Pretty Girls In Pretty Dresses...

My 6 favourite dresses from the SAG Awards.

SAG Awards Results...

Movies:

Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood.
Actress: Julie Christie, Away From Her.
Supporting actor: Javier Bardem, No Country for Old Men.
Supporting actress: Ruby Dee, American Gangster.
Cast: No Country for Old Men.

Television:

Actor in a movie or miniseries: Kevin Kline, As You Like It.
Actress in a movie or miniseries: Queen Latifah, Life Support.
Actor in a drama series: James Gandolfini, The Sopranos.
Actress in a drama series: Edie Falco, The Sopranos.
Actor in a comedy series: Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock.
Actress in a comedy series: Tina Fey, 30 Rock.
Drama series cast: The Sopranos.
Comedy series cast: The Office.

My Thoughts:

* Ruby Dee? How long was she in American Gangster? I was convinced that Cate Blanchett had this in the bag. I'm even more upset that Saoirse's chances of winning the Oscar are looking les and less likely. BAFTA, don't fail me!
* It's beginning to get a little bit predictable. Just once, I'd like to see someone other than Day Lewis win. I'm sure he's astounding in There Will Be Blood, he's amazing in everything, but the predictability factor is never exciting for awards season.
* No Country wins again, I'm happy with that. Again, it's easy to guess but it's a Coen Brothers film, so that's good.
* Don't have much to say on the TV winners, I've never watched any of them.
* Some of the fashions were very pretty...

Lang may yer lum reek!

Tonight is Burns Night, the celebration of the best poet who ever came out of Scotland, Robert Burns. It's rather ironic that Burns, a heavy drinking womaniser who knocked up more women than he had hot dinners, is such an icon in Scotland. Much more interesting than any other poets in this country. Anyway, yesterday we had our Burns Supper at school, exclusive to 6th years only. It was semi formal which I wasn't looking forward to. I only own 2 dresses and the other one is for the prom so I didn't have a whole lot of choice. Here's what I wore:

And if you are wondering, no I do not smile! I adore this dress, I got it for £25 in a sale at Miss Selfridge. I had to wear the top underneath it or everyone would have seen my boobs! I even had my hair straightened, which resulted in several nips on the ears but was totally worth it. People actually said I looked nice! We danced, ate gross foo and sang Loch Lomond. Having everybody jumping up and down singing that song was frighteningly patriotic. I was waiting for us to run across the border!

The best thing about the night was our guest speaker, Karen Dunbar! If you don't know who she is (I'm not sure many people outside of Scotland do), she is one of the best comediennes in Scotland and is the star of her own sketch show and Chewin' The Fat (hilarious). She read Tam O Shanter out from heart as her special speech. It's a very long, very complicated poem and was amazing to watch. Here's a clip of her doing the same poem at another event. The most surreal thing was meeting her. I stood outside with these two lovely souls and some other friends as they smoked (I didn't - I hate the smell) and she came out and joined us! So weird and strangely normal!

Pamela and Kirsty (a.k.a. Sweeny)!

It was a great night and just cemented my belief that I love being Scottish! Only we could dedicate an entire day to a serial skirt chasing boozer that would be given an ASBO if he lived today!

29. Little Miss Sunshine (Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris)

I really need to cheer up now so I am posting my next favourite film in my top 30. Yet another indie film that was loved by some and declared evil by others.
The Hoover family are the very definition of the word 'dysfunctional.' While Richard (Greg Kinnear) tries desperately to sell his rather pathetic self-help programme, Olive (Abigail Breslin) dreams of winning a beauty pageant despite her podgy stature and less than beautiful looks, Dwayne (Paul Dano) has taken a vow of silence inspired by Neitsche, grandpa (Alan Arkin) snorts heroin and spouts profanities and Sheryl the mother (Toni Collette) tries to hold it all together. Sheryl's brother, Proust scholar Frank (Steve Carell) has moved in after a failed suicide attempt because of a rejection by the man he loves. After Olive wins a place in the Little Miss Sunshine pageant, the family all reluctantly gather in a run down yellow VW van and drive to California. What results is an unusual, touching and completely mad family vacation.

While the dysfunctional-family-road-trip genre is hardly new, and the over-the-top character styling wears thin from so many movies, Little Miss Sunshine really takes that all by the horns and makes it their own. Each character is well-written but not overdone and, even though you know there aren't many people out there that actually act like this, I felt like I could enjoy their company (just not in the same van!) The 6 members of the cast work so well together and embody all that is weird and wonderful about the family. Arkin won the Oscar for his brief but memorable role while Abigail Breslin is that wonderful thing - a non nauseating child performance. Unlike that strangely lauded Dakota Fanning, Breslin never tries to act like an adult or pretend her characteris anything other than what it is. She's a little girl who wants nothing more than to be a beauty queen. Her eagerness is by turns sweet and worrying, you know she isn't a perfectly made up doll yet you want her to succeed so much. She deserved that nomination as far as I'm concerned. Paul Dano quietly steals the show (no pun intended) and Steve Carell proves why he is the most talented Frat Pack member.

Comedy and drama is very hard to balance right, and this film gets it perfectly. Things get a little over dramatic towards the end but the comedy just keeps rolling, never lame or stupid. The background details are great (the porno in the shop, Dwayne's little notes, Frank's deadpan comments to Richard) and the look is pure indie, sweeping landscapes that fly by as the family come close to madness in the van. And to top it all off, the film ends with not one hint of sickly sentimentality, a real killer for a film. The score is wonderfully catchy, I can't tell you how many times I've been caught whistling to the theme, DeVotchKa’s How It Ends.

A lot of people get in trouble or are ridiculed for putting recently released movies on their favourite film lists. I don't care what people say about me adding this, I enjoy it too much. Film is all about personal taste and I hope this film is considered a classic in 20 years.

Top Moments:

Olive's talent in the Beauty Pageant.

Dwayne flipping out.

The van being pulled over by the police.

Favourite Quote:

"It was a fucking paradise. They got pool... They got golf... Now I'm stuck with Mr. Happy here, sleeping on a fucking sofa. Look, I know you are a homo and all, but maybe you can appreciate this. You go to one of those places, there's four women for every guy. Can you imagine what that's like? I had second degree burns on my johnson, I kid you not."

Rest in Peace Mr Ledger...

I was texted at 11pm last night with the horrible news that Heath Ledger had died. I ran downstairs to check the news and saw the horrific ans just plain wrong image of his body being reeled out, covered up, into an ambulance as the vulture-like press surrounded the building. I'm still in a bit of shock and I admit I cried a little last night. His picture is on my wall from Brokeback Mountain so now it has a poignant feel. Apparently the coronoers suspect an accidental overdose of prescription sleeping pills. Whatever the cause, it's a terrible waste of an amazing talent and the world has lost someone amazing. My thoiughts are with his family and his little girl...
Rest in Peace Heath Ledger...

"Whoa, dream big!"

In celebration of Miss Page's nomination today, the real campaigning starts for Best Actress. Go Ellen!

And they're in!

Finally, after what seems like months of waiting, The 2008 Academy Award nominations were announced. Sadly I was at school at the time so couldn't post what I think. But I'm here now.
Forst the good. Saoirse is in! That made me particularly happy, especially because Ikea Knightley didn't get a look in. She should definately win, but I'm still predicting Cate Blanchett at this moment in time. Her double whammy was a surprise, especially because Elizabeth: The Golden Age was considered too meh-ish. Ellen Page received her nomination for the amazing Juno, which also got more nominations than I thought it would. There are so many surprises this year, like Michael Clayton for Best Picture. I really should see this film. No nomination for Angelina Jolie (boo!) but lovely Laura Linney was the surprise of the category. Viggo and Johnny was a great sight too, especially for my sister. I guess it was too much to hope that Zodiac would be noticed...She's still grinning. Norbit for Best Make Up - the end is near.
So my team this year is:

Johnny Depp (Haven't seen Sweeney Todd but he's a great actor and I'm always one to root for the underdog, especially in a category where Day Lewis might as well pick up the Oscar now.)
Ellen Page (she has cushioned the blow from lack of Jolie. A fantastic performance in a fantastic movie that makes you proud to be a different teen.)
Casey Affleck (I've always considered him to be one of the most underrated actors in Hollywood and his performance as Robert Ford was mesmerising. Javier will win though and I'm happy for that.)
Saoirse Ronan (Proof that not all child actresses are saccarine sweet creeps. Her eyes are so haunting and she should be watched for years to come. Roll on The Lovely Bones.)
Atonement and Juno (No Country is looking more and more like a lock but these 2 hold my heart dearly.)

My predictions for Best Director..

This is getting harder and harder to predict. Not much change from the Best Picture category except for the addition of Sean Penn. AMPAS love it when actors become successful directors and although the film didn't make much of an impact at the Golden Globes, the critics have loved Into The Wild. The Coens are currently my favourites to win but with the surprise of Schnabel's win at the Globes, there could be an upset in the air. I have added Joe Wright solely because I couldn't think of anyone else to add, it's a longshot, but I'm holding out for it.

Best Director:

Paul Thomas Anderson (There Will Be Blood)

Joel and Ethan Coen (No Country For Old Men)

Sean Penn (Into The Wild)

Julian Schnabel (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly)

Joe Wright (Atonement)

Alternatives:

Tim Burton (Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street)

Sidney Lumet (Before The Devil Knows You're Dead)

Jason Reitman (Juno)

30. Donnie Darko (Richard Kelly)

So begins my top 30 movies of all time with a cult film that divided critics and film fans all over the world. The list only gets worse after that.
Trying to explain the plot to Richard Kelly's twisted, dystopian debut is not as easy task. To explain it in simple terms, it's about an outcast teenager Donnie (Jake Gyllenhaal) who begins to have visions of a 6 foot tall bunny rabbit called Frank who tells him the world will end in 28 days. Not exactly a conventional plot but it works. What makes Donnie Darko so special in my eyes is the combination of superheo movie and the portrait of weird adolescent angst in American suburbia. There is no way you can't count Donnie Darko as a superhero - he wears a costume, has a costumed villain, tries to save the world while he gets the girls. Even his name is a double D sound, like Clark Kent or Peter Parker or David Dunn from Unbreakable. It's up to him to save everything and survive high school at the same time, not as easy feat when everyone thinks you're mad.

Donnie is made into a well-rounded and likeable character by the wonderful Jake Gyllenhaal. He may be more acclaimed now for his Oscar nominated role in Brokeback Mountain but here is where he made his name. Donnie is a complicated guy, then again all teenagers are. He's much more than just a weird outcast, he's a rebel who needs to save the entire planet with a mixture of time travel, pipe bursting and paradoxes. (Don't ask). Gyllenhaal is goofy, sarcastic, incredibly intelligent and disillusioned with his life and the people at his school, like the teachers who try to ban classic literature. Jake isn't the only great performance. His sister Maggie, always underrated and never dull, is lovely as Donnie's sister and their scenes together show just how talented the Gyllenhaals are. Patrick Swayze makes an unusual cameo as a self-help guru, proclaimed to be wonderful by everybody, who Donnie deems the "fucking anti-christ."

The plot is bonkers and requires repeat viewings. Kelly pays homage to master of weird, David Lynch, both of whom like the darker side of normality. There are some moments of technical genius, such as the camera's journey through the school to Tears For Fears. It's a shame that Kelly hasn't achieved more success, his follow-up film Southland Tales was panned and deemed way too pretentious for the regular movie fan. But Donnie Darkop will always hold a special place in my heart, if only for introducing me to Jake Gyllenhaal.

Top moments:
- Donnie and Frank in the cinema.
- The Hallowe'en Party.
- Donnie confronting Jim Cunningham at his meeting.
- Gary Jules' "Mad World" plays as each character realises something has suddenly changed.

Favourite quote:
I am pretty- I'm, I'm pretty troubled and I'm, I'm pretty confused. But I... and I'm afraid. Really, really afraid. Really afraid. But I... I... I think you're the fucking Antichrist.

My predictions for Best Picture..

This was a really hard list to compile. While No Country is 99.999% a lock for a nomination, the rest was a little iffy. I was tempted to put in Sweeney Todd but chose Juno instead. It's the little movie the could and I think it will take the token 'indie' nomination like last year's Little Miss Sunshine. Atonement has a lot more momentum thanks to the Golden Globes and BAFTAs so I'm really pulling for a nomination. It's the category's dark horse and the Academy loves a period piece. There Will Be Blood is doing so well critically and I think the tour-de-force that is Mr Day Lewis might help pull a Picture nomination. That leaves number 5...with the surprise Best Director win and it's omission from Foreign Film, I think this will be the surprise nominee. It looks excellent and if it's honest to the book, will be just inspirational enough to reel in AMPAS.

Of course you all have to remember that I know nothing! Nobody knows anything.

Best Picture:

Atonement (Joe Wright)

The Diving Bell And The Butterfly (Julian Schnabel)

Juno (Jason Reitman)

No Country For Old Men (The Coen Brothers)

There Will Be Blood (Paul Thomas Anderson)

Coming soon...

My Top 30 Movies of All Time!

Complete with reviews, pictures, videos, and many many more things as soon as I think of them!

Pretty Avatars.

Just been browsing my Photobucket account at all the avatars I borrowed/stole from my 2nd favourite film ever!

"I could never get the hang of Thursdays."

Well, school has sort of bheen sorted out. Now, as of tomorrow, I will officially be a geography drop-out. It was the subject I was making the least amount of progress in and I'm better off without it, but I'll miss my awesome teachers. Part of me is glad that the stress won't be making me break down anymore, but my failure complex is kicking in like mad. It doesn't help that everybody at school now knows I had a mental meltdown. Gits.

To take my mind off things, I watched the first episode of The Tudors. It's nowhere near as good as Rome but it's entertaining all the same. I highly doubt Henry VIII was as gorgeous as Jonathan Rhys Meyers but it's fun to watch (although if he was that cute, it would explain the 6 wives). The historical inaccuracies are a bit distracting and the sex doesn't feel necessary. In Rome, it showed the debauchery of the time, in The Tudors it feels a bit desperate. However, I'll definately be watching more.

Now to listen to some happy music. Billie Holiday may be a beautiful singer but Gloomy Sunday and Strange Fruit aint recommended for cheering one's self up. I have a happy playlist somewhere so here are a few songs from it:

Shiny Happy People - R.E.M. and the B-52s.

It's Oh So Quiet - Bjork

Rocket - El Presidente

I Only Want To Be With You - Dusty Springfield

It Sucks To Be Me/Special - Avenue Q

"Either I just peed my pants or..."

When one is depressed, the best remedy is a good movie and a cup of tea. Thanks to some certain erm...less than legal aquiring, I managed to get my hands on Juno, one of my most anticipated movies of the 2007/8 Awards run.


Juno MacGuff (Ellen Page) finds herself in the less than easy position of a teen pregnancy thanks to her friend Paulie (Michael Cera). She decides to give the baby to a seemingly perfect suburban couple (Jennifer Garner and Jason Bateman) and spends the next few months figuring out her own feelings and weaving through high school with a massive baby bump.


I am going to go out on a limb here and predict Juno will get the 5th spot in the Best Picture category of the Oscars (my predictions will go up soon.) It really is that good! Diablo Cody, the former stripper turned screenwriter, has cracked a goldmine and written a witty, sweet and perfectly balanced script about a very tough subject. Each character is completely human and you can relate to them so easily. It's a shame that each character only gets a little bit of screen-time because you really want to see more of them (in particular Juno's dad and step-mum played by J.K. Simmons and the 27%er Alison Janney). People may sniff and go on about the over-use of words such as 'like' and 'awesome' but the honest and slightly shameful truth is we teenagers do talk like that. Ellen Page as the eponymous Juno is perfect in the role. She's sarcastic and oddball-ish without laying it on too much. Juno handles her situation with such wit, reason and a real sophisticated sense of the world that she makes me feel really young and immature. It saddens me to think that she may be unfairly overshadowed come Oscar time by a certain pretty face that stepped into a fountain. Page is a true rising star (take note, public voters for BAFTA).

The music by Kimya Dawson is suitably stripped back and in tone with the low budget, relaxed settings. if I have any gripes at all, and they're very small ones, it's the occasional Juno voice-over. It's not really necessary even if it is only every now and then. Other than that, I just had too much of a good time watching it to complain.

Foreign Film Nominees.

The ever-lovely Helen O Hare of EmpireOnline has gone on a bit of a rant with the choices of films in the Best Foreign Film category shortlist.

Austria - The Counterfeiters (Stefan Ruzowitzky, director)
Brazil - The Year My Parents Went on Vacation (Cao Hamburger, director)
Canada - Days of Darkness (Denys Arcand, director)
Israel - Beaufort (Joseph Cedar, director)
Italy - The Unknown Woman (Giuseppe Tornatore, director)
Kazakhstan - Mongol (Sergei Bodrov, director)
Poland - Katyn (Andrzej Wajda, director)
Russia - 12 (Nikita Mikhalkov, director)
Serbia - The Trap (Srdan Golubovic, director)

I haven't seen any of these films so can't exactly judge them, but like Ms O' Hara, I am surprised at certain omissions. Why has The Diving Bell And The Butterfly decided to campaign for Best Picture? Persepholis is one of the best reviewed movies of the year and doesn't get a look in. It will most certainly appear in Animated Feature but it makes it seem much less important a film because it's a cartoon. 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days was a 5 star movie all round and is shoved aside. Is it too heavy an issue to nominate or is AMPAS just weak? The foreign film I'm most looking forward to is The Orphanage, produced by Guillermo Del Toro (who was robbed last year in this category). Is fantasy not important enough? What is the happy medium that will allow your movie to be nominated? All in all, not a particularly grabbing category this year.

School sucks!

It's Wednesday, I should be in geography now but instead I'm at home in my pyjamas. I totally lost it on Monday and don't want to go back there anymore. Here's the full story:
I've commented many times on the amount of work I get from school. I'm doing more work than anybody else in my year (more than a 1st year university student), not by choice but thanks to a bloody accounting error I wasn't allowed to change. I thought I'd be able to cope with it because I'm a hard worker and like a challenge. I can't...It's killing me. On Monday, I went into English and was told I needed to do a textual analysis essay, despise the fact that I've chosen to do creative writing instead (you get the choice). I asked if I could just get on with some folio work instead and was told I had to do this piece. Everyone in my class then moaned at me for complaining because if they had to do it, so should I. This wasn't fair. I have more work to do than anybody else in my year and don't have time to do extra work that has nothing to do with my coursework and won't go towards my final mark. I went to get my lunch at the shop where my auntie works and I flipped. I ended up sobbing and crying and snotting everywhere. Think Russell Crowe in Gladiator and then some. I couldn't take it anymore, nobody seemed to care that I was dying with all this work, they just kept giving me even more work to do on top of it all. I took the rest of the afternoon off citing 'stomach-ache' and went to cry for a bit longer. I couldn't even talk to my parents because they were in Spain. But it gets worse...
The next day, I went back to English. This time it was my poetry teacher. She's like Nurse Ratched crossed with the Cheshire Cat. I asked if my friend and I could do our Plath essay together in class instead of more textual analysis. She then went on about how we shouldn't just shove all her work aside, with a big grin on her evil old face. I retorted that I had 4 advanced highers to do and couldn't afford to do more work that wasn't necessary to my coursework. This was her exact reply.
"Nanananananananananananananah!"
That's fucking ignorant! That's not being a supportive teacher, that's taking me for a fool. It took all my strength not to walk out of that class and call her an evil, old fucker!
So now I'm so miserable. Not even the thought of the BAFTAs can cheer me up. I don't feel like me anymore, I can't do anything for myself because I feel guilty that I'm not doing homework or stupid course-work. I know I don't have to be there (I have my unconditionals) but I'll feel like such a failure if I don't pass them all. I feel so miserable all the time and there's nobody at school to talk to about it. My friends don't understand, my sister has her own problems (bullying, other thing sI can't mention) and the teachers couldn't give a toss. The people in charge of my school, the SMT, care about one thing and one thing only. The exam results. The better they are, the more money they get and the more glory is heaped upon their shoulders. Not once has any of them offered help or support for me. One tried to kick me out because I refused to do social dancing but they couldn't care less about the students. Their favourite word is 'attainment' and they use it all the time. They want us to break our backs for their benefit. They always put us down, shove on more stress than any human should have to put up with but don't listen to the real problems. This isn't right, we're in 2008, not the 1950s! My mum actually cried because she hates my sister and I being so unhappy. My parents are going to hopefully sort this out tonight.

Golden Globe Winners.

Sorry I'm late. I've been staying at my computerless gran's house since Friday. The ceremony was of course cancelled thanks to the WGA and replaced with the substantially less exciting press conference. Here are the results...

- Drama: "Atonement"
- Comedy or Musical: "Sweeney Todd"
- Actor, Drama: Daniel Day-Lewis, "There Will Be Blood"
- Actress, Drama: Julie Christie, "Away from Her"
- Actress, Musical or Comedy: Marion Cotillard, "La Vie En Rose."
- Actor, Musical or Comedy: Johnny Depp, "Sweeney Todd."
- Supporting Actress: Cate Blanchett, "I'm Not There."
- Supporting Actor: Javier Bardem, "No Country for Old Men."
- Director: Julian Schnabel, "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly."
- Screenplay: Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, "No Country for Old Men."
- Foreign Language: "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly," France and U.S.
- Animated Film: "Ratatouille."
- Original Score: Dario Marianelli, "Atonement."
- Original Song: "Guaranteed" from "Into the Wild."

My thoughts:

* Atonement actually won Best Drama! I did not see that coming, I thought No Country For Old Men had it in the bag. This is a pleasant surprise and gives me a little hope that they might pull a fast one at the Oscars. Although I realistically know that won't happen, at least the BAFTAs are biased enough to give them something.
* Although I haven't seen Sweeney Todd, I love Burton, Depp, Bonham Carter and Sondheim so I'm happy with that. A certificate 18 musical - awesome. It would have been nice to see Hairspray get something, Nikki Blonsky was such a gem. But Cotillard was certain for the win.
* All my acting predictions were correct so I haven't completely lost my touch. Day-Lewis has it in the bag as far as I'm concerned. Although I'm Team Casey, I'm totally fine with Javier Bardem winning, he deserves some credit. Plus that haircut...poor guy. I was so rooting for Saoirse! But Blanchett is almost a lock for that category now, I can't see Miss Ronan getting it despite blowing me away.
* While the acting was easy to guess, I was totally surprised by the Best Director choice. I have read the book and it's stupendous but very difficult to get right so I'm curious to see this film. I don't know why Diving Bell and the Butterfly won Foriegn Film, I thought it was exempt? Please correct me if I'm wrong.
* Best score - 100% right.

Awww!

BAFTA's 2008 Rising Star nominees.

The nominees for the only BAFTA award voted for by the public were announced today.

Sienna Miller (Factory Girl, Interview, Stardust)

Shia LaBoeuf (Transformers, Holes, Disturbia)

Sam Riley (Control)

Ellen Page (Juno, Hard Candy, X Men 3)
Tang Wei (Lust, Caution)

I can't really comment on all 5 of them because i haven't seen Control, Lust, Caution, Juno or any of Miller's films. So I've only seen Transformers...

But I'm really rooting for Ellen Page because she's got this amazing potential and deserves to ge recognized, if only for Hard Candy. My instincts go with Shia at this moment because he was in one of the biggest films of the year and last year's winner - Eva Green - was too. It's definately in the popularity stakes. Maybe the Brits will go with the home choices but I really can't stand Sienna Miller, she just seems way too fake to me.

Predicted Winner: Shia LaBoeuf

Personal Wish: Ellen Page

Things of the week:

It's only 2 days into the week but since I'm back at school, a lot has happened. I have 4 weeks until my prelim exams which I am dreading like the plague. It's really stressful and I feel like I have no free time. Tonight I decided, against my better judgement, to take a night off and just do stuff that makes me happy. So here it is:

Last Movie I Watched: The Island (Michael Bay)

A friend gave me the DVD to watch tonight, despite my slight hatred of Michael Bay. I'm not on the hatred level of Mark Kermode but he still bugs me. Transformers was the epitome of crap cool, enjoyable but total guff, and I just can't stand Armageddon. But as a Ewan McGregor fan I gave this a chance. God...The basic premise is fantastic. I'm studying stem cell research for my religious studies dissertation and this was sort of relavent. It's a great opportunity to discuss the ethics behind the debate, the what-ifs and the God complex behind taking control of another living being's life. Unfortunately, this is barely touched on and we're left with a hollow, badly edited action movie. I love action - when it's done well. Bay has this horrible habit of making the camera wobble as much as possible so you can't even see what's going on and it's evident throughout all of his films. There's a great car chase that could have been exciting but instead, I was bored and dizzy. There's a fine line between getting involved in the action and making your audience nauseous. Mcgregor has a wobbly accent and tries hard to do the best with his role, a sorely missed opportunity, but he's amazing compared to Scarlett Johanson, the girl who single-handedly killed Girl With A Pearl Earring on it's feet. She is so dull, I feel like I'm watching somebody turn to wood. If it weren't for the fact that she does a lot of running, you'd think she was a tree! Inevitably, the 2 hook up, despite having been programmed not to feel sexual emotions. But she learns how to from a Calvin Klein ad! The same one Scar Jo is in! The film doesn't even feel shame at the advertisment overload. XBox, MSN, Puma, it's all in there to warp you. Don't be sucked in! Overall, it's not a complete waste of time. The moments where the issue is touched (barely) are interesting but easy on the brain, Steve Buscemi is always value for money and the action is enjoyable when you can see it. Rent it or download it, but don't pay any more than £5 for it, unless you really love Ewan McGregor.

Poem of the Week - Blackberrying - Sylvia Plath

Nobody in the lane, and nothing, nothing but blackberries,

Blackberries on either side, though on the right mainly,

A blackberry alley, going down in hooks, and a sea

Somewhere at the end of it, heaving. Blackberries

Big as the ball of my thumb, and dumb as eyes

Ebon in the hedges, fat

With blue-red juices. These they squander on my fingers.

I had not asked for such a blood sisterhood; they must love me.

They accommodate themselves to my milkbottle, flattening their sides.

Overhead go the choughs in black, cacophonous flocks --

Bits of burnt paper wheeling in a blown sky.

Theirs is the only voice, protesting, protesting.

I do not think the sea will appear at all.

The high, green meadows are glowing, as if lit from within.

I come to one bush of berries so ripe it is a bush of flies,

Hanging their bluegreen bellies and their wing panes in a Chinese screen.

The honey-feast of the berries has stunned them; they believe in heaven.

One more hook, and the berries and bushes end.

The only thing to come now is the sea.

From between two hills a sudden wind funnels at me,

Slapping its phantom laundry in my face.

These hills are too green and sweet to have tasted salt.

I follow the sheep path between them. A last hook brings me

To the hills' northern face, and the face is orange rock

That looks out on nothing, nothing but a great space

Of white and pewter lights, and a din like silversmiths

Beating and beating at an intractable metal.

Song of the Week: My Moon, My Man - Feist

Geography pictures.

Ignore the date, I can't work my camera properly. These are pictures of the lochs around the area where I live that I am studying for geography. It was absolutely freezing!

"You know what I expected? Applause."

After a bad start to the year, things are on the up, especially since my first cinema visit of 2008 was such an amazing piece of work. A movie that deserves 100% of it's buzz, The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford is both a work of art and a haunting portrait of two contrasting men.

Don't let the very long title or equally long film length put you off seeing Jesse James. Not once does the film feel 2 hours and 40 minutes long. It's more a journey than anything else and the viewer is alongside the James gang as they rob, fight and backstab their way over the course of just over a year. The film focuses on the final year of Jesse James' life (Brad Pitt) as he goes finishes his final train robbery and how he copes with life afterwards. At the centre of this is the 19 year old Robert Ford (the stupendous Casey Affleck) who has been dangerously obsessed with James, or rather the myth of James, all his life. Believe those reviews, Casey Affleck is a revelation! At the same time a bag of twitching nerves, a fanatic fan underwhelmed by his hero and an unnerving foe, Ford is as complex as characters are on screen. You can't help but feel pity for the man as he is branded a coward and wish he had never met James. I am officially on Team Casey for the Oscars! That isn't to say the rest of the cast are bad in any way. The best thing Brad Pitt ever did was get older. He's matured into a proper screen icon and brings out the fragility behind the famous charisma of the thief. For the first time, I genuinely forgot that it was the world wide superstar Mr Pitt on the screen. Kudos goes to Sam Rockwell for a great show as Ford's dimwit brother.

If I have one problem with the film, it's the lack of women. It's definately a man's tale and the girls barely get a word in. The Jesse James myth is broken down but I wanted to see more of James the family man and how his wife (Mary Louise Parker) viewed her husband for being so notorious. Zooey Deschanel makes an appearance for all of 2 minutes which is never enough for such an incandescent actress.

The other star that nearly overshadows Affleck is the cinematography. Atonement better watch out come awards season! The earthy colours that flood the screen give the film a natural quality, occasionally met with a dream-like state. The most beautiful example of this is the infamous final train robbery. The smoke silhouetting James' figure, the light amongst the trees, the frightening masked faces amongst the forest. It's one of the best scenes of the year (and I don't think that will change!)

I can't think of a better way to start the movie year that didn't involve nudity or musical numbers put together. Jesse James will be one of my hopeful front-runners come awards season, with Affleck as the best supporting performance of 2007. Both an anti-western and a portrait of the delusions of celebrity, I urge you all to see the film. You won't regret it.

Casey Affleck For The Oscar!

Hey, it's okay to...

- Constantly worry about school, you're expected to!
- Feel bad about yourself, as said above, you're meant to sometimes!
- Watch cartoons meant for young kids. Fairly Odd Parents and Kim Possible are good shows!
- Have ugly days.
- Go see movies solely because there's a gorgeous guy in it.
- Obsess over the stupidest things, like how fizzy your Coca Cola is.
- Secretly love trashy vampire novels and not tell anybody.
- Use smilies as part of an internet conversation.
- Write cheesy stories and fanfiction (but it's not okay to write Mary Sue, that is a bit too far)
- Constantly go back to search your own blog in the hope of finding another comment.
- Listen to Andrew Lloyd Webber songs.
- Gorge yourself on sweetcorn or chocolate.
- Cry at Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile. They're as emotional as films get!
- Not like Lost In Translation just because it's critically acclaimed. It's just pretentious trash!
- Hate Hollywood actresses that are prettier than you. Most of them can't act so you can justify yourself that way.
- Not find Daniel Radcliffe attractive (I can name about 5 guys sexier than him in Harry Potter)
- Root for a film to win awards that you've never actually seen.

Blatantly stolen from Glamour Magazine. The best feature they do every month.

The FYCs are back!

This is probably my most anticipated movie of the moment.


Kreacher's just as gorgeous as Dan Radcliffe!


Go Team Casey!

364 days to go.

This year has gotten off to a shit start thanks to one dirty slag. Not to go into details but we had the worst ever New Years Day party and it wasn't the most positive way to start off one of the most important years of my life.
Here's to you all, I hope your 2008 got off better than mine.