Words actually can't describe how much I adore this performance

Musically, it's not the best, but Bad Romance, Dance Wiv Me, Fight for This Love, Everybody in Love and I Dreamed a Dream are all songs that have five stars on my iTunes, and I love the personality of this lovely little group:



The Arrangement to win BGT!!

Brief Thoughts on the 8 acts in tonight's Britain's Got Talent.

I'm afraid I didn't jot down names so some of them are guestimates.



ThreeBees - I enjoyed their delightfully bright costumes, and thought some of the female dancers had bodies to die for. The mashup of music was fun too. As for the dancing, I was left wanting. There are just too many other more talented dance acts in it this year for them to stand out, plus I always assess the level of talent with the could I? test - asking if I could see myself (having done due practice of course) giving that performance. Sadly for Treebees, I just about could.

Olivia Archbald - I get kinda bitchy towards kids who sing, but I enjoyed her audition, chiefly due to the fact that she sang a Sarah McLachlan song. The song she picked tonight, though - Kate Winslet's What If, didn't suit her tone of voice, nor the acoustics of the BGT hall.

Kevin Cruise - not a fan at all I'm afraid. Downright tacky.

Stevie Starr - on one hand, I could barely watch as this guy swallowed a lightbulb and coughed it back up, then proceeded to swallow Amanda's engagement ring, then swallow a locked lock, unlock it with his intestines and lock her ring into it. But on the other, holy cow. By all intents and purposes, this was something different. And, for the wow factor and the fact that he surely is one of a kind, I hope he goes through later.

Tobias Mead - good, I enjoyed what he did with the floating ball, but his audition impressed me more. Piers seemed to love it, which surprised me as he wasn't keen on him in the auditions when I actually found his act a lot more innovative.

Sean Shaheen- I'm a big wimp, so, as with Stevie Starr, I could barely watch. But, unlike with Stevie Starr, I was not interested at any point either in the wellbeing of the guy cutting wood and wearing a ridiculous  anglo-saxon outfit.

Josh Barry - ohgod, this was beyond lame. Bieber Mark II, from the swagger to the poor singing. The backing dancers held far more interest throughout, truth be told. Amanda was all over this boy so I really hope it doesn't come to the judges decision tonight because I just know she'll put him through when it's totally undeserved.

Spelbound - Astounding doesn't even begin to cover it. Each and every gymnast on stage got their every move in perfect time, and wow, there was so much excellence all over the stage!! You could tell a lot of time and practice had gone into this. They would make worthy winners of the whole tournament.

And that's that. More tomorrow. I miss football.

On to the Next One.

Catwoman (Pitof, 2004)
Halle Berry plays Patient Philips, a mild-mannered artist who, after stumbling upon the secret that a popular anti-aging cream is toxic, is killed by some henchmen, only to come back to life thanks to a cat, Midnight. In doing so, she has also inherited super-human powers from the cat, such as agility, eyesight, etc, and whilst she uses most of these new powers for the greater good, there are times when it overtakes her and turns her into someone she doesn't quite recognise. In retrospect, every bit as silly and bad as the critics slated Catwoman to be, but still rather good fun in short bursts (Benjamin Bratt is and always has been, lush) if you don't take it seriously enough.



People Will Talk (Joseph L. Mankiewicz, 1951)
One of Mankiewicz's most underrated films, People Will Talk centres around Cary Grant's well-liked Dr. Praetorius and two strands in his life, firstly, that of him falling in love with one of his patients Deborah (Jeanne Crain), who tries to top herself when she finds out she's pregnant out of wedlock (this was the 50s, after all), and the second of his affiliation with his elderly friend Mr Shunderson. The performances here are uniformly excellent, particularly from the two romantic leads, who have a very passionate (despite no real action) scene when he visits her house. There are engaging subplots and one-liners aplenty, and the usage of Brahms was excellent, rendering the film an extremely enjoyable comedy of manners.



The Da Vinci Code (Ron Howard, 2006)

Complete and utter nonsense, and at 140 minutes running time, the nonsense outstayed its welcome by a good hour. That said, I did enjoy Ian McKellan's kooky performance as Leigh Teabing, and was indulged by some of the touristy shots of Paris and London. Hans Zimmer's score was the stuff of musical dreams and it suited the tone of the film perfectly, and I've always liked the source material (frivolous as it was), so there was an element of adventure that appealed to me. That said, there were far too many gaping flaws for me to ignore. Firstly, the all-round quality of the acting. Tom Hanks does nothing other than half-gurn, half-groan his way through the film, Audrey Tautou (someone who I ordinarily adore) looks awkward and Alfred Molina, Jean Reno and especially Paul Bettany as Silas are borderline laughable. And then there's the direction from Ron Howard, which just doesn't fit. Bah.

Two Girls and a Sailor (Richard Thorpe, 1944)
I enjoyed the dancing, but I tired of playing guess who with the romantic plot. Choc a bloc full of talented performers, the film ended up somewhat less than the sum of its parts.

Strong inside but you don’t know it, good little girls they never show it.

Disney princesses – or leading ladies of Disney films in general – all have, without failure, the gift of radiant beauty. From Snow White’s skin so white and lips so red that the Queen feels the need to do her off, Cinderella’s neat blonde hairdo and svelte figure to Ariel’s eye-catching red hair and seashell bra that leaves nothing to the imagination, Disney females have are all without fail, beautiful, no matter what their hair or eye colour, face shape or character. However, in the three that I’ve mentioned are also noticeable character flaws, or even lack of character whatsoever. Snow White is guileless and child-like to a point where she accepts food from strangers The counter argument that she is just a child seems empty if we consider that at the end of the film she goes off with a man much older than her, so either Disney accepts she’s dumb, or they accept they’re basically administering paedophilia to young kids. Either way, they’ve gone wrong somewhere. Cinderella is the epitome of the beleaguered lady who is mistreated by all those around her, but thankfully, she’s pretty, so she catches the eye of the Prince. And being absent minded and losing a shoe? Well, she’s pretty, and she seems to have a remarkable sized food that no-one else in the kingdom has, so that’ll work to her advantage too. As for Ariel, she sacrifices her one gift – her voice, abandons her family and her roots to pursue the man she’s had her eye on. These three women don’t really say much for feminism, truth be told.

Luckily, it isn’t all that way. There are a few Disney females who I was genuinely inspired by, and rooting for throughout, rather than gnashing my teeth at. Here they are:-

Jasmine (Aladdin, 1992)

Being the sultan’s daughter should, in theory, be the sweet life. But not for Jasmine, who feels repressed and cloistered. Whereas previous Disney films had centred around the princess, Jasmine is but a secondary character to Aladdin. But that doesn’t make her inferior in terms of strength of personality, not at all. Standing up to her father and refusing to marry someone she doesn’t love is one thing, but her lack of interest in class or marrying for money is completely inspirational, particularly in this sad day and age, where women will happily plump for a footballer husband who cheats on them as long as they get fancy things. My only lament about Jasmine is that we don’t find out enough about her, and her backstory. For example, she doesn’t seem to have any female friends in the film, and one can’t help but wonder why.

Megara (Hercules, 1997)

From one loner to another. Megara has actually done the whole “giving up her life for a man” thing, quite literally in fact, when she sold her soul to Hades in order to settle a debt her then boyfriend had with him. Sadly for her, he left her as soon as a hotter model came along, leading her tied to the devil, and feeling jaded and disillusioned with men. Meg is by all intents and purposes more of a “woman of the world” compared to other Disney females, but by being older and wiser, she makes for a more relatable and watchable characters.

Armed with a whole arsenal of sarcastic put-downs, it’s no wonder that Hercules becomes so fascinated with her (interestingly, it is he who is the more “feminine” of the two in his innocent ways). And, for all the obvious beauties of Aurora and Cinderella, Meg’s feistiness and sassiness gives her a kind of swagger that makes her, for me, the sexiest Disney character.

Mulan (Mulan, 1998)

Although depicted to be clumsy dolt and constantly speaking without thinking at the start, there’s no denying she has a fierce fire inside her. This fire is unleashed when the Emperor calls for a man from every family to fight for their country. There are no other men in Mulan’s family apart from her dad (she hasn’t a brother), but her father is ill and frail. Despite her protestations, he insists that “it’s my place. It’s time you learnt yours.” Any inferior Disney princess would accept that as a queue to munch into another apple or lie in a bed and sleep until their prince comes, but not for Mulan. Shedding her lustrous locks and donning the less-than-flattering soldier’s uniform, she disguises herself as Ping, her father’s “Son”. At the start she is less-than-convincing, though her ineptitude as a soldier is partially disguised by the blunderings of all those around her. But as time goes by, she cements her place as one of the best and most loyal fighters and catches the eye of the General leading them. Resourceful, brave, and with a never-say-die spirit that many Disney princes could do with, Mulan is a film that makes me proud to be Chinese, and Mulan a character that makes me proud to be a woman.

Tiana (The Princess and the Frog, 2009)

Tiana isn’t actually a princess, only mistaken for one (she is in fact a poor girl working as many jobs as she can, determined to reach her dream of owning a restaurant). And she and Prince Naveen don’t even get off to a good start. Both characters have their flaws; Naveen is a hedonistic, selfish brat and Tiana is the opposite, so hard-working she barely pauses for breath, and in doing so occasionally comes off as judgemental, and has no time for any of that namby pamby “romance” stuff. However, she is also inventive and clever, and it is mainly thanks to her wits that she and Naveen manage to survive so long, never mind at all, as frogs. Both characters grow up and change through the course of the film, and it is this mutual understanding and friendship which builds between them that makes their romance so moving, as opposed to carbon copy “HE SAW HER AND WAS SPELLBINDED BY HER BEAUTY” of the 50s and 60s Disney films.

So that’s me. Who are your favourite Disney gals?

x

Beautiful World Cup Art.

Wieden + Kennedy New York commisioned Capetown artists Am I Collective to create 32 murals, each one inspired by one of the 32 countries participating in the World Cup. Some of them are based on national themes, others inspired by film posters. There are my favourites:























 source

TV review: GLEE S1E20: Theatricality.

Never one to fall behind on the latest crazes, Glee begins with Principal Figgins, in the deluded belief that vampires exist, bans Tina from dressing gothly due to her attire's links with Twilight and vampirism. Despite the Twilight craze being lost in Tina, "My mom won't let me watch Twilight; she says she thikns Kristen Stewart looks like a bitch", her and Mr. Schue's protestations are ignored, and all black clothing is banned in McKinley High. 

The rest of the Glee club offer her suggestions for different ways of dressing, bike chick, cowgirl, hoodrat, computer programmer, but Tina disregards them all. But Mr. Schue's assignment for the week - Lady Gaga - gives her, and all the rest of the girls (plus Kurt) some new costume ideas of their own.

I found this week's episode of Glee somewhat disappointing given all the hype built up for the episode. For one thing, I'd expected Lady Gaga to actually make an appearance in this episode, which she wasn't. 

Furthermore, for all the reputation it'd gained as the "Lady Gaga episode", there were only two covers of her songs - a fun, frenetic Bad Romance cover, and an acoustic rendition of Poker Face between Lea Michele and Idina Menzel. The former and the latter form the main plotline of this week's episode, wherein Rachel meets and tells her maternal mother of her identity, leading to some half-arsed soul-searching and lamenting over missed opportunities. 

Whilst there is a startling physical resemblance between Michele and Menzel - the face shape, the hair, the eyes, the two failed to summon any huge amount of chemistry when they were acting; the only real chemistry coming when they sang together.

In Theatricality, Finn's mother, who has been dating Kurt's father, moves in with them, and Finn is less than pleased to find himself sharing a room with Kurt (whom harbours feelings for his soon-to-be step-brother). Frustratedly cursing the decor that Kurt has so meticulously chosen, he disregards all the ornaments as "faggy". Kurt's dad is understandably furious when he overhears, thus throwing Finn out. It's good to see Kurt's father sticking up for him, and Mike O'Malley's acting in the scene was great.

As ever, the musical sequences are the best thing about Glee. The Glee club rise to the occasion commendably on the Lady Gaga uniforms front, Dianna Agron looking particularly head-turning in her pink number. (the pink streaks in her hair and the ball in her hand are a particularly nice touch).

As has been the way with Glee, things end on a predictably cheesy note. One of these days, I will probably tire of Glee, but for now, even when it doesn't get out of second gear, it still entertains me.