Across the Universe Podcast: Episode 1

Episode 1: The Start of Something Big

Moin Moin, Olá and Namaste to all! We, that is Mette, Sofia and I, have started a podcast series where we will talk about films in our adorable accents :P We hope you like it.

Content:

0:50- Introducing the chicks with accents

8:10- Our Mission Statement

9:24- Interesting Movie of the Fortnight

22:44- General Discussion on our Favourite Films

57:15- Plugs and Goodbyes

Music:
Joni James "The Start Of Something Big"
Songs from our favourite films *spoilers*
The Beatles "Across The Universe"

Follow us at: facebook.com/acrosstheuniversepodcast
Write to us at: acrosstheuniversepodcast@gmail.com

Thoughts

I don't know how but I have gotten into this terrible habit of posting my weekly thoughts every two weeks. I am late today as well and will probably be next week too as I am going to UAE for my summer hols. I promise to work on being better though.

1) First of all, Something Is Afoot.

2) Old, old news to get off my chest- Lee Pace will be the villain in Guardians of the Galaxy. Even though this means that all of his beauty will probably be burried under tons and tons of make-up, I am really happy that Pace is getting the big break he deserves. He is also in talks to star in the second season of Hannibal, along with fellow-Pushing Daisies stars Kristin Chenowyth and Anna Friel. Him, Mikkelsen and Dancy- yummy! (See what I did there?) Next, people are trying to remake The Crow, which I feel is an excellent idea because the story and the character are very interesting and the 1994 original is almost too cult to do them justice. Among the people whose names have been thrown around for playing the titular character are James McAvoy, Tom Hiddleston (who would have been perfect, imo), and now Alexander Skarsgard is in talks. Speaking of Hiddles, he will be starring in a Robert Capa biopic along with fellow Marvel-actor, Hayley Atwell. Me likey. His Marvel brother Chris Hemsworth is going to star in a new Michael Mann cyberthriller along with Viola Davis. I think this is a very interesting pairing and am excited to see what comes out of it.

3) Jessica Chastain is in talks to star in Christopher Nolan's next big space adventure movie, Interstellar. She will join Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway and Nolan-regular, Michael Caine. Give me this movie NOW!

4) Daniel Radcliffe continues to make bold, cool choices with his post-Potter career. He is going to star in the adaptation of Tokyo Vice which is based on a true story about a reporter whose crime stories and a final scandal get him into trouble with a Yakuza boss. It is going to be directed by music director Anthony Madler, who is making his feature film debut with this. I really like how this sounds. Let's hope it's awesome and DanRad with it.

5) Paul Thomas Anderson is set to start shooting his next film Inherent Vice this month. It will star his The Master-collaborator, the great-faced Joaquin Phoenix (what a face, man!). I am still a bit sad that Robert Downey Jr. won't be in it instead. I think he and PTA would have made quite a pair. Still, cinephiles everywhere are rejoicing of course.

6) Michael Fassbender and Natalie Portman are going to "Bard" it up in Justin Kurzel's adaptation of Macbeth. I wasn't the biggest fan of the Scottish play when we studied it in school, but if anyone can make me change my mind, it is Fassy. I think he will be perfect. And Portman, who so cleverly joined this project after being denied the chance to work with Fassy in the now-annoying-with-its-casting-problems Jane Got A Gun, is a very intriguing choice to play Lady Macbeth, who was probably the only character I liked in the play. Kurzel, whose debut film Snowtown is apparently very violent, is again a most interesting choice as the director. I can see this working v. well.

7) Other casting news- Bradley Cooper is going to star in Steven Spielberg's next American Sniper, which is based on the autobiography of Navy SEAL Chris Kyle. I have become quite the Cooper fan since Silver Linings Playbook and am thus looking forward to this film. My husband, Logan Lerman, has joined Brad Pitt and Shia LaBeouf in David Ayer's World War 2 tank drama Fury. The film is about a five-man American tank squadron who go to Germany to fight off Nazi forces. Lerman, according to the site, will play, "Norman Ellison, an Army typist and the youngest and most inexperienced member of the crew who is thrust into being a tank gunner." Sounds pretty good to me.

8) Only one poster worth talking about really, and that is of Lars Von Trier's potentially v.v.v.v.v.v.v.v.v.v. controversial new film, Nymphomaniac. I think it is brilliant. People have been calling it a Tumblr fan poster, but that's exactly what I love about it. Fan posters often highlight the most important features of the respective film and just drown out all the noise and that is what this poster is doing. This two-part film is about the sexual journey of a woman, played by the underrated Charlotte Gainsbourg, and the poster is implying this in the most simplest of ways. Genius!

9) Trailers- The Bling Ring's official trailer is making me want this film even more than I do, which is A LOT. Also, I am so going to be talking like (well, trying to) Emma Watson for a week after I watch this. Thor: The Dark World looks cool, especially with Game of Thrones director Alan Taylor at its helm. I expect loads of fight scenes. My favourite part of the trailer is Loki, obviously. Violet and Daisy looks very interesting and lovely. Love the duo of Alexis Bledel (Rory Gilmore!) and Saoirse Ronan. Kristen Wiig's follow-up to Bridesmaids, Girl Most Likely looks like a whole lot of fun. I think she and Annette Benning, who plays her mum, are a charismatic and awesome match, and Matt Dillon and even Darren Criss are great. Joss Whedon's Much Ado About Nothing looks so so so so good and I really hope it releases here. I am certain that I will love it. Finally, for trailer of the week, Pacific Rim looks unfuckingbelievably out-of-this-world fantastic! 2500 tons of awesome to be exact. I can't wait to watch this now.

10) Finally, my most anticipated film of all time has started filming-

Hottest director ever, anyone?

Also, I am guessing (and hoping and praying) that the picture below is for How to Catch a Monster and not Doctor Who-

It *is* a bit of a shock, but I think it is fine, all in all. Hair generally grows back. 

However, when this picture got released, this is what happened to Tumblr-

This is coincidentally what is going to happen to my ovaries once the Gos and Matt Smith start filming together. Can't wait.

Byee!!

Words are flowing out like endless rain...

Stay tuned.

"This ship is infinite."

         As we find out more and more about the series finale of Doctor Who, I can't help but feel a little apprehensive. What has happened this series, particularly in the second half, is that we have been promised a lot of things, along with the whole "cinematic" look, and the episodes are continually not matching up to our elevated expectations. Something like this happened with the awesomely titled "Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS". I mean I loved the episode and it was very good in many parts, but with a name like that, I just wanted so much more, and though I can appreciate how much they have managed to put in in the running time and budget, a part of me can't help but feel shortchanged.

1) First of all, both the Doctor and Clara look really good in this episode. Matt Smith looks hot and somehow taller without the coat, and gosh I want Clara's dress!
2) I love how much the Doctor loves his TARDIS.
3) So the Van Baalen brothers were pretty useless, imo. The android eye-thingy looked cool, but meh. Only Ashley Walters as Gregor was good, in an asshole kind of way.
4) So the Doctor, in order to let Clara fly the TARDIS and hence become closer to it, puts it in basic mode right at the time when the Van Baalen brothers use a magnetic field to attract the TARDIS to their ship thinking it's salvage. This causes many of the TARDIS operations to stop functioning and in spite of Clara asking the Doctor if there is a "Big Friendly Button" to stop this, the whole place just starts blowing up.

They're so cute.

5) Right before that though, Clara had spotted a weird oval-y device on the floor that burned her hand.
6) Anyways, the Doctor wakes up, only to find himself in the Van Baalen salvage ship. He also notices, much to his horror, that Clara is still on board the TARDIS, which is being filled up with poisonous gasses.
7) The Doctor, rather deftly, lures the Van Baalens into the ship to save Clara. He promises the TARDIS as salvage, but goes back on his word saying that he meant Clara. Also he puts the TARDIS into lockdown, ready to blow in 30 minutes if they didn't find Clara by then.

8) Meanwhile, Clara is wondering around the TARDIS. There was a lot of corridors in this episode, but at least they are cool. Also, Clara finds some of the stuff the Doctor has kept from his past-

9) But then there is a zombie creature after her.
10) The Doctor and Van Baalens continue to look for Clara, but Gregor keeps assessing the cost of everything in the ship. This leads him to the Architectural Reconfiguration System, which is the most valuable thing in the universe as it can create anything and everything. The Doctor tries to stop him, telling him that if he removes any of its parts, the TARDIS will get angry and fight back, but Gregor still removes a pod (?).
11) The whole system looked very pretty even though it was clearly lifted off Avatar.

12) I loved the throwback to Eleven's first episode.

13) Clara, while hiding in the GINORMOUS library, finds a book entitled the "The History of the Time War" where she actually reads the Doctor's name! There are also liquid bottles containing Gallifreyan encyclopaedias, but these too look as though they are copies, this time from the prophecies in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

14) The TARDIS starts making the Doctor and Van Baalens go in loops. This leads to one of the best quotes of the episode-

15) Clara finally finds the console room but it's without any doors. She tries to find a way out but the TARDIS is continuously leeps leading Clara back to it. This, in fact, is an echo console room as the TARDIS is trying to keep her safe.
16) Then Whatshisface Van Baalen aka the 3rd member of the Van Baalen group, who is trying to strip the TARDIS console, runs into another zombie creature and is killed. The Doctor, Gregor and Tricky, the android, hear his cries but a very cold Gregor tells everyone to move on.
17) When Tricky, who seems to understand pain TARDIS is going through, tries to get Gregor to return the pod, as a result of which another echo console room materializes in front of them as they are trying to run from more zombie creatures.
18) The Doctor senses Clara's presence and manages to lock in onto her location right as one of the zombie creatures, which looks rather familiar, is trying to attack her. Her anger at the Doctor is hilarious.

18) So it turns out the Doctor "played" the Van Baalens and the TARDIS is not in danger, except that it is and the only way to stop it from blowing up is to go to the heart of the TARDIS, by way of the Eye of Harmony.
19) The TARDIS starts acting up and trowing spikes everywhere, one of which goes into Tricky's arm. This finally leads to a confrontation between him and Gregor. Tricky in fact is his younger brother and human and in an accident that led to their father's death and him getting injured, Tricky had special implants put in for the damaged organs. Gregor and whatshisface made him believe he was an android so that Gregor could lead their ship. As cruel and "human" as this whole betrayal was, I could not really place it within the context of the story. Perhaps it had something to do with the Doctor's betrayal...
20) ... meaning that when all of them get locked in the Eye of Harmony's room (What a sight that is) and Clara, in spite of the Doctor's attempts to stop her, finds out that the zombie creatures are in fact her and the Van Baalens from the future as they burned up in the Eye of Harmony room. He feels very remorseful about not being able to save her again, making her further curious.

21) He tries to rewrite history by separating the now apparently inseparable Van Baalens, but both of them plunge to their deaths. The Doctor and Clara escape to the engine room, but instead end up on the edge of a high cliff.
22) Seeing as their deaths could be nigh, the Doctor asks Clara about who she really is, since he has seen her die twice. Whether she is a trick or a trap? All this just leaves Clara scared which leads to another of the adorable Doctor-Clara moments of the show.

23) The Doctor figures that this whole place isn't actually real but the TARDIS trying to protect itself, and when they jump, they end up in the spectacular-looking exploding Heart of the TARDIS. The Doctor finds himself helpless, but when he sees what has been burnt onto Clara's hand when she had held that oval-y thing in the beginning of all this, he just knows what to do.

"You are beautiful. Beautiful, fragile, human skin."

24) I will stop here. Basically time does get rewritten and Clara forgets everything about this journey, including the Doctor's name. I feel that was a shame because Clara was finally getting interesting. So far, as pretty and fun as I find her, Clara has not been the most engaging of companions. Her big moments are always in relation to the Doctor or even the TARDIS. Oswin and Clara from "The Snowmen" had packed more of a punch, but this Clara hasn't really shined so far. If she had remembered all that she learnt in "Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS", it would have led to a much more complicated character development, that she desperately needs.

         The episode was written by Stephen Thompson, who has penned Sherlock's jaw-dropping "The Reichenbach Fall". He did a decent job, but ended up just being a fanboy who only gave us a glimpse of the infinity of the TARDIS. I guess the real heroes of this episode is the director Mat King and the production designers and special effects people who really made the whole thing look gorgeous. I also really enjoyed the music.

           A lot of people, myself included, was really excited about this episode because of Neil Gaiman's now-legendary "The Doctor's Wife" where the Doctor actually meets the soul of his beloved TARDIS. While "Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS" is nowhere close to its brilliance, I think we can safely say that it is an important episode in the entire lore of the Doctor Who universe.



           Next up, Mark Gatiss's second episode "The Crimson Horror" that marks the retuern of Vastra, Jenny and Strax.

The Month that was- April

          2013 is shaping out to be one of the oddest years, movie-wise. I know I said that I will be focusing on things other than movies, but since I am not particularly doing so and am still watching what is a minuscule number of movies by my or, well, film-blogging standards, I feel a little ill about the whole thing. This month I managed to clock in 15 films. May ought to be an improvement, especially with "Crazy Nikhat Month!" and my summer vacations.

1) Ginger and Rosa- Quite a gorgeous-looking film with a very different perspective on growing up. Stellar performance by Elle Fanning.

2) Touch of Evil- I was watching this when the news of Roger Ebert's death broke. Kind of happy about the Orson Welles connection though.

3) The Piano- Very weird and very pretty. Some great performances.

4) Le Samourai- Awesome.

5) My Man Godfrey- People in screwball comedies were just mental! Really enjoyed it though.

6) Au revoir les enfants- Heart-broken. Wonderful, beautiful film.

7) The Host- The ideas were pretty decent were it not for Stephenie Meyer's terrid (terrible+horrid) writing. Saoirse still rocks.

8) Risky Business- This was almost brilliant.

9) Cosmopolis- I don't even know what. Still, Robert Pattinson's performance would have made it into my top 20 if I had seen this film last year.

10) Ek Thi Daayan- Not half-bad actually. Some pretty good scares and quite funny at the same time.

11) Lawrence of Arabia- I loved everything about it save the character of Lawrence. He infuriated me. STUNNING cinematography though.

12) Upstream Color- Some films are just not for me.

Rewatched:

1) Drive- Had to rewatch it after this.

2) Iron Man- The best of the series, imho.

3) Iron Man 2- Not *that* bad.

TV shows:

1) Homeland, season 2- This was a better season than the last, though Carrie continues to be a nut. Like who follows a deadly terrorist right after they have kidnapped you? Also, I genuinely despise the entire Brody family, and Peter Quinn is such a badass.

2) Hemlock Grove, season 1- Oh cruel hormones! This was such a crap show that just ruined an entire week of my life, but I continued watching it because of the gorgeousity that is Bill Skarsgard. I obviously blame my all-girls college. The story was bad, Famke Janssen's fake British accent is one of the fugliest things to have ever existed, there was bad acting all around, nothing made sense even after finishing the show. Just plain terrid shit!

Books:

Looking for Alaska by John Green- I finally got this book after looking for it for about 4 years. It left me shaken once more and is still my favourite John Green.

Final tally:

                               Firsts- 56                  Rewatched- 27                     Shorts- 1

                                                                    Total- 84

Next up- May, Doctor Who series finale and craziness.

"You know, it's moments like these when I realize how much of a superhero I am."

         Just as Iron Man had a lot riding on its back being the first film in the Avengers Phase 1, Iron Man 3 also comes with sky-high expectations as it starts the cycle of Avengers Phase 2. Added to that, it is following-up to what I believe is the best "superhero" superhero film ever, The Avengers, and the slight disappointment that was Iron Man 2. The odds were pretty well-matched as to whether it would fail or pass. Thankfully, with the help of a slightly mature but not overly-serious cough*The Dark Knight Rises*cough storyline, a very interesting villain, spectacular effects, a super hot Gwyneth Paltrow and Robert Downey Jr.'s Robert Downey Jr.-ness, what we have is a solid superhero movie that is a great start to this year's summer blockbuster season proper.

           The film starts after the events of The Avengers, when Tony Stark had had a near-death experience while fighting the aliens in New York which has left him shaken, so much so that even the mention of "aliens" or "New York" gives him panic attacks. His fiery lady-love Pepper Potts is concerned as this is taking a toll on their relationship. Plus there is a new baddie in town called the Mandarin who likes sending out really well-edited video clips of his terrorist attacks as "lessons" to the American president, amd may or may not have something to do with a very jaded Aldrich Killian. When the safety of his friends and Pepper is put in harm's way, Tony has to take "good old-fashioned revenge" with the help of his best friend Colonel James "Iron Patriot/War Machine" Rhodes, and his occasionally unreliable iron suits.

          That's so much for the basic plot. The Iron Man movies for me have always been about Robert Downey Jr.'s plain awesome portrayal of Tony Stark. I tend to side with the supervillains in most cases, but not here. Casting Downey Jr. as Stark has been one of the most inspired casting choices in perhaps ever, and that is not only because of the cockiness and the one-liner spewing splendour that he possesses, but also because he is a fantastic actor who can act with just his face in most of his "big" scenes. Before going for this film, I saw the first two Iron Man movies and realised this. I mean yes, the iron suit is cool as hell, but we wouldn't be half as crazy about Iron Man were he not played by Downey Jr. His Tony can be both a narcissistic jerk and an emotional, caring man, sometimes at the same time. Just watch all of his scenes with the precocious kid, Harley, in this film and you will agree with me. Also he gets to do a lot without the iron suit in it and we see how he is a hero through and through. He IS Iron Man.

         I have always loved Gwyneth Paltrow's performance as Pepper Potts. She is someone who is an equal to Tony, and can both reprimand him and care for him. Iron Man 3 sees her doing so better than ever. She was just incredible in this movie. I am not going to talk about what she does or what happens with her, but trust me, she is as kick-ass here as Natasha Romanoff was in The Avengers. Totally fangirling.

            The rest of the impressive cast includes Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce, Rebecca Hall, Ty Simpkins and of course Sir Ben Kingsley. As I said, I just rewatched the Iron Man series and while I still have a soft spot for Terrence Howard's portrayal of Rhodes, Cheadle does a more than decent job with the character. He gets to do a lot of stunts in this film and his chemistry with Downey Jr. is excellent. I think for spoilers sake, I will not go into much detail about Pearce's and Kingsley's characters, Killian and the Mandarin respectively, except that they are both very effective antagonists to our man of iron (see what I did there?). Kingsley particularly shines after his big twist is revealed. I felt that Hall was quite wasted in this film, which is a shame because she is a very engaging actress. My favourite supporting cast member however turned out to be a child actor, Simpkins, who plays Harley. He ends up being a total match for the wit and sarcasm of Tony Stark himself and completely holds his own in all of their scenes together.

           Among the returning cast members, we have Jon Favreau as Happy who very good as comic relief, especially with all the Downton Abbey-loving and Paul Bettany who voices Jarvis and I feel is a very integral member of the movies as he tends to be as much a part of the Iron Man suit as Tony. This is the first time we don't see much of S.H.I.E.L.D. though there is a tiny morsel of something related in the post-credits scene.

          The story was written by the director Shane Black and Drew Pearce. As I said in the opening paragraph, it would not have been easy for them to write something that follows The Avengers but they did quite a good job, especially when it came to integrating the events of The Avengers and making Tony a much more human figure as a result. He is, after all, a man with as many problems as the rest of us, though he deals with them differently since he is a genius, playboy, philanthropist, millionaire. The scenes when he has to fight back as himself, without the iron suit, were very well-written and just added layers to the character of Tony. I also liked how they represented evil in the form of Mandarin. The dialogue of course was as snappy as they come, and if this indeed is the last solo Iron Man movie as the closing events of the film seem to suggest, they have written a perfectly satisfying and enjoyable end to the trilogy.

           Black has done a remarkable job of directing this film. The cinema crowd that I saw the film with broke out in applause a number of times while watching the film and rightly so. It was quite a tight movie that kept us rapt and entertained throughout. Effects-wise, the "barrel of monkeys" scene and the entire last act was very impressive and even awe-inducing at times. Those of us who are Iron Man fiends will have a field day seeing ALL of the iron suits that the film, well, shows off.

           Many people are calling this the best film of the trilogy. I still believe that the first one was the most perfect film of the three and remains as one of the best action movies I have ever seen. Iron Man 3 does falter in parts, with its slightly incoherent plot regarding Extremis and a rather rushed ending, but it is still leaps and bounds ahead of Iron Man 2 (which personally I don't find *that* terrible).

          A true summer blockbuster with a superhero for the ages, do check out Iron Man 3 as soon as you can. I personally can't wait to see Iron Man back in The Avengers 2 now.