Hello everyone! So Halloween is now over and the Christmas season is officially upon us! I am very excited to start watching more Christmas films and actually eat cheese at the same time. It’s a good thing having Cardiff Christmas Market because without it I wouldn’t have my Snowdonia cheese. I am looking forward to doing more reviews. I will be writing more over the Christmas holidays but I won’t be posting them until around February. I hope you all understand! Have a good Christmas and keep eating the cheese!
CHEESY FILM RECOMMENDATIONS
Hi everyone, I hope you are all doing well. Now, as December approaches I was just wondering whether anyone had any Christmas film recommendations for me. Sadly, Love Actually and Elf have been taken off Netflix which I am very upset about, so if anyone had any others that match the same vibe, then please let me know. I want to make sure I am keeping up with the cheesy reviews and Christmas films are full of it so please let me know in the comments what films you think I should watch.
Just a reminder, please make sure they are on either Netflix, YouTube or any other streaming service so I can access them easily.
The Kissing Booth
WARNING: This film will be containing spoilers from The Kissing Booth (2018). If you have not yet watched the film, then I would advise you to stop reading this blog post. If you do want to watch the film before reading this post then it is available to watch on Netflix. Hope you enjoy!
Today we are reviewing The Kissing Booth (2018), a comedy romance film that stars Joey King, Joel Courtney and Jacob Elordi as our power trio Elle Evans, Lee Flynn and Noah Flynn. Adapted from the novel of the same name by Beth Reekle, the film garnered audience success from its premiere on Netflix, as well as negative backlash from critics, who describe the film as being sexist and outdated in its portrayal of high school romance. Despite its criticisms we will be discussing whether this film meets up to our expectations of cheesiness so please feel free to comment your opinions below on whether you agree with my cheese rating.
The film begins with a literal first-person narration from our female main character Elle Evans (King) who tells the story from her point of view as a tomboyish, average looking 16-year-old teenage girl struggling with the issues of love, appearance and friendship. Using a speedy montage we see Elle and her best friend Lee Flynn progress from new-born babies to teenagers, who at various stages enforce their love for dancing. The frequent shots of the pair at the arcade set in Santa Monica Pier establish the first bite of cheesiness, with the use of CGI to show the audience their age progression (from age 7 to 16) and their gradual skill at using the dance machine.
As we watch them grow up and develop their own personalities, we learn of their list of friendship rules and how strict the two abide by them. After failing to apologise to Lee via phone and text, Elle attempts to fix their friendship using one last method.
Through the use of a mid-shot of Elle holding an ice-cream cone towards Lee’s face and the repetition of first-person narration, Elle tells the audience of the 7th friendship rule: “No matter how mad you are at your best friend, you have to forgive them if they give you ice-cream.” This scene is particularly cheesy due to the sentimentality of the gesture. In the shot we see Elle’s eyes look up towards Lee, almost as if she’s about to cry for him to forgive her. The furrow of her eyebrow also signifies the stress and desperation attached to the ice-cream offer. Out of context, the significance of ice-cream is nothing but a sweet treat to enjoy on a hot day. However in this case, it is signifying an offering to rebuild their friendship and although quite childish when examining their ages, it also emphasises the closeness of their relationship and how despite everything that’s happened, Elle still wants Lee in her life.
Another example of cheesiness through the representation of Elle and Lee’s close friendship is in the carnival scene. A close-up shot is used of Lee being kissed by Rachel in order to capture the intimacy between the two. The scene is softly lit by the bulbs from the kissing booth sign, emphasising the use of low-key lighting used to establish a romantic tone to the already apparent comedy genre. The mise-en-scene is accompanied by a non-diegetic piano score that although cliché in terms of its conventional use in the romantic-comedy hybrid genre is used to match the developing romance between Lee and Rachel, as they slowly progress on-screen into a romantic relationship.
When examining the close-up shot, we see the big smiles on both of their faces, emphasising the happiness shared between the two and also how we are meant to feel as the audience towards the pair. In the next shot, which is also a close-up we see them lean in for a second kiss, in which the camera cuts to a long shot of Elle watching them from afar, her beaming smile signifying her happiness for her best friend. This scene overall is particularly cheesy because of its use of binary opposites. The representation of Lee, whose character is portrayed as weird and quirky ending up with Rachel, the sweet and soft-spoken pretty girl is often a cliché used in romantic comedies. However as an audience member watching the two on screen, it did make me feel good for the characters and their progression within the story.
Although the scene between Lee and Rachel made the inner teenager inside me squeal, the scene between Noah and Elle was one that fully melted the cheese on top of the toast. Following the failed attempt by the OMG girls to humiliate Elle in front of the entire school population, we open the scene with a blindfolded Elle waiting for a kiss from the next boy in line. To our shocking surprise, we discover the next kisser would in fact, be Noah Flynn, Elle’s life-long crush and Lee’s older brother.
With a mid-shot we see Noah lean in and kiss Elle, with the large ‘kiss’ signs used as props in the background placed to emphasise the desire of both the characters within the scene. After Elle takes off the blindfold and sees Noah’s face, the intimate distance between them is closed as she reciprocates the kiss. An arc shot is used to create dramatic effect to the scene, as well as capture the monument of the occasion for the two characters as they kiss and laugh, emphasising their joy.
The camera cuts sharply to a close-up shot of the kiss sign’s light bulbs bursting, further emphasising dramatic effect and enforcing the cheesiness to the narrative, as this would realistically not occur in real-life but most falls under the classification of the comedy genre, in which realism is not thought about.
This scene was more or less shot in a way to please the teenage audience, who from following the story that was originally published on Wattpad, are now watching their favourite characters come to life. If I was a teenage girl, I probably wouldn’t have any complaints regarding the film and its cheesiness. In fact, what I have looked at so far has matched what I consider to be cheesy. Unfortunately like many films though, this one does draw a fine line between what is cheesy and what is cringy.
The film’s portrayal of high school romance is one that is both cheesy and innocent, but also naïve and problematic, particularly within the script for Noah’s character. Heavily structured towards violent notions of masculinity, Noah uses manipulative tactics in order to be romantically linked with Elle, specifically in the scene at the arcade. The character Tuppen, a stereotypical tall, muscular guy who sexually harassed Elle by groping her butt has stood her up after asking her out on a date. In a mid-shot of Elle and Tuppen at the arcade, we see her questioning his lack of response to their meeting, in which he tells her through diegetic dialogue that “He’s been going around telling all the guys not to ask you out.”, “he” being Noah.
A close-up shot of Elle frowning with her mouth gape signifying her confusion is the same expression I had on my face when I watched this scene for the first time. It is also one of the many scenes which I classify to be both cringy over cheesy, but also concerning due to the message it is sending to young women. Noah’s character further emphasises his possessive nature in the beach scene, in which we see a mid-shot of Noah by the car. Using diegetic sound from both his aggressive command for Elle to “Get in the car”, as well as the visible sound made from him slamming his hand onto the car bonnet, the notion of him both physically violent from the numerous shots of him fighting, as well as emotionally manipulative is hard to ignore.
Of course I will not discount the mentions of cheesiness within this review and when ignoring the exaggerated acting and cliché plot, I did enjoy watching this film. I am interested in seeing where the story will take us, as a sequel has been confirmed. Hopefully we will see more cheesiness next time around.
What is Cheese- A Look Into Love Actually (2003)
You might be thinking to yourself, what do you mean by cheese? Unless we are discussing the deliciousness of hard cheddar or the gooeyness of mozzarella on pizza, then you are in the wrong place. What we are talking about today is the concept of cheesy films. The kind of feel good films that allow you to forget about the struggles of every-day life. The kind that leaves your jaw aching from smiling or laughing too much. A film that you put on to escape and encapsulate yourself into its comedic, romantic or dramatic narratives. As audience we are often seeking out films that are familiar to us. We take pleasure in watching films that give us reassurance in its narrative and most often than most, cheesy films are the ones that are easy to understand. Those are some of the reasons why I love watching those kinds of movies and why this blog exists in the first place.
For each film review conducted on this blog, they will be given a cheese block rating ranging from 1 cheese blocks to 5 cheese blocks. The films will be judged based on their narrative, characters, genre and overall feeling from watching the film.
We will give the example of Love Actually (2003) to start with and when looking at the film based on its genre, it is already given a 4-5 cheese block rating. But why is that? Well, because of Christmas. The film is a comedy, drama and romance set in the UK, starring an ensemble cast full of iconic British actors, including Bill Nighy, Colin Firth, Liam Neeson and many more. It is one of many Christmas films that is continuously brought back into cinemas, further proving his significance as a Christmas classic. It incorporates its cheesiness into the intertwining story-lines in which the cast of Londoners within the story tackle themes such as love, death, adultery, friendship and family. Set in the buildup towards Christmas we are presented with both happy and sad, cheesy and sentimental, heartbreaking and heart-warming moments.
An example of one scene in the film that completely shattered the hearts of the British public was the present opening scene with Karen (played by Emma Thompson) and Harry (Alan Rickman). Throughout the film as Harry attempts to portray the stereotypical businessman who provides for his wife and two children, we are left with the sad realisation of him committing adultery with his co-worker Mia (played by Heike Makatsch). Considered as being one of the many recognised scenes in the film, we begin with a medium close-up shot with an eye-level angle, in which we see Karen and Mark sat next to the Christmas tree with their two children.
The lighting is low-key, creating a contrast to the light sourced from the lamps and Christmas lights in the background. After Karen opens the gift and discovers it is not in fact the necklace she found previously in the film, we are presented with a close-up shot of her face. A clear reflection of disappointment is apparent through an unnatural smile and calm eyes. Alongside the use of diegetic dialogue she then muffles her words and heightens the pitch of her voice, signifying nervousness as well as as suggesting that she is sad from not receiving the necklace. Although this scene is not necessarily cheesy when relating back to the description used in the first blog post, it does begin with a typical family scene, set in a living room that is fully decked out with Christmas lights and suggests warmth from its use of colours such as gold, white and red. If watching this scene out of context without any prior knowledge of the characters stories, the idea of opening a gift the day before Christmas is something that I would consider to be quite cute and cheesy to do, especially when considering she is opening a gift from her husband. In comparison to the present opening scene, the ‘to me you are perfect’ scene is one of the cheesiest, especially in regards to Christmas films.
Within the scene we are shown Mark (played by Andrew Lincoln) in which he confesses his love to Juliet (played by Keira Knightley). Through the use of a close-up shot of her face as she opens the door, we see her facial expression change from furrowed eyebrows and slightly open mouth signifying confusion, to a smile showing teeth and scrunched up eyes, signifying her happiness. The camera cuts to a mid-shot of Mark holding a pile of white cards as he begins to play the song ‘Silent Night’ through the use of diegetic music from his silver CD player. We are then shown him flipping the cards, in which each of them have numerous written messages. One in particular through the use of a mid-shot shows Mark, as he flips the card to reveal the message saying “To me, you are perfect.”.
The camera then cuts to a close-up shot of Juliet’s face, in which her slightly open mouth and gazing eyes express a sense of sadness.
As the audience watching the scene unfold, our hearts are then broken through another mid-shot in which Mark flips the next card, adding onto the previous message saying “And my wasted heart will love”, the connotations from his poetic message emphasising the acknowledgement of his unrequited love for her and how through the adjective ‘wasted’ the love is in fact useless. The tone then changes when he flips another card, in which we see a close-up shot of a black and white photo of what looks to be a mummified corpse. Previously stating in his last card that he would love her until she looked like that, the cheesiness of the joke is emphasised through a close-up shot of Juliet grinning, signifying happiness towards the cheap joke before changing to a side smirk, suggesting that she understands and shares the same humour as him.
Throughout this scene there is little sound apart from the diegetic sound of ‘Silent Night’, a sweet and touching song whose lyrics such as “sleep in heavenly peace” suggesting Mark’s acceptance to his feelings towards Juliet.
Through the use of a long shot we see Mark walking down the street, before being met by Juliet. The shot then changes to a mid-shot of the pair, in which the space between the two changes from personal distance that is usually reserved for friends to intimate distance, in which Juliet leans in to kiss Mark. The tenderness of the moment can only be met by the lack of reaction from Mark, who simply closes his eyes almost as if to embrace the moment for as long as he can. The space is then shifted back to person, as Juliet runs back inside the house, leaving Mark along in the street.
The last words said within the scene come from Mark through the use of dialogue, in which he tells himself as well as the audience “Enough, enough now.”, acknowledging that it’s time for him to move on with his life, as well as end his unrequited love for Juliet. God help my heartstrings!
So there we have it, a perfect example of what we mean by cheesy. Of course these opinions are mine and if any has any other ideas or opinions regarding this blog post then please feel free to add into the comments section on the home page.
Cheese Box 