Yeah yeah!

Following on from my favourite men post, I went to see the genius of comedy, Dylan Moran last night. I was in chronic stitches the entire way through, which added to the already present abdominal (muscle) pain from partaking in a ridiculously ab-focused pilates class moments earlier. He donned his usual scruffy attire with that utterly amazing head of hair and cracked joke after hilarious joke for almost two hours. I seriously considered whether the ab workout was such a necessity after all! From killing people with a slice of turkey, to fat chavs being a collection of spheres, the comedy was completely magical, like you'd been cast by the funny spell. I just didn't want it to end, and neither did the rest of the crowd when he announced, "I'm going to go in a minute," which was immediately followed by a perfectly synchronised and genuinely dejected, "OHHHHHHHH." He is truly one of THE greatest comedians of our time.

If you get the chance to see him, don't think about it. Just GO!!!

My favourite men

I adore these men. Some for their faces. Some for their voices. Some for their talents. And some, because I just do.

Michael Caine - he's so so loveable and always outstanding. Notably, see him in Children of Men, Batman Begins/Dark Knight.

David Bowie - if I get to see him live, wearing tight tights, I will die happy. (P.S. The Labyrinth, The Prestige, nuff said)

 

Benedict Cumberbatch (and by extention, Sherlock Holmes) - his FACE!! His VOICE!!

Martin Freeman - was Tim, and now Watson, and later Bilbo Baggins.


Simon Pegg - funny as hell (Hot Fuzz, Shaun of the Dead). Combine him with...

Nick Frost - funnier than hell. This is true bromance.

Johnny Depp - my teenage love, as cliche as it is, he's still one of the best character actors out there.

Danny Boyle - he makes awesome movies. Period. I think three have made "my" list.

John Murphy - he makes awesome soundtracks (often for Danny Boyles' awesome movies).

 

Colin Firth - any girl that says she isn't in love with him is either a) lying, or b) bats for the other team.

 
Gordon Ramsey - he swears, he yells, and he cooks.

Dylan Moran - so funny and so Irish. Oh and the hair.

 

Bill Bailey - multi-talented funny (-looking) man.

Alan Rickman - how could you not love him. And that voice. AND he's Snape!

Freddie Mercury - I wish I was born a decade earlier, for so many reasons.

Julian Casablancas - the VOICE. And just him.

Salvador Dali - so beautifully twisted, and he has an AMAZING moe!

Kurosawa Akira - best filmmaker of all time???

Murakami Haruki - I've mentioned this guy previously, but I think it's safe to say he's an absolute genius in my mind.

Ricky Gervais - he's such a dick. Thank god he's funny.

Cillian Murphy - beautiful and talented. What more do you need?

 

Noel Fielding - so lovely. Him and his hair. (The Mighty Boosh is legendary)

Hmmm this turned into a rather long list... how greedy of me! xx

I guess this is why they call it therapy

For the first time in my life, I completely maxed out my credit card to the point that it declined (twice!!) when I tried to purchase last minute duty free on my way home. And there I was thinking that my bank had cancelled my card because of my excessive card-swiping! But I think it was worth it. A few crazy purchases probably, but the wardrobe is definitely looking more rainbowy for it. Check it out :)

Not entirely sure why, but in one store (i.d.s), I got completely obsessed with this mustardy yellow colour and ended up buying an entire outfit in this colour (not that I plan to wear it all at once!).

Then came the colourful pants! I think I've definitely got more adventurous in recent years with colour. Left and right are Zara, the middle, Sass & Bide.

Love. Love. Love.

The Rain in Spain...

 Streets of Barcelona and Gaudi's beautiful Sagrada Familia

Since I've been harping on almost exclusively about films lately, I thought I'd do something a bit different. One of my other loves is food and cooking, but lately I've been a bit on the slack side (with that all-too-common excuse of "I'm too busy") and haven't been cooking a whole lot. I eat almost everything (minus coriander, bananas and chicken; the latter due to an episode of Dominos' "funky chicken") and will probably try (almost) everything once - although the whole eating insects business has always puzzled me somewhat.

 Barcelona market

So anywho, I thought I'd share with you all, one of my staple dishes that is pretty much foolproof and also originates from one of my favourite countries to visit (and plus I've just started taking Spanish lessons so I'm channelling some Spanishness). Its a one pan wonder that's perfect when you have lots of mouths to feed and it always looks spectacular with its vibrant colours.

 Valencia - the birthplace of the paella

Seafood Paella

Ingredients
2 cups arborio rice
1 onion
3 cloves garlic
4 chorizo sausages
200g diced chicken/pork/lamb (any meat really)
100g prawns
12 mussels
2 tomatoes
1 spring onion
1 pepper (any colour, but brighter the better)
1/2 cup peas
2 tbsp olive oil
4 cups chicken stock
2 tbsp paprika
1 tbsp thyme
1/2 tsp saffron
1 bunch parsely
1 lime

1. If you have a paella pan then great, but I use a big deep frying pan and that still works fine. Finely chop the onion and garlic and fry off in a pan with olive oil until it slightly colours. Add the chorizo and diced meat, season and brown.
2. Add the rice dry along with the paprika, thyme salt and pepper, and fry until the rice starts to pop a bit. I cook the rice for ages, I find it gives the rice more bite when its cooked.
3. Add the stock - it should cover the contents of the pan completely. If it starts to look dry, you can add more water/stock as you go. Add the saffron and give it gentle stir and cover until the water is absorbed.
4. Once the rice looks cooked, lay the mussels on top of the rice. I usually put them in a circular pattern fanned out, so it looks like a big flower. Covered, they should take about 10 minutes. Halfway through scatter the prawns, chopped tomatoes, peas and spring onion all over and cover until the prawns are cooked.
5. Serve in the pan sprinkled with load of chopped parsely and a few wedges of lime.

 

 Buen Provecho!

23 films later...

It's finally over! I made it through 23 films this year and thoroughly enjoyed (most of) them. Some noteworthy works that I have yet to mention are...

Melancholia
Lars von Trier's latest piece is truly stunning in true LVT style. The opening is gorgeous (which is an understatement) with what now seems to be his trademark super slow motion editing, much like his opening sequence for the controversial Antichrist. What begins as an ordinary wedding, turns into something deeply painful and ultimately a tragic disaster movie. The acting is superb by Kirsten Dunst, Charlotte Gainsbourg (Antichrist) and Keifer Sutherland, along with a loving yet pained depiction of Dunst's character's father by John Hurt. I think this film really needs to seen to gain any understanding of the beauty and emotion that LVT creates in his characters as well as the audience. Without a doubt, a highlight of this year's festival picks.

Le Havre
A simple yet sweet tale set in a small French town where a kind old shoeshiner (deeply in love with his dying wife) decides to help a young refugee boy on the run, with a little help from the locals. The characters are simple, but you can't help but warm to them. The plot might sound like something done before, but the simplicity of the script and the direction gives it an old-fashioned look, rarely seen in film these days. Definitely a feel-good movie that you will walk out smiling.

Beauty (Skoonheid)
Racist and homophobic, Francois is a proud family man who begins an intense and dangerous obsession with his friend's attractive son. A very real and raw film that build in tension when you begin to realise his obsession is spiralling out of control. Well-acted and superbly directed full of long stern close-ups to build up psychological tension (much like Hard Candy), this is not one for the faint-hearted. Director, Oliver Hermanus is one to watch.

Breathing (Atmen)
An Austrian film about a young male in a detention centre for accidentally beating a kid to death during his mid-teens, who, after numerous unsuccessful jobs, finds himself as an undertaker, cleaning and dressing the recently deceased. Despite his troubled life as an adopted child, and his crime, he learns to deal with his guilt and the new-life he must lead in order to move on from his past. Thomas Schubert is perfectly cast for this role and his acting is flawless. Much like Kid with a Bike, its hard to not sympathise with the characters despite their situation.

And that's it folks! At least for another year...

xx