Oscars 2011, humble review (winners and red carpet moments)

What do you think of the oscar winners?? I very much agree with Natalie's Portman oscar for the best actress (I hate her, she even looked beautiful in that violet dress with her 7-month pregnant belly!), I'm also delighted regarding Colin Firth's oscar and the Kings' speech and of course, even though Christian Bale was wearing a horrible beard, he truly deserved his oscar for his supporting actor role in the fighter!! Even though Geoffrey Rush also played an excellent role in the King's speech! Very glad for inception, as well, great movie !

I 'm a bit disappointed because "Biutiful" did not win the oscar for the best foreign film, it truly deserved it! and not sure either why "The Network" won any oscar at all..it's not a movie to win an oscar.., not sure about Melissa Leo's role in the Fighter.. (although i loved the movie,not her role particularly)I actually prefer Amy Adams' role in it! She should have won the oscar, then!

http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Oscar-Winners-Complete-2011-Academy-Award-Results-23382.html

I can't finish without commenting on some Red Carpet moments: What about Gwyneth Paltrow's dress? She looked beautiful! Hally Barry wore one of my favorite dresses of the night! And What was that horrible dress that Kate Blanchet was wearing??!! And why Justin Timberlake came with his mum??!!! Mark Wahlberg looked small in camera and with a huge head.., I hated Mila Kunis' dress and Scarlett Johansson hair was a mess and her dress matched with the carpet..gee..but she is still beautiful..so who cares?? lol

Ok no more bitching for now.. and i'd rather go to sleep! good night!

In this link you can see some of the red carpet moments:

http://www.moviefone.com/oscars-academy-awards/photos/red-carpet

No Strings Attached (2011)

The exact reason why we went to see this movie was simple: We didn't want more drama/harsh true stories and wanted a predictable romantic movie with 2 hot protagonists: Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher. That way, Andres was happy and so was i! This is exactly what you get with this film: 2 of the current hottest young American actors on screen, no thinking involved, you could guess what was going to happen, and of course happy cheesy end but we were entertained with this story about "sex friends" (i couldn't resist saying all the time: oh geeee, he is hot! and andres was the same referring to Natalie P.!!. It has some funny moments, I liked the part of the "period mix cd" lol i found that very funny , "keep bleeding , keep bleeding love"'s song was on it LOL . I recommend this film if you want the same as me : Entertainment , a happy ending and get to see gorgeous Ashton for 2 hours in the screen... geee why i did become an actress??!! by the way both of them make a great match, i would be jelous if i was Demy Moore. Yeah sometimes one needs these type of North American Movies to chill out, it did the trick for me!

Concert REview: Lighthouse Family,Olympia theatre (Dublin)

After 8 years break in their career, Lighthouse family announced their u.k. and Ireland tour and we were among the lucky fans to enjoy them live! Paul started shouting "Did you miss us?", they look so happy to be back on the stage and they were really amazed at the reaction of the public to every song, we were all overexcited!!

I'm going to be brief and you can see it for yourself with the below video, mid-90ies British group Lighthouse family concert last Saturday at the Olympia theater in Dublin. It was one of the most beautiful and melodic concerts i have been to! The atmosphere was great, the age average of the audience was high (in comparison to other concerts i have been to,i mean), i felt really young there lol this is the kind of concert i should go to feel good!!! But gee they shouted and sang like teenagers! I want to be like them when i grow up! What clean and relaxing voice the Nigerian origin singer Tunde Baiyewu has! He was very decent on stage and elegant in his blue suit, the concert was pure music with 7 different instruments and 2 back singers.Paul was hyperhappy , probably high since he couldn't stop moving his mouth and arms and loved to talk between each song lol (He talked about politics, about x-factor etc).

I love Lighthouse Family lyrics, they are full of meaning and feeling accompanied by soul/pop melody and we were lucky enough to be on the second row standing. Olympia is an old theater and the sound was not great but Tunde's voice did the trick and we didn't care much about any sound issues. They started the concert with "Lifted"Of course my favorite song was "High" ,very romantic since i used to send the lyrics of this song to my husband when he was in Germany and I was in ireland and we were appart. This song has a special meaning for us and it was a wonderful feeling to have Tunde singing it only for us (well ,for the whole audience but i to us, too !!). Other beautiful songs: "lost in space","postcards from heaven", "happy".

Again,another concert with just good music, no shows , dancers or decorations just pure music!!!

Upps!! sorry, i said i was going to be brief but i got into it!!! I leave you with our video of our favourite song: "High" (if you pay attention you will hear the whole audience and us singing along !!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BorANykCE7Y

Concert Review:Maroon 5 (Docklands Theatre,Dublin)

I have been waiting for months to attend this concert and i have to say that it was worthwhile waiting!They had two support bands, we missed the first one because we were having a drink on the highest floor of the theater looking at the brilliant view of the dock! Luckily enough we went in to see the second support act singer from California: Sara Bareilles. We were blown away by her voice and talent, she played the piano and the guitar. Sometimes it's good to see famous bands to actually get to know the support act! As when we I saw blacked eyed peas for the first time, years ago and they were the support act of Justin T.! To be honest, we thought the support act, Sara was going to be sing much better than Maroon 5 live but noooooo, Adam Levine's voice and talent did not disappoint me at all!!! Loved the energy on stage, he was a healthy singer, not acting weirdly high on drugs or anything and GOD he is hot, too!! a bit skinny but hot!! He was a bit shy with the audience but it didn't matter because we all sang along! It was a simple gig, just them, playing good music! No show, no big screens, no dancers,no changes of clothing, just them! The acustic of the most modern theatre in Dublin played its part, the sound was amazing! Even us , who were at the highest circle of the theatre could hear the music perfectly like in a bubble! At the end of the 3 hours and half concert, i can say that i was a happy woman, music makes me alive and you could see that Maroon 5 enjoyed themselves on stage and love what they do! If you have a chance to see them on tour in Europe, don't miss it!! Among the songs i loved the most at the concert were: "Misery" " Harder to breathe" " she wil be loved", "hands all over" , "how","Sunday Morning" etc The only piece of criticism i can give, is that for those of us who where so far from the stage a big screen where we could see him closer, would have been nice! Thanx God i had a good zoom in my lumix camera! Poor Andres forgot his glasses and sometimes had to have a look at my camera to know what was going on lol but this didn't prevent him from singing along!

If you want to know more about them check their web page: http://www.maroon5.com/bio/

Here you are a couple of songs of Dublin's concert (Wake up call and she will be loved):





and if you want to listen to the wonderful Sara (here you are a little part of one of the songs she performed in Dublin):

Movie Recommendation: Falling Down (1993)

Today I have felt like Michael Douglas in this great 90ies movie "Fallig Down"! what?you haven't seen it yet? what are you waiting for??!!!i guess all of us have felt once like Michael! GEEEEEEEEEE, one day you get fed up with everything and you become Michael Douglas!! "i fell more comfortable calling you rick,after all what we have went through together lol" " can anybody tell me what's wrong with this picture?" lol

Beautiful and Romantic Concert: As time goes by (Dublin)

I had the pleasure to see live the Irish RTE orchestra together with top Jazz singer: Matthew Ford. What a delightful combination of talented and clean singing voice and around 70 musicians. Frank Sinatra and Andy William came alive again!Matthew started the show saying that he was not going to sing the song "why you didn't bring me flowers (lol)", then part of the audience who didn't get flowers laughed loudly lol. My favorite love songs performed in the show were: Cry me A river (beautiful, they played it twice for us! the audience couldn't stop clapping!), Moon river, Sway, When I fall in love and that's Amore. The last one "That's Amore' they gave us the lyrics and we all sang along. We were lucky to be in the third row and sometimes I even blushed because the singer was so close singing romantic songs that it looked like he was singing to me lol and on top of that Andres was also singing and an old lady behind us was singing ,too.

National Concert hall was packed (only a few seats left), regarding the audience, I have to say that I felt very young ..i think all elderly population from Ireland was there!

Some of the instruments they had: Trumpets,violins,violas,piano,guitars, arpa ,saxo,drummer, chelo

If you live in Dublin and have a chance to see the Rte orchestra live, don't miss it, they are very professional and can play anything! They play regularly at the National Concert Hall, don't miss it! Regarding Mathew Ford what a voice mannnnnnnn , he was very nice and smile throughout the show and joking with us. What I like about this country, you can go to see a classical concert and still have a laugh. To put it in a nutshell , I'm happy to be versatile musically speaking! I can say that I had a beautiful St Valentin'es night! What about your day?

Web Page recommendation: Bookdepository

I wanted to recommend you all a webpage i discovered by chance last week (and at the same time a good book!), they offer at the moment great discounts on books and the best feature is that postage is free around the world!! To give you an example I bought 3 books of digital photography by Scott Kelby for 23 euros (all of them) and if i wanted to buy one book only in a bookshop in Ireland (eason,for example),only one book (the same one i bought) costed me 19 euros! I also checked other pages online like eBay and the same three books costed me 30 euros + 10 postage =40 euros (almost double!), similar price in Amazon! The books I bought are brand new and I have received them within 5 working days!

If you want to have a look check: http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/?a_aid=bworm

This webpage is also specially good for those who need books in English and do not live in an English speaking country.

Never Let Me go (2010) ...

Gee..I do let you go indeed!! in one word: BORING!!! I didn't get the moral of the story and i didn't even get into the story at all,not convincing,not a good idea behind the script.. I wonder if they have respected the real plot of the novel from Kazuo Ishiguro that it's based on, not very motivated now to read it,anyway. Not very impressed by Keira Knightley's performance either, she is very pretty but she cannot act. In my opinion, only the British actress Carey Mulligan did her part but this didn't win me over. Don't waste your time going to see this film.. HONESTLY! If anyone liked this film please explain to me the reason why..

Movie Recommendation: The Fighter( 2010) :Now in the cinema!

Wow! What a great year for the cinematographic culture! What a great role played Christian Bale as an ex-boxer called Dicky addict to crack (Message to Bale: I love every single one of your films, since when I was only 15 and I watched over and over again Spielberg's film "the empire of the sun") ! The way Bale walks, the way he talks and even the way he looks ,gee how many kilos did he lose for this role?? and what about his bold-like style? he really looks like a drug-addict, he reminded me of some jonkies i have seen on the street (in a truck-suit and wearing gold chains with an ill and pale look). To me, he is the star of this movie, well, him and the whole "knacker-like" family lol .Don't get me wrong, Mark Wahlberg also plays well but to me, Christian steals his protagonism in this film which,by the way, is based on a true story, very inspirational, I think . It's inevitable the comparison of this movie to Rocky, having the boxing background but the message of this film is very different. It's a film about real people,the role family plays in some people's lives, drugs, love and perseverance to get your goals. Even though it's a drama, you will also have a laugh with Dicky and his family! Only one piece of advice, if you are not into violent scenes of boxing, just look away as i did when it was too much, i think i'm getting more sensitive with the years, I used to be able to handle violence (Tarantino's Reservoir dogs movie was one of my favorite films! lol) but things have changed..,anyway, i left the cinema with a smile on my face because i liked it as a whole and loved the end!

Next film on my list : "Don't let me go" let's see if the luck continues..so far out of 7 films I have seen in the cinema this year only one didn't meet my expectations, not going even to mention it..bua, well let's say 2 because Hereafter didn't meet them either but at least it was an o.k. film

Recommended Spanish movie: Biutiful (2010) (in cinemas now!)

<" Papa? C'omo se escribe "biutiful"? hijo, as'i como suena "b-i-u-t-i-f-u-l"> a harsh film directed by Mexican Alejandro Gonzalez I., among other of his great movies you can find "babel" or "Amores Perros". The main protagonist of "Biutiful" does not need an introduction : Javier Bardem, there is no role too strong for him, he can impersonate any character and, Jesus!! Uxbals role is not an easy one to play,Bardem to me you are one of the best actors IN THE WORLD! (Oscar from me to you!!Not surprised that you got the award for the best actor in Cannes!). There is one famous idiom that sas "Reality can be stranger and tougher than fiction", this film is a good example of it. I wish it was fiction but when you see it, you know it tackles a reality that some people hide and others do not want to see. "Biutiful" is about the mafia of illegal immigrants in Barcelona, what lies behind, corruption (involving the police), money that costs lives of innocent people that only want to make a living to send money back to their countries r even to survive.

This film does not make a good propaganda of Barcelona and actually it doesn't even look like Barcelona at all ( I agree , Filip with you on this)! it's an underworld of explotation and misery that can be seen in many places in Europe. In these surroundings lives Uxbal, a man between the Good and the Bad who also has to support his 2 kids and bipolar wife. If you go and see this film, bring some tissues with you, I remember one scene i couldn't stop crying and it was when his older daughter asked him if he was o.k... gee and i didn't have any tissue with me (also when Uxbal found "Lilly" in the basement with the other 24..)!! f.c.k.!! and there was absolute silence throughout the movie..you couldn't hear a sound. When it ended i felt like buying all the cds to immigrants on the streets (i needed to go to Barcelona or Madrid for that, we don't have this in Ireland) and I even met a Chinese guy on our way home and i felt like giving him a hug. I suffered with Bardem all the way.., his little son also played an excellent part. Loved the end.. father and daughter.. and then him and his father.. (by the way, his father was a hottie!!who is this actor??where does he live ??lol). and what do you tell me about Bardem's wife in the movie? geeee, fucking nuts!! poor kids!! And what about the nightclub in Barcelona that they show? gee tits everywhere!! I have one question to those of you who have seen it: "what was the story with Uxbal talking to the dead?" did he really have a gift???"

I think it's a pity not to speak Spanish to be able to enjoy this film fully, reading subtitles in English is not the same but still is worth going,people!! Only make sure you are very happy that day and that you don't want to go out later or anything!

This film will change a part inside you,it will leave a mark , it has a clear message to deliver "please stop explotation, everybody has the right to have dignity in life no matter the race!!"

Next movie on my list: The Fighter! Can't wait to see it!

Hereafter (2010)

And I should have checked before that Clint Eastwood was the film director of this movie, oh gee it was very slow! I wanted to come from the hereafter to take some action, some spirit killing someone alive or something!! gee!! The most exciting part for me was the beginning and I could predict what was going to happen with the twin boy, Jason, and i hate predictable films. I have mixed fillings about this film,still not sure whether i liked it or not (Andres has the same problem).On top of that, I had a freaky seating next to me in the cinema who didn't stop eating popcorn and made very weird noises while chewing (i wanted to send him to afterlife too lol) I think if Bardem's film "Biutiful" wouldn't have been sold out, I would have invested better my time watching this film rather than "Hereafter". I'd classify it as an o.k . movie to watch on t.v.. Nothing special for me, not even Matt Damon's role convinced me. Sorry Clint.. I also hated the cheesy end..

I hope to find tickets next time to see Beautiful!!! Next one on the list!

Movie Recommendation: Black Swan (2010)

I had high expectations for this film and all of them were fulfilled after waiting so long to see it! Natalie Portman's performance blew me away! In my opinion, Natalie has played her best role since "Léon (aka The Professional)", she definitely deserves any award they give her and I do hope she wins an Oscar, too! This film reminded me of a girl from my school who started to study ballet from an early age and he was under constant pressure,one of my nieces is studying ballet, too I hope she doesn't end up like Nina!. In the Black Swan it is portrayed how hard life of a professional bailarina can be and the rivalry among dancers to get a lead role and what consequences can be if you take it too far. Natalie is Nina, a naif (still wonder if there are young girls so naif like her these days..), extreme self-demanding ,hardworking bailarina being raised up by a frustrated , obsessive mum. Nina wants to get the leading role of the "Swan Lake" after been in the dance company for a long time where she would replace the previous lead dancer played by Winona Ryder (By yhe way not very impressed by her interpretation..she should retire..,she was never a good actress,anyway!). Nina wil find many obstacles on the way, her beautiful mean rival bailarina Lili (Ukranian actress, Mila Kunis played an excellent role, gee after this film, you feel really ugly,honestly..), the owner of the dance company, her mum, drugs and her worst enemy: herself! All this will not prevent her to do the performance of her life.

I got into Natalies' role from the very beginning, it's a well done thriller , I did not know what to expect and at end of the film i felt like giving her a big applause and stand up!!! I had to control myself! In addition it brought many flashbacks of when we saw last year, the Russian ballet in Dublin dancing "The Swan Lake", so beautiful.

I truly recommend this aesthetic movie, you will not be disappointed! There is one scene that all men love ..once you see it ,you will understand what i mean..,my husband got so happy when he saw it that he couldn't hide it lol.

2 weeks in a row being lucky with the films i have chosen! Next ones on the list: "Biutiful", "Hereafter" and "the fighter"