Gone but never forgotten.

Best film: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Best performance: Cool Hand Luke



Best film: The Client
Best performance: Apt Pupil



Best film: Brokeback Mountain
Best film: Brokeback Mountain

"In the end, life is stronger than death.” - Washington Irving

Happy Endings on Christmas TV.

In participation with J.D.’s Endings Blogathon, I thought I would write about two films that I’ve seen on TV over the festive period, and in particular, their endings. Both films are nice, chirpy comedies that can be classified as feel-good movies, and both films have more in common than initially meets the eye: Shark Tale and Starter for 10.

The former tells the story of Oscar, a little fish in a big, big pond; a "small tuna fish in one big dish". Oscar's an ambitious fish who dreams of making it as a somebody, though at the time being, having to make do with being a whale-washer, a job he despises. He consistently daydreams about being a famous and adored fish to make the reality of his humdrum job more bearable; the only thing keeping him sane through his daily life being his good friend Angie, who, you’ve guessed it, is secretly in love with him.



Starter for 10, on the other hand, tells the story of Brian, a young, naïve and knowledge-thirsty Essex boy and idealistic English student at Bristol in 1980s Britain. Brian’s a lad who’s grew up watching University Challenge, so, when the opportunity arises at Uni for him to go on it, he can’t get to the trials fast enough.

At the trials, he meets Alice, a blonde bombshell who’s been around a bit, and, to copy Nina Simone’s parlance, she puts a spell on him. Brian falls head-over-heels in lust with her coiffed blonde hair, Lolita lips and double D boobs, and, in the process, unintentionally snubs his friend Rebecca, a cultured and witty political activist who has feelings for him.

Meanwhile, in Shark Tale, Oscar, having been caught up in a comedy of errors that has people thinking he’s some super-fish sharkslayer, now has the fame and fortune he’s always craved, as well as the attentions of Lola, a golddigging fish that’s, in fish terms, a bit of a knock-out. Oscar, like Starter for 10’s Brian, immediately goes for the superficial and is reeled in by Lola, and he, like Brian, ends up casting aside his one true friend, Angie.

Some more stuff happens in both films, but, suffice to say, both films end with the two main characters being “found out” – Oscar is discovered to be not the super-fish that everyone perceived him to be, but just a lucky one who was in the right place at the right time, and Brian is caught cheating on University Challenge. Everything that the two characters have worked so hard for is taken from them in one fall swoop, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing, because, in losing everything that didn’t matter to them, they still have the faithful loyalty of the one thing that really did matter: their friends. Both males made the wrong decision at first: to chase after the charms of the “sexier” females, but, after doing that and failing, and doing some realising (and it take them long enough to realise), they saw that real love was staring them in the eye. Oscar finds his Angie, Brian finds his Rebecca, and they all lived happily ever after.

I hate this part right here.

Oscar-nominated director Robert Mulligan, best known for his classic 1962 film To Kill a Mockingbird, has died aged 83.

He passed away on Saturday at his home in Connecticut after a battle with heart disease, his wife Sandy said.

Mulligan was also credited with discovering Reese Witherspoon. She auditioned as an extra for his 1991 movie The Man in the Moon. Mulligan was so impressed he offered the actress, then 14, the lead instead.

He was nominated for an Oscar for Mockingbird, the adaptation of Harper Lee's best-selling, Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. The movie starred Gregory Peck, who won the best actor Academy Award for his portrayal of Atticus Finch.In 2003, an American Film Institute listed Peck's character number one in a poll of top film heroes.

Speaking to the New York Post in 1961, Mulligan said: "The big danger in making a movie of To Kill a Mockingbird is in thinking of this as a chance to jump on the segregation-integration soapbox."

"The book does not make speeches. It is not melodramatic."

The story is largely told from the point of view of Atticus' young daughter, Scout, played by Mary Badham.

His other credits included Fear Strikes Out, Summer of '42 and The Other, as well as TV dramas.

If you haven't read the book or seen the movie, do so.

Source

This is so, so sad. 2008 in general has been such a bad year in terms of talented filmmakers passing away, with at least 4 deaths on Christmas day alone. What a Merry Christmas yesterday was. : - /

Anyway, R.I.P Mr. Mulligan. You were responsible for one of the best book-to-film adaptations of all time, not to mention several extremely underrated gems (Up the Down Staircase, Love with a Proper Stranger and the worringly creepy The Other).

And hopefully, may 2009 be a little kinder to Hollywood and produce less deaths!

01. Watching Britain’s Got Talent and X-Factor with the brother.
Reality shows like that (The Apprentice, I’ll Do Anything, Strictly Come Dancing) in general, have dominated my viewing schedule this year. And they have been so, so, entertaining, whether it be for the spectacle (George Sampson was a very worthy winner of BGT), the lulz (the early stages of X Factor are always “watch through your fingers” level of painful) or the final level of satisfaction you get when the one you want to win does actually win (Sampson, Rachel, Lee McQueen). Note that this does not mean I approve of Alexandra Burke getting number 1, even if I believe Rufus Wainwright’s version>Jeff Buckley’s version anyway. Anyway, watching them with my 10-year-old brother gives it an extra streak of enjoyment, because we both enjoy ripping the piss out of the acts we think are bad. And my brother cried when Eoghan got bunged off X-Factor, which made me larf.

02. José SaramagoI began reading the novels of José Saramago in the Summer, my first being Blindness, because I wanted to read the novel before I saw the movie. It was stunningly gripping and disturbing, so from that, I went on to read All the Names, Death with Interruptions and Seeing. I’m in love with his style of long sentences and punctuation whenever he feels like punctuating. Knows how to pack a punch with his writing.

Oh, and the film of Blindness did not in any way do justice to the book. The film was shit. Why are so many films this year so poorly written?

03. WALL·E
Whether or not this is a discovery, considering this came out in 2008, is a point of contention, but to be honest, I just wanted it on the list. Andrew Stanton’s follow-up to Finding Nemo is my film of the year; romantic, funny, moving, tragic, and with more heart than all the other films of the year put together.



04. Rapping like Kanye West
 All together now, "and you say Chi City- I'm coming home again."

05. Eddie Redmayne’s freckles
Eddie Redmayne was everywhere I bunging went this year. He was in the below-par The Other Boleyn Girl, he was in the god-awful, mother-having-sex-with-son Savage Grace, and he was in Tess of the D'Urbevilles. He's not the most consistent actor around (terrific in Savage Grace, bland in Tess) but I shall give the boy time, because, nghhhh, those freckles!

Other lookers this year that have grabbed my attention that have escaped my attention for some reason or another in the past: James Franco, Ed Westwick, Jake Hendriks, John Barrowman and Robert bunging Pattison.

06. TV adaptations of books I like
My latest literary obsession was Love in a Cold Climate, and it was also a favourite of mine for plagiarizing when I’m writing stories of my own, so I dug out the 2001 small screen version. It was actually an amalgam of both Love in a Cold Climate and The Pursuit of Love, and turned out to be one of my favourite TV adaptations of all time, Rosamund Pike made a brilliant Fanny (in performance if not in looks). Then there was the BBC’s 4-part adaptation of Tess of the d'urbervilles, starring Gemma Arterton and the aforementioned Eddie Redmayne. It broke my heart.

07. Taking printscreens and then lolling later
Example?

08. Mocha lattes from Starbucks

Honourable mentions: doing random things for the lulz, Lady GaGa, bedroom décor (1 // 2 // 3), Lolita sunglasses, parties, mucking about on Photoshop for hours on end (1 // 2 // 3).

So those were the things that I found for the first time in 2008, and loved. How about you?

It's Christmas Eve!

And for the last advent calendar entry, I've got quite a treat - Amy Adams and Lee Pace singing "If I Didn't Care", from the Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day soundtrack. This song represents epic win on many levels: Adams, Pace, and a song that was played in Shawshank. Oh, love. And here's an adorable snippet to go with it -

On the set of Miss Pettigrew, Adams was so distracted by her costar Lee Pace, outrageously sexy in his role as Adams' brooding love, director Bharat Nalluri had to ask Pace to leave the set so Adams could concentrate. "Lee wasn't working that day, so he was just lounging. He's 6'4", so he's a lot of boy, and he was wearing cowboy boots," she says. "I was kind of staring at him, because he painted such a picture, and the director came over, and I was completely in this land of admiring Lee. And Bharat goes over and tells him, "Can you leave the set? Amy's distracted by your masculinity.' I was so mortified. But he's so much fun, too. He's got such a zest for life. He's a really good actor. So that's my gush about Lee Pace. I hope I'm not blushing."

Source: ELLE March 2008 issue

I'm grinning just reading it.

2 Days to Christmas!

And because I'm feeling kind, two songs today. Both tracks from the Curious Case of Benjamin Button score by Alexandre Desplat, both stunning.



And here's the other, Benjamin and Daisy.

Top 5 Perfumes.

05.

04.

03.

02.

01.

Oh noes.

The Oscar winners are leaked, apparently.

*tumbleweed*

The Monday Mmm.

Especially for Anahita, Robert Pattinson. There's over 20 instances of his hotness here, so, image heavy. Sorry to those on dial-up!

3 Days to Christmas!

(Yup, I'll be saying this until Christmas day. I am that annoying.)



A well known Christmas song today. :)

favourite singles of 2008

I was embarrassingly behind on my pop music in 2008, chiefly because the station that I’d been listening to for everyday since I was about 12 – capital fm, had been traded in for classic fm during weekdays and radio fivelive on the weekends. Hence, I heard no pop music on the radio, and any recents songs I did come across were via the net, or recommendations from friends.  A lot of the songs I like from this year I normally wouldn’t, it’s mainly the memories that go with them that make them so appealing to me!

Thus, I ask for forgiveness for some of the slightly naff choices this year. I haven’t been alert enough to be pickier! (Those that have been played on mass rotation at Elements in Bath are marked with a *)

25 Creator (Santogold)
24 Shake It (Metro Station)
23 Low (Flo Rida Ft. T-Pain) * [oh dear…]
22 Don’t Speak French (Girls Aloud)
21 Single Ladies (Beyonce)
20 Human (The Killers)
19 Nude (Radiohead)
18 Rolex (Wiley) *
17 Warwick Avenue (Duffy)
16 Lovers Who Uncover (The Little Ones)
15 The Promise (Girls Aloud)
14 Rockstar (Nickelback) *
13 Heartless (Kanye West)
12 American Boy (Estelle ft. Kanye West) *
11 4 Minutes (Madonna ft. Justin Timberlake) *
10 Sex on Fire (Kings of Leon)
9 Chasing Pavements (Adele)

8 Disturbia (Rihanna) *
Bung bung de dum, bung bung de dum dum. ’Nuff said.

7 Mercy (Duffy) *
A great year for the hugely likable Duffy, begun with this, her best song. Easy to understand lyrics, catchy beats, and perfect to grab your hairbrush and song along to.

6 Dance wiv Me (Dizzee Rascal ft Calvin Harris) *
Oh dear. Such a chavvy song, complete with trackie bottoms and cockney rhyming slang. Yet, I just can’t help but love it.

5 Love Lockdown (Kanye West) *
The absolute fave of my male friends, I’ve heard this well over 100 times this year. Along with Homecoming, perfect for doing some lol-tacular Kanye West impressions to.

4 Hands out the Cookie Jar (Gym Class Heroes) *
It’s a bit simple and a bit obvious, not to mention the fact that the lines “I want to be faithful but I can’t keep my hands out the cookie jar” being a bit contradictory, but still, catchy and good to dance to.

3 The Most Beautiful Girl in the Room (Flight of the Concords)
The music vid’s a bit questionable, but the song itself is lovely; mellow, diffident and moving.

2 Make You Feel My Love (Adele)
One of the most beautiful love songs ever written, I really connect with it.

1 Paper Planes (M.I.A.) *
Such a love it/hate it song. My friend Ben says it’s a trashy mess with just a lot of random guns sounds, some of my other friends have it as their ringtones and go crazy every time it’s played. I fall firmly in the latter category; I only watched Pineapple Express because this song was played in the trailer! M.I.A. is a genius for mixing The Clash, deep lyrics that I can live my life by ("I fly like paper, get high like planes, if you catch me at the border I've got visas in my name") with her own unique style to deliver a political, upbeat, funny, disturbing and weird song. M.I.A.'s a Goddess!

Haha, looking back at this, it’s made me realise that I would know very little about music this year if I didn’t go to all those Flirt and Comeplay parties! One song that I’ve heard more than any other at Bath, that didn’t make the list, however is I Kissed a Girl by Katy Perry. It just effs me off more than anything. Same with The Ting Tings’ That’s Not My Name. No amount of drunken dancing can convince me that those two are good songs.

Sail away with me, to another world.

Marilyn Monroe was beautiful. This we already know, but let us bask in the goodness of her beauty:

4 Days to Go!

.

A song from one of my favourite Disney films of all time!

Male Disney characters, as you've never seen them before.

Aladdin // Tarzan // John Smith // Prince Philip // Prince Eric // Hercules

Underwear model much?

These genius pictures are done by David Kawena.

5 Days Until Christmas!

And the song for today was one of my favourite songs of 2008, utterly beautiful. Quite possibly one of the most romantic songs I've heard

"So?"

In response to Twilight star and constant sullen-faced teenager Kristin Stewart smoking from a pipe (which may or may not have been marijuana, but, the Media being the Media, took to be marijuana immediately), Nikki Reed is asked for her opinion about those cannabis allegations. Nikki Reed, as you may remember, played that terrible teenager in Catherine Hardwicke's Thirteen. Catherine Hardwicke directed Twilight. Hence the link. (Tenuous, I know).

Anyway -


Emmabung is going to get on her high horse and say Tut tut. I'm really unimpressed with how dismissively Reed has spoken, and how carelessly Stewart has acted. Call me old-fashioned, but I still consider pot a drug, and thus, by smoking it (or giving an appearance of doing so), Stewart is setting a really bad example to all the young girls who have watched her in Twilight and connected with the shy, gawky girl that ends up getting the school hottie and want to aspire to be like her. I mean, yes, you could say that any teenager that is stupid enough to smoke pot because an actress they like smokes it deserves to become a pothead, but bah, it just annoys me.
Also, allow me to snigger unceremoniously at Reed’s incessant namedropping that is like, so gossip girl: she's "BFFs" with Stewart, apparently, and her and Robert Pattinson have a "musical connection". Don't make me laugh.

Bitches, the pair of 'em!

The Great Gatsby.

Listen up, y’all. Baz Luhrmann has picked up the rights to direct The Great Gatsby, saying that the novel parallels the economic downturn we’re currently experiencing.

Am personally quite excited about this. The Great Gatsby is one of my favourite novels (despite studying it to a point of exhaustion in GCSE Eng. Lit), and I’m interested in the visual, sensual edge that he’ll bring to the film.

So, any thoughts about casting? The instinctive answer will probably be that he’ll cast Nicole Kidman as Daisy, but I’m really not a fan of this idea. She’s far too old to play Daisy, far too learned, and one of the whole points about Daisy’s personality is that she was a free, naïve and selfish being. I don’t mind if Nicole Kidman has a little cameo, where she comes in in a $500,000 Chanel dress, but srsly, not her as Daisy.

(That said, an even bigger nightmare would be Scarlett Johansson as Daisy. Which could well happen, in order to try and reel in the box office. God’s sake.)

However, how does the idea of Lee Pace (off Pushing Daisies) as Nick sound? I mean… yes yes? Look, he wants it too!

So, some off-the-cuff casting
Nick – Lee Pace
Gatz – James Marsden
Daisy – Amy Adams
Jordan – Rachel McAdams