I'm Merely Saying...

24/01

2011-01-24T16:58:00.000-08:00

I'm merely saying: GRRR!

I'm in a very.bad.mood.

I'm going back to Stirling tomorrow until Sunday and when I'm there my laptop doesn't work properly. I have to plug this USB adaptor into it to connect an ethernet cable to it for internet access in halls, and for whatever reason it makes my laptop crash CONSTANTLY. It also runs so much slower when it's actually working, and mucks up playing dvds. In short-I can't really use it for much when I've got the internet connected, and when the internet is connected it only stays connected for about ten minutes before the whole system crashes. I hate this fucking machine sometimes! It needs to get sent away to the manufacturer to see about getting it replaced or fixed, but they take sooo long and I need it for uni! I might just have to bite the bullet and do it though if things continue like this!

So then, because of this situation with the laptop I wanted to take my T.V and dvd player through with me so I would have something to do. Those of you who know me know I'm quite content to just watch dvds all day and night. My dad doesn't start work until four tomorrow and would have been able to take me through with the tv and all of my stuff to save me trying to cart it on the train in a suitcase, which would be incredibly difficult and probably end up damaging the tv. So it was going to be fine, until my mum threw a spanner in the work by refusing to give up the car for a day! All she has to do is walk to the bottom of the fucking street to get a bus but no. Seriously? I've been getting buses and trains to my work for the past three months now, and you can't get a bus for one fucking day so that I don't have to sit in boredum for practically the next week. Cheers for that one mum, cheers.

See you all tomorrow. If I can get any fucking internet access without destroying my laptop.

P.S-I apologise if anyone if offended by the over-use of the word fuck in this post, but I'm really,really annoyed right now.

22/01 & 23/01

2011-01-23T14:10:00.000-08:00

I'm merely saying: Sorry I missed a day!

There is nothing and nobody to be blamed for my missing posting yesterday other than myself and my own stupidity. I went out last night with the intention of being home by eleven. But as we know, even when you've got the best intentions sometimes things go wrong. And they definately went wrong last night.We headed out at half-four when we finished work.Things were fine and then I got rat-arsed,humiliated myself in front of my entire new team, threw up in the guy who had been nice enough to have us all up to his house's bathroom and then promptly passed out on his bed. I woke up at 2am this morning with periods of the night missing from my memory and then I got in a taxi and returned to my room at Geddes Court. I can tell you now that I paid for my mistakes this morning. The worst hangover I've had in over a year! Horrendous!

I usually pride myself on being able to go out and have a drink but still stay reasonably sensible. I never,ever,ever get to the stage I was at last night where you can't walk and your friends have to drag you to a bed. It was humiliating and I've only got myself to blame.

Ah well, I'll just need to show them on our next night out that I can take a drink without ending up like that!

See you tomorrow.

21/01

2011-01-21T14:19:00.000-08:00

I'm merely saying: I quite enjoy being alone.

A few hours ago I arrived back at my halls of residence to stay a couple of nights here due to work commitments. There's currently two other guys here who share my kitchen. One of them has been here since we moved in in September and didn't go home over Christmas. He's the weird one - long hair, you never EVER see him during the day. I don't wanna jump to conclusions or anything, but I strongly suspect he's a vampire. And not the sexy kind haha! The other guy who is here is here to revise and therefore is kind of keeping himself to himself. We ate dinner at the same time and had a catch up chat, but other than that we've just both been in our seperate rooms.

And I realised that I'm actually pretty content here just now, at this exact time. I'm perfectly happy to be completely alone right now and just chill with some snacks and dvds. I've been on my own a lot at home too,don't get me wrong. But it's not the same as knowing that nobody else is actually coming home and you've got the whole place practically to yourself, as I do here.

Does the fact that I enjoy my own company make me anti-social? No, I think it just makes me someone who likes their own space and likes to get away from everything every so often. I've had no stress at home, but once you get used to living alone and eating when you want and taking care of yourself and that's it, it becomes kind of restrictive to go back to living with your parents again. So I think I'm enjoying tonight so much due to the feeling of being independent again.

One bad thing that did happen to me since I got back though was that the ATM ate my card :( it's ok though,because I have another account and online banking so just transferred money into that one and used that card. I've phoned the neccesary number and got the card that got eaten cancelled and everything is fine. Just a bit of bad luck that it happened to me when I was by myself as,when things like this happen to me for the first time,I tend to panic. If it ever happens again I'll be fine. It's just because this was the first time I'd had a card swallowed/lost a card/had a card stolen I didn't know what to do.

Anyhoo, it's my first full shift at the Stirling H&M tomorrow. I'll let you know how it goes.

See you tomorrow.

20/01

2011-01-20T12:23:00.001-08:00

I'm merely saying: I'm being lazy again. Sorry.

SUPPOSEDLY if you’ve seen over 70 films, you have no life (or in my opinion,a successful movie watching life thus far). Mark the ones you’ve seen with an (x) (You can just scroll to the bottom for my total out of 239 movies if you can't be arsed with this haha!)

       Teen/Romance:
        (x) A Cinderella Story
        ( ) Another Cinderella Story
        (x) Step Up
        (x) Step Up 2
        (x) High School Musical
        ( ) High School Musical 2
        ( ) High School Musical 3
        (x) Hannah Montana Movie
        (x) Enchanted
        ( ) Sydney White
        Total: 6

        (x) She’s The Man
        ( ) Licensed to Wed
        (x ) The Break-Up
        (x) 13 going on 30
        ( ) 27 Dresses
        (x) P.S I Love You
        ( ) Made of Honor
        (x) What Happens in Vegas
        ( ) Get Smart
        ( ) The Princess Bride
        Total: 11

        ( ) Camp Rock
        (x) Wild Child
        (x) Ella Enchanted
        (x) The Princess Diaries
        (x) The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement
        (x) 50 First Dates
        (x) The Lizzie McGuire Movie
        ( ) Hotel For Dogs
        ( ) Just Married
        (x) Freaky Friday
        Total: 18

        (x) The Hot Chick
        (x ) Sleepover
        (x) Confessions Of a Shopaholic
        (x ) Twilight
        ( ) Nancy Drew
        (x) The Devil Wears Prada
        (x) No Reservations
        (x) Perfect Man
        (x ) Australia
        ( ) Never Been Kissed
        Total: 26

        Comedy/Humour:
        (x) Yes Man
        (x) Bedtime Stories
        ( ) The Pink Panther
        ( ) The Pink Panther 2
        (x) Marley & Me
        (x) Cheetah Girls
        (x ) Cheetah Girls 2
        ( ) Bratz
        ( ) Haunted Mansion
        ( x) Paul Blart Mall Cop
        Total: 32

        (x) The 40-Year-Old Virgin
        ( ) Night in the Museum
        ( ) Night in the Museum 2
        (x) Evan Almighty
        (x) Bruce Almighty
        (x) White Chicks
        (x) Neverending Story
        ( ) Meet the Spartans
        (x) Meet the Parents
        (x) Meet the Fockers
        Total: 39

        (x) Scream
        (x ) Scream 2
        (x ) Scream 3
        (x) Scary Movie
        (x ) Scary Movie 2
        (x) Scary Movie 3
        (x) Scary Movie 4
        (x) American Pie
        (x ) American Pie 2
        (x) American Pie Band Camp
        Total: 50

        Adventures:
        (x) Harry Potter 1: The Sorcerer’s Stone
        (x) Harry Potter 2: The Secret Chamber
        (x) Harry Potter 3: Prisoner of Azkaban
        (x) Harry Potter 4: Goblet of Fire
        (x) Harry Potter 5: Order of the Phoenix
        (x) Harry Potter 6: Half-Blood Prince
        (x) Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring
        (x) Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
        (x) Lord of the Rings: Return Of the King
        (x) Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe
        (x) Chronicles Of Narnia: Prince Caspian
        Total: 61

        ( ) Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
        ( ) Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
        ( ) Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
        ( ) Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull
        (x) The Mummy
        (x) The Mummy 2
        ( x) The Mummy 3
        ( ) Journey to the Centre of Earth
        () City of Ember
        () Finding Neverland
        Total: 64

        (x) Pirates of the Caribbean
        (x) Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man’s Chest
        (x) Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At World’s End
        (x) X-Men
        (x) X-2
        (x) X-3
        (x) Spider-Man
        (x) Spider-Man 2
        () Spider Man 3
        () King Kong
        Total: 72

        ( x) Hellboy
        ( ) Star Wars Ep. I The Phantom Menace
        ( ) Star Wars Ep. II Attack of the Clones
        ( ) Star Wars Ep. III Revenge of the Sith
        ( ) Star Wars Ep. IV A New Hope
        ( ) Star Wars Ep. V The Empire Strikes Back
        ( ) Star Wars Ep. VI Return of the Jedi
        ( ) Underdog
        (x) A Series Of Unfortunate Events
        (x) Batman: The Dark Knight
        Total: 75

        Action/Thriller:
        (x) The Matrix
        ( ) The Matrix Reloaded
        ( ) The Matrix Revolution
        ( x) Terminator
        (x) Terminator 2
        (x ) Terminator 3
        (x) Ocean’s Eleven
        (x) Ocean’s Twelve
        ( ) Ocean’s Thirteen
        ( ) Casino Royale 007
        Total: 81

        (x) Bourne Identity
        ( ) Bourne Supremacy
        (x ) Underworld
        () Butterfly Effect
        ( ) Death Note
        ( ) Death Note 2
        ( ) Death Note 3: L Change the world
        ( ) Resident Evil 1
        ( ) Resident Evil 2
        (x ) I, Robot
        Total: 84

        () Rush Hour
        () Rush Hour 2
        () Rush Hour 3
        ( ) Mission Impossible 1
        ( ) Mission Impossible 2
        ( ) Mission Impossible 3
        (x) I Am Legend
        ( ) Predator I
        ( ) Predator II
        (x ) Signs
        Total: 86

        Horror:
        () Saw
        (x) Saw II
        (x ) Saw III
        ( x) Saw IV
        ( ) Saw V
        (x) The Grinch
        (x) Texas Chainsaw Massacre
        ( x) Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning
        (x) The Ring
        ( ) The Ring 2
        Total: 93

        (x) Final Destination
        (x) Final Destination 2
        (x) Final Destination 3
        ( x) Ghost Ship
        ( x) From Hell
        () Child’s Play
        ( ) Seed of Chucky
        ( ) Bride of Chucky
        (x) Gothika
        (x) Nightmare on Elm Street
        Total: 100

        (x) The Grudge
        () The Grudge 2
        ( ) The Haunted Apartment
        ( ) Siren
        (x) Silent Hill
        (x) The Mask
        ( ) Son Of The Mask
        ( ) Alone
        ( ) Omen
        (x ) House Of Wax
        Total: 104

        (x) The Eye
        ( ) The Eye 2
        () Shutter
        (x ) When a Stranger calls
        ( ) The Fog
        ( x) The Orphanage
        ( ) The Skulls
        (x) Cruel Intentions
        () Cruel Intentions 2
        ( ) House of 1000 Corpses
        Total: 108

        Cartoons:
        (x) Lilo & Stitch
        (x) Ice Age
        (x) Ice Age 2: The Meltdown
        (x) Madagascar
        ( x) Madagascar 2
        () Kung Fu Panda
        () Bolt
        (x) Wall-E
        (x) Monsters Inc
        (x) Shark Tale
        Total: 116

        (x) Shrek
        (x) Shrek 2
        (x) Shrek 3
        (x) Finding Nemo
        (x) ET
        ( ) Cars
        (x) Ratatouille
        (x) Toy Story
        (x) Toy Story 2
        (x) The Incredibles
        Total: 125

        Inspirational:
        (x) Little Miss Sunshine
        () I Am Sam
        () The Day After Tomorrow
        (x) Coach Carter
        () The Last Dance
        ( ) To Kill A Mockingbird
        ( ) Conrack
        ( ) Midnight Sun
        () Little Black Book
        () Rwanda Genocide
        Total: 127

        Classics:
        (x) Ten Things I Hate About You
        (x) Titanic
        (x) Romeo & Juliet
        ( ) Frankenstein
        ( x) A Midsummer Night’s Dream

TOTAL – 131. Not too shabby. Though I’m surprised that there’s over 100 on this list I haven’t watched!

19/01

2011-01-19T14:06:00.000-08:00

I'm merely saying : the Stirling store is going to be awesome!

Now that that's out of the way, lets talk about something else. Don't you just hate that one person who always has a bad attitude about being at work? They aren't motivated at all, they don't want to put in any effort,and at any given opportunity they're telling you how they don't want to be there.

Sure, we can all be thinking these things in our head and really not be enjoying our job, but at the end of the day, we are lucky to be in employment! The job situation out there is horrendous,as most people will know,and the fact that these people, these constantly moaning,never happy with what they're doing people,have the nerve to moan about the fact that they're in a lucky enough position to have a job frustrates me.

What got me thinking about this was working with this one guy today. Every time our floor manager asked him to do something he would either say 'do I have to?' (or something to that effect) or make such a big deal about having to do it. We are all in the same boat! We're all working hard to get our store ready. We're all being intoxicated by the fumes coming from the freshly painted walls that are giving us migraines (or me a migraine anyway). So buck up your ideas and make a fucking effort! It doesn't make it any more enjoyable for yourself or anybody else if you're just moaning all the time and evidently don't want to be there. Away you go and give your job to someone else if you hate it so much why don't you?

I admit, I'm the first person to moan when I'm on my way to work and moan about how I can't be bothered going to work that day. But when I'm actually at work it's a different story. The way you behave really has an impact on the morale and feelings of your team, and you have to pay attention to that. Also, if you're the person who is constantly moaning at every given chance, they will think you don't really want your job and you also won't be liked very much.

So the bottom line is,even if you hate your job,make an effort whilst you're there! Not many people are in the position that they hoped to be in when they set out in the world. Not a lot of people are doing what they love for a living. For most people their work is just that, work. Making the money to live. And I think that more people should be grateful that they actually have that, given today's economical climate.

So, chin up Britain! It's not all bad!

See you tomorrow.
P.S- I lost 1 pound. But I've not been making an effort,in fact I've been eating the worst this past week than I have in ages in preparation for going back to Stirling when I'm going to diet seriously and get to the gym. I'll let you know how that goes when I get into it.

18/01

2011-01-18T11:28:00.000-08:00

I'm merely saying: I FINALLY START IN STIRLING TOMORROW!

I've been working for H&M since the end of October. I interviewed for them at the start of September and left my Build A Bear job in Edinburgh to give me a little bit of time to chill and settle into Uni before starting in the Stirling store, which was to open in Autumn 2010. It was put off and put off due to unforseen circumstances and the horrible weather, and now, finally we're going into our own store!

After training for almost three months in Glasgow it will be a relief to finally be in a store where we are calling the shots and don't feel like we are spare parts. It's been kind of a blessing to train in such a busy store, because now we will most definately be prepared. I think that the location of our new store is great and that it's going to do good business, so the fact that we've had a little longer to practise and train is actually a good thing.

Apparently the deliveries have been pretty hard going - we're talking 100 boxes of hangers, 68,000 security tags, sheving, racks, equipment etc - that's all coming in before we even look at unpacking any clothes, and it all has to be manually lifted, unpacked, sorted and set up. This is a tough week for our team, but it is sooo going to pay off when we open on the 27th.

My first shift is tomorrow and I can't wait!

I'll let you all know how it goes, see you tomorrow.

17/01

2011-01-17T16:34:00.000-08:00

I'm merely saying: Inception....where's the applause for Inception?

I am not happy about some of the Golden Globe winners. Lets go through this shall we.
(FOR A LIST OF THE NOMINATIONS AND WINNERS,SEE HERE)

1.Best Picture - The Social Network.
SAY WHAT? It was good yes,and it defines a generation yes. But it wasn't exceptional, it wasn't THE stand out movie of the year. THE stand out movie was Inception! AwardsHotShots:1. ChrisNolan:0
2.Best Picture (Musical/Comedy) - The Kids Are Alright.
Never even heard of it but not fussed,although I do like Burlesque. My problem is why the fuck is The Tourist in this category? It is neither a comedy or a musical? WTF?
3.Best Actor - Colin Firth.
Fair do's. I hate him, but fair do's. I'm in love with James Franco and bet his performance was a harder one to pull off, but fair do's.
4. Best Actress - Natalie Portman.
Well deserved.
5.Best Actor (Musical/Comedy) - Paul Giamatti
Johnny Depp in The Tourist appears on this list, WTF? It was a great performance, but he neither sang or made the audience laugh? I personally think this one should've went to Gyllenhaal.
6. Best Actress (Musical/Comedy) - Annette Benning
Should've went to Anne Hathaway or Emma Stone. Without a shadow of a doubt. P.S-Angeline Jolie's The Tourist performance features on this list too! They definately bribed somebody somewhere for that. She was stonecold and wooden in that movie! (And again I argue-IT AINT A COMEDY OR A MUSICAL!?)
7.Best Supporting Actor - Christian Bale
I hate Christian Bale. And his acceptance speech was a joke. I wish Geoffrey Rush had won this one,just because I like him.
8.Best Supporting Actress - Melissa Leo
Should have been the lovely Helena, or Mila Kunis I think.
9.Best Director - David Fincher
Christopher Nolan screwed over YET AGAIN. AwardsHotShots:2 ChrisNolan:0
10.Best Screenplay - The Social Network
AwardsHotShots:3 ChrisnNolan:0.
11.Best Original Song - 'You Haven't Seen The Last of Me' Burlesque
Yaaay!
12.Best Orignal Score-The Social Network.
This one definately makes no sense! Inception had a MIND BLOWING score. AwardsHotShots:4 ChrisNolan:0
13.Best Animated Film-Toy Story.
Would have been unfair to give it to anything else really. Well deserved.
14.Best Tv Series (Musical/Comedy) - Glee
Saw that one coming. But very well deserved,even if I am the biggest TBBT fan out there!
15.Best Actor in TV (Musical/Comedy) - Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory
YAAAY!
16. I AM SO GLAD THAT LEA MICHELE DIDN'T GET BEST ACTRESS FOR TV.
17.Best Supporting TV Actor - Chris Colfer.
Yes,Yes,Yes! Well deserved and he was so humble. I was so happy for him and support everything he stands for.
18.Best Supporting TV Actress - Jane Lynch.
Again, well deserved. Very happy for her.

So there we have them. My theory is that big awards people just dislike Christopher Nolan for some reason, because the same thing happened the year of the Dark Knight. It had loads of awesome aspects to it, understandably it shouldn't have been awarded best picture - BUT IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN NOMINATED! It was up for loads of things that it deserved and they didn't give it. Christopher Nolan is a tremendous film maker and he needs some recognition! Note - I didn't cover the awards that nobody really cares about (mini series etc). Roll on the Oscars and lets hope the right awards go to the right people this time.

See you tomorrow.

16/01

2011-01-16T14:09:00.000-08:00

I'm merely saying : I have nothing to say today!

Today was a long but fairly average day. I kicked it off by sleeping in and missing the only 19 that would get me to the train station on time for my 8.37 train, but it was ok as the bus was gonna get me there half an hour early for the train anyway. I got a taxi and wasted a tenner.

The epic train journey on the silly diverted route took me 1hr 20 mins and then the store was still locked when I got there, so I had to phone and phone and phone,then wait and wait and wait until someone came and let me in. By which point they were late for opening. I covered menswear for the morning and then was in divided downstairs for the rest of the day which was busy and therefore quite good as it made the day go fast.

I bought some clothes to make use of my discount, despite need the money to pay the first balance on my holiday this week. I feel kind of like I'm always under dressed for working at a clothes shop and can only say that I'm glad I don't work at a shop such as Topshop or River Island, where I'm sure the competition to look good would be much more intense. So yeah,I bought some new clothes.

And then I got the epic train journey back again, where my dad picked me up and I finally got home at around six oclock.Long.Day. But then travelling always makes you feel like you're doing more hours than you actually are doesn't it?

I go into the Stirling store on Wednesday. Can't.Wait.

See you tomorrow.

15/01

2011-01-15T12:22:00.000-08:00

I'm merely saying:owls are pretty cool,right?

I love,love,love,love owls.I think they are so wise and intelligent looking. The seem to be patient creatures. They are on par with me in terms of sleeping all day and being up all night haha! They're hunters who go after what they want. And more importantly, they have awesome eyes (:

So that's some of the reasons why I'm veering towards an owl for my next tattoo. I know I want another one,it's just a question of where to put it so I can show it off, but not have it visible when I'm old. I do want these tattoos for the rest of my life, because I believe the meaning that they hold to me at the point of getting them will always be relevant to me. My phoenix for example - I am never going to forget or get over the pain and loss that I've been through with alopecia, and this tatt is a reminder of how I can be strong and overcome the flames that life can throw at me. It also is a promise to myself that I know one day I will be made beautiful again,whether that means with all my 'feathers' or not. This is not something that will ever become irrelevent to me, even if I do ever get my hair back. So the fact that I will be old and have tattoos isn't an issue for me, if you take care of your skin properly and keep a tattoo moisturised it should remain forever fairly decent. It's a permanent inking underneath your top layer of skin. It's not the top layer of your skin that will stretch and sag,so if you take proper care of your skin your tattoos should remain as kind of permanent reminders to yourself of what you have been through in life and the lessons you have learnt.

So,any suggestions for an interesting owl tattoo?

See you tomorrow.

14/01

2011-01-14T09:48:00.000-08:00

I'm merely saying:four years is a long fucking time.

And I'm not amused.When I started on this alopecia journey four years ago, I was convinced that given a few years things would be back to normal and I would be ok. How naive of me to think that life isn't actually that hard and that this would resolve itself in reasonable time.

Four years for someone with alopecia isn't actually a long period of time, if you think about how long it takes hair to regrow etc, but it is a long time in terms of life. When this first happened to me I was 14 years old and in third year at high school! Since then I've achieved all of my standard grades,my highers and got into uni. I've turned 18, which sounds vastly older than 14 don't you think?

Basically, I was a child when this happened to me and I think its forced me to grow up.Kinda sad,and it sucks.

I've told myself for long enough that other people have it worse than me, at least this doesn't affect my health, blah de blah de blah.But at the end of the day, this has been a SHITE FOUR YEARS. Yes, I've had some great experiences too in those four years, don't get me wrong. But the nature of alopecia is that it doesn't give you a day off. You have to deal with it EVERY DAY.

So that's me 1460 days into dealing with this and it's fucking shit.

See you tomorrow.

13/01

2011-01-13T16:04:00.000-08:00

I'm merely saying:I guess it was kinda stupid to book a fortnight's holiday huh?

So I'm adding up how much money I need,and the expenditure estimate well outweights in the income estimate!
I need to pay off a further £460 of this holiday, save up at least €800 spending money and that'll be pushing it and sticking to a tight budget on the holiday! and save up the deposit and rent for a flat! Bad times ahead.

If I wasn't trying to save for a holiday I guess this would be much easier. But I couldn't face the prospect of summer in rainy Britain. I guess I'll just need to work my arse off in the coming months.

I'm also worried about all the extra things you need to pay for on top of your rent when you arent in student halls! My mum pays an extra £300 a month for our house in bills. Dunno how I'm gonna function without student loan over the summer haha!

God forbid I might have to start selling my beloved dvds.....

See you tomorrow.

12/01

2011-01-12T08:23:00.000-08:00

I'm merely saying : what's the hype?

So I heard a lot about the movie 'Easy A' this year and a lot of people seem to have liked it. To me, the idea of basing this movie on the fact that the girl made up a story about herself, and then her subsequent anger then acceptance of the fact that everyone in her school is now talking about her, is stupid.

The main flaw is that not that no girl would ever lie about her sex life, the flaw is that no girl would ever just blurt out all the sordid details of her fabricated sex life in the middle of a school bathroom. Further, no girl's best friend would subsequently encourage the lies about her friend's apparent sluttiness to spread, and no 'Christian' would take somthing that she overheard in a school bathroom and turn it into a hate campaign. A teenage girl in general would, and I'm sure a Christian teenage girl would, but it wouldn't be because she was a Christian, it would be because she was a teenage girl. That's another flaw.

The main character is unsympathetic as she puts herself into the situation she ends up in, in fact she actively makes it worse, and then has the cheek to get upset about it! She takes money to let school boys spread rumours about her and then she is sooo surprised when it backfires in her face.

To me, it's funny, but stupid. It manages to pose as something original, but is very poorly written. As a whole,I was unimpressed by this movie.5/10.

See you tomorrow.

11/01

2011-01-11T15:48:00.000-08:00

I was watching sun,sex and suspicious parents earlier today - the idea is that it's the teenagers first breakaway holiday from their parents to destinations such as Malia, Ibiza etc and then the twist is that the parents are watching them Big Brother style for the whole week and then surprise them by turning up at their resort at the end. It's all good and well and makes for cringeworthy entertainment. However, my question is this - what makes people want to pay that kind of money to go to that kind of place? I mean really, all they do is sleep all day and drink and have sex all night. The resorts get away with being dirty, dangerous and basic because all of these people are willing to pay money to have a bed to crash in after they trash the entire boardwalk/strip/whatever the equivalent is.

To me, if that's all you're looking to do when you travel - don't waste the money on travelling abroad. It costs a lot of money to go abroad and to me the point of going away somewhere is to see the place and the culture and how it differs to your home. It's supposed to be FOREIGN - something different. These kind of booze-fuelled holidays are just the British culture being forced upon other countries who make a fortune off of our teenagers stupidity. To me, these types of holidays are my idea of hell. I like a good night out, but I can have that at home. I don't need to pay upwards of £400 for a week away somewhere else to do it.

For me, a perfect holiday is in somewhere located NEAR a buzzing nightlife spot, however far enough away from it to have a relaxing, quiet feel and have higher standards. I'm not talking five star accommodation, I'm talking they're not a popular enough resort to be able to just rely on the money coming in so the standards of food, accomodation, entertainment etc are a little higher. I want somewhere with things to do and see, not just endless bars and nightclubs. I'm willing to speak a little bit of the lingo to avoid being surrounded by obnoxious,loud,rude and ignorant British people.

I admit, this post makes me sound like a stuck up snob when it comes to travel, but I honestly cannot think of anything worse than the type of holidays that are shown on that programme and I will never go on one.
What's your idea of a good holiday?

See you tomorrow.

10/01

2011-01-10T08:53:00.000-08:00

I'm merely saying: forgive me, this is lazy blogging. I know. But I'm too big of a HP nerd to pass it up!

Harry Potter Mini-Challenge

What is your House? - I think I'm a Ravenclaw. Ravenclaw values intelligence,creativity,learning and wit, I think I possess some of those things. If not a Ravenclaw, I think I'm a Hufflepuff as they value hard work, tolerance, loyalty and fair play. I'm not brave enough to be a Gryffindor and not cunning enough to be a Slytherin.
What is your favorite class? - Hmm, maybe care of magical creatures.
Who is your favorite professor? - Flitwick!
What is your patronus? - A lion cub
What is your boggart? - A spider or a bannana
What is your least favorite class? - Divination
Who is your least favorite professor? Sanpe/Trelawney
What do you REALLY think of Ron Weasley? Love him. He's fiery,loyal,brave and funny :)
What is your favorite book in the series? - Hard one! Either 2,4 or 7.
What is your chosen Deathly Hallow?- The invisibility cloak
If you made horcruxes, what would they be and how many? I wouldn't. But if I did there would be 2 - A bannana and a shot glass. Nobody would suspect me of using a banana, and a shot glass-just for fun.
What is your favorite magical creature? - Phoenix
Which Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher was the best? - Lupin
What is your signature spell? - Accio because I have a habit of misplacing things
Would you have joined Dumbledore’s Army? - Of course.

See you tomorrow.

9/01

2011-01-09T14:37:00.000-08:00

I'm merely saying: budgeting is hard!

Today I've been trying to figure out my money, how much I'll have, how much I estimate I'll need to spend etc in the run up to my holiday, to try and figure out how much I'm going to have left to save up for spending money etc.

I know that I spend too much on things that I don't need, and I know that the majority of the excess I spend, I spend on food. I spend about £30 on my weekly shop in Stirling and I'm aiming to cut that in half. This will mean cutting out the sweets, crisps and excess stuff I don't need, planning what meals I'm going to have and sticking to it. That should bring my expenditure down a bit.

I'm so excited about this holiday and I want to have the money saved to really enjoy it and to not have to be watching my pennies whilst I'm away. I've figured it out and I should be able to do it, it's just a matter of self control. Talking of self control - the diet is NOT going well. I've not been eating a lot, but the stuff I have been eating has been really fattening and I've not really done any excercise at all. Weigh day is tomorrow so I'll know for sure then.I'll need to start making more of an effort this week, every week I don't make the effort leaves me with more pounds that I could've lost for the holiday. I'm going to set myself a goal of maybe just a pound in loss a week that's still 23 pounds by the time I go on holiday, and around 2 stone in total. That sounds like quite a lot of weight to lose - but to be honest, I could do with losing that I think. If it gets to a stage where I'm comfortable with the way I look, I'll stop trying to lose it. I might not even be able to lose a pound a week though, it does take a lot more effort to burn fat than it does to put it on afterall. I just dont want to be the fat bird on the holiday haha!

See you all tomorrow.

8/01

2011-01-09T06:23:00.000-08:00

I'm merely saying: my space bar broke.

So, this blog is late. Again. I know, I know. However, my excuse is that I came in from work yesterday, ate, watched some stuff on E! then came upstairs, put the laptop on to catch up tumblr,twitter,youtube etc and then do my blog. I got to the catching up youtube part, put the laptop down beside me on my bed and promptly fell asleep.

A further problem I'm having is that the spacebar on my laptop fell of. I kinda pushed it back on but it's a reaaaal effort to make a space now. There is a lot of backspacing due to mistakes and its annoying.

So, sorry this is late. Here's something for you to think about, tell me what this dream says about me:

I was being charged with manslaughter for pushing one of my friends into a swimming pool. They weren't dead, however they were somehow able to up the charges and get me charged with manslaughter instead of whatever you would be charged with had you just pushed someone into a swimming pool for no reason. I don't usually remember my dreams but I remember that all I was thinking in this one was "I hope they let me out for my holiday" haha! What does this say about me I wonder?

See you all next time.

7/01

2011-01-07T11:39:00.000-08:00

I'm merely saying: I'm exhausted, so excuse the short, abruptness of this post.

Please examine the following for an insight into my life as of late:

"She had grown to love the early hours of morning. She'd stay awake until 5.30 am and she'd wait for the light of the sun to subtly illuminate the world. Once it did, she'd shut the blinds, and she'd sleep. She'd sleep throughout most of the day and she was usually pretty content with that. She began to feel comfortable in her loneliness, it was the only time she didn't have to put up a facade, to pretend that the chaos around her didn't bother her much. She had learnt to live in her melancholy and although in a way she hated that, she was reluctant to change the habit. she was scared that if she changed the habit she'd lose what little she knew of herself. She was terrified of facing a swift and moving society, where the majority were too ignorant to care. Her thoughts and fears consumed her to the point where she almost felt mad, and although she wanted to be okay, she didn't know how."

I've looked and looked and I can't locate its original source! I read it on someone's tumblr today and really felt it related to me just now. That's it for today I'm afraid as I'm past the point of normal function and just want to curl up and sleep.

See you tomorrow.

6/01

2011-01-06T13:50:00.000-08:00

I'm merely saying : Hopes for 2011. Lets go.

Well, I've covered 2010, covered my health kick resolution and covered my first movie of the year. But I realised that I've not actually covered my other hopes for 2011 so that's what today will be about.

1. CHOOSE to be happy. I spent a lot of 2010 being sad or upset or just feeling sorry for myself in general. I aim to maintain a more positive attitude this year and instead of wallowing in the sad times I will pick myself up, stop moaning and CHOOSE happiness instead of self pity.

2. Learn a foreign language. I might tackle Spanish in time for going on holiday in June. I'm not talking learning how to speak it fluently, just maybe a beginners book or cd or something.

3.Take up more extracurricular stuff. When I get back to Uni I want to maybe get into a pattern of going to the drama society. I think I can direct and not act so I would like to do that if I can. And maybe take up a class at the gym in something I've never done before - like Zumba!?

4. Get on top of my messyness. I am soooo untidy it's unreal. Like to the extent that I am almost always embarraressed to show anyone my room as it's usually a tip. I aim to be more tidy this year.

5. Lastly, I aim to be more accomodating and patient with people. I get irritated by people VERY,VERY easily, and I'm not really a very easy person to live with because of this. I want to be more accomodating of others and more patient when they start to get on my nerves this year.

So there we have it, what are your resolutions. Let me know.
See you tomorrow.

5/01

2011-01-06T08:24:00.000-08:00

I'm merely saying: better than expected.

So today we went to see Love and Other Drugs - see trailer here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrMjIBQGdH4.

This film actually really exceeded my expectations. The trailer made it look as though the film would focus a lot on the Jamie character's journey from womanising-commitment phobe to falling in love and sticking with this one girl. In fact, whilst it did focus on this, it also focused a lot on the way the Maggie character dealt with Parkinson's disease and the effects it had on her self worth. It was pretty touching at times and a real strong point of the movie.

So lets talk performances now. Anne Hathaway was the best I've seen her in a long, long while. A very heartfelt and touching performance, she done well to not make you pity the character at first, which is sometimes an automatic reaction when we hear people are dealing with diseases such as Parkinsons. The way we felt sorry for the character came later as she slowly revealed how this disease had effected her emotionally. It was really a very good performance of a difficult role. Props to the writers too who have put this together in a very considerate and thougtful way.

Jake Gyllenhall was good, though I would say Hathaway outshone him. This isn't the first time they've worked together, having played together in Brokeback Mountain, and this shows in the obviously previously established chemistry that they have. Gyllenhall plays his role well, although until the latter third of the movie I would say he was pretty average, inhabiting more of a typical rom-com male lead role instead of the touching character that he becomes at the end. A good performance overall, just outshone by his female counterpart.

Overall I would give this film a 8/10 because of how it surprised me, the well written script and the performances of the two lead actors.

Give it a go.

See you tomorrow.

4/01

2011-01-04T18:55:00.000-08:00

I'm merely saying:This is also late. Sorry.

I've done nothing again today - just been sleeping. Again.

I've decided I need to get out of the house tomorrow, and am considering just going to the hairspray matinee performance by myself. Kinda sad, I know. But I looked on the website and there's no pairs of seats together, except at the top of the balcony, and it kinda makes me feel sick up there.

If I don't do that, other things I might do are:

Go to the museuum
Go to the cinema
Go shopping
Write a list of potential blog topics because this one just wasnt' thought through
Other suggestions are welcome.....

I plan to get up in the morning and excercise for a bit first though, whilst I have the house to myself. Then shower and just head into town and do whatever takes my fancy. Is is really sad to go to the cinema/theatre by yourself....I would probably wonder about the person that comes into the cinema and sits in the back row on their own.....I could take a notepad, that might make me look more like I have a reason for being there. I'm gonna review everything I see this year, that'll give me a blog post for those days. Kind of cheating, I know, but it's hard to come up with 365 topics for blogging.

Anyway, am off to try sleeping again.
See you tomorrow.

3/01

2011-01-03T16:57:00.000-08:00

I'm merely saying - 12fuckingstone. This needs to stop.

So apparently, I've put on 3/4 of a stone since I last weighed myself about a month ago! SAY WHAT!? Must be the holiday season. I know that it wasn't the scales, because I double checked.....three times! So there we have it,as promised,I've revealed my starting weight to you all.

I made a whole post about this resolution I have yesterday, so I'm not going to go too far into it again, but to shake this weight I intend to eat healthier (both in the things I actually eat and the way I cook things), make use of my gym membership, and follow the zumba workouts that I downloaded yesterday. Let's keep our fingers crossed for me and my weight loss plans.

So today, I woke up at 5pm due to the fact that I haven't been to sleep before 7am for the past week or so, and it's really been catching up on me. I feel asleep at about 8am this morning and that was me until 4.48pm this afternoon. Bad,I know. I go back to work on Friday, so I really need to make the effort to get my normal sleeping pattern back by then. I'm going to go watch Inception now and try and force myself to get back to sleep afterwards, even though I won't have even been up for 12 hours! Grr.

Other places you can find me, by the way, are:
www.twitter.com/megan92_
www.merelysaying.tumblr.com

Until tomorrow.

2/01

2011-01-02T21:57:00.000-08:00

I'm merely saying - sorry this is late.

Resolutions, we all make them. Every year it's the same, the last few days in December everyone is giving it laldi about how they're going to change themselves for the better. It'll be in the new year of course, because what better a time to turn a new leaf than at the start of a fresh year. And then it'll be when you get back to work obviously, because there's no point trying to stick to resolutions until then, you're on holiday for goodness sake. And then it'll be when you've settled back into a routine, it's too hard to punish yourself by cutting out all the good stuff aswell as having to get back into the early morning routine. And then when you finally start waking up by yourself at your normal work time, it'll be put off until the start of next week, because who starts a resolution in the middle of a week. And then, before we know it, it'll be February.

I'm willing to hold my hands up and say this is how I find myself every year. I promise myself that I'm going to be healthier - that's always the plan. Never to lose weight, because that's making it too difficult for myself, but always to be healthier. Moderation instead of excess. However, this year I've decided to properly give it a go and try and lose weight. From November 2009 until July 2010 I was working in an office Monday-Friday, an office where the 'tuck shop' sat right opposite me. It was always full of crisps, fizzy juice, sweeties and cakes etc that people brought in - I have NO WILLPOWER so this was a bad situtation for me. I accompanied this constant grazing on sugary and salty snacks with no breakfasts, preferring to stay longer in bed, and crap filled lunches of fast food, take out and pot noodles on the days I was skint. After I finished at the office, I moved to uni and took control of my own grocery shopping. Needless to say, it hasn't gone well and the weight has still been piling on. I'm now about 1 & 1/2 to 2 full stones heavier than I was in October of 2009. And that's a lot more fat than I'd like to be carrying!

So now, onto the point. I've booked a holiday to Gran Canaria in the summer - we leave on June 20th. I'm giving myself until then to drop the weight that I've put on over the past year and a bit. Who isn't doing this kind of thing, I hear you say!? Well I've got other incentives aswell. With my hair coming out ever more rapidly I can't help but assume that a healthier life style couldn't do anything to worsen the situation, and in all seriousness would probably help it. Having very little hair is a sure way to make a girl feel like she is physically disgusting. It's bad enough for me to look in the mirror and hate the way my head is, that I can't control. But lately I've been looking in the mirror and hating the way my body is, and I can control that - so I'm taking back the control in an attempt to make myself feel better about my appearance overall. A third incentive is the fact that I paid £75 for my gym membership at uni and have went once so far. With this goal of weight loss over me I can maybe get my monies worth, if I put the effort in.

Of course, I'm all full of good intentions now, but after a few days excercise (which started today) I will probably be losing it. That's where the daily blogging is going to come in. I'm going to weigh myself once weekly - let's say on a Monday as it'll help to make me less inclined to binge of a weekend if I know I'm weighing myself on Monday morning - and keep track of my (hopeful) progress on here.

So tune in tomorrow and you'll have a new wee fact about me tagged on the end - my current weight.

Take care, see you tomorrow.

1/01

2011-01-01T14:42:00.000-08:00

I'm merely saying - this is a new start. This is the first of 365 posts. Stay tuned.

Well, 2011, there's going to be plenty of time to discuss you, so let's have this first post of 2011 be regarding the past year.

2010 seen the third year of me dealing with alopecia. Things were getting better at the start of the year but towards the end things have really gone downhill and I'm not sure how to keep going with it. But never mind, times goes on and every time I've reached this critical stage with it before and something (I'd argue God, but depending on your stance you might say coincidence) has always changed, or stepped in and the situation has improved again, so I'm just biding my time really.

From the start of the I was working two jobs, 45 hours (at least) a week, one job in an office and one at build a bear. As busy as I was, with no time to myself, I wasn't stressed and was enjoying work. I got a run in and home from the office as my mum works there too, and I enjoyed Build a bear like no job I've ever had, I would reccommend working for this company to anyone. The workload was heavy but I enjoyed it up until near the end when I was getting fed up of having no time to myself. I finished at the office in the end of July and finished at Build a bear at the start of September, at which point I interviewed for H&M who were opening a new store in Stirling, and got that job to begin at the end of October once I'd moved to uni in Stirling.More on that later.

As for traveling this year I've been to Florida again with the family and Paris again with my mum. Orlando was amaaazing this year. We went back to the same villa we stayed in last time and it was the most relaxing fortnight of my year I think. We got to visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal this year, before it was scheduled to be open so it wasn't busy which was amazing. It was great for a Harry Potter fan and looks exactly like the movies and also has so many details that the proper hardcore fans of the books would appreciate. The Paris trip reaffirmed for me that, come the day I learn the language, I would love to live there. It is beautiful, classy and always overwhelming. It is one of my favourite places and I would visit it repeatedly, and may try and get back there this year to make it three years running.

I also went to T in The Park in the summer and seen a huge variety of acts, Eminem and Black Eyed Peas being the most memorable. Some other good shows were Biffy Clyro, Jay Z, Kasabian, Florence and The Machine, and there were many more. Loved the show part, hated the camping part, but that was maybe because of the rain. Athough I did end up spending an absolute fortune, I would do it again if the line up was right.

I picked Stirling for uni and moved there at the start of September. So far I love it. My degree is in film and media so I had that as a module, I picked global cinema as an optional module which I really enjoyed and picked philosophy as my other optional module, which I didn't enjoy at all. I passed it, but hated it and wouldn't reccomend it at all. The accomodation is horrendous, but good for meeting people and I admit that I would have felt like an outsider if I hadn't stayed in halls and it would have been much more difficult to make friends. Thanks to the experience of living in halls I have now made friends with the girls I will be sharing a flat with for the next three years, and I've probably become a more patient and tolerant person because of this experience.

I turned 18 this year, had a party at the start of September to celebrate which was really good fun even though the venue wouldn't let me have a drink because they knew I wasn't 18, which kind of put a dampner on it. I don't need a drink to have a good time, but it would have helped to relax me a bit when it was me throwing the party. My actual 18th birthday fell a week after I'd moved to Stirling so my parents came through on the day and my flatmates threw me a party at night and we went out after. Was really good and thoughtful of them considering I'd only known them a week.

There have been some other low points this year including my grandfather developing terminal cancer and my aunt getting involved in a really horrendous realtionship. However, luckily that relationship is over and although there's no cure or anything they can do for my grandfather, he doesn't seem ill and is coping ok and we had a lovely Christmas together, which will probably be our last one if I'm frank, so its ok.

As a whole I've probably matured more this year than ever before, and learnt to become much more patient. It was a difficult year yet enjoyable at the same time. 2009 was much better in my opinion, but that's probably because I done a lot more things and had more fun overall instead of working all the time. As a whole though, I'd rate 2010 7/10. Here's hoping for a 2011 that scores 10/10.

See you tomorrow.

If at first you don't succeed; call it version 1.0

2010-12-06T18:18:00.000-08:00

So, I'll admit it, my blogging has, over the past year, failed. Tremendously.
I apologise for this and present you with a new resolution - I'm gonna write a blog post everyfrickinday in 2011.
I feel like the internet has become such a big part of my life over the past year and I want to start contributing as well as consuming. I've had the chance to meet some awesome fellow nerdfighters this year and want to start to get more on the nerdfighter scene. I can't bring myself to committing to vlogging as I'm worried I wouldn't get the viewers and subsequently feel like an outsider in the youtube community. Right now, I feel part of the community as I'm in on all the nerdfighter jokes and get involved via the comments etc. I subscribe to a lot of channels and have a pretty solid daily viewing schedule of youtube vids. However, and maybe this is my unapparent but very existent inferiority complex talking, I don't feel like if I started to vlog or do youtube videos I'd still feel part of it. It's an acceptance thing I suppose. And one day I might build up the courage neccesary to do it, but I feel like that would most likely be through a collab channel or something similar rather than on my own...we'll see. If you fancy a nerdy subject related collab channel, get in touch.
So yes, there you go. I'm gonna blog my way through 2011. Here's hoping it's a good year and provides something interesting to talk about.
If I don't speak to you before, I'll speak to you on January 1st.
DFTBA.
Megan

The Dude Abides

2010-08-26T15:34:00.000-07:00

- The Dude, The Big Lebowski , 1998

Details:

twitter: megan92_
tumblr: merelysaying.tumblr.com
youtube: www.youtube.com/merelysaying

Come stalk me....
But in a friendly way.

Oh, I'm Sorry. Did I Break Your Concentration?

2010-08-24T17:49:00.000-07:00

-Jules, Pulp Fiction, 1994.

Hi all, long time no speak. Sorry.

Now that's out of the way, here's what I've watched since the last time we conversed. If I can be bothered, at some point, I might come back and individually review the better films on this list, but for now I'm content just to get a rating for them out there.

1.Dear John - 5/10. Whilst not entirely predictable like most romcoms, really not my cup of tea.

2.Sex and The City 2 - 7/10. I would've rated it higher but I felt that the behaviour of Samantha in the film was disgusting and ignorant and a real downfall in the writing. Nobody would not go to a foreign country and be so disrespectful. I found this aspect of the movie off-putting, however the rest of it was indulgent and fun so I enjoyed getting lost in the world of Carrie again this time around.

3.Get Him To The Greek - 7/10. Performances were nothing special - Jonah Hill is being himself, as is Russell Brand. However it was funny and I liked it.

4.From Paris With Love - 6/10. Glaring plot holes but fun and creativeish action.

5.Toy Story 3 - 10/10. Perfect and touching.

6.Knight and Day - 7/10. Much, much better than I expected.It's funny and doesn't take itself too seriously. Really quite enjoyed it.

7.Inception - 10/10. Top notch on every level. Perfect music, cinematography, performances and plot. Loved every minute and not as hard to follow as people make out.

8.Death At A Funeral (2007 Version) - 5/10. Some funny moments but as a whole uninspiring. Alan Tudyk is great as ever though.

So, that's what I've watched lately. There is probably more that I've forgotten, but that's the main gist of what I've been watching. I also watched True Blood Season 2, which was very,very dark this season, but just as enjoyable.

I went to a nerdfighter gathering before going to see John Green at the book festival and loved it. Whilst there I found some awesome new youtube channels to watch, I might do a post about my youtube obsession shortly.

Personal life wise - I move to Stirling in a little under 3 weeks to study Film and Media. I am also taking modules in Psychology and Philosophy, so that should be interesting. I'm struggling to find work there, but hopefully something will come up.

A side note - I cannot believe they are re-releasing Avatar for a measly 8 minutes extra of footage!I expected it to be much more, the hype they're creating around it. What a rip off and blatant money making scheme. It really angers me that the dvd we got the first time round is void of special features just so they can release it on dvd again with the bonus material. Pretty bad - as if they hadn't made enough money from it already!

Hope you're all well.
Until next time.

Megan

Shutter Island - Spoiler Review

2010-04-11T15:26:00.000-07:00

I'm merely saying : 8.5/10 WARNING - THIS POST SPOILS THE FILM ENTIRELY. DO NOT READ IF YOU DON'T WANNA KNOW!

I went out intending to see 'How To Train Your Dragon' last week and after a kerfuffle with cinema vouchers we ended up seeing Shutter Island. Friends of mines had seen it and reccomended it,and from the trailer I thought it looked pretty good. So in we went.

Firstly, as you may have already heard, this film is clever. I'd heard there was a twist, and unlike most other twist ending films I'd managed to avoid finding out what it was before seeing it.Here's the lo'down. Detective is called to a mental institution for the criminally insane on an island to try and help find an escaped prisoner. Spooky shit goes down and detective thinks he's onto some evil goings on at the institution - experiments and the like. We're convinced into thinking the same and them BAM! Twist. Turns out Teddy isn't actually Teddy, he's another guy who's dreamed up this whole situation. He's actually a patient/prisoner at the institution who killed his wife, who killed their children. The whole staff of the institution have gone along with his charade in an attempt to lead him to seeing it's all a lie he'd dreamed up to hide his own feelings on the matter. At the end of the film, apparently, they've not succeeded and they lead him off to get a labotomy that will make him docile and submissive forever.

Now to me, on first looking at it, that's quite a simple twist. However, if you watch closely, I think that he was in fact cured. His final line 'is it better to live as a monster or die as a good man?' convinced me of this. He knew what he was going to, the fact that he just went with them proves it in my eyes. To me, he was cured and not believing in his fantasy any more, however he can't live with the thought of having killed his wife and the anger it causes in him. He might do more damage and slip back into his fantasy again and hurt someone if he is allowed to go on as he is. Currently, he can willingly surrender his freedoms and that's the choice the character makes. That might be looking too much into it, but for a Scorcese film I feel the twist would be too simplistic, too obvious otherwise. Please note that I am not saying the film did not have me going and I'd spotted it from miles off. About two thirds of the way through I was convinced that my hunch of the twist being him as an inmate was wrong. It's spectacularly put together and pulled off well. I am saying though that to simply accept it as it appears to be would be a little simplistic and, for me, Martin Scorcese is a maker of complex films, not just throwaway movies.

Performance wise, Leo gave it his all.I wasn't really a fan of him until recent years when he's been putting out some more impressive works - Revolutionary Road was when I actually began to admire him as an actor. This performance is cleverly done, clear co-operation with the director's vision whilst at the same time bringing real passion and life to the character. The one thing that annoyed me was his accent, but then accents ALWAYS seem to annoy me in films. Overall a really stunning performance. The rest of the cast were great aswell, and a special shout out to Jackie Earle Hayley - the guy who played Rorchsach in Watchmen - for giving a great performance in the little bit he was in.

As a whole this film does good. It's not as scary as the trailers make out, though there are a few jumpy bits. The soundtrack is a little overbearing but does well for the drama the film includes. Directed and shot stunningly. A great film that I'll be investing in on DVD.

Until Next Time

Megan

Kick Ass

2010-03-29T16:03:00.000-07:00

I'm merely saying : Better than expected.

Hey all. I popped off to see this film this evening with a friend of mines from work. It was a spur of the moment thing and I didn't know much about this film. I'd seen the billboards, heard the title thrown around and was aware of the film's release. However, I had never seen the trailer and from what I'd seen and heard I thought this was a kids film, superhero spoof style. Whilst to a certain extent this is a superhero spoof, in fact it could be viewed entirely as such, it is most definately not a kids film. I (ashamedly) walked a little late into the theatre and I'm not sure how much I'd missed, but it can't have been more than a few minutes. Already there was pretty graphic violence and lots,and lots,and lots of swearing. I'm not offended by this - I'm a hardcore Tarantino & Rodriguez fan - however it did impress me by immediately setting a much darker and adult tone than that of its marketing. I have since watched the trailer and to me, the film portrayed in the trailer is not the one that I watched this evening. The one that's splashed all over the posters isn't the same film as you end up seeing either. However, aside from not being what it's made out to be this film does very well.

The story is a bit stretched - not that that's a bad thing, I mean we're talking superheros here. However there are superhero films that have meaning and depth, this isn't really one of them. It's ALL about the action, it's ALL about having a good time watching it. There is a slight message in the fact that ordinary people can change society, but it's not about making the change demanding teens out there feel good about their desire to see the corrurpt turn good - it doesn't pander in that way - but it does recognise that a single person or a small group of like minded people can, if they push themselves, see change for the better in their own situations. And that will do for me, for now.

The characters are like able enough. I find characters who resort to violence to 'avenge' past events hypocritical and often irritating, and in this film it was no different. The girl was alright and the teenagers were fine, but BD angered me a lot. He was the epitome of the pushy parent, having brainwashed his daughter into becoming a killing machine at what, twelve, he is not content at that, he has to push and push and push her until they end up in a situation that doesn't turn out well, at all. Moaning aside, the actors were awesome - little
Chloe Moretz as Hit Girl. I'm not a Nick Cage fan but even he impressed me here. All was pretty much good in this department.

Action wise it was awesome. Totally. Accompanied by a great sound track the action scenes didn't feel forced and were executed well. The use of weaponary was fun and you could laugh at it at times, whilst at the same time it was not making light of the use of weapons amongst young, and indeed any, people. The whole action side of the film was great fun and I definately enjoyed it.

Finally, I figured I better throw my bit on the whole debate over young Chloe Moretz' rather mature role. Violent, yes. Vulgar at times, yes. However, if her parents thought she could deal and the actress herself wants to pursue acting properly, then she needs to meet challenging roles that take people out of their comfort zones. She appears to me to give a good and well rounded performance and if you take the language and some of the more extreme violence out, it's like the Incredibles in live action, kind of. I don't see a problem with it and it totally depends on the maturity of the young actor/actress themselves. So there.

Overall this film was better than I thought it was going to be and defied my expectations. It's good fun and, forgive me, rather kick ARSE.

Until Next Time
Megan

Alice In Wonderland

2010-03-24T14:27:00.000-07:00

I'm merely saying : Impressive.

Hey all, hope you're well. I've neglected this blog a little as of late, and for that I apologise. I saw Alice In Wonderland around a fortnight ago and therefore this is going to be yet another hazy review, but here it is none the less.

Lets talk acting. Performances were, as a whole, great. The usual quirky, oddball performances that Tim Burton seems to be able to draw out of every actor he works with. Notable mentions are Johnny Depp, Alan Rickman and Helena Bonham Carter. The girl, what's her name, playing Alice also done well and I feel she provided a good interpretation of an older, not neccesairly wiser, Alice. It seems she genuinely worked from the character Lewis Carroll created and envisaged her as what she would actually be like at 18,19 years old, rather than just creating a character from scratch. Good performances all around.

Story wise we've got a predictability, however what I did like is the way they worked from the original text and also from the various previous interpretations on film of Alice's adventures. The dialogue was quite often lifted directly from the books, this seems to be a bid to please the fans of the story who, undoubtedly, won't much appreciate the almost entirely new take on the tale that Tim Burton has created. I liked the call backs to the other films and the efforts that had been made there, I like the uncountable references to the books, but most of all I liked how Burton managed to do all of this and still come out with something new, even if predictable. It's not as dark as it had been marketed as being. However, if we stop and think, would Disney have attached their 'Disney' logo and name to it had it been anything other than a family movie? They could have used one of their other aliases surely if this had been the case. It might be dark enough to spook young kids, however it's not as dark as you might expect after the splendid angst filled, tyranous trip that was Sweeney Todd.

Now lets talk about the 3D. I'm not a huge fan of it, as you'll most probably know if you've read any of my reviews before. I think in some cases it adds something to the film and that it works well, however this is not one of them. Feel free to disagree, but the 3D is so obviously an after thought, a mere crowd puller added onto a film that did not need it in anyway. The visuals are pretty enough and I honestly cannot remember one part that was 3D - it doesn't stand out to me and therefore I feel it wasn't used at all effectively. Perhaps this would have been different if they'd actually filmed in 3D, however their failure to make good use of the tools in post production doesn't make a difference - to me this is not a film that needed or benefitted from 3D. Don't pay the extra money.

So then, I'll leave you with a rating - 8/10. Predictable, but enjoyable and many good factors that outweigh the bad. One of my favourites of this year so far.

Megan

The Lovely Bones

2010-03-18T12:21:00.000-07:00

I'm Merely Saying : Not bad.

I've heard a lot of bad things about this film, and admittedly there are some bad aspects, but as a whole when I went to see this a few weeks back I rather enjoyed it.

I've read the book and you can read my thoughts on that and also on the trailer here.

Performances weren't much special other than the stand out Stanley Tucci. Tremendous performance. I would never have seen him as being a good villain and did think that the casting was an interesting choice. However, I've always been of the opinion that comedic actors are the most talented as if you can make people laugh, the rest is easy. Mr Tucci certainly worked somewhat towards proving this theory here, giving a terrifying performance and creating the most true to the book portrayal of a character. I am sure, was the rest of this film more memorable, Tucci's performace could go down as one of the scariest villainous characters on the big screen.

Peter Jackson brought his talents as a very visual director to the dreamlike heaven side of this film. The heaven described in Sebold's novel is spectacular and he brought that alive on the screen, not shying away from the strange and symbolic images given in the book, in fact taking them farther and to a bigger scale than I would have imagined. His failings here were in the realism. The 'fantasy' was all up to par, but the realism let him down. Where the novel focuses on the growth of these characters left behind after the death of their daughter/sister/friend, Jackson's version shys away from character development. However, despite this I still found it enjoyable as, although not being nearly as complex as the novel, it does manage to entertain by focussing on the hunt for the killer, the chase sequences and the thriller elements. Not the heart breaking depiction of a family in turmoil that Alice Sebold's novel is, but neither is it the disaster that some reviewers have made it out to be.

Overall I'd give this a 6/10. Nothing on the novel, but when going to see a film based on a book one cannot simply compare them. It's decent enough and has some pretty stunning visuals in the heaven portrayed.

Give it a shot when it hits the dvd stores.

Until next time

Megan

Valentine's Day

2010-02-23T15:55:00.000-08:00

I'm merely saying : Too many metaphorical cooks spoil the metaphorical broth of a story

I headed out to see this film, ironically in my singledom, on valentines weekend. The happy thing about it was the fact that I went with my bunch of similarly single friends.

The whole film was pleasant enough, but nothing special and I think the title and spectacularly star studded cast were the main factors in drawing the crowds in and making this so popular last weekend. The trailer certainly didn't do anything for it to draw people in so I'm putting it down to the aforementioned factors.

Now, onto the review. To be frank - there was way too much going on in this film to make it that great. There was at least 10 different storylines, which could have worked, if it film spent a little more time with each character. As a whole I'd say each character had about 10 minutes total for their story splattered throughout the film and this means there's not a whole lot of character development going on here. Things are, from the outset, as they appear to be. The one unpredictable thing I did like was the reveal of Julia Roberts' character as being who she was at the end. The storys themselves were decent enough I suppose for what you'd expect from a rom com with so much going on, and there were some nice character traits written into the script that made it more entertaining. As a whole though there's just really too much going on to make this an easy going film experience. Each story doesn't get nearly enough time to develop fully and in my opinion this would've worked much better had there been less people involved and more depth to the tales. I suppose you can't expect too much from these types of films, but story wise, it certainly didn't come up to the bar.

Performances were a little above average in some cases, but mainly nothing special. Stand outs are Shirley Mcclain and Hector Elizondo as the stronger than ever old married couple - best of the cast I believe. Julia Roberts was also great, played it perfectly so that on a first viewing you can't tell her story but upon watching it again I'd imagine she's dropped hints in her performance to show what she's really going home to. The Jessica's, Jennifer Garner and Anne Hathaway were all good enough I suppose, but looking back their performances all kind of bleed into one except for Hathaway who stands out in the comedy stakes. Same for the male counterparts, no names are standing out.

All in all, this will be a good one to wait for the dvd release and to watch on a night in with the girls. If you didn't see it last weekend, the whole valentines moment has kind of passed so don't spend money seeing it in the cinema, wait until dvd and watch it when its been long enough that all the valentines stock isn't on sale and you're not still feeling the same way about being single as you did last weekend when it was all couples in your face!

Overall 6/10. Low marks for bad plot organisation shall we say, but points for some good comedic moments here and there and some touching dialogue.

Until Next Time

Megan

Wins and Noms

2010-02-11T13:58:00.000-08:00

I'm merely saying : KICK HIS BUTT QUENTIN.

Firstly : GOLDEN GLOBE WINNERS.
Best Picture [drama] : Avatar took it. Not entirely surprised after seeing it, a very good film. I'm not sure it'll walk away with the Oscar though, more on that later.
Best Picture [comedy/musical] - The Hangover. What?
Best Actor [drama] - Jeff Bridges. Didn't see it, but I'm happy. Got to love the dude.
Best Actor [comedy/musical] - Robert Downey Junior. Fair dos.

Best Actor [supporting] - Christopher Waltz. YAY!

Best Actress [drama] - Sandra Bullock. Looks like a good enough performance.

Best Actress [comedy/musical] - Love Meryl :)
Best Actress [supporting] - Should have been Penelope.
Best Director: Cameron. Fair do's I suppose.
Best Screenplay - Up In The Air. I want to see this after all this hype. I would've liked to have seen Tarantino take it though, that was some awesome writing. This was probably the toughest category to call, except for the weird addition of It's Complicated.
Best Animated Film - Alongside screenplay this was a hard one to call. Up took it, but I wouldn't have been surprised if Coraline or Fantastic Mr Fox took it.

And that's all the categories I really care about I suppose. I'm glad Up won for Best original score aswell though.

Now onto the Oscar Noms. Go here to see them.

Best Picture - Tough competition here! Ten nominations this year leaves more scope for some of the less popular films, not the big names, to get a look in. I'm not entirely sure that Avatar is guaranteed to get it, it's got some controversial messages in the mix and has caused some disturbance. Therefore, it's not the perfect choice for the Academy to put the winners crown on. I'm thinking they're going to go with The Hurt Locker. I'd actually prefer this because as much as I loved Avatar, it's NOT neccessairly the best film on that list. It's not got the most original storyline, which in my eyes brings it down for the best picture award.
Best Actor - Jeff Bridges might get it, but if not, Clooney I'm guessing.
Best Actress - Meryl! Meryl! Meryl!
Best Supporting Actor - Christopher Waltz ftw. Lots of good looking performances on this list though.
Best Supporting Actress - Go Penelope!
Best Director - Maybe James Cameron should get this one, but I really want Quentin Tarantino to get it, or Kathryn Bigelow for the girls.
Best Screenplay - I'm feeling rather happy that Cameron's Avatar didn't get a nomination for this. If we're being honest it's not the best screenplay of the past year, in fact it's far from it. I want Tarantino to get it because that film was exquisitly written - one of the most intense opening scenes ever.
Best Writing based on previous material - I'd like to see District 9 take this because I like a low budget film to do well.

And that's the main ones I care about for now. Come March 7th when the winners are announced I might feel different about the categories I care about, but only time will tell I suppose.

Your thoughts please?

Megan

The Road

2010-01-23T05:33:00.000-08:00

I'm merely saying: Don't put yourself through this.

Horrendous. No other word to describe it. Sure I knew this was going to be a depressing film and I went in fully prepared for that. However, I thought it might have at least had some impressive visuals of the destroyed world that the characters are making their way through. But no, nothing, it is purely and simply the most despairing cinema experience ever for me personally, topping even the dreaded trip to Hannah Montanna last year.

Lets start with what I consider to be the failings narratively. The film jumps between past and present, however the information it gives you in the past is almost entirely irrelevant. We're told nothing about how the planet has ended up this way, nothing about the real history of the character, nothing about their motivation for heading where they're heading. It's simply the same stuff over and over. We're plodding along in the present only to be suddenly and badly transitioned into the past for a moment that's supposed to make what happens next in the present mean something to you, but actually doesn't. As for the story itself, depressing does not even begin to cover it. In a way, this impresses me as they've not taken the typical Hollywood way out and changed the story to satisfy an audience who is ever hungry for a happy ending. But really, it just makes for a ridiculously despairing cinema experience that can be justified in a book, but really does nothing in a visual medium.

Performance wise I was completely underwhelmed. I expected more from Viggo Mortenson who delivered not a whole lot in terms of emotion. The Boy character, played by Kodi Smit-Mcphee irritated me so much in the way that only a child actor can do. You can tell he's been given an insane amount of direction and his performance of the more difficult scenes did nothing to wow me. He did have me upset once near the beginning of the film when he was crying and it was a very touching and to be fair, well acted moment. However after I realised that crying was nothing special for this kid, I soon came to find him very irritating and his character grated on me. That sounds like an unjustified criticism, as this kid is only young, but honestly, both performances done nothing for me.

This is a 'last man on earth' movie that isn't really a last man on earth movie and fails spectacularly at whatever it is that is trying to be. As a whole, I can see how people would have found the book so good, but as a movie this is just too much and and has let itself down by trying to capture emotions that are really better suited to the written word as you can't put into visuals some of that stuff, it's stuff that tears you up on the inside therefore makes for a not very interesting viewing experience.

After reading other reviews it seems I'm the exception in feeling this way about the film, and maybe if I ever watched it again I would appreciate it more, however I don't ever intend on watching it again. After spending money on a film that after twenty minutes I began to check my watch every five, it seems to me to stand to reason that it's not achieving the purpose of cinema - to capture an audience and keep them hooked, not necessarily entertain because a story like this couldn't entertain, but for sure to keep them hooked which it doesn't do.

I would say give it a miss all together - film and dvd - and just read the book as I'm sure that lives up to the hype. 3/10 for the couple of touching moments at the start and the music.

Until Next Time

Megan

Avatar

2010-01-23T05:13:00.000-08:00

I'm merely saying : I can't even cover it.....

Well, as I said above, there is no way I can condense the awesomeness of this film into a single blog post, but I'm gonna try and cover the best of it!

Let's begin with one of my favourite things about this film - the way it looks. This is completely and utterly visually stunning.That is the only word that could even start to cover it. Everything is perfect and in the visuals you can really see how James Cameron strives for more than good, more than great, more than fantastic. It's excellence. The attention to detail was insane - from shafts of light, to dust particles, to the way that the ground lights up as the characters walk across it, it's just screaming how much Cameron really cared for this film and nurtured it into being something spectacular. The 3D works fantastically here and really enriches the watching experience. However, if you can't get to it in 3D don't worry because this film is so pretty to look at anyway that you'll be blown away in 2D aswell. Basically, other directors may have settled for less in order to get the film out there but by waiting until the necessary software and tools were created/made available to him, Cameron has really created a thing of beauty that is going to be insanely hard to top visuals wise.

There is no two ways about it - this is a long film. However, I didn't check my watch once, and the one time I did leave to go to the toilet I hurried back as fast as I could because I didn't want to miss anything. It is gripping all the way through and there are enough stories running through it to literally keep every viewer happy.

First story - The Romance. The blooming romance between Jake and his Na'vi chick holds resemblance to all of the classic love stories. Romeo and Juliet, Cathy and Heathcliff, Rose and Jack....ok so maybe not so much the last one, but it's all star crossed lovers and people who weren't, by societies rules, supposed to end up together but did. You're just itching all the way through for them to get together and whats more, it's not totally in your face. You get to see this relationship grow from a mutual dislike of each other to a strong and visible adoration between them. It's truly a beautiful romance and the more people begin to realise this film has this element to it, the more the wider the audience will become.

Second story - The Action. Man vs Monster, except this time around it's the humans that are the real monster and the opposition to the humans who are the most humane and the ones that you root for. There are some stunning action sequences in this film, and I mean utterly mind blowing. A few stick out in my mind but I don't want to spoil anything so without going into specifics of them, it's creativity like I've never seen in action. It's the kind of action that keeps you constantly on the edge of your seat but with your mouth hanging open, in horrified awe at the destruction they're managing to pull off. It's another aspect of this film that is just a true cut above the rest, something that it's going to take a lot of time and money to live up to.

Third story - The Drama. There's real touching drama all over this film, despite not really being marketed as such. You're not shown in the trailers that the main protagonist is actually a cripple who cannot walk other than when he is in his avatar form. It's merely hinted at that a big part of this film is to do with the potential annihilation of another race. And whilst the environmental under (or perhaps over might be a more fitting description) tones are made kind of evident, there is one sequence in this film that if you connect it to what the film maker is trying to say, will make you want to recycle all that you that can. Seriously, it had the tears rolling down my cheeks, and all over nature and what we're doing to it. Jake's story and the moments where you see his disdain at having to come back from being a strong Avatar, able to run and jump to being a man in a wheel chair without those abilities are touching. There are numerous times in this film that I cried and was on the brink of crying. As a whole then, the drama is touching.

Other story bits - There are so many underlying messages that this film holds and I'm sure upon a rewatching I would see even more. The biggest two comments I feel it's making are how it doesn't agree with the Iraq war and that we need to buck up our ideas to save what we have in our beautiful planet. I've already talked a little about the latter but let me just explain where I'm coming from on the first one. The human men in this film are sent into a foreign place with ridiculous weaponary that their opponents, who don't even actually know why the men are there or even want them there, can not even measure up to. The difference is startlingly clear - GIANT killing machines and hundreds of gas VS bows and arrows. However the leader of this operation makes out to the men that the Na'vi WANT to kill them and are waiting to kill them and that their weaponary could kill the men in an instant. Secondly, part of the mission of these men is to gather a priceless rock that Pandora holds in its ground. Finally, as if it hadn't been made clear enough, Cameron includes lines like "We're going to fight terror with terror" and that they're going to something along the lines of blow a whole in their race. There is also comments on the deity that the Na'vi worship and how it's wrong. So this film is a little in your face with the war commentary, but it's something that I think is brave of Cameron to have done, and I admire him for it. Other underlying comments could be about the holocaust, the greed of western countries (America in particular), the amount of money spent on destruction as opposed to helping people and there's some stuff in there about racism and religious prejudice aswell. I'm sure there's about 101 messages any given viewer could take from this piece of film, but those are the ones that stood out the most for me.

Other things I'd like to commet on, aside from the awesome visuals and storytelling is the mind blowing music and the fantastic performances from the cast. The score here is perfect, they've got every single moment accompanied with the music that suits it to a T. Cameron has always been good at this stuff, I mean the music for Titanic is instantly recognisable, and I'm not just talking about Celine's contribution here. It didn't surprise me to find myself completely immersed in the musical aspect of this film, it juxtapoes the destruction and highlights the dramatic and touching moments without shoving 'it's time for you to cry now' down your throat. As a whole, it's expertly and beautifully scored and I think this will, in time, become and soundtrack and score that is as recognisable as the best of film music.

The performances are great and there is not a cast member that I can criticise. The supporting cast were great and really created strong background characters. One thing I can say is that you really can see from the performances that the actors give just how much everybody involved in this project cared about it. The actors knew they had to bring good performances to measure up to the stunning visuals and music that were going to accompany their delivery, so everybody on screen has really stepped up to the mark and brought it on this film.

I'm going to round it off here but I will say that after I see this for a second time, I'll probably have even more to offer about it. Please note, that this review is coming to you a whole two weeks after I seen the film and therefore the fact that the details are still so clear in my mind should surely say something for the quality of the movie.

Overall - 10/10! Cameron is on top form and this is a film that will go down in history as having changed the outlook of cinema and expanded the horizons for visuals in a way that nothing else has done.

GO AND SEE IT!

Until next time
Megan

It's Complicated

2010-01-11T10:40:00.000-08:00

I'm merely saying : It's not THAT complicated.

This rom-com/dramedy starring the always wonderful Meryl Streep was something that, upon seeing the trailer a while back, I was interested in. Whilst the majority of this is pure comedy, there is some touching drama to it, it does deal with some real issues, and on top of that the ending surprised me.

The lead actors are both great here - carrying off their parts well. Steve Martin is, as ever, an excess of annoyance, a splodge on what would otherwise be a well rounded cast, a bumbling character that nobody really would pay attention to were it not for his involvement with the female lead. Meryl Streep stands out to me as being able to carry off whatever material she is given, ever. Whilst this isn't the most highbrow drama you'll ever watch, it strikes me just HOW different it is to her very difficult and very deep character in Doubt last year, and again how different it is to her character in Mamma Mia and again how different to her character in The Devil Wears Prada. Her performance is very enjoyable and she managed to make me care a lot about the happiness of this woman.

The background cast weren't all that spectacular, with the exception of the son in law played by John Krasinski who was hilariously funny and created a believable and quirky character.

The plot was touching and it's dealing with divorce was neither overbearing nor passive. It approached the issue without shying away from the realities of it but at the same time did not waste time drawing out every single little emotion that might come with it.

The main reason this film surprised me was because for the entire movie I was expecting it to end up one way, and when it ends up the other I was pleasantly surprised due to the lack of predictability. You are kept guessing all the way through who she's going to go for and I had it set who I thought it was. Shows that films can sometimes stray from the norm I suppose.

Overall give it a go if you're after a funny night out with the girls. You won't be dissapointed I'm sure, but then you might not be all that dissapointed either if you miss it.

6/10 because it was fun.

Megan

Paranormal Activity

2010-01-11T10:27:00.000-08:00

I'm merely saying: 7/10

For being one of the most talked about films of the latter part of 2009, this underwhelmed me a little. Maybe it was all the hype, but I just didn't find it particularly amazing. It's short, and not really my kind of thing, but I gave it a go anyway. I did enjoy it more than I expected to and it's definately worth seeing, but all of that about it being terrifying and you'll never sleep again is, to put it bluntly, overhyping what is in actuality an average film.

First things first lets talk about the way it's shot. Handheld, home video - it's nothing new (See The Blair Witch Project & Cloverfield amongst others). It's not done anything with this that is particularly new. It did use the method of shooting as a creative device however. It made the night time scenes a lot more scary because unlike the handheld films that came before it, the camera is not always in the hand of the character. It is set up in such a way that the camera captures the activity of the characters, at times from their own hands, but at others from an earlier established point in their home where the camera sits. This clever usage made the night time horrory bits more scary as you could see both character asleep and could therefore watch and listen as the demon came towards them. It's the epitome of omniscient mode of address, the viewer sees EVERYTHING. The scarier parts are made so scary by the fact that the camera is just sitting and you know that a character is not going to start running away from the evil with it, you know that you're going to be forced to sit and watch what ever is going to happen and it makes you tense. That's what is actually scary about this, not the events themselves.

Another reason I think people have been finding this film so scary is that everybody has a fear of the unknown, and also everybody doesn't like the idea of not being in control. This film is effective in scaring it's audience because it feeds directly on those two fears and exaggerates them to the heighest heights. Everybody is scared of evil, but we see it every day. Evil that you can't see, evil that torments you whilst you are asleep and defenceless, now that's some creepy shit.

The actors were alright, the male lead pulling off his part better than the girl who I found to be almost unbearable, both as a performer and a character. It did cheat a bit on the no soundtrack thing by having a recognisable noise whenever the demon was approaching, meaning you could tell when the bad stuff was going to happen, much like a building crescendo of score.

As a whole, this concept is pretty good and the story is one that will get you nervous. However, as I said above, the scary does not come from what unfolds on screen, more the manipulation by the creators and their use of the camera. Admittedly I did jump more than once and the final image (at least from the ending I saw) stayed with me for a while. It's the kind of thing that if you THINK about it being real, you'll worry yourself into not sleeping, but it won't actually terrify you so much in and of itself that you cannot sleep, as the marketing would want you to believe.

Overall, a chilling piece of film - 7/10 for creative manipulation.

Did You Hear About The Morgans?

2010-01-02T15:17:00.000-08:00

I'm merely saying : Hugh Grant makes me ill!

So the film was pretty average, you don't really need to be told what happens - as with most romcoms you can guess the ending. It was more down the script than anything else. One note though - this really is more comedy than romance, and it got a few good laughs from my audience. Worth seeing for a giggle with friends but not if you're after something highbrow. As you can probably catch the drift on the storyline side of things, lets just talk about the acting.

SJP was good and as I've not seen her in pretty much anything except SATC, it was nice to see her in an, if not entirely different, somewhat disimilar role. She carried off the emotional side of it well and the comedy seemed effortless. Good delivery from Sarah Jessica Parker of what was essentially poor writing.

Two words: Hugh.Grant. I don't know what it is about this man but he just makes my skin crawl! Him and Colin Firth, I just cannot stand them on screen. He played his typical romcom persona here, nothing more, nothing less than you would usually expect from him. No surprises, no different character quirks, nothing. Perhaps that could be more down to the writing than his delivery, but I just really do not like him as an actor.

The supporting cast were great. Sam Elliot and Mary Steenburgen as gun toting, law enforcing, still strong after all those years married couple Clay and Emma were one of the highlights of the film. Mary Steenburgen is fast becoming one of my favourite comedic actresses as everything I see her in she just pulls off fantastically. The highlights for me however, were the PA characters of Adam and Jackie. Played perfectly by Jesse Liebman and Elisabeth Moth, they really got the tone of the humour here and the funniest scenes for me were those that this pair were involved in.

As a whole, whilst predictable to a tee, this film got good couple of laughs and if you're just out for a bit of fun, give it a go. By no means is it amongst the better romcoms out there, but the performances aren't bad.

I'd say 6/10 for effort by the actors in dealing with a poor script.

Until Next Time

Megan

Nine

2009-12-29T15:58:00.000-08:00

Nine - Directed by Rob Marhsall.
IMDB - here
TRAILER - here

I'm merely saying : I love his cinema Italiano! (8)

Well,well,well wasn't this a fiesty little number all wrapped up in innocent musical disguise! I should've guessed it was going to be as hot as it was, I mean take a look at the cast - Penelope Cruz,Kate Hudson,Marion Cottilard,Nicole Kidman.....all not so ugly ladies.

The trailer intrigued me and I'd been looking forward to this for quite some time. There's been a lot of publicity for this film and I wasn't surprised to find myself in an almost full screen when I went to see it on Sunday with my friends. I can say that looking back now, after a couple of days to think about it, I realise the film is actually much better than I initially thought it was.

It is, in fact, quite a trippy movie. From the trailer you would assume big production, catchy musical numbers, many sequins and a bit of sexy smoke. Don't get me wrong, those things are there. However, they're only a portion of this film about a film maker struggling to find his creativity. He's lost his spark, both in his personal life and his professional life, and this film sees his visions played out in song and dance. The musical numbers are hot,hot,hot at some points but also sometimes confusing and seemingly coming out from nowhere. These aren't the kind of songs you're going to leave the cinema singing, it'll take a few listens to the soundtrack to pick up on all of the words, and on top of that, all of the languages, but they are well put together and enjoyable enough to listen to. It's shot in a very fluid, easy to watch manner and big sets containing dazzling big song and dance numbers are captured beautifully. The lighting, courtesy of a whole team of greatly skilled techies who I would love to shake hands with, adds to the trippy feeling of this film, very dark, very smokey. It feels secretive and sexy. Overall - it looks and sounds pretty darn good!

Character wise, I found myself admiring the character of Guido, who dared to make movies that were shocking, however I also found him to be at the same time quite unsympathetic. He messed about his wife, he messed about his mistress[es], he messed about his co-workers, he messed about himself. He just seemed a bit of a shambles. But then again, if he wasn't, we would have no movie, so I suppose that's probably an unfair reason to find him unsympathetic. Daniel Day Lewis was utterly fantastic. I cannot find a bad word to say about his performance in this movie. He got the humour, he got the tortured soul part, he got the passion, he got everything about this character, and on top of that he sang rather well aswell. Other notable performances come from the ever splending Penelope Cruz and from Marion Cottilard.

I would definately reccommend seeing this film if you are at all interested in cinema due to the story and the fact that the central character is a director, but also if you enjoy musicals because this is one that is just a little out of the ordinary.

Overall I'd say 8/10

Until next time

Megan

Golden Globes Nominations

2009-12-15T13:30:00.000-08:00

I'm merely saying : GO TARANTINO!

Go HERE for the nominations, as I can't be bothered listing them all. Just open them in another tab,then you'll be able to follow my ramblings.

Best motion picture - drama. GO INGLORIOUS BASTERDS. Avatar might take it, judging by the trailer alone and the hype, but GO INGLORIOUS BASTERDS!I've seen none of the other choices so can't fairly comment at this stage. However I did promise myself that before the golden globes and oscars actually happen, I will see all of the films in the big categories this year.

Best motion picture - musical or comedy. From the trailer alone I can tell I want Nine to win. I wouldn't mind if Julie & Julia won though. The Hangover is still getting all this hype - I DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHY? It wasn't that funny and it certainly wasn't the best made of films. But hey ho, that's how it goes I suppose.

Best performance by actor in motion picture - drama. Watch this space while I go check out all of the films/performances in the running for this one.

Best performance by actress in a motion picture - drama. As above.

Best performance by actor in a motion picture - musical or comedy. Open to anything as I've yet to see the contending films/performances.

Best performance by an actress in a motion picture - musical or comedy. I'd be chuffed for Sandra Bullock, Meryl Streep (for Julie & Julia) or probably (though will let you know when I see it) for Marion Cottilard to win this one.

Best performance by an actor in a supporting role in a motion picture - CHRISTOPHER WALTZ! He has got to take this one for Inglorious Basterds. Like seriously. As much as I love Stanley Tucci and I'm sure he will do great in The Lovely Bones, I honestly think it'll be a crime if Waltz doesn't get this.

Best performance by an actress in a supporting role in a motion picture - I'm open to anything. Have yet to see the contending films and performances.

Best Director - Motion Picture - Please,please,please be Quentin Tarantino.

Best Screenplay - Motion Picture - As above.

Best animated film - My vote is behind Coraline. That was just stunning.

And that's all I'm going to comment on, I'm not going to comment on the tv related stuff just now. And there's no way I could judge at all the foreign language or score or original song categories, so I'm leaving it at this.

What are your predictions/hopes for the Golden Globes? Do you think we'll see a similar bunch of nominations for the oscars or will they differ? Any films that you are surprised to see not on any of the lists? Personally, I would have liked to see Brad Pitt nominated for Inglorious Basterds, but Christopher Waltz gave the show stopping performance of that film so I am very,very glad he got recognised with a nomination. Here's to him winning!

Over and out.

Megan

Formspringme!

2009-12-03T16:50:00.000-08:00

Go ask me anything over at my formspringme

http://www.formspring.me/megan92

I'll answer anything and everything.

1 question or 100 questions, you decide! The weirder the better. I like a challenge.

Go,get asking!

The Lovely Bones - Novel and Trailer

2009-12-03T16:39:00.000-08:00

Hey all, hope you're well.

I have recently finished reading 'The Lovely Bones' by Alice Sebold and was blown away by the creativity and depth of the writing. I had known about the book for quite some time but never gotten around to reading it. I'd also known the film was in development and was due for release soon, so wanted to read the book prior to seeing the film.

The book saddened me, excited me and shocked me. I got a clear image of each and every one fo the character, Sebold's descriptive way of writing makes it one of those books that you can't just skim read, you've got to take everything in. Her creative way of telling her story makes it all the more interesting and perfectly suited to the creative mind of director Peter Jackson for transference to the screen. The man behind the 'Lord of The Rings' triology will surely do the creative side of this book justice, however, the gritty realism that is the other side of this novel, he might not do so well with, I guess we'll have to wait and see.

I have just watched the trailer and must say that it looks very visually interesting. One thing to note though is that it appears to focus more on the search for Susie's killer than on the growth and development of the characters after her murder, which to me is what the book is all about. The thing I'm most excited about, aside from Peter Jackson being in the shoes of the director, is the interesting casting of Stanley Tucci as Mr. Harvey. I wouldn't have pictured him in the role at all, but the more I think about it the more I see how perfect he is for it. I can't wait to see him bring this menace to life.

As a whole I'm excited. Roll on January. Movie releases for the start of next year are looking good, shortly into the year I'll post my list of intended movie trips up until around June, for the releases I'm aware of anyway.

What do you think of the Lovely Bones trailer? Will it do the book justice?

Over and Out.

Megan

A Christmas Carol

2009-12-03T16:27:00.000-08:00

I'm merely saying : A nice way to kick off December. 7/10.

I was really looking forward to seeing this film and even the trailer had put me in that Christmassy mood that I love. Overall, I enjoyed it.

Visually, it's stunning. The 3D works well here, and I am of the opinion that 3D works best in animated films, whatever type of animation it may be. The colours are rich, the animation precise and interesting, the whole affair is just very pretty to look at.

Narratively it sticks closely to Dickens' original tale, and the dialogue is often lifted directly from the page. Something I also enjoyed about this film is that the spirits are all exactly how one would picture them, sticking closely to the descriptions in the book. I think Disney might've done themselves some damage here however, as this is being marketed as the family film of the season and as per the book, the spirits are actually quite creepy. The sequence with the ghost of Christmas Yet To Come was particularly frightening and I don't think that kids under 9 or 10 would do very well with this film for that particular reason. Also, the themes dealt with are quite mature and some younger kids might not get the message and simply think that this nasty old man was being terrorised by ghosts. The film does contain some quite creepy images and whilst that might cut young kids out of the equation, once word gets out that it's not a pansified version of Dickens' story, more adults might go to see it, making up for the loss of kid viewers.

As a whole I really enjoyed this film and it's definately one for the dvd collection. It's worth seeing in 3D if you can, but if not I'm sure it'll look very beautiful anyway. As mentioned whilst this film isn't what you'd call scary, there are some jumpy moments and images that younger children may find disturbing so be wary in taking little ones to see it. Other than that, it's a great family film that truly, after a certain age, everyone can enjoy. It really put me in the mood for Christmas and I'm about to break out the yearly Christmas dvds.

And on that note, I hope you have a great Christmas filled with joy.

Until Next Time

Megan

The Sixth Sense

2009-11-12T09:29:00.000-08:00

I'm merely saying : 8/10

Let's start off by saying I'm not the biggest M. Night Shyamalan fan ever. I find him to bean arrogant and overbearing director in anything of his that I have seen. However I trusted the general consensus that this is a 'must see' film and added it to my dvd collection recently.

A notable thing - I spotted the twist from pretty soon into the film, so that messed it up a bit for me. I'd not spoken to anyone about it and had blissfully avoided discovering it prior to watching, but it seemed to me that for one of the most talked about movie twists, it was glaringly obvious. So that brought it down a bit in my eyes. It seems to me to be the creators efforts to ensure that a second viewing of the film makes sense that have caused the twist ending to be pretty apparent throughought.

However, that is about the only thing I can fault. Acting chops were good all around, and of course little (well at the time little) Haley Joel Osment was mind blowing. I've never seen a child actor perform as well as he. Bruce Willis is,well,Bruce Willis. He was convincing, and I did feel for him at the end, but to be honest I feel he was outshone by his young co-star.Still a solid performance though, and a change for me from seeing him in action roles.

It's sufficiently creepy to please the chiller fans, but at its heart is a touching drama and it wasn't the suspense that kept me watching, it was the surprisingly (in my opinion for Shyamalan) well written stories of this man and boy. Minor characters were also sufficiently fleshed out and as a whole it just felt like a very well rounded and thorough piece of film.

I'd definately reccomend watching it, and if you're in it for a bit of chills, watch it at night or in the dark, otherwise you're likely to be underwhelmed a bit by the creepy factor.

Tell me what you think, and if you've not already seen it, give it a try.

Until next time.

Megan.

Tastes

2009-11-11T19:28:00.000-08:00

I'm merely saying : I like a whole lot of stuff!

So, as I'm going to be filling you in on my thoughts about everything from box-office shredding new releases to rumours of tv shows in development, I thought I should fill you (whoever you might be) in on my film and tv tastes.

Film
It is way,way,way too hard for me to narrow down my film favourites to any kind of list, so I'll go by directors I'm a fan of instead.
Firstly, someone please clear up for me when it became cool to hate on Tarantino? The first of his films I seen was Kill Bill Vol. 1. and from then on I've slowly but surely built up my film collection to include all of his works. Unlike most who would name Reservoir Dogs as their top Tarantino flick, I have to say that Pulp Fiction just,and only just,steals it for me. From then on down it goes Res Dogs, Inglorious Basterds, Kill Bill (1&2), Deathproof and then right at the bottom of the list personally sits Jackie Brown. Some say it's his most intelligent work, but I just don't find it as entertaining as his other films.So, I'm a Tarantino fan.
Secondly, I'm a Tim Burton fan. Whilst I've not quite got there with all of his stuff yet, I have seen a lot of it,and own the majority. It's exceedingly difficult for me to list his films in any kind of order but I know that Ed Wood sits at the bottom for me, I'm going to give it another shot, but as far as I can recall it's my least favourite. I'm incredibly excited about Alice In Wonderland and have a feeling that could be my favourite of his works.I guess we'll see.
Third on the list is Robert Rodriguez. From El Mariachi to Sin City to Planet Terror, I love it all. (Well minus his kids films.Spy Kids - not a fan) Also, I like the fact that all of his dvds come with commentary. Geeky,yes. But he's interesting to listen to.
I do like many, many, MANY other directors, but those are the top three guys that I really look forward to every release.
Genre wise, I'm not the biggest romance fan, although will attend the odd chick flick with my friends in the name of a night out. Drama can touch me, but works best for me when it's in combination with other genre. Horror - I can be squemish, but old school hammer horror is an area that's growing on me. Action gets me where I live though. Fantasy is also a love. Documentary I can work with (but please do not even talk to me about Michael Moore). Basically,I'm open to most things and this is in no way a conclusive 'list', so please do pass on any reccomendations.

Television
I have the following on dvd:

Lost (s1-4)

Supernatural (s1-4)
Buffy (s1-7)
Angel (s1-5)
Firefly (THE season)

The Tudors (s1)
Friends (s1-10)
Dollhouse (s1)
Tru Calling (s1-2)

So that should kind of give you an idea of who/what I like in terms of television.

Joss Whedon is fantastic in my opinion. Character driven stories, great action, great humour, and supernaturaly stuff which I'm always up for.However, I've only watched the first five eps or so of Dollhouse but so far I can't say I'm overly impressed.
Got to love Lost and everything that Drew Goddard writes on,I am a fan of.
Tru Calling, I never did finish but I bought it because I tend to follow the works of any Whedon alumni. Despite the fact that I'm not the biggest Dushku fan, I still wanted to buy it because I was in need of something new to watch, and I'd never given it a try.
Supernatural - Jensen Ackles mmm. Great soundtrack, some actually scary eps, real character stuff going on every season. It's all good.

Stuff I've yet to buy on dvd includes The Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother and True Blood. I also watch a bit of Desperate Housewives from time to time. Things I intend to watch when I get round to it are V, Flashforward and Fringe. Possibly Vampire Diaries, but I remain a Buffy fan to the core so I'm always in doubt when trying out a new vampire series. Especially in the heat of all this Vampire Obsession.

There are many more things that I watch on and off, and many more directors that I'm not as addicted to as the three I mentioned. I'm gonna dedicate another post to my online followings (youtube,blogs and series) but this really is enough for now.

Thanks for reading. Let me know if you've any reccomendations.

Until Next Time

Megan.

First

2009-11-11T16:42:00.000-08:00

I'm merely saying : that first posts are an akward and sad neccesity.

Ahh first posts. The bane of any bloggers life. I'm not going to go into any details, because frankly, you probably don't need to know. I've decided to seperate my personal blogging life from the movie,television and general media related stuff. So it is here,oh you loyal readers,that I shall from this point forward spew out all my thoughts on all things film,telly and general media. Stay with me.

Please do tell me what you'd like me to cover. If you want my thoughts on any particular film or series, I'm more than happy to give it a watch.

And on that note, I'm away to watch some Supernatural.

Until Next Time.

Megan.
twitter: www.twitter.com/megan92_