Schweedie

I've yet to see this, if I ever do, but over here? This movie has received a rating meaning it's okay from 11 years and up, which means 7 years when accompanied by an adult. I have no idea what they're thinking with that.

I thought the point of her altering herself for her current fiancés was to show that she didn't know who she was on her own - I didn't think it was a deliberate thing as such; it was just it was easier for her to simply go along someone else than figuring out what SHE wanted. (It's been ages and ages since I saw it, though, and I only saw it the once, so I might be misremembering.) I know people who do that and it frustrates the hell out of me, but I don't know if they're even aware of it themselves. Totally agree that she's a pretty terrible love interest, though! Didn't like that movie one bit.

There's definitely a resemblance! I didn't notice at the time since I got hung up on someone else myself - Joe Keery as Steve to me looks so, so much like Ben Schwartz. It was distracting at times. Really enjoyed this show. It's made me want to re-read/watch old stuff from Stephen King.

Ah, so they're transferring over from the London production. From what I've heard they're pretty great! Something came to mind for me - it's been a year and a half since I saw Assassins in London, and I'm still sad that it didn't get a West End or a Broadway transfer (there was talk of both at one point, I think, and I haven't quite given up hope yet). I've seen a lot of theatre and that production was one of the greatest things I've ever seen, incredibly intense. But even while I was/am hoping for a transfer, I'm wondering if it would work in a larger theatre since one of the things that made it work was how small and intimate the theatre was, with the actors sitting in character among the audience on the stairs when they weren't on stage, following the action and reacting to it. A part of me just really, really wishes that production could be been seen by a wider audience, though. So good. I was actually shaking a bit when I came out.

Like Sir Ian McKellen. His acting process is a very simple one. (I couldn't resist. It was the first thing that came to mind, heh.) I'm actually kinda surprised and disappointed to hear about Mark Wahlberg. For some reason I've always pictured him as someone with a sense of humour about his own image, but that sure doesn't sound like it.

Overboard was one of my favourite comedies when I was a kid, and it really lost most of its charm once I got older and realised just how messed up the situation was. I still watch it sometimes if I come across it because it has its great moments (like Joanna yelling at the kids' teacher), but that squick will never go away.

Does Shakespeare creating Twelfth Night and its hero Viola in honour of his own beloved Viola who was married and shipped off to America count? Because even though I find their love story the least interesting part of Shakespeare in Love, I still love that ending. It's a pretty great gesture. I'm sure Viola would've read it and seen herself, and the testament to his love for her that it was. Also, perhaps straddling the line between romantic and invading someone privacy... In Just Like Heaven, when David secretly creates that beautiful rooftop garden for Elizabeth, even though she doesn't remember him from her time as a sort-of-ghost. He doen't even intend for it to be romantic and means to leave once it's done, because like he says, he just wanted her to have her garden.

I did see the cinema screening of that production of Romeo and Juliet - I wasn't wowed, but it was serviceable. Orlando Bloom, for me, was a tad too old, though. For me, for R&J to work the lovers must be believable as young people. I mean, they're just kids, that's the whole point. I appreciated that about the production I saw; Lily James, and Tom Hanson who understudied Romeo, were both able to portray that really well. This Romeo was an emotional teenager who was absolutely devastated when told he was banished from Verona, and ended up sobbing in the nurse's lap when she came to deliver Juliet's message after he killed Tybalt. It's funny - slightly off topic, stage-wise, my favourite performance of R&J has probably been a production of the Prokofiev ballet with Carlos Acosta and Tamara Rojo. Even without words they were perfect.

So. As a Shakespeare nerd who went to England last week to get my annual dose, I'm curious whether anyone else have seen any good Shakespeare productions recently, in England or elsewhere? We were meant to see the current RSC production of Hamlet in Stratford-on-Avon, but unfortunately we came on the day when it was 33 degrees and the theatre's air con broke, causing them to cancel the performance. I was absolutely gutted; I've been so excited to see that production. We did get to see Kenneth Branagh's Romeo and Juliet (the production with Lily James, Richard Madden, and Derek Jacobi as Mercutio) and Iqbal Khan's Macbeth in London, though. The former was pretty good. I don't want to see an old Mercutio become a regular thing, but it worked here, in a strange sort of way. And we didn't actually see Richard Madden since he's off injured, but his understudy was wonderful (and Madden has been getting pretty poor reviews, so maybe we were lucky there) and Lily James was fantastic. Also, the day after we went, understudy Romeo got injured and THAT show was cancelled - we could've been zero for two at that point if we'd been really unlucky. Macbeth at the Globe, though, I thought was absolutely dreadful. My friend and spent about half an hour afterwards just sputtering in anger at it. Modern jokes and references to Donald Trump thrown in, Lady M played for comedy (at least initially; she improved when they let that go about halfway through), one actor breaking character to lead the audience in a "Can a get an amen? Can I get a hallelujah?" bit for no reason whatsoever, a Macbeth almost entirely without subtlety and who pretty much shouted the entire "Out, out, brief candle" speech. It felt 100% wrong. The witches were great and very creepy, and Tara Fitzgerald as Lady M rocked the sleepwalking scene, but those are basically the only positives I can think of. I've been to the Globe five years in a row standing in the yard as a groundling, and this was the first time I've noticed how uncomfortable I was and how much my feet and back hurt, because I couldn't get caught up in the show. ...Right, rant over.

Oh my god, Get Over It. I'd completely forgot how much silly fun that was. Martin Short's little "That was -- that was okay!" after their improvising cracks me up so much.

I watched Our Little Sister (Umimachi Diary), a Japanese film from 2015, the other day and really, really enjoyed it. Nothing much actually happens - it's just these four sisters, living their daily lives, but it was so lovely. Funnily something about it reminded me of Like Father, Like Son, which I also love, and when I looked closer I realised it was the same director and writer, Hirokazu Koreeda. I will definitely hunt down more of his films, because both of these have such a distinctive warmth and melancholy to them.

I was mostly really unimpressed with the Fall (it has a surprisingly good score on IMDB, but reviews were pretty poor), but that one scene in the end between Alexandria and Roy, where she begs him not to kill the last hero in the story he created for her, aka himself, is really, really wonderful.

I am not ashamed to admit I will always wait for the Steve-rescues-Bucky scene in The First Avenger. "I thought you were dead." "I thought you were smaller." The tennis match game of questions in Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead is another one, and later the one where they use role play to try and figure out what's going on with Hamlet. Burn After Reading: the scene with Brad Pitt and John Malkovich in the car (I wish Pitt would do more comedy, because he's hilarious in that movie). The whole thing is so absurd, and then comes that awesome surprise punch. And then of course what follows afterwards - that shot of Brad Pitt and Frances McDormand rolling up next to John Malkovich in the car, she giving him the finger while Pitt's character just looks wounded and sulky. Makes me cackle every time.

I'm most fond of the Polanski film from -71, which I rewatch every now and then, even though it isn't perfect, either - Jon Finch leaves a little to be desired. But it gets most things right and Francesca Annis is my favourite Lady M, which gives it the edge. (I'm seeing this summer's Globe production in London next month, so I hold out hope for the ultimate Macbeth couple.) ETA - if we're including wider adaptions I also really enjoy the ShakespeaRe-Told version with James McAvoy. But I love the actual text so much I prefer it straight. As for this version, I came home and ranted angrily to a friend who'd seen before me (and didn't like it either) for almost an hour afterwards. I really was so disappointed, and surprised. I thought for sure you couldn't go wrong with Fassbender and Cotillard.

I despised this with all my heart, which made me so sad because I was so very excited for it. Macbeth is my favourite Shakespeare play and I thought I might finally get the ultimate Macbeth couple in Fassbender and Cotillard, who had so much potential, and was let down hard (I've never seen a production or a film where I've enjoyed both Macbeth and his Lady equally; it's always been one or the other). For me this film was the ultimate "style of substance" product - it looked gorgeous, but a lot of it made very little sense thanks to the cuts. And the whispering, oh my god, the constant whispering. There was no power, no variation in their delivery, and it drove me absolutely nuts. Marion Cotillard's English would've been perfectly understandable and well-delivered if she'd just spoken up. (I quite liked the fact that she had an accent, it gave the feel that she was some sort of trophy bride.) The fault lies with the director here, of course; since it was so constant it must've been something he wanted. Also, for, me, for Macbeth to work you need to be able to see his descent into dictatorship and tyrant from an essentially good man. You need to see him struggle with the decisions he makes, and feel him being torn. I didn't get any of that from Fassbender. He was so cold, all the way through. And again, that must've been a director's choice. Some things were good - starting with the funeral, having Lady M there to see the execution of the Macduffs... But no. I was angry about this for days. (You can't tell, can you?)

I've been watching Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, and although the dialogue may not lend itself to hilarity if you haven't seen the movie, there was one bit that had me cackling and rewinding several times. The pair are trying to figure out what's afflicting Hamlet through roleplaying and question/answer: ROS: Let me get it straight. Your father was king. You were his only son. Your father dies. You are of age. Your uncle becomes king. GUIL: Yes. ROS: Unusual. GUIL: Undid me. ROS: Undeniably. GUIL: He slipped in. ROS: Which reminds me - GUIL: Well, it would. ROS: I don't want to be personal. GUIL: It's common knowledge. ROS: Your mother's marriage. GUIL: He slipped in. I'm not even sure why I find it so funny, but Gary Oldman and Tim Roth's delivery is so brilliantly on point.

I'm actually not a fan of The Incredibles OR Spirited Away, how bad is that? For Spirited Away, I love the premise and I WANT to love the film, but every time I try to watch it again it feels so long, just like the first time, with so many plot threads there are too convoluted.

Heh. I love how they commented on the lack of genitals on the naked animals. I mean, I get that making them visible would be, well - a no, but I thought the same thing when I first saw that scene.

Wouldn't seem implausible to me, given that the first movie ended with her flying off into the sunset with her umbrella (if I remember correctly). A magical eternally young-ish nanny who shows up when families need her, was what I always imagined her as. In other news, John Carney has openly apologised on Twitter for his recent comments about Keira Knightley. As far as apologies goes it's a pretty good one, although singling her out to begin with is still a lousy thing to do.

Yeah, I don't blame you. It's not what you'd call an easy watch.

Okay, so, if you want a tearjerker and you don't mind subtitled movies? I suggest Hungarian movie White God. It's a little bit like Homeward Bound, if that movie were brutal and awful and about dogs losing faith in their humans. It's absolutely gorgeous cinematography-wise, and has lovely acting from the young lead actress. And referring back to the earlier conversation about being a music crier, well... Let's just say that the last scene has me full on ugly-crying - tears and snot and sobbing, the whole nine yards.

I know I'm not really in a position (ie, 8th) to mock a team who finished third, but -- I can't help laughing at how Tottenham have bottled it over the last few weeks. From "Leicester are gonna drop off and Spurs are gonna overtake them!" to "Will they catch Leicester?" to "Well, they'll finish second and above Arsenal, finally" to... third place, with two points less then 12/13 despite this going to be "their best season ever". It's been a hell of a season many ways. Leicester, Jamie Vardy's new goalscoring record, Chelsea's early relegation form and Mourinho's seven-minute rants, Liverpool-Norwich 5-4, Van Gaal throwing himself to the ground in front of the assistant referee that one time, that 2-2 match between Chelsea and Spurs, Sunderland surviving relegation AGAIN, Aston Villa completely falling apart, Newcastle-Tottenham 5-1 (with three goals scored while they were playing with 10 men)... Until August, Premier League!

Yeah, that actually got to me, too. I'd forgotten that Howard would've known Bucky as well. Probably not as closely as Steve, because I can't recall Tony ever mentioning his dad talking about Bucky, but still. Interestingly, I'm the opposite. I mean, I have no interest in Doctor Strange so won't mind how that goes, but I wouldn't mind at all if Black Panther turns out more serious. That was exacly what I loved about the Winter Soldier - it was a political thriller that also happened to be a superhero movie, with a couple of moments of levity thrown in. To me that was perfect, and Civil War was too jarring in its contrast between humour and drama - and too much humour for me.

These were my feelings exactly. I'm sure it was a good movie, but I was too busy being disappointed that we got Avengers 2.5 instead of a Captain America movie to actually appreciate it. Like you say, I thought this was about 25% his movie. (My mum actually said she thought it was more an Iron Man movie, even; Tony gets more of a character arc than anyone else.) And I also wanted that tight espionage thriller - this just felt very different from the Winter Soldier, which is absolutely my favourite Marvel movie. Despite the brutal reveals in the end, this felt very quippy and fun and less serious somehow, and to me, lacking in emotional resonance. The Steve and Bucky reunion? Total anticlimax. I might need to see it again and see if I feel differently about it going in knowing what it is. Maybe if I think about it as Avengers 2.5 that'll help (especially considering how disappointed I was with Ultron). I still feel like I was cheated out of a Captain America movie, though. That tight espionage thriller under the Russos' direction would've been brilliant.

Yeah. I understand the desire to keep all players on the pitch and not be made out to have ruined such an important game with a sending off, but he really had to set his foot down and show the players that their behaviour wasn't acceptable. One red card, and they would've calmed down. In other news, I forgive Liverpool for that atrocious performance against Swansea after last night. Europa League final, baby!