Django Unchained: A review

I went and saw Django Unchained the other night. It was a bit of a bold choice for me, I'm not really into violent movies, but I do love Tarantino - Pulp Fiction is one of my all time favourite films, so I wanted to see it, particularly after it's Oscar nod.

I. Loved. It. Straight up, no beating around, I loved it. One of Tarantino's best for sure. I love the levels this guy creates in his film. There are parts that make you squirm uncomfortably at the violence (a dog tearing a poor guy apart? Men fighting to the death? Yeah, that's hard to see). There are parts that make you want to cry (A woman bound and whipped, also hard to see). There are parts that make you cheer at the violence (vengeance is a powerful emotion). And there are parts that make you giggle uncontrollably - the scene with the bag heads had me in hysterics. Just perfect comedy.

Beyond that, the story and the characters themselves are full of depth and personality. Leonardo Di Caprio has had people up in arms at his missing out again on a supporting actor nomination and I can see why - he portrayed Candie brilliantly, he's one of the best actors out there in my opinion. Jamie Foxx as Django was great, but I wasn't blown away. I do however, really hope that Christoph Waltz takes out the Oscar for supporting actor. Without doubt, for me, Dr. King Schultz stole the movie and my heart. How wonderful too, that Tarantino makes the most compassionate character of the movie German. Schultz is a perfect mix of funny, compassionate, and stern. I loved him. Samuel L. Jackson, another of the finest actors out there today, played Stephen brilliantly. Hilariously funny, yet incites anger and frustration in the viewer as well, he definitely played the role without fault.

The cinematography is beautifully crafted, and the interweaving of modern techniques with classic Western is pulled off without a hitch. Tarantino's cameo is fantastic, though his Aussie accent leaves a bit to be desired!

The blend of a brilliant cast, a fantastic story and some pretty amazing cinematography truly makes this one stand out as a brilliant movie. Do yourself a favour - go see it.

Me

So, I've mentioned before how awesome my friends are, I know. Last night I was feeling left behind. I feel like all my friends have normal lives and are off leading them and I am just... drifting. I was cranky that a friend had plans and couldn't make a movie with me. I spoke to a close friend who reminded me that I could go alone, and that maybe, it might actually be a good thing for me to do. A challenge in the self acceptance I want to nurture. It was very true, and struck a chord. Why is being alone in social situations so scary for most of us? I can shop alone, sure. But talk about seeing a movie alone, or eating at a restaurant on my own and I panic. Why? It is vulnerable, certainly. But we should cherish our time alone, being with ourselves, I'm sure of it. My friend offered this pearl of true wisdom:

It's only when we're truly comfortable with ourselves that we will ever be able to be truly comfortable with someone else.

She's so right. And it's a gift to feel good with your own company. You can always rely on it, you know? Anyway, it turns out that a few friends and my mum and aunt are going to see a movie Friday arvo. But the idea stayed with me, and I wanted to explore it and challenge myself. I feel like this is really important for everything I have been working towards this year and my quest for happy and self acceptance. So I found something else, something I have been talking about on here and in general for months, and I locked in some Italian lessons for myself. 6 weeks worth, 3hours a week. I am nervous and excited! I had texts to buy (thank you every cheap book depository site!) and I am all ready to go come Feb. I'm thrilled too, because one of my besties, has German lessons at the same time so we can hook up for lunch afterwards. This will be great for me, I can feel it.

Steven Spielberg's got nothin on Finn.

So, my boy likes making movies. Seriously into it. He's written a script with a few scenes, filmed it, edited it and refined it. He uses computer software to import sounds, and to create effects. His dad helped him to build a huge set for his latest Western epic too, you can see it in the pic, it's pretty awesome. Those saloon doors are real - hinged and all. Very swish. Finn went to a one day movie making class run by Buzz Movie Makers, and had the opportunity to use professional cameras, to act, and to direct, and to use a green screen. He worked with far older children, and loved every moment of it.

He opted not to get a camera for Xmas, preferring an iPod touch instead, which surprised me, he mostly uses the laptop webcam for his filming, but I think he may be surprised by what he can film with the touch. He asked to enrol in the Buzz holiday course which is a full week long thing. I ummed and ahhed - it will mean 4h of driving a day for 5 days for us, but he has little else arranged for the holidays and he will get bored so I caved and enrolled him. Gotta cherish their passions right? Who knows? He might be destined for this. And even if he isn't, he'll know we value what he does.

What weekend??

It's Monday. Apparently, I just had a weekend, but I swear I was robbed of it. I went and saw the final Harry Potter movie, Deathly Hallows 2, with my sister on Saturday and when I got back, my son had a friend over for the night - and I discovered he was there until 3pm Sunday. 3pm!! Good bye weekend!!! I took them both to Scienceworks on Sunday but the kid was not collected until 4pm, so my weekend was shot to hell. Kinda frustrating, there was stuff I wanted to do. And next weekend is hectic as well, because it is Finn's birthday party on Sunday. Gah! At least he is enjoying himself!

I am loving how the poll is going here. Young adult writing is in the lead by a decent margin. I am interested in that, I think I have a fairly good voice for YA fiction, so I am looking forward to seeing what I can come up with from it! The Ebook has sold a few copies, but nothing astounding. Still, I am glad I could share it with those that were interested. Thank you to those who have shown me support, I truly am grateful and inspired to push on as a result.

I will keep writing and I will get better, and I will have success. I can feel it!

Living a dream

Eat, Pray, Love.
Bridges of Madison County.
How Stella got her Groove Back.
Julie and Julia.
Under the Tuscan Sun.

Just a few titles of movies about women having crises later in life. Uprooting their lives and doing something totally out of the norm. Maybe 33 is a little younger than the women in these plot-lines, but this is how I feel. I'm unhappy, restless, and trying to be positive. What I want is a total revamp. I want to live in Italy for a year, and write. I want to learn foreign languages and new skills. I want self discovery and experiences. It's obviously a common theme. I'm not alone, it's a rapidly growing topic in literature and film. Of course, that tends to be for those that take the leap and embrace the risk. I can't quite manage it, yet. Maybe that's why I am slightly below the usual age, I have to wait for the kids to grow up before I leap?

It makes sense that after broken relationships, and time spent on other people - children, family, etc. that women want to find themselves again. That they want to live a dream. What if you don't know what your dream is? How can you work toward it, then?

I can see how these films are successful. How exciting it would be to throw off the traditional, and the expected, and take a leap into something we all want to do, but few of us manage.

And, in the meantime, what do I do to fulfil the empty? To give myself a reason. To be ME. I keep travelling, I keep learning, and I keep striving to ignore that someday, and live in today. I work on what my dream is, I fine tune it, and I find ways to live it. Stubborn. Determined. I am rambling today. I'm not in a good state of mind. I am not happy, and I am not positive. Mostly, I feel lost. I guess my thoughts are too.

Fave Flicks Friday

I have watched zero movies this week. Unless you count endless Wiggles & Pixar DVD's. Which I don't. Ohhh school holidays. The last DVD I watched, was The Social Network.



And I loved it, Zuckerberg is an ass you can't help but admire. Quite a conundrum. And Reznor's score was absolutely deserving of it's Oscar win. Loved it. Check it out, you won't be disappointed.

Another film from my "All Time Favourites" list this week, and it goes to good Will Hunting.



Can you believe this movie is now 14 years old!? Wow I feel old now. I love Matt Damon, I love that he and Affleck wrote this themselves, I love the psychology in it, and love the storyline. "I gotta see about a girl..." <3

Fave Flicks Friday comes to you from Mez's blog over at Days Like These, go read and join in!

Fave Flicks Friday

I'm such a movie buff, so I love Mez'x idea of a Fave Flicks Friday. Check it out over at her blog Days Like These... and join in the fun!

My all time favorite movie in the history of ever, is Stardust.



It's based on a novel by Neil Gaiman, and is a beautiful love story. I'm not normally a fantasy realm kinda gal, but the storyline of this had me captured, the descriptions of love and what it feels like to finally find the real deal had me goosebumpy. I just love it. Tristan is a dream, and Yvaine is a feisty, passionate star. Perfection!


My other rec for this week, is Black Swan.



I know it's relatively new, and probably not on DVD yet, but when you can watch it, do so. It seems to me, people came out of this movie either loving it or scratching their heads and saying WTF? I loved it. I love the imagery, I love the psychology, and the questions, and I love that some of Nina's psychotic visions are things that could easily have come straight from my nightmares and my brain. It was really cool to see what could be done with the stuff in my head. Beautifully artistic, this movie is definitely joining my top movies list.

Don't forget to add your linky to Mez's post when you're done!

Is reality really real?

I love stories that challenge your perception of reality. The Matrix, Inception... Do you really know what you think you know about the world and how it is made up? I guess this is partly why I studied philosophy. I recall my first class was on Sartre's Existentialism is a humanism. He talked about existence preceding essence, and using free will. I remember leaving that class with a whirling mind, I loved it. I sought more. My mind has always wondered about the human existence. Is the color I see as blue, the same as what you call blue? Maybe your reference for blue is my reference for yellow. How can I know?

My son asked me the other day, how do we come to be ourselves, and not someone else? He is 7. His mind works the way mine does, which both excites and terrifies me. He has also asked about life after death, from as early as age 4. I do my best to answer simply, but satisfactorily, but these are enormous concepts.

I was thinking about all this recently after seeing the movie trailer for The Adjustment Bureau. A supposed group that maps your fate and life plan, and makes sure you stay on it. Lord help you if you try to thwart it. Naturally, I don't believe in anything of the sort, but I admire the creativity of the idea, and the challenging of the general acceptance of life just being what we see.

Mindsplosion.

Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows (Part 1) Review (NO SPOILERS)

Please note, I have tried hard to avoid any spoilers in the review, please keep it the same in any comments!

I went and saw the movie this morning, with my Mum. I have seen the previous installments, and was keen to see the first part of the finale to the series. I am a big fan of the books (and books are always better than the movies!) but I promise to keep that bias aside in the review, and just keep to it as a movie...

The overall impression that I got, was that this was way too bloody long. 3 hours, for part 1. So much could have been cut. Unless part 2 is jam-packed with action, they really didn't need to make this two movies. Endless plodding through woods could have been cut. An entire scene of Harry and Hermione dancing - irrelevant and could have been cut. It was almost frustrating (and bordered on boring a few times as a result).

The dark parts of the movie, were again very dark. Looking back at The Philosophers Stone (Sorcerer's Stone in some countries), it seemed aimed at children. Then suddenly, as the books progressed, they became increasingly adult, and increasingly dark. Let me say this - don't take small kids to see this movie. Just don't. I have a 7 year old, and he won't be seeing this (or most of it's predecessors for that matter) until he is muuuuuch older. It's scary. It has dark and confusing concepts, and it's not a kids movie, despite what many seem to think. I was kinda horrified to see the age of some kids in the cinema. Just... no.

The focus is very much on Harry, Hermione and Ron in this one, very few glimpses of any of the others from Hogwarts, including our favorite villain, Snape. McGonagall was absent altogether, which disappointed me greatly! Neville was a glimpse, even Draco was a minor appearance. And, I am really, really, not a fan of Bill Nighy as Rufus Scrimgeour.

All that said, there were many positives, too. There were some clever jokes and witty humor, and I do so love the many polyjuice scenes. I loved Luna Lovegood's father, Xenophilius Lovegood (big Rhys Ifans fan!), and more of the house elves. As an adult, I loved the dark scenes, the tension was great, and I think Helena Bonham Carter returning as Bellatrix Lestrange was brilliant in her role yet again. The ending was climactic enough to leave you lamenting the 7 month wait for part 2.

I'd give it maybe... 6 out of 10. I hope part 2 is an improvement - much expectations to carry for the final installment of a tale that has gripped us now for a ten good years. Fingers crossed!

Vampires and Werewolves and PITA chicks

The trailer for New Moon.

So, the Twilight thing. I have mentioned it before in my books post HERE, but just on it, I was not a huge fan. IMO, it is fairly poorly written, but then maybe i just forget it is meant for a teen audience predominantly. It is almost ridiculously unbelievable in some places (Breaking Dawn especially) - but I was still suckered in! I resisted for so long... Curiosity got the best of me.

The protagonist, Bella, does my head in. She is annoying. Clumsy. Doofus. Needy. And the actress portraying her annoys me as much. So I guess... well cast?!

Jasper, in the movie, is SO Edward Scissorhands-ish its weird. I wonder if he modelled himself on Edward? The scissorhands one. Not the vampire. Okay thats confusing.

The guy playing Jake is the only actor playing his age (okay thats a generalisation I don't actually know that but its a guess).

It all annoys me! So WHY have I still on some level, enjoyed it, and why am I still looking forward to the new movie?! It truly perplexes my small little brain. Whats up with that?!



*PITA = Pain In The Arse (for those not familiar with my weird acronyms!)

International Infertility Film Festival.

Written 3 April 2007

http://infertilityfilmfestival.blogspot.com/


Some amazing stuff. Very emotional. Please support these entries, and in fact, infertility in general.

Click

Written 12 February 2007

Ok, so I admit it, I am an Adam Sandler fan. I think hes hilarious, if you are in the right mood. So, I hired Click over the weekend and J and I watched it together.

Fucking hell! In future, Adam Sandler, if you are gonna do a switch from funny to serious then TELL ME IN ADVANCE. I wanted funny! I was so depressed by the end of it. Sure it had a message... but fuck.

I think it was depressing because it was a shock, I was thinking woohoo gonna laugh.. and ended up wondering wtf?! It was just sad... I hope I am never guilty of missing anything important in life. Bah!!