Saturday 1 November 2008

In God we Dust

Could you ever imagine a film being made about trying to kill God? My word you would have the entire religious population storming the gates.

But guess what?

Sam Mendes is going to do just that!

Adapted from the Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon comic call Preacher, it follows small town preacher called Jessie Custer.
Custer was accidentally possessed by the supernatural creature named Genesis in an incident which killed his entire congregation and flattened his church.

Genesis, the product of the unauthorized, unnatural coupling of an angel and a demon, is an infant with no sense of individual will. However, as it is composed of both pure goodness and pure evil, it might have enough power to rival that of God himself. In other words, Jesse Custer, bonded to Genesis, may have become the most powerful being in the whole of living existence.

He travels across America with his hit woman girlfriend and his best friend Cassidy, an Irish vampire, with the sole aim of finding and killing God for deserting mankind.

OOhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

Controversial!

When this goes into productions the shit is definitely going to hit the fan. A lasped preacher. He drinks, smokes, swears, f*cks, fights and want to kill the almighty. The scary religious types are not going to like that one bit.
However Mendes does seem a good choice to be able to translate the emotional and psychological complexity to the big screen.

There has been no word on casting, but I would love to see Uma Thurman back causing hell as the girlfriend. Colin Farrell would be so much fun as Cassidy.

As for Jessie....well of course I would love to see Hugh Jackman in the role...heck..cast him in anything!!

Top Ten Movie Hates

I love movies.
I know, judging by my complete lack of cinematic viewing this year you may call that into question, but to be honest I have been catching up on old films.
But back to the main point. I love lovies so much that I really hate it when films pander to a stupid audience, especially when the film is trying to be high brow.

So here is my top ten list of things I hate movies for doing (random order).

1) When a movie has it's character/s living through multi generations, why oh why do they insist on keeping the same hair style?
Are we as an audience to believe that the character never thought to themselves that a hair style change is in order.
I know there are stupid people who need as many clues as possible, but really.

Am I really to believe that Laura Brown would not have hacked off her hair in her lesbian rebellion? PLEASE! She would have run off and gotten a new do...she would have cut that masn right out of her hair.
Sure it s easier to suspend belief for men, but women.

I am sure there were some artisitc reasons for the fact that in about 70 years Briony never once changed her hairstlye, but come on...She would have at least gotten rid of the clip!


2) You are home alone. It is dark and the house is big. There are no pets about, the windows are closed and there isn't a storm. You hear a noice upstairs/down the hall/in the basement. What do you do?
You sure as hell do not call out "Is there anyone there?"! Are you mad...of course someone/thing is there. Shouting out that phrase is just giving away your location. May as well just kill yourself and save her/him/it the hassle.

Please movies...stop doing this.
The worst is when you hear someone/thing call your name. I would think you are pretty sure as shit there is someone there. No one in their right mind would ever reply "is there anyone there?", we would run silently (screaming would also give away your wear abouts)...we have all seen the movie.


3) In the same vein as number 2. Why do people always have to go out an investigate a strange noise. Never ever go out an investigate a noise. The only time I have ever gone out in the dark to investigate a noise was the time my cat ran away and I thought I heard her. I couldn't find her and quickly went back in.
And for the record these are noises you can easily write off: Dog barking, tree branch against window, rustling in the bushes, basically any noise that can easily be written off.
If you hear something stranger, you turn off all the lights, grab a knife, go to a room that has easy access to an escape route and wait.


4) If you hear a strange noise outside, or inside, turn off all the lights. Pull the circuit breaker. If they are outside and it is night you are not going to be able to see them with the lights-a-blaring. Turn them off, the moonlight will light up the outside and he/she/it cannot see where you are hiding.
If they are inside, well who knows your house better than you...you can make your way in the dark they can't. Simple logic.


5) In make over movies, the ugly girl who gets transformed needs to be seen as unattractive. An oversized jumper, ponytail and classes do not an ugly girl make. One of the few films that did this transformation brilliantly was 'Stricktly Ballroom'. Fran went from geek to chic ever so subtly you hardly noticed.


6) This for my partner who hates it with a passion when they say the movie title in the movie. We are not talking about a movie like 'Moulin Rouge!' or 'Juno' when the title is a place or a characters name. We are talking lines like "..I'm just a Girl, Interrupted" or "What if this is as Good as it Gets?".
Doesn't piss me off nearly as much though.


7) In a rom/com, we all know that when you have two people who are polar opposites to each other, and start off hating each other, they are going to end up falling in love. Find a new angle people...it becomes so obvious right from the begining. Most of can plot it out from the premise alone.


8) Back to horror for a second. If you look at some of the most successful horror.scary movies of all time, they all have one thing in common. They are pretty gore-free. Nothing is more frightening then an imagination!

If I even think about 'The Haunting' (1960's), 'The Blair Witch Project' or 'The Exorcist' I pee myself a little. These are movie I unfortunately took home with me. Even the original 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre' was pretty gore-free, and I still had to turn it off....the suspense was literally killing me. So note to Hollywood: With Horror, less is always more.


9) Crazy physco killers in real life never ever monologue...they just kill you. Physco babble is just a plot devise to allow the hero a chance to escape. Re-think this please.


10) 'The Untouchables' was good because the little girl got blown to smithereens. In disaster films and horror films, and action films where you have involved children know this: kids are just as likely to get killed as adults are. A childs body is upsetting but also makes a film believable. The only real time you see dead children is in war films. You know, in a horror film when the homicidal maniac has broken into the house and killed mummy, daddy, big sister and grand pa but left the 7 year old in the closet holding the baby? That ain't gonna happen in real life. Don't get me started about babies!


So there is my rant. These are the things I love to hate about movies. What I roll my eyes about when they occure. What do you hate?

'The Reader' trailer

Well this murks up the water more than diarrhea in a bath tub. Everyone has been saying she is being campaigned in Supporting, but she is CLEARLY lead. I mean the only true lead in the trailer.

However aside from that she does look like she will again do amazing work in this.

Friday 31 October 2008

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Thought I would share some of the films that scared the living crap out of me.....Mwah ha ha ha ha ha

Couldn't even get through the trailer.


Just bloody freaky


This still haunts me. These are the the scary stories my mother used to tell me brought to life on screen.


eeek!

Cleopatra...coming at ya!

Yes yes, we all know about the Soderbergh/Cleopatra musical movie which he is hoping to start next spring, but what I really want to know is what will this film look like?

I have no idea what a Steven Soderbergh musical would look like? It seems almost utterly left of centre and unimaginable which is why I am thinking it is going to be brilliant.

Finally Hugh Jackman is going to have a role where he gets to utilize all of his talents! Singing, dancing, acting (all topless please.....scrap that...make it a naked musical - like the pic!) his way into our hearts. Between this 'Wolverine' and 'Australia' I am seriously ready to break many a kidnapping law.

Apparently a little bird told me that Soberbergh has been working on this idea for a while yet, on the sly. Also he is adamant that it is going to be a lot of fun so I am assuming they are going to tamper with history and leave out the assisted suicide angleIt sounds so promising, let's just hope he decides to scrap filming it in 3D.

Nothing ruins the movie going experience more than having to remember to put on your glasses.

Avengers - An all male review

Robert Downey Jr. really is the man of the moment. After his crash a few year ago, most people thought his career was over, but he slowly built a come back since 2000's turn in 'The Wonder Boys'. That come back exploded this year with 'Iron Man' and 'Tropic Thunder'.

With a trilogy deal for the Iron Man franchise, and a cameo in 'The Incredible Hulk' he seems to be the super hero of the moment.

Now we get the news that Marvel is going to assemple those pesky 'Avengers'. Downey Jr. has renegotiated his deal with the studio to officially reprise his role as Tony Stark in the 3rd 'Iron Man; and 2011 'The Avengers'.

I am loving the cross polination. It is like when Buffy, Willow and Oz appeared in 'Angel'....so damn cool, and also helps create a sense of a real universe.

Also going in this direction is Don Cheadle who has taken over the role of James Rhodes originally played by Terrance Howard (apparently Howard wanted too much money so they got rid of him). Cheadle is going to appear in both films as well.

As for the who is playing Captain America, The Hulk and Thor, well we will have to wait and see, although it would be cool if Ed Norton came back.

However the question begs to be asked. What about the others?

The original 'Avengers' consisted of Ant-Man, Wasp, Thor, The Hulk and Iron Man and this was since inception. Later on, when The Hulk realizes how much the others fear his unstable personality, he leaves, only to be replaced my Captain America, who eventually becomes leader.

One would think they are going with this story arc, but they would have to include Ant-Man (who can shrink and control ants) and Wasp (who can shrink and grow wings as well as fire blasts of energy from her hands).
They may not be as well know, but are still important to the Avengers universe. Plus with all these male super heros it risks becoming a sausage factory.
We need some estrogen in there.
Perhaps there is room for 'Black Widow'?

Thursday 30 October 2008

'Slumdog Millionaire' Trailer

If I have ever seen a trailer designed to be a Best Picture nominee...well this is it.

Check it our here.

Pursuing J-Lo

Jennifer Lopez dropped out of the lead role in 'Love And Other Impossible Pursuits'.

Now before I get into the other news, let me just contemplate the above sentence.

Is the news "Jennifer Lopez dropped out of the lead role in...." ever bad news?

No?
Well then I am happy to report on some good news for you.

It gets better though.
It turns out that Natalie Portman has leapt in, and at the last minute as the film starts shooting on November 10.

Portman will play Emilia, a young wife whose life and marriage stall after the cot death of her infant daughter. She is still, however, stepmother to her husband Jack's son William, and under the disapproving eye of his mother and the increasingly distant eye of her husband Jack, she has to try to put her life back together.

Sounds like it is just a budget decrease away from a Lifetime original movie, but apparently the book by Ayelet Waldham is very sharp and very funny, and it is being directed by Don "The Opposite of Sex" Roos.
Rumored to be playing Jack is Scott Cohen (not sure either), and alss rumored, in the role of Caroline (the mother) is Lisa Kudrow. OH YES PLEASE!!!

Added to this another juicy role for Portman, I am excited to see how this product turns out. She is one of those young actresses that constantly chooses roles that appeal to her instead of big money pictures (I am pretending the 'Star Wars' prequels do not exist).

Lets hope this hits the highs of 'Sex' cause I for one would love to see Kudrow with another juicy role as big as her talent.



Perhaps J-Lo should not consider acting........and other impossible pursuits anymore.

"The Day the Earth Stood Still" 5 minute preview.



With the apathetic attitudes of people today about the earth and saving it, I kind of hope Keanu wipes us all out in this. It would be a nice little blockbuster lesson.

Wednesday 29 October 2008

Nichols, Scorsese and Mamet - Oh My!

Ok, I am not familiar with the work of Akira Kursawa (pictured). I know of him and his films, but have still not gotten around to seeing any of them. The plot for 'Tengoku to jigoku' (English title: 'High and Low'), his 1963 film is one of those moralistic stories that I find so utterly compelling. It is about an executive who mortgages all he owns to stage a coup and gain control of the National Shoe Company, with the intent of keeping the company out of the hands of incompetent and greedy executives. At this cruicial point the executive learns that his son has been kidnapped and that the ransom demanded is near the amount he has raised for a critical business deal. He is prepared to pay the ransom - that is, until he learns that the kidnappers have mistakenly abducted not his son, but the child of his chauffeur. He must decide if this child is worth his company.

Sounds brilliant (especially if he decides the child isn't worth the company). Now it looks like I can wait a few years and see exactly how the planned remake will turn out - God forbid I rent the movie just to read it.

Fear not though, it is being directed by Mike Nichols with Scott Rudin and Martin Scorsese in the producers chair. Rudin in particular is not afraid to go down a dark road, just check out his credentials.

Let's just add to the pedigree shall we? The script was written by David Mamet and you have a serious awards/AFI top 100 list contender for the future. Let's just see the cast they collect. I am thinking let's give J.K. Simmons a lead role. Not too old to be a father of a young child, and lord knows he is a fantastic actor and after 'Oz' we all know he can go to a dark place.

Movie News – The compliment sandwich.

Bad news bookended by good news.

Oh Mary Louise Parker, how I love thee. News just in that she has joined the cast of the Michael Douglas black comedy called ‘Solitary’. In this she plays a high powered society girlfriend (heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!) of Douglas’s shady ex-car dealer who is married to Susan Sarandon.

In the film his life takes a turn for the worse due to all his romantic and business indiscretions.

This film has been knocking around for a while, and in all honesty the thought of Douglas having romantic indiscretions makes me feel just a little queasy. However the chance of seeing Parker strut her sexy self about as a society girlfriend just makes me drool with excitement. You know she could be brilliant in this!



When Clairee Belcher uttered the line “they all look like they’ve been carved out of cream cheese” in ‘Steel Magnolias’ she must have had Zac Efron in mind.
The tween star has been in talks to star in a remake of one of the 80’s most beloved teen films for over a year now. Since the opening of ‘High School Musical 3’ was so big, Paramount have fast tracked the production of the ‘Footloose’ remake – this time as a musical.

I will not go into this more than I need to, but it is happening.
I am heart broken. I am now so old that movies I actually remember seeing in the cinema the first time around are being remade.

If there nothing sacred? Do I have to look forward to a future where everything is starring Zac Efron or Hannah Montanna? Are they the future of entertainment? Is it wrong that this picture of him give me dirty thoughts?



Look at me. Just when I was getting worried that Amy Adams may end up doing the Rom Com thing, she signs on to an indie drama.

‘Daughter of The Queen of Sheba’ is the independent drama based on the biography of National Public Radio correspondent Jacki Lyden.

For those who do not know, Lyden was the first NPR female correspondent to go on-air following the 9/11 attacks. Soon after she headed over to Afghanistan where she has done some definite bio-pic things. She had to report on the killing of her translator by an American soldier. She returned to Afghanistan in 2004 to teach radio documentaries: "My Life is Afghanistan," for Internews.

The title of the film comes from the book Lyden wrote in which she describes her early life as the daughter of a mother suffering from manic depression. In her manic states, her mother had delusions of power and acted on them. She was the Queen of Sheba, a hostess of bizarre dinner parties and a promoter of outrageous business ventures. Dolores's imaginative escapades inspired Lyden in her career as a journalist covering the Persian Gulf War, taking risks, rising to challenges, and facing unforeseen danger.

Sounds like it could be Oscarish material for Adams, especially since she is so good at playing characters you want to root for.

BFI Nominations

Here are the nominations for the British Independant Film Awards.

Initial reactions are that 'Happy-Go-Lucky' very surprisingly was not nominated for Picture, Director and Screenplay. In fact I am a little floored about that, but still think it may be embraced by the Academy.

'Man on a Wire' is definitely the documentary to beat come this years Oscars, or at least it is in lead position. Does anything else stand a chance?

'Hunger' has made a huge impact, as had 'In Bruges' and the actors of 'The Duchess'.

Probably what has grabbed my attention the most is the nomination for Samantha Morton in 'The Daisy Chain'. I had not idea this has been released (technically 'Slumdog Millionaire' hasn't either) because you know I love me some Morton.

Anything surprise you here?

Tuesday 28 October 2008

Everything is Borrowed

That is the title of the new album by UK rapper The Streets (aka Mike Skinner).
I do not often review albums that are not of a Madonna nature, but I have felt compelled to talk about this one simply because it has really stuck with me and helped me change my out look on things.
This will not be one of those dissections of the tracks ending with a mark out of ten/star rating/thumbs up, but instead this will kind of be a thank you to Skinner for making an album that I not only love to listen to, but gives me a new perspective in his simple statements about living.
There is nothing here that a million philosophers have not said before, but there is something so beautifully profound about the simple delivery of his ideas.

On the opening title track he lets his new agenda come out a-blazing. The human race in materialistic and constantly overlook the beauty around us. We all know this, this is nothing new, but sweet natured way he says this is enough to bring a tear to my eye.

“If it’s bleak, or if the week’s leaking down the street
or if any days wasted I want to face facts.
My time on this earth is my only penny,
wise is the gent counting every moment spent.
I don’t want to explain things, don’t wanna fill in the gaps,
I want to look at my friends and in that minute react

Memories are times we borrow
for spending tomorrow.

I came to this world with nothing
and I leave with nothing but love
everything else is just borrowed.”


He tackles religion and spirituality “Heaven for the Weather” and “Alleged Legends” the latter bravely taking down the teachings of the bible.
Ecology and the environment are also sung about. “The Way of the Dodo” is an amusing take on the state of the planet, and how, really, the Earth does not really need saving:

“It's not Earth that's in trouble
It's the people that live on it, oh no
Earth will be here long after we've all gone the way of the dodo”


Pause for thought. If conservation and environmentalism was spun in the media as the survival of the human race, then you are sure as shit everyone would recycle, turn off the tap when brushing their teeth and use their cars less. Self preservation is one of our top priorities.

After going after the bible, materialism and environmentalism he goes and tackles that lightest of light subjects, suicide with "On the Edge of a Cliff". Sounds bleak and morbid, but the way he approaches things with his lyrics and his pay-it-forward narrative makes this one of the most life affirming and uplifting suicide songs since “The Letter”.

“You gently take things slowly
You softly bowl them over
That’s the delicate way you’ve shown me
You’re the strongest person I know.”


So go the lyrics to one of the loveliest love songs about appreciating your partners differences I have ever heard. 'Strongest Person I know' is all sing/sung in his cracked and broken voice that brings an even greater vulnerability to this most wonderful private confession of admiration and love. There are moments in the song where you can hear a smile come to his lips as he sings in his off key way, as though he is singing right to their face and is embarrassed by how he sounds, but he continues on because of love.

I have already sung the praises of the last song on the album. “The Escapist” is not just a song about being on vacation, although it was for my on my summer break. It is a song about reminding yourself that you can get out of the self imposed cage you have put yourself in. Just walk out the door, and keep on walking and really look and the things you pass every day and take for granted. Never before has the thought of sunlight through a tree seemed more poetic, or more appealing…it is almost as if that simple everyday occurrence has the power the cure the world of all it’s ills. And maybe it does.
I will leave with this little thought I had while writing this. With all the problems in the world, and religion and industry being the main ones, if all the simple ideas of living a better life that Mike Skinner has talked about on his album were to become its own religion, well I for one would be a convert. I would be on my knees in a field, singing hallelujah to a honey bee and shouting Amen to the trees.

Watch the video, read along with the lyrics and enjoy. It is well worth your time.



“All these walls were never really there,
nor the ceiling or the chair.
I am eking weeks of peace on a beach
I see the breezes weave the trees,
these walls you find - they’re yours and mine
confined not by them I
I am in times that lie behind my eyelids,
the sunsets steal the rising silence,

I’ll not feel no fear
Cause I’m not really here
I’m nowhere near here

There’s no rain on roof that grates and beats me
my favourite tree breaking lights to pieces
sprinkling, sharded light on me
throw a stone as high as you can
and hearing with hand not hear it land
nothing taxing, dusting sand
my window and world spins and twirls,
the walls then fall, i recall the sore
white clouds white wash faded spotless
the weighty shadows, ranges of rocks
the cold is all illusion thought up
the stroll on the shore, snooze and explore
all possibilities in each new morning,
until satisfied reaching out, yawning
fish in a big dish, some rice and spice,
salt over shoulder never salted so nice
the truth I’ve told was silence sometimes
but who soul does not hide any crimes
wrapped in walls, encircled by work
the walls fall - this story occurs
no barrier, no boundary, all hours I please
the freedom to stay all stray
be fiend or friend, cause no harm but charm - the peaceful end

I’ll not feel no fear
Cause I’m not really here
I’m nowhere near here

Pale ancient woods, strewn white sandy bays
this ugly room pales away today
I am swimming, in the ocean
I sink slow motion
fingers, toes floating
every year til yesterday
seeing the eternal setting sea
I compare all this to me,
little fleeting momentary me
I blink my eyes, this is reminding me
life lies in the blink of an eye
the old die for reasons, new tide, four seasons
new life born is like changing
all these walls were really never there
nor the ceiling or the chair
I am eking weeks of peace on a beach
I see the breezes weave the trees
I am not here at all,
you dearly fooled,
I see busheling trees, the shush at the sea
the mischievous
fluttering seagulls
No!
I’m not trapped in a box, I’m glancing at rocks
I am dancing off docks
since this dance began
thats where i am

I’m not feel no fear
Cause I’m not really here
I’m nowhere near”

Hot Music Time

So these are some of the newish songs I am loving this week, so in keeping with music being blogged about on Tuesdays, here they are:



Left to Right:

1) Keane - Spiraling: A lot of people have been surprised by their sudden change of direction, like how dare they break out of the box we put them in. The new album is fab! Check it out

2) FrankMusik - 3 Little Words: Frankmusik is a 21 year old producer, songwriter from Thornton Heath South East London. He has lived there all his life and one day decided that it was high time that he made some sexy synth pop music. And he did.

3) Madonna - Is This Love: From her musical brain child, which was later reworked as the last track 'Voices' on Hard Candy.

4) Adele - Make You Feel My Love: This woman is just amazing. So full of soul and longing. That voice just sends shivers.

5) Duffy - Rain on Your Parade: Now she goes and records a song for the new Bond film and it is better than the one chosen. Go figure.

6) Santogold - Say A-Ha: Third single off the album and it is a real corker. I hear there are some fierce remixes out there. Can't wait to hear them.

7) Madonna - The Game: Apparently a lost recording from 'American Life'. I kind of like it, but can't help to wonder what it would have sounded like after some production.

8) Sneaky Sound System - UFO: This Australian band recently supported Sam Sparro on tour, and should really be approaching greatness very soon.

9) Friendly Fires - Paris: This is just so groovy and original. Hope these guys make it.

Monday 27 October 2008

'Sharkwater'


Yes, it was only yesterday that I got all preachy about shark finning, and judging by the amount of comments I can see that no one really cares all that much. Well I have just finished watching the Documentary 'Sharkwater' and I can tell you simply that it is amazing.

I couldn't watch a lot of it, and what I could upset me to no end. My partner burst into tears at one point (trust me...not one to cry over nature documentaries is my dearest) and I fought them back.
Director Rob Stewart (pictured) has made a documentary that comes from the heart. It is not just about sharks though, it is about mankind, and our blinding greed. There are few films that can completely change your view on something. This would count among them. It highlights sharks in a completely different light and has given me a new appreciation and admiration for them. They have survived longer than any other large creature on the planet, surviving many mass extinctions.
If you are worried it is all about big fish, let me tell you it involves so much more. You have pirate boat rammings, gunboat chases, mafia espionage, corrupt court systems and attempted murder charges. That is more than enough for even James Bonds biggest adventure (If only Bond would set his sights on something as globally important as conservation)

I am not going to beat this one over the head and become the blog about 'Sharkwater' but if something is important enough you want to get word out.
I know it may not seem as exciting as who whether or not Clint Eastwood will win a Best Actor nomination but it is a million time more important, and trust me, it is bloody exciting. Please I urge you. Rent or buy it. This is without a doubt one of the best documentaries I have seen in a long time.

7 Things Me Me

Dame James Henry has tagged me into doing a meme of sorts. It was supposed to be about 7 things that people in my blog universe do not know about me.

Here are the rules: Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog - some random, some weird. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blog.

Well considering none of my readers actually know me that well, and the more interesting stuff is a little too personal and deep for this blog, I will keep these 7 in the vein of my blog.

So here are 7 things you don’t know about me in relation to movies.

1) I detested ‘A Beautiful Mind’. I thought it was pretentious, the acting was average to say the best, and it really pissed me off with it’s omission of most of the facts that actually made John Nash interesting in the first place. I was so bored and fed up with ‘A Beautiful Mind’ when I saw it in the cinema that I walked out. This is the first and only film I have ever walked out of.

2) I was an ageist little child. I was so in love with Hayley Mills when I was little. Me and my best friend Heidi watched all her films. “The Trouble with Angels”, “That Darn Cat”, “In Search of the Castaways” and “Summer Magic”. But my favourite had to be “The Parent Trap”.
Heidi and I would play “The Parent Trap” all the time. I had blonde hair, and Heidi was a brunette, but we raided my mums wigs and she had a short blond one so we could be twins. I was always Sharon, the proper one (of course) and Heidi was Susan the tom boy (in retrospect that was a very telling time for my budding sexuality. I would rather be the twin who grew up in a city with access to lots of fashion than the one who grew up in California with horse riding and camping). We would also use countless balls of string setting up cob-web traps (without the buckets of glue though) much to my mothers horror.
Anywho…back to the ageist thing. When my mother told me after many years that Hayley Mills was not in fact a little older than me, but was in fact well into her 40’s, well I locked myself in my room and cried. I hadn’t yet developed my eye for dating films.

3) Up until the age of 18 I couldn’t watch ‘Aliens’. I would get up to the point where she has the dream and the alien starts coming out of her chest and run away.

4) For reasons I still do not fully understand, I bawled my eyes out over the final ever episode of ‘Roseanne’.

5) I have watched loads of cartoons on TV throughout my life. Out of all of them (not including cinematic or DVD/Video releases) there have only been three that have ever made me cry (including my child years).
The first two were both viewed as an adult and they were both from ‘Futurama’. Of course everyone will know the episode about his dog called ‘Jurassic Bark’ which had the saddest and most heartbreaking ending I have ever seen. I am trembling thinking about it.
The other episode is ‘The Luck of the Fryrish’ in which Fry earns some valuable lessons about family (this one is not making me tremble, but still…sniff sniff)
Finally there is the ‘Diana’s Piano’ segment from ‘Garfields 9 Lives’. DON’T YOU DARE JUDGE ME!!
I re-watched this last year and just sobbed. I actually cannot bring myself to watch it again now. I know what will happen.



6) I LOVE ‘ANNIE’!
Me and Heidi used to purposely mess up my room and put this tune on just to clean it to!!! Then she would hang from the railing in my closet and scream “PUNJAB SAVE ME” at the top of her lungs until my father told us we couldn’t anymore because we were bending it. And yes….I played Punjab, complete with turban. Funnily enough, aside from that one scene, neither of us really wanted to play Annie. I was always Pepper (she was butch and mean and I got to say "Blow it at your old wa zoo!" and stand on Heidi's head) and Heidi was always Molly or Duffy (she liked to say the “Oh my goodness, oh my goodness” line).



7) I am a hypocrite. I write a blog based on movies and have never seen any of the following classic movies:

‘Singin' in the Rain’, ‘Gone With the Wind’, ‘Lawrence of Arabia’, ‘Vertigo’, ‘On the Waterfront’, ‘Some Like It Hot’, ‘The Grapes of Wrath’, ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’, ‘Mr. Smith Goes to Washington’, ‘High Noon’, ‘Apocalypse Now’, ‘The Godfather Part II’, ‘The Bridge on the River Kwai’, ‘The Best Years of Our Lives’, ‘The Treasure of the Sierra Madre’, ‘Dr. Strangelove’,. ‘Bonnie and Clyde’, ‘The Philadelphia Story’, ‘It Happened One Night’, ‘Rear Window’, ‘Citizen Kane’, ‘The Godfather’, ‘Casablanca’, ‘Raging Bull’.

The worst part of that is, I feel no shame….I have time to catch up.

Glad that is over....so didn't get into me and my cousin role playing 'The Young and the Restless' or my 10 year old happy dance when my mum rented me the 'My Little Pony' movie.

I am supposed to link to other people now, so here are the ones I am going to annoy, but also the most interested in seeing what they say:

The Rural Juror
A Blog Next Door
Strange Culture
Pop Colony
Mainly Movies
Movies Kick Ass Blog
The Angry Gay Part Deux

'Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince' - Trailer 2

I have to say that this is looking to be quite epic. Possible the only trailer from the series that has give me the ole goose bumps.....surely a good sign.

Sunday 26 October 2008

Finning

Today I am going to take a little break from movies music and Madonna and talk about something that I wasn’t overly aware of, but since being made aware feel very strongly.

Did you know that shark fin soup is one of the most popular soups in Chinese cuisine? Well you probably did, but what you may not know is that over 100,000,000 sharks are slaughtered each year in this trade. Some of the sharks are caught, their fins are chopped off while they are alive (finning) and then they are chucked back over board where, unable to move, either die from suffocation or are consumed by other sharks or animals.

Why are they chucked back over board and not used for meat you may ask? The answer is profit. Shark meat in not worth as much as the shark fins, so they are thrown to their death to make more room for just the fins.

This is a pretty disgusting considering there has been a drop in the shark population of over 80% in the last 50 years. The reason not a lot of people hear about this is because of the stigma. Sharks are considered people eaters, and therefore do not gain a lot of sympathy (‘Jaws’ has a lot to answer for) from the media who, lets be honest, hardly ever report on conservation and environmental issues.

There have been new laws passed to prevent finning, but international waters are unregulated, although there are steps being made. The U.S. recently issued a ban of finning, but it is only applicable to U.S. registered sea vessels, even in U.S. territorial waters. However shark fins cannot be imported into the U.S. without the entire carcass.

If you want to learn more and see what you can do please visit Sea Shephards. who do wonderful work trying to protect our valuable oceans.

Alternatively you can go to Stop Shark Finning to find out what you can do to help. Or Sharkwater. Also please check out the wonderful “documentary as well. I have yet to wath it, but am assured by many many people that it is beautiful, educational, gripping and heart breaking.



If you want to do something really simple to help, go down to your nearest LUSH shop and buy yourself and your friends a bar of Shark Fin Soap. Would be a great Christmas Gift

For those of you unconvinced and who think, ike that ignorant man in the trailer, that sharks are the scourge of the ocean check out this site of the worlds most dangerous animals and see where sharks land. Lower than Disney ballerinas and ‘Dumbo’.