Serendipity.

So… a friend of mine – a male friend of mine, it should be noted – was telling me his favourite romantic comedies were ones with John Cusack, to which I was not sure how to respond. The only thing I remember seeing John Cusack in, is Con Air, which isn’t exactly a romcom…

Anyway. I was in Beijing recently, and said friend and I met up, and we decided to drink wine (he drank wine, I drank tea) and watch old movies… and who showed up on my Netflix browser but John Cusack.

In a way, I’m really not a fan of this film. It perpetuates the unicorn myth – at the end of the film, I turned to my friend and said, “No wonder you believe in unicorns.” On the other hand, it is a kinda sweet story… And Kate Beckinsale is bloody gorgeous.

Okay well. If anyone knows where I can find a copy of Grosse Pointe Blank, do let me know. Haha.

How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days.

So… I’ve never really been a fan of Matthew McConnaughey… So I never watched this film back when it came out. But thanks to Netflix, we get to watch the oldies sometimes.

As far as romcoms go, this one is pretty predictable. I mean, it’s funny, the premise is interesting enough (magazine writer forced to come up with a sellable story, so she writes about how to be the worst type of girlfriend ever). Except there is a twist (of course), in that the guy she has chosen to suffer through her being the worst ever girlfriend, has a bet going that he can stay in a relationship….

So yeah. Interesting enough premise, but as any romcom watcher can tell you, the story pans out exactly how you think the story will pan out.

Okay. Gotta go find some better romcoms to watch….

The Blind Side.

What a movie! What a story! Love this!!

And Tim McGraw is HAWT! (Or he was when the film came out… back in the day… hahaha).

Apparently, this film is based on a book, which I now think I have to read. But basically, everyone knows the film because Sandra Bullock won the Oscar for it… And it’s a great film, so touching, and hugely inspiring – the story of Michael Oher and how he came to live with a very well to do Caucasian family, and how he changed their lives, and they changed his.

Love it <3

One Love Manchester.

In light of all the fucking awful shit that’s been happening all over the world, it’s good to see some solidarity and love shine through the cracks… And in the name of charity and in the name of love, a shit tonne of really famous people put their differences (and sometimes their bands!) aside to come together to put on a fantastic show in Manchester.

The show started with Marcus Mumford (except… I missed that part, had to rewatch it on YouTube, oops), and then Take That took over the stage and led the crowd in song. Take That, my beloved boy band, who had had to cancel their three Manchester shows in light of the attack. Take That then introduced their brother in arms, Robbie Williams (wearing a Justin Bieber hoodie!!), after Robbie was a clip of U2, and then it just went on, all these amazing people coming together.

It’s funny that to me, the highlight of the show was Coldplay. I’d never been a Coldplay fan until earlier this year when I saw them live in Singapore. But Coldplay managed to take a sombre crowd and turn it up a notch and got everyone singing and dancing, the rainbow confetti, it was just… a party. Not to mention the fact that they opened with Don’t Look Back in Anger, which was just incredibly fitting.

Huge respect to Ariana Grande, Scooter Braun, and the many, many, many people it took to pull something like this off. Big love to Facebook for streaming it live for people like me as I was in a city where it wasn’t broadcast live…

Simple awesome <3

Sense and Sensibility.

I grew up a huge fan of British literature. From Jane Austen to the Brontë sisters to Charles Dickens to George Eliot, Virginia Woolf, Jeanette Winterson and Ian McEwan, George Orwell, CS Lewis… The list is unending.

When Sense & Sensibility came out back in the 90s (1990s!!!), I remember being quite excited because I was going through an Austen binge at the time. I was at boarding school, and watched it at the cinema with Elissa – to this day, I don’t know why she chose to watch it with me, but I’m very grateful!! I was so in love with Kate Winslet and so in love with Hugh Grant, and Greg Wise was so handsome but how could he have given up love for money!!! The last shot of Greg Wise (as Willoughby) watching the love of his life marry another man from afar, then turning his horse away and riding out of their life… Oh my heart.

Yeah okay I’m a hopeless romantic. Hopeless.

Anyway. It wasn’t until much later on that I realised how beautifully Ang Lee had directed this film, how he had tread the fine delicate line of restraint. And while I fully understand how difficult it must have been for the actors to work with a Taiwanese man, whose culture is completely different, to work on a traditional, classic British story… I do think that whoever it was who hired Lee was one helluva genius. Lee is perfect for all things understated, for things of duty and restraint and… just incredible.

I love that this film is on Netflix. Think I might have to re-watch it again soon :D

(untitled)

so;

hey; you up?

can’t sleep again; and i wanted to tell you that

you’re nothing but

molten dust and bacteria; just

moon formation; oxygen breathing;

ice ages; feet on solid ground;

fire; asteroid impacts; mass extinction;
pangea’s demise; war; renaissance;
discovery; exploration; landfall revolutions;
railroads; light bulbs; photography; a great
depression; a world at war; atomic
explosions; footprints on the moon; ethernet
cables; digital highways;

and poetry; and chance encounters;

i wanted to tell you that

you’re everything; and

before me, it was always you; and

before you, it was always you; and

it was always you; it was always you…

— owen lindley

(you should follow him on instagram if you have instagram… he makes magic with his words…)

The Lucky One.

Okay. So I like Zac Efron. And I didn’t know this was a Nicholas Sparks book. So I watched it… I loved Zeus – Zac Efron’s dog in the film – and Taylor Schilling was cute-ish and the kid was cute and Blythe Danner is always cute (loved her so much in Paul) so yeah. It was a cute-ish movie – boy meets girl, they fall in love, she has a jealous ex, he has a secret, blah blah blah, happily ever after. Similar formula but hey, it works for Sparks and these movies just keep being made…

Yup. Just another romantic drama.

Love Actually – the sequel.

Omgoodness this gave me ALL the feels :D

I managed to find a very bad quality version on dailymotion or dailyvideo or one of those sites via a link on social media. I really hope we get a better quality version somewhere that won’t be taken down as soon as it’s posted…

Okay. Before I go on. Know that there are spoilers ahead. Like. Major. I’m going to be talking about this. Properly. If you don’t want to know who came back for it so it’s a nice surprise (as it was for me) then don’t read on!!!

[spoiler alert]

[Spoiler Alert]

[SPOILER ALERT]

[okay I guess that’s enough notice….]

First of all, I’m not sure Keira Knightley and Chiwetel Ejiofor have aged. At all. And then the doorbell goes and it’s Rick (from The Walking Dead) back in his original role as Peter, which made me laugh. And while the cards got a bit old, the end of the bit was a huge surprise as Kate Moss walked into frame :D And it made me happy that Peter got his happy ending… Ahhh.

And then Colin Firth and Portuguese wife and three kids! Three! So cute!

And Billy Mack, talking to the same radio DJ at Radio Watford bwahaha… but then the bombshell that his manager had died sent me into an immediate google search. Thank goodness Gregor Fisher is still with us…. I was actually shocked for a minute.

Then Rowan Atkinson, still the world’s slowest gift wrapper :D

And then the second cutest couple – Hugh Grant and Martine McCutcheon <3 still so darned awesome. I’m really impressed that they convinced Hugh Grant to dance again, considering he was apparently extremely reluctant the first time round… Haha.

Onto my favouritest couple – Sam and Joanna – also known as the incredible Thomas Sangster & Olivia Olson. I didn’t know Joanna would be back. I was THRILLED to see her. It gave me all the feels! And the cheeky teasing banter from Liam Neeson is still perfect, even though his son is all grown up!! Wish Claudia Schiffer had done another cameo, but I suppose it was so perfect the first time round, no point…

But. No Laura Linney… I really wanted to know how her life panned out. She was the one who really deserved a happy ending but didn’t get it in the movie. No Colin Frissell (the one who went to America) (I’m hoping he is still living the good life and bringing the chicks back for his good friend Tony!)… No Martin Freeman / Joanna Page (although I assume these two are living happily ever after) … And no Alan Rickman / Emma Thompson. This last couple, we all know why – the great Alan Rickman passed away early last year – but it would have been nice to see Emma Thompson and the kids, but yeah, it had been reported earlier that she would have been too sad to do it without him.

In a way, I kinda wish this was a proper sequel… Not just a 15 minute thing for charity. But you know what, I’m so glad that we got even a short little glimpse into all of their lives again.

Love. Love. Love.