Thoughts

Helloo people! I know I haven’t written in for forever, but I have honestly, truthfully, pinky-swearingly been very busy. I came back to India, went back to college, spent an entire week running to and from theatres because of the film festival, and now I’m sick.

1) The film festival was great. It was my first fully immersed festival experience and I did make the most of it. I saw 26 films. My favourite new film was Blue is the Warmest Colour. It really is an excellent movie and Adele Exarchopoulos (I will learn the spelling before Oscars. Yep) is by far my favourite performer of the year. Lea Seydoux is great too. And yes, the 7 minute lesbian sex scene can get a little awkward but do what I did- stare at every middle aged man in the room (and there were so many!!) and see their reactions. It’s hilarious. I saw some other great movies too. Don Jon was awesomesauce and Scarlett Johansson was on fire. Other first timers I really liked were Blancanieves, Paradise: Faith, Pieta, Touch of the Light and The Past. Also, if you are a Louis Garrel fan, watch Jealousy which is in black and white and therefore Garrel is in black and white and then your ovaries die. The films I wasn’t such a big fan of were Bastards, Of Good Report and Night Train to Lisbon. The first was just generally an awful movie going experience which might have made me dislike the film more than I ought to, the second was just boring and creepy and the last one was painfully mediocre. It had Jack Huston (who is American), August Diehl (who is German) and Melanie Laurent (who is French), all playing Portugese people. What? My absolute favourite thing about the festival however was the chance to see classic movies on big screen. I saw Elmer Gantry, Gone with the Wind, Sabrina and The Apartment (YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSS) and really enjoyed myself. The fact that a lot of the people who seemed to be so grumpy throughout the festival just started clapping during the Wilder movies kind of restores my faith in humanity a little bit.

My KIFF experience :P 

The Louis Garrel comment on the right is by my friend Alliya and I agree whole-heartedly.

2) Adam Levine has been voted the Sexiest Man Alive by People Magazine. The people at People
Magazine need to fill up the biggest douchebag jar they can find for making this decision. My choice? Duh.

Actually, any one of them will do too-

Yum.

3) The Honourary Oscars were given out recently and Steve Martin, Angela Lansbury, Angelina Jolie and Piero Tossi. I really loved Jolie’s acceptance speech. I am one of those saps who cries watching acceptance speeches (I even cried in Emma Stone’s MTV Award speech), and I thought Jolie’s was really beautiful and heartfelt. And goooo Steve Martin!!!

4) So guess what’s happening this Saturday? Only something I have been waiting forever for. Or, well, since April or something. Anyways, the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary is nearly here! (Isn't my banner awesome?) I already went nuts over the official trailers, though I am cautiously avoiding all other clips since I want a complete experience watching “The Day of the Doctor”. My entire plan of rewatching all of Nu Who and then ranking my favourite episodes before “The Day of the Doctor” *obviously* went kaput since my planning skills suck, but I promise to do one before series 8 next year. Anyways, it seems our dearly departing Doctor, Matt Smith, is in talks to star in Star Wars Episode VII. Of course it is all rumours at present, but if it comes to pass, this will be a massive opportunity for Smith. I just hope he doesn't end up in some ridiculous alien make-up. Especially now that his hair is growing all nicely.

5) Imogen Poots (I love her name so much), might be starring in Todd Field's next film, Beautiful Ruins. It is apparently his most ambitious project yet and it will span over a number of decades, from the 60s onwards. It is about three characters and their lives that is altered by an incident that takes place during the shooting of Cleopatra. I recently watched Little Children and loved it, and this is Field's first movie since then. I think Poots is really pretty and it will be interesting to see her take on such a role.

6) Joe Wright is going to make a film about the origins of Peter Pan called Pan. Generally, I would be against it because I think we *have* had enough of fairytale movies for a decade, but I have really loved everything Wright has made so far (except The Soloist, which I haven't seen). I have full trust in his vision. Javier Bardem is being considered for Captain Hook, according to rumours.

7) ScarJo is on a career-rise again. She kicked ass in Don Jon, but it is her work in Her that is getting awards attention. This is very unusual because she herself, i.e. er perfect sexy human self, is not in the movie, but her voice instead. But it's great to see actors getting recognition for their voice-work. She just got an award at the Rome Film Festival.

8) Fassy is going to star in a gangster film called Trespass Against Us. It will be directed by UK director Adam Smith, who has worked for things like Doctor Who and Skins, and the score will be created by The Chemical Brothers. The movie is "set across three generations of the rowdy Cutler family, who live as outlaws — hunting hares, ram-raiding stately homes and taunting the police. The family have always lived this way but, defying the expectations of his father, Chad Cutler is looking for a way out of the criminal life." Fassy will play Chad and I think will do a really good job. I'm kind of surprised he hasn't done more films like this tbh.

9) Robert Pattinson and Benedict Cumberbatch are going to star in Lost City of Z. The film is based on New Yorker science writer David Grann's book of the same name. Cumberbatch plays Lt. Colonel Percy Fawcett, a British archeologist and explorer who went missing in South America while hunting for the lost city of Z. The book follows the Fawcett expedition and tries to piece together what exactly happened to him and his team, which included Fawcett's son Jack and one of Jack's friends. RPatz will probably play Jack. It sounds like an intriguing project (Brad Pitt's name was attached to it formerly. Now he's producing). The Brit duo is also unique and I'm curious to see how they gel together.

10) Wes Anderson made a short film for Prada starring Jason Schwartzman!

Don't you want to live in a Wes Anderson film?

11) Alex has some awesome news!

12) Trailers- The Maleficient teaser looks a little half-baked, although it does give us it's two most important aspects of the film-Angelina Jolie as the titular character and Elle Fanning as Aurora. Jolie looks and sounds amazeballs, and if anyone can make me not hate Aurora, it's Fanning. The Wind Rises has a very pretty trailer out and I am really looking forward to it. It looks as lovely and poignant as all the Miyazaki that I have seen. The Devil's Knot looks quite intriguing. I have only seen the first half of the first Paradise: Lost documentary, so it will be interesting to see how the material is treated in this film. Plus, good cast. Speaking of, Muppets Most Wanted looks awesome! I SPOT HIDDLES! I'm really excited about this one. I absolutely adored the first film. Oh God, Noah :/ :/ (See what I did there). But seriously, I don't know how to feel about this film. On one hand, I want to trust Aronofsky and his vision, but on the other hand, there is Russel Crowe and his face that makes me sick for whatever reason. And the material and the way the trailer seems to be treating it does not pique my interest at all. Divergent trailer is meh. I'm just all-round meh about this film. Mehhh. There are two trailers I really loved and are my king of trailers in this post. One is Nymphomaniac. This will be some batshit crazy stuff but lord help me, I'm intrigued. The second is the teaser to The Raid 2: Berandal. THAT'S HOW YOU MAKE A TEASER, PEOPLE!! So fucking awesome.

13) Finally, with "The Day of the Doctor" almost upon us, let's all listen to Sir Ian McKellen's words of wisdom about the show-

Re: Matt Smith- Never knew Sir Ian and I would have so much in common.

DO WEE DOOOOOOOOOO! HAPPY DOCTOR WHO 50TH EVERYONE! ALLONS-Y FOR NOW!

"The moment is coming."

IT'S HERE, PEOPLE! THE TRAILER IS FINALLY HERE!!!!

I don't know if you know this about be me but I'm a little super duper excited for the upcoming Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Special "The Day of the Doctor". And after months of counting down to it, it is nearly here and BBC has finally released an official trailer.

"The Day of the Doctor" is special for various reasons- it's the 50th anniversary so it's gotta be big, John Hurt being awesomesauce, a return of shape-shifting villains from the 70s, more light thrown on the Time War and of course, the Tenth Doctor and the Eleventh Doctor interacting. Oh lawd, all my fangirl feels!

Anyways, let's just look at the trailer-

ALL THE EXPLOSIONS!

Is it all part of the Time War? We'll find out.

John Hurt's intro in the trailer, which looks a little inspired by Breaking Bad.

Eleven is back and is dangling from the TARDIS!

TEN IS BACK AND HE TALKS!!!

Clara's back!

Why is she crying?

And how does she have the vortex manipulator?

Parting gift from River? Can we expect a cameo?!!

Rose is back!

What is her hair even? A big question is whether or not Rose will meet Ten and/or Eleven in the episode. I certainly hope so.

And the Bad Wolf is back!

Chills.

AND THE FEZ AND THE GLASSES ARE BACK!

Favourite part of the trailer, obviously. They're going to be such bezzies.

The new villains- Zygons.

They do look frightening, but a little ridiculous at the same time. But they can shape-shift, which is very intriguing.

Joanna Page as the Doctor's much talked about former flame, Queen Elizabeth I

This throwback to "The Girl in the Fireplace"

It *is* Ten on the horse, yes?

The exploding Daleks is a scary concept, right?

Right?

This juxtaposition.

Eleven is still very much the main Doctor and it is apparent that Hurt's Doctor is someone affecting him more.

This cut too.

ALL THE THREE DOCTORS TOGETHER!

Walking towards an explosion like the badasses they are.

And here's them in the TARDIS.

Ten's converse shoes!

And Hurt's Doctor facing what people are saying is THE Time Vortex.

Is this how he ended the Time War?

It's a short trailer but it totally lives up to the hype. I've seen it 20 times already. Let's hope the episode is as awesome as this looks.

Update: The second, longer, better trailer-

TEN SAYS ALONSY AND HE AND ELEVEN COMPARE THEIR SONIC SCREWDRIVERS! *dies*

And here's the official synopsis. It's easy to guess which Doctor is present at which point.

"The Doctors embark on their greatest adventure in this 50th anniversary special. In 2013, something terrible is awakening in London’s National Gallery; in 1562, a murderous plot is afoot in Elizabethan England; and somewhere in space an ancient battle reaches its devastating conclusion. All of reality is at stake as the Doctor’s own dangerous past comes back to haunt him."

I'm so pumped, it's mental. I don't know if I'll be able to finish rewatching the new series in time, but rest assured, I have never been more excited for a television show in my life.

Thoughts

      Hi guys! Sorry for the delay but Blogger has been acting crazy for me for the past few days. This very post has taken 5 attempts. Anyways, onto cinema/television-related thoughts.

1) So on my 21st birthday, I finally got myself all the Harry Potter books and DVDs. I had been wanting to do this for a very long time but kept postponing, and this obviously was a great birthday gift as Harry Potter is such a huge part of my childhood, and me for that matter. So imagine my and I guess every Potterhead's surprise when our queen, JK Rowling, announced that she is going to write the screenplays for a new series of movies set in the wizarding world of Harry Potter. The series will be about the writing of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, a companion book that Rowling had released along with the Harry Potter books. Admittedly, I was a little apprehensive when I first heard about this because I don't want anything muddying up the legacy of Harry Potter. But I have faith in Rowling, and the fact that like us, she too can't get enough of the wizarding world. Plus these movies will technically not have anything to do with Harry Potter himself. They will be set in 1920s New York, which in itself is just AHMAZING. And they will follow Newt Scamander, the writer of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, and the adventures he has while writing the book. Like many people on Tumblr, the first actor whose name popped into my head for the role of Scamander was *obviously* Matt Smith. I mean, Scamander is a famous Hufflepuff and every Doctor Who fangirl knows about Smith's weird obsession with hamsters. Also the fact that he's a pretty fantastic actor. Having said that, I will be glad with almost any actor they choose because heyyy, more Brits in the Harry Potter world!! I will soon acquire the book itself and I'm officially stoked for the movies now.

2) Soon after my last weekly thoughts post, in which I had spoken of Benedict Cumberbatch leaving Guillermo del Toro's Crimson Peak, it was announced that Tom Hiddleston will be the actor replacing him. I'm totally fine with this. Not only is Hiddles also an amazing actor with a great voice, but this means that he and Jessica Chastain, aka the two most inspirational and loveliest actors out there, will be acting together. Big Yes! The film also stars Hiddles's Only Lovers Left Alive co-star, Mia Wasikowska, and Charlie "Fifty Shades" Hunnam.

3) One of my most favourite films of last year was Leslye Headlands's rude, smart and hilarious Bachelorette. Her next movie Sleeping With Other People will see her re-teaming with the fabulous Kirsten Dunst and joining them is Jason Sudeikis. It is about a womanizer befriending a serial cheater and even though the basic plot sounds typical, I am fairly sure that Headland's dialogues and wit will make it anything but. 

4) Anton Corbijn, who made the fantastic Control, will be next making a film on the relationship between James Dean and Life magazine photographer Dennis Stock entitled Life. It will follow Stock, a young photographer, who was assigned to shoot Dean, a young rising star at the time, and how their relationship evolved before East of Eden made Dean a perennial Hollywood star. Dane DeHaan has been cast as Dean and Robert Pattinson will play Stock. Am I the only one who thinks the casting is a bit of a mind-bender? DeHaan is quite attractive in his own way, but he's no James Dean. I can see it in terms of their acting styles but it's just a bit weird. Still, Corbjin is a very good director, and he used to be a rock photographer, so he seems perfect for the job.

5) So Lars von Trier has gone a bit nuts. More than usual, I mean. Nymphomaniac, his grand tale about a woman's sexual journey from birth to the age of 50, was already going to be a two-parter. It has now been announced that the two movies will have a combined running time of 5 hours *and* there might be a potential TV series. Like woah! They already have something like 100 hours of material. The first movie is apparently more of a comedy (though I'm not sure what a von Trier comedy is) and it gets darker in the second movie (like, duh). I don't know, man. I'm curious but 5+ hours of von Trier sounds a bit... suicidal.

6) Disney has decided to release Edgar Wright's Ant-Man in the summer of 2015. In case you don't remember, this is also the time when The Avengers: Age of Ultron, Star Wars VII, Jurassic Park 4 and the new Terminator movie will come out. Even if you ignore the last two (like I am), it just seems so stupid! Ant-Man was going to be a risk no matter when they released it. The superhero isn't well-known, he's *called* Ant-Man, Wright is more of a cult director- none of these scream big blockbuster hit. The film hasn't even been cast yet. On the other hand, the first Avengers movie is *only* the THIRD HIGHEST GROSSING MOVIE OF ALL TIME, and Star Wars nerds even managed to make the new trilogy a big financial success and undoubtedly they'll do the same this time. I, for one, am actually looking forward to Ant-Man even more than Age of Ultron, and it will be a crying shame if it fails to do well. Gahh, this sucks!

7) They finally have a name and a poster for the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Special- "The Day of the Doctor". There is still no sign of the trailer but gosh, I'm excited. Did you spot the "Bad Wolf" sign in the poster?!!

8) Trailers- Seth Rogen, Rose Byrne, Zac Efron, Dave Franco and Christopher Mintz-Plasse star in new comedy Neighbours. I think it looks pretty funny, and I do like the people involved. I have a new found appreciation for Efron. It might have something to do with The Paperboy... The Railway Man has a pretty great cast but it still feels kind of blah. Why does Jeremy Irvine keep coming in these depressing tales? Though the trailer of True Detective is kind of all over the place, just the talent involved (Cary Fukanaga, Matthew McConaughey, Woody Harrelson) and the fact that visualised bleak crime dramas are all the rage right now, I am really looking forward to this television series. Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom looks pretty good. Early reviews have all been been raving about Idris Elba's performance so yaay! The best trailer of the week is that of Richard Ayoade's The Double. Moody, silent, weird, two Jesse Eisenbergs (!)- love it. Can't wait for this film.

9) Finally, a huge reason why Breaking Bad is such a great show is its two main actors, Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul. Here's them being awesome on a Jimmy Fallon sketch, Joking Bad-

I love them both. Also, Aaron Paul looks extra hot here.

Tata for now!