29/01/12

Nothing to extraordinary happened today.
Uncle Dookie and I had a magnificent day together though. We went to Larne, to go to a little cafe he adored as a boy, which was thankfully still standing! We had twin fry-ups and he had his beer and I had some lemonade; freshly squeezed! We walked along the beach and he told me stories of his lost love Kara and how no matter how much he missed her he was happy that she has moved on and made a family of her own, something I wish for Dook. He's always travelling the world alone forgetting about his brothers and his cousins and his extended family. Which is rather sad, but he says he likes it so who am I to say otherwise?

Uncle Stephen is still in the hospital, though he moved to the private rooms up the road from me. Staying close to my mum, Jordan and I will be good for him, I've been to see him everyday this week for at least four hours at a time. Even if he's sleeping. I read to him or draw him a picture or leave him a letter so when he wakes up he knows I've been and talked. Even if he couldn't reply. Today, he was in particularly good spirits and even ate some of the cake Jordan had made and brought over for him. We decorated his room with various keepsakes he's kept in an old fashioned suit case which is just lovely these included; a signed picture of Keira Knightley, a metal horse and cart his father bought him, a couple of postcards from Dook, pictures of various films he loves, a few audiotapes etc. Then pictures and paintings on the walls as well as a few blankets to make the place seem nice and like his old place. It's horrid seeing him as skinny as he is, his refusal to eat baffles us all. But what can we do?

I've scraped my Short Film idea. I don't know. It doesn't seem right to think of such things during these hardships. But who knows, I may pick it up in a couple of months!

Books, books, books!!

I know, I know. It's not exactly Sunday yet, but I just had to tell you's all about the books I decided to buy today. I was out at the Market and came across the sweetest little old woman selling some simply divine books (I do love my alliteration!)

I got Drive by James Sallis, which was made into a beautiful film last year staring Ryan Gosling and Carey Mulligan. I can't wait for his latest book Driven! I don't know if it's in any way related to Drive, but I've heard it's going to be fantastic! Fingers crossed!

I also re-bought An Abundance of Katherines by John Green as I've seemed to have misplaced it, or leant it to someone without it being returned. It is my favourite John Green for many reasons I will not divulge you in!!

I also bought a copy of the script of the film The Help. I'm nearly pretty sure it was an illegal copy, but it was only a couple of pound, so I thought why not?

I also bought Mirror Dreams by the young novelist (She had 4 novels published before she was even 20!!) Catherine Webb. I first came across her when she was 15 on an interview with the CBBC and it's taken me this long to pick up one of her books. The copy I bought is a rather ruffled one, showing that it has received much love. Yay!

And last but not least is a copy of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. Which I'm currently in the midst of reading!

60 Days till The Hunger Games

I'm glad The Hunger Games isn't going to be a typical Summer Blockbuster film. Especially with competition for Summer awards time from The Dark Knight Rises and the Amazing Spiderman. Because it wouldn't really have much chance, The Dark Knight has one of the most phenomenal directors of this age who is able to keep suspense right to the very end - including the end of his trilogy I'm sure. TASM has two of the most sought after young actors, Emma Stone for her comedic performances and Andrew Garfield with his wow factor acting that he portrays through the depth of his eyes. All The Hunger Games has going for it is a spectacular fan base and a well thought out trilogy of books, Miley Cyrus' boyfriend and that girl who wanted to sleep with Magneto in the new X-Men film, which, now-a-days isn't enough to establish a film into getting an award, nor the lead actors. Sadly enough.

Take Michael Fassbender for example, he was one of the break out stars of this year. His role in Shame (opposite Carey Mulligan) was fantastic and his acting in X Men brought something to the character that Ian Mckellen could never bring, a sense of charisma, charm and love. Not that Sir Ian didn't. But that's just it, it was the charm, charisma and undying love we felt for him, the actor. Not the character. Which, a mon avis, Fassbender brought to life. His role in Jane Eyre and A Dangerous Method were also phenomenal, Jane Eyre is not my favourite Classic Lit reading, but still a phenomenal performance once again, as per usual. So perhaps, it was his best year (2011) to date, so why didn't he win the Golden Globe for Best Actor? Because that's the year George Clooney decided to re-grace us with his presence with two films, The Descendants and The Ides of March. The latter being the better performance, and more original out of the two, yet he still won the award for The Descendants. REALLY!? Yes, it was more real, but it didn't seem like acting, which I suppose is good, but he just kind of .... drifted in the film.

Speaking of The Ides of March. Why the hell hasn't Ryan Gosling won anything remotely noteworthy for his films in 2010/2011? After a three year career break, boy does that boy know how to say "Hey, guys remember me?" Starting with All Good Things, co-starring Kristen Dunst (also her year, she actually acted this time, instead of those wooden things she called performances) set him off for a good start, the film is inspired by the life of accused murderer Robert Durst, with Gosling playing him. This shone him in a different light from any other performance, mainly The Notebook. Although, he was only nominated for a PRISM award. Next came Blue Valentine, which I had been tracking for about 10 months to a year before it had been released, amazing performances from both leads, Gosling and Michelle Williams (also showing that she too can act, yippee!) for which he scraped Chlotrudis Award for Best Actor which he shared with Philip Seymour Hoffman. After the low-budget films he moved on to the bigger budget films, the more mainstream ones, his performance not faultering because of the budget, unlike many other actors and actresses who seem to forget about acting when they turn up to big-budget films.

Anyway, the point is, make away for the young actors and actresses of tomorrow, who have such acting credibility and let go of the Brad Pitt and George Clooney love. Yes, they are great actors, but they've past their best by date now, especially with talent now being released at the age of 30. Chastain, Fassbender, Gosling and Hardy among those.