Never let Miss DiversiT go…

I have to confess that I do have a Tumblr. It’s just for fun, really and sometimes it does make me discover stuff I absolutely didn’t know about. Like Toms (they are not sold over here so I’m going to London to get a pair, it’s that bad!) or books, movies like “Never Let Me Go”.

I started reading the book, written by Kazuo Ishiguro about two weeks ago. It was unexpected and beautiful. It makes you think and it stays with you after you’re done reading. I’ve even searched for the song by Judy Bridgewater mentioned in the book. Don’t look for it, it doesn’t exist: they made one for the purpose of the film.

Film that I’ve seen yesterday. I thought it was completing the book. It expresses the characters’ feelings in a more explicit way. The book can appear a bit clinical in the way that it’s descriptive of the places and the events. And seeing it on screen gave it another dimension.

“Never Let Me Go” was released earlier this year and I don’t know if it encountered a big success. I know that I first read about it on Tumblr so I guess it hasn’t been popular here in Belgium…

The director, Mark Romanek, gave life to the love triangle formed by Kathy, Tommy and Ruth in a true, honest way. That guy has been touched by the book and you can clearly see it by the way he tells us that story.

He chose great young British actors to impersonate the characters. Keira Knightley, who’s already a cinema veteran, understood Ruth and makes us understand her, which is not easy. The easiest way would be to hate her because she’s mean and manipulative. But that’d be too easy, right? Carey Mulligan is amazing as Kathy. She looks so vulnerable and yet so strong. She’s the one that actually tells the story and the one that’s left in the end. She guides us as she guides Ruth and Tommy. Last but not least, Andrew Garfield was really moving as Tommy. He’s so innocent, so pure. He’s still a kid, naïve and full of hopes. There’s a point in the film (but I won’t reveal the plot!) where he screams…Sounds like not much but, in fact, that scream remains in all memories as the most heartbreaking scream ever filmed! It’s so right, so understandable, so easy to rely on, so true…This is true acting, this is genius!

Some scenes did shock me deeply and kind of traumatized me. Nothing bloody or unbearable, I think it’s just a personal way to react.

I thought “Never Let Me Go” was amazing: amazing actors, amazing scenery, amazing love story, amazingly tragic and touching. Once you’ve seen it, once you’ve found out about it, it’s impossible to get out of it unharmed, to escape it, to let it go…

Miss DiversiT

Miss DiversiT has a favorite movie

I’ve decided to write about my favorite movie ever. We all have one, and just one, that we could watch a billion times without getting sick of it. It’s the movie that you watch when you’re ill and stuck in bed or when you’re feeling down ‘cause you know you’ll feel a lot better afterwards.

I truly think that, while you can adore a lot of films, there’s only one that’s super special. It’s like a love story: it has been love at first sight and it’ll last your whole life and no one will make it different. Actually, this could be amongst the first things you’d want to know about a potential lover!

So, done being all mysterious: my favorite film is….Jurassic Park!

I’ve loved dinosaurs for as far as I can remember. I don’t know why, as it is more a boy thing. And I don’t know why it’s still true today (“Walking with Dinosaurs” – which is a live show made out of the BBC series – was a blast and the closest way to feel like I was on a island with dinos!).

When I saw the film, in 1993, I was 8. My parents, although I don’t remember that part, said I was begging to see it. And, I can tell that it’s the most vivid memory I have about being in a movie theater. It’s the first time I really empathized with a character. I was totally agreeing with every word coming out of Timmy’s mouth! Now, I don’t recall why I was so ok with some stuff but I certainly was.

Did you feel that?

Almost 20 years after the release of “Jurassic Park”, I still watch it like once every two months (and it’s because I have to retain myself – people think I should be grossed out by now) and I know all the lines by heart (in French, though…I could try to memorize all the lines in English :D).

Watching it fulfills my need of dinos and brings me back into that theater, when I was 8 and holding onto my dad’s arm. I still find Timmy adorable and really brave. And, with puberty, I can say that doctor Grant is smoking hot. I also wish I had Ellie Sattler’s legs and Malcolm’s weird growling laugh.

So, now, you know about my favorite movie. Hope you’ll comment and tell me what’s your favorite film ever (‘cause I know there’s at least one person out there reading my posts- don’t be shy, I don’t bite!).

Miss DiversiT

Miss DiversiT trying to seduce you… ;)

Firstly, I’m super ashamed of my absence and laziness…

I’m now juggling with three jobs: secretary, dog-sitter and journalist. The good thing is I think I’m finally getting where I’d like to be. The bad thing is I’m all over the place and not used to deal with all that yet.

Plus – and this has nothing to do with cinema – I’ve been unwell these past three weeks. I’ve got a virus in my ear and it went up all the way to my internal ear, causing dizziness and unstable steps. In a few words: I’ve been a mess lately!

Anyway, let’s get back to our review.

I’ve seen ‘Black Swan’ twice because it felt I needed more than one viewing to get an opinion. I’ve really enjoyed it, although certain scenes were quite chocking to my poor eyes.

Nina (portrayed by the amazing-as-always Natalie Portman) is dancing in a ballet company. She’s a supporting dancer and feels that, being closer and closer to thirty, she’ll never have a career as a prima ballerina. She’s living with her mother, who’s treating her like a little girl and muffling her.

Good news for her: the leading dancer (played by an unrecognizable Winona Ryder) is leaving the company (you see, she’s forty, she’s old, not attractive anymore. Long story short: this is the end, my friend) and the choreographer, Thomas (a strangely pervert Vincent Cassel) is jumping on the occasion to refresh the ballet company. He wants to rejuvenate the classic ‘Swan Lake’ and he needs to find the perfect dancer who’ll incarnate both white and black swans.

Nina, dealing with the fact that she needs to get that part to shine under the spotlights, also has to deal with a newbie joining the company: Lily. She’s her opposite, being light and able to let go when she dances. Nina sees in her a rival and a threat, which puts a lot of pressure on her tiny shoulders, as if she needed it!

Nina, lucky girl, is given the big role. Unfortunately, she’s mentally fragile and she’ll dive deeper into madness due to Thomas’s pushy requirements. To him, Nina is a perfect white swan but not bold and sexy enough to incarnate the black swan.

The end of the ballet is as dramatic as the end of the film. Being crazy can’t be good, can it?

I thought that Natalie Portman was brilliant. She’s always is (or at least, in all her movies I’ve seen). Her Nina is wonderfully fragile both mentally and physically. She takes us with her into her hallucinations and her truncated vision of life. The other big actress in this film is Mila Kunis, who’s astonishing playing the fresh and light Lily.

This films is clearly disturbing ‘cause Nina is already mentally ill when you first meet her. She’s been hurting herself, scratching her shoulder and her mother is really pushing her in a bad way. She’s oppressive and weird. I thought she was as crazy as her daughter.

I really enjoyed the scenery and you’ll definitely be surprised by some twists in the scenario. The actors are great, the costumes are beautiful and the end is dramatic. If I had to say something bad about this film, it’d be that too many questions remain unanswered.

It was brutal and cruel, but I think that it sticks to what could happen (or truly happens) in a real ballet company. After all, life is like dancing: it’s hard and painful, but satisfying…

Here's a little youtube video :

 Miss DiversiT

(500) Days of Miss DiversiT

So, I guess I’m a bit late on that one…

I just saw “(500) Days of Summer” a couple of days ago on TV. I don’t even think it got a proper release, here in Brussels. As usual, we miss loads of good stuff just because it’s not technically addressing to a wide dumb audience.

Anyway, I saw it and I don’t really know what to think of it. Okay, I’m lying : I loved it! But it depressed me a bit ‘cause – Bloody Hell! – they totally used me to create Tom’s character (and, now that I think about it, a bit of Summer’s as well)!

Tom believes in soul mates, love at first sight, fate, destiny and all. When he meets Summer, he’s so sure she’s “the one” that he idealizes her. She doesn’t believe in love; she just wants to have fun without pressure or strong feelings.

Of course, they’re trying hard to be happy but how can it work when you love someone totally and absolutely and that he/she doesn’t love you the same way? We all know how it ends: with a broken heart…

What I loved in this film, it’s how realistic it was. At least to me. You always want to see the bright side of love and you don’t want to face the fact that, sometimes, it has to end. So, they’re showing us the “good days” of Tom and Summer and also the “bad days” where their relationship slowly dies. The ending isn’t really what I’d called a happy one. But I won’t tell you how it ends (what a bad reviewer I’d be!).

Wait a minute…this…is…ME!

As I wrote a few lines before, I should sue Mark Webb, the director of “(500) Days of summer”, for sucking so much out of my life to put it in his characters. Examples coming!

First, playing around in Ikea? I do that every single time I go there ‘cause that’s where the fun is! That, and the cheap hot dogs and cranberry juice. I never really found someone who was playing with me. My friends just basically laugh at me…In a way, it gives me hope: I am not alone and, someday soon, I’ll find someone to play with me!ha!

Second, screaming curse words in the street and pretending it’s the Tourette’s syndrome? I was doing that when I was 16: I nearly invented the concept! We used to play in the summer, where people were outside enjoying a drink. If you’ve never done that: you have to try this! Sooo much fun!

Third, imagining that people are smiling at you and dancing around whenever you’re happy? Well, welcome into my life! It also works the other way around : when I’m sad/grumpy/angry/mad, I swear that it’s always raining and that people are looking at me in a weird way (of course, that’s all in my head…but still!).

I shall stop here with all these examples otherwise I’ll write ten pages and that’s way too long for a review!

The ending left me quite depressed. It made me feel like I was going to be heartbroken for as long as I don’t find my “one”. Because, yeah, I still believe in love and all that crap!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tJoIaXZ0rw

To conclude, I’ll say that it’s a truly great film talking about love, good stuff and bad stuff.

Zooey Deschanel is absolutely beautiful and plays perfectly her part (Mark Webb fell in love with Zooey’s eyes and you’ll notice that there’s a lot of blue shades in the film, just to emphasize her gorgeous ocean eyes) and Joseph Gordon-Levitt is incredibly good. His character is going through a lot of things and experiment a lot of feelings. It was impressive how well he played this wide range of emotions.

How to define “(500) Days of Summer”?

Not a classical romantic comedy, more like real life story about love.

Miss DiversiT

P.S.: hey, Mark Webb, not hard feelings! :D

Miss DiversiT: accio review ’Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows’ !

I know that, when you are a reviewer, no matter what you review (food, books or, in this case, movies) you can never pretend that you are objective. Because everyone has a different past, affects that change constantly and a personal view of the world. Like what Oscar Wilde used to say about beauty: it is in the eye of the beholder.

I am a fan of Harry Potter, which might alter my judgment. Beware, before the first film, I thought it was ridiculous to speak about sorcerers, a school of witchcraft and wizardry and other dragons and flying broomsticks. I was an authentic aunt Petunia!

But after seeing ‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’ Stone’, its magic cast a spell on me.

Ever since, I read all the books, I have seen all the films and collected every magazines the press gave me! Ma own little tradition, for the nosy readers, is to go see the films in theatre six times or so. I try to enjoy as much on big screen as I can.

Well, there are the reasons why I couldn’t be objective…

Since the fifth opus, it is David Yates who is in charge of the films. I have to say I particularly disliked ‘The Order of the Phoenix’: the rhythm was flat, there were too many ellipses and the storyline was disjointed (and remember, I am an aficionado!). I am thus a bit mistrustful concerning the making of the next films.

Eight films for Seven books?

The last episode of the saga was split in two films. It is certainly an excuse to make some more money on the back of our favorite little wizard and on the back of his numerous admirers. The release of the last film in 3D only confirms what I am saying. If it is true that the fan within me is quite happy that it is not over yet, I have to say that I regret all that business around Harry Potter.

All the other books were condensed, tons of details have been forgotten to allow the making of the six last films. I think they could have done the same with the seventh and last book.

‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: part 1’ is suffering from some lengths. I think about the scene where Harry is dancing with Hermione. It is adorable, it truly is, but it does not bring anything and it was not even in the book!!! I also regret the lack of professor Snape… I believe that people who only know Harry through the films will not understand the settlement about Snape. And that is a shame! That is what makes the pleasure of reading ‘Harry Potter’: every single detail count and God knows if that detail is important!

On a more positive note – because I quite enjoyed the film – I am thrilled to see the evolution of Ron’s character. He’s evolving a lot faster in the books and his role of the ‘best friend always there and always ready’ in the films was getting on my nerves!

Finally, he is taking some space, he is rebelling against Harry and he becomes a real character. Rupert Grint shows us this brand new Ron with a lot of talent and conviction. We can tell how happy Grint is to blossom in front of the cameras: his acting is all natural and strong.

To conclude, I will say I enjoyed this first part of the seventh film even though I regret a few things. I am impatiently waiting for the end of the saga and I can already tell you that I will not see it in 3D (I do not know about you but, personally, I can not see the point! Besides, it hurts my eyes!).

Miss DiversiT