Tuesd'y Tidbits

^ This is not the first time I've urged you to jump on the Breaking Bad bandwagon if you're not already aboard. This poster release has brightened my otherwise miserable Tuesday (which feels like a Monday due to Queen's Birthday weekend). Beyond excited.

^ Emma Anderson is a brilliant New Zealand photographer whom I feel privileged to know in the 'real world'. She's currently in New York and Always Sometimes Anytime has featured a bunch of her photographs. Upon reading Emma's first Facebook update after she arrived, I dropped the little orange Google Maps man onto a Manhattan street and went for a virtual walk. If I spent as much time painting as I do on Streetview, maybe I could actually afford to visit these places in real life? Ha, ha...

As a teenager, Steve Braunias' column in Sunday magazine was pretty much the highlight of the Sabbath for me (I lived in Masterton, okay?) and his recent The Secret Diary of... Jaime Ridge piece is, to quote commenter Sam, 'a triumph'. Though can this please be the last word? Enough.

^ Has anyone seen Prometheus? I'm pretty sure I'll just wait for the DVD release since Michael Fassbender features in 100% of my reasons to see it... but let me know your non-spoilery thoughts if you've been.

Breaking Bad poster image source.
Michael Fassbender and Charlize Theron image source.

Work in Progress

Lazy reviews

Shame (2011)

In New York City, Brandon's carefully cultivated private life - which allows him to indulge his sexual addiction - is disrupted when his sister Sissy arrives unannounced for an indefinite stay.

I'd been very much looking forward to seeing this, as you can probably guess. Carey Mulligan was troubled but beautiful, Michael Fassbender was at times vulgar but still gorgeous, and they are both fabulous actors. But oh my word, this film was a snore. Perhaps I'm growing out of my affection for moody films in which not-a-whole-lot-takes place. Perhaps I watched it on a less-than-ideal day. But I won't be giving it another go.

Fish Tank (2009)

Everything changes for 15-year-old Mia when her mum brings home a new boyfriend.

Admittedly, again Fassbender was babein' (perhaps his best, besides as Archie Hicox in Inglourious), but I loved the film itself. I thought the girl who played Mia was brilliant, although I'm not sure how much of a stretch from real life the role was for her (I Facebook stalked). This film reminded me a lot of All or Nothing, but with far more attractive actors (although thinking about it I probably don't watch many films set in English housing estates and that's probably the only shared theme). I'm clearly no film reviewer, and I really don't know how the pros write so much without giving away film plots. To be clear - I loved this film, but overall it is not a light nor cheery plot. But you should watch it, and I definitely will be again.

Hunger (2008)

Irish republican Bobby Sands leads the inmates of a Northern Irish prison in a hunger strike.

Like Shame, this was directed by Steve McQueen, but I appreciated this offering a heck of a lot more. Fassbender's scary weight loss and an amazing single shot of over 15 minutes of dialogue are two well publicised reasons why you should see this film. It's intense and brutal, and especially disturbing to an ignoramus like myself who only did some Googling to learn about the conflict and hunger strikes after watching it. I definitely recommend it, though probably won't be in a great hurry for a second viewing myself - too unsettling.

Italic text source.

I can't remember the images' sources.

Fassbender

These are old news now, you say? Do you care? I really don't.

Has anyone seen Shame? I don't go to the cinema very often at all any more, but I think I'll have to make an exception this week.

Image source 1
Image source 2

I'm just gonna leave this here...

Image source.

Babe, Illness and Achievement

I have found the drama surrounding the filming of The Hobbit extremely boring. The only time I paid any attention to the media coverage and developed an opinion was when I heard that Michael Fassbender was rumoured to be in it. Hell, yes, please. So now I'm completely thrilled that it's confirmed to be filmed in New Zealand... Okay, I don't know what difference it will make to me exactly, but I guess it's just excitement at the chance of seeing him around Wellington.

I've had a bit of a hellish week unfortunately. Got over my illness of the weekend (okay, okay it was just stomach cramps) and then went downhill again on Tuesday evening with a sore throat which got the exciting bonus of a fierce headache yesterday. It's an important day at work tomorrow, so I finished early today and had a nap. After lots of coughing (glamorous) I actually feel a lot better this evening, which is a huge relief because I have a busy weekend ahead too!

On Saturday I'm going with my Mum and aunt to my cousin's hen (bachelorette) party. She's having an all-day event, starting with brunch and finishing with dinner and drinks etc. We're just going to the brunch part, as in the evening I'm going to the Rufus Wainwright concert. Which I have mentioned a lot, and am so excited for!

Earlier in the week I bought a silk maxi dress off TradeMe, mainly with the Australian wedding in mind. It hasn't arrived yet so I have no idea whether it will work for me or not, but it was pretty cheap so not too bothered. It's backless, so I spent a while inspecting my back with mirrors for any unsightly imperfections before I bought it. Haha, the realities of fashion huh. The success of the dress also depends on whether the Silicone Bra (also from TradeMe and yet to arrive) works... I'll update on that when it arrives, because bras are the bane of my life.

The only other piece of (actually exciting) news is that my favourite old friend Dylan Moran (not the Irish comedian) got a job today at TV3 as an online writer. He's been interning in that role for the past two months... but now he'll be paid for the great work he does! So excited for him, I've known him about five years now and he's been so focused on his goal of a journalism career that whole time. It's quite inspiring; I hope I soon work out exactly what I want to do and start working towards achieving it. My life is currently short-term goals of saving-for-holiday, finding-dress-for-the-wedding, finishing-this-commission... I'm in a job I enjoy, within a great industry, but it would still be nice to have some longterm study and career goals.