Saturday, 14 March 2015
Do I Love, Rosie?
I love book adaptations. Or I love to hate them. I hear
about one in post-production; a massive mainstream blockbuster and I
practically wet my pants I’m that excited. Even the ones I haven’t read, I will
try to read before I see it. The whole way through I naturally compare the film
to the book. Which of course you shouldn’t do, but so what, this is how I
approach the matter.
Most of the time I prefer the book. I will list all the
film’s inadequacies, the plot they omitted, and the inventions and additions in
utter fury, practically compiling a letter to script writer. Ahem Harry Potter.
But this is a very pleasurable kind of fury.
Occasionally I like both the novel and film as separate
entities. Angus Thongs and Perfect (Full Frontal according to the book)
snogging. The Hunger Games. Pride and Prejudice, to name a few. These all stay
faithful to the novel yet deliver something new as well.
Sometimes though I prefer the film. This is rare because I
really like reading! Surely the book, which many people consider to be the
‘original’ source, the stimulus, the inspiration, should naturally be the
springboard because it is so good. Not in this case may I add.
Love, Rosie is fairly nice film. It is sweet, tender-hearted,
funny, and obviously completely unlike reality, but hey what else is new. The
book it is based on is Where Rainbows End by Cecilia Ahern. Now this isn’t the
first time I’ve read one of her novels and felt disappointed. P.S I Love You
again a great chick-flick falls short on the novel. Ahern creates excellent
narratives but doesn’t write them very well.
Where Rainbows End tells the story of Rosie and Alex, best
friends since childhood, confronted by misunderstandings therefore torn apart,
almost brought back together, torn apart again, almost brought back together,
torn apart again…this goes on for forty years. In emails. Forty years of emails
is a long read. I can’t tell you how frustrating this book is. You kind of hope
they get together by the middle as Ahern can’t keep this flimsy ridiculous
structure up for as long as she does! Not only does Rosie have baby Katie aged
18 while Alex disappears to Boston (of all places) they each go through a
couple of marriages each, divorces, children, terrible jobs, deaths, until they
finally…well, the ending happens. By then you just don’t care as they’ve wasted
their whole lives!
Love, Rosie on the other hand condenses these four decades
into one, no more children are born and only two divorces (only). Katie’s
father and Rosie’s first husband is made one character, Alex doesn’t have
children, and Rosie has a lot more successes than she would in reality. But, to
be honest, this is what a film or book audience want, we don’t need to hear
constant whinging about how badly her life has turned out. In the novel you
very quickly feel sorry for her friends because of the amount ear-bending she
does. Therefore Lily Collins’ Rosie is much more likeable even though her life
appears much easier than it should.
If I considered it as a film on its own, without any consideration to the book, I wouldn’t care for it much. Jamie Winstone plays an entirely pointless character, literally only there to advise Rosie. Rosie’s pregnancy and its consequences really don’t appear very important; there is no emphasis on what she’s losing by becoming a young mother. Also, it’s just frustrating that she pretends it hasn’t happened to Alex. He’s meant to be her best friend yet she thinks he shouldn’t know. Rosie’s life seems very easy and the finale comes with her great success. It’s very pleasing for audiences but not particularly believable.
However, I think I’m now just being unnecessarily picky. All
I can say is thank you for giving this dry and exhausting narrative some spark!
Love, Ally.
Wednesday, 18 February 2015
What's Your Favourite Word? Comet
Due to having little social life and an unhealthy obsession with films I already knew lots about the film Comet before I watched it. I was researching premieres for the Berlin Film Festival at work and spotting Justin Long’s face immediately made me stop: he’s just such an endearing actor, literally playing a loveable character in every film. My next delighted surprise was seeing Emmy Rossum was starring opposite him, a talent that is underused in my opinion. Finally, the cherry on the cake as they say, was that it was about parallel universes; a relationship that spans six years, jump-starting at various points throughout the film. We see two break ups, two, possibly three unions.
Instantly I thought of the similarities to Nick Payne’s play
Constellations. About to hit Broadway starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Ruth Wilson,
the play was a massive success on the West End. Roland and Marianne meet in
multiple universes, we see them finally get together, visit many turns in the
road, break ups – all because of the pivotal theme that we live in a
multiverse. According to this theory there are many other versions of ourselves
carrying out decisions or vice versa which we choose to make or not. There are
other mes out there who could be a ballet dancer (my desire when I was ten) or
even very similar to myself but instead of writing this in bed I could be
writing this on the sofa. I love this play; it’s hopeful yet quite sad, but
also about real love. With only two actors the ability to portray many
dimensions is tricky! Comet appeared to be a film version of this, or at least very
similar, tackling themes of fate, choice and reality.
Comet is a unique romantic film. It’s been pushed as an
indie-rom/com. Thus 500 Days of Summer-esque? I guess, maybe they’re saying that
because of Justin Long’s presence, a regular figure in roms and coms. Like
Constellations the film jumps between moments with a clear
change of transition. However, this struck me more as moments in time not
between parallel universes. We see the couple (Dell and Kimberly) at crucial points
in their relationship which flow, almost hiccup, into each other, repeatedly
and with no structure. This could be timelessly, but I saw it as defined by
time – ‘this is the time we broke up’ ‘this is when we got back together’ –
instead of what is true and what is false. We do get a sense that it isn't
reality; the cinematography is exquisite, sometimes bright and over exposed
with electric green grass, or so soft with pale back light the character’s face
is blurred, which heightens the idea of non-reality. Even so, I would have
liked more ideas of fate and choice, as the focus on time means it all
happened. Only the last scene alters this. An earthquake takes place without
either of them noticing, day turns to night at the click of fingers, two suns
are in the sky. We are obviously in another dimension and this might not be
real. If the whole film had followed this structure (real or not real) it would
have been really interesting!
Apart from that I really liked the film. Moments made me cry, you
just want to shout at the characters DON’T BE SO STUPID as you can see what’s
coming. Dell and Kimberly are perfect together but it takes them a long time to
truly see it. Justin Long just needs to stop mumbling his lines. Then
everything will be great.
Also, my title is a line from the film. No one's favourite word is comet...
Saturday, 14 February 2015
Why not?
Writing has always been a hobby of mine. I read blogs,
magazines, news articles, novels even, and think why can’t I do that?
Honestly, why not?
I really find people tend to hold themselves back from
achieving or even enjoying something just because we’re scared of the unknown,
maybe too lazy; today I finally gave up not believing in myself, something I am
very accomplished in, and thought I should just prove myself wrong for once.
I am 23. I live at home with my parents. I haven’t got
enough money to move out yet, or a full-time job. My aim in life is to become a
director, whether for film, tv or theatre, I just want to bring stories to
life, to watch them unfurl. I understand this is a terrifying industry to break
into, the amount of competition is endless, there’s usually one role and
thousands of applicants. You’ve got to stand away from the crowd and have
something special to offer. I’m ashamed to say I turned into Meltdown Marge
yesterday and managed to make an enemy of my mum and my sister by being a brat
and only looking at the negatives. There is so much which I can aim to achieve
and I just need to look at it objectively.
So for one: I love writing. Here we go!
Two: I love baking. That will definitely make an appearance,
although I tend to rely on those wonderful Instragam filters to help my
photography skills. Being a food critic would be the best job wouldn’t it,
being paid to eat good food.
Three: I love films and tv. Another ambition is to become a
film critic, imagine eating food and watching films AT THE SAME TIME.
Four: I love reading. EATING, WATCHING, AND READING AT THE
SAME TIME.
Five: Travel, art, theatre, Harry Potter, the usual things…
I love it all.
So here I am doing something about it! Again why not.
Sunday, 17 February 2013
Pride and Prejudice - The Everlasting Beauty!
Last month, Pride and Prejudice turned 200.
Happy Birthday Pride and Prejudice!
Some friends had to confirm I meant the book.
My friend Sophie and I celebrated by watching the Colin Firth series over two nights. That's three hours of his smouldering eyes and pouting per night. It was glorious.
This week we are watching the Keira Knightley version and I have to say I think I prefer it (ooohh controversial...). From a cinematography perspective the film is visually stunning; beautiful wild scenery, a golden terracotta glow covering the screen and shots of natural 18th century dirt. The house in the 1995 version was just too clean, you expect to see a radiator on the wall or a tv in the drawing room. If you merged the two adaptations and had Colin Firth in a much more visually appealing setting you've got yourself a masterpiece. However, Matthew MacFadyen definitely did not disappoint.
Don't you wish men were still like this?! Dashing and manly as opposed to child-like and thinks the sun shines out of their behind. However, there was no such thing as feminism back then so really we probably do live in a better era. And Mr Darcy was a tad of a penis to Elizabeth at more than one point.
My friend Sophie and I celebrated by watching the Colin Firth series over two nights. That's three hours of his smouldering eyes and pouting per night. It was glorious.
 |
| Ooohhh smoulder me baby |
I will definitely read the book again. For the time being though, I will enjoy the adaptations on screen, they're both pretty good (the piano scene... ahhhhh so beautiful!!)
Sunday, 15 April 2012
'I'll Sort you into houses, because that is what I'm for...'
They only say all that so you don't feel bad.
Gryffindors' are brave and bold, they are courageous and are willing to risk their own skin to save the world. I'm sorry but I don't think I'd ever go running after Voldermort as Harry does in nearly every book. Haven't you noticed Harry, this guy isn't your biggest fan, the only thing that will make him happy is killing you. Hmm not so much my scene.
Ravenclaws' are geniuses. Enough said.
Slytherins' are evil. I am officially far too nice for my own good so some how I don't think I'd fit in.
So that leaves Hufflepuff. When I came to this anti-climactic realisation, my heart sunk and I told some friends. Instead of them saying, 'Of course you're not a Hufflepuff Ally!' they all laughed and said 'That's obvious!'
So great. I did loads of sorting quizzes and all of them agreed. That's where I seem to be. The one J.K Rowling couldn't think any assets for.
Since then I've learnt to embrace it. Yes that house would be for me, I love my friends, meeting new people and when it comes to it I am hard working. And also it's a talking point; it's not as predictable as Gryffindor, people never feel threatened by a Hufflepuff. The characters in the books in the end are incredibly brave, half of the house volunteer to fight the deatheaters in The Deathly Hallows. I think there are far too many bad connotations with this house, they are good, strong and loyal and are prepared to work hard whatever the cost. I would rather be in Hufflepuff than all the others, any day.
Monday, 9 April 2012
Fancy a role model?
One section in the book was about role models. At the time I couldn't think of anyone I particularly respected and I couldn't be bothered with the usual Marilyn Monroe and Audrey Hepburn (both of whom I have been so tempted to stick on my wall - I don't have a reason why except that's where everyone puts them) so I just ignored that particular chapter. However, six years later, I have finally found one woman who I think should be or already is every girl's role model. This is Jennifer Lawrence.
Only since The Hunger Games have I been a fan, I admit. Having not seen a Winter's Bone or X-Men I wasn't really sure who she was until she was on the cover of every magazine or bus shelter. I then went to see the Hunger Games (massive fan - be warned, there will probably be posts about it) and thought she was amazing as Katniss. Still I didn't really give her much thought. (Honestly, I don't like knowing much about actors or actresses in films I really enjoy as I believe it ruins the illusion - there must be people who agree with me.) Then I saw her on Chelsea Lately and basically fell in love. She is just ridiculously cool, so down to earth, eager to laugh at herself and someone I aspire to be like (if I ever had interviews about a million dollar movie franchise which I star in).
Jennifer Lawrence - you are most definitely the coolest Hufflepuff out there.
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