6 posts tagged “movies”
Saturday, September 12, 2009
The Burroughs Building (Queen West and Bathurst)
My apologies for the delay in posting this, but I spent most of yesterday projectile vomiting into my kitchen sink (it’s closer to the couch than my bathroom is, and a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do). So here it goes.
The annual Holt Renfrew party during the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) is one of the most anticipated social events of the year. And TBS was, well, there. This year the party moved from the store’s Yonge/Bloor location to a loft at Queen West and Bathurst. After climbing 6 flights of stairs to the party (god bless my flats and my discovery of an elevator later on) I found myself in a superpacked and overheated loft space full of extremely well-dressed and beautiful people, all clamoring around the sexy bartenders pouring specialty grey goose martinis (hereto for known as my downfall).
So, the free grey goose martinis were flowing, and the music was pumping care of The Stills followed by uber-cutie Alexa Chung on the DJ stage. What wasn’t pumping, however, was the air conditioning. Total sweat shop, but it did cool down later in the night as people began to trickle out. I enjoyed (several stomach coating, in theory) tasty hors d’oeuvres and even posed for some pics (almost wet myself laughing when the photographer requested that my two photo-mates and I ditch our wine glasses as they looked, quote, "cheap". Or maybe he meant that we looked cheap holding them. That's probably it).
Who was there: Various Degrassi cast members including Miriam McDonald (Emma Nelson), Lauren Collins (Paige Michalchuk), Adam Ruggiero (Marco Del Rossi), and more. CBC super-hottie George Stroumboulopoulos, Canadian supermodel Coco Rocha (stunning and so, so tall in a Greta Constantine that stirred up a little controversy), MTV Aftershow hosts Jessi Cruickshank (WORSHIP HER!) and Dan Levy (who we spotted in what appeared to be a minor lover’s quarrel in the stairwell around 1 a.m.), MuchMusic VJ Sarah Taylor, Canadian Idol/ETalk host Ben Mulroney, was that Kat Dennings of Nick & Norah fame? (who we glimpsed being escorted up to the VIP rooftop), red-headed Canadian stunner Rachelle Lefevre (from Twilight and Twilight: New Moon) the aforementioned Alexa Chung (so teeny tiny and I hear that her boyfriend, Arctic Monkeys singer Alex Turner, was denied access to the VIP section). Also in attendance were a a mix of minor socialites, Queen West hipsters, fashion types (including Greta Konstantine designers Kirk Pickersgill and Stephen Wong and owner of the popular Queen West store 69 vintage - the lovely Kealan Sullivan –who gave me one of those oh-so-Euro two cheek kisses), photojournalists, members of the Weston clan, 30-something men who resembled Gerard Butler, and lots and lots of dyed blonde haute couture ladies.
Who was there but shouldn’t have been: a certain mega-annoying MTV Canada Aftershow ‘friend’ who shares the same name as a certain Ivy League School in the US (and it ain't Harvard or Princeton). How this girl gets invited to ANYTHING is a complete mystery to me. I’m actually surprised she was even able to find the party, since she spends so much time with her head up her own ass. Also, I hear she threw a hissy fit when she was less-than-thrilled with the parting gift she received upon leaving . She even had the nerve to toss the gift box onto the street. Um bitch, check yourself: You should be happy that you were even allowed in the door.
Who wasn’t there: Clive Owen. Turns out, he spent the night at the Grey Goose Soho House party on the unused lower platform of Bay Subway Station. And I hear he was quite fond of the drink. Something we have in common, clearly.
Another quick note on Coco Rocha: she was at the party to promote Vignettes, a series of short films co-starring Rocha and her BFF Behati Prinsloo. It was playing on a loop on two screens set up around the party.
So that’s all for now, lovely and loyal readers. Party on.
XOXO
Blair
Huh? I’d never heard of it. But it was Sunday night, the Sunday night of not the long weekend – because here in the UK we had a long weekend on Aug 31 (they do everything here back asswards). So the boy and I got into our pj’s and retired to our bedroom; I got caught up with my correspondence (facebook and gmail) and he trolled the internet for something to watch.
This is what he found: Next Day Air http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oS_fK7oHB9Y
Neither of us had heard about it, but with little to no other options we cuddled up – to our mugs of tea – and hit play.
I immediately liked it, cause Murray from Clueless aka Tracy from Felicity (among other things), Donald Faison, was in it. Score. The movie opens with a scene that’s clearly from near the end, and then it goes back and tells the story from the beginning. It tells the story of two of the dumbest almost criminals ever. It involves attempted bank robbery and attempted drug dealing and definite murders. While all of this sounds heavy – it’s not. Its most definitely a comedy, soooo many classic lines in it!
So should you find yourself lacking in something to watch, get this. Hell, get this anyway. It’s a good laugh and it will make you feel like a member of Mensa.
Word.
M
Amazing. Spectacular. Oscar-worthy. Brilliant.
None of these words will ever be used to describe the shiteous mess that is Twilight.
Jesus H. Macy and William H. Christ this was one terrible movie. And I wanted it to be good. I wanted it more the Lindsay Lohan wants to actually be attracted to chicks. How did I miss reading any review that mentioned that Twilight is unintentionally the comedy smash hit of the season? Evidently my rage blackouts have escalated to the point where I no longer have any sense of what’s going on in the world.
GAH! So bad.
Within the first 15 minutes we were laughing so hard, I forget I was watching a movie that is supposed to be serious and heart-wrenching. It was excruciating and embarrassing. Angela laughed so much she started crying and (thankfully) suffered from temporary blindness due to the tears. At first I felt guilty, thinking my snickering-turned giggling-turned all out goose honking laugh was bothering fellow audience members. But as it turned out, the rest of the audience was not blind/deaf/headless, and by the end the whole lot of us were like a family united in laughing at the crap on toast that Twilight delivered. We bonded.
I kept waiting for it to, like, you know, get good. But it didn't. Even the low-key scenes were excruciating and seriously I may have cracked a rib from the laughing.
On a positive note, Robert Pattinson (as Edward Cullen - teenage vampire extraordinaire) and Kristen Stewart (as Bella Swan – average teen in love with a sexy vampire whose accent changed 3 separate time during the film) do the best they can with the material they were given. They are both huge talents, and I don't think their careers will suffer much as a result of this movie. Side note: kudos to the marketing GENIUSES at Summit who made the trailer for this movie look phenom, given that the production values are in fact more along the line with something one's drunk and pervy uncle videotaped at a wedding.
And here I would like to take a minute to describe the WORST scene in the history of film (and I've seen the Spice Girls movie as well as The Talented Mr. Ripley, yet believe me when I say that Twilight was the worst). So in the books, vampires can go out in sunlight (doesn't fry them to a crisp or anything) but the effect is..radiant. Sparkly. The scene in the movie where Edward reveals his sparkle to Bella is a PSA for adult diapers. KILLED MYSELF. The entire theatre was roaring with laughter. So bad. So, so bad. He looks like he was sparkling himself up for a gay pride parade.
And now, to the makeup. Dear Twilight executives: FIRE YOUR MAKEUP ARTIST. Jesus. Terrible. And what's with casting a bunch of naturally dark-haired people and then bleaching their hair blonde? Nikki Reed (from Thirteen) plays vampire Rosaline, who is described in the book as very blonde. Nikki Reed, however, is a Latina fantastica. The overall effect is more mental patient than vampire beauty. In the books, the Cullen vampire clan are described as being shockingly attractive. Obviously, the casting execs skimmed over this part of the book. Because other than Nikki Reed the rest of the teen camps are disgustingtons.
There’s a scene in the movie where Edward plays Bella the lullaby he’s written for her. Mmm…cute boy playing piano. So I thought, pretty hard scene to fuck up right? Wrong. What is described in the book as a powerful and emotional private moment where Edward reveals his love via song instead looks like a cheesy Meatloaf-inspired 80s music video complete with a smoke machine and spinny camera work. Overall, the special effects in this film were seemingly orchestrated by a 49 year old meth addict named Roy who has a severe hand twitch and a pretty serious spiderman obsession.
And now to (my boyfriend) Robert Pattinson. Robert is so beautiful it’s almost painful. Like gorgeous. And that hair! That hair should win an Oscar. He also looks amazing in clothes. In our post-movie debrief (at a bar, natch) Angela was preoccupied with trying to determine how this movie cost so much to make, given the stanky production values and budget cast. Well, it would appear the money went into Rob’s ‘Edward’ wardrobe. This boy wears the hell out of a pair of jeans. And in a cotton t-shirt? I creamed. So hot, despite spending half the movie looking like he's been shot in the foot, is in severe pain, and is simply trying to walk it off. My favourite Edward scene is the one that takes place when Edward and Bella go public with their relationship during a sexy strut from the parking lot to the Forks High School doors (Go Spartans!). Yummers. Kristen Stewart is beautiful. Perfect for the role. Gorgeous without being intimidating. Kinda girl next door and tomboyish which works really well for Bella. Her skin is perfection. I officially have a new girl crush (step aside, Rachel McAdams).
Another great scene is the climax (ha) of the movie – the first Bella/Edward kiss. Oh it’s good. It made the rest of the movie bearable. 14 year old girls across the country will be losing their virginity en masse after watching that scene. Best.Kiss.Ever.
I wish I had nicer things to say about the supporting case, but I don’t. The Emmett character is apparently unable to be in a car without sticking his head out the window like some sort of dog. And the sideways baseball caps and ghetto white boy wardrobe is brutal. Jasper looks like he’s shitting himself in every scene. Props to the writer on only giving him two lines.
The character of James (badass vampire with a ponytail who’s big into human hunting) is played by Cam Gigandet. He does a decent job. Maybe a little overkill on the head cocking and deep inhaling whenever he gets close to Bella. I should take this moment to say that if you haven’t read the book you would have NO FUCKING CLUE what was happening in the movie. I read the book and I had NO FUCKING CLUE was was happening in the movie.
About ¾ of the way through the mental lobotomy, I turned to Angela and whispered (ok shouted): “They knew it was bad. When they were making it. They knew, right? How could they not know. They must have known.” Then I spent the rest of the movie trying to catch a glimpse into the eyes of the actors to see if there was any indication that behind their perfectly coiffed hair and black eyeliner-rimmed eyes they were silently screaming for help and also for forgiveness.
Mercifully, after 2 painful hours it ended. And even the ending was sucky and cheesy. And the way things are left, it wouldn’t make sense unless there was a sequel. So there’s going to be a sequel. Shudder.
And now if you’ll excuse me, ever since Edward said to Bella that she was his exact brand of heroin, I’ve had a real hankering for the stuff. Off to self-medicate!
XOXO
Blair
What follows is my review of Four Christmases, starring Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon.
Vince looked bloated and tall, which is typical for someone who is fat and 6'5".
Reese looked adorable. Her hair was fantastic. So blonde. So pantene pro-v ice shine commercial.
Robert Duvall was weird casting as Vince Vaughn's father, as he's roughly 4 feet tall.
Kristin Chenoweth (playing Reese's sister) proved she may suck as an actress, but her breasts are extremely talented.
Random cameo by Tim McGraw playing Vince's borther Dallas. He grunted a lot and looked super greasy.
The first 45 minutes were totes hilarity. Laughed till it hurt.
Then it took a weird/sad turn and stopped being funny......and stayed that way.
And the ending was poop on toast.
Sigh. I'll purchase it on DVD once it hits the 2/$20 bin at HMV.
Synopsis on IMDB: When a couple tries to fly away from their family for Christmas, as they do every year, their fun turns around when all flights have been canceled. Now they have to go to four houses to celebrate Christmas while going through memories they don't want to go into and suprises they can't handle while they have to use a safe word to get out of situations
That is all.
XOXO
Blair
So Paris Hilton was allowed back onto a film set. Shocking, given the monstrosity that was House of Wax. Oh, and she made that shiteous gem The Hottie and the Nottie. Her latest foray into No Talent Town is Repo! The Genetic Opera. Shot in Toronto and co-starring the once impressive Paul Sorvino. Here's the plot: A worldwide epidemic encourages a biotech company to launch an organ-financing program similar in nature to a standard car loan.
Surprisingly, it's getting decent reviews from the critics.
I'm just kidding.
It sucks harder then Paris on a Friday night in the back seat of a BMW.
XOXO
Blair
Darren Star Productions, 2008
****
The anticipation of the movie was high amongst us TBSers and our new recruits. We’d been talking about it for weeks and making plans and speculating on plot. Finally on Sunday June 1, 2008 we gathered at my humble abode with goodies and snacks in tow. We popped in the DVDs from the series and watched some of our favourite SATC moments (oddly most of our episode selections had Aiden in them… not Mr.Big).
Somewhere around 9 PM we snapped out of our food coma and headed to the theatre.
We arrived early, grabbed seats in the back – but not quite in make-out row, some of us got more food (cause we're fatties) and we settled in for the movie of the year.
Without giving too much away here is my review of the movie that followed.
There were cheers as each character came on the screen and there were boos in appropriate places. There were tears and laughter. I feel the movie dragged a bit in places, and in other places it didn’t spend as much time on the subject as I would have liked to have seen. It seemed like they wrote the script and realized it was running long and then wrapped it all up too quickly.
Samantha’s character really lost her edge as she neared 50. I know she went through chemo, but it appears to have sucked the life out of her!!! Charlotte was her super peppy, beyond happy, always positive self. Miranda’s storyline came right out of left field and I thought it played out well. Thankfully Brady got cuter as he got older! Phew!
The guts of the show has always been Carrie, and I have to say I was completely less than impressed with the direction her character was given in the movie. Everything was hunky dorrey till the ending, and then I wanted to throw fruit at the screen. WHO WOULD DO THAT??? I’m trying not to spoil the movie for those slackers that haven’t seen it yet… but when you do, I hope you too will want to throw rotten tomatoes at the screen. Just bring ‘em in your purse, just in case. If anyone out there feels they would have acted in the same way as Carrie given the circumstances, please feel free to comment. I think my heart would have been in too many pieces to put back together….
Muah.
M.
