My Jogging Playlist.

One of my 2011 New Year’s Resolutions was to lose weight by eating less and exercising more. Whilst the former has fallen flat on its face, I have at least sort of stuck to the latter, in that I go jogging on a every-other-daily basis. Obviously, doing any kind of strenuous activity is just not in my disposition, and I find I need some good jogging music to get me motivated. Thus, verily I present you, my jogging playlist.



01. Mombasa – Hans Zimmer
02. Eye of the Tiger – Survivor
03. Time to Pretend - MGMT
04. Something kinda Ooh - Girls Aloud
05. American Gangster – Jay-Z
06. Lose Yourself - Eminem
07. Ooh La La - Goldfrapp
08. Empire – Kasabian
09. What You Waiting For – Gwen Stefani
10. The Battle - Hans Zimmer & Lisa Gerrard
11. All I Want is You - Barry Louis Polisar

All t'riffic songs to run to, but especially Mombasa, which is single-handedly to thank for keeping me from veering into the 10 stone mark.

WAKA WAKA.

Although it was two days ago when I watched it, I hadn't gotten round to penning my thoughts on the Glee finale. And my thoughts are, chiefly, that it was lovely. I thought the past couple of episodes (the Lady Gaga one and the Funk one) were both disappointingly flat, so I'm glad the writers picked up for the ending. One thing I really like about Glee is how they paint Sue Sylvester as a cold-hearted bitch 99% of the time, but instead of making her 2D, they do occasionally show her redemptive qualities, and her putting New Directions #1 was so poignant; I wa surprised how much that moved me. The scene with Quinn giving birth was also very well done, could Dianna Agron be any more perfect? I always get emotional after giving birth scenes, but that one rivaled Juno in terms of sweetness of teenages having baby stakes. And the music, as ever was perfect - Mr. Schue singing and playing the ukulele to "Somewhere over the Rainbow" was the icing on a very sweet cake. And whilst the message Mr. Schue gave them - that it's not the destination, but the journey - sounds like something picked right out of a Joe McEldry song, you only need look at the friendships and life lessons formed from Glee club to see that he's right. Of course the show's not perfect - gaping plot-holes surround almost every scene (picking the setlist a week before regionals, really?) and the offbeat feal sometimes renders the whole thing a little hard to believe, but I'm willing to overlook the majority of the flaws, because Glee has had me beaming more than most TV shows have for a long, long time.

Top 10 Glee Song Covers
01. Defying Gravity - combined Lea Michele & Chris Colfer version
02. Don't Stop Believing - performance given in regionals (with the key change, goddamn)
03. Dream On - Matthew Morrison & Neil Patrick Harris
04. I Dreamed a Dream - Idina Menzel & Lea Michele
05. 4 Minutes - Amber Riley & Chris Colfer
06. True Colours - whole cast
07. Take a Bow - Lea Michele (the video was cringetastic but I think this song features Michele's best vocal work)
08. Somewhere Over the Rainbow - Matthew Morrison
09. Walking on Sunshine/Halo - the girls
10. Goldigger - whole cast

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And in case you'd somehow missed it (due to living under a rock, and all), the World Cup began today! I wasn't able to watch the opening ceremony or South Africa vs Mexico, but it sounds like both were brilliant. I was able to watch France vs. Uruguay. Now, I can't speak French, but I was hoping the funking football would do the talking, talking. That it didn't - the match was completely and utterly dire, so boring that me and my brother resorted to making off-colour jokes to pass the time. Hopefully tomorrow - which features my country, England - will bring more thrills.

A few photos from today's opening ceremony and thereabouts:






And finally, I think Cheryl may find she has competition in my heart as the prettiest wag. I've discovered Zaira Nara, Uruguayian footballer Diego Forlan's wag. And she is stunning!

Youth in Revolt (Miguel Arteta, 2009)

Nick Twisp (Michael Cera) is a horny teenage youth with a twist - he wishes to be a writer, lives by the songs of Frank Sinatra, appreciates the films of Fellini, wryly observing the lives of his divorced parents - his father, who lives with a much younger, blonder model, and his mother, who takes whatever men/f-buddies she can get. Under all his witticisms, he just wants to fit in. Whilst accompanying his mother and her current lover on a trailer park holiday, he sets his eyes on Sheeni (Portia Doubleday), whom, to him, is perfection. They have a sweet but short-lived Summer fling (a strictly first and second base one, which Twisp's virginity remains intact from), but Nick wants it to last forever. Adopting a double persona as Francois, his badass alter ego, Nick sets to doing all he can in order to get thrown out so he can go live near Sheeni. At the start of the film, Nick had noted "In movies, the good guy gets the girl. In reality, it's usually the prick", and sets about righting this for once. He is, to all intents and purposing, fighting for her love.

Youth in Revolt plays, at times, like a cross between Superbad and Fight Club, what with the plot revolving around a teenager's quest to lose his bunginity, as well as the fact that he (in his mind) constructs another, cooler vision of himself, one who has the balls to do the things that he normally dare not. It is R-rated (15 in the UK), but not terribly explicit or rude, it just doesn't hold back on the cursing and has a few sex jokes that would go beyond what would be allowed at a 12. There are some hilarious comedic sequences-  one in particular involving the protagonist's bad attempt to fake his own death, but on the whole, the film is funny in a downbeat, quiet way. The quirky style of the film is complemented with performances by indie stars Steve Buscemi and Ray Liotta, both who own the camera for the brief moments they are in.

My main concern with Youth in Revolt was that I was simply never convinced that Sheeni reciprocated Nick's (admittedly extremely strong) feelings. It doesn't help, of course, that Portia Doubleday isn't a very good performer, but on the whole, I found her character cold, confused and a little annoying. Part of the joy of Youth in Revolt is enjoying all the escapades to Nick's climb to his destination, and not necessarily the destination, but I couldn't help but feel throughout the film that Sheeni wasn't a worthwhile one. (Though perhaps that doesn't matter, and what matters is that Nick thinks it is). All that said, I did very much enjoy the adorable animated sequence that played through the credits involving the two.

Michael Cera, who warmed hearts in Juno and Superbad, is completely at home in the role of dorky teenage boy, and once again, he steals the show - and my heart - here. His Nick Twisp certainly has a warped, bordering on psychotic idea of what it means to fight for someone's love but there's an everyday quality to Cera's acting and looks that renders him totally likeable, no matter what the creepy scenario he finds himself in. If it weren't for Cera, I may have found the film annoying and not all that funny, but thanks to him, it mostly manages to be bright, sweet and engaging. Cera is definitely one to keep an eye on; mark my words, that lad'll go far.

It could have been you and me before you broke my heart, and now I'm standing here.

I only watched three films this week, which is a bit poor, but in my defence, I did have tonnes of work as well as an increase in my TV-watching (Damages, Cambridge Spies, The Simpsons, The Wire, Desperate Housewives and Gavin & Stacey). Phew!

Up in the Air (Jason Reitman, 2009)

I wasn’t keen on this film from all the clips I’d seen (and the petty fact that I don’t like George Clooney), but it was a genuine surprise. Clooney, whilst playing a smug character, wasn’t actually as unbearably smug as he has been in the past, and was actually semi-likeable as he began to acquire an epiphany toward the end. Vera Farmiga was underused for the most part, but Anna Kendrick was utterly lovely and hilarious. The script was sharp enough, and I love the cameo from the guy that played Juno’s dad. On the whole, I would say I enjoyed the movie less than Juno, but it was much better-rounded as a piece of filmmaking.

Saving Face (Alice Wu, 2004)

I loved this film! It tells the story of Hwei-lang Gao, a 48-year-old Chinese woman living in America who, on getting pregnant, is sent into exile by her ultra-conservative father. She goes to live with her lesbian daughter Wilhelmina, who, from her sexuality, has enough problems of her own. What I loved so much about this film was that it expertly judged the dynamics of the Chinese community in a western society, both embracing its good points, and criticising its shortcomings. The main character, smart surgeon Wilhelmina who’s still struggling to come to terms with her sexuality, was likeable and I genuinely cared for her plight. A bit schmaltzy at the end, but nothing wrong with a bit of feel good. I felt proud to be Chinese after this movie.

Afterschool (Antonio Campos, 2008)
Um. This film was not good. A lad in a restrictive, internet-obsessed boarding school films the death of two cokeheads in his school and shows everyone the video, and afterwards, life just spirals out of control. An extremely pretentious movie, with a lot of long pausing, and one of the most awkward virginity-losing scenes in cinema. Not recommended at all.
a

Some of you have seen this already....

But it was so gorgeous that I just feel the need to share it with the world:

Done by my wonderfully talented mate Hannah.

Aww.

A Look ahead to Best Supporting Actress.

It’s half term and my computer at home keeps sporadically disallowing me from connecting to the Internet, so I don’t know how many of these I’ll be able to do this week. I will try my best though, I think I'll be fine.

Anyway.

The nominees:
- Cate Blanchett, I’m Not There.
- Ruby Dee, American Gangster
- Saoirse Ronan, Atonement
- Amy Ryan, Gone Baby Gone
- Tilda Swinton, Michael Clayton

How I did: 60%. I predicted Catherine Keener (buzz and other nominations swayed me) and Kelly Macdonald (blind faith.)

I haven’t seen Amy Ryan in Gone Baby Gone, so I can only give comments on 4 of the performances.

01. Saoirse Ronan, Atonement
Although I’ve whored and whored this performance many a time, it never gets old to talk about one of my favourite performances of the year, so let us recap: Saoirse Ronan plays Briony Tallis, a self-proclaimed “writer” with a massive imagination. When she was younger, she had developed a crush on her family’s gardener, Robbie, which she believed to be love. Several years later, at 13, she witnesses Robbie and her sister Cecilia loitering around at the fountain, and this, along with a note that Robbie writes, sets off her imagination in the worst way.

Saoirse is… transcendent. There are few performances from young actresses that have really amazed me (Wei Minzhi in Not one Less, Ivana Baquero in Pan’s Labyrinth and Ana Torrent in The Spirit of the Beehive being some of the select few) but Ronan’s is one of them. From the very start of the film, where she runs excitedly to mummy to show off her new script, to the way she tries to direct Lola and her two brothers into acting, to the confused way she tells on Robbie, she’s got Briony down to a t - impulsive, a know-it-all, nosy, but essentially, just a child. Saoirse Ronan captures Briony’s flaws and mannerisms perfectly (her reaction at reading the c-word was hilarious), and, when I saw the more pathetic version of her later in the film, (Romola Garai in the “I am very very sorry…” scene kind of echoed Ronan when she thanked McAvoy for saving her life), I appreciated her performance even more. In Garai and Ronan we have a character who is still “just a kid”, who made a huge mistake, and, though Ronan’s selfish teenager didn’t know it, they would have to pay for it big-time.

She’s just wonderful, basically. I am both hugely jealous and in awe of 2007’s star in the making. With Emma Watson giving us so much eyebrow acrobatics and histrionics, Saoirse Ronan's subtle, haunting portrayal of Briony Tallis is exactly what cinema needs. A



02. Cate Blanchett, I’m Not There.
Before I saw this movie I was pretty sniffy toward Miss Blanchett for three reasons – 1) that she’d gotten nominated for her non-supporting overacting masterclass in Notes of a Scandal last year, 2) that she got nominated this year in Lead Actress for nothing but a rehash of a performance she did better a few years back and 3) that she was gonna be taking the Oscar off Saoirse. But, watching I’m Not There., I have to grudgingly concede that this performance is more than just the whole “woman playing man” gimmick; Cate is actually pretty good. She represents the artistic Bob Dylan, and, perversely, is probably the best out of all the “Bob Dylans” at well, playing Bob Dylan (though to be fair he was kinda androgynous during that era). Aside from all the obvious ticks and mannerisms, I think she portrayed Dylan’s emotions perfectly – he was twitchy and sarcastic, yet she still conveys a layer of vulnerability. So, who woulda thunk it? An actress I’ve been hating on all Oscar season, bungs up and impresses me with their craft! B+/A-.
03. Tilda Swinton, Michael Clayton
Although I still can’t see her as anything other than the White Witch off Narnia, Tilda Swinton plays a woman who tries to act like one of the big boys in the legal world, has sold her soul to the corporation, but actually can’t cope. Although I wasn’t bowled over by this performance, I still found Swinton, as ever, compelling to watch. B-

04. Ruby Dee, American Gangster
I’d hate to accuse Oscar of nominating someone out of pity or something… but that’s what it must be, because there was nothing memorable or special about Dee’s performance! With the plethora of talented supporting actresses this year, you bung this in?!?!?!?!?! I’m sorry, I know it must piss you all off by now, this phrase that I keep using, but, really: “Are you havin’ a laff?” E

So.
Who will win: Cate Blanchett.
Who deserves to win: Saoirse Ronan
Who deserved to get nominated:

Three performances, actually:
Charlotte Gainsbourg in I’m Not There
Jennifer Garner in Juno
&
Kelly Macdonald in No Country for Old Men
Also, a note about Romola Garai in Atonement, ‘cos I’ve been thinking about this for a while: -

I think I may have underrated her performance on original viewing. She was terrific in the scene with the French soldier, but in my original review I said that her delivery of the “I am very very sorry” line was “a bit wooden.” Well, thinking about it, I think she was meant to be!! It was meant to sound rehearsed, I think, like she’d planned how she was going to say it for the past 5 years… and then on the big occasion, she bottles it. There really was a lot more depth to that performance than I’d originally noted.

So, thinking about it, I think it’s been a wonderful year for Supporting Actresses.