Dalmatian cuddles

On Sunday, I was invited to the very glamorous Soho Hotel in London to watch a screening of Disney’s 17th classic 101 Dalmatians, provided with refreshments and a chance to cuddle real life dalmatian pups!

I say ‘real life’ because the only dalmatian puppies I’ve seen have been animated or in the Glenn Close 1996 film, so I haven’t been in physical  contact with one ever. Before last Sunday, dalmatian puppies were a myth to me.

I’m a dog person in the dog-or-cat discussion, not because I don’t like cats but because I’ve grown up with dogs in the family. My house has our own little rascal of a Jack Russell and I know that, once I’m older, I’ll be getting a canine friend of my own. I adore them! So meeting these rare little beauties was a treat.

The three puppies I saw were from a litter of 11 (woah!), two girls and a boy named Limpy, Millie and Joe. For 10 weeks old, they were really calm and didn’t mind being the centre of attention for two one hour sessions, they definitely loved all the cuddles.

They all looked like they were from the 1996 film, even Joe had a black patch over his right eye and a red collar like Patch from the animated film. Little Limpy had a pink, diamanté collar and all three were constantly wagging their tails (apart from when they were taking a power nap.)

After lots of pictures, cuddles, dog kisses and aww-ing, I had to bid farewell to my new friends in order to see one of my favourite Disney films on the big screen!

Being the classic Disney charmer, 101 Dalmatians still delights again and again. From the wicked Cruella de Vil to the always cheeky Lucky, the film is full of such charismatic characters that feel quite homey to return to. Even if you haven’t seen the film, the sweet journey of the loveable Pongo and Perdita to rescue their pups is one that definitely needs to be seen.

Despite much begging and pleading to have our own little spotted companion to be friends with my Jack Russell, I am unsuccessful in winning over the parents. However, 101 Dalmatians has been restored to even higher definition than before on Blu-Ray and can instead become a new member to my DVD family.

This post was just a way of sharing my experience and posting some pictures of my cuddles with the pups!

(The DVD is out now)

*this is not a sponsored post.

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Christian Bale watch

A few years ago, out of coincidence, I realised I was watching quite a few Christian Bale films (I think it started with seeing The Dark Knight at the cinema, then buying The Prestige a few weeks after, as well as catching 3:10 To Yuma on telly at the same time my excitement built up for Terminator Salvation out the following year- if anyone cares) and ever since, I think I can safely say that he is one of my favourite actors. Bale may not be a crowd favourite in the eye of the media (even as a fan, I still think the Terminator mishap is shocking as well as a little hilarious), but no one can deny his versatility and dedication to the art. The guy lost just over 63 pounds for The Machinst and then gained 100 pounds for Batman Begins in 6 months, which shows complete devotion to his roles.

For a few years I’ve been trying to get through most of Bale’s filmography, simply for my own peace of mind as a fan. To make it a little easier, I’ve decided to make a blog post of his films to check off every time I see a new one.

Total 35
Total seen 16 (how poor)


The Dark Knight Rises /Bruce Wayne
2011 The Flowers of War /John Miller
2010 The Fighter /Dicky Eklund
2009 Public Enemies /Melvin Purvis
2009 Terminator Salvation /John Connor
2008 The Dark Knight /Bruce Wayne
2007 I’m Not There. /Jack / Pastor John
2007 3:10 to Yuma /Dan Evans
2006 The Prestige /Alfred Borden
2006 Rescue Dawn /Dieter Dengler
2005 The New World /John Rolfe
2005 Harsh Times /Jim Luther Davis
2005 Batman Begins Bruce Wayne / Batman
2004 Howl’s Moving Castle /Howl (voice: English version)
2004 The Machinist /Trevor Reznik
2002 Equilibrium /John Preston2002 Reign of Fire /Quinn Abercromby
2002 Laurel Canyon /Sam
2001 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin /Mandras
2000 Shaft /Walter Wade, Jr.
2000 American Psycho /Patrick Bateman
1999 A Midsummer Night’s Dream /Demetrius
1998 All the Little Animals /Bobby Platt
1998 Velvet Goldmine /Arthur Stuart
1997 Metroland /Chris
1996 The Secret Agent /Stevie
1996 The Portrait of a Lady /Edward Rosier
1995 Pocahontas /Thomas (voice)
1994 Little Women /Laurie
1994 Prince of Jutland /Amled
1993 Swing Kids /Thomas Berger
1992 The News Boys /Jack Kelly
1989 Henry V /Robin the Luggage-Boy
1987 Empire of the Sun /Jim ‘Jamie’ Graham
1987 Mio in the Land of Faraway /Jum-Jum / Benke

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July and August viewings

With so much going on in my life, during the last week of July and the first week of August, I forgot to post about new viewings. Seeing as I wrote them down, here is a round up of stuff I watched for the first time in July and August.

In Time (2011) 3/5
Manhattan (1979) 4/5
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007) 4.5/5
Fantastic Mr Fox (2009) 4.5/5
Message In A Bottle (1999) 3/5
Magic Mike (2012) 4/5
Project Nim (2011) 3/5
The Sting (1973) 4/5
The Bachelor (1999) 2/5
Albatross (2011) 3.5/5
The Change-Up (2011) 2/5
Bad Teacher (2011) 2/5
This Means War (2012) 2.5/5
The Tempest (2010) 2/5
The Dark Knight Rises (2012) 5/5
Safe House (2011) 2.5/5
Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol(2011) 4/5
Heathers (1988) 4/5
Passenger 57 (1992) 2/5
Footloose (2011) 3/5
Brave (2012) 4/5
The Bourne Legacy (2012) 2/5
I’m Still Here (2010) 3/5
The Art Of Getting By (2011) 2/5
The Machinist (2004) 4/5
Love & Distrust (2010) 1/5
Somewhere (2010) 3.5/5
A Guide To Recognising Your Saints (2006) 4/5

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Brave (2012)

Running Time: 100 mins
Directed By: Brenda Chapman, Mark Andrews
Starring: Kelly Macdonald, Billy Connolly, Emma Thompson, Julie Walters, Robbie Coltrane, Craig Ferguson
UK Release Date: 13th August -UK

Quick Plot: Adventurous Princess Merida, of ancient Scotland, is set to choose a suitor for marriage as part of her fate. Hoping to change her fate, Merida is granted one wish but is tricked into a curse and must use her courage and strength to do what is best.

Review: Setting a family animation in ancient Scotland, as opposed to the sea, a monster headquarters or a young boy’s room could seem like a risky move for Pixar, but keeping their family approved fun and heart-warming glow, Brave is a Pixar charmer all over.

In a world where trailers reveal too much of a story and often expose twists, Brave’s publicity did everything right. With so much concerning the film back when it was titled ‘The Bear and the Bow’, Pixar have been able to keep the majority of ins and outs under wraps meaning that the film is full of surprises.

From the moment the film starts, Brave sets up the story with a touching cold opening to enlighten viewers to the characters back-story before it gets to the main tale. Unsurprisingly, Brave’s character development is an essential part to the film’s story, at the same time focusing on the relationship between audience and characters- a fundamental Pixar feature. Merida’s flashbacks and narration give her something a lot of female leading Pixar characters are missing. Without using a heartbreaking montage like Up, Merida’s small intro still captures the sense of connecting emotionally with characters for audiences of all ages. Strength and boldness define Merida, and although at times the sympathy falls on her side, she’s a courageous female influence nonetheless. A perfect example of a Disney Princess fighting their own battle.

It’s not Merida who sticks out as the main attraction of the show though; it’s her three little red-haired, adorable brothers, who go about causing more mayhem and troubles than her sister. Every time they are on the screen, both children and adults laugh because they give the film the cute factor.

Clearly technology is advancing as the years go on, so Brave has an advantage over previous Pixar films in that it is visually gorgeous. There are some stunning landscape shots of Scottish grounds as well as Merida’s vibrant hair, and despite the fact it’s all animated, it feels real.’ Real’ in the sense that it feels extraordinary to be so high up over glorious castles and waterfalls, being able to notice all the fine, human-like details.

Like all family films, the message in Brave is touching in all aspects of growing up, family bonds and being true to yourself. Like Finding Nemo and the father-son relationship, Brave emotionally portrays the precious bond between mother and daughter. There are a few parts of weepiness of course, but without it Brave would just be a tale of a rebellious teen getting her way. In this one, Merida learns a lot while being independent.

Being relatively short for a present day summer flick, Brave’s ending comes almost too quickly. With the story continually moving on to the next part, there is no time to feel discontented. Having the ability to not drag is something very few family films get right, but it’s something Pixar nearly always achieve.

At first glance, Brave might seem less of an adventure compared to talking toys or cars, but Brave’s glorious colours and touching sentiments make it just as, if not more, enjoyable and captivating as other Pixar greats.

4/5

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Stuff in my life right now

Recently I went on a two-week relaxing holiday to the south of France, meaning I haven’t been to the cinema in a while and watching films became a second priority to getting a tan.

Before I went away, during my holiday and since I’ve been home, there are a few things that I’m doing/watching/reading/etc that I think are worth discussing. So this blog post is something of a ‘things I like (or obsessing over might be a better choice of words) right now’ thing if you will, until I see a new film to review or find something else to inspire me to blog.

1. The ridiculously successful life of Maude Apatow, who recently wrote a piece for HelloGiggles about ‘Falling Out of Love with Twitter’ which I can wholeheartedly relate to. People younger than you can still be role model’s, right?

2. Finally giving Joss Whedon’s enthralling Firefly a go and admiring every single one of the cast members. I also like the fact I can now join Troy and Abed’s club of getting the show back on the air.

3. Reading Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, on holiday, and concluding that the 1994 film adaptation must have added different stories to make a longer duration. Then finding out, from google, that in fact, there are two volumes of the book and I have yet to read the next one to get to the long-awaited proposal between Laurie and Jo.

4. Crying with laughter with my little sis, while watching the newly released gag reel from The Avengers. Cobie Smulders steals the show with her outtake, while Mark Ruffalo’s dropping of a prop and Tom Hiddleston’s Alan Rickman impression are reason enough to re-watch the gag reel at least seven times.

5. Knowing that I will never be able to form a good recreation of any of the dance scenes from the surprisingly good Footloose remake. I can practice the Fake I.D dance scene all I like, it doesn’t change the fact I have no rhythm.

6. Enjoying a piece of brie every lunchtime in France. (Things I don’t like: the affect the brie has on my physique)

7. Downloading The Calling’s 2001 debut album, Camino Palmero, to reminisce being 7.

8. Finding a new favourite beauty product (something that is quite rare for me) in Dream Fresh BB Cream from Maybelline. I don’t rave about beauty stuff often but this cream is a glorious exception.

9. Watching random episodes of How I Met Your Mother and realising that the fondness I have for Jason Segel is larger than I thought.
9a. Finding this video of Segel and Neil Patrick Harris singing a song from Les Mis, increasing my fondness.

10. Discovering I actually had nine things to put in this post, when at first there was only three. Thanks for reading!
(image source)

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Getting older

Is it possible to mature in just 7 days?

For my first week of summer holidays, I thought I’d spend the time wisely and attempt to find some sort of work experience in an area I was interested in. Luckily for me, I didn’t have to search long after emailing a company and being accepted for a week’s experience in west London.

Hitting two birds with one stone, I planned to stay with my cousin in London for the week so I travelled by train to gain further experience in independence. Though the first day, my cousin helped me out with the different changes (as she coincidently got a similar route to work). Other than that, I took myself to and from work experience alone and felt pretty proud of it. At the beginning of the week I realised I’d never been on a complete train journey alone before, and realising I’d have to do this every day and meet certain train departure times, made me quite nervous. Of course, I was absolutely fine and needn’t worried, but the thought of all this ‘grown up stuff’ scared the hell out of me.

By day two, I was a natural London commuter. Getting out my copy of The Great Gatsby on every journey and beeping my oyster card in and out of stations felt like something I’d been doing since I was three. I even came close to having one of them ‘meets guy on train’ situations you see happen to the confident and independent protagonist in the movies. I was reading my book and I looked up to see a guy reading his book in the next seat area, then a few times we kept awkwardly *catching each other’s eyes. By came ‘close’, I mean it didn’t happen and by ‘catching eyes’, I was probably frightening him and had coco pops all down my front. But it felt like an adult moment nonetheless.

The work experience it’s self was incredible. I learnt a great deal about working environments and wrote a few things myself, which was really beneficial. Above all, I enjoyed myself. I’m not going to dabble into everything I did and where it was because not only will it sound like I’m bragging, but it’ll be boring to hear from me.

With the little time I had left after waking up early each morning plus commuting for a few hours a day, I tried to take advantage of having a week away from home (by mostly eating more peanut M&Ms in one week than I probably have in one whole year). One night my cousin and I went into the centre of London to the South Bank, one of my favourite areas of London, to walk around. We saw the neat little Festival of the World in honour of the Olympics, which is absolutely gorgeous, and I got a cookie and cream crêpe. Sure my cousin knew where to go, but being in London on a week night, eating a crêpe, knowing I had ‘work’ the next day made me feel a little more mature. Mature in the sense that I was experiencing things that I’ve never done alone or without assistance.

To top off a fabulous week, I saw The Dark Knight Rises with my cousin at a later showing than expected, so the adrenaline rush I gained from the very late night and early morning get up added to the complete insanity of Christopher Nolan’s farewell to Batman. In case anyone values my opinion, Rises is mental and beautiful at the same time and without a doubt the best ending to a film trilogy ever.
I’m not too sure where this post was aiming to go and I’m just as confused to how it’s ended, but I fancied something different for my blog. Basically, I feel more mature right now than I did 8 days ago and although it might not have changed me in a way that everyone else will notice, I notice it.

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Magic Mike (2012)

Running Time: 110 minutes
Directed By: Steven Soderbergh
Starring: Channing Tatum, Alex Pettyfer, Olivia Munn, Cody Horn, Matthew McConaughey
Screenplay: Reid Carolin
UK Release Date: 11th July -UK

Quick Plot: After losing out on his football scholarship due to a fist fight, young and ruthless Adam moves to Tampa, Florida to live with his sister in hope of making money quickly and easily. After acquainting with Mike, he is  quickly introduced to the glamorous lifestyle of stripping, women and most importantly, money.

Review:  Supposedly Soderbergh and his Haywire co-star, Mr Channing Tatum, sat down and discussed the teenage years of Tatum’s stripper life, inspiring the story for Magic Mike. All the while the ex-stripper’s input to the film’s authenticity is very clear to see. Of course, the film is hot. I mean HOT. But this is another Soderbergh masterpiece in a way that it’s something unexpected for his filmography but at the same time, his signature style is all over it.

British hottie Alex Pettyfer is the closest to Tatum’s real past as Adam- or The Kid as he is later known by the boys. Naive, lazy and arrogant, Pettyfer is out of a football scholarship due to a fistfight, and needs to find a way of making money. Despite his sister’s efforts to help, The Kid doesn’t get on board, until newly acquainted Mike asks him to rally round girls to a club and help set up the props for the show at the male stripper club Xquisite. Unsurprisingly, The Kid’s a hit with the very generously paying female customers, so the head of the club, Dallas (McConaughey), and The Kid waste no time thinking over the obvious job offer. The Kid is introduced to the glamorous world of stripping, compiling of a tough buff routine, drug infused parties, women every night and most importantly the lots of money.

It’s certainly been Channing Tatum’s year, with recent recognition from critics for his hilarious role in 21 Jump Street; he seems to be breaking out of his Nic Sparks heartbroken-war-hero/dancer-boy shell. Magic Mike is Tatum’s breakthrough, putting more passion and energy into this role and finally playing a character that is intelligent and genuine! Not that his dancing should be scrapped because boy, can he dance! Tatum’s talents are on full display in Magic Mike and I’m hoping they are going to stick around for a while.
Fortunately for the world, Alex Pettyfer’s psychical body and acting talent is growing up, adding an impressive performance to his résumé with The Kid. He is painfully arrogant, typically naive but it adds to the quite fascinating character structure within Magic Mike. Newbie Cody Horn as The Kid’s responsible big sister is an absolute delight to watch, to put it simply. Resembling a slight Julia Stiles ‘10 Things’ Kat Stratford, she acts as fresh air to the film’s egocentric male vanity scene. Horn is the only real thing for Magic Mike, both the film and Mike himself. McConaughey‘s wicked and douchey Dallas deserves a few mentions purely for being a superb obnoxious creep.

As much as the hot stripper routines are a treat for the eyes, this is still a perfectly solid Soderbergh film. Its warm colours juxtaposed with the, sometimes, alarming moments of the film really make for an excellent piece of filmmaking. Though it sounds silly to write, this is a real film about real characters and real situations, and Soderbergh nails it! Nothing is sugar-coated to make Magic Mike appear funny or typical, even at the times where it’s meant to feel uncomfortable. Though it’s a big statement, this could be one of Soderbergh’s best.

This isn’t just a stripper movie. Magic Mike reveals the background to the seemingly glamorous lifestyle, uncovering the dark areas and revealing the truth of what stripping really is. There are no underlying clichés or irritating fake characters, instead a solid absorbing story with a cast who obviously give everything they got.

If you don’t appreciate Magic Mike for its clever screenplay, gritty atmosphere and marvellous performances, you can still have a good time watching lots of ABtastic (sorry) dance routines.

4.5/5

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