Movie: The Other Boleyn Girl

I haven't read Phillipa Gregory's novel of the same name and didn't know much of the factual history behind the story except that Henry VIII was fond of chopping people's heads off but I love a good historical romance so this appealed to me.

And it is good! Great in fact!

Reading wiki, the film differs to the book in some respects but it is still a good story. Complicated and a great look at how twisted the intrigues of court life might have been.

It was cast really well, you love to hate the ambitious Anne (Natalie Portman) and your heart goes out to her sister, Mary (Scarlett Johansson). Eric Bana is fabulous as Henry VIII though possibly a little too hot if you take into consideration the typical illustrations of the real Henry VIII. Though the costumes (which I loved!) might account for some of the paunch.

It isn't a true girly movie but it's definitely not my hubby's cup of tea.

Good to see in the cinema but not essential.

3 shishy stars out of 5

Movies: A cheats way out of coming up with something new

I wrote this for my other blog and since I've been too lazy to do much over here of late, you get a re-run... sorry :(

recent movies to share....

JUNO

this was a cool film, I liked it even though it wasn't some gripping adventure and it wasn't what I had expected either. I have come to the conclusion that when I read other people's thoughts / reviews of films I mustn't really pay attention. I thought I knew the storyline going in on this but there is a twist, or rather an upset that caught me unawares. Only because it wasn't how I expected things to go, it wasn't overly terrible and in real life I imagine a sad reality for some people.

So if you want plot details, see wiki but I reckon leave it and enjoy this quirky movie with likable characters and a cool soundtrack without any preconceptions.

BUT...

save it for DVD, it's really not necessary to see it in the cinema

3 shishy stars out of 5


RUN FATBOY RUN

I saw the trailer to this and knew I had to see it, purely because of it being a British comedy and it had Simon Pegg & Dylan Moran in it.

Again for the plot see wiki, it's a pretty safe predictable storyline but I like a feel good story.

Not quite as hilarious as I had hoped but there were plenty of laugh out loud moments to keep me happy.

It was interesting to see Hank Azaria in a different sort of role ie the bad guy or shithead as he is often referred to. I hadn't seen him in anything like this before.

Not essential to see this one in the cinema either but still worth seeing once it hits DVD.

Also 3 shishy stars out of 5

PS I didn't like this quite as much as Hot Fuzz

One of the best films ever!

She-ra's comment in the post below made me think of how my parents were pretty cool about me watching/reading/listening to age-inappropriate material when I was a kid. It helped me be the ingénue that I am!

Anyway, for much of my life, until The Fellowship Of The Ring was released that is, my all-time favourite movie was The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

I LOVE THIS FILM. Seriously. Love. It. Anyway, this is a perfect reason to subject you to YouTube clips of it.

While I love the intro song (Science Fiction Double Feature), the clip doesn’t make for the most exciting viewing, so I’ll just say go here if you want to check it out.

Now, when most people think of TRHPS they think of Time Warp. In fact, I think most of us have seen this song enough, so I won’t make you watch it yet again.

All the songs are fabbo, but some are stand outs - such as The Sword of Damocles; Eddie's Teddy; Wild and Untamed Thing; Toucha-Toucha-Touch Me; Rose Tint My World; Don't Dream It, Be It; and I Can Make You A Man.

And then we have Dammit, Janet:



Whatever Happened to Saturday Night?



And, the pièce de résistance:



Sweet Transvestite pops into my head at random moments most weeks.

Knowing Hollyweird's penchant for remaking classics (recent remake of Hairspray, anyone?), I know they'll get around to this one eventually. Which is just wrong. BUT, I have been thinking about this eventuality while trolling about YouTube and I've decided some of the cast should be as follows:

Janet = Anne Hathaway (maybe)
Brad = James Marsden (maybe)
Riff Raff = Richard E Grant
Rocky = Brandon Routh
Columbia = Kristen Chenoweth
Criminologist = Patrick Stewart

As for Dr Frank-N-Furter, I'm not sure. Some possibilities would be Rupert Everett and Robbie Williams. I can't think of any others off-hand. And I've not decided on Magenta, Eddie or Dr Scott. Although I think that Ray Winstone may make a good Dr Scott. Possibly.

TV: The Upside Down Show

most Aussie adults would recognise Shane Dundas and David Collins as comedians, The Umbilical Brothers.

But they also do a kids TV show, The Upside Down Show. It's on the ABC weekdays at 8am.

From a parents point of view who has had to put up with the likes of The Wiggles, Hi-5, Barney and Dora on a highly repetitive basis, it is a refreshing change to watch guys like these do kid friendly comedy that adults can get a kick out of as well.

My little one has taken a particular liking to the "Action Fingers; Knuckles and Pointy" but I am rather partial to The Schmuzzies.

Worth taking a look even if you don't have kids (click here for video footage)

As you wish

One of my all-time favourite movies is The Princess Bride.

Is there anyone who hasn't seen this movie? Man, I just love it.

For those of you who are *gasp* unfamiliar with it, the story is as follows.

Buttercup falls in love with her farm-boy, Westley. Westley leaves to seek his fortune so that they can marry. Buttercup hears that he has been killed by Dread Pirate Roberts and she ends up engaged to Prince Humperdinck.

Before the wedding, Buttercup is kidnapped by three outlaws - Inigo Montoya (a Spanish fencing master who is out for revenge for his father's murder), a Sicilian genius Vizzini, and a giant named Fezzik.

However, the outlaws are pursued by a mysterious masked man, as well as the Prince's minions.

You'll have to watch it to find out what happens.

Here is the brilliant Mandy Patinkin playing Inigo Montoya:



And here is Peter Cook in his small role (warning - spoilers). Just bwilliant.

Books: The Axis Trilogy by Sara Douglass

I finally finished these books a little over a week ago and have been willing myself ever since to write about them.

I was given this trilogy by a friend of my MIL who was moving interstate and didn't want to take them with her now that she'd finished them. I can never say no to a book and was thrilled to find that this girl has similar reading tastes to my own.

I don't really know what to say other than I loved them. I love fantasy fiction and this was a story that was quite refreshing in its ideas and characters.

You can read what the books are about here so that saves me the trouble of going into it.

All I will say is the story is intricate, well structured and very cleverly written. It kept my interest right the way through and I'm looking forward to reading more of Sara Douglass' work.

As an aside: 2 inconsequential things that stuck with me in this trilogy, please note they are not meant to be criticisms though they will sound like it and they would never have stopped me from reading these books

1. the repetitive use of the word myriad in the books. I guess people have favourite words and this was one of hers, it kind of shit me a little bit after a while, isn't there some alternative way of describing these things??? *myriad* ways I should have thought hehehe

2. new word: ensorcelled, I got the gist of what it meant, pretty obvious really but I'd never come across it before. weird choice of phrasing

I got some Stardust in my eye!

Stardust the film is a little different to that of the original story by Neil Gaiman. But not in a bad way.

The movie is not as dark - presented more as a children's fairytale as opposed to what really was an adult novella.

I really enjoyed it.

It is the story of a young man named Tristan (Charlie Cox) who lives in Wall - so named for the wall that separates the village from what appears to just be woods and a field, but is actually Faerie. The wall is guarded by a 90-odd year old sentry who prevents people from trying to pass to the other side.

Tristan is trying to win the heart of Victoria (Sienna Miller), and one night as they are looking up at the sky, they see a falling star. Tristan promises Victoria that she will have this star by her birthday in one week. Thus begins his adventure.

The falling star is Yvaine (Claire Danes). Soon they are being perused by a witch (Michelle Pfeiffer) who wants Yvaine's heart for her and her sisters - so they can be returned to their original beauty.

Meanwhile, the King of Stormhold (the kingdom in which the bulk of the story takes place) has died and his three remaining sons (there were four but one of them - played amusingly by Rupert Everett - has met with an unfortunate "accident") vie for the throne. The last living male heir will become king. This story becomes entwined with that of Tristan, Yvaine and the witches.

There are a couple of cameos (Ricky Gervais, Peter O'Toole) but I think the best character is that of Captain Shakespeare, a pirate played by Robert De Niro. For some reason, the two elderly ladies who sat in front of me and I were the only ones who were laughing when his character was, well, behaving like his character (I really can't tell you more than that - it would spoil it for you). It's narrated by Ian McKellen too, so that's an added bonus!

There's a lot more to the story than what I've outlined here, but you get the general idea from what I've written.

Anyway, I really enjoyed it. Nice fairytale, typical fairytale ending, but quite enjoyable. Not something you would need to see at the cinema, but if you're looking for something to see on tight-arse Tuesday, you wouldn't really go wrong with this one.

A Dirty Job - Christopher Moore

I love Christopher Moore. My favourite book of his that I've read (I've still got three to go) is Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal. While A Dirty Job doesn't rate that high (third on the Moore oeuvre if you must know - behind The Stupidest Angel), it is still damn good.

If you like Terry Pratchett, you'll like Chris Moore.

A Dirty Job is a story about Charlie Asher, Beta Male. Charlie's life changes for the twisted when his daughter is born. That same night his wife dies and Charlie becomes a Death Merchant.

Not Death, you understand. Charlie likes to use the Salvation Army Santas as part of his analogy. He's like a Santa's helper. But for Death.

The cast of characters include his daughter Sophie, her two hellhounds - Mohammed and Alvin - his sister Jane, his staff Ray and Lily, and his tenants Mrs Korjev and Mrs Ling.

"Don't fuck with me Asher. If you keep talking like that I'll get another piercing, take X until I'm dehydrated like a mummy, talk on my cell phone until the battery is dead, then find some skinny, pale guy and suck him until he cries."

"So, it will be like a Friday?"

Six years down the track and he's come to grips with his second "job". But Death is a very temperamental thing and suddenly, things seem to be taking a turn for the worse. Not just for him, but for San Francisco. And it seems Charlie is smack-bang in the middle of the whole mess.

I would have liked to have seen more Sophie in the book. One of the funniest bits was when she was staying at Jane's place and Cassie (Jane's partner) wouldn't let her take the dogs into the bath. She declared that Cassie was an "anti-Semite sympathiser" and that "you can't trust the goyim". Her response when Charlie pointed out he was a goyim? "Oh my God, they're everywhere, like pod people!" She's six.

If you do choose to read Moore's books, when you read the ones set in Pine Cove, it may be an idea to read them in order. I didn't, and it didn't totally spoil it for me, but knowing how some things are going to end up, reduced some of the humour for me. Overall though, I highly recommend Moore's books.

Crossposted here