Friday 31 January 2014
Jennifer Lawrence hearts Damian Lewis.
Homeland. It's one of the best television series of recent years. I have been hooked from the first episode; is Brody a terrorist? Awk, he's alright. NO! He's totally a terrorist. Will Carrie ever stop making really stupid, spur-of-the-moment decisions that have us screaming at our TV sets? Is Saul the terrorist!?!? There were many questions and my biggest question at the minute is when is the next season gonna be out!?
Aside from my obsession with Homeland, there was one video that sparked fury and sympathy among Jennifer Lawrence fans everywhere. As someone who has gone through the intense twists and turns of all three seasons, anyone who threatened to spoil an episode for me were immediately put on a high risk list; meaning that until I had watched a particular episode, I did not communicate at all with said person.
Unfortunately for Jennifer, she had no idea that she would be interviewed (I use that term lightly because she did not ask Jen any questions but just led her round the red carpet of the SAG Awards spoiling life) by the spoiler Queens of entertainment TV.
Anyway! This video got me thinking about Damian and my current reading project, The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand. The book is a maze of metaphors and philosophical theories, but the main character is a man named Howard Roark. The book begins with Roark as a troubled youth, expelled from college but possessing more natural talent and passion than most of his classmates. Upon falling further down the rabbit hole that is this novel I wanted to research it more. This led me to the IMDb page of the film; made in 1949 starring Patricia Neal and Gary Cooper as the two leads, so to speak. As a fairly unknown film, it was a flop at the time, mostly due to many production problems and the fact the book is far quite racy at times and deals with difficult subjects which definitely couldn't have been handled back in the '40s.
Then it hit me. A remake of The Fountainhead with Damian Lewis as Roark and Jennifer Lawrence as the unyielding, scary and stunningly beautiful Dominique Francon (a kind of love interest, but a character in her own right). It's perfect! Lewis fits the character profile of Roark, and Lawrence gets to work with Brody! Which begs one question....
Aside from my obsession with Homeland, there was one video that sparked fury and sympathy among Jennifer Lawrence fans everywhere. As someone who has gone through the intense twists and turns of all three seasons, anyone who threatened to spoil an episode for me were immediately put on a high risk list; meaning that until I had watched a particular episode, I did not communicate at all with said person.
Unfortunately for Jennifer, she had no idea that she would be interviewed (I use that term lightly because she did not ask Jen any questions but just led her round the red carpet of the SAG Awards spoiling life) by the spoiler Queens of entertainment TV.
Anyway! This video got me thinking about Damian and my current reading project, The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand. The book is a maze of metaphors and philosophical theories, but the main character is a man named Howard Roark. The book begins with Roark as a troubled youth, expelled from college but possessing more natural talent and passion than most of his classmates. Upon falling further down the rabbit hole that is this novel I wanted to research it more. This led me to the IMDb page of the film; made in 1949 starring Patricia Neal and Gary Cooper as the two leads, so to speak. As a fairly unknown film, it was a flop at the time, mostly due to many production problems and the fact the book is far quite racy at times and deals with difficult subjects which definitely couldn't have been handled back in the '40s.
Then it hit me. A remake of The Fountainhead with Damian Lewis as Roark and Jennifer Lawrence as the unyielding, scary and stunningly beautiful Dominique Francon (a kind of love interest, but a character in her own right). It's perfect! Lewis fits the character profile of Roark, and Lawrence gets to work with Brody! Which begs one question....
Thursday 30 January 2014
Just because I'm a Princess, doesn't mean I'm an idiot.
I recently read an article which eviscerated the collective group of Disney Princesses. As an avid fan of Disney for 22 years now, I was slightly peeved. Well, a lot peeved so I had to voice my opinion.
The article in question labelled Disney princesses as "brainless". This was the particular word that lit a fire in my Mickey-shaped heart. Using this word to describe Disney princesses told me a lot about the writer; they have obviously never watched a Disney film, because who can't help be utterly enchanted by that magical castle, or the theme from Pinocchio that builds to a crescendo which brings you to tears before the film has even begun. They are obviously Captain Hook (although not really cos he was a really cool and funny villain) and they seem pretty jaded, but that's nothing a good ol' Disney film couldn't fix!
So...
We'll begin with the first ever Disney princess; Snow White. Fine, she cooked and cleaned up after seven men and woodland creatures did help her out, but she was largely a product of her time. It was the 1930s; society has moved on from that perception of women...a bit, so give her a break.
Cinderella fought day in, day out against an evil stepmother and horrible step sisters who treated her like a slave in her rightful home, and to top it off she just lost her father whom she loved more than anything. Not to mention he was the only family member she had. She was always pleasant despite the torture she went through and never gave up her dream no matter what, and found time to make really cute outfits for all the mice in the house.
Pocahontas (both real and Disney) was said to have wisdom beyond her years and brought two warring clans together. Ariel did something similar in helping her father understand humans instead of hating them. She also saved Eric from drowning like a whole bunch of times.
Jasmine was the girl every guy wanted to be with and every girl wanted to be. She was beautiful, feisty, rebellious and crazy smart, and that hair....and although the film wasn't centered on Jasmine, she helped Aladdin realise he was worthy of her affections.
Mulan, although not a princess, fought to save her father and ended up saving an entire nation from destruction. The man she got at the end? An unintended, very welcome bonus. Belle was incredibly intelligent and to quote the film, she always had her "nose stuck in a book" and she refused the most gorgeous man in town and instead chose Beast - teaching kids it's not always looks that makes a person beautiful.
Yes, the more modern princesses such as Merida, Rapunzel and Anna and not forgetting to mention Queen Elsa, do bring a stronger female character to the Disney world but that doesn't mean the older ones can't teach us anything. And it certainly doesn't mean they're "brainless!"
Source: F***YeahDisney Tumblr, Oh My Disney, Disney's Frozen on Tumblr
The article in question labelled Disney princesses as "brainless". This was the particular word that lit a fire in my Mickey-shaped heart. Using this word to describe Disney princesses told me a lot about the writer; they have obviously never watched a Disney film, because who can't help be utterly enchanted by that magical castle, or the theme from Pinocchio that builds to a crescendo which brings you to tears before the film has even begun. They are obviously Captain Hook (although not really cos he was a really cool and funny villain) and they seem pretty jaded, but that's nothing a good ol' Disney film couldn't fix!
So...
Cinderella fought day in, day out against an evil stepmother and horrible step sisters who treated her like a slave in her rightful home, and to top it off she just lost her father whom she loved more than anything. Not to mention he was the only family member she had. She was always pleasant despite the torture she went through and never gave up her dream no matter what, and found time to make really cute outfits for all the mice in the house.
Pocahontas (both real and Disney) was said to have wisdom beyond her years and brought two warring clans together. Ariel did something similar in helping her father understand humans instead of hating them. She also saved Eric from drowning like a whole bunch of times.
Jasmine was the girl every guy wanted to be with and every girl wanted to be. She was beautiful, feisty, rebellious and crazy smart, and that hair....and although the film wasn't centered on Jasmine, she helped Aladdin realise he was worthy of her affections.
Mulan, although not a princess, fought to save her father and ended up saving an entire nation from destruction. The man she got at the end? An unintended, very welcome bonus. Belle was incredibly intelligent and to quote the film, she always had her "nose stuck in a book" and she refused the most gorgeous man in town and instead chose Beast - teaching kids it's not always looks that makes a person beautiful.
Yes, the more modern princesses such as Merida, Rapunzel and Anna and not forgetting to mention Queen Elsa, do bring a stronger female character to the Disney world but that doesn't mean the older ones can't teach us anything. And it certainly doesn't mean they're "brainless!"
Source: F***YeahDisney Tumblr, Oh My Disney, Disney's Frozen on Tumblr
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