Nine - Official Trailer [HD]

As mentioned, I love Marion. I also dote on Kate Hudson, even when she's in shitty movies like Raising Helen and How To Lose A Guy In Ten Days. I like Nicole Kidman, pretty much mostly. I didn't used to like Penelope Cruz, because I thought she was a home wrecker (I guess she and Nicole are friends now? Or at least frenemies?) and she kind of grates on my nerves, but I am liking her more and more. And the old ladies are awesome. What movie isn't Judie Dench in? It's like always a toss up between her and Maggie Smith. I guess ol' Judes won this one.

Fergie... just looks like a hot tranny mess. As usual.

But I am so so excited for this. Super so so excited.

I'm not sure if there is a way that this can not win an Oscar. Guessing nominations for: Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Art Direction, Cinematography, Costume Design, Directing, Film Editing, Music (score), Music (song), Sound Editing.

Then again, it might disappoint.

Also, read this! Eek, two European thesps conversing is soups cute.

Cap ou pas cap?

Can you guess who this is?

Surprisingly, it's not McDreamy.

Here's a clue:

Yap, it's Marion and Guillaume.

I adore that these two are together. It's terribly romantic. And if you haven't seen Jeux D'enfants (Love Me If You Dare), then you are full of fail. Especially if you are a girl. And you hate love. I love Marion. I love Guillaume.

Out of point, but:

J'adore la robe, aussi.

Also, is anyone not psyched for Nine?

'Up in the Air'

Yes, I am on a roll here.

This is the legit movie that Anna Kendrick aka Jessica from the Twi series in. With George Clooney, the director of Thank You For Smoking and Juno, and Oscar buzzing... this is a win.

Embracing English Roots

In the last week, I watched 2 indie films (which I believe were pretty mainstream in the UK), and zero blockbusters. (I have absolutely no interest in seeing 2012, for some reason. Oh, probably because I think that John Cusak and Amanda Peet are the most irrelevant has beens to cast as romantic leads in any film after 2004. Don't get me wrong... I loved John Cusak... when I was 10).

The Boat That Rocked (Or, to American Audiences: Pirate Radio)

I have been anxiously awaiting this one since I saw the trailer when I took my 15 year old brother to see the Hangover as an attempt to buy his love back after not picking him up at the airport.

Anyhoo, what's not to love? The peeps from Love Actually (which I made NB watch in prep for both this and Christmas), with particular hearts to Bill Nighy. Jack Davenport, aka Steve from Coupling, who is showing up everywhere these days, most notably Flash Forward...

...And that hottie mc hot hot, Tom Sturridge, who you might remember from previous posts as being the hottie son from Being Julia, Robert Pattinson's bff (apparently he was sleeping on his couch in NY?) and also from briefly dating Camilla Belle. (Side note: on LaineyGossip, she had a hilarious posts about "why is?" and one of them was Camilla Belle which I thought was dead on). Except Holy Mutha I thought he had a monobrow when he first came on. But it's ok, it was just his greasyEnglishboy mop of hair.

Thoughts on Talulah Riley? I just can't decide on her. She was in St Trinians, which I loved, but I didn't love her. She was in Pride and Prejudice (the Kiera one) as the sister that no one remembers. She was in a little movie with RPattz (there's that cinema incest...) which I didn't see but she looked annoying in. She was the love interest in this. IDK. She's ok. She's pretty. I feel like she's one to look out for, if anyone is interested. Bet you she makes it big.

Oh. Right. The film.

The plot: A bunch of dudes operate an illegal rock and roll radio station from a boat in the English Channel and have to thwart the government peeps who try to shut them down.

I liked it, it was hilarious. The dialogue was super snappy, and it was really fun and campy. I had some issues with the story... it was just kind of like... whaa? The whole bad guys trying to shut down the radio thing felt like it was just thrown in to give some kind of structure to the happenings on board. Most of the attempts by the bad guys were shut down by a line from Bill Nighy ("Well, I hired this awesome DJ, so our sponsors will give u

s money from abroad since it's illegal in the UK..."). But whatever, who really cares about a little thing like emotional investment in the plot? I'm just rooting for the boy to get laid.

Although I did cry in the end. NB hinted that he might have gotten misty-eyed also. Here's a hint: they might have borrowed some shots from Titanic and The Perfect Storm. Yeaaaa.

~

An Education

LaineyGossip told me to watch this, and apparently I take whatever gossip blogs say to their millions of readers as personal messages à moi. Oh, also I saw the trailer on iTunes and it looked trés bien.

At first I was hesitant about Carey Mulligan, because I think she looks slightly lesbionic with her new haircut for Wall Street 2, but now that I've seen the film I'm thinking she is way too awesome for Shia. Not that I don't love him. But... I love her more.

Jenny, a swotty 16 year old trying to get into Oxford, decides that school isn't that awesome when you can just marry a rich, exciting older man.

I loved this movie because Jenny was so so so real. At the beginning of the film, I was like ugh, she is so much cooler than I was because she's clever and witty, and drops little bits of french into her speech, which I remember being the thing to do at that age but my accent was always dreadful. Hers is perfect.

Then she goes out with Peter Sarsgaard's friends, and meets Helen who is all sophisticated and chic and does her hair and wears jewels and in real life was a Bond girl one time... and Helen says she got her fur from King's road, and Jenny says something like "c'est trop cher pour moi." Very subtle, I like it. But Helen looks at her like she is a complete alien and goes "What did you say?" and Jenny says "I said it's too expensive for me." and Helen says "No you didn't." and Jenny says "I said it in French." And Helen says...

... Why?

And it is like whooosh you are a little embarrassed girl, and it's not like Helen is being rude, she is just genuinely perplexed. I was right thurr with Jenny.

Also later at dinner, Jenny gets all excited about the art and has a burst of enthusiasm and gives her very adult, flippant view on art, and they indulge her and make it so so clear that she is such a child playing grown up. And her man would tease her about being so bourgeois while doing ironically bourgeois things like drinking champagne at dinner and going to auctions.

Anyway, those were my two favorite moments. And also this white and red dress that she wears.

Also love: Olivia Williams as her teacher, and Emma Thompson as the head mistress. This was set in the 60s, by the way, which was interesting because the only thing women could do with a degree was go into public service or teach, and it was pretty normal to be insanely racist...

One thing I did not love: again, the plot was a little weak, or rather the overall lesson was. It was basically one big PSA to stay in school and not have sex. Um, that might clue you in on how it ends.

Hmm. It seems Emma Thompson shows up in both of these. Also bangs, which made me very analytical of my own. More to come on that topic. I also found myself sounding more English for a good half hour after... then I lost it again.

Girl Crushes

1. Olivia Thirlby

Have loved her since Juno. Saw New York, I Love You last weekend and while I can't say I appreciated all of the films (uh... someone please explain the Shia one to me), I loveddd her in it with that dorky kid from Star Trek and the newest Terminator.

2. Dakota Fanning

Already expressed my adoration for her pretty recently, but her Teen Vogue shoot was BEAUTIFUL. Tell me her eyes weren't retouched. I'm excited for Joan Jett and the Runaways, and also for New Moon. She is the perfect Jane, with that creepy perfect child star face.

3. Diana Agron

Oh Quinn Fabray. How can anyone not love her? She's pretty, and skinny, and hilarious. And she can sing. 'Nuff said.

4. Candice Accola

Vampire Diaries is a dreadful show full of bad story and cheap rip offs of other vampire things that shall remained unnamed. Saving grace: Handsome boys and the hilarious things that Caroline says.

Oh wow, also, she was in Juno as the female lab partner. Was she the chick who had to go lie down in the nurses office who was bitching at her boyfriend for having a wine cooler at his brother's frat house? My love deepens.

5. Anna Kendrick

I know, I should be ashamed, 2 of the Twilight chicks made it on here. But she cracks me up every time I see Twilight. "Oh... you're so... funny... heh..." and "She's right though, my boobs do look awesome in this."

And apparently she is pretty legit in whatever real movies she has coming out between the Twilight saga stuff. Am excited.

Hmm... It would appear that other than D Fanning, all my girl crushes are the pretty, bitchy, occasionally bimbotic frenemies. Can't help it, they get the best lines.

Other mentionables: The Emmas: Watson and Roberts. I will always love you both. KStew, I love you but just not quite as much.

Juno Temple

We should all start loving Juno Temple right now.

You might remember her as bitchy redhead kid that got James in deep shizz in Atonement. Or bitchy wife who got Natalie Portman in deep shizz in The Other Boleyn Girl. Bitchy annoying child in Notes on a Scandal?

As you can see. she has generally only played bitchy horrible children. But now:

She's also in year one, looking very blond-chick-from-the-TingTings.

Adorable. Must now try and watch her in Wild Child with my other girl-child crush, Emma Roberts.

Some Summer Dos and Don'ts

DO: Watch Star Trek.

Okay, okay, it wasn't the best thing I've ever seen. It was the best Star Trek I've ever seen, but I was always biased against Star Trek because I thought you had to be exclusively dating either Wars or Trek and I had chosen Wars. Now I know better. Whatever, it's worth a look for guys and girls. But not for my Mum, she'd hate it.

a) It's hilarious. How could it not be, with Simon Pegg in it? Also, Harold aka John Cho. Guess he has to start acting in real things now that Kumar has run off to the White House. Even without Simon Pegg, it was much more funny and with it than I had expected.

b) Half the shots I swear were homages to other greats like Star Wars (on Hoth) and Transformers (in the desert, when that monster comes out).

c) Sylar was Sylaring around the place. This is neither here nor there but worth mention.

d) Some great cameos: Winona Ryder. Tyler Perry. Enough said.

e) Eye candy. You know, Chris Pine? AKA Princess Diaries 2, and Just My Luck guy? How can you not love that face? Adorable.

Don't: Read the Manny.

It's really dull. Like the Nanny Diaries, but from the POV of the Mom who thinks she isn't the same as the rest of the Upper East Side, so even duller. There's a handsome man in it and a few funny sidekicks but mostly she bitches about how stressful it is to work part time and have three children and three staff, how her husband is a shallow tool, how her Manny is hot... Spends entirely too long on the subplot about her job as a news producer. Really, no one cares.

Here's the sums: Boo hoo, I work so hard and my kids feel neglected, especially my son who effed up in his basketball game and is pretending not ot care. My husband is a lawyer making lots of money but is all bummed that he isn't making enough for a private jet, and thus has no time for our son. I will hire a handsome man to hang out with my son. I totz have a crush on him but I'm too good a wife to do anything about it. Bitch friend went down on him in the closet at a playdate! I hate my husband, also, maybe I should leave him, but sometimes I like him. Oh also boo hoo work sucks I have such a good story coming out that it has been such hard work. Gay men like to give me advice on how to be less frumpy but I don't seem to understand. I love being frumpy. But it's ok, my manny loves me, I figured it out when I went to his birthday party and this really cute girl who had a crush on him told me he was head over heels with 'someone' and someone else told me he had made big bucks off this software he was developing but didn't quit because he didn't want to... ditch my kid? He loves me and now he's really rich. But I have work and fam, so sorry manny. I just caught my husband eating my other friend's vag. OMG. I should get a divorce and hook up with my manny, but not immediately. I don't understand why my manny is so upset I don't want to hook up with him, upset enough to run to California?? Actually I'm just going to take the kids away for a weekend. Manny came to visit! We had hot hot sex, but not that hot. Husband came to visit too! I blackmailed him because he has been doing some dodgy things with his law firm and is in trouble, and now I am free. Manny says I need some time alone, so he will meet me in our spot in central park in precisely 6 months. He did.

(That was the actual last line of the book... 'and he did.' Or something Similar.)

The worst thing about this was that it referenced Britney Spears' Manny and thus means it wasn't even a fresh new idea. It means that it was already old news.

The best thing was that the main chick was advised by a friend to 'always blow your husband'. Hahaha. Every morning apparently. Rona and I discussed it and decided it was a gross but genius plan. From Rona's POV: He'd never cheat, unless he got horny at lunch. From NB's POV: How could he say no to anything? You just gave him a BJ. From my POV: His friends would mock him if he ever complained about anything, because the rest of them only have sex once a month.


Don't: Read Lucky



For some reason, we've been getting a subscription to Lucky for free. The just keep showing up. And they kind of suck. For instance, the May issue assured me that crimping hair was back in. That is a damn lie. Less offensive, but still not great in a fashion mag: Everything is kind of old news. Gladiator sandals, hobo bags... is that stuff still in? Weren't they soo last summer??

Most importantly: No horoscopes. Whaaaa?

Notorious (the Alfred Hitchcock version, not BIG)

I have always maintained, a little arrogantly, that I hate Alfred Hitchcock. There's a couple of reasons for this: (1) I saw Birds, and bits of Psycho, and they are def not my idea of an enjoyable afternoon. (2) He and Quentin Tarantino are the gods of the pretentious film student, and I try to stay away from their stereotypes.

But pairing Ingrid Bergman with Cary Grant? Well played, Alfie.

I had to watch some clips of this in my production design class, and I paid special attention since in my production class I have been all Noir-obsessed. The three clips I saw kind of fit in with my short film's story really well, so I could steal some of the cinematography. Tonight I finally got around to watching the whole thing, because NB wouldn't let me have the TV on (it was distracting him from work) and I wanted to feel like I was doing homework without actually having to do anything...

Anyway, I would strongly recommend this, for when you are in the mood to feel cultured but watch trash (let's face it, these things are essentially thriller pulps...), and when you want to cry about how people back in the day were so much better than they are today. Especially the men. And the women had sweet clothes and got to be drunk all the time... oh. No change there.

Plotty: After Alicia(Ingie)'s German-sympathizer-actual-German-war-profiteering-or-something father is thrown in prison, Devlin (Cary), an American agent, recruits her to use her connections to dig up dirt for the Americans. Her job is to seduce Alexander Sebastian, an old friend of her father's who happens to already be in love with her and is also a big bad German. Natch, she and Cary have fallen in love so things go all topsy turvy.

I don't want to give a good/bad, because all the things that I might consider bad are so retro-fun that they kind of make the movie for me. Such as long panning shots where you can feel the camera man walking around. The 'binocular' viewpoint. The rear projection for the exterior 'Rio' shots that were actually filmed on a sound stage. And that point at the end of the first act when the two leads proclaim their love for each other and everyone in the modern audience is like ... whaaa?! Didn't you guys JUST meet???

Other than that awkward moment, the romance was fantabulastic. I adore Ingrid, yes, because she had a great trenchcoat in Casablanca, and who can resist a good trenchcoat? I'd like to say I love Cary Grant, but as it turns out, I haven't seen anything on his IMDB. Although he is 'First Sailor' in a movie called Singapore Sue, so that gets him mega props right there. Whatever it is, the two of them make a great couple.

She is all 'I love you and I know you love me, I won't sleep with this other man if you say so...' and he's like 'I won't say I love you, see if I care if you sleep with him, if you want to sleep with him GO AHEAD' and she's like 'fine eff you I will!' and then he is all bummed. In real life (um, the real lives of my friends?) this situation either ends with her going 'oh no I would never' and he continues to not love her, or she says FINE and then... he really doesn't care.

(Actually, it's probably movies like these that make women believe that men are more noble than they are when they are being douchey. Because we/I would love to believe that they are pining inside but have to hold their feelings in to be manly, when actually they have completely forgotten about you since they have some weed and video games to hang out with instead...)

(Yea... I got pretty personal with all this... projecting...)

Even as individuals, they are pretty bad-ass. She is drunk all the time and taunts him by hinting about sex, and he is completely blase about the fact that she is drunk driving him around town, or that he just made a HUGE mess and has 5 seconds to clean it up before the bad guys catch him. Speaking of, the bigbad, Sebastian, is quite a sympathetic bad guy. He is quite genuinely in love with her and romantic, and doesn't seem terribly evil. And his creepy-ass mother is also pretty understandable. She might be a bitch, but she's always right. And she wants the best for her son. So... characters? Thumbs up.

And the best thing about thrillers, especially the ones where you know everything is going to be alright in the end: those moments where you are literally squeeling with worry, 'no, no, you STUPID cow! He's going to see you!'... and that sort of thing.

Ok, ok, the actual bad: The 'mystery' plot is pretty thin, like many James Bond's. 'Hey pretty lady, go um... find out... something. German.' 'Oh wow, (magical discovery), well at least now we know what's going on. Now you... find out where they're getting it from.' Really, does knowing they have uranium really tell me anything? Is this a secret no one let me in on?? But really. That's the only kind of annoying thing about it.

YAY! Because even if you don't like it that much, you can always go hang out with a crowd of film students and be all 'oh yea, I love the use of size in Notorious, you know, that was an enlarged model so they couldn't show her drinking out of it without cutting...'

Lots of ' ' and ... today. What's up with that?

But why is Mr Manhatten always naked in his lab?

Baha. Apparently, a nine year old girl asked Zach Snyder that during a Watchmen Q&A. Yup, that's right. In class this week was the Watchmen. I thought I should blog ASAP since having seen this might actually give me some street cred. I didn't read the books, so I don't know if I would have liked it more or less if I had...

Story: (Attempting to have no spoilers) It is 1985 (for the most part), America and Russia are on the verge of nuclear war and the vigilantes of the past have been banned. The Comedian, a member of a retired group of superheros, is murdered, and Rorschach (another superhero who still wears his mask) believes there is a conspiracy to kill all of the masked men. He goes to warn the others who mostly think he is a crazy paranoid and have better things to worry about like using Dr Manhatten's nuclear powered body to solve the world oil crisis and end the cold war. Natch, they're wrong.

The things I've heard the most criticism about are: the soundtrack, and the very hyper-sexy-sex and visceral violence of the story. People booed the soundtrack for having too many (bad?) popular songs on it. I don't know, I enjoyed it. I thought the songs were a good indication of what time period they were in, especially in the beginning montage where they jumped around so much. Rona was impressed with the music budget. And it's kind of fun to take a few seconds to bop around to a familiar song. As for the sex/violence... Snyder said it was intentional because it was meant to be an overturning of the traditional superhero comic, where you can't be explicit with sex, and you don't show blood, so it was meant to be an ironic statement or something. Personally, I didn't think it was out of place. My understanding of graphic novels (which is extensive, having read at least three) as compared to comics was that they are now much more about the anti-hero who has no qualms bloodying up the page. I know the target audience, his name is Nick, and there is nothing he enjoys more than bad-assness and people getting shot in the knee caps.

Alright, now that I've dealt with that, here are some things that I did have problems with:

Most importantly, dialogue. The same thing happened in Sin City, where the script is full of comic book speak, which is super cool and edgy on the page but actually sounds really really retarded when it is read out loud and often makes people laugh. (Your finger is like licking a battery????)

Dr Manhatten's nudity. Actually, his 'costuming' in general. The shiny blue penis was awkward, but his 'battle briefs' were way worse, and seeing him in a suit seemed unnatrual what with all the glowing. I don't know, there's no way out of that one.

While we're on Dr Manhatten, I think we spent a leeetle too much time emoting on Mars. It was very pretty and stuff but it got old fast because there wasn't much to look at.

I also spent a lot of the beginning confused: I didn't realize that they got new people to take over their superhero roles, I thought they just got awesome makeovers. Also, they are super strong right? How did they find other super strong peeps? The whole hero mythology was not well explained.

Most of all, I hated the bright yellow. Now that I've seen it, I get it, it's a cultural AND character reference. But I still think it's gross and tacky.

Some things I noticed that didn't bother me too much:

Rorschach's mask's (I kept thinking his name was Volcheck - OC reference anyone?) inkstains were sliding around all over the place and I really wanted a clearer indication of what they meant, or if they were just random.

Laurie Jupiter had man shoulders (that's just a little Mean Girls for you). Really, she had a very square face. And then during the sex scene I yelped "SHE HAS A TERRIBLE BODY" which I didn't mean to be quite so loud. Actually, her body wasn't awful, but it was definitely not Hollywood. She was kind of flat chested and not toned at all, which is weird because you'd think a superhero would get a lot of cardio in. Also, her costume required a good brazillian at all time because she was def flapping out.

At the end, Ozymandias had this weird animal that they never explained. I guess it was a fanboy secret.

Some things I adored:

The opening montage was quite beautiful, with lots of remakes of pop-culture moments. Flashback scenes in general. Costumes. Hair. Makeup. Sets. Visual effects. The fact that Denny (from Grey's and PS I Love You? aka the Comedian) was alive! The fact that Raoul from Phantom was pathetic as usual, the guy the chick runs to from her freaky true love. He's like the new James Marsden in the slightly more messed up version of every romantic plot. Sally Jupiter and how adorable she was and then aged into an alcoholic. Awesome. I was also quite fond of Ozymandias, there was something quite pristine about him and his golden hairband.

DENNY! You're alive!

I think you can see, generally, the movie LOOKED amazing.

Yay or nay? I liked it more than the batman movies, but they left me very bitter. Yay for the fanboys and gamers and the fans of gore, nay for my mother and maybe if you're bored for the girls who don't really care.

Facebook Entertainment

When work is slow I oft find myself perusing people's notes on facebook. Sometimes I get bummed that no one has tagged me in them so I don't have an excuse to continue the chain (case in point: 25 things, and also those Mr Men pictures going around). Today, I have decided to just blog some. Take initiative and all that.

This one is from a girl from secondary school : The BBC reckons most people will have only read 6 out of the 100 books here.

Instructions:
1) Look at the list and put an 'x' for those you have read.
2) Star (*) those you plan on reading.
3) Hex (#) those you've never finished
4) Tally your total at the bottom.
5) Put in a note with your total in the subject
(and because I'm special, I am going to put a % for the ones I've seen the film version of)

1 (#%) Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen (I read the abridged v in pri 6. To this day, I maintain that I hate J.A)
2 (X %) The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3 (X ) Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4 (X %) Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
5 () To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6 (#) The Bible
7 (X %) Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte (has anyone else seen the AWFUL MTV version???)
8 () Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9 (X %) His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman (<3)
10 (# % ) Great Expectations - Charles Dickens

Pitstop Count: (X) - 5, (*) - , (#) - 3, (%) - 6

11 (X % ) Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12 ( %) Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 () Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14 (#) Complete Works of Shakespeare (Just the ones we did in school...JC, A&C, O, Merch of Venice. And I saw Titus and R&J)
15 (* ) Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 ( X) The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien (maybe.. since i've read the others)
17 ( ) Birdsong - Sebastian Faulk
18 () Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 (X) The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 ( #) Middlemarch - George Eliot

Pitstop Count: (X) - 3, (*) - 1, (#) - 2, (%) - 2

21 ( X %) Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 ( X ) The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23 ( ) Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 ( # ) War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25 () The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26 ( * ) Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27 ( ) Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 ( ) Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29 ( X %) Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carrol
30 ( % ) The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame

Pitstop Count: (X) - 3, (*) - 1, (#) - 1, (%) - 3

31 (* %) Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 ( ) David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 (X %) Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34 ( ) Emma - Jane Austen
35 ( ) Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 ( X %) The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis (How IS this not under Narnia? - I didn't write that, but I agree)
37 ( X) The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 ( ) Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 ( X %) Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 (X %) Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne

Pitstop Count: (X) - 5, (*) - 1, (#) -, (%) - 5

41 () Animal Farm - George Orwell (saw the play)
42 (X %) The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43 ( ) One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 ( ) A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
45 ( ) The Woman in White - Wilkie Collin (saw the musical)
46 (X %) Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47 ( ) Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 ( *) The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 () Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50 (#%) Atonement - Ian McEwan

Pitstop Count: (X) - 2 , (*) - 1, (#) - 1, (%) - 3

51 ( *) Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52 (X %) Dune - Frank Herbert (well, I saw Children of Dune. OW OW JAMES!)
53 ( ) Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 ( ) Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55 ( #) A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 ( ) The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 (#) A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens (abridged version again)
58 (X) Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 (X) The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time
60 ( ) Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez Pitstop (does it count if I wanted to see the movie?)

Count: (X) - 3, (*) - 1, (#) - 2, (%) - 1

61 ( * ) Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62 (X %) Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 ( ) The Secret History - Donna Tart
64 ( X) The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 (% ) Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66 ( #) On The Road - Jack Kerouac (reading it right now! bought it for NB but really so I could read it)
67 ( ) Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 ( % ) Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding
69 ( *) Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70 () Moby Dick - Herman Melville Pitstop

Count: (X) - 2, (*) - 2, (#) - 1, (%) - 3

71 ( %) Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72 (# %) Dracula - Bram Stoker (abriiiidged... man I had a lot of abridged classics as a kid)
73 (X % ) The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 ( ) Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson (they have this at my mum's shop)
75 ( ) Ulysses - James Joyce
76 (*) The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77 ( X %) Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome (and then I made myself a bow and arrow)
78 ( ) Germinal - Emile Zola
79 ( # %) Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 ( ) Possession - AS Byatt Pitstop

Count: (X) - 2, (*) - 1, (#) - 2, (%) - 5

81 ( X %) A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens (did you guess abridged?)
82 () Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 () The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 ( ) The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 ( X ) Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 ( ) A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 (X) Charlotte’s Web - EB White
88 (* ) The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 () Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (No, but I WROTE a spoof, that should count)
90 ( ) The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton

Pitstop Count: (X) - 3, (*) - 1, (#) -, (%) - 1

91 () Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 ( X ) The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint Exupery
93 ( ) The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 ( X% ) Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 ( ) A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 ( ) A Town Like Alice - Neil Shute
97 ( #% ) The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 () Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99 ( X %) Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100 ( ) Les Miserables - Victor Hugo (saw the musical!)

Pitstop Count: (X) - 3, (*) - , (#) - 1, (%) - 2

Total: (X) - 31, (*) - 9, (#) - 13, (%) - 32

I'm pretty proud of my numbers. I mean, generally, I've read most of the things that I want to read. And the ones that I never finished... usually means that I got bored half way. Sometimes I might have been a little young at the time I attempted to read them (Like A Suitable Boy and Atonement) It's a little embarrassing that I've seen more movie versions than read the books, but I am looking into Hollywood, so I guess that's okay.

Now you try.

D. Fanning - Stamp of approval

So you know who I used to think was a scary little witch child? Dakota Fanning.

But recently, she has been appearing all kinds of pretty and stylish. She and Emma Watson should hang out in like the cute-classy tween club. (As opposed to the cute-but-deathly-annoying-tween club, president: Miley, co-pres: T-Tay, Treasurer: Demi Lawhatsists). (It occurs to me that 'tween' is actually 'teen', because they were actual tweens when I was an actual teen... no longer...). I was about to write up on Coraline, but I have to wake up soon so I shouldn't. Push looks awful, but Camilla is in it, and I need to screen stalk her a bit, so I might see it anyway... And she is going to be in Twilight, probably, playing the devil witch child that she once was...

Back to it:

(stolen from justjared)

Really, adorable. You better be saying that with the french inflection. Pretty pretty pretty.

Overheard in the Movie Theatre

Today in Coraline (3D), sitting next to a family:

Dad puts on 3D glasses.

Mom: *snigger* Look at Dad, he looks like a dork!

Child #1: What's a dork?

Mom: It's someone who's socially awkward?

Child #2: What's socially awkward?

Mom: Someone who isn't good with people.

Dad: Like your Uncle Bill.

Silver Fox

How can Bryan Singer be 43?! He's kinda hot, for a director. Esp compared to Chris Nolan. I def had 'I'd do him' kind of thoughts when he talked to our class tonight.

More on Valkyrie later.

Twilight

Today, my 4 o clock class was canceled because of Thanksgiving. (Is it normal that spellcheck says there's only one L? I thought there were 2...let me know, someone. It might be American spelling or it might be Amanda Can't Spell.) Anyhoo, Emily and I were at the UV, famous for their $6 movie tickets, and noted that Twilight was playing at 4:15. Uh, hells yea. Then I texted Rona, and she decided that it was worth skipping class for.

You know what that means...

Overall, I did like the movie. Quite a lot. I thought it was a good adaptation with a great cast, but some of the editing was a little awkward, they could have used a leeetle less exposition and also I wish they would have put a couple more million into the special effects, because while it looks good for the most part, there's a couple of really awk looking 'flying through the air' moments that ruin the movie.

Question of the day: How are there so many non-white people in this tiny ass town in WA? Like, props to the movie for having such a diverse cast, but you KNOW that aint real life.

First off, cast. Because that is obvs the most important.

Kristen Stewart was amazing. Or I thought so, I've read that she was boring but um, read the books, Bella is dull as balls. She got a bit into it sometimes, but she was cool and her hair was very pretty. Her make up might have been a little distracting at times.

Robert Pattinson was hot, duh. His voice and looks were kind of channelling Hayden Christensen in Star Wars at some points, but only in the best of ways as opposed to the angsty teen ways. He was really great when he or someone else said something awkward, then there would be a pause and then he would just get this wtf kind of look.

Others: I LOVED Jessica. In the book, she was annoying as eff. In the movie she was HILARIOUS. Mike was cuter than I thought he'd be. Eric was Asian, and basically had the same character as all the cool funky Asian guys of the last couple of years - 21, Disturbia, Nick n Nora.. Nikki Reed was pretty great, and looked better as a blonde than I expected. Jasper was funny. Alice was pretty, I really liked Victoria... I mean they were all great. Charlie was awesome too, way more of a DILF than you'd have expected. Jacob had bad times hair. So did Cam, he's much hotter in magazines. Carlisle's voice was a little over-actingy at the end.

Best scene: Oooh, it's a toss up for me between the baseball scene, the scene where Edward first drives Bella to school and looks really hot and puts his arm around her, or when he appears in her room and they make out. For the making out, duh.

(um, I stole all my pics, and this one has a watermark... please don't kill me, whoever owns this!)

Best-worst scene: When Edward first smells Bella in the science lab... FUNNIEST FACE. I didn't think he was meant to be that obvious, and he def didn't look like he wanted to eat her. He looked like he wanted to throw up.

Worst scene: When Bella figures out that he's a vampire and says she's not scared, and to make her scared he insists on making her see him sparkle? That makes no sense. Taking off your shirt is not going to make a girl scared, only mildly disappointed that there are no abs.

Best parts: Apart from the cast .. and my list of best scenes... the cinematography was beautiful, everything had a really nice look to it. The soundtrack was pretty amazing, except where the eff was Decode? Some of the dialogue was really hilarious. Rob's wardrobe was sharp, and by sharp I mean hot. Oh actually you know what, when Cam beats Bella up, that was pretty good. Look out for Stephenie Meyer's cameo, it was god-awful and oh so great.

Worst parts: Like I said, a couple of the special effects shots really ruined it for me. This will break everyone's hearts, but the 'dazzling' really looked more like 'sweating'. And when Edward jumps out the window with Bella, they take some leaps that look like really bad wire work, I think if they had more force pushing off it would be more believable. Um, 'Spider Monkey'? Horror horror. That was Rob's own invention I think, but it was a fail fail. And then they're in a tree, and she's all 'this doesn't happen! this isn't real!' but er, hello, he pulled exactly the same trick when he dragged you to the clearing to see him 'sparkle' and you didn't seem phased at all at that point. Did not make sense. Likewise, how did you know James was tracking you before they said anything about James being a tracker? Other than that... some of the dialogue was really expositional, there was a scene where they sit on a rock and he tells her about being a vamp... pretty dull stuff. This is pretty minor, but when Eric 'lost control' of his van, I thought it looked like he was out to get her on purpose. Just the editing there, I think. The other question was, in the prom scene, why was Bella wearing leggings? That's a fashion faux-pas if ever there was one. And even if it wasn't, how the eff did she put them on?! She's wearing a bloody cast!

OH flashbacks = BAD TIMES. Really dramatic shots in the Phantom Of The Opera sepia of Carlisle turning people and them making horrid faces. Hmm... seems like Carlie might be the weakest link here.

Lots of people made a really big deal about the Cullen house not being like in the book, but it really didn't bother me, I quite liked it.

But, you know, that was a pretty detailed thing of what was bad, just so you're prepared. Because really, if you are or ever were a fan girl, it's totally worth it. Just for the *sigh sigh* I wish someone would look at me that way and say 'you're my life now' and stuff...

Warning: Worst date movie ever. Boys, the only way you can benefit from this is if your girlfriend watches this and is feeling really mushy and you do something nice like hold her hand... but any sex you have will be purely the slow candle-lit type, so I wouldn't bother if I were you. Send her off with her friends and be prepared to hear about how inadequate you are.

Twilight Business

I'm still not ready to do my 'review', I'm thinking I might wait til I've seen it a second time. Which I will do, and soon. But in the meantime, I thought I would lend you my BCA expertise and talk numbers.

This weekend (opening weekend in the US :) ) Twilight grossed 70.6 million.

Since the average movie ticket is just under $7, that means that over 1 million people saw it. Apparently 75% of the audience was female (surprise?) and 45% were over 25 (actual surprise). That was a little Variety statistics for you.

More stats? It beat the shizz out of Bolt ($27 mil)(s0 suck it Miley...) and also SITC, which I guess is how the movie world defines a female film. It's the biggest opening for a female director, so well done Crazy Cat. Um... and it made just over $20k per theatre, but I don't know if that's per screen or like cineplexes included. It's playing in 3,419 runs, but balls if I know what that means. It's either screens or places, idk.

Anyway, it cost $37 mil to produce, and probably around $30 mil for P&A. That's Prints and Advertising to you, prints being the actual film reels that get sent around to the movie theatres. And the ads being those things that make you giddy with excitement when you hear 'You're impossibly fast..." during the ad break of GG and Grey's.

The studio gets like 50c for every $1 at Box Office, so Summit is now at $35 million. In three days. And one country. It hasn't even opened internationally yet. And you know the FFGs such as myself are planning on seeing it at least twice more in theaters before buying the DVD, probably several times over because their/our copies will be broken from rewinding and playing a few key moments over and over.

So yea, Mormon Moron, Twilight really tanked.

Um, also, I have a Twilight poster to give away, if anyone wants it. I'm feeling generous. It's not huge or anything, but it's hawt. :)

On FFGs

After watching Twilight last night at midnight (which I will update you on shortly), the official FFG look is confirmed. For those of you who have never encountered an FFG, here's a little guide:

[You might think this is rude/extreme generalizing, and you're right, it is. But think of it like racism - if someone is being racist about their own race, that's okay right? And since I am clearly an FFG, no p, kiddo.]

1) Looks: The main thing about the FFG is that she is plain and unremarkable, which is why she has to live vicariously through Bella Cullen and Paramore and Hot Topic. This is why most FFGs have brown hair and brown eyes. Or at best, a dirty blonde. Alternatively, some kind of bright, dyed shade to mask the FFG bleh (see Osbourne, Kelly). The FFG is probably pretty pale, from living with minimal exercise and hiding in her room reading. For the same reasons, she can be sized anywhere from 0-100, but is never toned.

2) Fashion: This varies, depending on age and how rebellious she is feeling. Generally, she wears plain one-colour things, like jeans and a t-shirt. But since the FFG clearly craves attention, she lusts after Hot Topic punk, and might indulge in the occasional bow hair pin. The FFG may take outfit queues from books/music/tv that is a la mode, dressing as the main character does.

2a) OR if it is a really special occasion, such as a concert or the opening night of a FFG approved movie, she will don a 'band' shirt. By band, I also mean movies/books/whatever that the FFG is supporting. This band shirt is often slightly too small/ill fitting, clinging uncomfortably over the chesticles/love handles/arm fats/bra bulge. One mystery I have yet to solve: does the FFG like that all the other FFGs have the same shirt, or hate it? Is it like finding a kindred spirit or like going to prom and seeing some other slut in your dress?

3) Hobbies: There are a few types of FFGs, and hybrids. The music FFGs adore trolling iTunes for emo music and dreaming that the emo boy singing is in fact singing about her and how she broke his heart. The book FFGs enjoy reading young adult book series that star a (skinny) FFG and the devastatingly handsome boy who falls in love with her for no reason other than her sheer charm and wit. The movie/tv series ones do the same thing, except they watch them. All FFGs then proceed to log on to the internet and read/write fanfic and post comments on fan pages and try and get themselves prominent enough in the FFG world that they become minor celebrities. That is the ultimate goal. (See Meyer, Stephenie and Bella Cullen Project, The)

3a) Hobbies (no event available): The FFG likes anything to do with magic and fate, because you know that's the only way she'll snag her handsome handsome man who is sooo much better than the stupid boys who go to her high school and have crushes on the stupid cheerleaders. Anyway, this includes things like astrology, mythology, and fortune telling.

4) Ambition: I'm sure there are lots of noble FFG ambitions, but the real dream is to become an author and get to make an FFG movie about your own book where you can choose the dreamboat that falls in love with you... er, the heroine of the book. Next best is to be such a huge fan that you get to interview an FFG idol, go to a premiere/concert for free, or at least write such awesome fanfiction that you get a few FFGs of your own. Uh, the real dream being that the FFG idol spots you in the crowd and speaks to you, and you utter such a memorable line that he immediately whisks you off into his Hollywood life and you can write a novel about it and... it's a never ending cycle. At the very least, an FFG would like to rise above the FFGdom and be BFF to some FFDidols. God, that got complicated.

5) Habitat: The FFG can oft be found loitering around CD or bookstores, sometimes libraries. On weekends, they may be found in clusters. To find them en masse, check out the FFG events, as listed earlier (special occasion where one might where a band shirt).

6) Patron Saints: Bella Cullen, the chick from Paramore, Liz from Roswell, Cho Chang... it's an endless list.

7) Queen of the FFGs: Stephenie Meyer

Happy Hunting!

Hit List

Sorry I've been neglecting you. Here's a quick (pop)date:

1) Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, should watch Slumdog Millionaire.

It's a sweet little film shot in India about a boy who goes on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire to win the heart of his childhood sweetheart. That doesn't really do it justice. Best parts: Bright colours, amazing child actors, great soundtrack. The only down side is that the plot is a leeeetle cheezy. But we all like a little mush right? It would be a great date movie, but doesn't have to be. It's directed by Danny Boyle if that means anything to you, he also did Trainspotting and 28 Days later. Mostly, you should watch it because we should support great movies so that more get made.

2) Pushing Daisies is being cancelled? WHYYYY???

At least there's still GG. I live to watch Blair and Chuck.


3) James Bond - Quantum of Solace. Gotta throw my 2 cents in, right? Um... it was a pretty typical Bond movie, I think. Ya know, sex, chase scenes etc. It's a sequal, sort of, to Casino Royale. It was a little more intellectual than usual... Jamie had some mental issues he had to sort out, but other than that it wasn't really super special.

I was really torn up about Olga Kurylenko because on one hand I was pretty sure I thought she was adorable, but on the other, her hair looked kind of weird a lot of the time. SPOILER ALERT! The best thing, for me, was when you see girl #2s dead body, in the oil. Looked very cool and old-Bond.


4) I am kind of addicted to the Mentalist, this crime show where a fake psychic solves mysteries.

I've heard it's like Psyche, but not funny. Umm... I love the man, Simon Baker (Creep from Devil Wears Prada), because he's adorable, and Deb from Empire Records is in it and she's always really cool, plus it's really interesting to see how 'psychics' figure shit out and hypnotize people. But mostly I love that I can always guess who did it within the first 10 minutes. It makes me feel like a psychic too.


5) OMG in 14 hours I will be watching... TWILIGHT!

Yes, I am going for the first screening at the Arclight. I am such a FFG (Fat Fan Girl). But I did have enough pride to resist a) going for that MTV Spoilers thing, b) Loitering around Westwood last night for the premiere, which was an FFG infestation, and c) buying the poster. I was later rewarded for c by finding a large box of them at Norris after class.
Mormon Tool from my BCA class thinks that Twilight is going to tank. Clearly he knows not the power of the FFGs. I also want to say that he is going to be a shitty producer, but I guess he just won't make ALL good things. I can't say for sure that what he DOES make will be shitty. One thing I am sure of, he WILL make something, because his film biz fam seems to be rolling in cash and encouragement.

In Other News

I saw High School Musical 3, and it was FAB.

Good Better Best, Never Stop To Rest

Here's a better version.

Hollywould if she could

Since I know y'all love it when I name drop, here's a little Saturday night story:

From what I have observed of American college culture - maybe just of the USC variety - it is traditional for one to spend ones formative (ie pre-21) years at frat or house parties. However, once one is legally able to purchase ones own alcohol, one usually ditches the solo cups and popov vodka for the over priced cocktails of exclusive Hollywood clubs, (as seen on the Hills).

However, there are also horror stories abound about just how exclusive these clubs are - you can't get in if you aren't on the list, especially if you aren't white or if you're a boy. So our household has generally shied away from that whole scene, instead sticking to our comfort zone of jungle juice and beer pong.

Last night, Rona and I were feeling particularly ballsy, and decided that we were going to Teddy's at the Roosevelt no matter what. Why Teddy's? Um, because that's where Rob frequents. And yes, we are on a first name basis. I'm sure he'd call me by my first name too, if he had ever met me. Anyway, don't think of this as stalking, think of it as clubs being marketed successfully to their target audiences.

When we got there (after like an hour of sitting in traffic...) the street was chock-a-block with big shiny black cars. We thought that this was just a regular night for them, so, a little intimidated, we followed some people to a roped off place to interrogate the door bitch. I decided my foreignness would be excused for touristness so it was ok to be so uncool.

Here is lesson number 1 for outings in LA: Do your research. Natch, we chose the one day that the Roosevelt was booked for the Scream awards after party. So no entry to Teddy's. On the bright side, we did see Tim Burton outside, looking very kooky.

Not to be deterred, we wondered down Hollywood Blvd and decided to get in the first queue we saw. We ended up at a club called Central Hollywood. There was a little line, so Rona stood in it and I went to the front to ask 'how long the wait would be'.

Me: Excuse me, do you know how long the wait will be?

Door bastard: How many people are in your party?

Me: Oh just me and another girl. *Point at Rona*

Door bastard: Just you and her?

Me: Yea

Door bastard: Who's list are you on?

(I feel that might have been a wink wink kind of moment, but really.. wtf was I supposed to say?? Is there a secret list name I'm meant to know for situations like this?)

Me: Uh... no ones?

Door bastard: *exasperated* You guys can go in.

Me: Sorry... it's my first time clubbing in Hollywood... *wave Rona over*

Door bastard: Don't be sorry. It's not all that great, but have fun!

Ok this is getting really long, I'll make the rest snappy.

Central is a pretty cute club. It's not super big, but it is super dark. They were playing Barbarella on a screen on a wall which was bizarre and kind of fun, but didn't really go with the tiny glowy star lights hanging from the ceiling look. The music was also kind of lame, for which I blame the Dj. It was really erratic and didn't have smooth transitions and jumped genre's really randomly. And the fact that I knew all the songs is probably a bad sign. There are 3 stalls in the bathroom, which isn't decorated particularly nicely, but also wasn't particularly dirty.

Anyhoo, Rona recognised Columbus Short and Dave Scott, and since I had no clue who they were I was happy to grab Columbus and say "Were you in Stomp the Yard?"

Hahaha. Anyway, since they are kind of C list I guess they were really happy to be recognized because they were both really sweet and came back to talk to us a couple of times, and Columbus bought us a round of drinks.

That was as good as the 'spotted's were, but whatevs, we were happy.

Also, you will be proud to hear that as Designated Driver, I had diet cokes and water all night. This did not stop me from knocking my side mirror off on a pillar.

The End.