Me,My Life & I

Hey all. This is like a week late...oops. Anyway...

It was a very touching film. Three reasons:

1.The acting. Rachel McAdams' eyes are just phenomenal, they can convey such emotion. And Eric Bana pretty much owned his role aswell. Good supporting cast aswell. The kids playing young Clare, Henry and Alba were also great.

2. The Visuals. Very rich and engrossing and as such,they made you feel for the characters as you felt completely engrossed in their beautiful surroundings. I suppose for a film that jumps around a lot in location, pretty settings are important. Props to director of photography for pulling of some very beautiful framing and shots.

3. The music. Really it was very moving and so,so relevent.

I found however,that the jumping about of Henry was a bit confusing,as there wasn't always an indication that it had happened. If you were kind of unaware of the situation going in,you'd find it odd I feel.Not very clearly anchored with the time jumps,unless there were cultural refrences I missed. Perhaps there were,and I'm certainly not asking for subtitles saying the date,but some more indication may have been good.

Overall though very moving and a nice night out. 6/10 for the mild confusion of someone who hasn't read the book.

Until Next Time

Megan

 

It's The Cliiiiiimb....followed by a swift slide down the pole and a spreading of the legs...

Ok so what's wrong with this image?  Well, she's sixteen. I'm the same age and know that the look she's giving off there is NOT one of a naive little girl unaware of the image she's creating.

First off - this pole you see there was on top of an ICE CREAM TRUCK! How messed up can you get? It's like oooh look how young and innocent I am whilst I gyrate and spread my legs in front of you.

Secondly, she's a role model to lots of little girls.If she starts dancing around like that and wearing as little as that, little girls will want to do so aswell, and what kind of teenage girls is that going to give us? I feel that she obviously knows the influence and celebrity she has achieved. I mean she must know that millions of young kids look up to her. Therefore in my eyes she has a responsibility to provide an attitude and image that is respectable and that will provide young girls with a decent role model. They look around and everywhere sex is used in advertising. So as if they won't be desensitized enough, their role model, the honourable Miss Cyrus up there starts sliding herself up and down a pole. Sickening if you ask me.

It all comes down to the plain old fact that SEX SELLS. Like it or not. And I'm just dissapointed that someone who proclaims God at every turn feels the need to throw herself around like this. Bloody hypocrisy is what it is.  I didn't like her anyway, but this has just made it worse because she's setting a ridiculous example to the millions of fans she has.

I mean c'mon! Really! Hot pants and hooker boots, then team that up with her nice shiny pole there. It's plain wrong. She's not even legal in America I don't think. And all to sell a few records.

Your thoughts?

Until Next Time

Megan

 

Hey all, hope you're well. This evening I went to go see Orphan with some friends. The following are my thoughts on this rather creepy film.

Story is simple - you've got an evil child, mummy sees it,daddy doesn't. Set up is all there. But then there's some interesting stuff - mum and dad have some history; addictions, still birth, affairs. It's all very sordid and sympathy inspiring. But then again it would be. So, along comes little orphan Esther, codename PSYCHO BITCH. And from there it's just one gut wrenching situation after another.

So what did I think? Well, it was certainly more creepy than I expected. The image of a supposed nine year old girl trying to seduce a grown man is perhaps one of the most disturbing things. Then there's the various spurts of gruesome violence that you really don't see coming. The trailer makes it out to be psycological thriller like, the film itself actually has many more horror qualities. I knew the twist going in and I must say that had I not, I would have been let down. The whole marketing campaign relied on what Esther's secret was and I find it to be a little too weird. Granted, you wouldn't guess it, but it's just too weird.

As a whole this film was well acted but a shout out goes to little actresses Isabelle Fuhrman who plays evil child Esther and Aryana Engineer who plays little girl Max. Fuhrman especially was fantastic, capturing a truly dark character at a young age is hard to do and she pulls it off so well it'll have you looking over your shoulder for Esther all the way home. Aryana Engineer managed to tell so much with her eyes, it was quite startling.

The way this movie is filmed creeped me out slightly, as it was pretty claustrophobic, a lot of seemingly unneccessary close ups. I can't usually stand this in horror as it seems so cliched to stay so tight in order to create tension, as though its got to rely on the aesthetic to do this rather than the script. But in this case it worked well as it encouraged you to sympathise with this family even more as you felt so very close to them, literally.

The music was very eerie, but the instruments and sounds used felt a bit out of place. It did give the movie a bit of a different edge, but it felt a bit off.

Overall, this film thouroughly creeped me out. Not the most terrifying thing you'll ever see, but there are definately some cringe inspiring gorey violence moments and enough frights and suspense to satisfy. Overall though, it was the general idea of a child being evil that scared me and this film exploited that idea to the max - she was overly sexualised, used foul language, extremely manipulative and violent. The antithesis of an innocent child.

8/10 for a thouroughly creepy night out and performances that aren't to be missed.

Until Next Time

Megan

Hey all,so it turns out I have ONE more thing for tonight - I've just watched the trailer for Terry Gilliam's 'The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus' and I had to throw some thoughts out here about it....

Well first off,it's now become one of my most anticipated films of the remainder of this year. I was already looking forward to for a couple of reasons. Firstly; it's Heath Ledger's last on screen performance He was a wonderful actor and I want to see his last work. Secondly,it involves Johnny Depp.

Now the trailer.

href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXv9Kgb59xM">

It makes me want to see this even more. The film looks all kinds of surreal and that of course makes me interested. The substitutions for Ledger in the form of Johnny Depp,Colin Farrel and Jude Law are almost seamless - particularly in Depp's case. It just looks fantastic, very exciting visually and extremely trippy. All in all = FUN.

However one worry is that this may just be a little TOO trippy for the mainstream audience. I guess we'll have to see.

Your thoughts?

Until Next Time

Megan

Hey all,I've one last thing for the night - a review of my second outing of the Fringe - The Sowetto Gospel Choir.

Well this is the second time I've seen the choir,having watched them previously two years ago in the Festival. They certainly seem to have grown in popularity over the two years as they've been moved to a bigger venue and the show appeared to be sold out.

I remember being extremely moved the last time I saw them and I can honestly say it was the same this time around. They sing in their own language and the songs are songs of praise. Even though you cannot understand the words,the emotion is so intense. You can see the worship in their smiles and in their eyes. Its a truly heart warming and rich experience.

The standard of singing is fantastic, the voices of these people just blow you away.Their sense of humour is also great,and they know how to work a festival crowd for sure. Lastly, their dancing and playing of instruments is very enjoyable aswell.

A final point is that they support AIDS foundations who get very little or no support from their government and so anything you give to their donation boxes goes towards a good cause,and believe me you come out of their wanting to donate.

Overall,if you get the chance they are a very moving and fantastic act to go see. Very much worth it because the atmosphere will just blow you away. I'm looking forward to next year already.

Until Next Time

Megan

Hey all,back again. This time the item of discussion is a show I saw on Friday in the Edinburgh Fringe - Forth Children's Theatre's production of Ragtime. Here's my thoughts...

Well this is the fourth show I've seen by FCT, previously having watched Sweeney Todd, Little Shop of Horrors and The Wiz. Each year the quality has been outstanding and I must say that this year has topped it again.

The acting gets better and better every time around and I notice that we've got younger and younger kids that have a high standard of perfomance. The leads were all fantastic,and I could pick out a few familiar faces of people I've worked with at various times. The accents were great, and the dialogue carried off very well. Such emotion in young actors is quite rare to find, but there was not one member of the cast who delivered a lifeless or wooden performance.

Also,the standard of the singing voices has improved as the years go by and this year I was utterly blown away by each of the soloists. Every one of them had voices that filled the entire room with such power and emotion that they had everyone on their feet as they took their last bows. Really great stuff.

Costuming was great. Also noteworthy is the design - the seating was on three sides,creating a thrust stage. The set and props were very minimal, for example the piano used throughout was only the wooden frame of a piano, having had the keys,back,and insides removed. I assume this was for sightlines sake but it created a very interesting look aswell.

Overall this was a performance of exceedingly high standard for such young performers and I'd reccommend seeing it if you're in Edinburgh in August. I'll definately be going to see their next show this time next year.

Until Next Time

Megan

Hey all,hope you're well. As promised here is my review of The Ugly Truth...

Ok so the film stars the gorgeous Gerard Butler and the ever wonderful Katherine Heigl. Both are great and play very well off each other. Can't say I'm any more impressed with Butler's ability to do accents though..you can always hear that Scottish undertone. Not that that puts me off....I mean look at him....anyway,review.

Basically what we have here is a battle of the sexes movie - but funnier and raunchier.

The humour is more grown up,the situations more funny and the idea better fitted to a wider audience.Allow me to explain that last point. The entire advertising campaign relied on the well spread assumption that men don't think with their brains,and that women do. See here:

 

Therfore,this film can appeal to men and women as it tells the story from your stereotypical 'guys' point of view aswell. The guys can see the controlling side of Heigl's Abby,and the girls can see the shallower,visually motivated side of Butler's Mike. Of course it ultimately turns it all on its head and they end up happily every after,but for the most part,this film will appeal to both mainstream men and women. So points for a rom-com that you can take the guys to.

Story is interesting enough,bit of a different set up. You obviously know the ending before the film even starts,as you always do with these types of films,so the interesting part is always HOW the ending comes about,and I must say that the whole hot air balloon thing made me laugh. We know the ending is inevitable,and to have it happen in a situation where the characters cannot escape was a funny take on the whole inevibility of it.

So, we've got good acting,decent story,funny and a little bit of sexy thrown in there. It's definately one of the better romcoms as it goes a bit further and is just overall a bit better than most of its kind. Verdict - Give it a go - 7/10.

Until Next Time

Megan

 

 

Hey all. First off, if you're Kelly or Ashton - I'm sorry this round up is so late! Just haven't got round to it. Now then, July was a pretty cool month,lots of new experiences, a few films, but then at the end something sad happened, more about that further on. Here we go....

Alton Towers

Goodness this seems like ages ago. We got the bus down at like 1 in the morning,a 7 hour coach ride to Alton Towers. Once we got there we headed for some breakfast before the rides opened. After that a few of the group went on the Spinball Whizzer. Once they'd come off sufficiently dizzy we all headed for the big one - Oblivion. Now I'd done Sheikra in Busch Gardens, which is much the same thing,and a bit higher I think. But Oblivion just looks so much more scary! It lived up to expectations and was pretty scary,but over pretty quick. Next on the list was Hex which seriously freaked me out. Then we went on Rita I think. God the queue was horrendous,must have been near on two hours in the blistering heat. The ride was alright I suppose,fast and all,but it would've been a lot better if we'd not waited so long for it. Next on the list was something to eat and we went back and forward on the sky ride a couple of times. At some point during the day we went on Charlie and The Chocolate Factory which was ok,great for wee ones I suppose. After lunch I think we went on Air which was another long queue. Fantastic and I think it was my favourite ride of the day. We finished off the day with a ride on Nemesis,which was good fun. Overall this was a great day. Fantastic weather and good banter on the bus. We'll need to take a trip back down there some time. Here's a picture of a picture of Jamie and I on Air:

 

GBC Solution Holiday Club

The holiday club run by my church this summer has been a highlight of my summer holidays. The week running up to it was all preparation and I made an Ark and Whale to be used in performances. During the week I was a performance leader, teaching four seperate groups of kids four seperate little performances to be shown on  the Friday night at a BBQ we were holding for the community. The week was great and taught me a lot about my own abilities and also to a bit about dealing with things as they happen and not freaking out. The kids were fantastic and I feel truly thankful for every child that came along. The Step Out team that came from the Baptist Union were great aswell, and I made some new friends there. Overall this was a fantastic experience that I look forward to repeating next year.

Family

Well I had my cousin and auntie down from up north for a week in July/Start of this month (hence the lateness of the round up) I must say its taught me how thankful I am to have grown up in the city. My cousin is very different to me,quite young for her age if that makes sense. I see now how confident and independent I actually am as a person - she was reluctant to even go into shops on her own,always ordered the same as her mother at meals and was on the phone to her dad about three times a day. I think city life leaves little time for retaining your youth. Sure I'm still young and still have a lot to learn,but I'm a lot more wise to the ways of the world that she is and I feel sorry for her that when she comes down to the mainland to go to Uni in the next few years,she's going to have a horrible shock and have to grow up a LOT. So yeah,the week itself was alright but I wouldn't rush to do it all again.

RE:Some Things Just Make You Think Post

I posted a blog post a week and a half or so ago about the fact that my friend's mother had just died. Well that was the sad thing that happened in July. On Tuesday 28th July Marie Murdoch passed away and it really shook me up. It made me so thankful for my own mum and made me realise how lucky I am to have her. I know I need to show her more how I care about her and make sure she knows how much I love her. I couldn't bear it if she died,I just couldn't.And to watch people I know,aged 14 and 16 trying to deal with the loss of this fantastic woman is making me so sad. She was truly just a lovely person. So warm and so funny,she always had food on the table for you,always a spot to stay over if the night went on too long. She was just such a bright person and I'm finding it hard to take in that she's gone. Prayers please,for the husband,children,mother,sister,neices,nephews and friends that she left behind. She will be missed.

Film and Television

Well this month has been semi-eventful in terms of movie watching.

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - Not impressed.Decent enough but had the potential to be amazing so I'm not too chuffed with what WB have done with it.

Public Enemis - My personal movie highlight of the year. So,so good.

The Proposal - Very good fun! I enjoyed it a lot.

The Hangover - Doesn't live up the hype.

London to Brighton - Makes you sick at the reality of it all.

And in terms of Tv.

True Blood - Good stuff. Quite shocking for tv in terms of the sex,language and violence,but it's good. Then again,I do always love a vampire story (Buffy,Angel,Various episodes of Supernatural,Darren Shan...)

Dollhouse - I'm still behind but I've preordered season one so that my Whedon DVD collection will still be complete.

Supernatural - With it almost time for the season four boxset,I'm preparing myself by quickly rewatching it all before you borrow them Ash :) (you'll love it,I promise!)

Quotability

Kirsty - There was rapid hellfire coming out of wee George

Lee Evans - In clothes shops women are like this "well its not for going out,it's more out out out out out" and I'm like "love can we be off?But not off off off off off, more like fuck offf"

Andrew - Kelly, I'm trying to eat my drink.

Overall

Good month as a whole. Some sad days but it was all good really. Nothing much more to say,I have to go write up a review for the Ugly Truth and a show I seen in the Fringe - Ragtime, and watch some Supernatual. So far there's gonna be a few things to talk about in August's round up,so stay tuned you sprinkling of faithful readers,I know who you are ;)

Until Next Time :wave:

 

Hey all, hope you're well. I seen this last week so I'm a little hazy with the details. Anyhoo, I'll give it a go...

Well firstly, I feel it's been overhyped. Sure it's funny in places, but certainly not as side splittingly hilarious as it's been made out to be. The characters were what made it funny, not so much the situations they got themselves into, which is a shame because the film seemed to be quite reliant on the hilarity of the situations rather than any jokes the charcters themselves came out with. I'm always uncomfortable with use of the word 'faggot' in a context that is supposed to be funny (and just in general might I add) , and so the film didn't start out so great for me with that being one of the first 'laughs'. Overall, whilst I thought it was funny in places, the film didn't live up to the hype about the kind of funny I'd heard it would be.

The story itself did hold some potential to be interesting,but it was kind of lost on trying to make a joke out of everything, I know I know,it's a comedy, but there has to be some drama to move things along. The goal to try and find $80,000 or whatever it was seemed a BIT farfetched to me. To me this whole thing had been done before in 'Dude,Where's My Car' and so even thought it's different to most of the comedies coming out recently, it still felt a bit unoriginal to me.

The actors all done well, noteworthy are Ed Helms as the stereotypical 'square' member of the group and Zach Galifiankis as the lone wolf Alan. This particular group set up has been seen before in films such as 'Without A Paddle' so it again didn't seem anything new.

Overall, I liked the acting, and the story could have been alright. But overall this film was just kind of forgettable for me. A fun afternoon out but not entirely hilarious. Perhaps I'm suffering from seeing it right at the end of it's running, so I've heard all these great things and have expectations that are just too high. Whatever the case, I did enjoy it, I just didn't think it was that good. Comperende?

7/10 (because the actors made it funny)

Until Next Time