Movie Monday: The "what I'm looking forward to in 2014" edition

Um. How is it the end of another year already?! I could have sworn that it was only about September last time I checked... Anyway, given that it's the end of the year, let's talk about the stuff I'm excited about seeing next year, shall we? I'll warn you now, it can pretty much be summed up as "Marvel movies and adaptations of YA books", because OBVIOUSLY.

The Fault in Our Stars
The poster that was released during the Project for Awesome gave me All the Feels, so I can't even begin to imagine how much of a trainwreck I'll be when the movie actually comes out...

Captain America: The Winter Soldier
You guys, I am SO EXCITED FOR THIS MOVIE OMFG. The trailer is so completely and utterly BAMF-tastic, and I've been fangirl flailing since it first came out.

The Monuments Men
Okay, so this looks a little bit like Ocean's Eleven set in World War II, but whatevs. It still looks pretty fun, and with a nice dose of history added in for good measure!

Divergent
Look, I'm still not convinced by the casting of Four. Theo James is literally the complete opposite of what I had in my head when it came to Four. But I'm still pretty excited about seeing this story come to life on the big screen.

X-Men: Days of Future Past
I'm a little unsure about this, because some of the shots in the trailer make it look like X-Men Go To The Disco. But whatever, it's Marvel so I'm still excited about the next installment of the story.

Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom
I saw the trailer for this when I went to see American Hustle the other day, and it looks pretty incredible. And there's no doubt in my mind that Idris Elba will do the role justice. This is also my personal reminder that I really do need to read Long Walk to Freedom one of these days...

The Amazing Spider-Man 2
Okay, so the trailer looks a little over the top, and some of the special effects are a little meh-tastic. But I really enjoyed the first one, and it's Marvel, so...yeah.

The Lego Movie
Oh my God. Words cannot describe how excited I am about this film. It's going to be completely ridiculous and utterly insane, and I am looking forward to it with every fibre of my being.

Mockingjay Part 1
I have yet to see Catching Fire, because I'm a bad fangirl (plus, it came out when I was in New Zealand and by the time I got home everyone else had already seen it). But I've heard nothing but good things about it. So I have high hopes for Mockingjay, especially seeing as according to IMDB, Danny Strong (Jonathan from Buffy) is writing the script.

Guardians of the Galaxy
I know almost nothing about the characters involved in this installment of the MCU, but I have no doubt in my mind that it will be fabulous.

What movies are you looking forward to seeing in 2014?

K xx

Updated to add: OH MY GOD, HOW DID I FORGET ABOUT THE VERONICA MARS MOVIE?!?!?!?!?!?!?! I CANNOT WAIT. 

Movie Monday: X-Men First Class

I was at a barbeque for a decent chunk of yesterday evening. And after being sociable for several hours and squeeing like a lunatic fangirl over the unexpected appearance of a black Labrador guide dog puppy, I got home to a list of Movie Monday ideas that all required far too much brain ability. Obviously, I turned to Marvel because awesomeness, sass, and explosions require much less in the way of cognitive power than, say, The Shawshank Redemption or Interview with the Vampire. You know?

Reasons why X-Men First Class is awesome:
1. James McAvoy. Not only is he great, it's nice to see Xavier as something more than the super-smart dude in a wheelchair.
2. The opening scene between mini-Xavier and mini-Mystique.
3. Michael Fassbender. He's pretty brilliant.

Gun hovering BAMF. Also, source.

4. It's Marvel. I loves me some Marvel.
5. Jennifer Lawrence. Homegirl needs to become my best friend already.
6. Xavier doing a yard glass. I mean, COME ON. That's freaking awesome.
7. Hugh Jackman's cameo

Source

8. Evil Kevin Bacon.
9. The costumes.
10. Smashing up ships with anchors.
11. Nicholas Hoult.
12. Bromances.

Source

13. Tracking down other mutants.
14. Showing off their powers.
15. Training montages. Who doesn't love a good training montage?!
16. Floating submarines.

Source

17. The music. It's pretty badass.

Plus, the following quotes:
-"There's so much more to you than you know, not just pain and anger. There's good in you too, and you can harness all that. You have a power that no one can match, not even me."
- "I'm going to use an asset the CIA didn't issue me."
- "Excuse me, I'm Erik Lehnsherr." "Charles Xavier." "Go fuck yourself."
- "Are you sure we can't shave your head?" "Don't touch my hair!"
- "You truly believe I'll fly this time?" "Unreservedly." "I trust you." "I'm touched." "I don't trust him." "Say nothing." "I'm gonna die!" "Alright. Look, we're not gonna make you do anything without..." "Here, let me help you." "Erik!" "What? You know you were thinking the same."
- "More tea, vicar?"
- "You are an exquisite creature, Raven. All your life the world has tried to tame you. It's time for you to be free."
- "Honestly, Charles. I don't know how you survived, living in such...hardship."
- "Mother. What are you... I thought you were a burglar." "I didn't mean to scare you darling. I was just getting a snack. Go back to bed. What's the matter? Go on, back to bed.I I'll make you a hot chocolate." "Who are you? And what have you done with my mother? My mother has never set foot in this kitchen in her life. And she certainly never made me a hot chocolate. Unless you count ordering the maid to do it."
- "It's a very groovy mutation."
- "I don't want to hurt you, Erik. I never did. I want to help you. This is our time. Our age. We are the future of the human race. You and me, son. This world could be ours." "Everything you did make me stronger. It made me the weapon I am today. It's the truth. I've known it all along. You are my creator."

So. Are you waiting with baited breath for the next installments of X-Men? Or are you more excited about the forthcoming Avengers movies - Iron Man 3 and Thor 2? If you prefer DC Comics to Marvel, you should probably just leave quietly...

K xx

Movie Monday: The "What I'm excited about in 2013" edition

It's the very last day of 2012, and that can only mean one thing: it's time for me to Kermit flail with fangirly excitement about movies that are coming out in 2013!!

(Note: yes, a good chunk of these have already been released in the US. Australia is behind the times, yo.)

The Life of Pi

Source

I haven't read the book, and with any luck I'll get the chance to do so before I see the movie. Based on the trailer, this is going to be fairly extraordinary.

The Silver Linings Playbook

I haven't really liked Bradley Cooper in anything since Alias. I'm hoping this is the movie that's going to change that. It looks pretty awesome. Plus, it stars Jennifer Lawrence, who I not-so-secretly want to be my best friend. 

Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters

Source

I mean, come on. This movie looks freaking amazing, in a completely terrible sort of a way. You can't tell me you don't want to see Jeremy Renner playing the medieval baby of Jason Bourne and Dean Winchester. 

Cloud Atlas

This one is either going to be a total mindfuck or a truly astonishing piece of cinema. Again, I've not read the book, and am hoping I get the chance to before it hits theatres. Tom Hiddleston recommended it on Twitter though, so it must be pretty good! 

Iron Man 3

Excuse me while I watch the trailer for the hundredth time and send fangirly emails to Kim. I honestly don't think there's any way it can suck. I mean, it's Robert Downey Jr playing Tony Stark playing Robert Downey Jr playing Tony Stark. It's like Inception, only less confusing and with more superheroes.

The Great Gatsby

Source

I'm actually a little hesitant about this one, mostly because I'm not really enjoying the use of modern music over the trailers that have been released. BUT it worked for Moulin Rouge, so I guess I'll just have to wait and see...  At least I have the advantage of not having read the book a hundred thousand times, so I won't be upset if certain details are left out!

The Wolverine

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS. I don't particularly care what it's about, I'm just psyched to have another X-Men movie coming out. And Hugh Jackman is always brilliant as Wolverine. 

Much Ado About Nothing

Whedon does Shakespeare in secret on the cheap with all his favourite actors? YES PLEASE OMG THIS NEEDS TO COME OUT LIKE RIGHT NOW. I mean, if nothing else, I want to see it because Wesley and Fred will finally get their happy ending! Also? Nathan Fillion, Clark Gregg, Sean Maher, Tom Lenk, Alexis Denisof and Amy Acker?? It's a Who's Who of the Whedon-verse.

Thor: The Dark World

Source

As if anyone is surprised to see this on here. I loves me a Marvel movie, and considering this one costars Tom Hiddleston, adding it to the list of things I'm excited about was a no-brainer. ESPECIALLY when The Ninth Doctor is the villain of the movie! 

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

I can't wait to see how they handle the giant clockface that is the arena in this one! I just wish we didn't have to wait so freaking long for it to come out, you know?? 

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

HOLY CRAP, YOU GUYS. After the ending of An Unexpected Journey, how can you NOT be excited about this movie?!?!?! I just...I mean...Benedict Cumberbatch as the voice of Smaug? Having conversation with Martin Freeman?? It's going to be made of win. Plus, DWARFMITAGE.

Basically, it's another year of sequels and comic book movies! I can't wait. What are you excited about seeing in 2013?

K xx

Movie Mondays: Paperback Hero

Over the weekend, I was trawling through my ridiculous collection of DVDs looking for something to watch. You know how some women will look at the clothes crammed into their wardrobe and go "Ugh, I have NOTHING to wear!"? I'm like that with my DVD collection. 

ANYWAY. My point is this - I've decided that considering how many movies I watch, I really don't talk about them that much on the ol' blog. And I decided I was going to rectify that. So I hereby introduce a new weekly series - Movie Mondays!

If you follow me on Twitter, you would have seen me wibbling on about this first movie during last week and encouraging Gina to drop everything to watch it. 

Source

I discovered Paperback Hero when I was home sick one day in year 12 (senior year, to the Americans among us!). It was the midday movie, and it must have been just after X-Men came out, because I was all "Hey, that's the dude who played Wolverine!" For those poor souls among you who are unfortunate enough to have not seen Paperback Hero, here's the gist of it. 

Source

Jack (Hugh Jackman) is a roadtrain driver in the outback. In his spare time, he's been writing a romance novel. Except instead of writing it under his name, he wrote it under the name Ruby Vale - his best friend (Claudia Karvan), who has no idea what's going on. Then a publisher from Sydney turns up and tells Ruby she has to come to the big smoke for a publicity tour and book launch. Ruby's a crop duster pilot, and has no idea what the book's about, let alone how to do a publicity tour. So Jack goes along as her agent to coach her through it. Somewhere in there, the publisher woman finds out that Jack's the actual author, but agrees to not tell Ruby that she knows the truth.

Source

After a few (dozen) drinks at the launch party, they end up playing pool in a pub, singing Roy Orbison at karaoke, and having a bit of a snog. The shit hits the fan when Ruby's fiancé, Hamish, finds out that Jack's the one who wrote the book and comes to Sydney to find out what's what. 

I'm not going to give away the ending (there's a dog that causes a broken leg in there somewhere!), and instead just recommend that you get hold of a copy for yourselves. It may be predictable and cheesy and kind of stupid in places, but I adore it. 

How can you not love a movie that features Hugh Jackman singing Crying (actually, any movie that features Hugh Jackman singing full stop is okay by me! Bring on Les Miserables!!), a dog that likes Frank Sinatra, the use of a Walkman by the female lead, and quotes like this:

Drunk guy in pub: What are you going to sing? 

Ruby: It's a catchy little number called 'You're an arsehole when you drink'!

Caller to radio show: Your work reminds me of a young Daphne Du Maurier.

Ruby: Oh, is she from Sydney?

Jack: *face palm*

Ruby: I read Lady Chatterley's Lover when I was ten...

Jack: That must have been an eye opener.

So there you go. It may be a slightly crappy, low budget Australian movie, but it manages to be endearing at the same time!

Have any of you guys seen it? What did you think? 

K xx

Hmmmmmm...

So remember when I went to see X-Men: First Class a few months ago and forked out for a Gold Class ticket? And when I was all "OMG, Michael Fassbender is AWESOME and I can't wait to see him in Jane Eyre when it finally comes out here"?

Yeah. I *finally* got to see Jane Eyre at the weekend. Considering it was released in the US in FEBRUARY, there was a hell of a lot of anticipation associated with it. And honestly? I was a little disappointed. The chronology of the story was kind of jumpy, to the point where if you hadn't read the book multiple times you'd probably be a little confused. (WARNING: SPOILERS PENDING)

I will say that the violence towards Jane at the beginning of the story was done well. But her time at Lowood was pretty much skimmed over in five minutes. A lot of Mr Rochester's back story was cut out. Fair enough, they're trying to make a 2 hour movie so can't include everything. But cutting out Rochester's back story mostly just makes him seem like a douche. Or, in the immortal words of Bridget Jones, "a big knobhead with no knob". And there were entire portions of the movie that I didn't really pay attention to because I was so terrified of Mia Whatshername's collar bones. You could have used them to cut...oh God, I don't know. Something that requires a very sharp cutting implement.

Oh, and they randomly decided to ditch the part where St. John, Mary and Diana turn out to be Jane's cousins. Which makes her giving way three-quarters of her money to them really random and weird... Plus, I found it more than a little odd that they basically left Bertha out of the story up until the cancelled wedding. Sure, there was the rescuing-Rochester-from-his-burning-bed thing, but none of the Grace Poole involving follow up.

ANYWAY. Enough nitpicking. Pros?

Source

Michael Fassbender.

Cons?

Source

Jamie Bell's RIDICULOUS facial hair. Mostly because all I could think of was Mr Weasley Mark Williams playing a goat in Stardust:

Source

There *were* other pros, including Judi Dench, gorgeous locations and some truly beautiful shots. But personally? It felt like it JUST covered all the basics without actually providing any of the details that make the story what it is.

So despite the SIX MONTHS of anticipation? I'll be sticking to the Toby Stephens/Ruth Wilson BBC version from a couple of years ago...

K xx

An afternoon of extravagance

This afternoon, I went to see X-Men: First Class. And let me tell you, it's AWESOMELY AWESOME. So much better than Last Stand or Wolverine... Also, does anyone else think Michael Fassbender would make an incredible James Bond when Daniel Craig finally sods off??

Source

Cos he's totally hotter than Daniel Craig. Rawr. Urm... I mean, cos he's all suave and stuff...

AnyI'llstopdroolingnow, I went to see it in gold class/premium/whatever you want to call it. The last time I went to gold class was my brother's 15th birthday way back in 2000. We went to see The Patriot. The cinema had like 10 seats and the screen was about the size of a bedsheet. And half way through the movie, I was dying for the loo but couldn't find the lever to make the recliner chair unrecline. So I did a really embarrassing commando roll over the side of the chair #classy Plus, I got really cranky because they put my M&Ms into a bowl so I couldn't take the leftovers home.

For the past three years, I've listened to half of Canberra rave about gold class up here. So seeing as I have cinema membership and it was only $20 a ticket (as opposed to $38 a ticket in Melbourne), and seeing as I only have like 35 days left in our nation's shithole, I figured I'd splash out. Well, let me tell you, it was TOTALLY worth the extra money. First of all, the chairs recline using a button, so there was none of that awkward commando rolling out of the chair. And the armrests double as storage compartments, so you don't have to worry that the staff are going to trip over all your junk when they come to serve your food.

My original plan was to just get a choc top, but then I figured that if I was paying for extravagance, I was going to HAVE extravagance, dammit! So I forked out an extra $4.50 for a triple chocolate sundae. And it was amazeballs. It had chantilly cream on the top covered in chocolate fudge sauce. The ice cream was made with Swiss chocolate. And it had flaked chocolate all the way through it, only a small amount of which ended up on my boob shelf. Yay me! Anyway, while I was waiting to order my triple chocolate sundae of deliciousness, the people who ended up sitting in front of me were ordering their movie snacks.

Bear in mind that this was a 3.30pm session, so it was hardly mealtime. But these people ordered the trio of dips to be served when the film started. Then a bowl of hot chips (fries to the North Americans among you) to be served at 4.30. And then some kind of dessert - possibly the Death by Chocolate platter? - to be served at 5.15. And a glass of Coke each. The food and drink alone cost them $60. I know I'm kind of a cheapskate (it's my Scottish heritage!), but I can't imagine a single movie that I would fork out over $50 a head to see in the theatre!!

Oh, my favourite thing on the menu? A chimichanga. I don't think there's any place LESS ideal to eat a chimichanga than in a reclining chair in a darkened room... Especially when it comes smothered in sour cream!

Anyway, before my little afternoon of chocolate and man candy, I dropped into the Borders closing down sale. Gotta love 30% off everything! Sadly, I couldn't find a single fiction book that grabbed my attention enough to spend money on (even with vastly reduced prices), but I did find a couple of history books, so yay for nerdiness! I also found this, which I've been wanting for a while but have never actually bought as it was something ridiculous like $29. But for $17? Hell yeah! (Yes, I know $17 is crazy-expensive for a mug. Shut up. It's awesome and you wish you had one.)

Don't ask me what I'm doing. Checking for mad women in the attic, I imagine. And sorry about the crap quality. I was too lazy to go and get my camera, so just used my webcam... I'm frighteningly excited about this mug and if it breaks in the move next month, I'll cry... Oh, speaking of Jane Eyre, the new movie (which, incidentally, stars Michael Fassbender as Mr Rochester. Rawr again.) STILL hasn't come out here. It opens in AUGUST. Sad/cranky face. I'm going to have to fit in a trip to the movies to see it the week before I leave for Chicago. Who's in??

In other sad news, my housemate, D, is also leaving Canberra and is moving back to Sydney. The sad part being that she starts in the Sydney office on Tuesday and is leaving Canberra tomorrow, something that she only found out yesterday. Which means I'm going to be all on my onesies for my last five weeks in Canberra :( On the upside, her company pays for a serviced apartment, so I won't be losing all the furniture just yet!

Oh, and in other other news? If I ever buy a house (HA HA HA HA HA HA HA, not on my salary I won't!), I'm totally going to turn an entire room into a gold class-esque cinema. Oh yes indeed... It's going in my Evil Plans book, just you wait and see... ;)

K xx

Sunshine and lollipops

There's nothing like the start of a four day weekend to make everything seem wonderful, is there?! The other day the lovely Carissa over at Kissed a Frog presented me with this:

The Sunshine Award! Thanks Carissa!! :) The rules are as follows:

- Thank the person who gave you the award and link back to them.

- Tell us something about yourself.

- Nominate 10 other bloggers and

- let them know that you awarded them!

So, some things about me, huh? Let's see.......
- I love data entry. I was completely thrilled today when we got a massive new data entry task at work. I don't really get why people hate it - you just turn your brain off and type and the next thing you know, it's finished!
- I HATE clothes shopping. But I love shoe shopping. Except when I find awesome shoes and they turn out to have ugly-arse wedge heels. Gross...
- This is what I did with my evening tonight:

Oh yes indeed...

- I'm moving back to Melbourne in 36 days. SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!
- I'm going to see X-Men: First Class tomorrow. In gold class. With cinema membership, it's only $20 before 5pm on a weekday. TOTALLY worth it.
- I love baking
- I'm pretty socially awkward in real life, so being a part of the blogosphere is freaking amazing, because I can make friends without saying something completely weird that stops the conversation dead.

I hereby pass this on to:
My BFF Sara @ Always a Bridesmaid
My other BFF Kat @ The Engineer's Other Life (even though Carissa gave it to her as well)
My other other BFF Nessa @ The Teensy Tiny Insignificant Details
Bi @ Bianca and the B-Sides
Lauren @ The Blog You're About to Read
Carly @ Tune Into Radio Carly
Joyful Sparrow @ A Sparrow's Flight
Emmy @ Love Woke Me Up This Morning
Lozzz123 @ Science, Spouses and Silliness
Kate @ Simply Kate

Go and check them all out, because they're all awesome bloggers! Oh, and if you haven't already, you've still got time to enter my delicious chocolatey giveaway!!

K xx

I love lists

As some of you may know, I'm a sucker for lists. I can't pack for a holiday without making a list of things I need to pack, things I need to buy and books I can't possible go without. I make a list of everything I'm going to cook for the week, and all the ingredients that go into those things, and then make my shopping list from THAT list. And my shopping list is broken into separate lists for fruit and veg, meat and dairy, cleaning products, and everything else. Lists make me happy.

I'm also a sucker for movies. My collection goes from All About Eve to X-Men Origins: Wolverine. (And I know this because I have a list of all my DVDs...) Speaking of movies, I saw Alice in Wonderland today. In 3D. Did anyone else think that EVERY tree in Underland looked like the Tree of the Dead from Sleepy Hollow?? And was anyone else expecting Professor Snape to be standing there whenever Absalon spoke??? Aaanyway, while the movie was good, the 3D element made my head hurt - mostly because the glasses at Dendy weigh about a metric ton...

But back to my point. On Friday afternoon, I discovered this: http://www.empireonline.com/500

Empire magazine put together a list of what they think are the top 500 movies of all time, which was voted on by critics, professionals, and readers. My first thought when I found it was "Ooooooh, a list of movies????? AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!" My second thought was "Hmm, I wonder how many I've seen??" Frankly, the list is a little surprising - especially the top 50. My biggest surprise was that Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull even made the list. Ack. That movie was TERRIBLE.

How many have you seen?

K :) xx

PS. For the record, I've seen 149...