Mmm...Pirates is on USA.

It really goes without saying that it makes me exceedingly happy and pains me greatly to have to turn it off.

But alas, I have work to do. And I've seen it close to 10 times already.

And to be completely honest, I think I like the second one better. Evil Tom Hollander, a scruffy and dirty Commodore Norrington, a three-way battle between the hottest men, a lip-lock between Jack and Elizabeth, and Elizabeth dressed as a boy pirate? Really...it kicks the first one's ass.

Not to mention that it has significantly less plot holes. Because honestly, the Aztec curse makes no sense.

Though the original does have some great lines. So very quotable.


Damn, I love me some Commodore Norrington. And to be honest, Will is a bit of a pussy. I'm not a fan.

My three favorite quotes from Pride & Prejudice (the Keira film version, of course) used in describing Elizabeth:

Lady Catherine de Bourgh: You give your opinion very decidedly for so young a person.
Mrs. Gardiner: Take care, my love. That savors strongly of bitterness.
Mr. Gardiner: Oh heavens, Lizzy! What a snob you are!


I mostly enjoy them because I often find them popping into my head as a way to describe myself. A bitter snob who's set in her ways...'tis me, I fear.

Pride and Prejudice was on during my dinner break (I have resolved to keep the TV off all weekend, but I do like to have it on while I eat, so I get about 10-15 minutes of TV viewing each meal).

Anyway, I couldn't resist...


Mr. Darcy: So this is your opinion of me. Thank you for explaining so fully. Perhaps these offences might have be overlooked had not your pride been hurt by my honesty...
Elizabeth Bennet: My pride?
Mr. Darcy: ...in admitting scruples about our relationship. Could you expect me to rejoice in the inferiority of your circumstances?
Elizabeth Bennet: And those are the words of a gentleman. From the first moment I met you, your arrogance and conceit, your selfish disdain for the feelings of others made me realize that you were the last man in the world I could ever be prevailed upon to marry.
[They look at each other for a long time as though about to kiss]
Mr. Darcy: Forgive me, madam, for taking up so much of your time.


Sadly, that wasn't the part I saw...but I did turn it on just in time for my favorite facial feature of the entire film. When Elizabeth (with her aunt and uncle) arrives at Pemberley and there's a medium shot of her face and she sort of giggles to herself in a way that indicates how ridiculous she finds the large manor to be, as though a house like that couldn't possibly exist in the real world.

It's the same reaction you would have if someone came up to you and asked to borrow a billion dollars. "Yeah, sure. Do you want it in cash form, or will you take a check?"

Oh gosh, I am such a twit.

I didn't realize until I went on IMDb.com that today is Keira Knightley's birthday. She is 23, juste comme moi.


I feel the need to watch something. Hmmm...I own 8 of her films on DVD...so I guess I have a few options. Pride and Prejudice perhaps. Or Bend It Like Beckham is always fantastic, and shorter than any of the Pirates trilogy (I do have quite a bit of work I should be doing).


Basically, I'm sending happy birthday vibes out into the cosmos.

It's not even noon and I have:
- Taken my History of Prints exam. It was eh. But not terrible. So
- Gone grocery shopping
- Burned a copy of the second disc of the Jason Isaacs BBC miniseries "The State Within" (so I can return it to Netflix)
- Watched Silk (also from Netflix)
- Completed an assignment for my film class tomorrow

And soon, I'll be hitting the post office to return said Netflixes.

Productive, n'est pas?


But to go back a bit: Silk. It was slow, deliberate, boring and overall, barely watchable. The only redeeming parts were the far-too-few bits with Keira Knightley (who sports an American accent). I'm guessing that choice was to match Michael Pitt, who is apparently unable to affect any accent but American, though I'm 98% sure their characters are supposed to be French...so eww.

Of course, I have ranted before about taking French characters and giving them British accents, but to make them American is just offensive. Perhaps it's presumptive, but I figure that Keira could probably pull off a French accent (I have no proof, but I feel most Brits can), and Alfred Molina, who is also in the film, can clearly speak in a French accent (as seen in Chocolat), so I can only assume it's Michael Pitt's fault. However, Keira manages a delightful, lyrical American tone, which is quite difficult, so I suppose I can forgive.


Alas, more work to be done, though I think I might just make this a relaxing day. Granted, I just came off Spring Break, but I didn't get to do a "sit in front of the TV and veg" day. And I have no strict due dates or exams for ANYTHING in the next two weeks, so there will be plenty of time to get real work done then.


Eh...I'm rambling and so I shall go.

Oh man. The past two days have been cah-ray-zee.

FIrst off, I did a little more procrastinating yesterday than I had anticipated. Remember, I had been working on finishing my History of Prints extra credit paper comparing Rembrandt to Whistler in terms of printmaking.

After my nap between classes, I later spent time chatting with Colleen and TiVo'ing through the American Idol results show (cutting it down from an hour to 10 minutes).

All in all, not a ton of procrastinating, but I still found the paper to be far more difficult to get out than I had originally anticipated. When I began writing, things were going pretty smoothy, but it went a little downhill. Anyway, long story short (too late), I didn't get it finished until 4:15am. OUCH.

And so I set my alarm for 6:30am, giving myself a full hour to proofread and edit the entire thing before printing off a final draft (and boy did it need it). I still managed to get to my 8:30 class on time and I wasn't falling asleep as I had foreseen.


In fact, I was really quite productive.
- I got to campus a little early and returned a few books to the library (I'm down from 10 to 7!)
- After class, I picked up my graded outline outside my theory and criticism professor's office, so I can use it to work on my term paper over Spring Break
- On my way home, I got gas (because the angry little light came on)
- At my apartment complex, I checked my mail and in addition to my two new Netflixes (Dedication with Mandy Moore and Billy Crudup and Silk with Keira Knightley and fuck all else) I got a postcard from the lovely Laura, who was in Portugal at the time
- Then, I went into the office to pay for electric overages ($0.57...yes, you read that right. I had to write out a check for fifty-seven CENTS).

So it was all little stuff, but still. Quite impressive, and on 2 hours of sleep as well.


Needless to say, I then napped, but only for an hour and a half. I woke up feeling surprisingly refreshed, so I have since feasted on a Hot Pocket for lunch and have plans to make this a "movie day." I'll be hitting up Be Kind, Rewind in Winter Park before meandering over to the Enzian for Miss Pettigrew Lives For a Day. Tomorrow morning, I'll be catching The Bank Job for $5, thanks to AMC's A.M.Cinema program, before heading to Spring Hill. Saturday is a mexican fiesta and poker night at my sister's, so awesomeness is bound to ensue!!

Oh, and did I mention?

I'M ON SPRING BREAK!!!


Other plans include getting a new cell phone, taking advantage of Bath & Body Works' $3 hand soap sale (and JUST as I was running out! Literally...my last soap just started to sputter), and using a coupon at Yankee Candle for a reed diffuser. The stupid wall plug-in things are total shite, so I'm thinking diffuser might be the best way to give a fresh, lasting scent to my humble abode. I might get it all done today...who knows?

Oh my god!


So perhaps you recall 6 months ago when I stated:
"I recently have been intrigued by the idea of a real-life Alice in Wonderland as directed by Tim Burton and written by John August. (It would be awesome. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory but with hella more crack.)"

(The entry continues with my theory that Keira should play Alice in a sort of grown-up, Labyrinth-like take...but that's just because I need more Keira in my life.)

Anyway...http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1142966/

John August isn't listed as screenwriter, but goddamn.


I feel like I should get some sort of credit.

(Also from the previous post: "So I think from time to time about movies I'd like to make. Or, rather, movies I would like to see made. Preferably giving me credit for the idea. You know...credit given where it is due.")

This evening, I went to see Atonement for the second time, and dear god. It is so much more amazing the second time around.

Exquisite. Brilliant. Perfect, and all the rest of it.

The two roommates I dragged with (Anna and Colleen)...wouldn't agree. It was definitely way over their heads in terms of filmmaking, and the story wasn't nearly cheerful nor romantic enough for them. (One mentioned that P.S. I Love You was a better film. Eek.)


But despite their negativity (or possibly just ambivalence), I enjoyed it IMMENSELY!

After, Anna got into her mind that she wanted to watch a horror movie. I was adamantly opposed to this idea, but decided to go with her to Blockbuster so that I could at least control the level of horror. She wanted Saw IV, but I convinced her of The Reaping (Hilary Swank in a Stigmata-esque story about the plagues). Brandon from next door had nothing to do tonight, so he joined us and the overall consensus was good. It was fairly fucked up, but that was expected. There wasn't a whole lot of truly gross or gruesome things, and those that were in the film were generally shot and edited rather stylistically so you weren't fixating on disturbing images. Additionally, there weren't a whole lot of those tense, anxiety-ridden, typical-horror-movie moments that people who like the genre revel in, but generally just make me uncomfortable and lose opinion of the film. So that was good.


And now, I am working on calming down and getting my mind off of the craziness of a demonically possessed child bringing on the plagues. To do this...I'm watching some "Project Runway." Mmmm. Love.

Well, color me ecstatic.

Atonement and Sweeney Todd took home the Golden Globes for Best Picture (drama and comedy/musical, respectively).


Sweet.


There were also a lot of winners I didn't agree with, but those two made me happy.

First off, I had an entirely fabulous night last night.

Well, it started during the day, actually. Around 2pm, I was done with my chemistry final and feeling awesome. Anna, who also attends UCF, was finished too so we thought it would be cool to do something. There weren't any films out that she and I would both want to see (story of my life, kids) and shopping seemed so boring and passé. So, we collectively came up with the brilliant idea to go to Downtown Disney (the shopping, eating, entertainment area, for those of you not in the know). The best part? It's totally free.

Anna's somewhat of an amateur photographer (some of her work is really stunning, I keep meaning to ask if I can buy a piece off her), so she brought her manual, black and white film camera with and we walked around and enjoyed the Disney-esque atmosphere and hopefully she got some cool candid shots of kids or buildings, or whatever. It was pretty awesome.

After that, we headed back home and Jane, Colleen and the girls from next door, Michelle and Jessica, decided they wanted to play beer pong later. Sweet. I missed out on a game a couple nights ago because I started to feel ill and went to sleep early. But first, Colleen really wanted to rent the movie Waitress. We here in Collegeville are cheap-asses, though and no one wanted to pay $5 at Blockbuster (oh man...I hate Blockbuster so much, it's insane). So, she mentioned that Wal-Mart is supposed to have those DVD rental kiosks where you rent a movie for a $1. Totally awesome. So I went with her to Wal-Mart, where we also bought a bottle of white zinfandel and two bottles of Andre Extra Dry (oh, I'm spreading that shit like wildfire...and everybody loves it).

It turns out that Wal-Marts don't have the kiosks, but Wal-Mart Neighborhood Markets (their grocery chain) do. Well, there are three said Markets in a 5 mile radius from our apartment, so we headed over there. I'm not going to lie...I'm in love with the idea. These redbox kiosks are pretty awesome. They are subject to being sold out of movies (like any rental place), and the selection isn't great yet, but it definitely seems like they are just adding the new titles every week, so the longer they are in place, the better the selection. Sadly for us, Waitress was sold out. However, we did rent Hairspray for a dollar!!!! I know, I know...I own the DVD, I could have waited until tomorrow, when I meet my mother and hopefully she brings it back to me...but screw off, it's $1. I was so excited, I jumped up and down a bit in the parking lot. I'm pretty sure Colleen thought I was off my rocker.

So this redbox thing...I looked it up online after we got back and it's pretty spiffy (FYI - there are none within 20 miles of Spring Hill, FL, but they are at Jewel locations through the Deerfield area and the Wal-Mart on Lake-Cook). And apparently people around Deerfield don't know about them or feel that paying $1 for a movie is too cheap and beneath them, because you can check the titles available online (and reserve one to pick up at a kiosk, a feature I find awesome) and the Jewel in Highland Park by the Toys R Us and the one on Lake-Cook has all the good new releases, including Pirates and Superbad, which were regrettably out of stock at all the ones in the my area...I mean, I own them both, but it was like a litmus test. So cool, you can check availability and reserve it online.

Additionally, and this is just because I'm an uber dork, if you put in a zip code and no redboxes are found, it comes up with a message that says: "Attenzione, achtung and yo! There seems to be something amiss." First off, they use languages not often represented, yet humorous (isn't it a running gag that anything said in German sounds hilarious?). Plus, the word "amiss" is just awesome and we should all use it more.

ANYWAY, so Colleen and I get home to an empty apartment (the girls had gone on a beer run) so we pour some $4 "champagne" and start the movie (because it's still too early for beer pong anyway). It was fabulous and I had to really control myself not to sing ridiculously loud along with everything. The other four girls got home and we all watched and I think they all liked it, or were at least amused. By the end, Anna was swooning every time Zac Efron was on the screen (I don't know what it is about that movie, or that boy, but the combination is LETHAL).

After the movie, because the night wasn't awesome enough, I got into a really great discussion of 20th Century art with Michelle and Jessica (who had taken a 20th C Humanities course). I have an issue occasionally with my roommates because I never feel like I have anything to contribute to their conversations. I'm not going to be a bitch and say that they are shallow or anything, because they definitely aren't, but they aren't the type of people that you can launch into a discussion of Andy Warhol or even stellar cinema. After art, we veered into a discussion of Keira Knightley (I swear to GOD I didn't bring her up, though I was quick to extoll her virtues), we talked about Natalie Portman, had a really good discussion about The Professional and I lent them Closer to watch. We discussed books into movies and how they suck, though I was certain to defend and recommend Pride and Prejudice (as though my life were at stake). It was so ridiculously awesome.


After that, the evening was just sort of all about chatting and drinking. We never did get around to playing beer pong, but I did learn that you can't by 40 oz. beers in Florida. No 40 Hands. The closest you get is 32 oz., but "32 Hands" clearly doesn't sound as cool. Random.

To sum up:
- Downtown Disney
- Wine and $4 Andre Extra Dry
- redbox
- Hairspray
- Discussion of 20th century art and cinema (dear god, that's my senior independent research topic)
- Awesome neighbors

YAY!


---

PS - For the record, I used the word "awesome" 9 times in this entry, which evens out to about once a paragraph. I believe that from this analysis, you can conclude that my day yesterday was, in fact, awesome.

So I mentioned it a bit ago about the new two-disc set for Pride and Prejudice. I was kinda assuming they just added a disc and slapped some new packaging on it, but since it's on sale at Best Buy this week for $15...I figured it was worth it.

But oh man.

It's so much more.

Aside from a second DVD filled with bonus features including a lot of historical insight to 19th century England and Jane Austen's world (for the geek in us all)...you get a copy of the FULL film soundtrack (which I've been wanting for ages because it's absolutely incredible...a $14 value), a 64-page mini-book (the size of a DVD case) filled with production photos, sketches, quotes from the writer, director, and actors about the process and their characters, PLUS, a free movie ticket (up to $10.50) for Atonement.

Essentially, even if you don't care about all the extra bonus features, or the book...it's cheaper to get this right now at Best Buy than to buy the CD and Atonement movie ticket separately.


Oh, it's SO worth it.

Also, seeing Sydney White today was like a visual sex-fest.

First, there was a preview for Atonement and I was so excited, I may have done a combination gasp-squeal. Most of the audience was ogling the fair James McAvoy, and while he is rather dishy...I only have eyes for one. *swoon*

Directly after, there was the Elizabeth: The Golden Age preview, and my uterus jumped for joy at the site of that testosterone-driven hunk of a man, Clive Owen. That curly hair and that little beard and he's just walking sex.

Well, then there was the actual movie. And I just love Amanda Bynes so very much. She's so cute, and sweet, and her characters are always so genuinely good. You can't help but love her quirkiness.

The "I'm a dork" part at the end reminded me of In & Out. *Snort*

It was really an endearing movie, and I'll own it and watch it over and over and over again (just like What a Girl Wants and She's the Man).


Hollywood eye candy. You gotta love it.


-----

In other news, there were the most annoying women behind me at the movie today. I should have seen it coming as they gabbed all the way through the previews. Then, one woman came in late, right during the opening credits, and her first comment was, "I don't even know what this movie is about," which spawned a full minute of at least three of them throwing out major plot points. You know what else would have helped her figure out what the movie is about? Shutting the fuck up and letting her WATCH THE MOVIE! Then....THEN! They decided to see how many of the seven dwarfs they could name!

The talking continued through many major moments and was much more than just, "oh, that's funny," or anything like that. At one point, Sydney is introducing all of the boys in her house and after each one, they practically shouted out the corresponding dwarf!

Oh god, it might have been worse that the two chicks who giggled and rattled on in Spanish throughout Babel. Or the fucking teenagers in Blood and Chocolate who held cell phone conversations, then proceeded to yell back and forth things like "shut up," "YOU shut up," and "shut the FUCK up!"

It was definitely in my top three "worst movie experiences ever."


*breathe*

Now that that's out of the way...

My roommates' parents (the Russians) are in town. I love them, they are hilarious. There's a lot of Russian tossed around that I don't understand, but some of it I can catch the gist of.

With them, they brought two dogs (an ugly but lovable little pomeranian and something that resembles a small version of an Australian Shepherd...aka Allie's dog, Bailey), so that's amusing.

Also, two gallons of paint, so tonight, we all painted the living room a dark-ish brown (it was described to me as "Coach brown"...the darker, logo brown, not the lighter, canvas-y brown). It looks pretty good, but it doesn't go as well with the furniture a they say it does. It will take getting used to, but it's nice to have it painted. White walls can drive a woman insane. My back aches a little already, and I expect tomorrow will feel stiff.


I swear there was something else, but now I have plumb forgot. I have to wake up early (the first movie is at 10:30, so I have to leave at 9:30-ish), so I'm going to read a chapter of "Emma" (it's taking too long just reading before/between classes...I need to read at home, too), then I'm going to bed.

Bonne nuit, mes petits.

So I think from time to time about movies I'd like to make. Or, rather, movies I would like to see made. Preferably giving me credit for the idea. You know...credit given where it is due.


Anyway, I recently have been intrigued by the idea of a real-life Alice in Wonderland as directed by Tim Burton and written by John August. (It would be awesome. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory but with hella more crack.)

Then, I was thinking how much I'd love to see someone like Keira Knightley in the role of Alice, despite the age, I think she'd play the role really well (and, of course, my love for her doesn't hurt either).

Then, I thought that it would kinda defeat the purpose of it being Alice in Wonderland, a tale made specifically for a small girl.

So I was like..."well, it could be a grown up version of Alice. A young woman in a crazy world."

And then I realized that it's Labyrinth.

So I guess that I want to remake the Labyrinth with Keira Knightley. Because more Keira in my life is always a good thing. (Tim Burton may or may not be involved...I'd really like to keep him on my original Alice project.)