THE BANDWAGON

I'm wholeheartedly, catastrophically, devotedly on the bandwagon for Inception.

Watched it at the IMAX  (as i now do for the majority of all my movies) and I can say it was most definitely worth it.

The cast - amazing. Marginally underrated, yet well known and respected cast. Ken Wantanabe, Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy, Marion Coltillard  and Ellen Page (and some other dude who was brilliant but i cant bring myself to GoOgle his name.)

The story - simple but not seemingly so. Christopher Nolan had me at Momento - then The Prestige - then the Dark Knight. The latter being the best film i have ever seen on the IMAX screen (baring in mind it wasnt even in 3D!)
I have no problems joining in the fanfare - i didnt with Twilight or Avatar - in fact its been a long long time (LOTR and HP to be exact) so im allowing myself to get giddy and super geeky about this film. In light of the crumbling UK film council (perhaps the one credible funding association we have in Britain for the lacking film industry) having a British director do what Nolan, Vaughn, Ritchie and Scott are doing in Hollywood (making the movies they want to make - telling stories) is so inspiring and exciting.

I urge you all to watch it. If you come out not liking it (as per usual happens to me when something is of hype) then I will have no doubt that you will be talking about it either way!

SHREK 4* EVER

As I write this I have switched off the TV because England are 4 -1 down against Germany in the World Cup. Sad but true. It hurts.

How I wish i could go back to a happier moment in time...like yesterday (nice link eh...)

When I had the pleasure of heading to the IMAX with my brother to see SHREK  Forever After (A.K.A Shrek 4). It was a simpler time - when the hope of Britain and the pride of a country up in arms made the unusually sunny English weather even brighter - and I was full because I had just eaten at GBK with friends...and food always makes me happy.

                                                                                              Barry and Norma had been stuck like  this since the                                                                                                                                              1st SHREK release. Best not to stare eh..

So back to Shrek. 

Well to be honest there's not much to say - it certainly wasn't anything to shout about - its a recycled formula that knows what its good for, and despite the critics, i dont think the creators need to apologise for that.  It still carried the satirical elements that stood the first film above other animated features in its time, and the characters were just as likable and funny this time round. 

So the story - well same old same old - Its a case of Shrek seeing the greener side of being an Ogre anywhere but right in front of him with Fiona and his new family. Donkey and all the other fairytale creatures don't fear him, his life has become, comfortable. Boring. 

In comes Rumpelstiltskin - a vertically challenged wheeler dealer type villain with a huge chip on his shoulder about something.

He deals contracts, and essentially has people in his debt (familiar ? well look to the second in the series - fairy godmother). When Shrek falls in to his greedy hands the two sign off a contract to trade a day. Shrek wants to be feared like he used to, and Rumple gets to pick any day from Shreks life to do with  what he will. Now for anyone who knows the story of Rumpelstiltskin knows the dude has serious issues. Original story goes he helps out some girl in exchange for her first born (ew) -  in this day and age he would be arrested. I've always wondered why he made that deal...

The secondary characters like Donkey and Puss never fail to bring the humour and endearing qualities to Shrek. We get to see the lovely Fiona Boudicea style and always my favourite part the villains are deliciously bad and high-larious with it.

Jane Lynch and Lake Bell star as some of the Witches (or shall i say Rumple's bitches) and Walt Dohrn as Rumple is so naughty, no where as bad as Fairy Godmother but borders on the Lord Faarquad from the first installment.

 Anyways Shrek goes ahead and has his day of fun terrorising like he used to...only the catch - Rumpelstiltskin is King of Far Far Away. His children don't exist and Fiona isn't his wife...even Donkey and Puss in Boots (fat and cuter than ever !) Shrek realises - the day he's traded is the day he was born. He spends the rest of the movie trying to get back what he never knew he had - the perfect life, before it ceases to exist ever after.

Good film, does exactly what it says on the poster and finally puts the seal on one of the greatest stories ever told....for now.

HOW TO MAKE IT IN AMERICA

If you don't get it then you better know! 
Bryan Greenburg redeems himself from PRIME (which i have grown to like, i even have it on DVD) and makes you forget that shit film he did with Scarlett Jo and Chris *urgh* Evans and (if anyone even remembers) that One Tree *my lord when will those damn forsaken kidults skip town already!*Hill series...


Anyway - HITMIIA (doesn't really work does it?) or HTMI as i will now refer - is all about the life of 20-somethings in the cool melting pot of New York City.
Produced* and brought to us via the same dudes who did Entourage (RIP...really just stop now) How to Make it in America is a comedy-drama. Unlike the high drama, crazy hungry for fame and Hollywood former, though undoubtedly similar in context, HTMI is about the struggle to make a name for yourself in a world that seems to be rolling down a shaft, with everyone you know, but you, enjoying the ride. 
 Its shot well, the soundtrack, which had me downloading Cam'Ron's Oh Boy,  is a mix of old and new - just like PRIME -  and the cast is made up of an array of cool, young and funny tings (KiD CuDi, Lake Bell, Shannon Sossamon and Luis Guzman) plus the original young sassy thing *and the reasoning behind my blog title* - MARTHA PLIMPTON (going to have to do a post on her) is in it, and she has the best lines 4 sure.
The title montage and the glorious Aloe Blacc theme 'I need a Dollar' just epitomizes the cool, urban, vibrancy that the show tries to encapsulate - and It pulls it off to a T. 

 Watch the titles after the Jump Ya'll 

Read more »

Nuff Said sexy Biatches

I like it, i like it alot

This is one of my favourite scenes from Les Poupées russes . Its a sequal to the equally (if not more) fantastic L'auberge espagnole, which I used to watch every night for weeks back in the winter of 2008. I just found out they have a third film in the making (eeks)
This particular image, in St Petersberg, is so simple but I love it. I love the gorgeous talented Kelly Reilly in in the foreground. I love how her red hair and pale skin is a stark contrast to the scene behind. I love how the stone colour's of the street and the young man (Xavier played by Romain Duris) in the background blend together. I love the two men to the right in white hats. I love Klodt's beastly Horse Tamer statue atop the photo (kind of looks like its going to mount Kelly's head ... but is meant to embody part of mans struggle with nature apparently). Possibly featured in this scene as some pictorial metaphor for the character portrayed by Duris' loss of control over his relationship with Reilly (pretentiously maybe)

Heart this muchly. Holla.

Im a Cat on a hot tin roof.

Im not even going to focus on the day today. It started off well...i was ready - but someone ''the man'' (e.g. the system) buggered it all up...lets just say my driving license has been validated yet. woe. Another 4 days.

However the day was not over and I had other things to look forward to. Like 'Cat on a Hot Tin Roof' -
here's the blurb from the website

Featuring a dynamic cast led by Academy Award® nominee and two-time Tony winner James Earl Jones, Tony Award® winner Phylicia Rashad, Olivier Award winner Adrian Lester and Tony Award® nominee Sanaa Lathan. Directed by Emmy® and Golden Globe® Award winning actor, director and choreographer Debbie Allen.

My sister got 2 gift certificates to spend on theater tickets for her birthday back in July...she knew what she wanted to see straight away in advance before the show had made it to England. Seeing as she hadn't got me a 23rd birthday pressie back in June, she promised to take me to the theater as a joint birthday present.
It was amazing, I'm sure had I made it to the Prince concert she got me for my 21st (i was very ill) that this would have ranked along it as the best birthday presents ever. Without a doubt Sanaa Lathan was a joy to watch, shes gorgeous, funny, charismatic....and looks like my mamma me and my sister noted...Adrian Lester was good considering he replaced Broadway version (the sexy Terrance Howard) alas it was the momentus voice of Darth Vader/ Mufasa from Lion King:

James Earl Jones...I saw James Earl Jones on stage!!! That is pretty damn special.

I like my family.

The Catcher in the Rye ...

by J.D Salinger is my book of choice this week - and I aim to have it finished too. Its amazing - I cant get in to the Vampire story...there everywhere, and until the movie hype dies down, I'm leaving 'Eclipse' on the shelf.

Note to self...

Do not under any circumstances wake up and stroll in to the kitchen when you have only had 4 hours sleep.

I was roped in to helping my mum make dinner (at 11 in the morning? whatever its african style cooking...takes hours) for the rest of the family who are actually earning a living (physically and mentally - my brother is in college)


I should have burrowed myself in my room and pretended to be asleep...if not actually slept....but then I would have been told off by my parents for not pulling my weight (a lie!)
Alas - here I am, having escaped the pepper filled atmos of the kitchen, writing on my Blog. My mum will notice my absence soon...eeek.

Sunday best

(Above: Carey Mulligan)

Sundays are the best day of the week. Its so relaxing, and despite the niggling feeling of work the next day, its always so long, and just pleasant.
Maybe its because christmas is upon us, and the markets are all out, the lights are on, and the chestnuts are roasting round every corner...

I have been making more of an effort to spend time with people I like but don't see very often.
So today I went and saw An Education with the glorious new Audrey Hepburn, Carey Mulligan, and went for a spot of boutique browsing in covent garden before settling down for hot chocolate (with rum!!!) and a share of a large berry cake in Neals Yard with my lovely friend Judith.
Love sundays. Bring on the week!

Summer in one night

(500) Days of Summer that is.

I didn't think much of this film when I saw the trailer - i thought it would be another indie flick about young love and arty shots of the city and a back log of indie rock / folk music that essentially overtook the film making it one big long beautifully shot music video.

It was to an extent, but it wasn't a love film. As the oddly placed narrator (love) pointed out in the beginning - it was not a romantic film. It included all the elements of love in it: adoration, pining, lust, self consciousness....i think.

But it contained something that most rom coms (barring the awful He's just not that in to you) dont dare to address. What happens when the person you love doesnt quiet like you as much?

Joshua Gordon Levitt has been around forever - he's literally grown up in front of the camera's and he's never done a bad film as far as i'm concerned. He doesnt fail in this - I think I love him a little. But its Zooey Deschanel that you can't take your eyes off - for allthe right reasons you can see why he's fallen for her and why she is aptly named Summer - she's gorgeous, witty and kooky. It may have been the wine and JD and coke we had before the movie that made me love it more than i should, but the whole cinema was laughing in all the right places.

even though it was a Non-rom com it was so sweet, simple and honest.
It certainly didnt put me off the idea of love...(urgh...yes i did just say that)

If you Dont read it Now you Never Will...

I propose in my newly creative state of mind - i have recently put myself on TWO creative writing courses this year because i am sick and tired of not feeding my poor creative yet unmotivated soul - that we all read a book a month, maybe 2 a month depending but a book a month nonetheless - till the end of the year.

I will definitely have no other choice if I am to impress my fellows at college. However I am constantly reminded, ironically by tv, that books are important and delicious and a wonderful privilage that encourages us to delve in to other worlds, go on adventures and journeys of self discovery that TV can only force us to believe.

Its so much more of a spectacle and wonder because it is, essentially, what we make it and its about how we process the information in front of us.

So I will be tallying the books I have read up until the end of the year - like a book club...minus the club. I will review my thoughts when I can mid read and after.

I have started New Moon, but after this I will go on to something different because I need a break from this obsessive and oh-so-tense love they got going on in this saga - its too much for my head and heart to bare.

I have other books in mind:

Ursula Le guin (Sp?) : tales of the Earthsea (I started this book years ago, like when i was 15...im no 23.)

The Lovely Bones : heard it was gorgeous, frightful and very very sad. Plus i want to read it before the film...

Wicked: I started it and have yet to finish...it was so ...detailed, and those who do not like Thomas Hardy will understand my adversion to overt descriptive text even if the source in question is nothing like Tess and her bloody Durbivilles...*i hate it*

I also have Pride and Predjudice - never read but no so much about...so strange,
a collection of Edgar Allen Poe ghost stories and
Some novels by Phillip Pullman and writers that I want to start reading.

So yes Happy reading - Im calling it 'If you dont read it now you never will' contest.

Harry Potter is back on form

...and its because of this young man's (Tom Felton's excellent albeit underated and underused) turn as a achingly tortured Draco Malfoy.

Just as the book portrayed, Malfoy is at a crossroads, leading his character which has has up until now really been a pantomime display of the baddy nemesis of Potter - but-not- quiet-as evil-as you know who.

Malfoy. Poor Draco Malfoy. He has been brainwashed in a way to do the Dark Lords bidding. But just as we expected, Draco is human, and still only 17/18? In a world where the threshold for murder is as young as 12 these days, its not shocking that a young man has been appointed to kill in order to save his own life.

However in the series where we have watched this young man grow, and with it his hate hate relationship with Potter and his gang has always been...seemingly harmless.
Voldermort has always been the threat. But it wasnt really Voldermort I was scared about. Just as in the books Malfoy of the film is captivating. Felton is now enlisted to make up for what his Death Eater rubbish evil father couldn't do...murder the Hogwarts Headmaster Dumbledore. Now if you have know idea what Im talking about then sorry your a lost cause.

I wont go in to detail, but apart from the 12 minute 3d beginning of the film which was AMAZING (scenes of deatheaters wreaking havoc around my borough*yay*) It was Malfoy who brought the longtime build up of doom that the movie series hasnt grasped since the fourth( and only the fourth) film...and that was because a student died.

He hardly speaks, we see him through the curtains, crying in the corner, sneaking around shadows and being naughty ..but not with his dumb cronies, no he is alone. Always suitbaly dressed in black. He has a job to do. Alone. And by Voldermort he will do it. Felton really has grown, he is beautiful in this film, and his solitude demeanor and that horrid scene on the train really spooked me. I love him.

Aside from that everyone else is in love or snogging on the stairs, in the pub, or outside the dinner hall...sex is everywhere this year at Hogwarts, and Harry and on are getting some...
But I was impressed, I really was satisfied. I have been angry at the fith film that I havent even bothered to take it out of its packaging yet...i just needed to add it to the collection for fan purposes. But Im definitley looking forward to owning this film.

All in all though, myself and my brother thought that nothing (aside from the death of Dumbledore) happened in this film. Like the book it is just the beginning of the end. A penultimate platform of the war to come, and thats exactly how it came across. Which was not a bad thing at all...

tis teh sexy book

The great thing about having a blog is...that you can dip in and out of one and not really have missed anything. I mean by sheer logic my lack of updates concludes a busy life no?

I have been run off my feet, very true. Although I complain (I like to complain) , I actually enjoy being busy. Knowing that I haven't completed a single page from any of my stories/scrips in progress is always put down to 'busy with work'...although as a freelancer this is a sporadic formula by which I have subjected myself to...(eh?)


Im ranting...

So my last entry was a list of things I had planned/ done in June.
It was an easy escape and vague post...but it epitomised that month.

A month later and July is just as rammed...only with work, driving lessons, shopping, and cinema and books.

Im a avid reader. When I say 'avid' I mean idealistic. When I say 'Idealistic' I mean wishful.

I read in dribs and drabs, but I when I start a book, no matter how long it takes, I finish it.

I am still reading Twilight. Oh my goodness. I bought the books almost a years ago and through the hype of recent, I couldnt bring myself to read it, toying with the idea of just watching the film. But a little voice said 'hey you..didnt you spend a small fortune on those three books (no fourth at the time) I think you should justify your spending little lady'

Thank Goodness I did. Talk about sexual tension! Poor teenage girls...no wonder they're hunting that poor Rob Pattinson down. Ive been told the films are very good also, probably due to the strong input the author has with production. I cant wait to see them. But the books are like heat! I swear I was reading on the tube the other day, I must have forgotton where I was, because I drew blood from biting my lip it was so intense.

Due to the films having surfaced before I really started reading the books, I now have Pattinson engraved as Edward Cullen. He wasnt my Cedric in HP4 and I couldnt understand the love for him...but now I want him...I want to be bella...woe, i need a lover. One called Edward...Cullen...

Seriously though...

C'est Fini

Granted it has taken me far too long to read, but every moment I dedicated to it on the train in between Southwark and Bond st, on the bus to Brick Lane and during my sporadic lunch breaks was worth it. In fact I like to tell myself that reading in such a miscellaneous manner helped me understand the story of Time Travelling a little more...

Whatever - it made me cry in the end is'nt that what really matters?.
I would admit though, I started it and could'nt really get in to the ping pong narrative between the two protaganists, however it is this very unconventional style of storytelling that makes this book gorgeous, poignant and the sex...I'm so happy I did stick with it.

Next up...Twilight (a year after I bought it mind...)

Like buses...

...2 posts in one day and its still only two in the afternoon.

I am not in the working mood - not that sort anyway. Its too pretty outside. I have a book to finish (which is hard - because its already taken me 3 months to read) Angels and Demons [Dan Brown], which is a great book - as good as if not slightly darker and better than The Di Vinci Code.

The latter I read a few years ago, it was a Christmas gift from my sister. It was also the illustrated version, so it made it feel like you were going through Paris with the Protagonist.

I used to read bucket loads every single week. I even had to have my eyes tested and was prescribed reading glasses due to eye strain and the effect reading had on my health (this was partly because when I started reading in the day, I would be so engrossed, and forget to turn on a light when the sun went down...)

Now I can barely finish reading my text messages let alone a book without being distracted or finding favour in sticking on a film...or the City.

Thursday

Today I saw two things that pleased me and one thing that displeased me.

Ok so the bad first.

I watched ''90210'' as in the rehash of the 90s high teen drama (Beverly Hills) Zip code.

Rubbish. A little harsh to judge it so early (pilot ep) before the cast and writers find their feet?

Well A) NO - the modern venture (as the ridiculously informative and screen grabbing credits glowered) was written by the trusted auteur's of the original...and Rob Thomas (of the delicious Veronica Mars) So what the hell happened? I wasn't gripped. I wasn't shocked that within minutes of the (screen grabbing) credits disappearing I was then exposed to the indecent scene of a young man being given a blow job by a B.H.B*! (Beverley Hills Bitch)* albeit it all took place within his shiny beast of a car...but the implication was just as distasteful as it was unnecessary. Gossip Girl this new take on the old (and rightfully Queen Bee of all succeeding Teen dramas) 90210 it is not. What I saw was a try hard underacted mess.

But...yes...it could get better. I'd be crazy to put it down now. After witnessing the worst Pilot since...I don't even know when, it's going to get better - it needs to rid itself of that horrendously fast remix of a iconic theme, and find its own...and I would also like to pay less attention to the two lead actresses** jutted shoulder blades(give em some grub will ya producer ...poor loves) and more on clueless style innovative Hills fashion - it needs to be the fall back to The Hills the way that Gossip Girl always compensates for the meagre 20Min's of The City - But with it already aired in the U.S a little research has told be that original B.H.B (Beverley Hills Babe) Shannon Doherty makes an appearance more than once...which is another reason to stay tuned.
**Shanae Grimes and Jessica Stroup (Annie Wilson and ...err Silver, 'Well, you can call me Erin, but I'm not gonna respond', Silver

*Note B.H.B now = Beverley hills babe and B.H.B* = bitch

Now after that I tuned in to the delectable BBC Three pilot turned in to full blown series drama: Being Human (above)

Fantastic: A ghost, Vampire and a werewolf all under one roof...deadly (I already see U.S studios lapping up their own version), I was hooked first seconds, I never saw the original Pilot - but I know that they have since placed Lenora Crichlow (the Sugar in Sugar Rush fame) in the place of Andrea Risborough (of Party Animals and The Devils Whore) and Guy Flanagan has been overtaken as the Vampire Mitchell, by new comer Aiden Turner.

Russell Tovey is still in it as the werewolf (swoon) so I recommend you tune in on Sundays (9pm BBC 3 ) or catch up on iPlayer. well worth it. In a time of vamps and ghouls (Nod to Twilight...not so much to Demons) this sits perfectly on top of the tween appeal of Demons and the hot blooded teen audience of the former.

Now with that being the 1st good thing...and 90210 being banished to the shameful step (it may come off it behaves Mr Darren Star) - the other good thing about today was a boy i know. He has hair like a Japanese anime character and a smile like Edward Scisscorhands (johnny depp ahhhh) *swoonarama*alas I will not see him much longer as I finish my current job as of today and will not see his beautiful mug...watch this space.