents or that he had cystic fibrosis. Anton was extremely talented and passionate about his craft and it’s a real shame we lost him so soon.

8/10

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou

Why are they wearing the stupid red beanies? Bill Murray looks like Papa Smurf for crying out loud! This might just be my least favourite Wes Anderson. At least they played/sung David Bowie’s Life on Mars a couple of times. Also Willem Dafoe steals the show.

6/10

The Fruit Fix

I don’t have time to watch anything for another 2 weeks, but a friend sent me a link to this short on social anxiety, and I decided to watch it between meetings. Over a decade ago, I developed a really bad social anxiety after a traumatic event, and I’m glad it’s gotten better with age. I still feel anxious and uncomfortable with people who don’t know me and often rethink every single word, but It’s manageable now.

6/10

Film Reviews: I Care a Lot. Kajillionaire. Amy. Tales From the Darkside. Strange Planet. Across the Universe. Return to Horror High. R.L. Stine Monsterville: The Cabinet of Souls. The Expecting

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I Care a Lot

This could easily be mistaken for a sequel to Gone Girl. Rosamund sounds a lot like Geena Davis in this film. Pike has been in so many good movies since I first saw her in Pride and Prejudice. I was also surprised to see Alicia Witt in a non-Hallmark movie. I didn’t know being a legal guardian is an actual job, or that someone could be a legal guardian of someone they don’t know personally. Maybe we should all consider it.

‘You’re my guardian robber!’

8/10

Kajillionaire

I would watch more than fourteen episodes of Jane the Virgin if it was this gay. Seeing characters who cannot afford to shower never have greasy hair is one of my biggest pet peeves.

This is the 5000th film l’ve logged on Letterboxd!

7/10

Amy

This is touching, funny and very Australian. The script is flawed, the last 30 min has two extemely random and unnecessary plots, a drunk chasing the girl and random youth trying to kidnap her. I have now seen almost everything Rachel Griffiths has been in.

7/10

Tales from the Darkside

I’ve been watching reruns of Tales from the Darkside and thought I’d re-watch this in between. Julianne Moore stars and shines in the first 40 minutes of the film. While some stories are clearly better than others, it’s still an entertaining ride.

6/10

Strange Planet

I tried buying this on DVD five or six years ago, I got it on Ebay and the film I received was a different title (it was Next with Nicolas Cage and Julianne Moore, which I already had on DVD). I never complained, because I only paid a couple of quid, but it took me this long to reach for the film again.

6/10

Across the Universe

Some songs worked better than others, the film’s version of Come Together worked extremely well. The film looses its plot, literally, and turns into an abstract piece no one asked for. The differences between the US and the UK are jarring. Who would want to live in our tiny semi-detached UK houses, when there’s all that space in America? When this came out, my middle school English teacher spent a good month telling us about this film, and yet it took me 14 years to watch it.

6/10

Return to Horror High

This randomly played on TV and it seemed exactly like something I would have loved as a teenager. I loved 80s slashers, so I decided to watch this. Young George Clooney stars in a tiny role and his character is the first person to die. I was expecting something similar to Slaughter High, but got a very average horror instead. It still made me want to check out the first Horror High though.

5/10

R.L. Stine Monsterville: The Cabinet of Souls

There are three Fear Street movies coming to Netflix this summer and I’m looking forward to them. Goosebumps was my life as a kid, both the TV show and books. I have about 30 books somewhere in my parents’ house I will never give away. Letterboxd doesn’t even credit R.L Stine with writing the novel this was based on and I completely forgot this existed until it appeared on Netflix earlier this week. I will forever watch anything R.L. Stine. I remember watching the Haunted Mask and Slappy episodes of Goosebumps, among many others, like it was yesterday.

6/10

The Expecting

This was directed by Mary Harron, who directed American Psycho? I never would have guessed. I also would not have guessed that this is the role AnnaSophia Robb shaved her head for. The scene in the bathroom with blood dripping down AnnaSophia’s legs reminded me of the scene with Hilary Swank noticing blood dripping down AnnaSophia’s legs in The Reaping, 14 years ago. Also, Cassie from Skins is also in this.

First and last Quibi original I’ll ever watch. RIP, Quibi.

4/10

Film Reviews: Seaspiracy. Shoplifters. Quick Change. Unfaithful. Chef. Cape Fear. Red River. Fatal Honeymoon. A Week Away

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Seaspiracy

I’ve been vegan for 11 years and since then I’ve been trying to educate my parents on the disastrous effects of animal consumption, sadly without success. I’ve asked them to watch this with me today and they were left shocked, but I don’t think this will affect their eating habits. We’re watching Cowspiracy tomorrow.

8/10

Shoplifters

I watched Our Little Sister last year and loved it, and finally got the chance to watch Shoplifters. My dad said it was too slow for him, but I absolutely love Yasujiro Ozu’s films and this has a similar structure and slow pace.

9/10

Quick Change

I loved every minute of this and I only learned of its existence yesterday. And I’m so glad I did, Geena Davis and Bill Murray are great and the film is truly funny.

‘Since when is illegal to run for a bus?’

7/10

Unfaithful

In my middle school music room the teacher had a giant poster of this film on the wall, distracting the students. 13 year old girls would swoon over Richard Gere and others would laugh at the poster. Many seemed to know this film, I didn’t. I finally watched it today and it’s everything I thought it would be, and that’s not a compliment. Also there is a rape that turns into a consexual sex that is just repulsive. Actually all of the sex scenes in the film are.

3.5/10

Chef

A friend has been telling me about the 1 Second Everyday app for a while now and I remember their website saying ‘as seen in Chef’ and yes, the film promotes different apps, mostly focusing on Twitter. The father-son relationship is charming and the film shows working working in a family business well. Whenever I think of food trucks, my mind automatically goes to Switched at Birth and Daphne getting a food truck from her estranged biological father.

6/10

Cape Fear

I just really felt like rewatching this today. Also, I don’t think I’ve noticed it before, but Jessica Lange is rocking that short haircut. Juliet Lewis and Robert DeNiro share an extremely gross kiss and have both been nominated for Oscars for their roles.

9/10

Red River

You know it’s a bank holiday If I’m suddenly logging a lot of westerns watched with my dad or romcoms and TV movies watched with my mom. This western was directed by Howard Hawks and stars John Wayne. This must not have been easy to film with the hundreds of animals running around. This film also made me want to check out other films Joanne Dru has been in and I haven’t heard of her before watching this film.

7/10

Fatal Honeymoon

I’ve heard of this case before and this was a good enough and typical for Lifetime recreation of events. Harvey Keitel stars as Tina’s father. I also really miss living in Queensland and think of Australia almost every day.

6/10

A Week Away

So this is Camp Rock for hardcore Christians? My family only made it through 30 min.

2/10