Sherlock Holmes & Disney & Finals & Hitchcock

... Great way to start off the new year, right? Posting three weeks after the first of January is quite exciting, actually. Much has happened, and I have much to inform you of, however, I may forget to post quite a bit since it may have escaped my mind... The first and foremost event that has occurred mots recently has been that I finally have seen the newest version of "Sherlock Holmes", starring Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, and Rachel McAdams. Yes, I did like it. Very much. But then again, there were parts of it that I couldn't help going 'What?' at. Especially how it's four-fifths action and one-fifth intellectual. I remember reading Sherlock Holmes as a child, and from what I remember, he was an incredibly gifted inspector/detective of sorts, who could deduce anything from simply looking at it. He could tell who a person was by the way they dressed and acted, and could solve any case by being at the scene of the crime and doing something miraculous with his brain. This film had elements of that, I admit, but there was a lot more fists thrown and punches dealt than actually sitting down, smoking a pipe, and analyzing the situation. Needless to say I loved the cast; I think they all did an excellent job, and they really did accurately portray each character. Sherlock was as nutty and eccentric as could be, Watson was not a bumbling fool but rather more of a colleague of Holmes, who was quite intelligent, and Irene Adler was beautiful and thoroughly thought out, and quite sneaky. It's nice to see that woman can be just as bamf as men can. The music, on the other hand, I have mixed feelings about. Hans Zimmer is a great composer, I'll admit that, but this score sounded rather synthesized to me, and had hints of Pirates of the Caribbean woven throughout. The overall theme was excellent, and the first track of the score 'Discombobulate' is one of my favorites that I put on repeat. That being said, however, the rest of the score is mediocre, and there aren't many highlights except the first track. Guy Ritchie is a decent director, but again, he made this movie too much action and took away the fun of the cerebral-characteristics Holmes exhibits (and when Holmes does show off his mad intellectual skills, it all goes by so quickly that it takes me a while to actually understand what he said, and what he meant by it).

Next on the list of matters to discuss is more films (but I'll be brief). I'm attempting to re watch all the classic Disney films, and so far I've seen: "Hunchback of Notre Dame", "Sleeping Beauty", "Pocahontas", "Aladdin", "Beauty and the Beast", "Hercules", and there may be a couple more, I think, but I've forgotten them. Anyhoo, I've liked what I've seen so far, and I can't wait to watch "Cinderella" and "Lion King". Oh, and I've recently been craving Alfre

d Hitchcock films, and so far I've viewed "The 39 Steps" and "North by Northwest", both of which I loved. (Cary Grant... what a looker.)

Also, I just took finals, those went rather well. Studying was a bit droll, but they're necessary. I haven't received my grades from then yet, but I hope to get them soon.

And I think that's enough for now. At least, that's all I can remember.

PS. And for my book update, I promise to blog about "Shutter Island" soon, since I've already finished it, and I'm in the process of reading "Hannibal" the sequel to "Silence of the Lambs". Psychological thrillers are the newest, best genre to me right now.

Avatar

Today I saw AVATAR, the new film by James Cameron. Today my life began.

Because I'm not feeling so well right now (I had the need to throw up for the entire length of the movie) and because I'm tired from lack of sleep (thank you YouTube and Hannibal for keeping me up late last night), I shall picspam instead of write something coherant.... I may do the latter later on, but right now I want to post lovely pictures of the wonderful characters of Avatar, both Na'vi and human.. (And in Jake Sully's case, he gets the best of both worlds.)

Holiday Vacation!

I’m so excited it’s Winter Vacation; school has been a killer (I swear to God, the teachers are trying to send us to an early grave) and I’m more than ecstatic to have two whole weeks off from the daily hell my life has become. I’m heading to Culpeper, Virginia (yes, heading, because I’m writing this as I’m on the plane) to see some old friends of mind who I haven’t really been in contact with for three years. It’s supposed to be a ‘white Christmas’ because of the snowstorm that is now clearing out, and I can’t wait to wad through the ice and sludge, make a snowball and hit something (or someone) with it. Last time I did that was about ten years ago, and I can’t remember any events of when I was five. But the important news is, as I was in line for security, I saw this tall man wearing a large straw hat. How is this important you say? Well, I have come to believe that it was none other than Nathan Fillion (who stars in series’ such as Castle as Richard Castle, Firefly as Captain Malcolm Reynolds, and Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog as Captain Hammer). I swear to you and to everyone that I’m not crazy. It was him. He had the same rugged features, distinctive face, and calm disposition; he was wearing jeans and a tee shirt, and I believe his wife (or girlfriend?) was with him. Well, I couldn’t stop staring at him because it seemed totally unreal; for me, actors have always seemed godly and other worldly; they don’t tread the normal path of real people – they are above us and are of an elite status. Apparently not. Shocker for me, eh? I know I’m mental, but that’s alright. Now I can really see that they are just normal people who happen to star in television shows that I love. Too bad he wasn’t going on my flight though; it would’ve been interesting to see him just a little bit more, I guess. But he headed down the tunnel and out of sight, and I was left alone to read “The Silence of the Lambs” and wallow in the fact that I saw Nathan Fillion in the flesh. I know I’m a fanatical fan girl, but hey, aren’t we all, deep down? Oh, and they just announced that a ‘Riddle, Thomas’ needs to see them. Tom Riddle. My inner Harry Potter nerd just squealed with excitement that the Dark Lord will be on my flight to Virginia. Anyway, I also saw “The Lovely Bones” yesterday with my dad, and I really did like it. I mean, of course it wasn’t as good as the book, and of course they changed things, but all in all, the essence of it was still the same and it was very well done by none other than Peter Jackson himself. The one problem I had with the movie is that we spent too much time in the ‘limbo-heaven’ Susie is in – with, mind you, beautiful special effects that really do capture her wild imagination – because I think we should have spent more time in the life of the Salmon’s, especially focusing on Lindsey as she grows up. Another part that they left out of the film was at the end of the book, a couple find Susie’s charm bracelet and comment on how the girl who owns the bracelet must be old by now. Somehow, that touched me; but they kept the ending line the same, and primarily followed the book (deviating from it at a few moments, but it was nothing drastic). Otherwise, I thought all of the actors were great in it (special highlights include Grandma Lynn, Susie, and Mr. Harvey) because each of their characters had a distinctive part, and they honestly portrayed them very well. Each of them captured their characters perfectly, and they were really what I was imagining while reading the book. And of course, anything Peter Jackson touches instantly becomes holy, and this was of no lesser quality than what other films he’s done. I’ve also been watching more of Smallville, but I may have to put that on hold for eleven days while I’m out of state. I’ll get back to it though, I promise, and I’ll try to catch up, even though I’m like what, eight seasons behind the current season? That, and I have to continue watching other shows that I’m in the middle of, and start new shows that look fantastic. And, in the realm of character creating, I have another one who I thought of last night; her name is Ruth Wilson, and she’s running from the government. But the government she’s trying to evade is not the one we know, but a totalitarian one that is punishing her for attempted rebellion and murder in the highest degree. So that’s just a little taste of her; more will come soon, because now I need to head off since the flight attendants are telling us to put all of our electronics away.

Hannibal the Cannibal & Terminator Salvation

"A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti."

So I checked out Silence of the Lambs from my school library today, and have decided to put off Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? for a while to read the Thomas Harris novel. Lately, the psychological thriller genre has been fascinating me [ever since I watched Red Eye on Saturday and started brainstorming for my new character, Phineas] and I want to take a dive into the complex mind of a socio- or psychopath. Norman Bates will forever be the incarnation for me of this genre, but Hannibal Lecter is making his way up there. I've only seen half of the movie as of now, but I intend to watch it later when I have more time -- I'm trying to survive this last week of school before break, and I'm trying to focus as much as I can on school work. But back to the point -- I intend to finish Silence of the Lambs at a later time, but in the meanwhile divulge myself in the reading of the novel... Even though I do love Philip K. Dick with a passion. Oh, and last weekend - on Sunday - I went over to my best friend's house, Elena Marie, and we watched Batman and Robin, the cheesiest Batman movie I must admit, but one of my favorites, and Terminator Salvation, which was decent, but could've been better. I think Christian Bale is an excellent actor, but he took the role of John Connor much too seriously, and made him more of a serious, uncaring 'hero' -- who yes, is still great -- but it just didn't exactly work out with the image of an older John Connor I had in mind. I thought Sam Worthington did a great job as Marcus Wright -- who's name I didn't realize was this until the end of the movie -- and I especially liked the romance he had with that Resistance girl. Anton Yelchin, as usual, did a brilliant job of portraying Kyle Reese, and I wished he had had a few more scenes (though the scene with the bazooka made it all worth it). The character who I found the most fascinting however was Serena, played by Helena Bonham Carter. I must say it took me a while to recognize it was actually her, because her look was changed, and her normal British accent (Cockney maybe?) was gone. As always, however, she was mind-blowing, and perfect for the part of the villain (because really, that's what she was). One aspect of the film that I did like was the special effects -- all the machine monsters were extremely well done, and they looked completly real, and totally kick-ass. I was truly frightened of them, especially that 'Harvester' creature. And now that I realize I'm going off on a tangent, I may wrap up, hoping that next time when I post, it'll be more about Silence of the Lambs, because Hannibal Lecter is probably the creepiest, most fascinating villain out there.

Red Eye

If you haven't seen the movie 'Red Eye' yet, I highly suggest you go see it, immeadiatly. Not only is the movie action-packed and is filled with back to back moments of intense-anxiety, but it's beautifully crafted and well put together, with brilliant actors to support the movie's premise. Basically, it's about this girl, Lisa, who works as a manager at a hotel; she's coming home (to Miami) from her grandmother's funeral, and meets a charming man by the name of Jackson Rippner (playfully referred to as 'Jack the Ripper' - and believe me, he'll soon live up to that name). At first he's a charming man who does what he can to help Lisa - he helps her calm down an angry man, and offers to have a few drinks with her. Soon he receives a phonecall and they must part ways, but are strangely reunited on the plan when they coincidentally have seats next to each other. As the film goes on, we find out that Jackson is a terrorist, and needs Lisa's help to complete the assassination of a man (who is staying in the hotel he manages). He threatens her father's life into her complying for his request of changing the targeted man's room, and through a series of psychologically thrilling events, she finally complies. After a rough night of playing several violent games of 'cat and mouse', Lisa finally gains the upper hand when she craftily takes a pen from one of the fellow flyers, and stabs Jackson in the neck as everyone is unbuckling their seatplans. The chase scene that ensues is mind-blowing and incredible; they [Lisa and Jackson] run through the terminal, but Lisa has the advantage since she has handicapped Jackson, and has stolen his cellphone (his means of communication that would tell the assassin to kill her father if he doesn't comply). Well, she eventually escapes from the airport and heads to her house, where she runs over the assassin with her car. Not too long after she sees her father, Jackson shows up, as if from the dead. And well, the Hitchcock-esque 10 minute scene of intense suspense that follows... well... you'll have to see the end for yourself. I haven't been so scared in a movie since... a long time ago. This film is just beyond words. Cillian Murphy's performance was mind-blowing. He looks so sweet and innocent - not to mention handsome - with his round, wide blue eyes and charming smile, but my God, when he goes Jack the Ripper and turns into one volatile, evil murderer, I think I may have been scared out of my skin for life. He can pull off villainous so beautifully (also shown in Batman Begins as Scarecrow/Jonathan Crane - my favorite Batman villain of all time) and still make it completly believable. I think tonight I may have nightmares about him chasing me around my house, wielding a knife because he's ready to slice my head off. Oh, and I forgot to mention Rachel McAdams; oh my, that woman is beautiful. Her hair, I have to say, is absolutely gorgeous; she really looks like a life-size doll. But her acting is simply impeccable. She just did a spot-on job, and everything she did was completly realistic. I really want to know what it must've been like to be in her shoes for this role. And one last final mention; Jayma Mays (I believe that's how you spell her name) is as cute as a button, and does an excellent part in her role as well... (Though, I still see her as Charlie from Heroes.) She's another one I'd like to pick up and hug because she has that look of doe-eyed innocence that melts ones heart. Plus, her look of suprise when the top suite of the hotel room has exploded is priceless. But yes, overall, this movie, I would have to say, is one intense thriller that I would love to see over and over again.... Of course, with friends, because seeing it alone is just... frightening. Cillian Murphy and Rachel McAdams yet again blow my mind with their high quality of acting.


(This is one of my favorite scenes in the movie -- it takes place in the bathroom of the airplane, where Jackson threatens Lisa into making the phonecall.)

Roots and Beginnings

So I've finally decided to take up blogging, thanks to my dear friend Kelsey's suggestions. Lovely isn't it? I'm not quite sure how to blog, but I assume you just treat it as a diary entry, I suppose. Anyhoo, I just saw the new film/musical "Nine" today - yes, I saw it at an early screening - and thought it was rather good. The actress, Marion Cotillard, I believe that's how you spell her name, bears a strong resemblance to Audrey Hepburn, and it scared me throughout the film. Also, I think Nicole Kidman is a lot prettier with longer hair - just saying. And who knew Fergie could belt the song 'Be Italian'? I was surprised. The music was great - although it didn't have Nino Rota's original score - but the songs were fun and the musical numbers were show-stopping (but hey, this is from the director of Chicago - Rob Marshall - so what do you expect?). In addition to Nine, I saw another great film 'All That Jazz' directed by Bob Fosse. 'All That Jazz' is basically the idea of 'Nine', but now about Bob Fosse's life instead of Fellini's. It was very 'Clockwork Orange'-esque, but I greatly enjoyed it. Anne Reinking - I believe that's how you spell her name - always seems to make me laugh, since I'm always picturing her as that woman from 'Annie'. Oh, and after I saw those two things today - I painfully neglected homework to goof off, which included writing and watching TV - I watched two Buster Keaton shorts which were hysterical; one was 'The Playhouse', I believe, and the other one was 'Cops'. Both were excellent, and his use of physical comedy is outstanding. Well, I guess that was my entire day - well, in the morning I did four hours of SAT prep, but that doesn't count - and I think it was well spent. I'm a bit restless, but drop dead tired - I guess that's a paradox unto itself. I guess I should go to bed, but I'll try to make the promise that I'll update this blog... thing... at least every week, or so. But I'll see how that works out