Off with their heads! - Alice in Wonderland

I know it's a little late to write about Alice in Wonderland, but the movie still isn't showing in Brazil - where most os my readers live - so it's not THAT late. To those who haven't watched it yet, I promise no spoilers :)

I had huge expectations on this film and it was totally disappointing for me. I don't want to dissuade anyone from watching it, au contraire! I think everybody should have their own opinion. But if my advice is worth something, I would tell you to lower your expectations and you'll have higher chances of leaving the movies feeling fulfilled. 

So here are my ups and the downs on Tim Burton's Alice:

THUMBS UP:

- All the aesthetics and effects are amazing, specially in 3D - Tim Burton is all about it, so I'm glad he didn't disappoint in that. I read some reviews saying the 3D was awful but I really don't know what they were talking about as I haven't found a single flaw.

- The costumes by Academy Award winner Colleen Atwood are great, specially in the Kingdom of Hearts. There's one specific dress that I loved which resembled a lot of Alexander McQueen's creations. I didn't find a real image of it, but here's the sketch by Atwood:

- The makeups are stunning as well, in all characters. 

- The soundtrack is SO Tim Burton, I loved it! Specially when Alice falls in the hole.

- Helena Bonham Carter. She is the best, always. 

THUMBS DOWN:

- I found the plot awful. Lot's of things happen but they don't go deep in any of them; Ii's a flat movie.

- All the marketing around it make our expectations higher and higher and the movie doesn't give all the emotion it promises. That's the worst thing that can happen in cinema, in my opinion. The word of mouth is what makes a movie and if people watch it with their expectations too high and it's not that great the reviews tend to be terrible. 

- The characters don't have soul, they lack in depth being totally superfluous to the story. At the end, I didn't care care what happened to any of them, and that's a serious problem. I think it's crucial to sympathize with at least one character to find a film interesting.

- Talking about characters, all the marketing was based on the Mad Hatter (see picture below) so I expected him to be crucial in the story and Johnny Depp to be perfect in that role. None of these happened.

- It ends with a song by Avril Lavigne. Period.

- There are some embarassing scenes. But I won't say more because I promised no spoilers.

- Mia Wasikowska makes a boring Alice lacking a big dose of emotion.

- Anne Hathaway as the White Queen. She looks amazing, but the character is just nothing.

Back home!

I spent this week travelling around the Benelux area and it's a fact: there's no place like Amsterdam. I'm glad I'm back :)

Gaga x Donatella

Gaga's future:

  *Am I the only one who sees the alikeness?

So many films to write about!

I have also watched the following movies this month and I intend to write about them anytime soon:

Alice in Wonderland (disappointing)

Invictus (inspiring)

Wolfman (terrible)

The Lovely Bones (weird)

Some nice movies

These are the movies I saw the past month and enjoyed at least a bit (no spoilers, I swear!):

Nine - Pretty good singing and dancing, and I loved the main character, a fun, charming, crazy artist with no inspiration (Daniel Day-Lewis as Guido Contini). But it's a musical and you have to be into it to enjoy it. From the director of Chicago, it shares some similarities with the former film, like the sexy acts, the celebs (all beautiful high scale actresses) and the role music and dance plays in the story. Good, but not great. Surprisingly, Fergie's performance was the best one in my opinion among a great female cast: including Nicole Kidman, Marion Cotillard, Kate Hudson, Penélope Cruz, Judy Dench and even Sofia Loren.

The Last Station - A film about Leo Tolstoy's last years and his marital struggle caused by conflictive points of view - while the writer works in the Tolstoyan Movement and thinkis about the Russian people, his wife, Sofya Andreevna, feels he is not keeping in mind that he also has a family to look after. I thought this would be an historic film showing a lot of the Russian context by that time, but it isn't. It's actually a really interesting film, but more about love than anything else. Instead of being a portrait of Russia in the early 1900s and Tolstoy's role in it, it's really a film about relationships that shows Tolstoy not as a leader, but as a husband. and a human being. It's beautiful, and Sofya Andreevna's character is so strong it's impossible not being sympathetic with her. And it's played by Helen Mirren, always perfect.

Avatar - Not a big fan of sci-fi, but I thought this was a nice one. Nice, but not spectacular as so many people are saying. I enjoyed all the aesthetics, specially the colours, and it tells a beautiful, utopic story - basically Americans satirizing themselves as a nation and playing a mea-culpa on other land's merciless exploitation. You can clearly distinguish Democrats from Republicans on that film as the characters are really ludicrous. It is very predictable in my opinion, but I really wasn't expecting to be surprised.

Telephone - Gaga's new video feat. Beyoncé

On the Video Phone clip, Gaga looks like a little girl trying to shake it lika mama Beyoncé. I actually felt sorry for Gaga for the first time because she really disappears wearing those tight clothes and shaking by Beyoncé's side. BUT OF COURSE, we couldn't expect less from Gaga: she has just launched a videoclip for a song called Telephone, featuring Beyoncé... and it's all about Gaga.

But Video Phone, Beyoncé feat. Gaga, then Telephone, Gaga feat. Beyoncé? Is it a competition? Anyway, this clip is more like a movie, with Lady Gaga on the main role and Beyoncé as an accessory. Both of them look amazing, but the video clearly has Gaga's aesthetics and she's the one you can't take your eyes off. Amazing coreographies, cool looks, great makes, in short, stunning aesthetics. Well, that's Gaga... nevermind the song.

So here's the new video, a bit long (9:32) but REALLY worth it.

And this is Beyoncé's Video Phone, just for comparison :)

Toys made in China

Pictures taken at a toy manufacturer in China, the world's largest toy producer. Found them interestingly creepy:

Pictures from Hemmy.net  / via @facco

Shuella: umbrella for your shoes

This is Shuella, this impressive functional-trendy-stylish-convenient protection for your shoes on rainy days. The ideator is an American woman called Rebecca Miller, who spotted this market opportunity based on her own experience of not being able to find any suitable product to meet this need. 

If you are wearing your best shoes, you definitely don't want the weather to ruin them, but you  don't want some crappy plastic bags protecting them, but ruining your whole look either, right?  So Shuella meets these two female needs: protecting your shoes while making you look sooo nice. This is a real spot on, check out the design - they look amazing!

They come in sizes just like female shoes and can be worn over any size heel. Shuellas are easy to put on and strong enough to walk in with a slip free sole, according to their website. They also include a cloth to wipe off any excess water before you fold them up and put them back in their pouch, which is a convenient way of carrying it in your bag everyday - just in case.

Genious, isn't it? I love this simple ideas that really make our life easier - or at least more pleasant.

I chose the yellow ones :)

Shuella's website here.

The Secret In Their Eyes

This Argentinian film originally called "El Secreto de Sus Ojos" just got the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film and it's easily the best film I've seen latey. It's real food-for-thought: a very well-written plot involving crime, investigation, justice, politics, psychology, obsession, and of course, love and passion. The characters are really complex and count with great actors such as Ricardo Darin, who wows everytime. It's definitely a must-see.

I found this trailer with unnofficial English subtitles (yet perfectly understandable) on YouTube:

Banksy

My favourite Banksy's works:

 

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

In Palestine

  

  

 

More from Banksy here.

Oscar's nominees and winners

I'm never too happy with the Academy's choices, but this time I haven't watched most of the nominated movies, so I'll just keep my unfounded opinions to myself.

Just one tiny comment: Sandra Bullock?! I haven't seen her performance as a leading actress in "The Blind Side", but having her ever winning an Oscar is REALLY surprising.

 Here is a list with all the cathegories' nominees and winners:

Actor in a Leading Role

• Jeff Bridges in “Crazy Heart”
• George Clooney in “Up in the Air”
• Colin Firth in “A Single Man”
• Morgan Freeman in “Invictus”
• Jeremy Renner in “The Hurt Locker”

Actor in a Supporting Role

• Matt Damon in “Invictus”
• Woody Harrelson in “The Messenger”
• Christopher Plummer in “The Last Station”
• Stanley Tucci in “The Lovely Bones”
• Christoph Waltz in “Inglourious Basterds”

Actress in a Leading Role

• Sandra Bullock in “The Blind Side”
• Helen Mirren in “The Last Station”
• Carey Mulligan in “An Education”
• Gabourey Sidibe in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”
• Meryl Streep in “Julie & Julia”

Actress in a Supporting Role

• Penélope Cruz in “Nine”
• Vera Farmiga in “Up in the Air”
• Maggie Gyllenhaal in “Crazy Heart”
• Anna Kendrick in “Up in the Air”
• Mo’Nique in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”

Animated Feature Film

• “Coraline” Henry Selick
• “Fantastic Mr. Fox” Wes Anderson
• “The Princess and the Frog” John Musker and Ron Clements
• “The Secret of Kells” Tomm Moore
• “Up” Pete Docter

Art Direction

• “Avatar” Art Direction: Rick Carter and Robert Stromberg; Set Decoration: Kim Sinclair
• “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” Art Direction: Dave Warren and Anastasia Masaro; Set Decoration: Caroline Smith
• “Nine” Art Direction: John Myhre; Set Decoration: Gordon Sim
• “Sherlock Holmes” Art Direction: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer
• “The Young Victoria” Art Direction: Patrice Vermette; Set Decoration: Maggie Gray

Cinematography

• “Avatar” Mauro Fiore
• “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” Bruno Delbonnel
• “The Hurt Locker” Barry Ackroyd
• “Inglourious Basterds” Robert Richardson
• “The White Ribbon” Christian Berger

Costume Design

• “Bright Star” Janet Patterson
• “Coco before Chanel” Catherine Leterrier
• “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” Monique Prudhomme
• “Nine” Colleen Atwood
• “The Young Victoria” Sandy Powell

Directing

• “Avatar” James Cameron
• “The Hurt Locker” Kathryn Bigelow
• “Inglourious Basterds” Quentin Tarantino
• “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Lee Daniels
• “Up in the Air” Jason Reitman

Documentary (Feature)

• “Burma VJ” Anders Østergaard and Lise Lense-Møller
• “The Cove” Louie Psihoyos and Fisher Stevens
• “Food, Inc.” Robert Kenner and Elise Pearlstein
• “The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers” Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith
• “Which Way Home” Rebecca Cammisa

Documentary (Short Subject)

• “China’s Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province” Jon Alpert and Matthew O’Neill
• “The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner” Daniel Junge and Henry Ansbacher
• “The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant” Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert
• “Music by Prudence” Roger Ross Williams and Elinor Burkett
• “Rabbit à la Berlin” Bartek Konopka and Anna Wydra

Film Editing

• “Avatar” Stephen Rivkin, John Refoua and James Cameron
• “District 9” Julian Clarke
• “The Hurt Locker” Bob Murawski and Chris Innis
• “Inglourious Basterds” Sally Menke
• “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Joe Klotz

Foreign Language Film

• “Ajami” Israel
• “The Milk of Sorrow (La Teta Asustada)” Peru
• “A Prophet (Un Prophète)” France
• “The Secret in Their Eyes (El Secreto de Sus Ojos)” Argentina
• “The White Ribbon (Das Weisse Band)” Germany

Makeup

• “Il Divo” Aldo Signoretti and Vittorio Sodano
• “Star Trek” Barney Burman, Mindy Hall and Joel Harlow
• “The Young Victoria” Jon Henry Gordon and Jenny Shircore

Music (Original Score)

• “Avatar” James Horner
• “Fantastic Mr. Fox” Alexandre Desplat
• “The Hurt Locker” Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders
• “Sherlock Holmes” Hans Zimmer
• “Up” Michael Giacchino

Music (Original Song)

• “Almost There” from “The Princess and the Frog” Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
• “Down in New Orleans” from “The Princess and the Frog” Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
• “Loin de Paname” from “Paris 36” Music by Reinhardt Wagner Lyric by Frank Thomas
• “Take It All” from “Nine” Music and Lyric by Maury Yeston
• “The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)” from “Crazy Heart” Music and Lyric by Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett

Best Picture

• “Avatar” James Cameron and Jon Landau, Producers
• “The Blind Side” Gil Netter, Andrew A. Kosove and Broderick Johnson, Producers
• “District 9” Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham, Producers
• “An Education” Finola Dwyer and Amanda Posey, Producers
• “The Hurt Locker” Kathryn Bigelow, Mark Boal, Nicolas Chartier and Greg Shapiro, Producers
• “Inglourious Basterds” Lawrence Bender, Producer
• “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Lee Daniels, Sarah Siegel-Magness and Gary Magness, Producers
• “A Serious Man” Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, Producers
• “Up” Jonas Rivera, Producer
• “Up in the Air” Daniel Dubiecki, Ivan Reitman and Jason Reitman, Producers

Short Film (Animated)

• “French Roast” Fabrice O. Joubert
• “Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty” Nicky Phelan and Darragh O’Connell
• “The Lady and the Reaper (La Dama y la Muerte)” Javier Recio Gracia
• “Logorama” Nicolas Schmerkin
• “A Matter of Loaf and Death” Nick Park

Short Film (Live Action)

• “The Door” Juanita Wilson and James Flynn
• “Instead of Abracadabra” Patrik Eklund and Mathias Fjellström
• “Kavi” Gregg Helvey
• “Miracle Fish” Luke Doolan and Drew Bailey
• “The New Tenants” Joachim Back and Tivi Magnusson

Sound Editing

• “Avatar” Christopher Boyes and Gwendolyn Yates Whittle
• “The Hurt Locker” Paul N.J. Ottosson
• “Inglourious Basterds” Wylie Stateman
• “Star Trek” Mark Stoeckinger and Alan Rankin
• “Up” Michael Silvers and Tom Myers

Sound Mixing

• “Avatar” Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers, Andy Nelson and Tony Johnson
• “The Hurt Locker” Paul N.J. Ottosson and Ray Beckett
• “Inglourious Basterds” Michael Minkler, Tony Lamberti and Mark Ulano
• “Star Trek” Anna Behlmer, Andy Nelson and Peter J. Devlin
• “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers and Geoffrey Patterson

Visual Effects

• “Avatar” Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham and Andrew R. Jones
• “District 9” Dan Kaufman, Peter Muyzers, Robert Habros and Matt Aitken
• “Star Trek” Roger Guyett, Russell Earl, Paul Kavanagh and Burt Dalton

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

• “District 9” Written by Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell
• “An Education” Screenplay by Nick Hornby
• “In the Loop” Screenplay by Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche
• “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Screenplay by Geoffrey Fletcher
• “Up in the Air” Screenplay by Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner

Writing (Original Screenplay)

• “The Hurt Locker” Written by Mark Boal
• “Inglourious Basterds” Written by Quentin Tarantino
• “The Messenger” Written by Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman
• “A Serious Man” Written by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
• “Up” Screenplay by Bob Peterson, Pete Docter, Story by Pete Docter, Bob Peterson, Tom McCarthy

Unlimited cinema, yayyy!

Nice thing that's been going on lately: I'm completely up-to-date on all the movies showing on the cinema, since I have an unlimited access card - yessss, best thing ever! So lately I've been going to the cinema at least 3 times a week, and I'm just loving it. So chances are I start writing A LOT about movies!

These are some brief comments on some of the films I've watched lately:

Valentine's Day - Really AWFUL. Not even the great casting could save such a bad, predictable and meaningless plot. Unless you are a female looking for visual delight - then maybe it could work for you, as you'll have almost two hours of Patrick Dempsey (McDreamy), Eric Dane (McSteamy), Taylor Lautner (cute werewolf from New Moon - Twilight saga), Ashton Kutcher (needless to say anything), Bradley Cooper, Jamie Foxx... but that's it. 

Up in the air - I would highly recommend this one. George Clooney is amazing playing the main role as a fun, unnatached character which has the most interesting actions and reactions I've seen lately. It is a very good plot, a complex movie with lots of content, though it's not heavy to watch. It's actually really fun and entertaining but can be really insightful at the same time, making you feel lots of things, even melancolly. It looks like a romantic comedy if you watch the trailer, but it's not. The only thing I really hated was the HUGE amount of merchandising, as they spend a lot of time showing American Airline's and Hilton's logos. That's a bit annoying, but that's it, that's the only downer.

The Drums - Amsterdam

So last Friday (February 26th) I went to The Drums concert here in Amsterdam.

The Drums are a new band from Brooklin NY and this is their first Europe Tour. By the way, they had all  their concerts sold out, which is pretty amazing for a band which has been playing for only one year.

List of concerts from their MySpace

This Amsterdam concert was at Bitterzoet, which is a rather small place, but really perfect if you  enjoy being close to the band and paying attention to each detail - as I do. 

I had read a couple of articles about them and I was already familiarized with their songs, which is always a good thing when you go to a concert. It's like going to a museum - you enjoy it a lot more if you know at least a little bit about the artist and its work. I always try to do my homework prior to going to a concert: researching on songs, previous bands, musical influences and origins, so that I can understand a little bit more about their music, their motto and their style.

I wonder: why the hell are these pale skin nerdy-style boys from NY singing about sufing? I just couldn't figure it out.

"We only write about two feelings: one is the first day of summer when you and all of your friends are standing on the edge of a cliff watching the sun set and being overcome with all of your hopes and dreams at once. The other is when you're walking alone in the rain and realize you will be alone forever." - The Drums

Here's the videoclip for Let's Go Surfing:

Here's their Let's Go Surfin' performance at Bitterzoet:

The Smiths and Joy Division are some of their influences and you can really tell. But Jonathan Pierce's vocals actually reminded me a lot of Robert Smith's, from The Cure! Which is a big compliment, of course.

This one below was their best performance of the night - the song was Best Friend. After this, I started thinking that this band has actually two frontmen. I just couldn't take my eyes off the tambourine guy - and not just me, as you can see on this video:

Their line-up was pretty obvious, as they have only one album - which also means this is a short show, lasting around 40 minutes only.

These were the songs they played, in this order:

_________________

Tears

Beste Friend (the one with the guy going crazy on the tambourine)

Submarine

Stupid

Book of Stories

Make You Mine

Skip In Town

Jerk

Moon

Surfing

Saddest Summer

__________________

At the end of the concert I caught their line-up paper from the stage and got a little upset, because apparently they were supposed to play two more songs, one of them my favourite (Down By the Water). Everybody thought they would come back for those after the "we want more" cheering, but they just didn't. Shame on them!

Anyway, it was a great show. This is a band worth keeping track of, so here's their MySpace page, and here's their official webpage.

Enjoy :)

This Too Shall Pass

OK Go's new video - on YouTube since yesterday:



But this one is unbeatable:



CLASSIC!

Google Goggles

Gmail users, this is a very useful gadget for drunks. Not new, though. 

By default, Mail Goggles is only active late night on the weekend as that is the time you're most likely to need it. Once enabled, you can adjust when it's active in the General settings.

And Then There Was Salsa

Frito Lay Dips cool ad - even though that's Flamenco, not Salsa.

“And Then There Was Salsa” from Frito Lay Dips on Vimeo.