Movie

Fashion of the Oscars.

/ Lisa

Ok, so I’m like a week late in doing this post. Seriously, I’ve had the tabs open of what dresses I liked all week.

This isn’t a best dressed and worst dressed post, unlike last year. These are just the dresses that I liked.

Some appeared on best dressed lists and some appeared on worst dressed lists, but that is all relative to your taste and style.

So here is what I liked from the Oscars fashion this year:

Nina Dobrev in a Naeem Khan gown – prints are totally the ‘in’ thing right now.

Jennifer Garner in Gucci – the colour is just amazing.

Amy Adams in Oscar de la Renta, which she apparently helped to design. LOVING IT.

JLaw in Dior, naturally. Absolutely love this dress. JLaw is flawless. Except, yanno… when she fell over in it.

Zoe Saldana in Alexis Mabille – I love the semi-ombre look and how it is short on one side and a train on the other.

Catherine Zeta Jones in Zuhair Murad. Love the gold.

Naomi Watts in Armani. The neck detail is gorgeous.

Kristen Stewart in Reem Acra. I really love this dress, even though so many said they didn’t. She does need to do something with her hair though. The unbrushed loose look with an evening gown just does not work.

Nicole Kidman in L’Wren Scott. The gold on black just stands out.

I wasn’t going to mention any dresses that I didn’t like, but there was one that I just had to mention.

Melissa McCarthy in David Meister.

I love Melissa McCarthy, she is absolutely superb, but this dress does her absolutely no favours. Firstly, why would David Meister think this dress was actually nice? It’s ghastly. Secondly, why would MC’s stylist dress her in such a thing? Gurrrl, whoever helped dress you, send them packing, if not for the choice in dress, but for the hair.

Images / Perez Hilton

Fifty shades of OMG.

/ Lisa / 1 Comment

The first introduction I had to Fifty Shades of Grey by EL James was learning it had been banned from libraries in the US. That was enough to pique my interest.

What could possibly be so bad as to have the land of the free ban it from, well, essentially being read?

I googled and soon found out.

Dubbed ‘mommy-porn’ it is a novel about BDSM (bondage, dominance, sadism, masochism) Not your usual on the sexual menu, but if that’s what you like, whatever floats your boat, yo.

So I was intrigued. Especially after reading on the wikipedia page that the trilogy started out as Twilight fan-fiction. This made me laugh.

So I obtained and I read. Then I read Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed.

It is Twilight if it was X-rated. I became obsessed. And I really mean it is Twilight; there are small differences, but the events are essentially the same. Many parallels essentially. Just no vampires. Or supernatural exploits of any kind. Twilight if it was actually in the real world.

Yes, there was a lot of sexual content that would make any normal person blush. But actually, you got used to it. By the third book I was over it and just wanted to know how it all ended. It wasn’t all sex all the time either, it does have that never-in-the-real-world love story going on too.

I don’t necessarily believe in banning it from libraries. People should have the right to choose what they read and no one should be able to tell them otherwise. Probably why it has become so popular.

I enjoyed all three books. The writing was absolutely appalling, it was poorly edited, and it was the smuttiest of the smuttiest.

Aside from that, it was a quick easy read (I devoured all three within two weeks) and the plot was compelling. Who wouldn’t want to be whisked away by a gorgeous billionaire? Every girls dream, really. But once again, giving me unrealistic expectations in men.*

And in typical Hollywood fashion, any popular books HAS to be made into a movie. Yes, Fifty Shades of Grey is to be made into a movie. I mostly agree with the Huffington Post’s picks for which actors should play which characters, except for Christian. Ian Somerhalder is Christian for me, hands down. If anyone else gets the part (apart from maybe Alexander Skarsgard) I will be mildly upset. I was kind of thinking that Nina Dobrev would be a good Ana, but then her and Ian together would just be weird. You don’t want to just put The Vampire Diaries cast in there. The Huff’s pick of Elizabeth Olsen is definitely a good one.

If you were hesitant about reading it, I can understand, it is definitely not for everyone. But what I will say is, before you slander it, maybe you should read it?

*It’s wrong that I now want Man Piece to be like Christian Grey, knowing that he can never be that perfect, and it disappoints me.

May the odds be EVER in your favour.

/ Lisa

I have recently become quite obsessed with The Hunger Games.

It wasn’t so much a jumping on the band wagon, but more the hype around the release of the movie is what prompted me to finally read the books.

I have had them sitting there for a few months now after being recommended by a friend to read them and I just hadn’t gotten around to it. But then the movie was released and I thought before anything gets spoiled, I should probably read the books to head off any unwanted spoilers.

So I started reading the first book. I finished it two days later. Then I started the second – Catching Fire – by the time a week had passed, all three had been devoured by my hungry little eyes.

There are not many books these days that actually get me to sit down and read that quickly. I like to take my time in reading a book, usually reading a chapter or two before bed each night.

However, for The Hunger Games, I just couldn’t put them down. There were several nights in that week that I stayed up late reading. I just wanted to know what happened next. Only a few other books have had the same treatment – Harry Potter and Twilight. When each HP book was released, I would read them in a weekend. With the Twilight books, once I had finally began reading them, on a recommendation of a friend, I had all four of them done and dusted within a week.

It is incredibly hard to find books like this nowadays. They are few and far between. And if they do exist, sooner or later Hollywood will come a-knocking and they will be brought to life on the silver screen.

Today, I went to see The Hunger Games movie. I even managed to drag Man Piece along with me. He even enjoyed it.

Now, I’m not the biggest advocate for books into movies, it seems these days that every movie made is based on a book. Can’t Hollywood come up with an original thought? No.

Anyway…

The movie of The Hunger Games was actually quite good. I didn’t feel they had missed anything out and they touched on themes that come up in the next two books. Although it would have been nice to include certain things from the book that were missed out, they weren’t that important and for the sake of time, continuity and cutting down, it was understandable. The major themes and events were covered and they didn’t get anything blatantly wrong.

One thought I did have when I was reading the books then looking at the film, was that I imagined Liam Hemsworth (Gale) as Peeta rather than Josh Hutcherson. But having watched the movie now, they do fit their roles and I can’t imagine it the other way.

[Sidenote: OMG JOSH HUTCHERSON IS THAT LITTLE KID FROM BRIDGE TO TERABITHIA.]

So, you could say I have actually jumped on the bandwagon, but what a good bandwagon to be on. I look forward to Catching Fire and Mockingjay being made into movies and I might even follow them through production.

Even if you hate following what other people do, Suzanne Collins’ novels are definitely worth a read. They are very big brother is watching you and could even say they are our generations’ version of 1984.

And I’m sure if someone were to study them a bit closer, they would find themes picking at our society today. *cough* survivor *cough* Not that I’m going to do that or anything… NOT AN ENGLISH NERD.

It All Ends… but does it really?

/ Lisa

I finally went to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 this week and it was amazing!

It was not like watching the other films. Being part 2 of the final installment meant they didn’t really have to build anything up, they just had to do it.

It started with a replay of the last scene of part 1 – that of Voldemort pulling the Elder Wand out of Dumbledore’s grave. Probably just to remind you of what happened last.

But as soon as the movie started, it was just non-stop. I sat there with my hand over my mouth, tears ready to fall and my miniature flakes going uneaten.

Every little part made me want to cry. Only because it was the last Harry Potter, I’ve grown up with the books and then the movies. Harry Potter has been in my life for more than half of it. What is it going to be like with it over?

For the movie itself it was pretty good. The acting and special effects were awesome. Remember back to Philosopher’s Stone where the acting of the Three was just painful? Yeah, it has gotten so much better. Plus, they grew up GOOD.

Surprisingly for already knowing the story, they still managed to get in a few moments of jaw-dropping shock. When Harry was fighting Voldemort, he pulls him into a massive fall. I don’t remember this ever happening in the book, but it was so unexpected. One second they were just standing there, the next, they were in free fall.

It’s this type of action that was throughout the entire movie. There really wasn’t any room for pause.

Even for one of the darkest movies in the series the humour still prevails. When I wasn’t biting my nails anxiously or wiping away that odd tear, I was laughing. Once again there were some amazing one-liners, which brings the light to the movies. All down to the fantastic writing of Steve Kloves, and JK Rowling, once again. The best was definitely between Professor McGonagall and Neville, who by-the-way is now one of the hottest cast members.

Are you really giving us permission to do this?

Yes, Longbottom.

Blow it up? Boom?

BOOM.

Just brilliant.

But I think the best performance has to go to Alan Rickman. He is absolutely superb as Snape, not that he ever does anything less. He was born for the role. It definitely was a teary moment when he was killed.

After 10 years and 8 movies, the Harry Potter series has come to a close. A sad day, but also somewhat joyful to watch. Thanks has to go out to Warner Brothers, the cast and the crew for bringing my favourite boy wizard to life beyond my imagination. And to JK Rowling herself, because without Harry just casually walking into her head one day I would have stopped reading, never started writing my own stuff and probably wouldn’t be where I am today. Harry has inspired so much and saved me many times.

So it’s not really the end. We continue our journey, just without any new adventures.

Charlie St Cloud (2010)

/ Lisa

Charlie St Cloud (Zac Efron) is that guy from high school who looks like he has it made. Everyone expects great things from him and he will most likely succeed.

But when a car accident leaves his brother Sam (Charlie Tahan) dead, Charlie doesn’t succeed in anything.

Having almost died himself, he is given a second chance by the paramedic that won’t give up, and the unbelievable ability to see his brother.

However, five years later and it would seem Charlie has wasted his second chance at life. He is at the bottom. But as these things go, he meets a girl and begins the process of re-finding himself, which includes a difficult decision of whether he lets down his brother or saves someone worth saving. He learns there is no such thing as a lost cause and that life is worth living, even if it is without people you love.

Efron really has some acting chops, showing he is more than just a song and dance. He pulls at the proverbial heart strings, bringing the raw emotion of the role to the screen.

He has some pretty amazing chemistry with Amanda Crew, who plays Tess – the love-interest, who makes his second chance worthwhile.

With a supporting cast of Ray Liotta and Kim Basinger, you would expect a bigger presence by them on screen, but maybe it shows a change in Hollywood – the next generation is coming in to their own.

Directed by Burr Steers (17 Again) and based on the original novel, The Death and Life of Charlie St Cloud by Ben Sherwood, this is a great adaptation and definitely one that requires a box of tissues.

It is the ultimate story of a little boy lost; just trying to find what makes him happy.