Movie Recommended: Ruby Sparks (2012)

Do not miss this romantic drama-comedy by the same directors of Little Miss Sunshine , it's a different witty film about a famous young novelist,Calvin who starts dreaming of a girl that will become the protagonist of his next novel. All starts when he is in trouble to get inspiration to produce his next best seller until one day his psychiatrist recommends him to write about someone who loves his dog , Scotty. The writer will dream that night again of Ruby and this time she meets his dog and shows affection for him even drawing a portrait of his little cute lazy dog Scotty. From that moment on ,Calvin will become obsessed with this girl so much, that one day miraculously she shows up in his apartment ! From that moment on they start a magical relationship. Some of the highlights for me, the moment Ruby shows up in his apartment and he cannot believe it LOL; when she starts talking in French; when they meet Calvin's family; when Ruby starts having moods changes lol ETC ETC .  Their love story is so beautiful, specially at the beginning, it will become complicated later like all relationships. Don't want to tell you much more but believe me you will like this one. American young actor Paul Dano that also belongs to Little Miss Sunshine cast , plays an excellent role and American actress Zoe Kanan also portrays beautifully the delicate sweet Ruby. Even Antonio Banderas has a small role in this film, not very stellar but funny. So if you were looking for a good movie to watch, don't miss this one!!! If you want other opinions about this film, rottentomatoes page give it a score of 81% to me it's a 90%!!!

One of best movies I have seen lately: "Untouchable" (2012) by Belén Delgado

And this French comedy-drama has made our day, long time I haven't seen a film that has touched my heart and made me laugh at the same time like this one, even at the end I cried , so many feelings in 113 minutes. What is most appealing is that it's based on a true story and that the relationship that both protagonists: Quadriplegic millionaire Philippe & cheeky Driss have is so special that you enjoying watching them together. What witty dialogues , accompanied by very cleverly chosen soundtrack in the wonderful city of Paris. I don't want to tell you much , just that please see it in the original version with subtitles , avoid dubbed versions of it. Some of the highlights for me, the scenes when they go paragliding, When the classical band try to convince Driss so that he gets to like classical music, the very beginning of the film and of course I loved the end. The words that would describe better this movie are: inspirational, funny & beautiful.  I'm very glad i have chosen to see this one , something different for a change. Thanx Colette for the recommendation!

Recommended book: " A street Cat named Bob"

Today I have finished reading this beautiful warmhearted true story about the relationship of a cat called Bob and his companion: James Bowen. What really made me want to read this book was the first time I saw on you tube how James and Bob were busking in London streets, there was something special about them, and Bob just looks like my cat Pepe , and in a way our cat also changed our lives for the best, he's our most loyal companion taking into account that my husband and I also live very far from our families and only have each other ando now Pepe, too.

You can certainly understand the relationship they have after reading the book, there is no fiction or fancy anecdotes , it's a touching story that to my mind, should inspire many drug-addicts or people living on the streets who have lost hope, there is always a door open to change, you just need to find it and don't give up. Street cat Bob really changed Jame's life as he describes in the book, they just met at the time when James needed help to overcome his addiction to heroine. The fact that he needed to take care of him because he was hurt when he found him and since them Bob wanted to give back the love and caring that James gave him. James said that Bob changed his life but I think they both belong together and both lives changed when they met. This book has helped me to understand a bit better how people living on the streets feel, invisible to society ,as James described and how in this case, Bob made him "visible" again to passers-by on the streets of London. I even learned a few tips about cats and how tough it can be when people judge you just from your appearance ; I definitely was not aware of the whole process to become sellers of "Big issues" , it's really a business behind which helps people with few opportunities and "big issues" sellers need to buy the magazines in advanced before they sell them. If you ask me if I would recommend this book, hell yeah please do buy it and read it, I'm actually a bit sad that I cannot read more about James and Bob lives ( I didn't want it to end..)! I could definitely see some similarities in relation to how my ginger Irish cat, Pepe behaves sometimes  and I loved that!; I could also picture some of the scenes, I was even scared about Jame's and Bob's safety in some of "the lines" ( specially the bulldog story..), I do hope your life has improved after this book being n.1 best seller in U.k. , with their own facebook fanpage http://www.facebook.com/StreetCatBob?fref=ts (with almost 8.000 fans, my cat Pepe has only 62 lol http://www.facebook.com/PepeHernandezDelgado) and twitter https://twitter.com/StreetCatBob (with more than 10.000 followers)! By the way, as I was finishing reading the book, my cat was all the time with me, it looks like he really wanted to know the end lol. Last but not least, I want to dedicate this humble review to James and Bob whom I expect to meet one day in London and of course, if you two come to Ireland one day, let me know. James please go on leaving your life as you are now, even if your family is in Australia, you will always have Bob and now thousand of fans who want the best for you both.

I leave you with a photo of my cat the day I got the book anda video of James and Bob (there are many more on youtube if you want to have a look)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vl2nBSqpsRA

Concert Review: The Best of Symphonic ROCK (5th of October)

Yesterday we had the pleasure to see live the RTE National Symphony orchestra playing classics of Rock-pop. It's the first time I have listened to something like this, a full orchestra playing Bon Jovi "Living on a Prayer" (one of my favorite tunes); "fix you" by Coldplay, Tina Turner "Simply the Best" and Queen's famous hits: " We are the champions" " we will rock you" " Bohemian Rhapsody" among other hits, what a joyful feeling to listen to the harmony of so many instruments together at the same time played by around 100 musicians. The anecdote of the night was one woman in the audience who was 99 old and didn't stop dancing! The presenter draw our attention to her and she even said a few words, so cute, when I "grow up" I want to be like that woman! I have lost count of how many times I have seen performed the RTE orchestra and I don't get tired of saying that if you haven't seen them yet, don't miss the opportunity! They usually play in the National Concert Hall in Dublin and tickets are not expensive, the cheapest (depending on the concert) can start from 10 euros. Thank you RTE orchestra one more time for making us smile , sing and dance along, specially with the last Abba's song " Dancing Queen".

For those curious ones below you can see the programme:

Aaron Copland " Fanfare for the Common Man"
Robbie Williams "Let me entertain you"
Procol Harum " Whiter Shade of Pale
Eryc Clapton "Layla"
Coldplay "Fix you"
Meatloaf" Bat Out of Hell"
The Beatles " Can't buy me Love"
Bon Jovi "Living on a Prayer"
John Miles " Music"

Interval

Survivor "Eye of the tiger"
Bette Midler " Wind Beneath My wings"
Michael Jackson " Thriller"
Deep Purple " Smoke on the Water"
Simon and Garfunkel " Bridge over Troubled Water"


Good old Rock and Roll Medley

Tina Turner " Simply the best"

Queen " We are the Champions", "We will Rock you","Bohemian Rhapsody"

as a bonus they ended up with Abba

Movie Recommended: "Taken 2" by Belén Delgado

We happened to be lucky and we could watch on TV "Taken" (the first movie) a day before going to see "Taken 2", just by chance, as I was doing zapping, I saw they were showing it and couldn't stop watching! You definitely need to have seen Taken 1 to enjoy fully Taken 2. I'd love to have a father like Bryan Mills, a retired CIA agent unstoppable who would do anything for his family (he actually kills a whole Albanian mafia living in Paris in Taken 1 to rescue his daughter, the French people should build a statue of him lol). What a feeling to receive a call from your father telling you " Liten to me carefully, Kim, you are going to be taken"  and on Taken 2, she receives a similar call because, of course, the whole Albanian Mafia that he killed on Taken 1 had a family, a family that wanted revenge and I have the feeling that it would be a Taken 3 lol (if there is a taken 3 and I'm the daughter I wouldn't answer the phone..). Mcgiver is a beginner in comparison with Bryan's skills( played by fab Irish actor Liam Neelson). Not sure if this film is for everyone taste, though, I just like Liam Neeson, the way he talks, the way he acts, punches, runs .. I think he is class and I'm fascinated by the role he plays. If you ask me which one is better Taken 1 or 2, I'll probably answer the first one but still we liked a lot Taken 2. But remember that you need to have seen Taken 1 since there are flashbacks about the first movie in this one and you will not understand it if you haven't seen Taken (1). I finish off with one of my favorite lines of this film " Can you shoot" ; No: then drive!" So what are you waiting for? Go to the cinema !! Have just recommended you 2 great action films (Looper in my previous post and now Taken 2!)

Movie recommended ( Great!): Looper (2012) by Belén Delgado

Totally recommend this film for lovers of science fiction movies like us! To me I rate it as 100%!! I can't say that it's 100% original though, it has some parts that reminded us of Terminator, I don't blame them since almost everything has been already shown in the cinema throughout the years. I actually think is very good that take previous films as an inspiration and improve them with better effects and some twists. I do not want to tell you much about "Looper" so that you can go and see it like me without knowing what to expect. The only thing I can tell you is that even though I hate Bruce Willis, he's very good  in it (of course there are a couple of scenes with the "Die hard" feeling of "shoot that no-one can kill me lol) and unrecognizable  (due to his looks in this film with a different nose) Joseph Leonard Gordon-Levit plays the role of the assassin brilliantly. Some of the highlights of the film for me, again without telling you much: The scenes of the little boy in the house  and the scene at the end. This little boy has a terrible evil look (I would be worried if he was my son). Of course, no need to say that you need to see this film in the big screen to get into the effect of travelling back and forth to 2072 ( don't bother to see it in a computer ). This is definitely one film that I'll see again and that I'd like to have in my collection of dvd's : LOVED IT!!!