An opportune shift

In this working from home period during lockdown, I have to have video-conferences on an almost daily basis. This made me realise that the poster set-up that I'd had on the wall facing my work WebCam was suboptimal:

I absolutely adore the Nick Wilde plushie in the photo though, and wouldn't trade him for the world.

I liked Wonder Woman a lot, it was my tenth favourite film of 2017 (at the time of writing), and It probably makes my top 20 of 2017. But for a film to be rewarded a special spot on my wall, it has to be a bit more special than top 20, top 10 of the year! (It was awarded a place more due to the fact that it was based on a  Stephen King novel, which my favourite film also happens to be. More on that later).

In addition to being films which weren't the best representation of Emma's cinephile tastes, they were also too small to be spotted from the Webcam. So ideally, I'd want one film poster rather than two, large enough that its title could be recognised instantly.

Thus, I turned to my current obsession, and a film I seem determined to own all the merch for, Parasite:

This amazing artwork was done by The Geeky Illustrator. I had already bought a The Shawshank Redemption poster from him and was not disappointed, so I went back for more with this gorgeous Parasite poster. It complements the lime green of my wall so well (not to mention Nick Wilde's shirt), and the use of the son's tent for the second 'A' is just inspired!

So, going forwards, I can now have Webex calls with more confidence. Thank you, The Geeky Illustrator!

Holiday in New York, 2017.

Earlier this month, I spent five days in New York City with my best friend Anna (the gorgeous lady who this blog is named after).

Here be a picspam of our time there (including a day in New Jersey) and some random non-sequiturs as and when I can be bothered to type!

Toy review: NICK WILDE FROM ZOOTROPOLIS SOFT TOY (Disney Store)

I like to make my lime green bedroom as me as possible. On one wall, I have Chelsea FC pictures, as well as a still of Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's. I've started decorating the opposite wall with personal photos, and a poster of Gal Gadot in Wonder Woman.

Evidently, I like to be reminded of movies all the time. ❤️ And, given how enamoured I was with Jason Bateman's character in Zootopia, it made sense to pop down to the Disney Store on Oxford Circus, and treat myself to a Nick Wilde soft toy for £12.95. 

Here I am the very day I procured the furry dude:

Obligatory "I wish I were a hundredth the epicness of this woman" post.

Autumn time, and the living is cold.

Films watched this week:

A Common Thread

Claire Moutiers is an emotional, unusual teenager with a head full of curly pre-Raphaelite hair a serious predilection for embroidery. She also happens to be pregnant. The film follows her journey as she gives up her humdrum job in a supermarket to work for famous sequinist Mme. Mélikian, who is mourning the loss of her son.

Directed with meticulous detail by Éléonore Faucher and with gorgeous scenes of the two women working on a piece of embroidery, A Common Thread is quite slow-moving and definitely goes with its own pace, but it’s a seriously beautiful movie encompassing themes such as maternity, creation and loneliness. 

Lola Naymark is terrific as the mercurial, feisty lead, and you find yourself rooting for her throughout, even if you don’t know her that well. And there is an unbelievably erotically charged scene where the love interest (played by Thomas Laroppe) kisses a highly pregnant Claire near a tree which is pretty much my highlight of the whole movie.

A Streetcar Named Desire
When I first saw this film in 2003, I completely fell head-over-heels in love with Marlon Brando, the art of acting, and movies. Having studied the text for English Literature AS and had to sit an exam on it (“Stella is also a victim. Discuss.”), I feel I know the text quite well, and am truly amazed with what Brando did with Stanley.

Actually, in many ways, he presented Stanley in too nice a light; in several scenes he lacks the edge of maliciousness that Stanley Kowalski had in the novel and his choice to tell Mitch seems more about Blanche’s history seems to genuinely be out of concern for his mate rather than a personal vindication, but, considering all the moral codes of the 50s, Elia Kazan really manages to stay as true to the play as he can, and the film contains two of the best male and female performances of all time. 

Breakfast at Tiffany’s
We had my favourite actor, now let’s talk about my favourite actress, the Goddess that is Audrey Hepburn. Breakfast at Tiffany’s has everything that I love about New York, Henry Mancini's score is a classic (Audrey singing Moon River is one of the most iconic moments in cinema), and 99% of the supporting players are likeable (Mickey Rooney is my second least favourite Rooney of all time; his racist “performance” is a joke.)

The film hasn't aged well (it is not acceptable to have a Caucasian play an East Asian character, and a stereotype of one at that), but is still worth watching for Hepburn's movie-star charisma alone.

Far from Heaven
I love the lushness and richness of the set design so much in this movie that I have to watch this every October to relate to the falling leaves and glorious colours in the movie.

Technicals aside, this is also one of my favourite movies for emotional reasons; the story of Cathy Whitaker, the “perfect wife” whose life slowly falls apart in front of her as she discovers of her husband’s interest in men is heartbreaking as it is engrossing, and Julianne Moore transcends as Cathy, giving one of my favourite performances of all time.

She’s a joy to watch from start to finish, and in particular, he scenes 24’s Dennis Haysbert tingle erotically with the unsaid. Oh, and Elmer Bernstein’s score is beautifully evocative of the era.

Autumn Sonata

A truly magnificent film, and I love it more than many if Bergman’s more critically acclaimed ones, such as The Seventh Seal. A powerful and almost unbearable tense drama on family, inadequacy and playing the piano, Liv Ullman is so incredible that she even outshines Ingrid Bergman. 

The late night showdown between the mother (Bergman) and Ullman (daughter) is one of the most painful and draining scenes in cinema history. 

Three more performances that changed my life.

Anyway, thes entries were part of the run-up to an exciting affair taking place tomorrow. It's still not too late to sign up, and I can't wait to read what you'll all be writing!

A few pieces of housekeeping for the blogathon tomorrow:
01. Anyone can write! You don’t need to have contacted me in advance to participate or anything, just as long as you have something to show on the 07/07/07, I shall link you.
02. I will accept late entries. I’m very understanding, and realise that people will have things to do that may prevent them from getting the article done exactly tomorrow. However, what I will say is that the earlier the entry, the more people are likely to read it because it will have had longer coverage on my blog.
03. Multiple entries are fine. Post me the links and I'll credit all of them.
04. YouTube tributes, poems, essays, are all fine. I encourage diversity!
05. If you’re doing the same performance as someone else, no matter! Even if the performances are the same, I doubt they changed your life for same reasons. So don’t stress.
06. In your post, you should link to me as the blogathon HQ. I’ll have the master post up tomorrow.
07. Enjoy! This is supposed to be fun. And I reckon it shall be. And spread the love. Life is like the movies.

Three more performances that changed my life. In a good way, of course. As good as the avatars:
04. Tom Hulce as Mozart in Amadeus
I saw this movie for the first time in the Easter of 2004. One of my very musical friends who I admired a lot introduced me to the film Amadeus, where the slight “deviation” from fact showed that excellence does not have to equate to truth. In Hulce’s portrayal of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, I learned that it is sometimes the naughtiest, the most different who are blessed with the greatest talents, and they must use those to lift people’s spirits through art. You have no idea how much this inspired me; I felt that I, always somewhat of a round peg for the square hole, could do something, anything, to entertain and cheer up the entire world. Amadeus is in my personal top 10 of all time, it was wildly entertaining and gave a great interest into a genius, but I loved it also because I saw something of myself in Hulce and his great eccentricity. His child-like mannerisms (the riotous giggle, the silly childish games) are testament not only to his acting skills, but to Forman's exceptional direction and vision, and on watching him, I truly became interested in music. I looked into every type of music I could find, from the great classical composers to Edith Piaf, Spice Girls, The Beatles, anyone and everyone. But the greatest impact Hulce’s performance had on me was making me believe that one day, hopefully, I’ll be able to use my “artistic genius” to change the world. Maybe??


03. Audrey Hepburn as Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany’s
As ridiculous as this may sound, this was the movie performance that made me appreciate my mates more. It was a sleepover, and we had already seen Cold Mountain, which polarized us (half of us loved it, the other half had been playing cards throughout and found it a snoreathon), and the second film we’d watched, Citizen Kane, had sent all but one into a bored stupor. So, naturally, I was a little cautious in showing one of my favourite movies, containing my favourite actresses to them, at the risk that they’d diss Hepburn, and, in essence, diss me.

I really needn’t have worried. They loved it. In Breakfast at Tiffany’s Audrey is the very epitome of 1960s chic and her Holly captures the essence of an era when the naughty goings on (see my review of The Seven Year Itch) were very implicit. After we saw the movie, we discussed Audrey, the character of Holly Golightly, and how the movie would have turned out had Truman Capote got what he wanted, and Marilyn Monroe played Holly. Anyway, I was just so deliriously happy that there was one movie, and one performance that my friends could all find common ground on, I remember this day clearly still. Afterwards, I came to appreciate my friends a lot more, feel less intellectually detached, and I’m glad I did, because our friendships have developed and bloomed as a result. And we all decided that we would all like a happy ending as sweet as the one Holly Golightly got.

02. Tim Robbins as Andy in The Shawshank Redemption
This was always going to be on here! Interestingly, it took me a second viewing of Shawshank to truly appreciate all the qualities of Darabont’s masterpiece and make it my number 1 film of all time. And I’ve basically lived my life on the qualities I saw in Robbins’ performance as Andy – a sense of hope, mixed with pragmatism, quiet self-belief and inner strength, and perhaps most importantly, remembering to never give up. I actually aspire to be like Andy (for his qualities, not getting convicted for a crime I didn’t commit – duh!), and even in the most testing times in life, and sorriest school days, I will always TRY to think “What would Andy do?” and all is not so bad. “Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things. And no good thing ever dies" is an important lesson I have learnt from films, and it was Tim Robbins who taught me it.