Books, Films, Gigs, and My Life!

[Error: unknown template qotd]

I don't think I can say my favourite - they are all good for different reasons! In terms of acting, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Benny and Joon are really excellent - I didn't even know it was him in Fear and Loathing at first! In terms of the character he plays, Edward Scissorhands and of course Pirates of the Caribbean are really good. For the worst, but also best, haha, accent, watch From Hell. For proof that when he has short hair his films are less good - watch Donnie Brasco and Public Enemies! Public Enemies especially - with Johnny Depp and Christian Bale starring, this film should have been amazing, but it just was quite disappointing. Oh, and how could I forget Chocolat - which is just a lovely film! :) Thats one of my films that I watch when I'm having a bad day - its just so nice and gentle :)

I'm just looking at IMDB and his list of films - theres loads I keep forgetting about! Totally forgot about The Libertine, might have to watch that again soon. And Finding Neverland. He's done such interesting characters over the years - one of the only "normal" type people he's played was recently in the Tourist, which most people seemed to dislike, but I quite liked it. The last scene was just fantastic, haha :)

But anyway, better stop thinking about Johnny Depp and get back to work!! :)

( Film Six – The Kings Speech )

( Film Seven - Dogville - 1/3 only! )

( Film 8 – Where Angels Fear to Tread )

( Book Six - Dining on Stones by Iain Sinclair )

( Book Seven - The Light of Day by Graham Swift )

( Book Eight - The Stray by Dick King-Smith / Stig of the Dump by Clive King )

8 / 120 books. 7% done!

I watched 78 films this year...well actually I only watched 73, but watched one three times and three twice. I seem to have been quite generous with my film ratings, more generous than with books anyway. It might be that I often have more of an idea about what the films are about than I do with books, so I only watch ones on subjects I know I'll like, whereas with books I read anything!

I gave 8 films 10 / 10:

Hot Fuzz
Inglourious Basterds (Quentin Tarantino's version)
This Is England
Toy Story 3
Pulp Fiction
Shaun of the Dead
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Mary Poppins

I'd recommend everyone watch all of those actually :D Shaun of the Dead is my favourite film, and Mary Poppins was my favourite childhood film, so maybe start with them and move onto the rest! This Is England is soul-destroying (in a Requiem for a Dream kind of way), so you will have to watch something happy after it, haha.

I gave three films 5 / 10:

Doomsday
The Village
The Other Boleyn Girl

I can't remember why I didn't like Doomsday. The Village just had a weak story (but Adrian Brody was excellent in it). The Other Boleyn Girl was just horribly miscast and just had something about it which wasn't quite right. Which is a shame, as I really liked the book.

I kind of failed at trying to go to the cinema more - I did see 11 films at the cinema, but thats not as many times as I thought I would go. But then again there haven't been that many films which I really wanted to see at the cinema, otherwise I would have gone more. Well, the problem probably is that the cinema near me is just rubbish, and only has the main blockbuster films on, if you want to go and see any more independent or "arty" films, they just don't have them on. But oh well! The main film I wanted to see last year and didn't see was Inception. I still don't really know what its about (and don't want to know, in case it ruins the story!) but it sounds intreiging! (..or however that word is spelt...)

In the three days of this year I've already watched four films and one comedy dvd, so I better get on with my reviews this year! :)

I am extremely behind in film reviews – so this will just be a couple of lines for each!

( Short film reviews! )

My rant for today – the IT helpdesk. Yesterday I was on the phone to them for 20 minutes without them picking up (I went from position 3, to position 1, then it told me they were sorry they couldn’t answer my call and to call back later! And now today I’ve been from position 3 to 1 and then said they couldn’t answer it, that was another 20 minutes wasted on the phone. I’m currently in position 4 in the queue….but if they ever pick up the phone I will probably have forgotten what I was ringing them about! The stupid thing is that every time you call them about a problem, they then later on send you a “feedback” form, about how their service is. Every time I’ve filled one of them in, I’ve emphasised that its unacceptable to be hanging on for 20 minutes each time you ring them, but they just don’t seem to listen! Its so frustrating! Gah!

But at least I can type whilst waiting!

( Film 57 – Che, Part One )

( Book Ninety – The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho )

( Book Ninety One – This Time of Dying by Reina James )

( Book Ninety Two – Goodnight Lady by Martina Cole )

…and that’s it ! All up to date! Woo! Still need to go back and work out where I’ve got the numbers wrong though…I think I just can’t count, and I don’t think I’ve missed any more reviews out…I hope not anyway, as I don’t think I’ll be able to remember the books anyway! I'm currently reading "Room" by Emma Donoghue....the most amazing book I've read for a long time!! So far anyway. I even had to have a slightly-longer-than-I'm-allowed lunch break as I just couldn't put it down!

( day 02 → your favourite movie )

As I know I'm not going to be able to go on the internet tomorrow...here is day 3!

( day 03 → your favourite television program )

( the rest of the days! )

So many reviews...and so many yet to go! I now have one gig, and six books to review!

( Book 79 – Dark Fire by CJ Sansom )

( Book 80 – Social Sciences – The Big Issues by Kath Woodward )

( Book 81 – Brokeback Mountain: Story to Screenplay by Annie Proulx, Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana )

( Film 52 – St Trinians )

( Film 53 – Hello Wembley! – Michael McIntyre )

( Book 82 – Remarkable Creatures by Tracey Chevallier )

( Film 50 – Scott Pilgrim )

( Book Seventy Five – Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell )

kandielei I hope that satisfies your curiosity now! :) 

Ooh and in other interesting news I've joined a book club (well haven't been to it yet, but I'm going to get the book to read on Saturday!). I'm quite excited about it really, isn't that sad, haha. The first book to read is "The House of Special Purpose" by John Boyne, which I have been wanting to buy and read ever since it came out, so now this is a good excuse to do so! 

Just added the "mood" thingy, and for "geeky" its a cat by a computer... I want one to be reading a book! :) 

Film 47 - Pulp Fiction

I've been stuck on this one for a while as I don't really know how to describe what its about - I could probably go on for a few thousand words about it, but I won't! I'll just tell you what I think about it! I love Quentin Tarantino as a director, and this is one of his best films. All the different strands of stories are so cleverly woven together, and theres so many little references to other films and stories, its great. I like John Travolta and Samuel Jackson's story best I think, and I really like the way that it links back to the first scene right at the end. The dialogue in Tarantino films is excellent, and this is no exception. There are just so many classic lines. And Quentin's cameo - well more than a cameo, a whole part - is great too. Definately recommended for film fans! 10 / 10

Film 48 - Madagascar

This film follows four animals - Alex the Lion, Marty the Zebra, Melman the Giraffe and Gloria the Hippo - from Central Park Zoo who get themselves shipped to Madagascar for trying to escape from the Zoo. Here they meet a tribe of lemurs and monkeys, ruled over by King Julien, who are terrorised by animals they call the "foosa". The animals (named by the lemurs "the New York Giants") scare away these animals, and then with four penguins who also came from New York - although they escaped by themselves! - try to find a way off of the island. The ending then sets it up perfectly for a sequel!

I really like this film, even though it is more of just a children's film instead of the adult and children's films that animations tend to be nowadays, but I like that. I think Shrek for example is just too adult orientated. Madagascar is a fun little film which has some great characters and voices - most notably Sacha Baron Cohen as King Julien, who is so funny. Nothing deep and meaningful here at all, but just good fun! :) 8 / 10