August 23, 2016 at 1:53 am (Recommended, television)
Tags: BBC, discoveries, indulgences, Mondays, mysteries, praise
Trigger Warning: Gore. Lots and lots of gore.
Wounds don’t just bleed, they suppurate. Blood comes out in great gouts from cheeks, throats, everywhere.
And there is also one terrific love story.
It may be the final season, but there are five seasons to binge-watch.
YAY!
Stay tuned.
August 21, 2016 at 11:47 pm (Fan Fiction, Links, Lists, Movies, Recommended, Sundays, Surprises, television, Writing)
Tags: comedies, Peeta, reviews, summer, summer movies, websites, Woody Allen
Self has been browsing movie reviews, and binge-watching Ripper Street, and tweeting with fans about it, and beginning yet another fan fiction, which she needs like a hole in the head, but this one’s irresistible, this one’s got a Really Really Dark Peeta, a Peeta who just might be a murderer! Like Jack the Ripper! . . . Sorry! Back to the reason for this post.
From Critic After Dark’s review of The Shallows (which self saw aaaaages ago, at the start of the summer — feels like a lifetime!) starring Blake Lively, whose legs are so on point self can’t even:
Then of course death crashes the party in the form of a humpback whale carcass. Clever way to account for the Great White cruising nearby (otherwise it’s a bit of a puzzler why the shark — which habituates the waters of California, Northeast United States, South Africa and Australia — is hanging around a Mexican beach) but also raises a whole other question: why forego this tasty, properly wet-aged all-you-can-eat buffet of rich blubber and tender meat for a bony surfer who would hardly make up a satisfying snack?
In answer to which self wishes she could insert a hundred “shrug” emojis!
And self has a question of her own for reviewer Noel Vera: How does he know the carcass is that of a humpback whale? Because it literally is half gone. So there is no possible way to determine whether it really does have a humped back. Har, har, har! Sorry, self just couldn’t resist making a lame joke.
Self will close with a list of the summer 2016 movies she most enjoyed:
Oh, summer. Self can’t believe it’s almost over.
Stay tuned, dear blog readers. Stay tuned.
August 16, 2016 at 8:11 pm (Artists and Writers, Books, Recommended, television)
Tags: Netflix, performances, praise, reviews
Since self broke the ice by mentioning Jamie Dornan in her previous post, she’s decided she might as well go whole-hog and discuss the Jamie. Specifically, the Jamie Dornan in “The Fall.”
(She hasn’t seen “Fifty Shades of Grey.” Only seen huge black-and-white photos of Jamie’s back — he has very nice shoulders — on the sides of buildings in London’s South Bank, summer 2015. Which was enough to send her rocketing to the nearest bookstore to purchase a copy of The Grey. Which she ended up giving away to someone because she couldn’t get past the first 10 pages)
Self has just finished watching all the episodes of “The Fall,” Gillian Anderson’s come-back role as a detective. Gillian plays a sexy, high-heel wearing, sultry detective named Stella. Couldn’t be farther from her X-Files character.
In “The Fall,” she deliberately leaves her top dangerously unbuttoned for press interviews, wears nail polish in the killer’s favorite shade of red (Self is not kidding!) and in general behaves in very un-Scully fashion. Which would make the whole thing ludicrous were it not for the fact that — yes, we do want to see Jamie Dornan come out from hiding! We do! We do! We do!
(No spoilers here. The identity of the serial killer is revealed to the viewer from the start. It’s all a matter of when Stella & cohorts will finally be able to put two and two together and catch him before he kills again)
Jamie’s character is named (of all things), Spector. As in Spectator. Get it?
Stella sleeps with everyone — fellow detectives, bosses. Even the young Merlin detective (Self means, the young boy who plays Merlin in the TV series). From this we are expected to infer (Seriously?) that the sexual predator played by Jamie Dornan would find her attractive. But Stella’s sex life is the weakest part of the series, at least it is in self’s humble opinion.
Coming clean, “The Fall” is the first time self has ever enjoyed looking so much at Jamie Dornan’s face. It’s hidden behind a full beard but it’s the emotionally distant look that makes him so, so magnetic.
There’s one moment where he has a victim completely at his mercy, and he removes his face mask. For the first time, the woman sees his face. It’s a very pretty face but it’s such an awful moment because you realize (as does the young woman) that the showing of the face means that he’s not afraid to be ID’d. He’s going to kill her.
AAAARRRRRGH.
Self will say no more. Watch “The Fall” on Netflix. (Was this guy nominated for an Emmy for his performance? Should have been)
Stay tuned, dear blog readers. Stay tuned.
August 16, 2016 at 6:53 am (Conversations, Family, Surprises, television)
Tags: humor, memories, Mondays
At the wedding of a good friend in Manila, ages and ages ago, self was seated at a table next to the table of the newlyweds, and found herself being introduced to members of the groom’s family. The younger sister of the groom was a lively, sparkling, intelligent and pretty girl, studying in either Harvard or MIT or any way one of the more prestigious schools in Boston, definitely not a nerd, and she was absolutely great. Self’s first thought was: “This girl would make an excellent date for one of my brothers. I’m going to set them up.”
After many, many back-and-forth messages, which took a huge chunk out of self’s limited time, the blind date was arranged. While this monumental event was being staged, self had a vague thought that the process was complicated. But she was valiant in her resolve to get her brother to go out with this wonderful girl. She would show how self-sacrificing she was! She would show what a benevolent older sister she was! She would never give up! Never!
After the date, self’s brother returned home in a terrible mood. Self means A REALLY REALLY TERRIBLE MOOD. He growled: I thought you said she was pretty.
She was! The only word self can think of to describe her is “spabilada.”
Self’s brother said: “She wore glasses. She was wearing a jumpsuit.”
The image of a jump-suited girl with glasses was truly horrible. Self thought she would die of embarrassment. Plus: All that work — for nothing! The whole situation was like Cinderella in reverse.
As Jamie Dornan’s character the serial killer in the police procedural “The Fall” would go: What? What? What?
Self can’t even.
Speaking of “The Fall” (Self knows: this is a terrible digression), Jamie Dornan makes such a good serial killer. His day job is working as a grief counselor, and it’s absolutely perfect because he can scope out the most vulnerable women, meet with them, and during the guise of counseling, get them to reveal things about themselves that he wouldn’t otherwise get to know. He also does this most outrageous thing, which self has never seen any other serial killer in movies or television do, and that is: when he is chastised for going to a woman’s home, he just mimics everything his superintendent says to him. For instance:
Superintendent: What do you think you are doing?
Serial K: What do you think you are doing?
Superintendent: Do you realize the seriousness?
Serial K: Do you realize the seriousness?
Superintendent: Why did you go to the client’s home?
Serial K: Why did you go to the client’s home?
Almost the whole way through, Serial Killer Jamie does this, and his boss can do nothing but stare. Self knows what the boss is thinking: Has this man gone absolutely bonkers?
Well, of course he has! Don’t just sit there! Do something!
But of course the boss does nothing. Because he is so confused.
Who wrote this screenplay? Self would like to shake her/his hand!
Stay tuned, dear blog readers. Stay tuned.
August 8, 2016 at 5:00 pm (television)
Tags: Events, humor, Mondays, Olympics
Forget Gisele. What everyone watching the Olympics Opening Ceremony wants to know is: Who was the Tongan guy?
Did you see the US Swim team take the gold in the Relay?
Who was the Tongan guy? What was that on his body making his skin shine? Some extra-special high-gloss coconut oil?
Who was the Tongan guy? Close-ups, please!
He’s competing in Tae-kwon-do. When’s that event? Are they going to televise it? What time?
Who was the Tongan guy?
All over the morning news shows, dear blog readers.
LOL LOL LOL
Stay tuned.
August 6, 2016 at 5:55 am (Links, Movies, Surprises, television)
Tags: duds, Fridays, reviews, summer movies, websites
Since self is so confused by the Rotten on Rotten Tomatoes and the 4 1/2 stars on Fandango, she goes straight to rogerebert.com.
It’s massive, messy, and noisy. And it stinks.
She notices Joel Kinnaman is in the cast. She almost forgot because of all the attention Margot Robbie was getting.
Then she feels sad because she remembers Kinnaman was with Mireille Enos in the dark detective series The Killing. And she really, really liked him there.
She heard over the grapevine that Suicide Squad advocates (Who?) are so incensed by the movie’s low rating on Rotten Tomatoes that they’re calling for the shut-down of the website.
Really?
Too funny.
Wow, is it really going to get down to that?
This is going to be fun.
Which reminds her: Aubrey Plaza is a great and witty actress but she is used so poorly in Mike & Dave Need Wedding Dates that self can’t even. It’s really crass, but crass in a way that made her feel sorry for Plaza. (Anna Kendrick’s in the movie, too, but there is a little more respect shown for her character. Mebbe because she’s a bigger star?)
Stay tuned, dear blog readers. Stay tuned.
August 6, 2016 at 3:26 am (Conversations, Surprises, television)
Tags: Fridays, humor, indulgences
Young Bruce Wayne confronts his Manager of Operations!
Bruce: Wayne Enterprises is committing hundreds of crimes!
Manager: Of course! We are a multi-national corporation!
Stay tuned, dear blog readers. Stay tuned.
July 28, 2016 at 7:15 am (Artists and Writers, Surprises, television, Traveling)
Tags: David Bowie, London, memories, music
In the spring, self was in the UK. She remembers wandering around Heathrow (window shopping) when Bowie’s “Life on Mars” began playing over the PA system.
Sometimes, life is perfect like that.
The chorus is fantastic:
Sailors fighting in the dance hall
Oh man!
Look at those cavemen go.
It’s the freakiest show.
Take a look at the lawman,
Beating up the wrong guy
Oh man! Wonder if he’ll ever know
He’s on the best selling show.
Is there life on Mars?
Also, great song title, seriously.
There was a short-lived BBC cop series starring John Simm which was about a time-traveling cop. Grrreat series, ended too soon. The title: Life on Mars.
Stay tuned, dear blog readers. Stay tuned.
June 18, 2016 at 4:41 am (Conversations, Eavesdropping, Movies, Recommended, Surprises, television)
Tags: adaptations, Fridays, performances, praise, summer movies
Self has two words, only two words to describe the movie. And those are:
Xavier Samuels
Holy moly, the guy is perfectly cast as Reginald De Courcy, a confused yet decent young man who becomes the romantic target of a beautiful and conniving widow played by Kate Beckinsale.
As Samuel plays this smitten young nobleman, you can’t take your eyes off him. And yes, self writes this knowing that Kate Beckinsale is right there, sharing most of his scenes.
Chloe Sevigny is also great in her role as the straight-faced, American confidant of Kate Beckinsale’s Lady Susan. Never once does her mask slip. The only thing “not British” about her is her accent — which is strange, not flat-out American, but certainly keeps us guessing. She shows generous dollops of bosom, in contrast to Lady Susan’s very slender form. And that’s another way in which this movie is sly: just having these two actresses stand side by side, Stillman ensures that the viewer’s eye is always engaged, always parsing, always differentiating. Whew! This is no stuffy period film!
As self walked out of the movie theatre, she overheard a young woman telling her companion: “They’re jabbing at each other right and left, all with salon manners and smiles.”
Yes! That is exactly the point the movie was trying to get across! And kudos that the message came through so clearly.
Self must own up to having confused Xavier Samuel with Matt Czuchry of The Good Wife. They do look somewhat similar. Here’s Matt, also delicious.
Next up: “Me Before You,” featuring Sam Claflin (Finnick! You’re alive!) and Emilia Clark (first big role post-GOT)
Stay tuned, dear blog readers. Stay tuned.
May 23, 2016 at 8:54 am (Links, Movies, Surprises, television)
Tags: action movies, American Horror Story, Evan Peters, Marvel, performances
“X-Men: Apocalypse” has produced a break-out star.
And it’s Evan Peters.
Seriously?
Seriously.
Here he is in “American Horror Story,” doing the Banana Fana song (Official Title: “The Name Game”) with Jessica Lange. He is never not enjoyable to watch.
And he is the ONLY reason self would ever contemplate seeing an X-Men movie. Heck, she might be back in the Odeon tonight. Who knows?
Stay tuned.
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