Catch Up 2: Audio-Visual

One post in, and I am already procrastinating. I thought it would be easier to write than this. Especially a post about film and television I have been watching lately, but it is difficult to know where to start. 

I had been watching lots of How I Met Your Mother before the Christmas break, but soon ran out. You would be amazed at how quickly you can consume those episodes. 22 minutes of Barney is just not enough. So if you miss him, just turn on Dr Horrible's Sing-Along Blog and it will make you feel a little better. 

Then there was plenty of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Will's birthday present. This did not entirely thrill me. I do love Star Trek, in all its spin off forms (apart from Enterprise but we do not discuss that particular series in my house), but DS9 is one of those shows I have always enjoyed as a weekly occurrence, rather than devouring it in my usual style of binge television watching (dvd box sets of television series secured my nature as a lazy recluse). To avoid watching Star Trek (Will desperately wants me to watch all 7 series - and I will, just in my own time), I had to find something else to watch, and it turned out to be films.

Those of you who know me, may know that I have a bizarre habit of buying dvds and cds that I've never seen before or heard before, and don't even know the director or actors or artists. But that is how you learn and explore. I won't admit to the very embarrassing film that started a month long obsession (and was bought without having seen it before, I just wanted to see what all the fuss was about) with it and other musicals, but it happened. So there I was, watching Hairspray, Grease, CryBaby (bought after never having seen it before. A friend recommended it, it was directed by John Waters, and starred Johnny Depp, I thought it would have to be good. But something that did annoy me was that they spelt John Waters wrong on the back of the  cover (only once) - doesn't anyone check these covers! That would never have passed me on a book production line!), Buffy musical Episode ('Once More With Feeling'), Rent, Phantom of the Opera, Moulin Rouge, etc... 

Films other than musicals have also been involved, but there are too many to mention. So let's shift the focus to films seen at the Cinema. Before Christmas we had Twilight. I was very excited to see this film, despite knowing practically nothing about it. I knew that it was about vampires and that Cedric Diggory was in it - also, I thought it was very interesting that it was the highest grossing film ever to be directed by a female (go Catherine Hardwicke!). Vampires was what had me excited, for someone who loves all things vampires (Buffy, Anne Rice, Bram Stoker, Blood Ties, Moonlight, True Blood), I was thrilled to hear of something new to add to my repertoire. When I first saw the film I was unconvinced. I really enjoyed it but I wasn't sure if I loved it. There were aspects that really irritated me. For example, the scene when Bella sits next to Edward in science class, Robert Pattinson's acting is TERRIBLE. I did not understand the scene at all, and there were other small things I wanted to nit pick. However, I soon decided to read the novel that inspired it all, and it shed a whole new light on the film. The book was awful, the film brilliant by comparison. Now I am just waiting for Twilight to come out on dvd so that I can watch it again - and special features, I love special features. 

On Boxing Day, Will took me to see Australia. This was a rather nervous viewing, I must admit. I am a big fan of Baz, and was looking forward to watching Australian landscapes on the big screen, so I was hoping against hope that the film was better than the trailers made it seem. I was in luck, I really enjoyed the film. It had a grand, sweeping feeling to it, like a 1930's melodrama in three acts. It was very strange for me to see David Wenham as a bad guy, he is just too lovely in my head to be a baddie. But overall, it was a thoroughly enjoyable film, with Baz's signature dream like feel. 

A visit to Bristol led to a girls' afternoon out at the brand spanking new Cribbs Causeway and cinema. What did we see? Something classy, of course. Bride Wars. Ok, so not so classy, and not exactly a brain teaser. It was a fun saturday afternoon chick flick, I don't think I would ever buy it on dvd or ever watch it again, but it was enjoyable while it was on. However, both Anne Hathaway and Kate Hudson are capable of so much more that it almost makes me sad to think of.

Last weekend, I finally saw Slumdog Millionaire. It was not at all what I was expecting, I assumed it was a lot lighter than it was. But it was as good as all the hype, brilliant. I absolutely loved it. Who would have thought that a film with so much Who Wants to be a Millionaire in it could be so good!

Ok, this is the last of it. Recently there has been more television series watching which has included Moonlight (Another enjoyable Vampire show axed after only one season), What I like About You (I have a sick Amanda Bynes obsession, please help), Two Guys and a Girl (Don't worry Berg, you'll get Ashley in the end), and the latest has been Gilmore Girls... all day every day. My speech has rapidly jumped in speed and the number of pop culture references I throw in my everyday dialogue has exponentially increased. 

My time might not always be spent fruitfully, and yes, it may be true that I do a lot of sitting around, but I do accomplish things. Watching entire seasons or even entire television series' is a big achievement in my book.