... I came across this video yesterday and it continues the trend of professionals responding to representation of their fields of expertise in popular culture and entertainment. This video was very interesting and I'm now actually hoping he follows in the steps of Dr Mike and LegalEagle and puts a channel together if he has the time and resources.
Real Psychologist reviews Mental Illness in Movies
This is one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen.
Having now watched the short film, it seems the most natural of combinations, but prior to viewing, I would have never in my life imagined seeing something that was so quintessentially Disney while simultaneously bearing Dali so brilliantly in its essence. The surrealism of Fantasia delivered no form of preparation for such a visual and symbolically emotional onslaught.
[ETA: so I completely forgot about Paris je T'aime which I reviewed earlier this year. Goes to show how long ago even February felt!]
So clearly books get quite the bit of attention from me here and it's literally been years since I properly recommended or reviewed a movie, which is crazy because just as I love allowing myself and my imagination to disappear into the worlds the written word conjures up, I also love the total sensory and emotional surrender you get when you go to the cinema.
Seriously, considering my love of story is great enough to allow me to be enamored by random internet urban legends (see: Slender Man) and games backstories (see: pretty much any backdrop and history for any video game, even those I don't play which, let's be honest, is pretty much most of them), one of my favourite things in the world is getting to sit in that darkened movie theatre and just enjoy incredible stories, amazing performances, the most beautifully composed scores, awesome cinematography and, where it fits, well crafted special effects.
So far this year, I've only seen a few movies at the cinema (oh, Schmoes and other movie hoes, how I envy the sheer number of movies you get to see) but I've enjoyed each and every one. Funnily enough, as I tried to remember what else I'd seen this 2016 it also occurred to me that I went with the absolute perfect people to see each film which only made them more enjoyable.
Eddie The Eagle
What a fun movie! As a fan of Taron Egerton and Hugh Jackman (more so after following the Eddie press junkets - what a ridiculously charming pair), I was really looking forward to this movie and I love that it introduced me to a person I'd never heard of before. In '88, I was in kindergarten and I don't recall even caring about the Olympics, let alone the Winter Olympics (and I certainly didn't watch the news, my childhood self shudders at the notion). Jackman has made numerous comments about how well-loved Michael 'Eddie' Edwards was in Australia at the time, but that all flew right over my head so learning about him and his dogged persistence and dedication was really enjoyable and this movie paid him lovely tribute. He even thinks so himself which is a credit to both actors and to Dexter Fletcher who manned the helm on this. Yeah that's right, Spike from Press Gang directed this movie, a fact which only added to my 80s nostalgia watching it.
'You don't have to win to be a winner' is a line Hugh Jackman's credited to a friend who saw the movie and repeatedly mentioned in interviews when drawing out the heart of the movie. Spot on. Eddie Edwards was a dreamer who really fought for his chance to compete in the Olympics and then took on the challenge and all its subsequent challenges with seriousness and dedication. For him, it wasn't about being the best, something he may never be (and ultimately many of us will never be). It was about doing the thing he loved and really giving it the best go he could possibly give.
Yes, this movie definitely had its sports movie cliche moments - the comedic fumbles, the uplifting speeches, the fun training montage - however as many reviewers before myself have said, Eddie the Eagle embraced its light-hearted ambitions to simply entertain you with a great sportsy story. I loved the fact that Fletcher enlisted actual artists from the 80s to bring to life a wonderfully 80s synth-embued score and I loved that he was so intent on taking us on the ski jumps with his crazy shots from atop the different heights, making seeing it in the cinema so much more worthwhile. And of course, the relationship between Eddie and Bronson was made all the more fun thanks to Egerton and Jackman's clear delight in each other's work and company. Seeing this with Ma and my sisters was a great cherry topper because it was definitely a great family flick that was both entertaining and inspiring.
Do I rate? Should I rate? If I could, I'd probably give it a good 4 1/2 out of 5 stars because it was what it was, it loved what it was and I loved it for that.
Captain America: Civil War
I went with the guys to see this and holy crap, I loved this movie. Sure, it helps that I love pretty much everyone in it (Evans, Mackie, Stan, Renner, Downey Jr., Cheadle, Rudd, Bruhl..!) but hell, even the trailer above was awesome. The set up without the pay off would have been severely disappointing, but thankfully it wasn't. At all. The Russo brothers nailed this movie. Though I'm definitely still curious about just how successful they were in making it Honest Trailer-Proof, I'd say they've likely done a great job.
The question of responsibility for all the innocent lives lost in every battle is an important one thus the notion of a force being put in place to reign in the Avengers makes absolute sense but at the same time, Steve's doubts as to the integrity of such a force are also completely understandable and these conflicts help to blur the lines between a clear good and bad side in the story. They all have reasons and they all have a point and in the end, they just have to fight for what they think is right and you can't not feel for everyone involved. Every single character in this movie made me give a damn about who they were and what they were trying to do and I was drawn in from beginning to end. Tony's guilt, Steve's love for his friend and everyone around him, Bucky's battle with himself, alongside everyone else's fear, anger and loss pulled this movie far above its (genuinely fantastic) action. Seriously, brilliantly written and excellently acted.
I'll rein in more gush as I could go on a lot longer but to run through moments of brilliance - the recruitment of the teams (bless you. Paul Rudd, my gosh, your addition to this franchise just makes me happy... and Peter Parker!), Bruhl (yes, a second mention - I love this guy), the airport sequence and of course, the revelation about Tony's parents which killed me to watch. I've been a fan of RDJ since the 80s so my faith in his acting is fairly solid and this scene punched me square in the gut.
This one was a happy 5/5 for me. I understand the questions a lot of people have regarding the plot and the motives, particularly Zemo, but it all worked for me so I was thoroughly entertained.
X-Men: Apocalypse
As a fan of the old X-Men cartoon, I remember being pretty excited to watch the movies when they first came out. To my friends, I am well known as a non-fan of a lot of the casting, particularly Anna Paquin as Rogue and I was even more critical of the omission of Gambit and I remain so to this day. Then when X-Men: First Class came out, I was overjoyed by the direction the movies ended up taking and X-Men: Days of Future Past did a great job of unpicking the ruin that was X3. Coming in to this third installment, I was definitely looking forward to it and I decided to take my friend, another big X-Men fan, out for her birthday to see it - which we both did just last night.
Straight off the bat, the movie has some definite flaws. The pacing often dragged and somehow the cheese felt a bit more pronounced to me, not to take away from the moments of genuine dramatic weight (Fassbender, what an actor), but at times the dialogue definitely had my face scrunching. I was also surprisingly not too impressed by Jennifer Lawrence in this. I wouldn't go so far to say that she was bad this time around, but her acting felt oddly stilted at times and particularly compared to the last two movies.
That said, the comedic moments were enjoyable and overall, I didn't walk away let down. There are some really great sequences and the opening was impressively done. While a particularly frustrating plot point comes in the form of Moira's part in Apocalypse's resurrection, it's easy to let go. I loved the introductions of the future X-Men and Quiksilver being back in the picture was outright fun and made for an awesome scene. It's admittedly weird seeing him as two different actors in two different movies and I have to say, I take Evan Peters' go over Aaron Johnson's though I'm curious what heftier comic fans think of it. And of course, Apocalypse's defeat came in the form of an event that I straight up loved as an X-Men fan.
I'd say about a 3/5 because despite the flaws, my friend and I still enjoyed it and as a fan of the old cartoons, it served up enough to delight.
At this point, Ant-Man is just about to finish as I type - a movie I finally caught on Netflix and am so glad I got to see just before seeing Civil War because it wasn't just entertaining as hell, it also made Ant-Man's part in the movie so much more enjoyable for me. Oh, and go Anna Akana! Loved her bit at the end. Yep, loved this movie. Marvel does some excellent comedy and Paul Rudd plays some excellent Scott Lang.
Another rec that comes to mind that I didn't necessarily see in the cinema would have to be Straight Outta Compton (O'Shea Jackson et al killed this movie and the beat drop at the Detroit concert is now one of my favourite movie moments ever). I'm sure there was a fair amount of gloss over but the story remained compelling and of course, there was the music.
In terms of upcoming movies, there are a good few I definitely want to check out. Independence Day: Resurgence is something I do not intend to miss. The original may have been a 90s movie to the core, but that part of me is definitely up for whatever stories remain of that world. I'm a little uncertain about Suicide Squad at this point, but if the opportunity arises, I would happily check it out. I'm still yet to see quite a lot of this year's Oscarbait - Room, The Big Short and Spotlight are all high on my list and on the more family-friendly end of things, I'm definitely geared to see Finding Dory and the live action Beauty and the Beast (such excellent casting!).
Another month down, 8 more books happily swallowed whole. Amazingly enough, the lineup I'll be attending at the festival this year is a lot more political and journalistic this time around, somewhat dotted with some literary odds and ends though it's hardly a complaint.
I'm writing this with The Outsiders playing in the background, something I've been compelled to rewatch since I finished the book. It would have killed me to have written something like that by the time I was 17. When I was that age, I was still scrounging through ideas for a fourth chapter for my socially-unlikely-friendship-cum-romance 'novel'. S.E. Hinton meanwhile was making striking social commentary and allowing people a real glimpse into youth and struggle at the time - no mean feat. Quite a bit of the book's insight gets a little lost in the movie, but it does a nice job of bringing the story to life.
I read that Hinton herself attests to the faithfulness of the movie and enjoyed the experience. Having just read the book, it's true. Sure, the acting and the direction are a tad odd at times (I say this fully aware that I am speaking of the great Francis Ford Coppola, I don't pretend to be an aficionado!) and the musical integration can get a little comical, but you can't deny that watching it from the future is a real trip - Swayze, Cruise, Dillon, Lowe, Estevez, Howell and the freaking Karate Kid as a bunch of ne'er do well Greasers is just so much damn fun.
And they're all so... pretty. Though that does match the book to some extent, particularly for the Curtis boys - Rob Lowe sure is one 'movie star handsome' Sodapop and Swayze's got the coldly good looking older Darry down pat.
Thanks to all the Schmoes Know videos I've been watching as of late, I find myself tempted to rate it... a temptation I shall now fight in order to get on with critiquing the books below:
Upon reading the introduction for this story, I was quite surprised to find that it was written entirely as a form of propaganda and I was even more taken aback to discover just how successful it was in this goal. During the war, the story was widely and illicitly distributed by resistance forces within Nazi-occupied countries. Another fact of interest was the representation of the unspecified enemy as real human beings, something not particularly common back in those days. I'm accustomed to the notion of poster war propaganda which represented Germans as crazies and Japan as a growing octopus with tentacles attempting to engulf the world so I found it quite appealing to hear that the enemy were to be portrayed as men with families, thoughts, fears and normal desires.
Reading the story itself was very interesting and I'll state it is the most interesting piece of propaganda I've ever encountered. Oh, it is certainly that - though human, the misguided overconfidence and therefore the stark vulnerability of the invaders is still contrasted by the slow simmering of emotion among the townspeople who then begin to take matters into their own hands. And of course, the ultimate sacrifice is made by their leader who leaves behind the resounding message that the resistance shall indeed live on. Saying that, as a story, it is still very captivating and Steinbeck really knows how to get into the guts of simmering societal anguish (c.f. The Grapes of Wrath, a high recommendation). Of course, being so short (which it would have to be to be effective propaganda), you're got getting fleshed out characters here. We cover the basics of just who is who and then events take over.
I'll confess I find the story's background, its dissemination and its overall effect far more interesting than the story itself, but I definitely still recommend it. It still has Steinbeck's narrative air, if not the poetic grace he was so capable of had he decided to create a more in depth piece of literature.
This was one hell of a read! Think of the most outrageous storyteller you know and just how often you find yourself thinking, 'Dude, you are so full of shit..!', while remaining hooked to every word. That is this book. The stunts and schemes that Frank Abagnale pulled off as a kid are frankly (heh) astounding! The man is the definition of balls of steel. Ok, so fair enough, the recklessness of youth could possibly attest for some of that insanity but this guy took it to every level possible. Clearly he was a whip smart kid and he would get an idea and then ride it through to the end with craft and cunning, but when it gets to the points where you forget this guy was 16, 17... hell, even 21, and that it all happened (at least one way or another), that is where things get incredible.
Abagnale recounts this all with a fairly straightforward wit that sits well with all the scams and tales. He often acknowledges the fact that he didn't always know what he was doing and this is fun to read considering how well calculated his ideas were, even in the trial and error moments. Not only was the sheer audacity of those years of his life immensely entertaining, but I'm sure I wasn't the only reader who found themselves pondering what it would be like to have that kind of feckless confidence. Skill and brains are one thing, but he had guts. Not everyone has those. Seriously, Balls Of Steel. BOS(S).
A very, very happy re-read of an all-time favourite story. I have genuinely read this about 10 times, maybe more, and I know I will continue to read it again and again. Yep, 20 year old me, you did good chasing up a copy of the Body and thus thrusting us into our now 13 year long love of King. Thanks to the movie, most people know what the story is about and quite well too considering how faithful the movie was (Red's hair and other minor dramatic details aside though as Stephen King himself said, 'Books and films are like apples and oranges', and some things work better in each medium), however King's storytelling really does shine in novella form. As a man prone to a good digression, he only has so much room to do that in Shawshank and admittedly in this particular story, those digressions all absolutely belong. They set the scene for the world in which the characters live, they paint us living pictures of those characters and their lives and motivations and ultimately, this book was where my interest in prison and institutional psychology and culture was really born. I was fresh off of learning about recidivism in Psych and Law and to see the idea so well captured in this great story only drew me in further. It's a whole world in there and though King may have only captured some of those facets, he tells an incredible story of hope doing so and invites us to give a shit about a world we so often ignore and at worst, wish didn't exist.
Gaiman! You imaginative weirdo genius, you! I love the bizarre worlds you create through which my mind then gets to travel, desperately grabbing onto objects and moments here and there just so I can keep up and not get lost. A brilliant ride through London Below and seeing how well Richard Mayhew will survive the literally upside down turning about of his life. This is honestly the most entertained I've ever been by a mythical quest story and that is saying a lot considering I don't usually find them that appealing and I'm not a big fantasy fiction consumer. I loved the ambiguity surrounding the various characters and Messrs Croup and Vandemar are now officially two of my favourite cutthroats - hilarious psychos who truly revel in death. Gaiman's writing just lets my brain start tugging at images it would have otherwise never needed schemas for and I love that. The inside of his mind must be so, so interesting and so complex and I am so grateful that he has been so kind as to let us get such glimpse in there through his books and tales.
So I decided to just put all of the Cabots in one considering they are all pretty much the same book with a few adjustments in character and name and narrative format. Also, it took me all of one evening to down all three, a certainly entertaining evening. Man, I remember reading Boy Meets Girl for the first time back in 2004 and thinking it was just the cleverest thing ever - a story (and a love story no less) written entirely in letters, work memos, emails, journal entries and notes taken on whatever paper could possibly be available. It certainly made consumption of the hilariously thin romance much more fun and honestly, that all applies to each and every one of the above stories. The formulas are the same - girl meets boy under circumstances which make her either hate or doubt said boy, despite a clear attraction immediately sparking between them, and then said pair then encounter hilarious perils to their better understanding one another in the form of dopey miscommunication, presumption and evil exes/parents/employers/etc. They're certainly fun stories to read in the right mood and I was clearly in that mood thanks to a workmate who had also recently decided to give Cabot a re-read. To be fair, out of all the chick lit I've read, these are among the best and the least insufferable.
I loved this book. As I mentioned above, Hinton was 17 when she wrote this and I could only wish my 17 year old self had the coherence to construct such a poignant narrative as the one she shares with us via Ponyboy Curtis. Class struggle and adolescence are pretty much your perfect mix for melodrama but I personally didn't find the book melodramatic at all - Hinton wrote like the teen that she was and she was very self-aware in her story. Much like any (non-douchey) teen would, Ponyboy would share a moment of clarity and then immediately follow it up with an acknowledgement of the fact that it's just an idea, a brain fart, what does he know? His journey from artsy Greaser to a kid who realises that the world isn't as simple as he once thought was one I enjoyed getting to share because despite all the shit he's seen and everything his family and friends have been through, he's still so innocent and the still untouched youth inside of him shines right through. He's endearing without being a wimp, he's artistic without being a douchebag and in his brief self-destructive phase, you're too busy feeling for him to mind his being a total asshat. I really cared about this kid and his brothers and I really cared about what was going to happen, despite the fact that I already knew having seen the movie before. Hell of a job on your first novel, Hinton. Super Tuff.
Next on the list and as yet unstarted:
I am looking forward to this. I've only read one other Woolf - Mrs Dalloway - and it is a favourite so I look forward to seeing what else Woolf is capable of.
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And now onwards! I present the obligatory book related GIF or pic below:
Though I bought the movie quite a while ago, I only finally watched it today and I adored it. Such an immersive and beautiful film that further delighted me personally as a lover of Paris who hopes to one day return and see all that I didn't see (the first short by Bruno Podalydès reminded me right off the bat that I have yet to visit Montmartre). Each story was touching and well executed (yes, even the oddball vampire love story between Elijah Wood and Olga Kurylenko, certainly the most bizarre of the lot, though I daresay it still fit) and I was pretty well entranced from start to finish.
This, however, is particularly due to my absolute favourite out of all the segments - 14e arrondissement (linked above). I lovethis one. Alexander Payne, what a lovely and simple way to bring the movie to its close. Beautifully shot, as were all the rest, and Margo Martindale, superbly bad French accent and all, was absolutely perfect in it.
I loved every little bit - from the notion of this sweet mail carrier from Denver taking French classes so she can go and have an adventure in Paris, to her relishing in her independence and thus skipping on a tour group, to her elegantly insightful ruminations about dictators, love and Paris itself - all exquisitely tied up by her poorly accented but nevertheless moving narration as she reads about her love affair with Paris to her French class. In fact, that touch only made her and her story just that much more adorable. Bravo to whosoever decided to go with it.
The rest of the stories are also quietly compelling in their swift simplicity and I particularly enjoyed Quais de Seine (lovely job, Gurinder Chadha and Paul Mayeda Berges), Loin du 16e (a quiet gut puncher about a mother who for income's sake has to sacrifice her time with her own child in order to take care of another), Tour Eiffel (entertaining as hell mime love story) and Quartier des Enfants Rouges (excellent tale twist and Maggie Gyllenhaal, yet another reason to love her).
'Great movies tend to collect in the pool of pop culture's subconscious, available to be referenced and paid homage to for years to come. And, in some cases, identifiable elements of them will become more prevalent than the movies themselves. You don't have to see The Godfather to know that a guy made some really sweet offers in it. Charles Foster Kane was super fucking into his sled. Arnold Schwarzeneggar will be back, in a chopper, sans tumor.'
I literally just found out about this website and I am in love. These are my people.
A choice picture - (linked but unembedded out of respect to Ourit Ben-Haim of whom I am now officially a fan) a commuter reading the autobiographical graphic novel Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi, a copy of which I will hopefully soon acquire.
The movie based on the story and the illustrations is incredible and quite spellbinding. I highly recommend it, not just for Marjane's story, but also if you know nothing of Iran's recent past history and how completely different it was from the country it is now.
Also spotted amongst the underground that I hope to add to my reading list/library:
Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? And Other Concerns by Mindy Kaling On The Road by Jack Kerouac Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut Blueprints of the Afterlife by Ryan Boudinot The Metamorphosis and Other Stories by Franz Kafka
Most pleasant surprise?
Rainbow Valley by L.M. Montgomery - one of the books from my favourite childhood series.
(and rather desperate to finish so I may finally part company with Patrick Bateman and his obsessive 80s New York materialism and brutally depraved psychopathy):
Upcoming:
Must purchase/borrow/steal/otherwise gain the ability to read (apart from those seen on unypl above):
Recently Finished:
The Woman in White, apparently considered a 'sensationalist' novel in its time was an unexpected and exciting read. You wouldn't imagine that such old fashioned and therefore elegantly dense and descriptive prose could keep you so well suspended by the story, but Wilkie Collins did just that. I was hooked from beginning to end and almost sad to be done with the world and the characters. The multiple character narrative especially made for an unconventionally richer journey through events and the voices of each character were distinctly interesting and appealing. As the copy I had was borrowed, it is now cemented on my purchase list. Pure story, through and through.
Gone Girl began as a slow burn for me. Sure, I wanted to know what had happened and how the story would eventually twist, but my initial reactions to the 'Gone Girl' and to the writing were somewhat unimpressed - although this could partly be blamed on the hype leading up to my finally reading. A few chapters further finally dug themselves in and in revealing what she does of our missing heroine, Gillian Flynn makes some sharply insightful commentary about the modern world and how our characters have ultimately been shaped, nay produced, by the saturation of our lives by the media. Flynn's background as an entertainment writer shows up often, but depending on your tastes (or whether or not you were just reading a 19th Century Mystery novel *cough*), this only more effectively throws us into that world of modern make-believe melding with the turmoil of being an adult and trying to figure out how to grow the fuck up. A surprisingly helpful pre-cursor to my reading American Psycho immediately after (but still nowhere in its league - a good thing), I do recommend it and I dare say, you will either really enjoy it or you will find it utterly ridiculous. Both viewpoints are obviously completely valid.
So last Friday, I went to the movies on my own for the very first time. Now, it wasn't so big a deal that I was all that worried about going on my own, but it was enough of a deal for me to feel tentative (and I suppose, sit here and write about it). Why was that? A couple of reasons, a rather pale one concerning my general safety in being on my own in Newtown on a Friday night, though the journey home wasn't much of a concern as it's one I've made often enough from the metropolitan area (and in the end, the issue became moot because some friends ended up meeting me in the city afterwards and I got a lift home - hurrah!).
The other was, shamefully enough, wondering what people would think of me. I know, while I don't like that something so silly was able to potentially niggle at my desire to finally go see Boyhood (by the way, it is a wonderful movie, go see it. Immediately), the hesitance was there. Mind you, it didn't last very long, but it was there and it's only denial for me to pretend it didn't make an appearance.
Now, at no point was I actually concerned about being out alone or seeing the movie by myself. I enjoy doing things on my own and since I found out about its release in Australia, being a HUGE Linklater fan, I've been excited to see his reported 'masterpiece'. I wanted to know how well the long scale project had been executed. I wanted to see how Ellar Coltrane would grow with his character. I wanted to see if the typically Linklater-style philosophy would carry itself well in the film's dialogue. I wanted to see how well his daughter, Lorelei, would pull off her role. I wanted to know if I would fall in love as I have with so many of his past movies. For all those reasons and more, I was going to go see it and since the feelers I'd put out had mostly met with a lukewarm response, I decided that if necessary, I would go by myself before its cinema run ended - and I'm so, so glad I did.
I can't recommend the movie enough.
Still, going to the movies alone, going out on a Friday night alone, basically outings where you fly solo all seem to have a stigma hovering about them like a bad smell, enough so that it would even affect someone who enjoys time alone as much as I do.
I quite relish being on my own. To a lot of people, I know that will sound sad, but I've grown quite content in my own company and a lot of what I love is great done alone. Reading, writing, playing my piano, a good day out on a pleasant day (and not scorching like right now), relaxing with a good show or some music, hell, I enjoyed several shows on Broadway in NYC by myself. Additionally, the time is precious to me because I'm not someone who is often alone. I love my family and my friends and I couldn't love spending time with them more, but it does mean that moments that I really have purely to myself are rather rare and therefore over the years, I have grown to appreciate those moments.
But there you go, despite that, going to the movies on my own had thus far remained untested and there was some hesitance because I'm not entirely immune to societal stigma. Thankfully by the time I got off the train at Newtown, that hesitance was gone and I was just excited to see the movie and the excitement only grew after I bought my ticket. Newtown is also such a vibrantly alive place any given night and the atmosphere is fun to soak in when you're strolling about by yourself. When I entered the cinema after a failed attempt to grab a vegan cupcake from way too far up the road, I again had a dull pang of self-consciousness about where to sit so I wasn't somehow a nuisance to all the groups and couples but then I found a good spot, got comfy and enjoyed the movie.
I know it's not for everyone and I also know not everyone has pangs about this sort of thing, but when it comes down to it, I highly recommend anyone who still fears catching a flick on their own to reconsider. We're not in primary or high school anymore. Seeing a movie you actually want to see on your own, doesn't make you some sad loner. Within a half hour of finishing the movie, I was telling my friends all about it over Korean BBQ at BBQ City, but even if I'd been on my train back out west on my own munching on a snack I'd grabbed from the IGA next to the Dendy (my original plan), the sheer lack of other people certainly wouldn't have diminished my enjoyment of the movie and the creative and emotional gears it had gotten turning in my own head.
In fact, I would challenge someone who knows they aren't so good at being on their own to just give it a shot. Besides, you can't always be sure your family or friends will necessarily be interested in all the things you want to check out and it's definitely no fun dragging someone to something they don't want to see so why miss out simply because you won't have someone with you? Go out, grab some good food and enjoy yourself.
Meanwhile, if you do have people willing to be dragged to something they have no interest in, well that's still pretty damn sweet. And if you don't, then you get to call the shots, so why not call them?
Though I thought Argo was a hell of a movie, I'm not loathe to the notion that the other contenders in teh Best Director category may have very well left no room for Affleck's nod. If anything, I am happy to see it still up for Best Picture.
I really, really want to see Amour and Silver Linings Playbook. And maybe Life of Pi out of sheer curiosity.
Also, as Ethan mentioned, Will Tippett up for an Oscar? I'm not a Bradley Cooper fan but that is a hell of a tickler.
Also, a Simpsons short up for Best Animated Short? Starring Maggie? Be still my heart. Must watch, along with Paperman.
My list of movies to watch as soon as is humanly possible only keeps growing.
Man,
2012 has been an amazing movie year… and we’re only halfway through! The
following movies could not possibly open soon enough…
The
Amazing Spiderman
I will
not deny the fact that a large part of why I want to see this is because of the
ever-adorable pair that is Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone. However considering
the better outcomes of reduxes in the recent past (eg. The Incredible Hulk with
Ed Norton, X-Men: First Class…), I am more than willing to give this movie a
go. I especially like that Andrew Garfield was a genuine Spiderman/Peter Parker
fan growing up so it will be even more interesting getting to see what he is
able to bring to one of his own favourite characters.
The
Dark Knight Rises
Bale,
Caine, Freeman, Oldman and Gordon-Levitt under the direction of Nolan. Uhm, why
in hell would I NOT watch this??? Closing the trilogy ought to be intense and
quite honestly, despite my utter lack of enthusiasm for her work as of late, I
am looking forward to seeing how well Anne Hathaway handles the role of Selina
Kyle, not to mention the likely fight scenes.
The
Great Gatsby
I love
just how much Luhrmann is ALL OVER THIS TRAILER. One of my all-time favourite
stories, I can’t wait to see how he and the cast bring it to life because there
is just so damn much to work with - the social, historical and geographical
backdrop, the symbolism, not to mention so many moments of sheer character
intensity - Gatsby’s romantic delusion, Tom’s assholery, the ultimate multiple
deaths… do NOT let me down, Luhrmann.
The
Bourne Legacy
Er…
first, I need to regain my ability to breathe. I can currently think of few
things, if any, hotter than watching Jeremy Renner in action.
Damn,
damn, damn. Ok, as big a Matt Damon as I am (and I really am, I fucking love
that guy), I have yet to watch The Bourne Ultimatum and I may have to finally
do so before I watch this. That said, considering the obvious direction in
story, I’m curious how well they’ll work with combining Aaron Cross’ storyline
with that of the previous movies. Being a ‘legacy’ film, it ought to bring a
lot together and that should be interesting. Not to mention, insanely awesome
looking fight sequences aside, I love Jeremy Renner as an actor. The man can do
intense like nobody’s business. Him and Ed Norton as adversaries ought to be
mighty fun to watch.
... is observing career path trajectory over the years, most particularly of actors. Over the weekend, I was able to watch Rise of the Planet of the Apes in the cinema (which was incredible. I mean it. I certainly did not expect to like it as much as I did) and then the following day, I watched Never Been Kissed with Ma and my sister.
These two movies respectively marked the last and first time I ever saw James Franco in a movie.
Helluva journey, right? I mean, when I first saw Never Been Kissed back in high school... 12 years ago... I would have never imagined that the dorky looking douche from the 'cool group' who almost said NOTHING aside from 'rufulicious'... would ever become Oscarbait.
Seriously.
The same could also be said about that really odd-looking chick I watched years ago in 'The Next Karate Kid'. Honestly, when I first saw that movie, not only did I think it was a completely stupid addition the the Karate Kid series, but if I'm brutally honest, Hilary Swank looked to me like a dude in a wig and I did not, in any way, expect big things from her in the future. Obviously, I was wrong.
Now I know this is the nature of the business but I can't help but laugh when I think of my first impressions of these, now pretty impressive, people. Sure, there are the obvious ones...
* I never imagined Will Smith going from Fresh Prince and Boom Shake Shake Shake the Room to Bad Boys, ID4 to Ali, Pursuit of Happyness and basically Oscars-ville (true, he did do Six Degrees of Separation very early on but I actually didn't know about it till much later in his career so I couldn't have counted it).
* I really never expected that Johnny Depp guy from 21 Jump Street to become, well, Johnny Fucking Depp.
* I loved Ryan Reynolds' Berg from Two Guys and a Girl. Funny, yep! Cute, yep! Future International Sex Symbol? Uhm... huh?
But the ones I love most are the ones I just REALLY DID NOT SEE COMING (like James Franco)...
*Scarlett Johansson - really, first thing I saw her in was Home Alone 3 and she annoyed me shitless (not that I'm her biggest fan now though...). She was the mean, odd-looking (yes, I really am a bitch), nasal older sister to Alex D. Linz's character and really, again I was hardly expecting to really see her again. Then I started seeing her in more oddball stuff like Manny and Lo and Ghost World and thought, ok, bittie stuff, interesting... then in Lost In Translation, I admit I became more intrigued but much like her ex, at that point I would have still never imagined her soon becoming the object of lust for men the world over and moreover kicking some serious ass in Iron Man 2.
* In Twister, there was this hilariously crazy dude with long blond hair who loved to yell and listen to hardcore metal while he chased the tornadoes along with the others. Yep, first movie I saw Philip Seymour Hoffman in was Twister and I probably would have gaped rather unkindly if anyone had told me then that he would pretty much become a regular attendee at the Oscars and, y'know, win one.
* In terms of unflattering reactions, I would have definitely laughed out loud if anyone had tried to sell the idea that that kid from Even Stevens would ever become an ACTION star. Yeah, that's right Shia LaBoeuf, I'm talking about you. Yes, even after your OCD-ing stint on Project Greenlight, I did not see you getting big at all.
* Michelle Monaghan was, in my opinion, the worst thing about the TV show, Young Americans, when it came out in 2000. She couldn't act for crap (although the crumby writing probably did her no favours) and she was an extremely minor character who I assumed was being played by a bit actress who wouldn't appear much ever again, as was the case for most bit parts in teen shows. MI:3, Gone, Baby, Gone, Eagle Eye et al would beg to differ.
* Speaking of Young Americans, Ian Somerhalder came a close second for crap-ass acting. Now, I didn't really love him on Lost or anything, but I won't lie, what I've seen of him on Vampire Diaries makes me smile. I know it's been 10 years but I still think it's fantastic just how much he's improved.
* I first saw Amy Adams in an episode of Charmed and then in Cruel Intentions 2 (hahahahahahahahahahahaha!). Though she was lovely and adorable in Charmed, CI2 made me want to thwack her senseless with something blunt. It's now 11 years later and I freaking ADORE her and, so it would seem, so do award-givers. Yes, Kathryn Merteuil's crappy understudy version has certainly gone a long way.
Anyway, I know that Hollywood (and admittedly, the world in itself) is pretty much made up of these kinds of stories of surprising meteoric rises and such but these are just some of my personal favourites. I picture myself going back in time to past Me and outlining what was in store for each of those actors and the likely look of sheer skepticism is clear in my mind.
If anything, it's always pretty cool having your expectations blown away and it's even cooler just getting to see where these people's persistence and hard work have been able to get them over the years. Hurrah the 'Dream Factory', eh?
Now that I think about it, while I was in New York, I am not kidding, I encountered actors almost everywhere. On the Subway, in Washington Square Park, walking down the street... and of course, during my incredibly brief visit to the Tisch School of the Arts... and a few faces come to mind. While I wandered around the city, it became pretty common for me to overhear conversations about 'rehearsals' and 'scenes' and 'auditions' and 'so-and-so's directing capabilities' and I actually really loved it...
Here's to whatever they've got in store for my future entertainment!
There aren't many. Due to the rather odd year 2011 has become, I've read a lot less lately so in the last 5 months, I've only really been able to finish one book and am currently in the process of reading book numero dos, which has been pretty good thus far. Films-wise, Saturday night's was the first this year that compelled me to actually recommend it so here goes:
Rec #1 It's Not News, It's FARK by Drew Curtis
Sure, we all know just how much crap is fed to us by the media as 'news' but give this book a read and you'll see just how farked up the industry really is. Case in point: a random comment on a news piece in a forum went on to become the source for literally hundreds of 'legitimate' news articles. Seriously. Oh, and while informing me just how masterfully the mass media screws itself and us over in the process, this book also cracked me up something fierce. Drew Curtis' wit speaks to my TWOP-bred love of snarky commentary and I can now thank him for some of the odder looks I received on the train while reading his words and proceeding to stifle guffaws. Thanks, man.
Rec #2 X-Men First Class
I had no real expectations for this movie as I'd grown tired of the X-Men movie franchise, especially considering what they had done to some of my favourite characters from the cartoons (I just cannot accept Anna Paquin as Rogue. And waiting three films before finally showing Gambit?) but I tagged along with my friends last Saturday and LOVED it. Bravo, Matthew Vaughn. James McAvoy was an excellent Charles Xavier and Michael Fassbender did an amazing job as Magneto. I also loved the story - inevitable cheesy moments aside - most notably the relationship between Charles and Erik, the alignment of events with those of the Cuban Missile Crisis and the incorporation of Kevin Bacon's Shaw into Magneto's raison d'etre. I'm no comic book purist so I don't know exactly how much that messed with comic book canon but from my vantage point, it was all really well executed and I enjoyed every minute.
Ok, recs done, what I'm currently reading:
Loved the movie when I saw it not that long ago and so far, the book hasn't disappointed me. I'm loving how Walter Kirn writes about Ryan and his life in Airworld.
And because I can't be bothered including yet another picture, I'm simply going to say I can't wait for the final Harry Potter to come out next month! I'm especially curious what the movie will do with the epilogue. I thought it was nice and it certainly took nothing away from my enjoyment of the book or the series but as someone who has read more than her share of fic over the years, that ending was very fic-ish and I would wonder how the movie would approach it. I guess I'll see next month!
Patrick Park's Life is a Song is playing in my head. I made these mid-last year and wanted to see how I'd done with them :)
'DVD hunt currently consists of:
Running On Empty (the River Phoenix one) Little Nikita Macross (Do You Remember Love) Robotech (all eps) Friends: The One With All Ten Seasons (I already know where this one is, and hopefully will get it soon :D) - got stuffed on this one. Waited too long, however, Ri is helping me out so all is not lost! Veronica Mars SeaQuest DSV (season 1, anyway. Yay!) Entourage Charles In Charge'
'To add to the potential spending spree, I'm dying to read:
Wicked March (only because I'm crazily interested in the idea that a fanfic won a Pulitzer) The Outsiders A Light In August- hard core read, this one. To me, anyway. I preferred As I Lay Dying. On The Road...'
To which I now would like to add: My Sister's Keeper (Picoult), Lunar Park (Easton Ellis), and more Daphne Du Maurier. I have recently become obsessed after re-reading Rebecca and then following that up with Flight of the Falcon andMy Cousin Rachel. I could not put any of them down for long at all. What amazing books.
I've currently suspended myself from reading the rest of Windfall by Penny Vincenzi (I got the book for 30c at a fete last September, along with 12 others [almost all of which I've finished, hurrah! so can hopefully get started on the batch I got at the recent sale in Olympic Park], so I thought I'd give her a try. Bit of a tough act, following Du Maurier, but it is interesting. I'm suspending it in favour of The Artist's Way at the moment, because that will have to go back to Ri soon, along with Breakfast at Tiffany's (which I loved! Oh yeah, I want to add In Cold Blood to the above list).
I've gone a bit book nuts lately, allowing the tide of DVD fever to subside a little (after getting the Anne Series, The Office S1 and the SQ DVDs, anything else I buy at the moment would just feel like extra :) I still have to wait for the OC S4 DVDs to come out here). Thanks to that fete (13 books for $4!) and then the sale at Olympic Park just after Christmas (10 books for $30, but considering $30 is something like 1 1/2 books...) and my recent discoveries of King books in bargain bins (Pet Semetary, Dolores Claiborne and Misery for $15!!)... I've not been short on reading material - though time to read, that's been another story! I've yet to finish the first batch (although Rebecca and Breakfast at Tiffany'swere some happy intrusions there) and it seems it will be a while before I get to those King books, but ah well! It ain't bad having them to look forward to.
In the outer realms, am going to the Westlife concert tomorrow night that was originally planned for September, last year. Ri keeps paying me out for it and I don't blame her. Last year, Jimmy Eat World were here... and I was going to go to Westlife. This time around, both Evanescence and BoyzIIMen have been out here... and I'm going to Westlife :P I'm going more for the other people going if that makes sense and because I finally said to myself, what the hell, you've never been to a concert before so why not? Little did I know I could have made my first concert a band I really love. 'Tis cool. Westlife are not bad so the show oughta be cool and Anthony Callea is opening and I do want to hear that voice live!
Then Wednesday, maybe go-karting with Mench and the others, if not then dinner after. Whoa, just realised how many birthdays are coming up. Eepers. Maybe I'll skip go-karting.
Anybody got any opinions on The Outsiders before I run out and find myself a copy?
I'd certainly heard of The Outsiders and recently, for some reason, seems more people are asking me if I've seen it. My answer was generally no up until recently when I was looking up another movie (one I knew had Ralph Macchio in it from the little that I had seen) and found that he wasn't in it (the movie was Gorky Park... how I came by the notion that that was the movie I'd been watching, I no longer know) and after a little more digging, I realised that all this time, I hadwatched The Outsiders, albeit unwittingly. The more I've looked into it, the more I want to read the book and watch the movie properly hence the question above.
DVD hunt currently consists of:
Running On Empty (the River Phoenix one) Little Nikita Macross (Do You Remember Love) Robotech (all eps) Friends: The One With All Ten Seasons (I already know where this one is, and hopefully will get it soon :D) Veronica Mars SeaQuest DSV Entourage Charles In Charge
Unfortunately, VM, Entourage(is it even on DVD?) and SQ are still unavailable down here in jolly ol' Oz. The others, thankfully, are just a matter of ordering... once I have the funds of course :P As the ATO are soon to receive a rather hefty amount from me, this won't be for some time yet. I can't complain too much though because over the last couple days, I was able to tape Finding Neverland and The Prince and Me, the former making me weepy by the end and the latter just something I can sit back and watch, soaking up the cutesy-poo.
To add to the potential spending spree, I'm dying to read:
Wicked March (only because I'm crazily interested in the idea that a fanfic won a Pulitzer) The Outsiders A Light In August On The Road...
... along with a million others :P Thank you, A&R's top 100!
Please tell me I was not the only one who didn't know that in real life, Elizabeth Bennet was Peter Parker's Aunt May's daughter? The fact that she's more American than British has done enough to bowl me over, but that? Of all the connections I've ever come across, Jennifer Ehle being Rosemary Harris' daughter hadn't even made it to the realm of possibility :P
Found this lovely picture of the two of them at the Wilde premiere (had not realised she was in that either) :D The blonde hair suits her really well... and I'm so used to her as dark-haired Elizabeth.
Hurrah for the shattering of hermit-like existence! Well, sort of anyway... have had a lot of catching up done this week and a good number of reasons for celebration all round, holiday season aside. :D Engagements, birthdays and Honours work completed, to name a few. I myself will be rounding up work for the year soon so I'm looking forward to that as well. In the meantime, Christmas shopping has begun and it's going to be tough... have a couple of rather obscure items in mind for a few people, but if I find them, it will be fantastico.
Sunday, I met up with a friend I'd not seen for at least 2 years... Kasey was one of my original firstyear friends from whom I kind of drifted seeing as she was studying Chemistry... but we've kept in touch over the last couple years and have avowed to make sure another 2 years doesn't dare go by before we grab one another again. We ate, walked, talked (or laughed... heheh), browsed and bought (a couple of tops for summer, which were desperately needed), then promised to do all that again and soon too, especially with Christmas shopping needing to be done. I've nearly exhausted my Dymocks card now because I found 2 collections that day that nearly bowled me over when I saw the prices... I got The Complete Works of William Shakespeare and The Collected Works of Edgar Allan Poe, both collections together for less than $40!! :D Kasey grabbed herself a copy of the Shakespeare collection as well... oh man, I love Wordsworth publishers. I literally went bug-eyed when I saw the books. I mean, seriously. Thank you Vicki and the others back at Pitcher for giving me that card! Angels, the lot of you!
Just a couple of days before, I had been debating whether or not I would use it in order to buy a copy of The Australian Writer's Marketplace which I actually found by chance at the Uni Co-op Bookshop. I honestly have no idea why it's never occurred to me, not once, to go in there since I started working and the only reason I did that day was because of one of the guys down at the RO. Jeffrey had just come back from a conference in the US and on his desk I spotted a copy of Strunk & White's Elements of Style, something I've been hard pressed to find a hardcopy of (it's nice having it online and all, but I really want a hard copy). When I asked him where he got it, he said it was the last copy at the conference and when I mentioned wanting a copy, he suggested the Co-op. Once I got there, I couldn't see Strunk and White anywhere but the 2006 copy of the AWM was staring me in the face. Eventually deciding that I would use my card for books for leisure as opposed to stuff for work, I bought it and at a reduced price too (being a shop mostly catering to students). Damn... I knew that there were publications for every topic under the sun but seeing it all listed in one book kind of emphasises the point further. Not to mention it also contains a complete list of Australian Publishers, Lit Agents, Writer's services, Comps, etc... thanks for the suggestion Jeffrey. :D
I went to see Pride and Prejudice yesterday and thoroughly enjoyed it! Aside from some pangs with the anachronisms and the at times, over the top direction and overpowering musical score, it was a really good movie. I think the interpretation was definitely a more raw approach to the story, where we got to see how things would have played out had a slightly lesser importance been placed upon propriety (although, I do kind of think too much license was taken in Elizabeth's appearance after her walk to Netherfield). It was a version I would gladly watch again. I grinned almost the whole way through (hurrah for those little awkward moments!) and I'm so glad that they included that scene where Bingley was practising his speech. That was gold. Given the time contraints, I did understand how quickly they needed to pace the movie and somtimes that was felt with scenes sort of toppling into one another and other plotlines barely touched on but overall, it was a great watch.
Keira certainly had a handle on the dialogue and whatever issues I had with some of her scenes, I'm kind of attributing that to the direction because I thought she did a really good job. I liked Matthew's Darcy as well... his portrayal was a slight more emotional than I'm used to and it was pretty effective. I liked seeing Darcy that way. :D Mr. Collins had me ROTFL because everything he said seemed to be accompanied by a desperate need to rush to the loo, particularly in Elizabeth's introduction to Lady Catherine. He turned me off in a whole different way to David Bamber's greasy little man in the 1995 version :lol: and Brenda Blethyn and Donald Sutherland played off each other really well :D I did wish his accent would steady itself though. Was it just me or did Wickham bear a vague resemblance to Orlando Bloom? Like a not-so-handsome version of him? My friend actually thought it was him, but then again, I don't think she's seen as many pics of him as I have ;)
I daresay, the BBC version remains my favourite (the subtlety in that movie is damned astounding), but this version is definitely not without its charms. Looking forward to getting the DVD when it comes out :D
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