Monday to Friday, I normally post book, film or TV reviews. Rest of the time, it's general mayhem. Expect frequent gushing about handsome actors (mainly Richard Armitage) and Jane Eyre. Also: this blog won't display correctly in IE, go fig.
Certified member of the Estrogen Brigade since 1996!
Showing posts with label Daniel Radcliffe. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Daniel Radcliffe. Show all posts
Film review: David Copperfield (1999), directed by Simon Curtis
I recently made it all the way through the novel version of Charles Dickens’ David Copperfield (all 847 pages of 10 point font). I really enjoyed it, but I also kept wishing I could have read it in serial form (a chapter per month) rather than all at one time. It is a fascinating and convoluted story that gets wrapped up neatly, with only occasional slogs through mires of detail.
It is said to be the most autobiographical of Dickens’ work, and tells of David’s experiences at a boarding school, blacking factory, debtors’ prison, and finally finding his calling as a writer. The story came back to me gradually, and I remembered being crazy for a made-for-TV version from the days of Once Upon A Classic on PBS. I started searching for this version on the internet, but without success. However! Scrolling through the other available versions, I found one from 1999 starring Maggie Smith (perfectly cast as Miss Betsey Trotwood) and Daniel Radcliffe (as DC the younger)!
Film review: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011), directed by David Yates
The eighth and final instalment of the Harry Potter saga is currently (at the time of writing) enjoying #95 on the IMDb Top 250 list. Everywhere I've read, people are hailing it ... and it's not without good reason.
As we went to see a double showing of Deathly Hallows (Part 1 followed by Part 2 at midnight), we had the events from the previous film fresh in mind. As you might recall, Part 1 ended with a showdown at Malfoy Manor, during which Luna Lovegood (Evanna Lynch), Griphook the Gringotts goblin (Warwick Davis) and the wandmaker Mr. Ollivander (John Hurt) were saved. Sadly, we had to part with Dobby the house elf. What angered a lot of us fans at the time, was that they neglected to put up the headstone saying “Here lies Dobby, a free elf” over his grave. They rectified that here, thankfully. And then the wild ride begins.
Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe), Hermione Granger (Emma Watson) and Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint) have got work to do. They need to break into the wizarding bank Gringotts in search of horcruxes, and then it’s off to Hogwarts to meet Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) and End It All, Once and For All.
I’ll try to not spoil things here the best I can, and instead make a separate post about all the things I want to talk about.
Been far too long since I last did one of these, and I'd like to thank Leffe for the idea. It had me laughing out loud!
If Richard Armitage
and Elijah Wood
had a love child,
this is what he'd look like:
Ladies and gen ... uh, ladies, Daniel Radcliffe! :D
When I saw clips from Between the Sheets the first time, my response was "OMG, he looks like Daniel Radcliffe! That's just ... weird. I don't really fancy Dan Radcliffe that much and Richard Armitage, number one hottie, looks like his older brother! I'm confused."
Film review: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010), directed by David Yates
Instead of half-botching the book by trying to fit everything into one film, they've actually decided to let the final one be played out over a couple of films. Side effect: more money for Warner Bros., and more Potterverse for the fans, yay!
The trio have decided not to go back to Hogwarts, but in fact stand up and fight. Or at least try to find the remaining horcruxes that Dumbledore vaguely mentioned before he died. They get chased and spend a lot of time in a tent. They argue, split up, get attacked, get back together again and so on.
In this first half of the book, it's four deaths and a wedding, more or less. The downside is that I had just finished reading the book, so the things I wanted to be in the film weren't, and things were changed and bits were missing and all that. Some I can see the point of, such as that they didn't eavesdrop on Dean Thomas outside the tent, but others were a shame, like Kreacher turning out to be a really nice guy deep down and that all he needed was a bit of kindness. Or Lupin's angst. I was really looking forward to that last part! And nothing! For shame!
Because they haven't bothered to include certain things in the previous films, all of a sudden, Bill Weasley (Brendan Gleeson's son Domhnall!) drop out of nowhere and from nowhere, he's going to marry "hey isn't that the French girl from the fourth film, Fleur wossname?" (yes, yes it is). Their relationship was never introduced in the 6th film, so it's a bit of a surprise. And where's Charlie Weasley, anyway?
I came across something somewhere yesterday that mentioned the MTV Movie Awards, so I had a look on the website. I signed up to MTV.com to vote a previous year. Last year, was it? Don't remember. This year looks like it's going to be the same. PLEASE can they not just finish making those Twilight movies soon so we can be rid of them once and for all and get voting for something decent?!
Last time, the one that annoys me greatly, was the time when the first Twilight movie had come out, and it was nominated in a bunch of categories, of which it won most of them. It was a shambles! I mean, Best Male Performance. Christian Bale was nominated, and I quite like him. Robert Downey Jr was nominated, and he's a superb actor - and I'm not just saying it because he's ridiculously swoonworthy as well - but as in, as an actor, he's freakin' AWESOME! And who won? Zac Efron! Are you KIDDING ME?!
Best Villain - now, I approve of that. Heath Ledger won for playing the Joker in The Dark Knight, and that was a fantastic performance. Well deserved! Part of me is a bit disappointed Luke Goss didn't win for playing Prince Nuada in Hellboy II: The Golden Army, but hey, at least the winner was worth all kinds of awards.
Best Fight Scene should have been won by Ron Perlman and Luke Goss, i.e. Hellboy and Prince Nuada from aforementioned comic book blockbuster sequel. It's superbly choreographed and is a real treat to watch. Seriously, it should've won. Instead, Pineapple Express did. 'Scuse me?
Looking through the nominees and winners for last year's awards, at least there were some proper options, even if the rightful winners didn't always win. This year, I'm despairing, seriously. Here are the nominees:
Tom Felton, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
As much as I love Harry Potter and think Tom Felton is fab, Draco is a pansy! Lucius, he da man. Colonel Landa is a nasty piece of work in a great film, he's my choice for best baddie.
Emma Watson, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Kristen Stewart, The Twilight Saga: New Moon
Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side
Zoe Saldana, Avatar
I pity Sandra Bullock, a great actress who no doubt will lose her award to the flycatcher from Twilight. Ugh. Again, as much as I love Harry Potter, Emma Watson isn't that great an actress... She just acts with her eyebrows. Fail!
Daniel Radcliffe, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Robert Pattinson, The Twilight Saga: New Moon
Taylor Lautner, The Twilight Saga: New Moon
Zac Efron, 17 Again
This is the category that gets my goat most, because SERIOUSLY?! In the end, I ended up voting for Dan Radcliffe because he's actually a decent comedic actor, but an actor in general? No, no and no. Have they nominated Edward and Jacob so that all the Twitards will have to split their votes so that the others have a sporting chance? Best performance... One was hardly in the movie, the other's acting consisted mainly of running around without a shirt. Zac Efron? No. Channing Tatum? No. Which films came out this year? We could have Robert Downey Jr or Johnny Depp to vote for! Proper actors! Good actors! Not these tween-pleasing boys!
Ben Stiller, Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian
Bradley Cooper, The Hangover
Ryan Reynolds, The Proposal
Sandra Bullock, The Proposal
Zach Galifianakis, The Hangover
Sandra Bullock is a good comedic actress. :) Ben Stiller... well, all I can think of are Tropic Thunder quotes and I don't think they're very appropriate... ;)
I'm really hoping the thought behind this is "let's have three Twilight actors there so none of them will win." The person who should win this category, hands down, is Johnny Depp. He can act the crap out of either of them. In his sleep. No, if he was in a coma, he'd act the crap out of them. That's how good he is. Or how bad the others are. Sticks and stones.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, directed by David Yates
The Hangover, directed by Todd Phillips
The Twilight Saga: New Moon, directed by Chris Weitz
I don't have a favourite pick here, just a least favourite. ;) Which one I voted for? Well, I've only actually seen two of them, and I only enjoyed one, and that one, I'd see again, and I got the DVD... Still want to see a couple of the others, but that's what Blockbusters are for!
What do you think? Have the movie awards dumbed down to please teenage and pre-teen girls or have they been clever and have more than one Twilight-related thing nominated to make sure the Twitard votes are diluted and therefore the others, who should win, actually have a chance at winning? We'll have to wait until June 6 to see what happens. If not, it's going to be as interesting as the Eurovision Song Contest used to be. Last year was the first time for the past decade that it wasn't predictable. And no, I'm not going to apologise for slating Twilight. Love it as much as you like, I don't care, just don't expect me to agree with you. :P
Might just make a habit of commenting on the news on Fridays. Kinda fun! ...Even though it's Saturday by the time I write this, as I was catching up on Lost earlier tonight. Speaking of Lost, is Jack growing boobs? Looks like he's starting to compete against Locke in the man-boob arena... This season is a bit confusing still but it's getting there, slowly. Regardless of anything else, how squeeable is Desmond (Henry Ian Cusick)?! I like the character, even though he over-uses "brother". There's something with that accent - shame it's not his natural one.
First off is the fab Emma Thompson in the Daily Mail, talking about being a mum, having the same driver as Kate Moss - causing the paparazzi to be very disappointed when the actress appears instead of the supermodel! If I had been a paparazzi, it would be the other way around. What's Kate Moss? Really? Famous for being a junkie and for being too skinny. Meh, I say. How can that compare with the Prime Minister's sister? Elinor Dashwood? Beatrice? Professor Trelawney? (To name but a few.) She also criticises the "size zero" ideal in the film industry. Oh, why can't we elect this woman as prime minister in the upcoming election? She'd be awesome! Read more:'Put some weight on girls!' Emma Thompson on Hollywood's obsession with skinny starlets
Speaking of skinny, there are two interesting articles about weight loss on the same website. One talks about a woman who underwent hypnotherapy to believe she had been fitted with a gastric band, and how she dropped three dress sizes in five months. She weighed "nearly 12 stone". I'd be quite happy to weigh "nearly 12 stone"... I lost about 10 kg / 20 lbs / 1.5 stone (pick whatever measure you're comfortable with) last year. Now I seem to have put it all back on again. :( Hypnotherapy is good, though; the power of the mind is incredible, and I've been thinking of it. Worth looking into, because dieting can be harmful to your health! Apparently, scientists have discovered that dieting causes increased levels of stress hormones in your body, which in turn leads to an increased risk of heart disease and cancer. Operations are too scary, so maybe a mental gastric band is the way forward? ;) Read more:I lost 3st after being hypnotised into thinking I had gastric band and Dieting really CAN harm your health: Slimmers at higher risk of heart disease and cancer
Then there's the whole Icelandic volcano issue... which is interesting. Read lots of Wikipedia articles about related things, finding articles about other volcanos, the difference between a caldera and a crater and that when the one that's going off now, it normally sets off another one nearby, which would have more widespread impact on the planet than just a few grounded flights. If Katla blows, we might be in for another Year without summer (Tambora, 1815) or the jolly events of Laki in 1783. Don't mess with Mother Nature, because she'll always win.
On a more positive note, the first election debate has been shown on TV with 9.4 million viewers, and most people seem to agree that Nick Clegg of the Liberal Democrats won that one. Perhaps now people will go from "a vote for the Lib Dems is a wasted vote because they're never going to come into power anyway" to actually being the second or even the biggest party in the UK. Interesting times!
The Glastonbury Festival lineup has been revealed. Not that I'm planning on going. Speaking of song and dance... Daniel Radcliffe is going to be in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying on Broadway next year. Sounds like a comedy. I think he'd be a decent comedy actor. He's a funny guy and he can do comedy really well - Harry's luck potion high in HP6 really cracks me up! Can he sing and dance? Haven't got a clue. Well, at least he can act. Well... sort of. (The crying-in-the-snow scene in HP3 makes me cringe, it's so awfully acted.) Read more:Daniel Radcliffe to sing and dance in Broadway musical
For the weird story of the week - if you've not had enough already - here's one: one numpty of a learner driver managed to flip the car over on her second lesson. Jaysus. I got my license last year and if I was doing something that was potentially dangerous, my instructor would just slam on the breaks - they are double-controlled after all! So how the instructor let that happen is pretty incredible. Prejudiced I might be, but I don't think women are worse drivers than men in general. There are bleedin' eejits on the roads of both sexes. White van drivers, for instance. They're rarely female. 'Nuff said.
