Name that film - Не покидай

Oh my goodness, I have to share this. It's amazing. I have no idea what's happening as I've never watched this movie before but I already love it - just look at the costumes, the hairstyles, the intensity, the...uniqueness of whatever's happening there.

Actually, it may not be that unique as he's singing to her not to leave him (a common enough human action, though not always in lyrical form). Then some other girl comes and smiles and then cries and crumbles into despair. 

It is now my mission to find out what happened here and if it makes any sense. I just might have to watch the entire film, diligent as I am ;-)

E.T. phone home!

I have a new favourite movie. As I grow older and wiser, inevitably my taste grows ever more refined and impeccably sophisticated. 

Hence - E.T. Haha, watching this movie is like being wrapped up in the softest of blankets while your imagination soars and dances. Really, can anyone be too old for this movie? Impossible. There's nothing better than childlike wonder and loyalty.

In other news, I've been spending loads of time at the beach and it is just unbelievably gorgeous and relaxing and inspiring. Can't get over it. Sometimes I read a YA book when I'm there. Yep, life is nice. Too bad I go back to school next week. Oh well, hopefully the smell of freshly sharpened pencils will also inspire (rather than terrify).

Anna Karenina Trailer

I want to watch this right now...the film looks exquisite. Alas, we must wait until November.

Safety Not Guaranteed Trailer

I cannot wait to see this film! At first I was excited because April Ludgate Aubrey Plaza is in it but then I watched the trailer and got even more excited!

I love earnest, heartfelt, comedic journeys that make you belieeeeve!

This, along with Moonrise Kingdom, are two adventures I'm ready to take ;-)

Tim Riggins is John Carter...

So yes, this movie got mixed reviews and pretty much bombed at the box office...but to be fair, it was poorly marketed and I for one am really excited to watch it!

Some key ingredients that should make the film worthwhile: 

1. Tim Riggins! My favourite Friday Night Lights character in a movie of his very own :-)

2. Beautiful visuals...like the scenery, yep

3. Touches of humour and overall sense of fun

The sun is shining, summer's around the corner, so why not grab an icy drink and enjoy?

Snow White and the Huntsman - Behind the Scenes

I love watching behind the scenes clips like this one. I used to do lots of theatre back in the day and dreamed that I would become an actress. Instead, I became a teacher - but luckily acting is very useful when teaching English as a second language. I perform pretty much every day ;-)

Anywho - this looks both intriguing and funny. It would be amazing to feel the energy and excitement of this kind of movie shoot. It's always amusing though, seeing behind the scenes footage that looks a bit silly even though it will end up seeming all slick when we finally watch the film.

I also like this take on the story - a powerful Snow White with agency and real bite. I hope the film develops the characters well rather than focusing only on action and explosives.

Watching: The Artist

I finally watched The Artist and I have to say, I enjoyed it wholeheartedly! It felt like watching a good old classic film - heartwarming, textural, classy, smart, and completely absorbing.

There's something about black and white films...they are sort of comforting and I really feel like I've gone back in time when I watch them. 

Berenice Bejo is such a gorgeous lady! I loved her flapper clothes and wish I could wear them myself! She was very charming and magnetic in her role. Both of the lead actors were incredibly expressive and I felt for them. The sweetness of their romance is light and pure.

The music was also lovely. It's an orchestral score that makes the film feel more dynamic and alive. It also give extra weight to the moments of complete silence.

What a pleasure! I think I'll be watching this one again.

The Lorax Trailer

Yes, another trailer! :-) But I can't help it. It's dreary, still feels like winter, and I need these jolts of colour and hopefulness and humour to brighten up the day. Come on spring - bring on the sunshine, flowers, and lollipops, please!

ParaNorman Trailer

Wowza, this looks awesome! Creative, a little freaky and Halloween-y, funny, and unique. Definitely goes on my To Watch list ;-)

"I like to be alone!"

"So do I! Let's do it together!"

Watching: Hugo

Speaking of magic, I just finished watching Hugo and it is stunning! As soon as it finished, I was tempted to watch it again. 

Visually, this film is so gorgeous, imaginative, and authentic looking that you just can't pull your eyes away for even a moment. I wanted so terribly to jump right in, wear my own 1930s costume, and walk around the train station, eating a croissant and carrying a fresh flower.

The story is quite unique and more intelligent than your average run of the mill stories for children. I also like the pace - it's not set at hyper speed, with meaningless brain melting action scenes thrown in. Rather, it's more old fashioned and the story unfolds piece by piece. Little discoveries are quietly made and relationships gradually form in a convincing way.

These days, it's hard to think of movies as something magical. Hollywood has become a factory producing the same uninspiring stuff just for the sake of money making. 

This film successfully reminds us of the magic of movies. Movies are like dreams brought to life. They are not bound by the limits of realism. They can surprise us, inspire us, move us, and make us feel electrically alive. Movies shouldn't be dulling our senses - they should be waking us up and making us see the world in new ways.

I loved this film. It's interesting that it came out around the same time as Midnight in Paris. Both films are so imaginative, nostalgic, and magical in their own ways. I think I'll be watching them both again in the near future.

The Secret World of Arrietty

One of my all time favourite books is The Borrowers by Mary Norton. I've read it many many times and just thinking about it now makes me feel tingly with excitement. 

I love fantasy and escaping into magical worlds that inspire imagination and make life super amazing and sparkly. I think the best fantasy novels are grounded in the real world so that they actually feel almost tangible...like they could almost be true.

The Borrowers is definitely that kind of fantasy novel. It features a world exactly like our own, except there are tiny people called Borrowers living in people's houses and "borrowing" small items like hair pins and toy cups. These little people call big people "human beans" and they never reveal their existence to them out of fear.

Arrietty lives under the floorboards with her parents. She is fourteen years old and enjoys writing in her diary. If I remember correctly, her bedroom is a matchbox and postage stamps are used as paintings. The book is full of little details about the Borrowers' lives under the floorboards and all the little knick knacks they've managed to acquire. 

Eventually, Arrietty's mother allows her to go Borrowing with her father. Arrietty's interaction with the big outside world is a thrill to read about. Ordinary things become fascinating and at times threatening. 

This book is a real gem and great for Anglophiles as it is British to the core. And an extra bonus is that it's several decades old so there's no silly technology. 

Now I want to read the book again, and of course watch this brand new movie version. Amy Poehler did the voice of Arrietty's mother! The film looks gorgeous and the trailer suggests that they really captured the magic and spirit of the novel.

Winter's Almost Over!

I've had the pleasure of enjoying a looong winter vacation. Watching movies and awesome tv shows while sprawled out on my bed is, well, super fun. Eating ice cream and delicious Korean snacks, occasionally ordering pizza, and drinking ridiculous amounts of tea - all of these activities are super fun...but I am absolutely desperately longing for SPRING! 

As much as I love feeling cozy, too much of a good thing makes it less good. Rather than hibernating, I would love to run around outside, breathe fresh air, and see some gorgeous spring flowers. I cannot wait! Winter always feels like the longest season. 

In other news, I am getting ready to watch Season 2 of Downton Abbey. Now that it's all wrapped up, I can watch all the episodes in a somewhat continuous manner, without waiting too long in between. Hooray!

I've also been craving some classic film watching time. Maybe Roman Holiday + The Umbrellas of Cherbourg + Rear Window. And I still haven't seen The Artist, oh my!

Perhaps winter isn't quite so bad...there's no better time for oodles of film watching and book reading and conversation having :-)

BBC Productions - Wives and Daughters

It's another cloudy, rainy day...so the photo is a reminder that there's plenty of sunshine, warmth, and ocean magic out there!

I finished watching Wives and Daughters yesterday and am completely in love with this beautiful, well-acted version. It is very accurate, well-paced, much of the dialogue is word for word out of the book, the costumes are stunning, the acting quite fabulous for the most part, the country estates made me swoon :) As did their teacups and other china :) But that's beside the point, point being that this was such a delight to watch, and I definitely liked it enough to watch it again.

In terms of portraying the very real, three-dimensional characters from the book, I thought that most of the actors did a perfect job. I especially liked the portrayals of Molly, Roger, Mrs. Kirkpatrick, Lady Harriet, Mr. Gibson, Squire Hamley, and Miss Phoebe. Oh, and Cynthia as well - at first I thought they'd made her more warm-hearted, sweet, good, and...Victorian than in the novel, in which she can be quite cold and sharp and modern (refusing to bend herself to please others and fulfill their expectations of her, as her mother says she is very willful and impossible to control). However, over the 4 episodes, her character comes through very strongly and the performance definitely works well.

Osborne is still quite the tragic hero, but he is not as tall, delicate, refined, and feminine as in the book. Instead, he is stalky and blunt in speech. However, his story-line is so tragic that these details don't really matter so much. Although, if a different actor had played the part and/or if he was given more depth in the script, I think his part in the film would have been even more heartbreaking and moving. Gosh, I'm being picky here!

Roger, on the other hand, was given more screen time and thank goodness for that, because he is absolutely perfect here! An intelligent, honest, pure-hearted, loving, patient fellow who sees the best in things and can always be counted on...swoon :) Plus, he is flawed enough that he still appears human and quite interesting :) Molly made a good choice indeed...

Speaking of Molly, I absolutely loved Justine Waddell's portrayal of this character. In her quiet, attentive, persevering, intelligent, loving way, Molly is the centre of the story. Her love and her constancy are perfectly demonstrated, without any melodrama. She is strong and passionate in her views, but her heart is always open to others, and she is able to see things from their point of view. I love how the film kept showing her looking through the microscope and drawing pictures of Roger's various finds. This was a lovely way of showing how involved and interested she always was in his pursuits - and how she was able to understand it all and find it quite intriguing, despite being a woman :)

Which leads us to the ultra-modern, ultra-feminist ending. At first I was very shocked, thinking how impossible this was. However, even though it's completely unrealistic and historically inaccurate, in many ways it's completely perfect and it works!

All in all, a beautiful, sentimental, witty, romantic, tragic, realistic, fantastical, lovely film that I would highly recommend :) These characters will warm your heart and make you smile :)

Gloomy Cozy Day + Running

Wow, is it ever gloomy and dark today! Hibernation weather indeed :) I went for a lovely run yesterday, perfectly timed for when the sun peeked out (for maybe half an hour, sigh). I even found a cute little park that I hadn't known existed at all.

I love being active outside - it's an actual experience out in the fresh air, in the big wide world. Being stuck inside - not so much fun. When I'm outdoors, it feels like I'm playing and I just follow what my body feels like doing (like a kid, hooray!). Indoors, there's a sense that I'm forcing myself to 'exercise' and 'work out' and it all feels slightly artificial and robotic rather than being an expression of my body's energy. There may be rules, directions to follow, numbers to pay attention to...so even if I'm enjoying the workout DVD or pedaling happily on the stationary bike, I never get that sense of freedom, openness, excitement, exhilaration, etc. that I can't help but feel when out in the fresh air.

However, when the weather's not cooperating, of course I will accept my duty, like the Knightly Knight above, and do whatever indoor workout appeals most at the time :) Halfway through I will realize that I'm feeling pretty good and that getting some movement and action into the day is fantastic, even if the luxuries of sunshine, trees, and ocean air are not possible.

It feels great to move and get that circulation going...even when you're tempted to hibernate :) It also feels good to curl up and read or watch an old film. I took a few DVD's from the library in preparation for all this indoorsy-ness, including The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit, starring Gregory Peck, and Cyrano de Bergerac. I'll save those for rainy evenings, when a big cup of hot tea becomes a necessary part of staying warm and cozy :)

Here's to a bright and cheery day :)

Visual...ness

Agh, it's so sad to look at this blog and not see any pretty pictures!! Only a few days, just a few more days and there will be plenty of new photos to post, deep breaths :) It looks so bare and unadorned, poor thing.

I hope everyone had a lovely Valentine's Day full of love and colour and chocolates :) I went to Chuao Chocolatier, a classy little place with a European feel, offering both traditional treats and also some spicy and truly unique chocolates to mix things up a bit. Breaking the mold :) Their gelato also looked amaaazingly delicious and beautiful. And they offer hot and cold drinks so you can sit down and try your chocolates without any unnecessary delay :) I love that these tasty little treats are made locally using fresh, local ingredients.

Okay, enough about that. While I did not do any amorous cooking or reading (I'm assuming broccoli soup does not qualify as an overly romantic food), I did sneak in a viewing of Northanger Abbey, the newer 2007 version. It's only an hour and a half long so it's incredibly brisk and seems to run away with itself by the end, finishing and wrapping itself up with a bow before you've reached for your fourth sip of tea. Of course, I loved the look of the film - the sets, the costumes, the gothic touches...and especially Felicity Jones' costumes (stunning! wish I could wear something like that today). I also loved the performances, the acting was top notch and full of honest feeling as well as comic delights. Felicity Jones and Carey Mulligan (looove Carey) were especially terrific. It was also a fun surprise to see William Beck, who I last saw in the BBC TV series Robin Hood. JJ Feild as Henry Tilney was quite good too, though the film was so short I didn't get to see as much of him as I would have liked. That was the overall big problem, the film felt so rushed that no gradual character development had any chance of happening. I didn't mind the modern touches too much since they correspond so well with the book's inquiry into the nature of the gothic novel (and the pleasures it provides).

Oh dear, I feel like I'm rambling. To wrap it up, it was an enjoyable, very well-acted film but a bit too light and rushed. Jane Austen deserves more.

Cheerio!

War and Peace (the Hollywood version)

I must confess that I have yet to read 'War and Peace'. I have many books from the Russian golden age of writing to tackle, and they are all heavy, serious, tragic tomes it seems. Brilliant, but something to be taken in doses rather than consumed too quickly :)

In the meantime, I did watch the film 'War and Peace' - not the real one, but the newer version (with Audrey Hepburn). Even though I haven't read the book, I know that the characters in the film are quite flat in comparison. This is understandable considering the epic nature of the story and how much plot has to be worked through. It's unfortunate though, as the beauty of Russian writing isn't so much in mere plodding through plots, but in the quiet honesty and realness of the characters, in the paragraphs that philosophize and contemplate rather than tell, in the poetry of the language, in the ability to make profound truths spring up in the reader's heart while presenting the simplest of sentences.

What I did enjoy while watching the film was the whole look of it - the sets, costumes, framing of the shots, sweeping cinematography...everything looked gorgeous and epic indeed. This was done on a grand scale and I can't even imagine how they could make all of it happen. Some of the shots looked like the grandest of old paintings brought to life, it's extraordinary. I also enjoyed seeing Audrey Hepburn as Natasha. She is one of my favourite actresses and I thought she brought real humanity, deep feeling, and sheer energy and spunk to the role. I loved seeing all of the Russian costumes especially, it made me kind of homesick in a strange away. Some of the music was quite striking also.

Like many epics, the last third or so of this film was hard to sit through. They all seem to start so cheerfully and energetically and so full of hope...then, before you know it, everything has turned tragic and gloomy and pretty much everyone is dragging their feet through a deep well of tragedy and despair. Sigh. I think I'll have to watch something light and humorous to even things out a bit :)

Cheerio :)