Labels: 2000, coming-of-age, film, Jeffrey Blitz, photos, Rocket Science, stuttering 11:21 ; Wednesday, 20 July 2011
Rocket Science
I was becoming disappointed over the films of late that I've watched. They've all seemed to be unable to hit a mark - not left by another film, but certainly of a certain standard within my own mind. Selfish reconstruction maybe. Anyway, Rocket Science completely hit that mark for me. I could go on and on: great acting from such small players, soulful plot, amazing soundtrack that I can't stop listening to, that slightly dull, cross-processed tint of the film. Rocket Science is a little like The King's Speech and (500) Days of Summer, before they were even dreamed of - shot in the style of a Wes Anderson movie. And you know what? It's wonderful and I think Jeffrey Blitz has made a man out of this film. Or a really great film. What I personally adore is the fact that every character - literally every single one - I find something incredible about each of them. I really liked and saw the purpose of them all.
(more pictures, etc, below)Read more »
15:59 ; Tuesday, 19 July 2011
Zara
Nope, I was wrong. My next post (this one!) won't be about Rocket Science - soon, soon. While rummaging the high street shopping sites, I went to the higher end (for me, at least) Zara and came across a few gems on the sale/clearance sections. Alas, these prices (around £20) are still not good enough for me... I've become to used to delving into £2-3 markets that anything over £10 hurts me inside.
But I love these dresses and skirts - they're all so adorable and flarey. The skirts in particular appear to be just the right length for a shortie like myself! They're probably more suited to autumn actually, but I can imagine tiptoeing through Southbank and Greenwich, along the River, in the evening with just tights, a dress and a trench coat. Very Parisian image there... in very British places.
I was originally trying to find some good swimwear for my holiday to Sharm El Sheikh (those 1950s kind - like Deborah Kerr's yellow one in An Affair to Remember) to no avail. At least, not for less than £60! I think I'm drawn to it because of my self-consciousness and defiant insecurity. But c'est la vie...
Labels: a few of my favourite things, clothes, expensive, money problems, Zara
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22:33 ; Saturday, 16 July 2011
Rocket Love
My next post will hopefully be about this gem of a film that's compelling and sweet without being overly quirky.
Labels: 2000, film, Jonah Hill, love, Reece Thompson, Rocket Science
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13:00 ; Friday, 15 July 2011
CHRONOLOGICALLY: #1
I've finished my A Level exams. I can breathe easy. I've also accumulated a list of films/programmes I've been meaning to watch all through that terrible exam period - and I'm just finally getting round to watching them all.
Firstly is the film "If..." (1968). Someone on my Facebook posted a link to a trailer and I was hooked on the 1960s aesthetic feel - it's incredibly surreal and part of that "British New Wave" movement in cinema. Directed by Lindsey Anderson, the film is set in a 1960s public school and satires the whole system of that kind of life. I'm a little unaware of it myself, but I think the traditions, deference and pomp of the boys being turned out is well-shown. In context, "If..." was produced during the counterculture/decadent society (depending on your views on life) and can be seen as an allegory - the ending mirrors the catasthrophic student uprisings of the 1960s!
The film casually switches between black and white, and colour scenes, which disconcerted me quite a lot - but it's so surreal that it worked in its favour. I can imagine that British sitcoms like Green Wing and Teachers obtained some influence from this. My favourite part is when Mick and Wallace steal a motorcycle and drive to a lonely little cafe, it's very surreal but more than enticing.
Look at me. Look at my eyes. I'll kill you. Sometimes I stand in front of the mirror and my eyes get bigger and bigger. And I'm like a tiger. I like tigers.
Labels: 1960s, British cinema, film, history, If..., Malcolm McDowell, photos
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16:00 ; Thursday, 14 July 2011
CHRONOLOGICALLY: #2
Other than the horrific 1990 outfits sported, I really loved seeing young cameos of some of my favourite actors, i.e. Felicia Day and Nathan Fillion (they're both in another Joss Whedon production called Dr Horrible which I adore). It's funny to see Fillion's character, Caleb, as an ardent preacher/religious man - since his classic in Firefly was also religious at the start...
The greatest episodes were probably those written by Joss Whedon ("The Body", "Hush", "Once More, With Feeling" and "Restless") although there were certain ones that I personally loved - "Storyteller" and "Halloween" and "Normal Again". If you were born before 1993, chances are you'll know the jist of the show already, but as a kid it really influenced the way I saw television shows. This, along with Charmed, really gave me the sense that women could do fine by themselves and with everyone else. And, unlike a lot of other programmes, the ending was really something - emotional, funny, sassy and meaningful. Just like the whole of Buffy really. It's one of those things where, you watch a show since the beginning, you become attached to the characters, feel like you're part of the show - and when it ends, it really ends, you know? But that's just something a great show does.
Labels: 1990s, Buffy the vampire slayer, Joss Whedon, television
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18:11 ; Wednesday, 13 July 2011
CHRONOLOGICALLY: #4
The next few posts will be completely out of time. I started and left some unfinished, but the posts before this have a lot to go through before they're finished. So, chronologically this post is #4 in line, but posted first.
I came back from Ireland two days ago - legs aching because I climbed a mountain (Croagh Patrick) the day before. It took 6 hours, though for normal people it'd take 4. We went on our butts by the end of it too. I stayed with family in the west of Ireland, very countryside with sheep, cows and horses surrounding us. It was incredibly peaceful (some would say too peaceful) but I think it was exactly what I needed after such stressing weeks in London. The air was clean and the food was plentiful (seriously, we had takeaway almost every night). Then, we headed to Dublin, where we found a lovely Yeats exhibition in the National Library!
We also went to the zoo where we were amazed by eastern bongos. If you've never seen one, Google it. It, will, blow, your, mind. It was really wonderful catching up with my cousins, I never go to Ireland as much as I did as a kid, maybe because my parents are always off working or somewhere now, but it was a nice change of scenery - and boy, did they have scenery.
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| Very top of Croagh Patrick. I was more than ecstatic. |
Labels: holiday, Ireland photos, memories, places
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22:33 ; Tuesday, 7 June 2011
Fortress of Solitude
I've been reading a great, spanning, geographically defying book called "Fortress of Solitude" - which is saying a lot when it stays relatively stuck in New York... Brooklyn, particularly. It's my first Jonathan Lethem, one that I picked up from Deptford Market for 50p because I liked the back of it, but I'm really glad I did. It focuses on best friends, Dylan (who is white) and Mingus (who is black), and their friendship as they grow up, change and face tensions - socially, racially, politically.
I haven't finished it yet. I'm about halfway. Did I mention it's quite a long novel? Except it is worth it. In a lot of ways - mostly heartbreakingly and sometimes longingly - it reminds me of Deptford. That sounds more lyrical than it really is: 1970s Brooklyn and Deptford. Not twinned so much as... there's a lot of experiences that Dylan goes through or feels that I know I've been through. Only, it's not as severe or adventurous. To be honest, I don't think teenagers in Deptford today are too worried about race - I don't think South London is in general. It's far more about class, which is alright because everyone in Deptford tends to be more working class. Uniting us like Northern Ireland and the Republic never did. So maybe I have no idea what sort of things Dylan goes through. Maybe it's some weird romantic attachment, stranger still since the novel paints a rather vulgar picture of Brooklyn.
"It's not too late for you to know, my profound child, the world is nuttier than a fruitcake. Run if you can't fight, run and scream fire or rape, be wilder than they are, wear flames in your hair, that's my recommendation."
"If someone asks you say you live in Gowanus. Don't be ashamed."
"Stuyvesant was Jewish white, wasp white, hippie white, Chinese, black, Puerto Rican, and much else but crucially it was nerd, nerd, nerd."
"You could grow up in the city where history was made and still miss it all."
(photos are of Brooklyn, most are circa 1980s - sourced from Google)
Labels: book, Fortress of Solitude, Jonathan Lethem, photos, places, South East London
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About me
1) I'm a lazy blogger
2) This blog will generally include writings on films, music, books, fashion, locations, and other worldly movements.
3) I'm short and the best thing I have learnt to combat this is sewing.
4) I'm very bad at html things. Sorry if the layout looks nothing like it should be.
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