I've gradually been working my way through my sister's DVD boxsets of Sex And The City and have just finished watching the whole series today.
SATC follows the lives of four New York women: Carrie, Miranda, Samantha and Charlotte. Carrie is the main character and the title of the show is the name of the column that she writes for a newspaper. She narrates all the episodes.
Basically, the programme is about the relationships between men and women, how sometimes they work, sometimes they don't. Some people might say the characters are a bit unrealistic in how they live (eg: Carrie being able to afford hundreds of pairs of shoes and being able to rent a cool apartment just from writing a newspaper column), but the problems that they encounter with relationships are something that a lot of women might be able to relate to.
It's a really fantastic programme that has a good balance of funny and serious moments, that women (and men!) can really enjoy.
Seth Lakeman is one of my favourite singer/songwriters at the moment. I've liked him for a few years now. I first heard of him when there was a report on the news about the Mercury Music Prize, in which they were profiling the nominees. Seth was one of them, for his album "Kitty Jay". I really loved the title song that they played, so I went out and bought his album.
I think the thing I like most about Seth Lakeman's songs is that the majority of them are based on myths and stories from near Dartmoor, Devon, which is where he lives. A few of his songs (mainly those from the album "Freedom Fields") are about battles and the First English Civil War. I think this makes Seth Lakeman a wonderful artist and gives you something that little bit different to listen to.
Here's one of my favourite songs of his, "The White Hare". The album version doesn't have as many drums in it.
This was the second time I'd watched Black Book and I enjoyed it as much as the first time.
The film follows Ellis de Vries (played by Carice van Houten), a Jew who spies on the Nazi's for the Dutch Resistance. The film is in Dutch and German, with a tiny bit of English towards the end.
Carice van Houten is really good in this film. Her character is tough, strong and is not afraid to do anything for the Resistance. There is a scene in which Ellis wears the most beautiful long red dress and has a red flower in her hair. She looks stunning. I've always been a sucker for 1940's fashion.
Sebastian Koch plays Hauptsturmfuhrer Muntze, who for a high ranking SS officer, is unbelievably likeable. He's sensitive and collect stamps for crying out loud! The chemistry between Koch and van Houten is excellent and really makes the film a success.
A really good war movie with great acting, wonderful costumes and a gripping plotline. Definitely worth a watch.
I watched "The Grudge" (Hollywood remake) last year and thought it was quite good.
This, the sequel, was a bit of a shambles really. It started off okay, with a few scary moments that made me jump. About half way through though, it seemed to lose the plot a bit and just became funny.
A girl peeing because she was so frightened... Someone drinking milk, vomiting it back into the carton and drinking it again.... An old man on a bus playing peek-a-boo with no one.... A demented headteacher.... All absolutely hilarious (unintentionally of course), but these moments took away a lot of the tension.
The ending was a mess. Jumping from scene to scene so quickly it was hard to understand what the hell was going on. The acting was average.
I like horror films, and this was one I'm not sure if I would want to see again... unless I wanted a laugh, that is.
"Wires" by Athlete was released in January 2005, just before my sister and I went to see them live. The first time I heard the song, I had tears in my eyes. The song was written by the lead singer, Joel Pott, about his daughter who was born prematurely and had a lot of health problems. Once you know what the song is about, the lyrics just fall into place and make complete sense. Thankfully, his daughter is now healthy. :)
The video is simple, which I think is good as it doesn't take anything away from the song.
I've never been a huge fan of crime action dramas, but there was something about the advertising for this film that made me want to see it. Perhaps it was the intruiging story, perhaps it was the fact that Viggo Mortensen was in it. It just looked like a good film.
And it is. It follows Anna, a midwife, who sets out to find the relatives of a young girl who died in childbirth. The girl had a Russian diary and Anna is looking for someone to translate. She stumbles across the Russian mafia and soon discovers secrets that the family had tried to keep hidden.
Viggo Mortensen as Nikolai, the family's driver and "undertaker" is the best thing about this film. I've always liked him as an actor, as he takes his roles very seriously. For this film, he spent a few months in Russia, learning the language. All of the acting in this film is very good, but Viggo Mortensen just stands out. He really deserved his Best Actor Oscar nomination for this film.
It's very violent at times, quite gruesome. Good film overall, and definitely worth a watch.
"The Lives Of Others" (or to use it's German title - "Das Leben Der Anderen") was a film I've had sitting on my DVD shelf for a few months that I never got round to watching.
Until now! This film is fantastic. Set in East Germany in the 1980's, the film follows a playwright who is under surveillance by the Stasi (State Security), in particular one man, played by Ulrich Muhe.
The plotline is brilliant, and I was gripped from beginning to end. There's no action in the film, but instead most of the scenes are tense and quiet, which I'm sure keep the viewer enthralled throughout.
The acting is super. Especially from Ulrich Muhe, who plays Stasi Captain Wiesler. Such a shame he passed away in 2007, he is an extremely good actor.
I also have to mention Sebastian Koch as playwright Dreyman. I've seen one of his films before (Black Book) and was very impressed with him. He's super in this. And I have what my sister would call "an old guy crush" on him.
If you don't mind subtitles, then you MUST see this film. The best film I have seen for a long time.
This is one of my favourite songs at the moment. I really love the majority of Blur's songs, but this one really stands out for me. It's simple, and it never fails to get my feet tapping.
But I especially love the video. It's regularly in lists of Top Music Videos of All Time, and I can see why. Anything with walking milk cartons is excellent. It's such a simple concept for a music video and it really works well with the music.
I've not really been a fan of Disney's recent live action movies (I much prefer the old animated classics), but I was pleasantly surprised by "The Princess Diaries".
I thought it would be just another cheesy teenage movie, but I think people of all ages can really enjoy it. The plot is simple - 15 year old Mia doens't fit in at school and desperately wants to be invisible. Her grandmother visits her to tell her that her father (who recently died) was the Prince of Genovia and that she is the only heir. So begins Mia's transformation from geeky high school kid into a prim and proper princess.
Anne Hathaway, as Mia, is really fantastic in this film. She has great likeability and you really root for the character. Julie Andrews is also brilliant as the Queen, and the two of them have really good on screen chemistry as grandmother and granddaughter.
Wouldn't every man love to know exactly what women are really thinking?
That's what happens to Mel Gibson in "What Women Want", a funny, entertaining and interesting romantic comedy. At the start of the film, Gibson's character is quite chauvinistic, but that soons changes as he basically finds out what it's like to be a woman. Sounds weird, but it really works well on screen.
There are plenty amusing scenes, especially the one with Mel Gibson using leg wax, putting on tights etc in the bathroom. The acting was really good and the majority of the characters were likeable enough. The only character that I didn't really warm to was Nick's daughter, Alex, who was a typical teenager complaining about her father constantly throughout the film.
I wasn't sure what to expect from this film, to be honest. My sister used to have it on video years and years ago, but I never watched it. I guess I just saw it as one of those silly remakes that didn't really need to be remade!
I haven't seen the original with Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, so I can't compare the two.
It's not a bad film. The acting is okay. Brendan Fraser is actually quite good in it, but how Elizabeth Hurley keeps getting acting roles, I'll never know. Yes, she is pretty, but that's about it. Her acting is wooden, and seeing as how she is playing the Devil, I thought her character would be a bit more... well, evil really. Telling schoolkids that they don't have to do any homework and to play loads of video games isn't my idea of "evil".
There are some amusing parts too, especially the parts where Fraser's character gets his wishes from the Devil, but with consequences. I enjoyed the scene in which Eliott is TOO sensitive.
Overall, it's a reasonably enjoyable film, which should get a few laughs out of you.
I've gradually been working my way through my sister's DVD boxsets of Sex And The City and have just finished watching the whole series today.
Posts
