love more dangerous than war?

The Edge of Love is loosely based around the marriage of Dylan Thomas' to Catilin Thomas. Sienna Miller stars as the fiesty and flirtatious Catilin opposite Vera (Dylan's childhood sweetheart) played by Keira Knightly. One of my favourite actors plays Vera's husband, Cillian Murphy. So an excellent cast and an excellent script. I loved the intensity between Vera and Dylan as well as the intensity between best friends Catilin and Vera. It was such a good film, set in Wales and London, I would say that it had similarities to Atonement however Knightley's welsh accent was fantastic.
One thing I did note was how brilliantly Miller played her role. I have not actually seen her in anything substantial and here I though she was strong and beaming with attitude. I liked this film a lot, it shows that true love is not only between men and women but also between friends. And true love lasts a lifetime.

All We Have Are The Choice We Make

Last night I watched The Adjustment Bureau starring Matt Damon and Emily Blunt.
It got me thinking about fate and chance. Are there higher forces/beings/spirits whatever you want to call them that make the choices for us only allowing us to believe that we make them by ourselves. The film goes along the fact that say for instance we spill our coffee on ourselves before we go to work. We would of course change our clothes and therefore making us a little late for work. Would this be classed as fate or chance? It was fate in the film that Matt Damon in the film ran into Emily Blunt which then inspired him to make one of the most compelling and moving speeches of his political career. However it was chance that brought them together again, twice.
We are told to believe that free will is available to us, yet is it really?! I've never really though about this sort of thing before but just think, the world is kept in order by people who make the decisions for us. By a higher being that keeps us all in check, so next time I spill a cup of coffee or run into some Matt Damon lookalike I will be asking myself, is this fate or is it chance?

One Day

So I have decided to read One Day by David Nicholls, so far it is a very very good book. Well written, quirky and quite funny. Switching from the perspective of Dex and Em so we get what both men and women are thinking when they are entering a relationship. This book is unusual as it is set over twenty years with these two characters meeting up of the 15th July of every year. I am unsure whether this set up works yet or not, we'll see?! So far though, I am enjoying it very much!

Charlie St Cloud

The Death and Life of Charlie St Cloud is a really easy going book! It has a good story and loveable characters, I can imagine the film to be the same! I really liked the twist in the book and it was very addictive. I wouldn't say it was the best book I've ever read but if ever you are looking a light-hearted sweet story then this is for you! I am in two minds about my next read, whether I go classic and read a Jane Austen novel or to read the highly praised One Day. Watch this space...

Three Different Eras. Three Different Women. Each Connected by the Lies They Tell.

Meryl Streep for a long time has been my favourite actress and here is why. Whatever role she goes into, she gives it such ambition and such passion that it becomes reality. Her performance in The Hours is one I will never forget. She is a woman in 2001 who is in love with her best friend, dying of AIDS and who just wants to give up. Julianne Moore is in 1951 reading Mrs. Dalloway and realising how the life she is living is not hers to live. Nicole Kidman is Virginia Woolf, struggling with her sexuality as well as life itself, having tried to commit suicide twice whilst writing Mrs Dalloway she is a tormented woman who believes that death is the path for her. The film is told through one day in each of their lives and how this one day changes the lives they lead forever.
I found Julianne Moore's performance irritating and pathetic, Kidman won an Oscar for her performance and although fantastic it is nothing in comparison to Streep's.
Woolf questions her life in this film, how did she end up in Richmond? Why is she living this life? Do at some point we all sit back and think how did this happen? Is this the life you had planned? Woolf believes that her life had been stolen from her, that this life she is living is not hers at all,  but what she was given. Are we given a life or do we make our own choices? Does one bad choice lead to a life we no longer wish to live? Isn't it funny to think that one day you will look over your life and wonder if there was anything you would have changed? Regret is a terrible thing yet if you do not regret, are you being honest with yourself? Nobody can be happy with every part of their life, there is always that desire or desperation to achieve more. Or is there such a thing as a perfect existence?
This film is brilliant, telling the story of a woman's whole life in a single day. Just one day. And in that day her whole life.
I do believe that Woolf loved her husband, he was only after her best interests but after two sucide attempts , he didn't trust that she knew what was best for her. But Woolf is like a the wind, she can never be captured, she is and always should be free. As 'how can you find peace by avoiding life?'
When Virginia Woolf killed herself she wrote to her husband saying that she does not believe that anyone could have been happier than they have been together. She also wrote: 'Dear Leonard. To look life in the face, always, to look life in the face and to know it for what it is. At last to know it, to love it for what it is, and then, to put it away. Leonard, always the years between us, always the years. Always the love. Always the hours.'

Nothing More Powerful Than A Man Who Has Everything To Lose

Our lives are defined by moments, especially the ones we never see coming.

The Next Three Days is a film about Lara Brennan (Elizabeth Banks) who is taken into jail after murdering her boss. However her husband, John (Russel Crowe) believes she is innocent and after three years in prison, and with their son failing to recognise her on visits, John decides its time to escape.
So with the help of escape artist Liam Neeson, John spends months working out an escape route for him and his wife and their son.
This film is very tense and literally does have you on the edge of your seat at times, you feel for John, his wife in prison, his son growing up without a mother, financial difficulties, everybody believing that Lara did kill her boss. So yes there is nothing more powerful than a man who has everything to lose if his escape plan goes wrong.

Crowe normally is quite one dimensional in films, he is the same character in Gladiator as he was in Robin Hood but this film was different, he was determined, he was scared and ready at the same time. A brilliant film, one which I would go and see again in an instant!

Cloud Nine

I have now begun reading The Life and Death of Charlie St. Cloud which many of you may know has recently been made into a film starring Zac Efron. I have not yet seen the film and though I would read the book as it was talked about a lot during the summer. So far I am rapidly making my way through it, it is a lovely story which I feel will have that happy ending we all love. I like the character Charlie, you feel guilty for accidentally killing his younger brother Sam in a car crash and so hasn't gone on to live his life but instead works at the graveyard where Sam is buried. Charlie also experiences hallucinations with Sam's body, he plays catch with him every day at twilight, yet he cannot experience these hallucinations anywhere else apart from the graveyard. Usually these types of stories would put me off reading them but this one is written in such a way which does not seem un-real. I like this book so far but we'll see what happens when Charlie falls for sailor Tess...

A Broken Beauty

To begin with, I wasn't keen on watching this film, it seemed silly, a dancer taking on the role as the Swan Queen who is mentally unstable and believes that she turns into the swan itself. Yet on watching Black Swan, you can see the thought process, how a great ballerina is desperate to be perfect, so throws herself so much into the role she messes with her head and turns into the dreaded black swan. I couldn't imagine anyone more perfectly cast than Natalie Portman for Nina. She gives her all to this role, from the weak and innocent White Swan to the dangerously sexy Black Swan. I have always though that Portman is one of the most talented actresses of our generation, her performance in Closer was inspirational and I didn't think it was possible to top such a role, but she has.
Black Swan mixes the innocence of ballet with the darkness of the psychology behind a performance. Portman's character, Nina, self harms unknowingly in her sleep, scratching her back until it bleeds as well as imagining her fingers bleeding (this scene was particularly gruesome especially when she pulled back the skin of the middle finger, back to the knuckle!) There were other, in my opinion, un-necessary scenes such as the lesbian love scene between Portman and her understudy Lily (Mila Kunis) as well as the hospital scene between Portman and Beth (Wionna Ryder.) However these un-necessary can be seen as necessary as how can you put a limit on art, or someones perception of art. This film plays on the theme of perfection and how success is measured in different ways to different people. The desire to become perfect ruins an innocent dancer yet allows her to give the best performance of Swan Lake ever seen. Sometimes the craving for perfection breaks those who want it most, and those you let go usually achieve what is percieved as, perfection.
I think this film, is one in a million, a story or betrayal and a mother's desperation for her daughter to achieve all that she didn't. It is sad and emotional yet dark and disturbing at the same time. A major twist at the end of the film is phenomenal and puts this film firmly in the running for the Academy Awards, I hope Portman wins the Oscar, for this she undoubtedly deserves it.

When God Couldn't Save the King, the Queen Turned to Someone Who Could

 The Kings Speech is a fantastic piece of British film-making. A true story of George VI who after many attempts failed to overcome his stutter. Helena Bonham Carter, his Queen, turned to Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush) not a doctor but an Australian whose methods are rather unusual. Not only does Logue become the Kings saviour but also his friend. HBC is fantastic in this film although I think Rush and Colin Firth deserve Oscars it is doubtful with such strong competition.
Colin Firth has give a mind-blowing performance and has portrayed our Queen's father with dignity and grace, it must have been incredibly hard to prepare for a role like this and he has not let us down. Rush as well is superb, he is funny and quick, his treatment to the Royals appears to be no different to treating his children, which I really like about this character. I think like the film The Queen, everyone should see this film, it is a piece of our history, a fight against fear and a struggle to hold together a country and that didn't believe in him.

One of my favourite quotes of this film comes from Firth; 'If I am King, where is my power? Can I declare war? Form a government? Levy a tax? No! And yet I am the seat of all authority because they think that when I speak, I speak for them.' The truth of how his voice will unite a nation, yet he cannot find his voice until someone with no qualifications gives him the courage to speak.

HBC is one of my favorite actresses, from Bellatrix (Harry Potter) to Queen Elizabeth, she is versatile and brings such grace to this role. Her lines are delivered perfectly with comic value and statue. I think she, teamed with Rush and Firth make this film exactly what it is, a masterpiece.

Your Love Is My Drug

Anne Hathaway for me was a promising actress, with films Rachel Getting Married and Brokeback Mountain but now I feel she has done too much too soon. With silly films like Get Smart and Princess Diaries its all too much and now she just comes across as annoying on screen. Love and Other Drugs follows the relationship between two people who each refuse to be tied down. Jake Gyllenhall is very funny and sweet in this film and gives a loving performance yet Hathaway who plays a character of  twenty six years old with Parkinson's. Gyllenhall, a salesman, finds it hard to say good-bye to her so instead they both enter into a relationship. This film holds more sex than Sex and the City. What is it with rom-coms at the moment, Friends with Benefits, No Strings Attached and then this film, they all hold so much sex, which can take away from the depth of the character, yet here I think it was done carefully and do you understand the emotional strain on both characters. One very poignant element of the film was when Jamie (Gyllenhall) goes on the hunt for a cure for Maggie (Hathaway) and after countless meetings with doctors all over America, Maggie comes to the conclusion that he can only really love her if she is cured. That is extremely sad as nothing in this life will ever be perfect and sometimes the imperfection in things can make them see so much more desirable.

I really enjoyed this film, it was very funny and very moving at the same time, Hathaway wasn't her best in this film but Gyllenhall really stepped up to the plate and gave a brilliant performance, his deliverance of comedic lines was right on target. I would definitely watch this again, however both of them got nominated for Golden Globes for their performances, I wouldn't go that far...

'Sometimes the things you want the most don't happen and what you least expect happens. I don't know - you meet thousands of people and none of them really touch you. And then you meet that one person and your life is changed.'

Acceptable In The 80s

80s films are one of a kind and I have discovered a love for them!! First I was introduced to Flashdance which I found brilliant and didn't think it could get any better; welcome Footloose!!!
Kevin Bacon plays Ren; a troubled teenager who fights for a school dance to be allowed in a town where music is banned. Its a little cheesy but isn't that what we want - it's the 80s. It is a brilliant film, with a great soundtrack and some great dance scenes! Definitely one for a girls night in!! Think Grease but ten times better.

Dead Sex Appeal

When you hear the names Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie you immediately think about how attractive they both are. Depp is a man who never seems to age whereas Jolie is your sex-bomb and they are very respectful actors. I admire both of their works so you would think, that putting the two sirens together would create a mind blowing blockbuster. However, The Tourist, was dead. There was not an ounce of chemistry between the two of them, nothing! Jolie seemed cold and distant whereas Depp seemed needy. This is no Mr and Mrs Smith. The film is a little dead too. With no action, no thrill, no suspense. Jolie, known for her ass-kicking stunt sequences didn't so much as pick up a gun in this film. Depp who played a maths teacher mending a broken heart seemed more daring than her, he was running across roof tops in his pyjamas - yet it was not a heart pounding scene. Although the wardrobe of the film was superb, with neat pencil skirts and caramel duffel coats which made Jolie look like a Lady, especially when she stepped out in floor length dresses, she really did look magnificent. The setting is perfect; Venice, the city of Love - there was no love between these two, no action, nothing. I will give the film this though, it has an unexpected twist at the end, so clearly the writers have imagination, their creative juices didn't get going till the last page though!

Greed is Good

The name Gekko. Is recognized is by many. Gordon Gekko was the character made famous by Michael Doughlas in the 1980s. Oliver Stone's Wall Street is one of the best film I have seen. Charlie Sheen plays Budd Foxx who gets pushed into a world of fast money, fast cars and fast girls. The price. LIES and trading insider information about Bluestarr Airlines so that Gekko can buy the company at a low price and then tear it to shreads making himself a cool $60 million. Quite a nice profit you may think. However Gekko has more friends than meets the eye and Buddy gets himself stuck when it comes to Darian (Daryl Hannah's character.) Hannah refused to ever watch the film saying it was one of her worst experiences of her life. Being the only female you can see that when working on an all male film can be quite of a challenge. However her performance was rather pathetic in this film - to this day I still think Splash! was her one and only triumph!
A very good drama about insider trading in Wall Street and the greed of one man against the honesty of another. I don't like Sheen as an actor anyway so Foxx for me was a slimey runt of a man however Doughlas stripped down the fame of acting to its real glory - the pure development of a character. I though Gekko was smart, savvy and sophisticated and that Doughlas did really deserve that Acadamy Award. He really gave Gekko his all, a fantastic masterpiece!!

The Grass Is Always Greener

What I love most about films is the way that writers observe how relationships and lifestyles work around different people. They look at a situation and it can change due to the type of people involved. Like players in a game. Take love at first sight - if you see a beautiful angelic woman with fiery red hair this, if you are male, must make your heart stop; because she catches your eye. Whether its her hair or her face but she's caught you. However when watching this on screen, Jude Law's character Dan believed that Alice (Natalie Portman) had captured his heart. Dan loves women however the problem is her loves all women. Alice is a stripper from New York who has come to London to change her life around in doing so falls straight in love with Dan.
The movie CLOSER is a tale of relationships and jumps very quickly through time. A year later Dan - a failed novelist - meets Anna (Julia Roberts) and believe once again that this is love at first sight. However on finding Dan is taken, Anna refuses to enter into an adulterous relationship. Dan, bitter and twisted, logs onto a sex chat room site and meets Larry (Clive Owen) and in pretending to be Anna agrees to meet up with Larry. Ironically Larry does run into the real Anna and marries her four months later although by this time Anna and Dan have begun and ended an affair. Are you lost yet? Try watching the film its a jumble of lost time.
Anna is a depressive, refusing to let herself be happy which is why she messes up her marriage with Larry and agrees to run off with Dan. Dan in all fairness does love Anna and tells Alice that their two year relationship is over. So here we have it two years down the line with Anna and Larry getting divorced, Anna and Dan together and Alice going back to stripping to get by under the name of Plain Jane Jones.

A lot of controversy surrounds this film over the language used by the characters, they are foul mouthed and I am not just talking about the F word. Larry is derogatory and vile in speaking to Anna about her relationship with Dan and he is again as rude and violent with his language with talking to Alice in the strip club where she works. However I think that the language gives the film edge. It makes you cringe and does make you feel quite sick after a while however there are men like that out there, who like to talk to women in such a way that it makes them feel better about themselves. What I like most about this film is the way it makes you sympathise with every character at different points. At the beginning who would have thought I would feel sorry for wet fish Dan by the end. And nice guy Larry to be the foul mouthed manipulator of Love. Alice is quite a lot smarter than a stripper should be and Anna well she is more destructive than we would think.
It makes you wonder doesn't it, if the grass really is greener on the other side? That is what Dan believes, Alice is described as an angel throughout the majority of the movie by Dan. She is beautiful and sweet and caring and loves Dan more than anything. However on meeting Anna, Dan believes that this woman is the one for him and pursues her instead although goes back to Alice after Anna sleeps with Larry. Whether men like Dan like the chase or the excitement beats me. Although in the end when Alice asks if Dan is leaving her because Anna is more successful, Dan replies with 'It's because she doesn't need me.' This is very true, women become wanted when they are independent and become abandoned when needy. Dan becomes the needy one, longing for Anna however she is self-sufficient and in truth does not need him, making her un-reachable. Larry on the other hand loves Anna and will do anything to get her back - however if you go after someone so much does the ideal of them becomes so much more perfect than the reality.
Love is an Accident waiting to happen.
Desire is a Stranger you think you know.
Intimacy is a lie we Tell Ourselves.

Truth is a Game you play to Win.

If you believe in Love at First Sight. You Never Stop Looking.

In The Land Of Women

Isn't it wonderful when you pick a film which you have never heard of before, and it turns out to be uplifting and beautifully written?! In The Land Of Women stars a young Kristen Stewart as a troublesome teenager and her mother Meg Ryan as a woman going through personal and marital problems along with Adam Brody, who without realising it helps change the life of these women around whilst sorting out his own problems! It is such a brilliant story with Brody becoming friends with Ryan as well as her beautiful daughter Stewart. Originally I thought the romance was between Stewart and Brody, however Stewart plays a sixteen year old in this film and Brody is actually 26! Quite a difference, however it is such a loving tale of friendships and trust in life's little surprises! And talking of surprises, this film half-way through turns out to be extremely emotional; how a family deal with problems which instead of tearing them apart bring them closer together!

This is the film before Stewart became globally known as Bella Swann and some of her acting traits are carried through to Twilight as there is not much difference between the way Stewart portrays the two characters, however I do like her performance and the way she expresses her anger through art!!
If you ever spot this film, I would recommend to watch it! It is brilliant! I mean not Academy Award worthy but really good for a snowy afternoon like today!

Spellbound

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part One hit cinemas on Friday! And in true movie geek style I was there at the 8 'o' clock showing ready and waiting for the latest installment to begin! What a film! I really enjoyed it, at two and a half hours long, I felt it went so quickly. I didn't feel it drag on and there were moments which were really cute. Hermonie and Harry dancing in the tent and Ron's general nerdy one liners! The films in the past have been subject to bad acting however I felt it was much better this time round; although there seems little chemistry between Hermonie and Ron (more brother/sister than anything else) I do really like the romance going on there. For those who have not read the books (like me!) there are few surprises along the way... Voldermort although the villain of the whole franchise features little throughout the film however watch out for his snake! One horrific scene within a crooked old house. I would definitely recommend seeing it, a really very good film, with special effects galore and who can miss out on Harry Potter in bra! However as always it is Bellatrix who steals the show for me every time, she is my favourite character and Helena Bonham Carter is one of my favourite actress'. She is absolutely brilliantly Gothic and sexy. Such a good performance once again; the torture scene between her and Hermonie is fantastic! Does that make me grim?

No Such Thing As Perfection - That's Why Pencils Have Erasers

Whilst studying Fitzgerald's novel; 'The Great Gatsby' for English Literature - one would wonder how one could get so wrapped up in the past they forget what is reality and what isn't. The past is for reference only. Life is too short to spend it looking back or concerning yourself with it. You must learn by it. Not dwell in it. Gatsby has put his one true love on such a high pedestal that the ideal of her is better than what she actually is. Although this book was written in 1926 I think these values still apply to society today.
If you fancy a girl/guy so much that the idea of them becomes so much more attractive than what they really are; isn't it time for you to step and re-evaluate what it is you actually want. Because what Gatsby wants is perfection and creates in his mind the perfect Daisy. But there is no such thing as a perfect daisy or a perfect beau. Although you may think what you see before you is perfection. It isn't. Instead for those few moments you think you witness perfection; you are instead just forgetting the flaws that create the character of which he or she is. It is alright to forget once in a while a fault or two but when you forget more often than not; surely then is the time to stop and realise you are after the impossible. The one thing you cannot change is a persons character because surely by changing them, you are asking them to stop being who they are, and was it not who they are which made you think they were interesting in the first place?
People say that every human being is unique. Although this is true in moderation I do not believe we are all different. Just like they say that every snowflake is different, how can they be really sure? On average at least two of them are the same or similar if compared to all the snowflakes that have ever fallen. Like human beings even if they start out unique, they all end up the same. So if you've ever felt you've lost perfection. You haven't. You've just merely lost it for a while.

Everybody Needs Inspiration

As strange as this may seem but whilst wandering down the isles of Marks and Spencers I came across a selection of 'Italian Meats.' Since reading Elizabeth Gilbert and her many Italian meals I thought I would try it out! So tonight I have treated myself to a selection of meats from Italy dashed with a few peppers, tomatoes and balsamic vinegar - displayed on my plate in the most beautiful way possible.
Seeing as I am not trying to lose 2 stone I felt this meal was a teeny bit small. I added good ole pots to help fulfill my appetite!!

Verdict: A very good dinner however I worry, I am now approaching India within the book and who knows what Marks have to offer with regards to that type of cuisine?!

Say It Like You Eat It

Italy is done and dusted! I have just finished the first part of 'Eat Pray Love.' I kind of wish that the whole book was set in Italy as it sounded so magnificent. The food, the places, the people.. everything sounded so divine. I really want to go there myself now!!
As the Italians say 'say it like you eat it' in other words, say it as simply as we cook - pizza is relatively simple - you get my drift!
Such a clever saying... so far this book is captivating and I am in love with it!
Now onto India.

I just like to burn money...

Forbes have released their annual 'Most Overpaid Actors' list!! My favourite list of them all and guess who has topped it again for the second year running! Will Ferrell.

Ferrell brings in £2 for every 61pence he makes! Ridiculous when he has mega-box office flops such as 'The Other Guys' and 'Land of the Lost.' (Haven't even heard of that film!!)
Drew Barrymore was the only woman to make it into the top ten which perhaps states that women are safer to invest in than men? A debate for another time...
Rounding off the top ten are actors like, Vince Vaughn, Seth Rogen, Eddie Murphy, Adam Sandler and Jim Carrey. Isn't it funny that all these actors have a similarity in genre... looks like their latest hit wasn't that funny then!!