In the interest of blogging as soon as ideas pop into my head – you may see a few more posts for me. (Otherwise my my crazy urge to edit until I can’t actually post anything type of mentality will continue)

With much hype, and extended ‘sneak peeks’ of new Australian drama Offspring– there was quite a buzz about whether this would be the new ‘Secret Life of Us’ – or the new drama to try and rival the success of 7’s Packed to the Rafters. Starring Asher Keddie as the lead, with Don Hany as the lustful pediatrician in her sights – Offspring is all about her life, between daydreams, fantasies and reality within her interactions with friends, family and oh, her ‘explosive’ ex-husband.

Whilst some of this may be relatable – this show is simply trying TOO hard to be quirky. Everyone has their own quirks, eccentricities, but generally they still operate within a normal functioning situation. Logically? Whereas, with Asher’s role alone as Nina she can barely form two words, or a full sentence towards her crush, because she’s thinking about ‘take me in any position you want’ or ‘let’s go out.. for coffee.. or dinner, or bed’.. – and its absolute overkill.

Partnered with that, within the first episode – a long lost best friend (played by Deborah Mailman) came to her hospital to have a medical check up, close to giving birth, and what do you know? Oh, she had sex with a stranger on a cruise ship – and its Nina’s father! Her older sister Billie (played by Kat Stewart) is a more-than-ambitious egotistical real estate agent, dating a musician she obviously feels superior over. Yet… we’re meant to like her? Is she an acquired taste? Aside from that, we have Nina having to deal exasperatingly (rather than alarmingly) with an ex-husband that likes to blow things up. Riiiiight.

I’m officially giving it one more chance, one more episode before moving on – I found myself in the second episode either scoffing, or rolling my eyes at just how over-the-top and contrived it was.

So we all know I was doing an X Files rewatch just in terms of revisiting my first TV crush, as well as getting some closure on the X Files storyline – as I certainly didn’t get any sort of closure from the 2nd movie (or entertainment for that matter) but you know me. I start a lot of things, don’t quite finish them. Get sidetracked.

But along with Buffy and Angel.. Roswell was one of my biggest obsessions when I was younger. The soundtrack, Max and Liz, Michael and Maria.. Katherine Heigl’s introduction (sooo not Grey’s Anatomy, folks) I’ve been rewatching this from Season 1 (tied in with X Files season 1).

You know what? Its actually not that dated, it does still make me yearn for that epic teenage angsty/loving feelings of will he take me to the prom, and does he notice that I brought him tabasco sauce especially for his pancakes. Its the small things. The only horrific thing that takes away from this nostalgia is for me – I remember songs. I remember them down to the scene they were included in. Sometimes scenes can just be all the more poignant, or haunting because of a particular soundtrack. And with Roswell, as well as Dawson’s Creek – the soundtrack was a trademark. I raise this point because apparently there wasn’t enough in the budget to cover buying the rights to these songs – and so.. when I watch certain scenes in these episodes – the music is DIFFERENT. B-grade, or C-grade ‘who the heck am I listening to?’ different.

Looks like I won’t be throwing out those VHS tapes I recorded back in the day after all (in hopes that the DVD box sets would suffice – as they do with a lot of other shows!)

What was I thinking? Two movies that were bound to be tearjerkers – oh, because they were both written by Nicholas Sparks (A Walk to Remember, The Notebook) but I’m just a sap for anything super romantic, epic, tragic.. whatever.

Surely there’d still be a fairytale journey on the way to whoever was meant to die (as there is always someone that dies in a Nicholas Sparks tale) so I went with Dear John starring Amanda Seyfried and Channing Tatum, and then the Last Song with Miley Cyrus and the boyfriend she met on set – aussie Liam Hemsworth. Boy – the two were poles apart.

Dear John tells of a man and woman seperated by the army at first, only to be temporary, then by a longer stretch due to the events that took place on September 11, 2001. All this, after an epic 2 week summer romance that featured a musical montage, and lots of hand holding on the beach.

I tried to write that in the epically tragic way it was meant to be told but to be honest – I’m not sure if there was chemistry lacking, or the fact that it is hard to relate, and get to know characters through letter writing alone. Then.. without giving anything away, there’s a pity marriage, and bad mistakes, and then a pity donation, and a pity hug. Once you see it, it will make sense, but it all just left me with the thought of… uh, Nicholas Sparks, WHAT were you wanting me to feel here? Who was I meant to feel sorry for? Or in love with? What life lesson should I have learnt here?

It just left me so dissatisfied, and practically disgruntled because I think the plot veered off, tried to be more preachy and over the top self-righteous, I wouldn’t recommend this on a girl’s night in movie night.

Then there was the Last Song. It had all the right elements – though I’m not entirely convinced that Miley Cyrus could ever succesfully play a ‘rebellious’ teenager. Sent off for the summer with her younger brother to spend time with her estranged father (Greg Kinnear) she refuses to play piano anymore (though Juilliard know about her) and spend any time with the family.

She then meets handsome volleyball playing, mechanic, aquarium volunteer Will, and swoon, she’s smiling again. Thus.. the romantic summer begins, and she starts seeing a different side of family. All the cliches are here, the epic musical date montage, and having a mud fight, seriously. Too. Much. Romance. I won’t go into too much here, or why it made me bawl my eyes out but for what it was, and what Nicholas Sparks always promises – pick this over Dear John.

P.S – the forehead kiss gets me every time.

So I know, I know, I dropped the ball on Valentine’s weekend – though I was enjoying some romantic movies, I was distracted by the swooniness!

And somewhere in the world its still Valentine’s Day, right? So.. don’t fail me yet!

Yesterday, I didn’t mope, or wallow in the fact that I am without a lover. Or a companion, you know like Dr Who. Someone to travel time and space with.

But that doesn’t matter; I had romantic fairytale ending movies to watch.

Here are a couple that you may not have seen, and may not know how bloody romantic they are and that even without a sad ending, they will make you sob. Sob not because of a tragic death, but because there are so many squimpery moments (squimper = a squeal and a whimper in one) that tears are sure to occur.

First up on telly yesterday was Chasing Liberty (2004) – Mandy Moore & Matthew Goode, oh my. This was the movie where I met the handsome Matthew Goode (yes I loved him waaay before he was in Watchmen) and Mandy Moore, well what can I say? I love her in anything really, she is the princess of teen-esque rom-coms. Its the story of the President’s daughter who just wants a bit of freedom, and gets that – but controlled, by an undercover British Secret Service agent. Filmed in all parts of Europe, as Anna travels to Berlin for the Love parade, she seeks to be as reckless as she can and experience life without the constraints of being in the First Family.

Then there’s a recent new favourite – Angus, Thongs & Perfect Snogging (2008) about the trials and tribulations of being a 14 year old girl in a small coastal British town. When I say trials and tribulations, I mean getting her eyebrows looking shapely and lean, getting boys to notice her and so forth whilst having parents that still kiss openly – EWWW! The emotions and squee-ness of Georgia are infectious, as well as her crush on bass player Robbie, who appreciates her just the way she is – a right nutter. Watch out for him soon, appearing as a pre-Beatles John Lennon in the upcoming Nowhere Boy.

Nothing wrong with a bit of romance and swooniness on the silver screen, matter of fact, why wait for February 14th? Watch these two movies stat!

This week, I was lucky enough to attend an advanced screening of (500) Days of Summer thanks to Bloom Cosmetics.

What better way to welcome in Spring, with what plenty will assume is a love story. Well, it is..and it isn’t. What it is, is a relationship film. Its probably a reality check. The old fashioned narrator at the beginning of the film (and who narrates intermittently throughout) lets the audience know from the get-go: “This is a story of boy meets girl. But you should know up front, this is not a love story.”

Don’t worry readers, myself or the narrator aren’t spoiling anything you aren’t already told – after all, the poster’s tagline declares “Boy meets girl. Boy falls in love. Girl doesn’t”. Before you think this will be another romantic comedy off the conveyor belt, think again. The beauty of this film, the absolute raw, honest yet whimsical beauty of this film is that it is a story about relationships – and dissects the feeling of love, felt by one, or more parties.

Tom (an effortlessly charming Joseph Gordon-Levitt) meets Summer (a mysteriously incandescent Zooey Deschanel) and after a brief conversation in the elevator where she overhears him blasting the Smiths on his headphones, confessing her love – he’s in love.

The structure of the film on the outset has been done before – its not linear, it doesn’t start at the beginning, nor necessarily at the end. In any other movie this may be confusing but it isn’t treated as a flashback as such, more an honest recollection of memories, as Tom struggles to remember every single moment that may have led to the feelings not being returned by Summer. After all, when you recollect random memories, associate with songs, or events, do you recall them in the order you experienced them? I didn’t think so.

After about 45 days, Tom loves Summer’s 60s hairdo, he loves the way she laughs, he loves the heart shaped birthmark on her neck, her knees, he loves that Patrick Swayze singing ‘She’s Like The Wind’ reminds him of his feelings for her. He’s smitten. The direction of Marc Webb in his first feature is inspired, but most definitely offers a unique piece all the same . The way he uses Fellini-esque arthouse scenes to represent Tom’s grief at the demise of his relationship or the way he effortlessly introduces a 50’s style dance homage could be contrived in any other setting but it just works – and Joseph & Zooey are perfectly cast.

Whilst the viewer was warned that this wasn’t going to be a love story, the raw, delightfully painful and honest way in which the writers (Scott Neustadter and Michael H Weber) offer this period in Tom & Summer’s life means that it is so much more, and gives the audience much to ponder, more than any other generic romantic comedy.

Backed up by a brilliant soundtrack, already making a name for itself before its even released here in Australia, it features the stunning Regina Spektor, The Smiths, Carla Bruni (Mrs. Presidente) and Hall & Oates. I can’t even begin to describe just how much I grin even hearing ‘You Make Me Dream’ by Hall & Oates – once you see the film, you will understand why. Note that I said once you see the film – as in, you must see it. No ifs, or buts about it!

I can’t speak highly enough of this film, and I’m sure when this is released nationally on September 17th, I’ll be seeing it again.

Whilst one would think I am a shopaholic and have a huge wardrobe of shoes, and clothes, and pretty things.. I pretty much have one pair of runners, one pair of heels that are actually wearable, one pair of boots.. you get the picture.

But that doesn’t mean I can’t be inspired – or deterred from becoming a shopaholic. Oh, don’t let that deter you from watching it; but the debt Isla Fisher’s character Rebecca Bloomwood gets into for the love of shopping, and labels in Confessions of a Shopaholic..well its scary!

It is definitely interesting timing in which this movie has come out, and makes anyone watching this really think about their luxury items, or clearly defining the line between want or need. But if I had Hugh Dancy as a boss.. one might want to buy a different outfit, for every day and night in his presence. Don’t worry; the movie is charming aside from my lustful yearnings for Hugh Dancy. (And its not just Hugh, its Hugh Dancy, its a brilliant name)

Isla Fisher rose to Australian fame first, as a character in Home & Away. But that doesn’t mean anything until you star in an American film – (or become a succesful singer – which is even harder to do. Makes or breaks Aussie soap stars!). She got a supporting, very memorable role in The Wedding Crashers, and nobody would forget her as the giggli epitome of clingy to her Vince Vaughn counterpart. This role will definitely add credibility and give her more job offers; however she does need to be worried about being typecast as a materialistic, ditzy character.

Rebecca Bloomwood is charming, cute, has great style; yet still the movie doesn’t represent her as really having much else going for her. We’re told she’s a journalist but because she is obsessed with shopping, and mannequins influence her to buy things despite running away from a debt collector, we never actually know if she is a good writer, or what her background in the field is. Mooching off her housemate who allows her to shirk paying rent because whoops. $16,000 debt. Its just a little too easy, and so we really just see her as quite the princess.

When she submits an article talking about the value of different types of shoes, and what they mean to women; accidentally sending it to a finance magazine, she gets the job. Wow! You’ve explained it in the most simplest terms, you’re hired! Hugh Dancy as Luke Brandon, the eager-to-please and impress editor of the magazine is painted as having no style, yet can ‘speak Prada’, but chooses not to because he wants to earn rewards, he doesn’t want to be known as son of his famous mother, he lives to work, and not work to live, or pay for couture as Rebecca seems to. Albeit, not succesfully otherwise she wouldn’t be in debt.

Rebecca is a breath of fresh air to Luke, and she is constantly embarassing herself, but the light slapstick moments or moments of embarassment don’t hit the mark here as they should. The dancing scene with the fan as a prop isn’t funny, its actually painful to watch, and cringeworthy and just doesn’t work in its context. Whilst Hugh and Isla have a bit of spark, and some chemistry, the character development isn’t strong in the screenplay, and its a bit too far fetched to think that an editor of a finance magazine would be so won over by someone as shallow as Rebecca’s character is drawn to be.

Despite this, there is still an enjoyable warmth to the movie, a perky soundtrack, and Hugh and Isla work best with the material given. A formulaic chick flick; BUT.. it could have been better.

I feel as if the subject line, the book, the movie is something I will remember for a very long time.  I should preface that this won’t be a straight out review – it could entirely veer into some embarassing – no. I won’t go there. But it will be a book vs movie review because there are some interesting lessons to learn from both.

The book is written through letters, with headings such as ‘If he’s not calling you..’, or ‘If he’s not sleeping with you…’ through to ‘If he’s not asking you out..’ and so forth. And then letters from supposed women giving examples of guys they’ve met but oh? Maybe they’ve lost their phone. Oh! They probably don’t have credit, and they can’t text back. Or he’s just too busy. He’s a big shot! Too busy! And then the author comes back with; uh.. hello? If he’s into you, NOTHING will stop him.

It totally makes sense! Yet we make all these excuses. Because.. I don’t know why? Don’t ask me. I haven’t yet met someone to make me not be told by my sister that I need to read this book for a bit of tough love.

Then comes the movie..what was it going to be like? Such an ensemble cast with Ginnifer Goodwin, Justin Long, Ben Affleck, Jennifer Aniston, Jennifer Connolly, Bradley Cooper, Scarlett Johansson,  Drew Barrymore.. oh man. What. A Cast of eye candy.

That in itself was reason for me to see it, I can’t lie. And I could see from the trailer that it was moments of dating, or long term relationships; waiting by the phone, waiting for a ring, avoiding temptation, all of the things both men and women go through I suppose in hoping that they’ve found the right ‘one’.

When you have such an ensemble cast, you can expect that there have to be ‘lead’ storylines, and the others are just supporting. In my opinion, the strongest stories was Aniston and Affleck as Beth and Neil – a couple living together, happily for 7 years, no ring, no engagement. WHEN was it going to happen? All of the pressure from her family to get married, or what did it mean, did he NOT want to be with her? Was it just convenient?

And there is Goodwin and Long – Gigi and Alex. Gigi is the hopeless romantic girl, the eternal optimist and the one you have to shake your head at, constantly waiting by the phone (but I SO want that pink phone she has in her apartment!), or thinking her cell phone has lost reception, or maybe she missed the call altogether. Or she was in the shower. And despite not being called, or waiting for so long.. she happily moves on; whilst asking bar owner Alex for advice, seeing as he told her bluntly about her first date with Conor (Kevin Connolly) the one that ended with a polite ‘nice to meet you’ ; He’s NOT interested.

Throughout the film, Alex teaches Gigi all about the ‘Rules’ as described throughout the book, guiding her through some awkward first dates, or ‘auditions’ and just how NOT interested these guys are. Oh, and the remarkably romantic exceptions she hears of, are merely those; exceptions.

Then there is Bradley Cooper & Jennifer Connelly.. and Scarlett Johansson. Oh man, ever since Alias where Bradley was Will Tippin, Sydney’s best friend; I’m so happy he’s had some recent success with this role, and in the Yes Man. But I digress. Cooper and Connelly play Ben & Janine, married, renovating their apartment, but there’s something missing. A spark? I’m not sure if its the character.. but I just found Janine to be cold, and lacking of any real ‘warmth’ to her. But then, sorry to say – next to Scarlett Johannsson as Anna. She. Is breathtaking. And the chemistry she and Ben share, phwooar! And.. they play James Morrison’s You Make It Real. And during another sweet scene, Keane’s Somewhere Only We Know. I am such a sucker for a great movie soundtrack.

All of the characters mix together, indirectly, or directly, and are friends with each other, or Anna knows Conor, and then Conor meets Drew Barrymore, and so on and so forth and for about a 2 hour film.. or was it over; I didn’t look at my watch once. Not once. I had a great laugh, and during some moments was worried there wouldn’t be a happy ending, or when there were amazingly romantic scenes, or heck.. Ben Affleck doing the dishes, I’m sure I let out a loud girly whimpering sound. Or at the scene where Gigi was nervously trying to get a guy’s attention, or Beth getting embarassed by a distant cousin saying she has a few miles left on this ‘model’, I and a few others in the cinema surely groaned and laughed awkwardly, possibly because we’ve all been through it.

It just completely won me over, and although it is a movie with some tough love.. it still makes me feel okay that I’m a completely romantic sooky la la.

Pre-Atonement James

Before Atonement, before the Last King of Scotland, or heck even Becoming Jane – I had a crush on James McAvoy. Yes, I beat you all to it. He was on this series called Shameless, a gritty comedy set in Manchester about an extended family, with a drunk, to say the least shambles of a man as their father. Then, he played this character that was the boy next door, though a bit of a thief, but a clever one :P He was the go-to guy for any time the family was in trouble. So even then, he was just the kind of guy you wanted around.

So here, in this 2006 British comedy called Starter for 10 set in 1985, James plays that guy next door, this time not a thief, but he’s sorta like me – loves quizzes. Wants to know everything, loves to figure things out, and always seems to know random bits of information about things, but that’s his passion. Even as he is in his university interview, he eagerly tells them how he wasn’t born clever, or smart, he doesn’t have it all – he just wants to work at it, and get to be like that. So he sets out to Bristol University, and he immediately enrols in a University Challenge – a quiz show between universities, where he catches the eye of a a hot blonde thing, as well as meeting at random opportunities the ‘brainy brunette’, the campus activist it seems. Whilst he has a confidante in the brunette, he has the crush on the blonde – not realising what’s right in front of him and who he clicks with most. So it seems he wasn’t born with the clever gene..

Its a sweet movie, with a nice supporting cast including Dominic Cooper (Mamma Mia), Catherine Tate and a great 80′s soundtrack and bad fashion! Just a sweet John Hughes-esque movie. But British.

No, my name isn't McDreamy

Just some quick thoughts on Made of Honor starring Mr McDreamy, Patrick Dempsey and Michelle Monoghan. This was a movie a co-worker had watched at least 4 times, absolutely loved and said it was sooo romantic, I was sure to love it! Hmm… not so much. I am a huge fan of anything girly, teen movie like, and generally any thing romantically inclined – as long as I believe there is some sort of chemistry between characters. Here, I just didn’t buy that Patrick Dempsey’s character Tom was a big Casanova, and that he didn’t realise, for 10 years – that he was in love with his best friend. And then.. agreeing to become maid of honor.. Usually, that kind of premise is cutesy, and doesn’t take itself too seriously and that lends to a fun, high spirited movie but the movie never really found its flow. The man she was going to marry was never really introduced, and it didn’t seem in her nature to get engaged to a man she’d only known for a month – after being smitten with Patrick Dempsey for 10 years. The character development just wasn’t there, and even romantic comedies have to have them – and I can’t say I laughed out loud once during this..