BUDDY THE ELF

You know its that time of year when you can watch Elf all day every day and not even feel sad about it. Elf is not only my favorite christmas movie, its one of my all time favorites. Its that movie that I put on when I'm feeling sad or bored or generally fed up, and it never fails to put me in a great mood with sore sides.
I've always thought Will Ferrell was insanely hilarious, but Elf takes it to a whole other world. What a fantastic performance! He really gets in to his character and gives off a great sense of that young childish naivety which we all once felt around christmas time. I'm pretty surprised he never won an oscar for his insane facial expressions. The jokes are endless, ranging from 'BUDDY THE ELF WHATS YOUR FAVORITE COLOUR?' to 'WELL DONE YOU GUYS, WORLDS BEST CUPPA COFFEE, GREAT JOB EVERYBODY.'
The character Buddy reminds me of the way I used to look at the world, especially at christmas, when all you wanted to do was make snow angels and snuggle with your parents. How times change! The thing that's so uplifting about Elf for me, is that it gives off a sense that no matter who you are, what you have done, where you are from, at the end of the day all that matters is family and friends, not materialistic things. That no matter how different you are you should never be ashamed.
I love the way in which no matter who Buddy meets or how nasty to him they are, he simply accepts and loves them. I know it is extremely unrealistic, but it provides a hilarious escapism for me and just makes me laugh out loud. What more do you want from a film, especially in the piping hot weather of December?!

The Cabinit Of Dr. Caligari

I was a little unsure of what I would make of a silent German film, as you would expect, however one was pleasantly surprised when I laid eyes on The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari. I had no idea that this was a major influence in the development in German expressionist films, I also had no idea that I love this type of film, and even more of a shocking discovery - I actually enjoy silent films. For some reason I put silent films in a box, hidden far far away in my list of to-do's and to-see's. I had this preconceived idea that they were going to be boring, I would never understand them, yada yada yada. However; having watched some of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton I've discovered that its alright to watch silent black and white movies, and its even more alright to enjoy them.
Dr. Caligari was not only beautiful to watch, it was quirky and visually exciting, and the set design was truly fantastic. Straight away I was thinking of how this looked like an older version of some awesome dreamlike Tim Burton/Edward Scissorhands movie, both of which I adore so very much. I was excited by the way in which the set design influenced so much of the story itself, and having never really payed much attention to setting, I acknowledged straight away that there is more to it than just wallpaper, a backdrop.
The setting reiterated the fact that this was a story being told by a psychopath, who's world was altered and obscured, hence the amazingly shaped doors and windows. (It's a pity the set designer isn't alive now, or my future flats would represent the inside of a mental patients view of our lovely world.)
I enjoyed the ending of Caligari, it left us questioning what on earth we had just watched. Yet, even if the story was absolutely awful, I would still enjoy this quirky silent film. I'm really happy I've watched this movie as I understand now that movies such as Blade Runner, Batman, etc didn't just pop out of no where. They were influenced by these century old relics such as Dr. Caligari, and not 100% unique. This makes me feel slightly better when I sit desperately trying to come up with 'brand new, unique' idea's that have 'NEVER BEEN DONE BEFORE.' (!!)
In general, I thoroughly enjoyed this movie and was inspired at the crazy set design and how it can truly effect a movie and the way in which we inhale it.

Oh dear

Oh dear. Thats right troops - soaps time. Coronation Street to be precise...
Instantly i had a lovely surprise when i found out its only on for 22minutes. Is this right? I thought I had to prepare for hours and hours of mental torture, but a mere half hour I can just about handle.
I remember watching the soaps back in the days of pampers as my wee gran is right in to her Corrie and Emmerdale and such, so i had vague recollections of what to expect. I wasn't exactly surprised to see the same old geezers kicking about, and much of the same storylines and melodramatic events. Im sad to say - After sitting through a whole episode - I ain't converted.
Its not that I don't appreciate it, I just don't relate to it in the slightest, I think all the characters are either weird, ugly, creepy, annoying, dramatic, nedy, chavy and so on and so forth. Lets not even begin on the accents, the only one I could handle being wee cutie pie Peters.
However, I do understand what Andy was saying the other day at how they speak like they generally would if the cameras weren't there, and I did get the feeling that a lot of these characters didn't have to act much at all, so big props for that.
I think the storyline's were pretty boring, but thats because I'm in to my big scandals that appear in GG, 90210, Flashforward, etc, NOT the fact that a group of weirdos in a pub can't decide what panto to put on. Sorry. I generally do feel quite bad about this but it's my honest opinion and I wouldn't lie to you, would I?! Thats right. No.
I managed to pick the general stories up fairly quickly and only needed about 5 seconds to work out what kind of characters they all were, hence why my 6 year old cousin understands and is completely obsessed with Corrie. I think the dialogue and writing is successful, but it just doesn't appeal to me in the slightest.
On a happier note - it wasn't as bad as expected. I could watch it. It was beige but watchable - It wasn't some neon tye-dye that physically gorged my eyes out, just wasn't very pretty.
OVER AND OUT.