The Artist - Review

Who's in it? 

Jean Dujardin, Bérénice Bejo and John Goodman

What's it about? 

Set in 1920's Hollywood, silent movie and matinee screen idol George Valentin has a fateful chance encounter with aspiring actress Peppy Miller. Times are changing in Hollywood with the arrival of Talkies and while George struggles with his colossal pride in the face of obsoletion, Peppy is catapulted into the limelight.

'Yes, it is a pleasure to meet me.'

Any Good? 

While I fully understand the praise and adoration being lavished on this French nod to 1920s & 30s Hollywood I can’t say I agree with it entirely.

It’s a great movie, beautiful even and in a time of shoot ‘em up/ blow ‘em up/ kidnap ‘em and beam ‘em ups, it boasts a gimmick that no one of recent years has been brave enough to use. Silence. Well, beautiful music and sound play, even a title card or two but minimal words and dialogue. It could be that I only got to see this The Artist after it had been hyped out of the stratosphere, there’s probably nothing more annoying, but this is certainly not a mainstream film. Judging by the three couples walking out during our showing, I'm not alone in that belief.

If you know that going in though, The Artist is a breath of fresh air. The story is engaging and simple to follow. There’s humour, heart and real artistry at play. Even in black & white the 1920's fashion is breathtaking. It boasts several nods to the silent films of yesteryear and a funny reveal at the end. Actually I laughed more at Peppy trying to drive than anything else; it reminded me so much of my driving skills in LA Noire last year. Dangerous. The acting is outstanding from everyone, especially Uggie the dog, he’s hilarious and steals the show several times.

This is Uggie's 'Oh no you dih'int' face. 

The one thing I noticed more than anything else, however, was how distracting the sound of the cinema is while this movie was playing. Munching, crunching and whispers, you just don’t get that with a Michael Bay production. I jest.

On the whole this is a wonderful film, beautifully executed and well worth your time and money. I expect it will do brilliantly come award season, I can’t see that it deserves to sweep the boards as predicated but it will definitely be up there.

Given the choice I would have preferred to see it from the comfort of my own couch with a roaring fire and a bucket of popcorn. At least then I could shout at the childer to be quiet but if you're looking for sheer escapism in a movie this weekend then off you jolly well pop to see The Artist.

Rating:

La Roche-Posay Physiological Ultra-Fine Scrub

I've been meaning to share this little gem with you for a couple of weeks now. Probably best I do before it disappears completely.

Bemoaning the state of my Christmas visage I was only thrilled to open a parcel from the lovely Edel over at La Roche-Posay. I'll tell you straight up that any of the following gushing antics are non biased as I've already priced this scrub for repurchase (€14 in McCabes).

I've yet to be disappointed (or hear of disappointment) with a La Roche product for use on sensitive skin, not that mine is but the human swarm of locusts that are my two teen lads are not so lucky. Considering they 'appropriate' on average 89% of my wash & scrub products, anything that's gentle and effective is good news to me. 

This gentle scrub contains thermal spring water - physiological pH (which would explain the soothing), is soap-free, alcohol-free, colorant-free and paraben-free. All great things but smelling is believing with this one. It's just gorgeous. I almost thought bubblegum at first sniff but it washes off to a lasting light refreshing scent, which you don't normally get with a product this gentle.

You can just make out the micro scrubby beads. (Yay for mastering mah new camera!)

I've been using this 2/3 times a week for about 2 weeks now (as have the lads) and while I love it, the real difference I've seen is in my youngest teen's skin. His redness has subsided and a couple of outbreaks that he has had seem a lot less pronounced. He looks great.*

As I say, it's not often I check a price of a product I'm trialling for repurchase but with this one I have. If you're in the market for a gentle make-up remover or just a regular scrub for sensitive skin you can't go far wrong with this one. 

*Unadulterated bias

Reasonable, Non?

New legislation introduced in Ireland today says that a person who uses reasonable force cannot be sued for damages by a burglar and will not be guilty of an offence. Residents will now be legally entitled to use reasonable force when defending themselves against intruders. This is part of the new Criminal Law Defence and Dwelling Act 2011. While this does raise the debate of what constitutes 'reasonable force', I'm not sure this amendment will make any difference to residents. It brings back to mind the case of Pádraig Nally from October 2004 and begs the question is this just more meaningless legislation?

Our home was broken into 4 years ago while we were away, the entire house ransacked but mostly the boys' consoles and gadgets were taken . It seemed like I had disturbed the burglars as there were several items that were left behind (laptop, jewellery etc). I phoned the Gardaí immediately and promptly waited 3 and a half hours for them to show up.

As a single Mam and the only responsible (I am!) adult in casa Cherry this worries me greatly. Of course I have my Dad & big burly brother (don't tell him I said that) 10 minutes away but what if things were different? Would I use any force necessary to protect my family and home? You bet your sweet bippy I would!

That's when I made the decision to adopt Diesel, our big fat rottie. I have genuinely never slept as soundly as the first night he arrived (well maybe the second or third, he's a beast & even frightened me). While he's the biggest teddy bear you'll ever meet when we're up and about once we go to sleep it's like Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde. He sleeps on the landing, only getting up once or twice to pad about the house & come back but should he hear a noise, even distantly (Batfink like him) he loses his shizz. One of the many things I love about him.

I can safely say should someone break into our home (even after seeing the sign above), we're covered. I'll even go as far as admit that I might (definitely would) take longer to dial 999 than normal. Diesel's a growing boy, he needs his protein.

While I appreciate what you're trying to do, Mr. Shatter, I have an inkling that the majority of the country (world) feel exactly the same way I do. Single or not, female or not, parents or not. You're home is your castle and woe betide any one who dares to enter uninvited, be they legally entitled to sue for inevitable injuries or not.


What say you? Do you think today's legislation will make an iota of difference? 

Shame - Review

Who's in it? 

Michael Fassbender, Carey Mulligan and James Badge Dale

What's it about? 

Shame is the story of a successful 30 something Brandon (Fassbender) living in New York, his all consuming sex addiction and how the arrival of his wayward sister (Mulligan) unravels his tightly wound world and brings to the fore his debilitating shame.

Any good? 

In the second pairing for McQueen and Fassbender since Hunger we see once again that dialogue takes a back seat to raw emotion and intense character study. For so much explicit sex, nudity and a noteworthy full frontal from the gorgeous Fassbender this is not an easy watch.

Brandon is fully aware of his sexual addiction but never seeks help or seems to want to change. Instead he delves deeper, hiring prostitutes, having sex in alleyways and filling his work hard drive with 'seriously sick sh*t' (a quote from his more identifiably sleazy boss). The arrival of his sister, instead of being a clichéd reunion, angers him and pushes him further into his addiction. There's a history between them that is only ever hinted at and I would have liked to know more.

Mulligan in a mesmerising 5 minute uncut scene

Fassbender's acting talent drives this film and does what neither Tiger Woods nor any two bit footballer ever could, he actually evokes empathy for this addiction. He portrays the internal struggle and self sabotaging behaviour to great effect. Brandon is not a psychopath but a relateable, normal man and that's one of the most powerful things about this movie.

Mulligan as his wayward sister is captivating, there is an extended scene where she sings an old jazz version of 'New York, New York' in a posh lounge that causes a silent tear from her brother and again shows us a little insight into their twisted relationship. She has one memorable but enigmatic quote that changed my view of Brandon entirely, 'We're not bad people, we just come from a bad place'.

Shame: depicted. 

Shame is controversial, powerful and intense but it's definitely not for everyone. The sex scenes while abundant are more grim than gratuitous. I happened upon a post on an IMBd thread from a sex addict about the film and firmly believe it conveys more about the movie than any average viewer ever could.

This film has divided critics, some lauding it as 'brave and evocative', others 'soulless and depressing'. I'm firmly in the former camp. Not sure I could describe this film as 'enjoyable' but for the acting talent alone I'm recommending it. Fassbender and McQueen have been nominated and have won a litany of awards for Shame with, undoubtedly, more to come with the Oscars, wouldn't you like to know why? Just don't bring the parents, yeah?

Rating:

Monday's Moments - 09/01

Howdy, All. If you're a new follower, Hai *waves* you won't have seen Monday's Moments before. Every week I share 5 moments that make the Monday blues suck it!

It honestly works and I'd love to hear yours in the comments if you'd care to share. 

1. Timber...

Original source

I can’t quite believe Christmas is over, although we had two weeks off they seem to have flown by. The worst part for me is undecorating the house and taking down the tree.

Luckily the lads are a bit older now & can help out. Because we spent the majority of the holidays in our PJs I made a deal with them. ‘Lads', says I, 'I’ll go ON MY OWN and do the weekly shop if ye take down the decorations and tree’, ‘DEAL!’ says them, little realising that I always go shopping on my own. I came home to a bare sitting room & the floors hovered and they still thought they got the better end of the deal. This is one I must remember for the future!

2. SAMCRO FTW!

My elder Broseph bought me the Sons of Anarchy box set for Christmas. It’s a show I’d always wanted to get into but never did. We watched 3 series in one week. Apart from the leather clad Darby O Gills and the IRA packing their gun shipments in Lucky Chaaaarms its one of the best series I’ve seen for a while. My moment this week has to be catching the finale of season 4 online. Great show. 

Trivia fans will know that Jax (Charlie Hunnam) is actually Nathan from the original Queer as Folk, he’s a Geordie (which could explain him wearing trainers instead of biker boots) but they won’t know, no more than anyone else will, where the eff he got his accent from? 

3. Lights...Camera...

It’s been a little while since I started this here blog and up to this point I’ve been using my trusty phone camera for pictures. Arguing that a 6mega pixel camera is more than adequate, right? Wrong.

Thursday saw me invest in the most lovely camera, oooh, aaahhh. I had been tooing and froeing on pixmania.ie during the sale but happened to be in Dundrum on Thursday so I could have a play with each of them in real life. It was love at first sight when I saw this one. The €110 cheaper price tag for the package didn't hurt either. I'm in love. 

4. Oh, Hell Yeah! 

With my body clock is all over the place it was weighing on my mind that today would be the first day that I’d need to be up before 12pm. Teenagers rock!

With that in mind, I didn’t sleep too well and woke suddenly this morning. Turns out when I looked at the clock it was only 5am. The following two hours was spent in probably the smuggest and most contented sleep I’ve had for quite a while. Set me right up for the day. 

5. The Very Definition of a Monday Moment!

As I've said, today is my first day back to work after a fortnight. That’s not easy. My day was perked right up though with the discovery of a package on my keyboard from one of the funniest ladies I've had the pleasure to meet/tweet. 

Lorraine sent me this parcel of loveliness in a swap and a note that made me guffaw so loudly & unattractively that 2 Engineers had to stand up to be sure I wasn't being attacked. I couldn't possibly show you what she's getting in return. She has no idea. Lorraine, I Thank you, profusely. 

And with that we're back in the world of the living, do please share your moments in the comments, I love to hear 'em.