Last year in March a few friends and I attempted to start a 50 Movie Club in which we’d watch 50 movies and record them all to our journals. Unfortunately due to an EXPLOSION in life events I managed to post two films before that utterly died.

So this year, a reboot. 12 months, 12 movies per month (minimum), for 2010. That’s a lot of ones and twos. And I like it.

To try and not OVERWHELM myself or readers, I’m posting reviews four up. Cause its a tidy little number that fits into 12 nicely. That and I’m already sitting at 13 films… xD

RECOMMENDATIONS ARE WELCOME! Though we already have quite an impressive list, we’re always looking for more and I’m pretty much up for anything, though don’t kill me if I absolutely hate your favourite movie ^_^;;;

Life as a House

(2001)
☆ 3/5 Stapleguns
⇒ Much better and simultaneously much worse than I was expecting. The whole film reeks of “I am trying to get an Oscar, and I bet I will.” But that’s sometimes okay too. Hayden Christiansen’s niche role as ‘whiny confused emo kid’ is played out to the hilt, Kevin Kline pulls your heartstrings as you know he can. The rest of the cast is predictably endearing/mainstream quirky and as such are solid in their roles. One thing that irked me greatly though? WTF STAPLEGUNNING LIGHTS ONTO THE GORGEOUS TIMBER BEAMS?! AUUUUGH!! All that beautiful hardwood, ruined! ;_;

And Soon the Darkness

(1970)
☆ 2/5 Bicycle Spokes
⇒ Slow, ambling, but somehow intriguing. You don’t understand how the main women, Jane & Cathy, are even friends and a lot of the film/character motivations makes no sense at all. However, it does draw you in to the point where you do actually want to see the film out. One shakily delivered line in the movie fairly early on does give what one assumes to be the climactic twist away, but it doesn’t detract from the unlikely captivation. Definitely looking forward to see what the remake has to offer.
Image courtesy of Shadowplay

Moon

(2009)
☆ 4.5/5 Post-It Notes
⇒ NOT EVEN REMOTELY SIMILAR/HOLY CRAP NOTHING EVEN RESEMBLING THE TRAILER/WTH..! But! Gorgeously acted, beautifully set, wonderfully full of ’show, not tell’ this tale plays out simply, cleanly and still psychologically – just not in the ‘edge of your seat’ thriller sense of the word. Though the plot is predictable, it stills feels fresh and never detracts from the message, concepts and your very real emotional response. Sam Rockwell is a hero, and Kevin Spacey renews our faith in Robotic Assistants. IN YOUR FACE, HAL! Gerty forever ;)
Image courtesy of New York Magazine

Trilogia: To livadi pou dakryzei (Trilogy: The Weeping Meadow)

(2004)
☆ 2/5 Non Sequiturs
⇒ This movie is depressing and then its depressing and then its depressing. Or at least, its trying to be. Unfortunately the director/writer, Theodoros Angelopoulos, attempts to be much smarter and deeper than he really is at the cost of the viewer being able to identify or even empathise with any of the characters. Instead you get apparently profound knitting, or a tree fruiting the corpses of dead sheep. Having to constantly be aware that you’re watching a movie so that you can work out the time shifts or that there has even been a passage of time detracts too from your immersion in the moods the filmmaker is so desperately trying to evoke. The moral of the tale? Not that every film needs a moral… ‘War sucks, no one ever knows whats going on and just when you think you may have hope or that someone is back from the dead, they’re dead anyway.’
Image courtesy of Mostra

But, in terms of CURRENT TV, I’m going with the three shows I most care/fangirl about. Though, bear in mind I’m not including shows like Top Gear, Grand Designs or ANYTHING River Cottage. Cause otherwise this list would be six. Which I guess it is now. Huh.

ANYWAY, so about those “three” tv shows… *whistles* In no apparent order:
Castle: I LOVE AND ADORE NATHAN FILLION! But he’s not the be all and end all of my love for this show. The banter is brilliant, the character development is king and every single cast member is a valuable part of the ’squee’ experience. Its not hard hitting, it has its serious moments but its not serious – though even through the jokes the crimes themselves are never treated as pure figments of fun. But goddamn, this show IS pure entertainment, and entertainment at its finest. ♥

True Blood: NOMMY. VAMPIRES. ARE. NOMMY! Season two, when Eric walks into his dungeon with foils in his hair & a green hairdressing cape on, annoyed and ready to rip a redneck limb from limb? THAT is some awesome viewing right there. From the little touches like newspaper headlines touting Angelina’s new adopted vampire baby, to the brilliance of bad-ass vamps comparing their top scores in Wii Golf? True Blood is one satisfying thirst quencher. ♥

Supernatural: I’ve been a Jensen Ackles fan since I was fifteen. That’s nearly HALF my entire life. xD Hell, I even religiously watched Days of Our Lives when he was in it just for him. So its no surprise that I’m a MASSIVE fan of SN. But, as with Castle, its not because I’m a gooey-eyed fan-girl that I love this show. Though, that’s clearly part of it, its that when this show is bad its very very bad, but when this show is good? ITS AWESOME.

PS: You may have noticed that this challenge hasn’t been very ‘everyday’ by me. I’ve just come to the conclusion that its not possible, and so I’m posting them as I have time/opportunity. I guess that makes it more of a 30 Post Challenge, but as long as its done in a timely manner, WHO CARES, AMIRITE!? :D

Screen caps from: deadwoodstage, sky-angel22 & castletvshow

Last Friday evening I decided to indulge in a bath in order to actually be able to sit up in the lounge with my flatmates instead of having to go to bed and being unable to pass Go. I ALWAYS ENJOY RECEIVING $200!

At random I pulled Lush’s White Wedding from the super pretty hand picked box of treats Greg’s Mum had given me for my birthday and toddled off to the bath with a REALLY SERIOUSLY CRAP HOLY GAWDS chick flick in hand. Hey, the film was bath ballistic theme appropriate, okay?

I dropped the ball in, delighted as I always do that it fizzed like the crazy volcanoes I used to make with friends as a kid, and wondered if it really smelled of anything. Okay so my olfactory function like … A non-functioning thing, but I’ve since read that apparently it pretty much doesn’t. Dysfunctional olfactory: 1, Lush bath ballistic: 0.

I clambered into the now-VERY-reminiscent-of-milk steaming water only to discover it felt JUST like water, and nothing else – DISAPPOINTMENT. Consoled that the water didn’t feel dry on my skin, I turned on the movie and around 20 minutes in commenced cringing. But the VERY weird thing is around then I also had to top the hot water up as the bath’s temperature had dropped through the floor at a rate I’d never experienced to date.

I’m not sure what kind of message Lush is trying to convey, maybe someone on staff had been viciously jilted at the altar? But is “Your White Wedding will turn cold on you” really the fairytale every girl wants to buy into?

Fragrance: 5/10 – I couldn’t smell much, but it didn’t smell bad…
WoSE (Water on Skin Experience): 5/10 – just felt like water, which I assume is the control. xD
Visual Aesthetic: 5/10 – the milky white water conjures the luxury of Cleopatra, the weird coloured confetti hearts though conjure a toddler dumping masticated cake in with you. UNFORTUNATE!
Leaves your skin feeling: exactly the same as it did before the bath
Clean up: None – even those masticated hearts go straight down the plug hole, no wating.

In conclusion, Lush advise if you’re getting married? Wear ANY colour but white…

But this morning everything hurt, my fingers, my toes, lets not talk of the effort it took to hold up my head and standing? Standing is a most definitely an over-rated pass time and I do not recommend it. Or at least I could not before the delicious bath Greg suggested.

A possibly-will-scald-yourself-but-not-quite water temperature, a beautiful period drama (with one’s hair pinned up in the correct era’s fashion), a cumulus of bubbles, and the luxuriant experience of a gifted Lush Ma Bar and after two hours one can walk down one’s own hallway unassisted on one’s own. MIRACULOUS!

Something I must say about the Ma Bar though? Its a fabulous idea in theory; the water feels soft and enveloping, the feel of your skin post-bath is soft and sumptuous. The sugar cube dissolves easily so there’s not a hint of scratchiness. The bubbles pile HIGH and you feel very much like a tv heroine. No, that is all quite WONDROUS.

The unfortunate gripe I have, however, is that though chocolate is VERY welcome in near-every situation, the colour of chocolate is STILL brown. And a brown bath is not the most aesthetically pleasing of visual experiences. You clamber out and wonder just HOW filthy you must’ve been before hand – or in my case whether or not I’d managed to soak the colour of my skin off in two hours.

Which I guess wouldn’t be so bad, I’ve managed to wind-burn myself into having a rather impressive inverse-locket (you know, if I were a cat) and with so many special occasions upon us its not the most ENVIABLE of circumstances. I keep asking Greg if he still loves me even if I have unevenly coloured breasts. Apparently he does, poor soul.

But still, for the Ma Bar I give:

Fragrance: 8/10 – okay so my olfactory largely do not function, but it still smelled gorgeous and delicious (sign me up for cake RIGHT NOW).
WoSE (Water on Skin Experience)**: 9/10 – rather soft, comforting and relaxing. JUST what I needed. Does feel like its moisturising the skin while you soak.
Visual Aesthetic: 5/10 – though the fluffy bubbles are heavenly, the BROWN of the bath is quite alarming xD
Leaves your skin feeling: super soft and moisturised – I can’t stop running my fingers across my collarbones ^_^;;
Clean up: NONE! – I found as long as you made sure you crumbled ALL of the bar into the bath, then there was no staining or residual colour left to have to attempt to clean up after.

* photo courtesy of Zanthia @ flickr’s Lush Set, as I was rather incapable of taking my own pre-bath

** I have NO idea how to describe that sensation, I asked Greg & Steffi and though they came up with multiple good suggestions (well Steffi did anyway xD) nothing really hit the nail on the exact head.