Surprise surprise! Another 'favorite movie quotes part 4' blog post. That it may inspire you to watch one of these movies ^^ If you haven't already :)
It's so fluffy I'm gonna die! - Agnes, Despicable Me
Fathers don't like to admit it when their daughters are capable of
running their own lives. It means we've become spectators. Bianca lets
me play a few innings. You’ve had me on the bench for years. - Walter
Stratford, 10 things I hate about you.
You should be kissed, every day, every hour, every minute. - Logan, the Lucky One
When you read a book as a child, it becomes a part of your
identity in a way that no other reading in your whole life does. -
Kathleen Kelly, You've Got Mail (this would be Harry Potter for me, by the way)
It's 8 seconds. That's all it is. That girl could be the rest of your life - Kate Collins, the Longest Ride
Not going to lie, I've had some difficulties starting to write this blog post, as I had absolutely no idea what to write. So I'm afraid it'll be a boring "what I did this week" without any cool, funny or witty angle. Not sure if I am funny and witty in my other blog posts, but then I try to be.
Basically, this week I've been suffering from a movie hangover. To be specific: from SPECTRE. On Saturday 24th October, I got to see a screening of SPECTRE. You know, that little, low budget indie movie that's starring Daniel Craig. I've written a blog post about that one, so if you are interested, feel free to head over to "M has been chasing me for Christmas decorations,..." - Q, SPECTRE 'review' . I've heard and read quite a few negative comments and reviews, but, I don't care. I liked that movie. Very much and the positive reviews proof that I'm not the only one :)
The movie ended around 1pm and I had a Skype call with my parents in the afternoon. As I don't have a strong internet connection anymore in the house that I'm living in, Skype calling has become very difficult. When I first moved abroad, Skype conversation were on a weekly basis. Then it was more a forthnight thing. But now, it was 2 months since I last saw and heard them, so yeah, that Skype call was necessary and it took almost all afternoon :)
Sunday I stayed indoors all day again. Halleluja for the extra hour!!! x) Did the weekly household chores (since nobody else in this hell hole seems to care), made my lunch for the week and saw Dr No and From Russia with Love again. Of course, I also wrote my Monday Movietime blog post, which does take up a few hours of my day :)
The rest of the week was pretty normal. Although I had a half day off on Wednesday and a break down on Thursday. That's about it for this week. Oh, and I bought my advent calendar on Friday after work ^^
I'm going to leave it here, as I have no idea what else I can write x) I'll just leave some YouTube videos which I've been watching and listening to all.week.long.
I went to a screening for SPECTRE on Saturday morning. Everyone that has worked on some level on the movie was invited to one of the 4 screenings before the actual premiere. Not going to lie, when the DB10 was mentioned by Q, I cringed.
Saturday morning at 10.30pm I sat in the London Odeon theatre on Leicester Square. Sam Mendes came up the stage and said a few words before the beginning of the movie. He said something along the lines of 'this movie was a monster', 'we've been working on this project with 100 and 100 of people' and 'we've delivered something I'm very proud of and I hope you'll like it'. Well Sam, you're right to say you're proud of this picture. Here is my 'review".
Oh, by the way, the movie is IN THEATRES TODAY, 26th in UK! Please check IMDb for the release date in your territory.
SPECTRE
** spoiler free**
2015 Director: Sam Mendes Cast: Daniel Craig, Ralph Fiennes, Ben Whishaw, Léa Seydoux, Christopher Walz,... Lenght: 148min= 2h 28min Genre: Actio, adventure, thriller
SPECTRE picks up where Skyfall left off. MI6 is still damaged from the terrorist attack, there is a new M in the picture and a new C as well. Bond is on a mission from the first second of the movie, an aftermath from Skyfall. A cryptic message from M sends him an a trip around the world. He infiltrates the Special Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion, AKA SPECTRE, and has an encounter with his past. Bond needs to find out why he does what he does and if he still wants to do it.
Sam Mendes definitely did not disappoint. It's a modern Bond with all the classics: action, dry humor, Bond Girls and the whole picture is a vision. I'm still in awe, eventhough I saw the movie Saturday morning :) We've come a long way since the days of Dr No. Some people are of the opinion that the true spirit of Bond isn't in the film because of the lack of gadgets. I can understand that opinion. Kind of. But to be fair, Bond in Dr No, From Russia With Love, Goldfinger, etc. doesn't have that many gadgets either. I guess it is more a subjective view on what is 'a lot'.
Another fact that has reached my attention is that I get the impression that a lot of people go to the theatre with very high expectations and come back out disappointed. It's understandable, especially after Skyfall which was a phenominal movie. However, as mentioned by the cast and the director, SPECTRE is a seperate movie. Although it is a sequel to Skyfall and has many references to previous Bond pictures, SPECTRE is something different than Skyfall. That is something I'd like you to take with you if you decide to see the movie. Don't get me wrong, I've had that happened to me too: having high expectations and to then be disappointed. It sucks. So that's why I'd like to give you a little heads up ;)
Then, SPECTRE is first mentioned by Dr No in the first Bond movie when Sean Connery had the honour of portraying the cocky double 0 agent. Anyone who pays any attention will have noticed that the ghost organisation has been mentioned in other Bond movies as well: From Russia with love, Thunderball,... The last time the name was mentioned was in Diamonds Are Forever (1971). Why the long silence? Well, apparently there was a copywrite dispute between producer Kevin McClory and the Fleming estate. Eventhough most of the Bond films link to the organisation, about half of them weren't legally aloud to use the term. Until now, when we have an actual movie that carries the name.
Besides being the abbriviation of 'Special Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion',
'SPECTRE' also means 'ghost'. Which gives a double meaning to the film. On one hand we finally learn more about 007's mysterious past. Various links to Casino
Royal and Skyfall were made with Quantum of Solaces pushed quietly to
the back, although not unmentioned. The dead are very much alive, with the Day of the Dead in Mexico City as a little wink to that statement. On the other hand Bond faces the entire organisation of SPECTRE and one person in particular. It's getting very personal in this one.
Mendes stayed true to the Bond formular. You fall quickly into the easy well known rhythm of a Bond movie. A couple of Bond girls, a villian or two to get rid off, car chasing scenes, etc. When Madeleine asked, after disposing a villian, "what will happen now?", we all know what will happen now. And so did Sam Mendes and the screenwriters. You cannot have those lines in a 007 script without acting upon them. That is what makes Bond, well, Bond. Although Mendes sticks to the formular, the look and feel is completely different than Skyfall and its predecessors.
The opening sequence followed by the standard Bond theme song with the accompanied 'video' is by far my favorite bit. It will probably be the part mostly spoken of. Regarding the graphic design and animation during the theme song, it actually makes me wonder who made the animation on that one. I guess that is still an aftermath of my one year of Graphic Design studies x) I'm not really a Sam Smith fan, but that song, Writings on the Wall is a perfect fit for this movie and it gave me goosebumps. Speaking of goosebumps and the opening sequence. Mendes starts the pictures with a daring 5min shot without any editing. It reminded me of the movie Rope (1948) and also of the opening shot in Pride & Prejudice (2005) and the first ever episode of Downton Abbey. To me, that is a promise from the director that this movie will be top of the bill. And that it was. Beautiful scenery shots of snow covered mountains, gruesome fighting scenes in train carriages, thrilling score, the lot. Barely anything green screen. The entire picture is just incredibly satisfying for the eyes and ears.
For a man who has recently declaired his dislike for the character as well, Craig shows that he is truly an amazing actor as he delivers an incredible preformance. Yes, I've said "as well", because Sean Connery, the original Bond, has previously stated that he "would like to kill him". Craig isn't the first one to despise the character, but, just like Connery, he kept it professional and delivered. "It is a real blessing" to quote Craig, so you'd be a fool to mess up that job.
Although I'm not yet truly convinced about the chemistry between him and Madeleine (Léa Seydoux), she is by far my favourite Bond girl. She's feisty, smart and as the daughter of an ex-assassin, she understands Bond in a way even Vesper couldn't. Christopher Waltz is Christopher Waltz which promises some bloodcurdling lines for his charachter Franz Oberhauser. Even his fluffy white cat makes an appearance! Naomie Harris returns as Moneypenny and as Bond's faithful partner in saving the world. Q (Ben Whishaw) is definitely my favorite character of the lot. From his knitted
jumpers to his silly humor of: 'I asked to bring her back in one piece,
not bring back one piece' and then to actually laugh at his own joke ^^ And Ralph Fiennes as M works well. He is obviously not Judi Dench, but I think he is a worthy successor and will be able to put his stamp on the character in future Bond movies.
The attention to detail is incredible. From the Day of the Dead in Mexico City to the white fluffy cat of Oberhauser, they thought of everything, which makes it a very exciting must watch.
As per usual, here are the trailer, clip, interviews and in this case, the theme song.
Trailer
Clip
Interviews
Writing's On The Wall - Sam Smith
Voila, this was my 'review' on the film. I highly recommend it. I do suggest to see the previous movies, from Casino Royal onwards at least. I think you might get a bit lost during this one as they make quite a few references to the past. Of course, it is entirely up to you what you do ;)
3 weeks into October, I think it is safe to say that autumn is now officially all around us. Therefore, I took it upon myself to take a walk in the park. Yes, it is that easy. Saturday I did the usual household chores, so Sunday was the day I ventured out into Hyde Park.
I decided to walk from Marble Arch (Speakers Corner) to Hyde Park corner. For the past few weeks I've been passing that side of the park every morning and I have noticed a lot of art along the way. Time to take a closer look. Of course with a Costa hot chocolate in hand. It is quite a picture heavy blog post. You've been warned :)
One other very excited thing has happend to me this week! Thursday afternoon, at work, I received the message that the Golden Snitch was in the building. You heard that right: the Golden Snitch. It is the snitch from Deathly Hallows that says 'I open at the close'. I wasn't allowed to take any pictures or to even touch it (I had to wear gloves) as it is an actual prop that they've used in the film. I was over the moon, as you can imagine ^^
Hallooooo!! Sooo, if you follow me on instagram, you might already know that I saw the movie Pan a couple of weekends back. If you didn't know already, then now you know :) And as it was such a magical experience, I thought it appropriate to dedicate a blog post about it.
Pan
** spoiler free**
2015 Director: Joe Wright Cast: Hugh Jackman, Levi Miller, Garrett Hedlund, Rooney Mara, Amanda Seyfried, Cara Delevingne ... Lenght: 111min= 1h51min Genre: Adventure, fantasy and family
12 year old orphan Peter gets taken away by the pirate crew of captain Blackbeard and ends up in Neverland. Rather than flying around like he does in the Disney version, he has to work in the mines in search of Fairy Dust. There he gets acquainted with James Hook and together they find a way to escape the thight grip of Blackbeard and they flee into the wilderniss of Neverland where they have an encounter with the locals. And that's all I'll say about the plot, 'cause I don't want to spoil anything now do I?
The story of Peter Pan written by J.M. Barrie is probably the most well know story in the world. We've heard countless different variations of the same tale. Told by Disney, by Marc Forster in Finding Neverland, by P.J. Hogan in Peter Pan, etc.
Joe Wright, known for Pride and Prejudice, Anna Karenina, the Soloist and Atonment, takes on his first family film and a family film that is. Fairy Dust flies off the big screen, colours explode, a soundtrack to write home about and an adorable, strong headed, confused Peter who is afraid to fail and surprises nobody more than himself by flying over Neverland.
Part of the beginning of the film takes place during WWII. England is at war and food is scarce. The orphan little boys definitely see it on their plates and feel it in their tummies. Children disappear in the middle of the night, never to return. The situation looks very poor for the boys at the orphanage. Until one night, pirates from captain Blackbeard sweep in, select a couple of kids and take them away on a flying ship. The shots of that majestic flying ship over the Big Ben and St Paul's Cathedral in the middle of night was enough to give me goosebumps. The British Army Air Corps is in complete confusion. During that sequence I thought it perfectly plausible that those actions were based on true history.
The director made an interesting choice regarding soundtrack. I don't think anyone would use 'Nirvana' and 'family movie' in one sentence. Well, Joe did. The Ramones can be added to that sentence as well x) Just when you think this will be an all 'magic and fluffy' type of movie, they throw this at you.
Hook (Garrett Hedlund) is a funny yet egoistic character, who turns out not to be exactly that. Hedlund portrays him with a little too much drama, little too much expression, but that is exactly what works here. If he had played it down, I don't think he's character would have been as believable. There is some tension between him and Tiger Lily (Rooney Mara), but thank god they don't kiss. Tiger Lily, despite the whole she-not-a-native discussion, is a confident, fierce but kind hearted woman who fights for what she believes in. Blackbeard (Hugh Jackman) has one or two funny punch lines that only the grown ups will get. He is however the perfect villain for this story. And Peter (Levi Miller) is struggling to find out who he is, what is expected of him and is scared of failing. A feeling we can all relate to I guess. I think we can expect great things from Miller. You might want to keep an eye on that one :)
One thing that really caught my eye, is that it is a very very colorful movie. Even when it's not so colour, it's still very colourful. If that makes any sense?
Although I don't think the movie is as approachable for kids as the Disney version is, it's a perfect family film. Some cheeky punch lines and soundtracks for the grown ups and a colourful and playful spectacle for the little ones and an overall 1hour 51minutes well spent.
They leave the ending open, suggesting there might be a
sequel. A story between this 'origin' story where Peter arrives in
Neverland and the 'original' story where the Darlings arrive on the
scene. Who knows, we might have another Pan movie coming to us in 2018....
As per usual, below the trailer, a clip and an interview, just so you can get a first taste :)
Trailer
Clips
Interview
If you've decided to see Pan as well, let me know! I'd love to hear your opinion :)
