Movie stuff

Lots on the go. What I thought would be a quiet week turned out to be very busy. Haven't had time to post anything of substance, but here's a bit of fluff for you in the form of two movie reviews and some cinematic thoughts ;-)

X Men: First Class


I'm not generally a fan of movies based on comic books. They tend to have lame plots, stilted scripts and simplistic characters. But the X Men movies have always been different. Yes, they are silly. But they are generally wellmade. The only exception for me so far has been Wolverine, which I hated.

X Men First Class is slick, fast-paced, filled with spectacular special effects and actually contains some pretty decent acting. It's fun to watch and is perfect Hollywood entertainment that doesn't require too much thinking. Of course it's not perfect - there are some daft lines, some OTT moments and the story loses momentum in parts. But it's honestly not too bad, which surprised me, especially when I saw that the character of Professor X was being played by the sweet but in my mind sappy James McAvoy. He actually did lend a touch of humanity and humour to the character. Michael Fassbender was perfectly cast as Erik / Magneto.

All in all, a not too shabby 7 / 10 from me.

Jane Eyre



I loved the book. I'm a big fan of the classics. But as long as the basic story and "feel" of the book is translated into film, I don't mind some smart editing that may cut out a few bits here and there. And that's exactly what this film did.

Instead of plodding along, following the exact path of the book, director Cary Fukunaga played a bit on the sequencing of events and cut out some details that, although charming in the book, were not essential to the plot.

Imagine my surprise though, having been suitably charmed by Mia Wasikowska as Jane Eyre, when Michael Fassbender showed up as Mr Rochester. Two movies with this man in one week and really - he is the only thing that X Men: First Class and Jane Eyre have in common. But more on him later...

Jane Eyre was one of my favourite movies of the year so far. The acting was incredible. How to play Mr Rochester so that he is rude, abrupt and awful yet still someone that one wants to fall in love with is always a challenge, as is the character of Jane Eyre herself - how to convet her spirit without imposing our modern feminism on that time period?

Both situations were navigated exceptionally well. The drama was intense; the landscape ideal. The chemistry between Jane and Edward is beautifully conveyed.

Once again - it's not perfect. But to me (and maybe it's because I love the book so much that I tend to be quite generous to any recreation of it), it scored 9 / 10.

On movie-going and then Michael Fassbender:

If you've read this blog for any great length of time you'll know that I LOVE CINEMA. I studied film at varsity and everything about it (aside from the celeb stalking) fascinates me. There is so much that goes into making the final two-hour movie that we watch. Everything on that film is included for a reason. Lighting, props, camera angles... they all contribute to the mood and our understanding of a film.

Needless to say, I enjoy watching a movie at the cinema. I also enjoy watching films at home, cuddled up on the couch, but for me a trip to the movies is a favourite outing. TSC and I probably watch a movie in the cinema every two weeks. I love everything from getting dressed up to go out to getting my popcorn and slushy (my movie ritual), watching the previews to plan the next films I'm going to watch and then the actual cinematic immersion experience of the big screen, surround sound and the group reactions itself.

Now here comes a rant...

I'm really tired of having my happy bubble of cinematic pleasure burst. Sterkinekor's latest catchphrase is "Your happy place". For me it couldn't be more apt. But the Sterkinkor movie theatres near me are definitely NOT my happy place. At Fourways Mall, we've had shockingly warped sound at two movies (so every bit of background music sounds like Dory speaking whale in Finding Nemo) and the most disgustingly stale popcorn I've ever tasted in my life the last time we were there. And fighting with management hasn't got me anywhere.

So we moved on to try Cedar Square. And the whole way through Jane Eyre, there was a bright green vertical stripe of light down the right side of the screen. It's very hard to concentrate on the scene with a big fat stripe down the actor's face!

Anyhoo... onwards to my comments about Michael Fassbender.

Seeing him in X Men: First Class, I was instantly struck by how much he reminds me of my brother. They have the same high cheekbones, long nose, dark hair, bright blue eyes and a sort of "hardness" about them. TSC and I chatted about it afterwards and I said how weird the resemblance is.

Then, just a few days later, we saw him again in Jane Eyre. He's a very versatile actor. But the trouble is that he's also playing the lead romantic role in Jane Eyre and he is a rather attractive man. So I found myself empathising with Jane, admiring Fassner as Rochester and feeling my heart melt, and then stopping suddenly with that "eeuw" feeling when he did something or said something that made him look exactly like the older version of my brother.

It was very disconcerting.

And, as Jeremy Clarkson would say. On that bombshell, it's time to say goodbye!

Have a great weekend, computer people.

Various updates

It's a rainy, dark day in Joburg and I feel like watching DVDs in bed. But TSC is writing his first exam right now and I must get work done. The problem is that my major, hectic, scare-the-living-daylights-out-of-me deadlines are all done at the moment, so all I have left is the admin and routine monthly work. There's just not the same sense of urgency, which is bad because that routine work is the stuff that pays most of the bills.

I can't believe how long that gastro carried on - it's now more than a week after I first came down with it and my stomach is still super sensitive. Last night was the most ambitious thing I've digested in days - spaghetti bolognaise. But it's stayed put, so things are looking up. Finally.

I've felt so washed out after Monday's massive deadline and this nasty bug that I haven't been very efficient over the last two days. I've managed to get some work done, but in between I've napped, made jewellery and generally hibernated. My big outing for the week was a trip to Montecasino to watch The Other Guys with TSC on Tuesday evening, just to get out for a bit.

Blergh. So many people we know loved it, but we both thought it was pointless and not at all funny. I stand by my opinion of Will Ferrell - I just don't understand why he's supposed to be funny. My type of comedy is sharp, witty or sarcastic. Physical comedy that's been done well can also be funny. But this absurd or over-the-top comedy that people seem to love... I don't get it. Ace Ventura, Zoolander and The Waterboy are some examples of "funny" movies that I just don't get.

I guess it takes all kinds to make the world go round, so I'll leave The Other Guys to those who enjoyed it and, if I need a laugh, rent myself a copy of Snatch, Toy Story 3 or even A Fish Called Wanda (which, oddly enough, is actually rather absurd and OTT, yet still funny).

Tonight is lesson four of five of my photography course and I am bleak that next week is the last one. It's such fun and I've been super impressed by my camera's capabilities, now that I know how to operate it a bit better ;-) I'm loving the fact that I can get better photos of my jewellery too. It's making my reconsider the option of starting up a little etsy shop.

I got my business cards yesterday. At long last! They are beautiful. And now I don't have to be embarrassed when I interview someone and they give me a business card and I have to say, "Um, sorry - I don't have mine yet." Woohoo! Now I just need to get my website sorted.

*Sigh* That's a bit of a mission because I want to use WordPress as a content management system (CMS) and set up a site on the domain I've registered that will look and function like a website and not a blog. But my designer has never worked in WP, and doesn't seem to understand what I mean. I may have to find another designer. Which would suck because it means more delays.

Anyway, off to make phonecalls *shudder*. My worst bit of any day. And then to catch up on some blog reading to balance out the chore I hate with something I love.

Many, many movies

For those of you who've been reading this blog for any length of time, you'll know that I am a bit of a cinephile. But, because I am VERY opinionated on the subject of movies, I try not to blog about films too often and bore you all to tears. So here are some very short (one-sentence) totally subjective reviews on movies I've seen recently. Feel free to argue or agree in the comments section ;-)

Despicable Me I thoroughly enjoyed this simple feel-good movie because it kept me laughing most of the way through (especially the fabulous minions).

Outrageous Despite the fact that I find John Vlismas distinctly unfunny, this raucous stand-up comedy film features the hilarious Loyiso Gola, Riaad Moosa and Barry Hilton, among others, and had a couple of jokes that I'm STILL laughing about, about a month after watching it. Note: This is a South African movie, so you probably won't be able to find it if you're not from here. Also... It's not for sensitive viewers.

Ghostwriter Although the movie is extremely well made and well acted, it didn't save it from being fairly boring.

The Karate Kid Aside from the fact that Will Smith's kid is freakily like a little mini version of his dad, I really liked this movie - it will introduce a whole new generation to the awesomeness of The Karate Kid, this time without the bad 80s fashion ;-)

The A-Team If you're looking for a plausible storyline, don't watch this movie - it's all about big guns, big personalities and big laughs... Fabulous.

The Ugly Truth The movie that justifies every nasty thing ever said about chick flicks - what a crock!

Old Dogs Possibly the worst movie I have watched all year, there is nothing charming or funny about this lame rubbish.

The Accidental Husband It's nothing original or clever, but this fluffy, silly chick flick is great veg-out-on-the-couch-and-drool-in-front-of-your-tv brain candyfloss (sweet but not substantial) - ideal for a Sunday evening or when you're at home with the flu.

SALT Yet another America vs Russia action spy thriller, this one requires you to leave your logic at the door and just try to pretend to believe the possibility of the slick, attractive nonsense unfolding onscreen.

Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps One of those movies that looks far more interesting in the previews than it actually is, despite its stars' best efforts to inject some life into the film.

Step Up 3D If you can get past the total lack of plausible storyline and the pathetic acting, this is actually worth seeing in 3D for the dance sequences, which are pretty awesome.

Robin Hood It had its moments and had me interested for parts of the movie, but overall Robin Hood took itself waaaay too seriously.

Kickass I cannot believe that people found this crass, over the top, revolting movie funny - there were bits where I actually left the room to escape it.

Silk I'm not a Keira Knightley fan, although in this long, long pointless movie that revolves around silkworm eggs, she is actually less dull than co-star Michael Pitt.

Inception and a definition

We saw Inception last night. It was... like having my brain put in a jar and alternatively fed with shrooms and poked with a stick. What a mind-bending trip of epic proportions!

It is directed by Christopher Nolan, possibly my favourite director in the world (he is the genius responsible for Memento, The Prestige and Batman Begins. I see The Dark Knight as a minor blemish in his otherwise illustrious career to date).

And in true Nolan form, it's a movie that keeps you on your toes. Poor TSC thought we'd go see a movie to relax and said that his brain was working harder watching the film than if he'd been home doing his varsity assignments.

The cast is fantastic, with Leonardo DiCaprio proving once again that he is indeed a fine actor who should be remembered for his more recent roles rather than Titanic, along with Ellen Page (the chick from Juno), Ken Watanabe (you'll remember him from The Last Samurai, Batman Begins and Memoirs of a Geisha), Joseph Gordon-Levitt (500 Days of Summer and 10 Things I Hate About You) and the much underrated Cillian Murphy (Batman Begins and Red Eye).

But what made the film for me is how Nolan (and his very talented editor) managed to convey incredibly complex concepts (at some points you are watching a dream within a dream within a dream) without losing the audience.

I'm a fan of sci-fi that makes you think (not the run of the mill aliens invade the world stuff) and of well-crafted action movies (not the type that feature Arnie, Stallone or Seagal). This, for me, was the perfect mixture of the two.

This is one of those movies that I will watch again on DVD and hope to see the special features and making-of info.

Have any of you seen it? What were your thoughts? When people ask me what I think of it, I'm going to tell them I'll let them know when I've finished thinking of it.

A word of caution though - don't see this one before bedtime. Your mind will still be trying to fit all the puzzle pieces together.

Now, that definition...

I realised that many of you have no idea what I mean by "ghostwriting". Sorry about that. You know how every industry has its own jargon and TLAs (three-letter acronyms) and you kind of forget that they don't make sense to anyone else? That's what happened here.

To clear things up, here's what a ghostwriter is, courtesy of WorldWideFreelance.com:
A ghostwriter is a writer who writes on an assigned topic under someone else's name, with their consent. They often write books completely from scratch but sometimes their work involves rewriting or polishing an existing work.

Most books by famous personalities are actually written by ghostwriters. When you see an autobiography or memoir from a politician, businessperson, or celebrity, chances are that it has been written by a ghostwriter.

A client may decide to hire a ghostwriter because the client does not have any writing talent or because they are too busy. Ghostwriters, for their part, are usually well-established writers already, and are selected on that basis.

What Do Ghostwriters Write?

Ghostwriters are hired to write many types of documents, from autobiographies for famous personalities to e-books for internet marketing gurus, and even letters for politicians.

They also write fiction. Sometimes it is for a series of books written by several ghostwriters under one name, as with the stories of Nancy Drew or The Hardy Boys. Ghostwriters also continue to write novels under the name of popular authors who have died, as in the case of Robert Ludlum.

There. Now I can pretend that this blog is educational, and not just an arbitrary selection of my crazy thoughts!

Yesterday, today and tomorrow

Yesterday:

• I got meet Damaria IRL for the first time. She very kindly agreed to give up a big chunk of her afternoon to chat through some of the things I'm going to have to deal with as a fulltime freelancer. What an awesome, knowledgeable lady! And so willing to share her experiences and the lessons she's learned.
• TSC spent the whole day studying for his first exam. He was so desperate to get out of the house that he came along with me when I met Damaria and he sat on the other side of the coffee shop with his books and an Americano coffee. His brain was fried after doing a squillion hydraulics calculations, so we decided to see a movie last night to give him time to unwind.
• We saw Iron Man 2. I was expecting to be disappointed because sequels usually suck big time. But I actually really enjoyed it. Yes, the plot is totally ridiculous (c'mon, people - it's based on a comic book, not a biography) and it probably doesn't do justice to the original Marvel characters (I'm not a comic book fan, so I wouldn't know). But the explosions are big, the CGI is impressive, there are nice touches of humour and there's even a Grand Prix scene. I was sold. If you haven't seen it yet and are still planning to do so, make sure you stay till the end of the credits. There's a (very) short Easter Egg scene that links the film to the next big Marvel adventures with Thor and The Avengers.

Today:

• I woke up this morning to find that I had managed to get rid of the mouthguard I was supposed to be sleeping with sometime during the night. I must have spat it out in my sleep. Even my subconscious objects to wearing the thing.
• I arrived at the office to find an email from one of the PR clients wanting to know how the writing is going on a piece I haven't been briefed on. The deadline for this piece is apparently Friday.
• The freelance client I am supposed to be meeting this afternoon has not responded to my emails requesting confirmation and address details. Why is everyone seemingly incapable of adult communication?!

Tomorrow:

• Is the only day of this week without meetings scheduled. I plan to enjoy that.
• I was supposed to have a cupcake order due, but it has been cancelled. I am relieved. I would have had to fit in the baking between meetings and church small group this evening, which would have been a mission.
• The day before Friday. Yay!

7 facts on a Friday

Well, they're not really facts.


But seeing Ruby and Louisa gave me this award (thank you, my friends), I'm supposed to tell you seven interesting things about me and pass this along to seven people. But you get to hear about me in almost every blog post here, so I'm just giving you all the information I would've posted today anyway in seven bullet points.

• Yesterday I got a surprise phone call from the awesome Damaria. I'd emailed her asking for any advice on transitioning to self-employment as this is something she's done successfully. She gave me a ring and we're going to hook up for coffee next week. Will be so nice to meet her after reading her blog for so long.
• I saw The Men Who Stare at Goats last night with TSC. It was ok. There were some hilarious laugh-out-loud moments, but there was lots of randomness and mediocrity too. I'm glad we saw it, even if the story doesn't really go anywhere. I'd give it 6.5 out of 10.

• While we were at movies at Montecasino, I ran into a girl who was at highschool with me. In fact, we were both in the boarding establishment for grades 11 and 12, so we saw loads of each other. I haven't seen her since. And seeing we went to school in Durban, which is about 600km away from Johannesburg, it's quite a coincidence to run into her at movies on a Thursday night in my neighbourhood after eight years. She's now a doctor, doing her internship. She couldn't believe that I've got married (probably because last she saw me, I was convinced I'd never get hitched). We swapped phone numbers and will hopefully make a plan to catch up soon.
• TSC and I are hosting a red wine and potjie lunch tomorrow for a couple of people we haven't seen in too long. I can't wait! This winter weather is perfect for a potjie.
• I managed to get half of my mom's mother's day present yesterday. Seeing she and my dad have taken to occasionally lurking here, I can't mention what it is.
• I heard a new term this week: vajazzling. I find it a bit freaky actually.
• I am going to suck up my OCD just this once and end on seven points and not a nice, proper even number. Rules are rules.

Although rules are made to be broken, aren't they? I'm not going to nominate seven people to pass this along to because a) so many of the bloggers I would nominate have done this already and b) I don't want anyone to feel obliged to do this meme. But know that if I read your blog, I rate you as a Beautiful Blogger (substitute a suitable adjective for all the men bloggers). So please go ahead and do this meme if you like.

And have a good weekend.

Cinephile: (n) person with a passionate interest in cinema

I am now on day nine of a continuous headache. That can't be normal. Anyway, seeing the head is not working so well, here's a post that doesn't require too much brainpower. More one-line movie reviews!

Below are some movies that I think are worth watching that many people I know haven't seen or even heard of. Because I studied film, I am supposed to like all the "classics" like Pulp Fiction, Blue Velvet, The Godfather and Requiem for a Dream. I don't like any of those films. That doesn't mean I can't appreciate what they stand for, all they achieved and so on. It just means that given the choice between one of those flicks and the ones below, I'd pick the non-classics any day.

Cellular This movie never made it to the big screen in Suoth Africa, despite being a great skop, skiet en donder (Afrikaans for kick, shoot and beat up[rude]) flick that consists mainly of great car chases, hold-ups and kidnapping scenes.

Les Triplettes de Belleville This crazy French animation doesn't use many words so subtitles won't be necessary as you are taken on a mad adventure by a squint granny and her fat dog to rescue her cyclist grandson from gangsters in Belleville (which looks suspiciously like New York City).

Memento (This movie has (rightfully) gained an audience in recent years and is now more widely available, so see it if you get the chnace) A remarkable mind-job of a film that showcases the power of editing and Christopher Nolan's talent as a director (I'm betting it was this film that put him i line to direct the latest Batman movies), Memento stars the impressive Guy Pearce as a man suffering from short-term memory loss who uses notes and tattoos to remind himself of the facts in his quest to find his wife's murderer.

Danny Deckchair This loopy Australian film about a man (the awesome Rhys Ifans) who flies away when he ties too many balloons to his deckchair is a great feel-good movie that will lift your mood and make you giggle.

And here are some slightly better known movies that I would make everyone watch if I could, because they are fabulous:

Gattaca Set in the not-too-distant future, this stylish movie explores the idea of prejudice against "imperfect" people who haven't been genetically engineered with beautiful performances by Ethan Hawke, Jude Law and Uma Thurman.

Twelve Monkeys Mind-bending quirky sci-fi movie starring Bruce Willis (and Brad Pitt at his best playing a total nutjob) that actually addresses time travel properly, unlike most other attempts.

LA Confidential The great cast (Kevin Spacey, Russel Crowe, Guy Pearce, Danny DeVito, Kim Basinger and James Cromwell) made this smart script work and the tale of love, murder and betrayal set in 1950s Los Angeles is a pleasure to watch.

The Usual Suspects With Kevin Spacey, Gabriel Byrne and a truly clever plot, this movie about a gang formed in a police line-up couldn't go wrong.

Snatch The ultimate Guy Ritchie movie (better than Lock, Stock; Rock 'n Rolla or any of his other movies), this film is the perfct mix of action, humour, lunacy and amazing editing skills.

Contact I have a penchant for sci-fi movies that aren't full of aliens and really make you think, like this beautifully made Jodie Foster / Matthew McConaughey flick.

Short Circuit Sweet 1980s movie about a robot that is electrocuted and develops a mind (and personality) of its own... "Number 5 is alive!"

Casablanca (This is a classic and yet many of my friends won't watch it because it's in black and white. Silly!) Dramatic and enduring love tale set in Morocco that has inspired scenes in movies ranging from Star Wars to When Harry Met Sally (Google it if you don't believe me).

Waking Ned Hilarious movie about two old men who convince their entire town to play along with an outrageous plan when a friend dies holding the winning lottery ticket.

The Station Agent Sweet and simple movie following three new and very different friends (one of whom is a dwarf) as they get to know each other and walk the local train tracks.

And, just for kicks, has anyone seen this movie? Because it did my head in and I would love to swap notes:

eXistenZ Bizarre (!!!) movie starring Jude Law and Jennifer Jason Leigh as two gamers who hop from game world to game world followed by a shaggy dog and a gun made out of chicken bones.

Your thoughts?

Tuesday thoughts

• It feels like a Monday.
• I forgot that I have a big meeting this afternoon in Alrode South. I better get out my map book (haha... whatever. Thank goodness for Gloria, my GPS).
• Easter eggs get better every year. This year my mom managed to find ones with orange creme centres, my favourites.
• I don't get the fuss about Alice in Wonderland. How to Tame Your Dragon, on the other hand, now that's a fab movie.
• The weekend was good. I got to see some awesome people (Angel, Glugs, Phillygirl and Louisa) and meet a new addition to the crew (beautiful little Nicola, Louisa's baby girl).
• My family are awesome, albeit loony. See exhibit A (my brother) below.

• My pics of my chocolate-making ventures were not brilliant (see exhibit B below)

• The Pantry-Cleaning Moth Apocolypse Mission yesterday was draining. We still have to put the shelves back up and pack everything back in. Joy.
• 4-day weekends are the best thing ever.
• I still feel the urge to have an even number of bullet points.
  
  
  

I need a weekend to recover from the weekend

Seriously, people. I am a zombie today. My weekend revolved around the Makro human chain protest we did on Saturday (see here for details). We painted placards, organised volunteers, demonstrated and then spent the entire afternoon hand delivering press releases and video footage to various media. We finished at 6pm, just in time to get ready for STOMP, which was truly awesome once again.

Sunday's early F1 race was also fabulous. It rained, which always makes for an eventful Grand Prix. It was gripping from the first lap to the last - the total opposite of the Bahrain GP two weeks ago.

Then yesterday I worked like a fiend to finish off some web copy for a client and we were on ushering duty at church.

What have I forgotten? I seemt o remember doing something less frenetic somewhere along the line... Oh ja... Saw Shutter Island on Friday night, in between painting protest posters.




It was good. I guessed the main supposed twist in the tale, but there was another twist to make up for it. The acting was impressive and it's certainly suspense-filled, but it felt very long, I must admit. That said, it was probably the most enjoyable Martin Scorsese film I've ever seen. I've disliked most of the others, including all the so-called "classics". Bite me.

Hope everyone else had a good weekend and that the four-day week ahead is awesome.

One-line movie reviews

Me on the movies I've seen lately, some in cinema and some on DVD. Before you read, please register for Earth Hour (see banner above) if you haven't already. Ta.

The Blind Side

This was sweet, moving and enjoyable, despite being very Hollywood sanitised, and I was glad to have seen it.

It's Complicated

This took me by surprise and turned out to be far funnier than I had expected (thanks to the actors rather than the plot), especially seeing it was directed by the same person who churned out that truly awful film, Something's Gotta Give.

Fifty Dead Men Walking

Totally miserable and morbid, this may have been a good film, but by the end of two hours I was past caring and was contemplating jumping off a bridge.

Young Victoria

An enjoyable, if some what protracted (aren't they always) period drama.

Valentine's Day

If you don't think too hard about it and you watch it at the end of a long day when your brain is off-duty, this candyfloss film is not soooo bad.

Flawless

This film took a long time to get nowhere and although the journey wasn't unpleasant, it wasn't particularly memorable either.

Next on my list to see: Alice in Wonderland and Shutter Island.

Films I will not be seeing: Saw 6 and An Education (thanks DBAWIW)

Movies galore

Today I remembered the camera. And forgot the cable to link it to the PC. Chop.

So more written nonsense for you lot. A brief collective movie review, if one could call it that, of the movies I've seen in the last while. Would love your thoughts on them too.

Surrogates

This was not a bad movie. It wasn't great, but it was enjoyable enough. We saw it because TSC and I both adore Bruce Willis (Not sure why, admittedly). The concept of the film is that in the future world, people have bought perfect surrogate bodies that they control from their homes. While the surrogates go to work, party hard and do anything else their owners imagine, the real people hide at home behind closed doors, chubbier, more wrinkled and generally less attractive than their airbrushed "surries". Then a murder takes place and a person is killed through his surrogate. This changes everything. And, of course, Bruce is required to save the day.

It's an interesting idea, although difficult to translate into a mere two-hour film. The don't-be-too-dependent-on-tech moral is very clear, but the gaps in the created world and the storyline are annoying. It's entertaining, but not as memorable as it should be.

500 Days of Summer

The tagline, "This is not a love story. this is a story about love," says it all. The film follows Tom, a greeting card writer, and his feelings for Summer, the girl he believes is "the one". An offbeat, sweet indie film, the movie portrays Tom's journey in a non-linear but entertaining manner. Great music, laugh-out-loud funny moments, heart-breaking emotional scenes and a gorgeous scene straight out of a Broadway musical made me love this movie.

Sherlock Holmes

We saw the premier of this movie at Montecasino. Blergh. What a load of hype for nothing. For a film by Guy Ritchie, the director of my favourite movie, Snatch, as well as Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (we will ignore the fact that he also directed Swept Away starring his looney ex-wife, Madonna), it was a disappointment. I also adore Robert Downey Jnr, but found that he mumbled his way through Sherlock's lines so that for half of the movie, none of us could understand what on earth he was saying. It felt like the movie went on forever. And I'm sure there will be a sequel. Which I will not be watching.

Avatar

Let me say upfront that this movie is not about the plot. You know within the first few minutes of the three-hour epic exactly what will happen. But that's not the point. The glory of this movie is the rich new world that has been created - Pandora. I could cast aside cliched script and ignore Sam Worthington dropping his American accent (he's an Aussie) so long as I could gaze on the phosphorescent plantlife and be transported into the world of those tall blue humanoids for a bit longer. Technologically, this movie has given us a leap in film-making technique that we last saw with The Matrix. Despite a predictable storyline and stock characters, this film does what sci-fi is meant to do - transports us into a new world.

The Visitor

We saw this last night. It was really good. And then it ended. Abruptly. In the middle of the most important bit, I think. But maybe that was the point. *sigh* Let me backtrack. It's about this man, a widower and lecturer, who arrives in Manhattan for a conference to find two immigrants, Tarek and Zainab, living in his apartment. They have been leased the place in real estate scam. He reluctantly allows them to stay as they have nowhere else to go, and then becomes involved in their lives and ultimately Tarek's struggle to avoid deportation.

Despite my annoyance at the ending, I would recommend seeing it, even just so that I have someone to discuss it with ;-)

Those of the films I have seen on cimema recently. Any other recommendations (and don't tell me Couples Retreat).

Assorted

Last night, having finished up with my freelancing for the day, I chucked together a hasty jambalaya for supper and TSC and I dashed to Cedar Square to see Julie & Julia, which I've been wanting to see for ages.




We both really enjoyed it. Meryl Streep as Julia Child reminded me a bit of my late grandmother for some reason. And it was really interesting to watch a movie where blogging features so prominently.

Amy Adams was far less annoying than in some of her previous roles and I actually warmed to her for the first time. There were some laugh out loud moments too, like where she's trying to cook lobster.

We had a "lovenest" seat in the cinema for the first time. So comfortable to be able to snuggle without an armrest between us! Aside from a technical sound glitch (why does this always happen to us?) that meant the movie had to be stopped for five minutes and we missed a few seconds of the story, it was a perfect evening.

Today I'm hoping to finish off the freelance project, although that all depends on whether I can get the outstanding info I need from the client in time.

TSC is busy painting my folks' garage roof today, so while he's not around this afternoon I will finally get to buy and wrap his Christmas present. I won't mention what it is, just in case he decides to lurk a while (I think he has a better idea of what my blog is after last night's movie) ;-)

Other than that, there is much admin planned for today. Yuck. But at least it's the kind of admin that doesn't require much brain power. Because that is a commodity seriously lacking in my vicinity today. December brain mush has arrived in full.

Off to... wait, what was I going to do now?

Assorted Friday goings-on

• TSC and I watched dvds again last night to give me some time to make more jewellery. We saw The Hangover and Management. Meh. Management was ok. It was sweet but nothing special, IMO. The Hangover was daft. And long. I still have no idea why everyone told us it was so awesome. I was expecting TSC to enjoy it, but he reckons it was stupid.
• I spent some time playing Free Rice, the vocab game, yesterday. I don't think I've played in about two years. It's such an easy way to kill time and it's totally addictive, but you can feel good about yourself because for every answer you get right, the site sponsors donate 10 grains of rice to feed the hungry. 10 grains is not a lot, but in about half an hour of playing, I had my total up to about 3 500 grains. There's also different subjects to choose from, aside from vocab and I was pleased to see that in the French language-learning scetion, I did really well and still remember most of the words. The problem is that I don't remember how to put them together!
• I worked late at the morning job yesterday, so I can leave early today. Woo hoo!
• I had a monthly meeting with a client scheduled for Wed afternoon at 3pm and he only called to cancel at 3.10pm when I was sitting in the reception area waiting. This is not the first time. I dislike the lack of respect for my time. It also annoys me that I can't finish up his project without clarifying things in the meeting, so now I am sitting and waiting until we can reschedule. Grrr.
• TSC gave our cats their bi-annual bath yesterday and they are looking all fluffy and clean now. I'm glad he did it while I was out and played the bad guy because when I came home they were so grateful to see me that they were ridiculously friendly and affectionate. They both even slept on the bed last night, which they don't normally do unless it's winter.
• I'm not looking forward to the long drive to Ladysmith tomorrow, or the farewells. But I wouldn't miss it for anything.
• There are the coolest environmentally-friendly Christmas gifts here.
• TSC had to take our little Sapphire cat to the vet today and it turns out she has reacted to the new pellets we've been trying, which disagree with her stomach. She has to have a course of antibiotics, which my brother will have to administer while we're away :-(
• Next week it's December! *slight panic*
• I always have to have an even number of bullet points.

That is all. Have a great weekend.

Am I in the wrong hemisphere? And other randomness.

I'm sure this freak cold front got lost on its way to Russia or somewhere that is meant to be cold at this time of year. I mean there's snow on parts of the Drakensberg. In November!!! According to Google, Johannesburg is nine degrees Celsius today (48 degrees Fahrenheit). Usually at this time of the year it's about 25 degrees Celsius! Thankfully for Cape Town, the city seems to be enjoying weather that's a bit more pleasant than up here. Finally.

Now for many of you in the Northern Hemisphere, I know that nine degrees is not very cold. But consider that we generally have no central heating (in fact no heating at all in my office) and that South Africa is not geared towards the cold (it's difficult to even find cold-proof clothing here), and maybe you'll feel a bit more sympathetic. In fact, we had someone visit from Toronto, Canada who said that he'd never been so cold in his life as his winter stay in the Drakensberg in South Africa.

I suppose it doean't help that I have sopping wet hair. But I've never been a fan of hair dryers, so I often go out with wet hair, even in the middle of winter. And it doesn't seem to make me sick. I just wear a nice warm hat. Today it's a purple mohair one. If I had my camera handy I'd snap a pic.

At least it's FRIDAY! Woo hoo!

We have a sushi-making course this weekend. Yay! Can't wait. Except that it feels too cold for sushi. I want hot comfort food. Also, it means we have to be up early tomorrow morning. Blah.

Watched My Life in Ruins last night while making jewellery. Worst movie I've seen in awhile. Made Benjamin Button seem positively riveting in comparison.

Right... off to change my dinner menu for tonight. Was planning a nice summery menu for the new friends we're having over, but I think hot food is in order. Lasagne, perhaps. And warm pudding too. Any suggestions?

Have a fab weekend.

Me on movies again

TSC and I have been spending the cold evenings (what is up with this freak cold front?) watching DVDs in bed while I make jewellery stock for my Christmas open house event. This means that we occasionally find beads or crimps in the bed (not fun), but at least I've been able to enjoy some onscreen entertainment and stay warm while I work ;-)

On Tuesday night we finally got around to watching The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. I'd been putting off seeing the film because it looked long and boring. It certainly didn't disappoint on those scores. Long and boring indeed. Yes, the make-up was impressive, but good grief - how many times did they have to explain that this dude was ageing backwards? We got it the first time! Also the ongoing spats between Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett and the frequent returns to reality in the hospital room, for no apparent reason. Blegh. I'd give it six out of 10. Maybe. What would you say?

On Monday, we saw Fireproof. It's a Christian movie, and normally I find them quite over the top and not very well made, but this one was surprising in some ways. It had hilarious moments that had us in stitches, and then it had real tear-jerker scenes too. It's about a married couple on the brink of divorce who are just living past each other. He's a fireman who values honour and respect in the workplace, but treats his wife without either at home. She's a PR officer for a hospital and is most concerned with helping her mom, who recently suffered a stroke, and her crush on one of the doctors she works with. The beginning of the film is pathetic and annoying, but for me it seemed to get better as it went on. Maybe it's because marriage is a subject close to my heart, or maybe it's because I am a Christian and don't find the very strong conversion message offensive, as some might. Whatever the case, I quite liked this film, but would be interested to hear what non-Christians think of it.

At sometime or another, we also saw Shark Tale again. I am a sucker for animated movies, and although this one is not on the same level of awesomeness as Kungfu Panda or Shrek, I still enjoyed it. Although I must say that Renee Zellweger remains as irritating as an animated fish as she is as a human actress, while I generally prefer Jack Black as an animation.

I think what I enjoyed most about this film was the attention to detail. In the underwater fish city where most of the action takes place, you'll notice billboards for Coral Cola, Old Wavy and GUP (instead of GAP). As with most DreamWorks animations, my favourite bit of renting the DVD is to watch the special features and learn how the thing got put together. It's always amazing for me to see how the filmmakers had to find ways to do things that we take for granted as we watch the movie - like creating a way of making the Rasta jellyfish twins seem transparent, or how to make the fish seem iridescent like they would IRL, or how soap suds would behave underwater.

I think one of my dreams is to spend some time in a DreamWorks studio to see a film like this taking shape.

Sadly, there seems to be nothing on circuit worth seeing at the local cinema at the moment (Except Julie and Julia - I'm quite keen to see that). And TSC and I have seen practically everything at the video store (apart from all the series - he doesn't like watching series, unfortunately for me). Seeing the weather is still miz and I have lots more jewellery to make before 5 Dec, any movie suggestions for us?

Me on movies

Just realised my driver's licence expires in a few weeks time. Bah! Anyone know an easy way to get it renewed that doesn't involve paying bribes or standing in queues for six years?

I feel like watching movies today. Seeing I have to be at the office instead, I'll just blog about them...



Saw District 9 last night. I must disagree with Ches, who hated the movie (although he does make some valid points). Maybe it was because I wasn't expecting much, but I thought it was pretty damn good. Generally, when people rave about a movie I end up hating it and there was quite a bit of hype around this flick so I figured it would disappoint. But it didn't.


I think it's a great movie. But that doesn't mean I enjoyed it. Let me clarify... there are movies that you can admit are totally brilliant without finding great pleasure in watching them. The same goes for books. Like JM Coetzee's Disgrace. I don't deny it was clever, well-written and worth studying for high school English. Doesn't mean I liked it though.


District 9 was, IMHO, well filmed with good actors, nice fast-moving action scenes and effective special effects. Yes, there were a few cliches and some bits that could easily have been left out (the last sequence seemed a bit protracted to me), but overall, it was well directed and edited. What surprised me though, was how much I was moved by the film.


I left the Il Grande cinema in a sober, pensive mood. I knew District 9 would touch on issues of xenophobia, but it really, really got to me. It was so gritty and dirty and South African and... real. It wasn't an idyllic, romanticised, pretty picture. I liked that about it.


The only thing I truly didn't like (aside from the fact that the main character only seems to know one expletive, which he uses about six times in every sentence) is the portrayal of Nigerians in the movie - they are shown as being completely devoid of human empathy and moral standards. They have no redeeming qualities whatsoever.


If I were Nigerian, that would piss me off no end.


But all in all, a good film in my opinion. What are your thoughts?





TSC and I also watched Coraline on DVD the other day. Let me start by saying that I am absolutely fascinated by stop-motion animation. I think my dream job would be to build sets and props for a film like this. The puppets, sets and art direction are amazing!


Ok, maybe the storyline was a little... odd, but even if I didn't find the plot particularly gripping, I was impressed by the colours, characters and even texture of the film (does that make sense?).

I know this movie was released in 3D, but I'm glad we saw it on DVD so we had access to the special features showing the making of the film. Like Transformers or Nightmare Before Christmas, this is a movie I believe you can appreciate more once you know what the production entails.


Basically, there are 24 frames per second of film. In stop-motion, you have to film each frame one at a time, readjusting the puppet and set so that when you string all the frames together and speed them up, it flows like a normal movie. It can take an animator days or even weeks to film a few seconds.


It is enormously labour-intensive to shoot stop-motion and Coraline was no exception, with around 450 people working on almost 150 sets with characters no taller than a nice new pencil. The clothes are hand-stitched, the fires are hand-drawn into scenes after filming and the puppets have over 200 000 facial expressions that need to be hand-created by the animators and designers. The work is phenomenal!


If you want a feel-good, easy-to-watch animated story with a nice storyline, rent out Finding Nemo. If you want to watch a beautifully-designed stop-motion work of art, plus all the in-depth features, Coraline is worth a look. and if you do watch it / have seen it, please let me know what you thought.

Happy lists instead of lamentations

Tomorrow's my birthday.

Just deleted the rest of the lines I had written for this post which were thoroughly miserable.

Everything seems to be getting to me at the moment and I'm not sure why. I'm not (according to my mother) very good at managing my stress, so I go through these extreme downs. Blegh. But I'm not going to focus on the crap stuff today.

I'm going to list the things there are to be happy about instead. Because I need to. Please add yours so I can smile for you too.

• Tomorrow night TSC and I are going out for dinner to celebrate my 25th.
• I have proper post (not bills or ads) to open when I wake up.
• I don't have client meetings this afternoon.
• My house is fairly tidy for a change (spent Sunday turning the pantry on its head and cleaning it out to banish the moth infestation we had for some reason. There was curry powder / corn flour / moths / noodles / assorted other stuff all over the kitchen floor). the fact that the mess has gone makes me ever so slightly calmer.
• I watched Ghost Town last night. I wasn't expecting much, but it made me laugh out loud, which was so good.
• My cats have developed the habit of following me around the house whenever I'm home and lying down next to me when I sit down anywhere. There's nothing quite like cat love.
• We were invited to a birthday lunch on Sunday. We can't make it (because we're having my birthday lunch with my family), but it's nice to be invited. I often feel like TSC and I host people all the time and never get invited back. Although there are one or two people (like Phillygirl and Angel) who are super good at organising and inviting and whom I am in complete awe of.
• TSC and I have discovered the Lindt Petits Desserts range. It's ridiculously expensive stuff, but the Mousse au Chocolat in dark chocolate is possibly the best thing I've tasted in this world.

Tell me the good things in your life right now.

Me on movies

Yesterday we had no phones / internet at work for most of the day. Not Telkom's fault this time. Now that the overdue account has been settled we're back online. Which is great - most of the stuff I do depends on either phone or internet.

I'm using this as a getting-up-to-speed post on a few movies I've seen lately because I can't keep my opinions to myself. Your opinions are also welcome, of course.

Ice Age 3:
I was not expecting much from this movie. The second sequel is usually not worth watching, in my opinion. But I was pleasantly surprised by this movie. It's not brilliant, by any means, but it is an enjoyable, silly candy-floss film. And it's nice to see one of those every once in awhile. My only real bone with it is that Diego didn't get as many good lines... he's my favourite :-)

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian:
I didn't choose to see this movie. The first one was more than enough for me. But we have a chap called Vusi staying with us for a few days (helping TSC to paint the house) who has never been to the cinema before, so we took him to Montecasino to see this one. He loved it, and watching him laugh made me laugh too. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Daft, but with a few good laughs. I wouldn't recommend it, but I'm glad Vusi enjoyed it. Afterwards he said, "Everything else seems so small now, after that big screen!"

Seven Pounds:
We took this out on DVD over the weekend because people keep telling me "you HAVE to see it!" I don't know why, actually. It wasn't great. Without spoiling things, as soon as I saw the jellyfish and took notice of the all the sick folks, I guessed the supposed "big twist ending", so there were no surprises for me. When a movie is supposed to be a surprise, not having one kind of makes it pointless. It was just long and sad. So we watched Crocodile Dundee II afterwards and the total eighties corny-ness (yes, it's a word. In my world) of it all banished the misery of Seven Pounds.

What movies have you seen lately that are worth watching?

If we had a South African version of Crocodile Dundee, I'm sure this type of scene would appear in it... (In fact, I think there was something in one of Schuster's flicks)...

Return of the sci-fi epic

So, having seen Wolverine and having hated it, I was a little apprehensive about heading to see the also-very-hyped Star Trek. But we went anyway.

And it was awesome!

I was crying by about three minutes into the movie, laughing at five, confused by six... It was a glorious rollercoaster of emotions, explosions, paradoxes, people, Vulcans and visions... Just my kind of movie.

See it!

I raved about it to Icing. She laughed at me and said she'd never have pinned me as a Trekkie. I never was. But I may consider it now. So long as I can get me one of those phaser thingeys.

Let's hope the sequels don't ruin everything Pirates-of-the-Caribbean-style.

A million things on my mind...

...But not many to blog about. I'm busy, busy, busy with freelance stuff at the moment, which is great, if challenging. And seeing I don't have much time, I thought I'd just share my thoughts on two movies I've seen in the past week, and ask for your opinions on them too.

The Changeling

IMO, this is Angelina Jolie at her best. Playing a 1920s mum, she is not her usual slick leather-clad, gorgeous self. As Christine Collins, mother to Walter, she is soft and reserved and definitely lacking in kick-ass in the beginning of the film. When Walter disappears, however, Christine is distraught and moves into action to involve the Los Angeles police in trying to locate her son.

Eventually, they find a child that fits his description and a grand reunion is planned for mother and son. The trouble is, Christine is convinced that the boy is not her Walter. The LAPD are sure he is. So sure, in fact, that they believe Christine has gone mad.

What ensues is a gripping story of murder, mother love, corruption and agony as Christine fights for her son and dares to question the actions of the police - soemthing not generally done, and definitely not approved of by the society of the time.

It's a long movie and it's not a happy, feel-good flick, but the performances from Angelina Jolie, creepy old John Malkovich (actually playing a good guy for a change) and Jeffrey Donovan are excellent. I'm glad I saw it.

Now, to any of you who've seen it... What did you think?

Movie number two...

Slumdog Millionaire

I am always wary of movies that get gazillions of awards. They are often, IMO, daft and pointless. In fact, I reckon that people just vote for them because they think that they look deep and meaningful and that if they vote for them, they'll look smart and like they understand a lot.

Right, vent over.

Slumdog Millionaire, with its oodles of Oscars and bushels of British film awards, was a movie that I reckoned would disappoint me. But I was wrong. I am a sucker for well made feel-good movies and this film captured my heart and melted it into a big pile of mush from the very first minute.

Danny Boyle, who directed the film, has a varied bunch of movies under his belt. From the chilling Shallow Grave (if you haven't seen this and love nail-biting flicks that will haunt you for weeks, see it) to the groundbreaking Trainspotting and the weird (no, make that truly bizarre) Alien Love Triangle, Boyle has bounced all over the show.

Slumdog Millionaire tells the tale of Jamal, an 18-year old boy from the slums of Mumbai who has made it onto the popular TV show, Who Wants to be a Millionaire? and is one question away from winning 20 million Rupee when he is accused of cheating and arrested. As he is questioned by the police, his life is told in a series of flashbacks and we learn how he knew each of the answers to the questions asked on the show.

I honestly didn't think Dev Patel, who plays Jamal at 18, was great. But the kids who played him during the stages of his younger years (Ayush Mahesh Khedekar especially) and those who played the other main characters Salim and Latika as children made the movie for me.

It's not the greatest movie ever made, but to me it was pretty damn good. Why? The sense of rhythm, the soundtrack, the clever editing and the use of little mise en scene clues (like the fact that Latika always wears yellow in scenes where she and Jamal are happy together) appeal to me. There are moments where you guffaw with laughter and those where I quietly shed a tear, or felt my hand go to my throat in horror.

In short, it moved me. What did it do for you?